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Tablets
August 12, 2011
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Android steals 20% of tablet market from iPad over past year

By on August 12, 2011 at 10:00 AM.

Android steals 20% of tablet market from iPad over past year

Android-powered tablets have taken 20% of the global tablet market from Apple’s iPad over the past 12 months according to new data from ABI Research. While Android tablets have collectively managed to make a sizable dent in the iPad’s global market share, ABI says no single tablet vendor has managed to “mount a significant challenge” against the iPad at this point. “Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple,” ABI Research mobile devices group director Jeff Orr said in a statement. ”In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads. Apple, never a company to be waiting for others, has introduced its second-generation iPad media tablet while keeping product pricing unchanged.” Orr continued, “De-featured, low-cost media tablets are being introduced by more than fifty vendors in 2011. This will certainly help bolster year-over-year growth for the category, but it also creates a negative perception in the minds of the mass consumer audience about the readiness of media tablets to be fully functional within the next several years. Good user experiences and product response are needed to propel this market beyond the ‘early adopter’ stage.” ABI Reseach’s full press release follows below. More →

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mobile
August 11, 2011
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Gartner says smartphone sales grew 74% in Q2

By on August 11, 2011 at 3:35 PM.

Gartner says smartphone sales grew 74% in Q2

Gartner on Thursday issued its global mobile phone sales data for the second quarter, which shows that the industry grew 16.5% from the same quarter last year, to 428.7 million units. Smartphone sales jumped 74% year-on-year, with 107.7 million smartphones having been sold to end users around the world. “Smartphone sales continued to rise at the expense of feature phones,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a statement. “Consumers in mature markets are choosing entry-level and midrange Android smartphones over feature phones, partly due to carriers’ and manufacturers’ promotions.” Android was the top smartphone operating system in the second quarter with a market share of 43.4% and unit sales totaling 46.78 million devices, and Symbian’s 23.85 million devices secured it a No. 2 position with 22.1% of the smartphone OS market. Apple’s iOS held 18.2% of the smartphone market last quarter, followed by RIM’s BlackBerry OS at 11.7%, Samsung’s Bada OS at 1.9% and Microsoft mobile platforms at 1.6%. Gartner also said Nokia was the world’s top smartphone vendor in the second quarter, though it did not provide data to support this claim in its press release, which follows below.

More →

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Software
July 12, 2011
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Windows operating system share slides in June while OS X, iOS continue to climb

By on July 12, 2011 at 2:30 PM.

Windows operating system share slides in June while OS X, iOS continue to climb

Microsoft announced on Monday that it has sold 400 million Windows 7 licenses to date, but that hasn’t stopped the tech giant’s share of the global operating system market from sliding. According to market watcher Net Applications’ data for June 2011, Microsoft’s global operating system market share slid to 88.29% as it continued on its slow but steady decline. The second most popular OS in the world was Apple’s OS X, which was up a nominal amount to 5.37% of the global OS market, followed by iOS with 2.63%, Java ME with 1.12% and Linux with 0.95%. Though Android devices continue to sell rapidly, Net Applications placed the OS in the No. 6 spot in June with 0.72% of the global market. Since January of this year, Apple’s OS X and iOS market shares have risen steadily while Windows continues to slide. According to Net Applications’ revised data, Windows’ OS share dropped below 90% in January of this year for the first time since it climbed above the threshold. It had been reported earlier that the OS slid under 90% last November, but Net Applications has since updated its figures to show that Windows held a 90.81% share in November 2010 and a 90.29% share in December. Two charts showcasing Net Applications’ June data follow below. More →

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Tablets
July 12, 2011
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Tablet shipments fell by 28% in Q1, full-year forecast still up on iPad demand, IDC says

By on July 12, 2011 at 6:30 AM.

Tablet shipments fell by 28% in Q1, full-year forecast still up on iPad demand, IDC says

