Tero Kuittinen

@teroterotero tero@bgr.com +Tero Kuittinen

After launching mobile game company SpringToys tragically early in 2000, Tero Kuittinen spent eight years doing equity research at firms including Alliance Capital and Opstock. He is currently an analyst and VP of North American sales at mobile diagnostics and expense management Alekstra, and has contributed to TheStreet.com, Forbes and Business 2.0 Magazine in addition to BGR.

Business
May 24, 2013
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AT&T Verizon Monopoly

Verizon and AT&T grow fatter in America as mobile prices plunge in Europe

By on May 24, 2013 at 12:50 PM.

Verizon and AT&T grow fatter in America as mobile prices plunge in Europe

American consumers are sleepwalking into being permanently locked to ever-rising phone bills from monolithic incumbents. This is exactly the scenario that the government tried to avoid when it broke AT&T into seven Baby Bells in 1982. In France, the average mobile bill is now dropping by $7 a year. In America, the average bills from AT&T and Verizon Wireless keep rising as operators force consumers into texting bundles and sneak in new monthly charges. European incumbent operators are facing a consumer revolt as millions of Europeans switch to cheap challenger operators every month. American incumbents have no fear; AT&T and Verizon have locked in 75% of the smartphone market and keep growing. More →

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Services
May 23, 2013
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Skype Market Share

Skype faces trouble on both desktop and iPhone

By on May 23, 2013 at 3:50 PM.

Skype faces trouble on both desktop and iPhone

It’s no surprise that AIM and Yahoo Messenger are collapsing, with unique visitor counts declining by about 30-40% year on year, according to comScore. But it is fascinating that Skype (-12%) and Google Talk (-15%) are now losing ground now. There is no doubt that Facebook’s messaging system is one major factor in the desktop messaging decline. Yet it’s hard to avoid the notion that the rapidly multiplying messaging apps on smartphones are the biggest headache for Skype right now. More →

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Gaming
May 21, 2013
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Nintendo Wii U Sales Analysis

The horrifying Wii U sales collapse

By on May 21, 2013 at 9:55 AM.

The horrifying Wii U sales collapse

There are rumors about Wii U sales in North America slipping below 40,000 units in April. But it’s a fact that Wii U sales in its home market of Japan spiraled below 7,000 units during the week ending May 12. This is an atrocious level. The ancient PS3 sold 12,000 units and the portable console champ 3DS sold 46,000 units during the same week. The PS Vita sold 12,000 units and even its predecessor the PSP managed to top 6,000 units. This means that the closest sales comparison to the Wii U is a Sony portable console that was replaced by a newer model more than a year ago. More →

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Business
May 17, 2013
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Facebook Google Messaging Strategy

Are the new messaging apps from Facebook and Google a sign of fear?

By on May 17, 2013 at 4:05 PM.

Are the new messaging apps from Facebook and Google a sign of fear?

It’s pretty fascinating that Facebook and Google debuted new messaging paradigms within six weeks of each other. Facebook Home’s one key feature is the prominent placement of its “chat heads” messaging alerts on the home screen. Google is launching a new messaging app particularly focused on group messaging. The debuts of these two initiatives fit within the same timeline: a sudden realization in 2012 that smartphone messaging had started evolving, followed by the feverish development of a new product that would finally launch in the spring of 2013. Facebook and Google are very much on the defense here. So what happened in 2012 that suddenly awakened these slumbering giants? More →

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TV
May 17, 2013
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Google Fiber Broadcast Television Impact

Good news for Google Fiber: Broadcast TV audiences are cratering faster than ever

By on May 17, 2013 at 11:30 AM.

Good news for Google Fiber: Broadcast TV audiences are cratering faster than ever

The early reviews of Google Fiber are in from Kansas City and one of the most attractive features of the service seems to be how it makes Netflix irresistible. The buffering annoyances that consumers take for granted vanish as Google Fiber feeds movies and shows instantly to eager Silicon Prairie dwellers. What’s more, the recently launched Google Fiber TV app offers video on demand for iPad. This direction is fascinating because of the hottest trend in US consumer behavior: broadcast television audience collapse. More →

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Business
May 16, 2013
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Mobile Market Share April 2013

Amazon tablets soar in mobile content consumption

By on May 16, 2013 at 3:40 PM.

Amazon tablets soar in mobile content consumption

Millenial Media, a leading mobile advertising platform, is out with another Mobile Mix report. It shows Amazon’s tablets gaining share in the mobile content market at a fairly dizzying clip. The Mobile Mix report is based on billions of monthly ad impressions and it offers an interesting glimpse of emerging trends in mobile content consumption. Perhaps the biggest bombshell is that Amazon is now hogging 28% of ad impressions served to Android tablets; just marginally behind Samsung’s tablets that get a 35% share. No other Android vendor has achieved double digits. The cheapo Kindle tablet strategy has helped Amazon to already vault to the top tier of the U.S. tablet market when it comes to content consumption. More →

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Legal
May 15, 2013
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European Smartphone, Tablet Tax Analysis

Fear of American pop culture drives European smartphone, tablet taxes

By on May 15, 2013 at 4:35 PM.

