IDC: Apple, Android own 92% smartphone volume, Windows Phone beats BlackBerry

By Ed Sutherland on May 16, 2013

Just days after rival research firm Gartner released quarterly sales for iOS and Android, rival IDC today announced similar numbers for shipments of smartphones. Combined, iOS and Android maintained their stranglehold on the smartphone market, accounting for more than an astounding 92 percent of shipments during the first quarter of 2013.

In a surprising move, shipments of the Windows Phone smartphone operating system surpassed the BlackBerry OS, putting Microsoft in third place behind Android and iOS. I bet you didn’t see that one coming… Read More

 

New Nokia video pits PureView camera against iPhone 5, Galaxy S3

By Cody Lee on May 9, 2013

Nokia has yet to find an answer to the iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy line, but it’s hoping it’s getting closer. The Finnish phone-maker is expected to release a new flagship handset, the Lumia 928, within the next few months featuring its patented PureView technology.

Adding to the speculation, Nokia posted a new video yesterday on the Lumia’s landing page of video shot with the 928′s PureView camera, and compared with footage taken with the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy SIII. And I’ll give you one guess who comes out on top… Read More

 

A first: smartphone shipments outnumber feature phones

By Ed Sutherland on Apr 26, 2013

For some time, the mobile phone industry has been shifting toward more powerful smartphones and away from basic mobile phones. Now comes word that smartphones outnumber feature phones for the first time. The line was crossed in the first quarter of 2013 with 216.1 million smartphones shipping, accounting for 51.6 percent of all handsets sold. Smartphone shipments grew 41.6 percent during the quarter, up from 152.7 million units shipped during the same period in 2012, one industry research firm announced Thursday… Read More

 

Nokia boss throws interviewer’s iPhone on the floor

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 22, 2013

Wow, this has got to be a new low for the ailing Nokia and its boss, former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop. With everyone trashing Apple these days, from investors to big media to analysts, the Nokia CEO apparently thinks piggy-backing on the trend is the way to go to score a few coolness points.

After an interviewer on a Finnish television said he had an iPhone in his pocket, a petulant Elop – unable to control his manners – nervously quipped “how embarrassing, I’ll take care of that” before throwing the device on the floor as if it were a piece of useless junk. That’s the first time a big name CEO has exercised such an utmost disrespect for a rival, at least to my knowledge… Read More

 

Samsung leads Apple, Lenovo in China smartphone market

By Ed Sutherland on Mar 11, 2013

An interesting report on what smartphone brand is leading in China leaked over the weekend. It’s interesting because most market updates are distributed far and wide. Instead, the South Korean news agency Yonhap published a private report indicating that country’s Samsung leads Apple and others in the huge mobile marketplace.

According to the Strategy Analytics report obtained by Yonhap, Samsung is the number one brand in China with 17.7 percent of the market during 2012. Intriguingly, Samsung’s rise coincides with a plummeting Nokia, which previously held the top spot… Read More

 

Nokia files brief in support of Apple’s bid to ban Samsung products

By Cody Lee on Mar 7, 2013

Since Apple won its monumental case against Samsung in California last fall, things haven’t really been going its way. Its billion dollar settlement has been nearly cut in half, and its request to ban Samsung’s infringing products has been denied.

But it appears that Nokia, of all companies, has been watching the case closely. And according to a new report, it has filed a brief with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of Apple, claiming that Judge Koh got it all wrong… Read More

 

iPhones found to be 300% more reliable than Samsung handsets

By Cody Lee on Feb 22, 2013

Earlier this week, research firm Strategy Analytics issued a report showing that the iPhone 5 and 4S are the two most popular smartphones in the world. The 5 alone accounts for 13% of all smartphones shipped globally.

Today, crowd-sourced trouble-shooting website FixYa shared its own findings on the smartphone space. And according to its data, Apple’s handset isn’t just the best-selling in the world. It’s also [by far] the most reliable… Read More

 

Gartner: more than half of all handsets sold in 2012 were Apple, Samsung

By Ed Sutherland on Feb 13, 2013

The battle between Apple and Samsung for smartphone supremacy rages on. While the two rivals accounted for more than half of smartphones sold during 2012, demand for the South Korean firm’s phones rose nearly 86 percent while iPhone sales rose by around 22 percent last year. According to Gartner, the two companies took No. 1 and No. 3 spots in overall while ranking first and second in the growing market for smartphones, respectively.

