IDC

Tablets
August 21, 2012
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IDC: Microsoft bets big on Surface with more than 3 million tablets on order for launch

By on August 21, 2012 at 7:45 AM.

IDC: Microsoft bets big on Surface with more than 3 million tablets on order for launch

Microsoft Surface $199 price

Microsoft’s (MSFT) initial production run for its Surface tablet will yield more than 3 million units according to estimates by market research firm IDC. The software giant previously announced that its tablet will only be available in Microsoft Store locations in the U.S., and through select online stores, but IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell does not believe the company’s current plan is feasible. “If they build a few million units there’s no way they can sell it through Microsoft store only,” he said to CNET. “So I think that they’ll sell it through traditional retail also. You can’t build that many products without having a much wider distribution strategy. They just haven’t shared that [strategy] yet.” More →

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Business
July 27, 2012
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More evidence that Samsung smartphone sales steamrolled Apple in Q2

By on July 27, 2012 at 1:10 PM.

More evidence that Samsung smartphone sales steamrolled Apple in Q2

Samsung Smartphone Market Share Q2 2012

Samsung (005930) may not have figured out how to do tablets effectively yet, but it sure has smartphones nailed down. The latest numbers from IDC show that Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2012, nearly double the 26 million iPhones shipped by Apple (AAPL) over the same period. Taken all together, IDC found that Samsung and Apple accounted for nearly half of all smartphones shipped on the quarter as rivals Nokia (NOK), HTC (2498) and ZTE (000063) all registered smartphone market shares of under 7%. The report essentially backs up Juniper’s findings from earlier this week that Samsung smartphone shipments roughly doubled Apple iPhone sales in the second quarter. More →

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Tablets
June 15, 2012
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IDC ups tablet estimates, expects shipments to reach 222.1 million by 2016

By on June 15, 2012 at 5:20 PM.

IDC ups tablet estimates, expects shipments to reach 222.1 million by 2016

Apple iPad Android Tablet Shipments

Market research firm IDC on Thursday released a new study new tablet shipment estimates. Due to higher than expected demand in the second half of 2012, IDC has increased its worldwide forecast for tablet shipments from 106.1 million units to 107.4 million. The shipments will be lead by Apple’s iPad, which is expected to account for 62.5%, up from 58.2% in 2011. Meanwhile Android’s market share is expected to slip from 38.7% in 2011 to 36.5% in 2012. The firm also revised its 2013 forecast to 142.8 million units, an increase from 137.4 million, and worldwide shipments are now estimated to reach 222.1 million units by 2016. “Demand for media tablets remains robust, and we see an increasing interest in the category from the commercial side,” said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC. “We expect pending new products from major players, increasingly affordable mainstream devices, and a huge marketing blitz from Microsoft around Windows 8 to drive increased consumer interest in the category through the end of the year.” IDC’s press release follows below. More →

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Tablets
May 3, 2012
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Kindle Fire market share tumbles in Q1 as new iPad launches

By on May 3, 2012 at 1:35 PM.

Kindle Fire market share tumbles in Q1 as new iPad launches

Kindle Fire's market share tumbles

Amazon’s Kindle Fire debuted and found rapid success, recording an explosive first quarter and capturing a 14% share of the overall tablet market. The latest numbers from comScore indicate the Kindle Fire had almost doubled its share of the U.S. Android tablet market over the past two months to 54.4%. According to market research firm IDC, however, Amazon’s market share tumbled from 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to just over 4% last quarter, pushing Amazon to the No.3 spot behind Apple and Samsung. The Cupertino-based company shipped 11.8 million iPads, down from 15.4 during its holiday quarter, and increased its worldwide share from 54.7% to 68%. Samsung took advantage while Kindle Fire sales slid and regained the No.2 position while Lenovo captured the fourth spot, followed by Barnes & Noble. Read on for IDC’s press release. More →

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mobile
May 1, 2012
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IDC: Samsung passes Apple to become No.1 in smartphones

By on May 1, 2012 at 6:30 PM.