Fear of American pop culture drives European smartphone, tablet taxes

European governments are casting a baleful eye on the explosive smartphone and tablet growth. The problem for many Europeans lies in the way these devices promote vehicles for American entertainment — from Amazon and Netflix to Apple and Disney. The new proposal made by the president of France would slap a 1% tax on all smartphone and tablet retail sales, with a goal to protect “l’exception culturelle”. This exception is a concept France created in 1992 to defend protectionist measures aimed at preserving the cultural heritage of France. More →

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Business
May 14, 2013
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Q1 2013 Cell Phone Sales

Samsung, Apple and others escape as slumping feature phone sales haunt Nokia

By on May 14, 2013 at 3:50 PM.

Samsung, Apple and others escape as slumping feature phone sales haunt Nokia

The PC market isn’t the only tech sector in trouble. According to Gartner’s new numbers, Asia-Pacific is the only region in the world where mobile phone volumes are still growing. Phone sales in the United States are now dropping at 9% annualized pace. Globally, phone volumes were practically flat in Q1 2013, inching up a mere 0.7% year-over-year. Smartphone growth came in at a torrid 43% during the quarter, several points above what was expected a few months ago. This contrast means that feature phone sales are in a real free fall. This is particularly clear in Latin America, where even the hot smartphone growth is not enough to prevent overall phone sales from declining by nearly 4%. More →

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Business
May 14, 2013
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BlackBerry Q5 Price

BlackBerry and the fateful Q5 pricing question

By on May 14, 2013 at 11:25 AM.

BlackBerry and the fateful Q5 pricing question

When BlackBerry really began its tailspin in the summer of 2011, the reason was clear. Handsets in the new Bold lineup were too expensive for emerging markets and the cheap Curve phones were suddenly slammed by cheap Android competition. BlackBerry has known for years that its real problem is pricing. It was the Latin American demand shift for low-end Android phones that broke the company’s back two years ago. This is why it’s so puzzling that BlackBerry had chosen to kick off its comeback with two very expensive devices, the Z10 and the Q10. This in turn means that the vendor’s first budget device, the Q5, is absolutely crucial for BlackBerry’s future. More →

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Business
May 13, 2013
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NASDAQ Smartphone Market Comparison

As NASDAQ rallies, smartphone sector has been a crushing disappointment

By on May 13, 2013 at 12:20 PM.

As NASDAQ rallies, smartphone sector has been a crushing disappointment

Over the last 12 months, the NASDAQ has moved up by 17%, a respectable performance. However, most of the best-known hedge funds in the world continue lagging both NASDAQ and the broader S&P index woefully. The smartest investors in the world are having trouble matching index funds in both 2012 and 2013. Probably the biggest reason for this is the way smartphone-related stocks have underperformed. This was something that was extremely difficult to predict in early 2012. Not only has Apple tanked over the past year but other hedge fund darlings have also lagged behind NASDAQ: Omnivision, the camera module champion, is down 16% in a year and Qualcomm, the key phone chip vendor, is up by only 4%. More →

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Business
May 13, 2013
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iPhone China Mobile Analysis

iPhone rebounds in the world’s biggest smartphone market

By on May 13, 2013 at 10:45 AM.

iPhone rebounds in the world’s biggest smartphone market

Chinese smartphone shipments hit a heady 82 million units in the first quarter this year. This is more than three times the smartphone shipment volume in the U.S. market during the same period of time. These Canalys numbers dovetail well with Qualcomm’s regional 3G device shipment trends. Over the past year, Qualcomm has repeatedly lowered its North American device shipment estimates while hiking its estimates sharply in China and India. Smartphones are a narrower category than 3G devices, but by both counts Asia’s portion of global sales keeps rising faster than most people expected a few years ago. More →

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mobile
May 9, 2013
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Nokia Business Strategy Criticism

The bitter irony of Nokia’s camera fixation

By on May 9, 2013 at 10:35 AM.

The bitter irony of Nokia’s camera fixation

Nokia’s Lumia 928 will launch soon and once again, Nokia is betting the farm on camera quality to sell its flagship phone. The chances that consumers will actually change their smartphone preference based on superior low-light photo quality are slim to nil, of course. Instagram topped 100 million users in February. AfterLight and Wood Camera are white-hot app market sensations. During all those years Nokia wasted chasing 41-megapixel perfection the consumers were headed for the opposite direction, clamoring for atmospheric, blurry, nostalgic, eerie, low-quality photos. More →

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Software
May 8, 2013
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Messaging App Strategy Analysis

Messaging apps’ bold new plan: Cut deals to be preloaded onto phones

By on May 8, 2013 at 2:35 PM.

Messaging apps’ bold new plan: Cut deals to be preloaded onto phones

A few weeks ago, Nokia launched a WhatsApp phone that featured a special button that gives direct access to the messaging app. Now Path has cut a deal with Sprint to become a preloaded app in selected Samsung and HTC phones. The messaging app rivalry between half a dozen of major contenders is heating up as WhatsApp, Path, LINE, Tango, KakaoTalk, Viber and Kik vie for attention. Until now, major carriers have resisted supporting messaging apps too much, afraid of undermining their SMS volumes. More →

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