This as the cell phone industry saw its first dip in sales since 2009. Other vendors, of course, were left fighting each other for scraps… Read More

 

Apple, Samsung took 103% of 2012 handset profits

By Ed Sutherland on Feb 7, 2013

We have often written how the handset market is essentially a duopoly of operating systems – iOS and Android – as well as brands: Apple and Samsung. Yesterday came even another way the two are dominating the mobile world – profits. Apple and Samsung accounted for 103 percent of handset profits in 2013, a figure made possible by the zero or negative growth by six of the eight leading handset makers. Apple held 69 percent of handset profits earned in all of 2012, more than double that of the South Korean Samsung, which hauled in 34 percent of phone profits last year, according to Canaccord Genuity… Read More

 

The iPhone is now one-fourth of the world’s smartphone market

By Ed Sutherland on Jan 25, 2013

Lost in all of the talk of Apple’s declining profits was that the iPhone now accounts for a quarter of all smartphones shipped globally in 2012.

Although Samsung’s triple-digit yearly growth-rate blinded many observers, Apple last year did eek out 47 percent growth.

It was enough to make Apple the only smartphone maker beside the South Korean firm to show any growth at all in 2012. Apple shipped 136.8 million iPhones in 2012, up from 93.1 million units in 2011, according to technology researcher IDC. Wednesday, Apple announced it shipped 47.8 million iPhones during the fourth quarter of last year…

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Apple wins key SIM connector patent related to iOS gadgets, Macs – even TVs

By Christian Zibreg on Dec 26, 2012

The United States Patent & Trademark Office on Christmas Day granted Apple a key patent detailing a SIM tray solution for mobile products which incorporates connectors that “may allow SIM cards to be easily removed and replaced”. The invention – which also may be resistant to damage by an improper insertion of a SIM card and may provide reliable mechanical performance – is viewed as a strategically important patent grant “in light of the battle between Nokia and Apple over the design of future miniature SIM cards for mobile devices”, explains the PatentlyApple blog that tracks Apple’s trademark and patent filings… Read More

 

Samsung passes Nokia as the world’s top phone brand in 2012

By Ed Sutherland on Dec 18, 2012

The cellphone industry has a new king. South Korea’s Samsung is #1 in the market, unseating the Finnish-based Nokia after fourteen years. As 2012 wraps up, Samsung is responsible for 29 percent of all cell phone shipments, up from last year’s 24 percent.

Conversely, Nokia slips to #2, dropping to 24 percent of the market, a fall from 30 percent posted in 2011. Nokia’s departure from a top spot it held since 1998 is largely due to the predominance of smartphones, an area where Samsung thrived and Nokia faltered, according to the hardware research firm iSuppli… Read More

 

China is now the world’s largest Android smartphone market

By Ed Sutherland on Dec 18, 2012

Just how important is China to the top two smartphone platforms: Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS? The Asian nation is now the largest single market for Android, with the United States a distant second. What’s more, half of the smartphones sold in America next year could be Android-powered unless Apple “makes radical changes to its aging iOS”, one research firm warns Tuesday.

China is rushing to turn in their feature phones for more powerful smartphones, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. Smartphones grew at an 85 percent clip compared to 2011. That’s nearly double the 45 percent year-over-year growth worldwide. Just in 2012 alone, an astounding 786 million smartphones were sold in the 1.33 billion people market… Read More

 

Has Google just won the iOS maps war?

By Ed Sutherland on Dec 14, 2012

While most people consider the return of Google Maps to Apple’s App Store an all-around positive, one observer sees the move as a ‘mixed blessing’ for club Cupertino. Not only is the familiar mapping application once again available, but the Android maker Google may now overshadow Apple’s own efforts to make a difference in the increasingly competitive mobile mapping arena. As we reported yesterday, the new Google Maps for iOS is the top free app for the iPhone.