IDC: Samsung passes Apple to become No.1 in smartphones

Samsung passes Apple, now No.1 in smartphones

The global smartphone market grew by 42.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012, as the worldwide mobile phone market declined 1.5%. According to market research firm IDC, vendors shipped a total of 398.4 million mobile phones in the first quarter compared to 404.3 million units in the same quarter last year. Samsung ousted longtime leader Nokia to become the world’s largest mobile phone vendor, and it topped Apple to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor. The South Korea-based vendor increased its profits by 82% to a record 5.05 trillion won in the first quarter, and shipped 42.2 million smartphones to capture 29.1% of the market according to IDC. Apple’s smartphone share grew around 6%, as the Cupertino-based company shipped 35.1 units to capture 24.2% of market. More →

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Computers
March 29, 2012
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Nearly 1 billion smart connected devices shipped in 2011

By on March 29, 2012 at 11:15 PM.

Nearly 1 billion smart connected devices shipped in 2011

The International Data Corporation on Wednesday announced that shipments of smart connected devices —including PCs, tablets and smartphones — reached 916 million units and surpassed $489 billion in revenue in 2011. “Whether it’s consumers looking for a phone that can tap into several robust ‘app’ ecosystems, businesses looking at deploying tablet devices into their environments, or educational institutions working to update their school’s computer labs, smart, connected, compute-capable devices are playing an increasingly important role in nearly every individual’s life,” said Bob O’Donnell, vice president of Clients and Displays at IDC. The firm estimates that worldwide shipments of smart connected devices will top 1.1 billion in 2012 and double to 1.84 billion by 2016. IDC’s numbers represent a compound annual growth rate of 15.4% over the next five years. The firm also predicts that the number of Android-powered devices running on ARM CPUs will grow from 29.4% in 2011 to a market-leading 31.1% share in 2016. Apple’s iOS-based devices, on the other hand, are estimated to grow from 14.6% share in 2011 to 17.3% in 2016. IDC’s press release can be found after the break. More →

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Tablets
March 13, 2012
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Apple’s tablet share slides in Q4 following Kindle Fire launch

By on March 13, 2012 at 6:20 PM.

Apple’s tablet share slides in Q4 following Kindle Fire launch

Tablet shipments increased 56.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 28.2 million units worldwide, according to market research firm IDC. A total of 68.7 million tablets were shipped in 2011, up 155% over 2010. Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads in the fourth quarter representing 54.7% of the global market, down from 61.5% in the third quarter of 2011. Amazon shipped an estimated 4.7 million Kindle fire tablets to grab 16.8% of the global market, while Samsung increased from a 5.5% share in the third quarter to 5.8% in the fourth. Barnes & Noble, despite shipping more units than in the previous quarter, saw its worldwide market share fall from 4.5% to 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Pandigital rounded out the top five with a 2.5% of the market share. IDC predicts that low-cost Android tablets will help Google’s mobile platform overtake Apple’s market share by 2015, however iOS will remain more profitable. Read on for IDC’s press release.

More →

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Business
February 6, 2012
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IDC: Smartphone sales hit all-time high in Q4 led by Apple, Samsung

By on February 6, 2012 at 1:16 PM.

IDC: Smartphone sales hit all-time high in Q4 led by Apple, Samsung

The record sales managed by both Apple and Samsung during the holiday quarter last year sent smartphone market growth soaring in late 2011. Market research firm IDC on Monday released data from a new report that suggests smartphone shipments grew 54.7% in the fourth quarter last year. Driven by Apple’s iPhone 4S and Samsung’s Galaxy S II handsets, vendors shipped 157.8 million smartphones globally last quarter according to IDC. ”By the end of the quarter, one out of every three mobiles phones shipped worldwide was a smartphone,” IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said in a statement. “The launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S played a key role in smartphone growth to capture pent-up demand, and smartphone launches from other vendors also provided a broad selection to meet varying preferences and budgets.” The firm notes that full-year smartphone shipments totaled 491.4 million units in 2011, up 61.3% over the prior year. IDC’s full press release follows below. More →

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Business
December 20, 2011
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Samsung overtakes Apple in Australia despite patent attacks, becomes No.1 phone vendor

By on December 20, 2011 at 1:10 PM.