Tablet shipments following the 2010 holiday season dropped by more than a quarter according to market watcher IDC, but the firm still raised its full-year forecast in its latest Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker report. First-quarter 2011 tablet shipments were down by 28% sequentially according to IDC, due to iPad shipments that were “well below expectations.” Yet the firm has high hopes for Apple’s iPad 2 tablet in 2011, and it raised its full-year shipment estimates to 53.5 million units from 50.4 million units as a result. Apple isn’t the only company finding success with tablets, however, as Android tablets were up 8.2 points sequentially to 34% of total shipments in the first quarter according to IDC. ”Like the PC market, Media Tablets had a bit of a challenging quarter in Q1, as concerns about general macroeconomic issues and the post-holiday letdown took a toll on demand,” said IDC’s VP of Clients and Displays Bob O’Donnell in a statement. “We expect the rest of the year to be much stronger, but we believe vendors who continue to focus on the telco channel for distribution will face serious challenges.” O’Donnell’s colleague Jennifer Song, IDC Research Analyst, added, “Although media tablet sales were not as high as expected in 1Q11 due to slower consumer demand, overall economic conditions, and supply-chain constraints, we believe with the entrance of competitive new devices in second half of 2011, the market will sell close to 53 million units for the year and continue to grow long-term.” IDC’s full press release follows below. More →

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mobile
April 7, 2011
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Android to grab nearly 50% of global smartphone market by end of 2012

By on April 7, 2011 at 12:46 PM.

Android to grab nearly 50% of global smartphone market by end of 2012

According to a new research report issued by Gartner on Thursday, Android smartphones will account for 49.2% of the smartphone market by the end of 2012. Android is expected to have a 38.5% grip on the global operating system market by the end of 2011, surpassing Symbian — which is expected to have a 19.2% share — for the first time. iOS is expected to be the second most popular operating system in 2011 with a 19.4% share of the market, followed by RIM (13.4%) and Microsoft (5.6%). Global smartphone sales are expected to reach 468 million units by the end of this year, a 57.7% jump over 2010. Gartner also believes that Android is responsible for helping to drive the price of smartphones down. “As vendors delivering Android-based devices continue to fight for market share, price will decrease to further benefit consumers”, said Roberta Cozza, a principle analyst with Gartner. “Android’s position at the high end of the market will remain strong, but its greatest volume opportunity in the longer term will be in the mid- to low-cost smartphones, above all in emerging markets. By 2015, 67 percent of all open OS devices will have an average selling price of $300 or below, proving that smartphones have been finally truly democratized.” Hit the jump for the full release, which includes Gartner’s predictions for iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Phone. More →

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mobile
January 12, 2011
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Mobile broadband to reach 1 billion users in 2011

By on January 12, 2011 at 3:23 AM.

Mobile broadband to reach 1 billion users in 2011

We are moving towards a more wireless world and Ericsson, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile network equipment, has reaffirmed that fact with some cold, hard statistics.

“During the course of 2010, a significant milestone in terms of mobile broadband subscriptions was reached as their number surpassed the half-a-billion mark globally,” said Ericsson.

The company goes on to note that this number will double before the close of 2011, pushing the total number of mobile broadband users over 1 billion. Asia is expected to spearhead the spike in users, followed closely by North America and Europe. By 2015, Ericsson estimates that 3.8 billion broadband subscriptions will be up for grabs. It’s no wonder carriers are jostling for mobile broadband market share. 3,800,000,000 users all paying, on average, $30 a month is a lot of loot. More →

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General
November 30, 2010
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T-Mobile to announce new, low-cost international talk and text plan

By on November 30, 2010 at 2:44 PM.

T-Mobile to announce new, low-cost international talk and text plan

According to a memo acquired by TmoNews, U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile is set to introduce a new, low-cost, international text and calling plan in time for the holidays. The new offering will allow users to send unlimited text messages to cell phones in over 220 countries and call land-line phones in 56 countries without incurring long-distance charges — calls to these countries will count against your plans monthly minute-allowance. The new international talk and text plan will require subscribers to have a postpaid calling account with a monthly plan costing $49.99 or higher and an unlimited domestic text messaging plan. After those prerequisites are met, users can add the international text and calling plan for an additional $10 per line. The plans should be available to T-Mobile customers starting December 8th. Hit the jump to see the full memo. More →

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General
October 13, 2010
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Apple's stock tops $300, U.S. market share at 10%

By on October 13, 2010 at 8:38 PM.

Apple's stock tops $300, U.S. market share at 10%

It certainly was a good day for Cupertino-based electronics company, Apple Inc. The company’s stock hit an all-time high of $301.96 per share — before closing at a more modest $300.14 per share — and, according to Gartner research, Apple now holds 10.4% of U.S. computer sales.

Market analytic firm Gartner is reporting that U.S. PC sales grew by roughly 2.2% from Q3 in 2009 to Q3 in 2010. In that same time period, Apple PC shipments increased by 13.7% to total 1.83 million units. Apple is now positioned fourth in shipments amongst U.S. PC manufacturers, trailing third-place Acer by roughly 17,000 units. HP and Dell hold the number one and two spots respectively and collectively account for over 50% of U.S. PC sales.