Indeed, Google admits the iOS app – which adds turn-by-turn directions – is superior to the Android version from a design standpoint. But for Google, returning to iOS means it also reconnects with iPhone users and a wealth of data… Read More

 

Looks like it’s gonna be a very Merry Apple Christmas indeed

By Ed Sutherland on Dec 13, 2012

Despite a blitz of advertising and promotions, consumers across the globe are choosing Apple products during the run up to Christmas. After interviewing more than seventy shoppers in ten cities, Reuters reports consumers are not swayed either by Wall Street concerns or Madison Avenue come-ons. Instead, in shopping malls in the US, Europe and Asia, the key is Apple’s simplicity.

Samsung – Apple’s chief rival – is gaining no converts in shopping malls. Only in Singapore and Bangalore, India did Reuters find consumers picking Samsung products over the iPhone or iPad. In Mexico, despite having a mall covered with ads and displays promoting the South Korean firm’s products, the iPad mini is selling like hotcakes…

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Apple shares fall 4 percent amid heavy trading and post-Jobs era concerns

By Ed Sutherland on Dec 7, 2012

Questions about Apple’s future lead to heavy trading in the technology giant Wednesday afternoon, prompting a 4.2 percent drop to $551.50 per share and an almost 22 percent decline since it’s all-time high of $705 in September. More than 17 million shares were traded during midday action on Wall Street. Among questions facing investors: can Apple management perform without Steve Jobs, can the company produce another hit product, and can the iPad maker fend off Android… Read More

 

RIM lost Nokia suit, now faces BlackBerry ban

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 28, 2012

An interesting opportunity has presented itself to Microsoft following news that Canada-based Research In Motion has lost a legal dispute with Nokia over wireless technology patents. As a result, RIM could see BlackBerry handsets banned unless it agrees to pay royalties to Nokia. As things stand, Nokia has already filed cases in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom to enforce the ruling, a move that could see all Blackberry smartphones removed from store shelves.

“In order to enforce the Tribunal’s ruling, we have now filed actions in the US, UK and Canada with the aim of ending RIM’s breach of contract”, Nokia said in a statement. If the courts enforce the sales ban, consequences for the ailing BlackBerry maker could be devastating while opening door to Microsoft’s Windows Phone becoming the #3 mobile platform… Read More

 

iPhone 5 helps Apple regain lead over Android in US smartphone market

By Ed Sutherland on Nov 27, 2012

Apple’s iPhone 5 has helped the California-based gadget maker propel itself into the first place in the United States, topping Google’s Android in arguably the world’s most important smartphone market. Specifically, Apple’s iPhone doubled its share of US smartphone sales and now enjoys a 48.1 percent share compared to 46.7 percent for Android.

The last time Apple held the lead in the US smartphone market was after the introduction of the iPhone 4S. Market research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech announced Tuesday Google’s mobile operating system still dominates in Europe, where it holds up to 81 percent of the market share in some countries… Read More

 

Nokia’s Here Maps app hits the App Store

By Cody Lee on Nov 20, 2012

Last week, Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop told reporters at a San Francisco press conference that Nokia was rebranding their mapping service to Here Maps, and would be releasing a native iOS app for the service within a few weeks.

Today, Nokia has made good on that promise, as its Here Maps app has just been spotted in the App Store. The HTML5-based software includes walking and public transportation directions, and many other features… Read More

 

Gartner: Apple and Samsung shipped nearly half of all smartphones in Q3

By Ed Sutherland on Nov 14, 2012

As mobile phones become smarter, Samsung and Apple continue to rule the landscape as the world’s best-selling cell phone brands. As for Google’s Android platform, it now controls more than seven out over every ten smartphones in consumers’ hands, a new report suggests. Both Samsung and Apple controlled 46.5 percent of the smartphone market in the third quarter.

The iOS-Android duopoly had a commanding 86 percent platform lead in the third quarter, according to research firm Gartner. Individually, the South Korean smartphone maker held 32.5 percent of the market while Apple held 13.9 percent, the researcher announced Wednesday. Android now controls an astounding 72.4 percent of the mobile operating system market for smartphones, up from 52 percent in the year-ago quarter… Read More

 
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