Samsung overtakes Apple in Australia despite patent attacks, becomes No.1 phone vendor

As Samsung continues to field repeated patent-related strikes from Apple in Australia and around the world, the Cupertino-based company’s aggressive stance seems to be having an unforeseen side effect in some cases. As Apple continues to inadvertently help Samsung advertise its products across the Australian region, market research firm IDC revealed on Monday that the South Korea-based electronics giant passed Apple in the third quarter to become the No.1 mobile phone vendor in Australia and New Zealand. Read on for more. More →

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Tablets
December 15, 2011
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Tablet shipments miss targets but still balloon 264.5%, IDC says

By on December 15, 2011 at 6:25 PM.

Tablet shipments miss targets but still balloon 264.5%, IDC says

IDC said Thursday that media tablet shipments during the third calendar quarter increased 264.5% over the same period last year, but that overall shipments were 5.8% lower than the 19.2 million units the research firm had previously estimated. Apple’s iPad continues to be the driving catalyst for tablet sales. The company shipped 11.1 million units during the third quarter, up from the 9.3 million it shipped during the second quarter this year. Apple’s market share fell however, from 63.3% during the second quarter to 61.5%. Read on for more. More →

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Business
December 14, 2011
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Apple may be tweaking policies in effort to attract advertisers to iAd

By on December 14, 2011 at 12:00 AM.

Apple may be tweaking policies in effort to attract advertisers to iAd

Apple may be implementing a number of changes to its iAd mobile advertising platform in an effort to attract more advertisers and to compete more aggressively against Google’s advertising solutions. The Cupertino-based company originally required that advertisers spend a minimum of $1 million on its iAd platform but then halved that figure to $500,000. Now, The Wall Street Journal said Apple is beginning to woo marketers by allowing them to spend as little as $400,000 on an iAd campaign. Read on for more. More →

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mobile
November 14, 2011
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Developers more attracted to Windows Phone than BlackBerry; excited for Kindle Fire

By on November 14, 2011 at 2:11 PM.

Developers more attracted to Windows Phone than BlackBerry; excited for Kindle Fire

Developers are now more compelled to build apps for Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system than for RIM’s aging BlackBerry OS, new research from Appcelerator and IDC revealed Monday. “The third major mobile OS after iOS and Android is now clearly Windows [Phone], driven largely by the Microsoft/Nokia partnership and underscored by the new Nokia Lumia 800,” IDC vice president of mobile and connected consumer platforms Scott Ellisson explained. 38% of survey respondents said they are “very interested” in Windows Phone, which IDC noted is the greatest amount of interest in the platform ever for Microsoft. The same can’t be said for RIM. Only 21% of developers said they were “very interested” in developing for BlackBerry OS and just 13% said they were “very interested” in creating QNX-based apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Read on for more. More →

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Business
November 10, 2011
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Thailand floods may hurt shipments, increase prices for PC makers

By on November 10, 2011 at 10:00 PM.

Thailand floods may hurt shipments, increase prices for PC makers

The devastating flooding in Thailand could hurt HP, Lenovo, Dell and Microsoft during the fourth quarter of this year, IDC said in a recent report. The research firm originally projected shipment growth of 5.1% for the PC industry during the quarter but it now expects PC shipments to fall between 2.2% and 3.4%. Moving into 2012, IDC said shipments could drop as much as 13.4%. “A lot of these plants are still under water, and it’s unclear how much damage they will find when the water recedes,” IDC analyst Loren Loverde explained in an interview with Bloomberg. “It’s also unclear how quickly the cleanup can begin and how much time it will take to bring in replacement parts to rebuild.” A recent report from Goldman Sachs also suggested that PC shipments could drop 8.5% during the first quarter of 2012. Hard drive manufacturers Western Digital and Seagate Technology both have plants that were flooded in Thailand. Seagate’s CEO Steve Luczo told Bloomberg that hard drive prices from his company could jump $10 to $25. “If you’re thinking of buying a laptop for Christmas, I’d buy it now,” Luczo suggested. More →

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