Gartner’s study isn’t all flowers and lollipops for Apple. The iCompany did not manage to break into the top six vendors in worldwide PC shipments for Q3; the top six companies are (in order): HP, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Toshiba. The worldwide PC market grew 7.6% year-over-year.

If the lack of international mojo has the folks in Cupertino feeling a bit inadequate, just remember this: your market capitalization is currently $274.2 billion… that’s just over a quarter of a trillion dollars and more than double the market caps of HP and Dell combined. More →

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General
October 4, 2010
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Windows Phone 7 worldwide launch one week from today, on T-Mobile

By on October 4, 2010 at 7:01 AM.

Windows Phone 7 worldwide launch one week from today, on T-Mobile

Despite all the talk about AT&T being Microsoft’s exclusive U.S. launch partner for Windows Phone 7, it looks like T-Mobile will actually have the honor. According to a post on Microsoft’s website, the “Windows Phone 7 Worldwide Launch Event” will take place next Monday, October 11, in New York City. The site also notes that, “T-Mobile reps will be present for device showing and their service offering discussion.” With the launch of the G2 and the relaunch of the myTouch 3G, it looks like the nation’s #4 carrier is coming out swinging for the holidays. There you have it. October 11, New York City, Windows Phone 7. We’re hoping to see that giant, sexy slab of a device known as the HD7. How about you? More →

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General
September 10, 2010
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Gartner: Android to be become #2 worldwide mobile OS this year, #1 by 2014?

By on September 10, 2010 at 2:10 PM.

Gartner: Android to be become #2 worldwide mobile OS this year, #1 by 2014?

Electronics research firm Gartner is predicting that: “The worldwide mobile operating system market will be dominated by Symbian and Android, as the two OSs will account for 59.8 percent of mobile OS sales by 2014.” The study goes onto predict that Android will oust BlackBerry maker Research In Motion from the number two spot at some point this year and will contest Nokia’s mobile OS — Symbian — for the top spot in 2014. Gartner writes:

Gartner predicts that by 2014, open-source platforms will continue to dominate more than 60 percent of the market for smartphones. Single-source platforms, such as Apple’s iOS and Research In Motion’s OS, will increase in unit terms, but their growth rate will be below market average and not enough to sustain share increase. Windows Phone will be relegated to sixth place behind MeeGo in Gartner’s worldwide OS ranking by 2014.

We’ve got the full article linked up for you. Let us know what you think. More →

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mobile
August 2, 2010
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Worldwide smartphone market share grew 64% in Q2, Android shipments grew 886%

By on August 2, 2010 at 12:07 PM.

Worldwide smartphone market share grew 64% in Q2, Android shipments grew 886%

Analytics firm Canalys has released their Q2 2010 smartphone market share metrics, and the numbers show Android continues its explosive growth. In Q2, the top three smartphone vendors in the U.S. were RIM, Apple, and HTC  respectively. Worldwide, the top three smartphone vendors were Nokia, RIM, and Apple respectively. The statistic in this report that really baked our noodle was the following: “With key products from HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG, among others, shipments of smart phones running the Google-backed Android operating system grew an impressive 886% in Q2 2010. [...] Android devices collectively represented a 34% share of the US market in the quarter, and with growth of 851% Android became the largest smart phone platform in the country.” There you have it. Those are some pretty staggering numbers, no? Hit the read link for the full report. More →

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General
November 11, 2009
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Apple tops Nokia in cell phone profits

By on November 11, 2009 at 8:05 AM.

Apple tops Nokia in cell phone profits

new-iphone-3g-in-stores

Perhaps it would be better to rename it the iPhone 3G$? Do you see what we did just there? Today, Reuters is reporting Apple overtook Nokia as the handset company with the highest total operating profit in the September quarter; the last time Nokia did not hold this title was Q3 of 2007. What does this mean? The iPhone generates a lot of revenue for the Cupertino computer maker. Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones in the July to September quarter to generate sales of $4.5 billion, Nokia on the other hand sold 108.5 million handsets and generated sales of $10.36 billion. Apple nudged out Nokia in revenue mainly due to other financial obligations and the economic downturn. You don’t need an abacus to figure out the iPhone is a huge part of Apple’s earnings. No panic out of the Nokia camp however, with the release of the N900 they’re confident in their ability to take back the top spot on the podium. One thing is for certain, we’ll be purchasing several of these Linux powered, A8 processor havin’, numbers. How about you? More →

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