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  • Smartphone demand undented by economic woes

    Global demand for mobile devices still expected to reach 1.3 billion units in 2008 despite financial uncertainties, according to ABI Research

    The fact many global economies are teetering on the brink of recession doesn’t appear to have diminished consumer demand for top-end mobile phones.

    As the recent launch of the 3G iPhone demonstrated, the public appetite for the latest, most sophisticated smartphones is strong.

    Now a report by ABI Research suggests that while handset sales in developed markets were flat, those that did purchase were willing to pay more for the newest smartphones.

    As a result of this, it estimates that the mobile device market will deliver 13 per cent growth to take 2008 annual shipments to 1.3 billion units.

    It shows that in the second quarter of 2008, Tier One handset vendors enjoyed year-over-year unit shipment growth of between 15 and 22 per cent.

    An estimated 301 million units were shipped during the quarter, according to the analysts.

    Jake Saunders, vice president of ABI Research, said: “If there is an economic slowdown, no one bothered to tell the mobile device buying public.

    “In particular, consumers in emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America shrugged off inflation fears to sign up as mobile phone users.

    “These healthy gains in net subscriber additions are stimulating replacement and upgrade sales.
    “In developed markets handset purchases tended to be flat, but those consumers who did purchase dug deeper and paid out more for coveted higher-end handsets and smartphones.”

    In terms of market share, the report Mobile Devices Market Sizing and Share, shows that Nokia has passed the 40 per cent threshold for the first time (40.3%).

    Samsung secured second place with 15.2 per cent, while Motorola barely managed to keep ahead of LG with its 9.3 per cent versus LG’s 9.2 per cent, and both edged out Sony Ericsson (8.3 per cent).

    There is a distinct possibility that LG might overtake Motorola by the end of 3Q 2008, putting Motorola into fourth place.

    “There is admittedly turmoil in the global economy, but the mass market’s fascination with getting the latest and greatest handset shows no sign of abating,” said ABI’s research director Kevin Burden.

    However, even with the expected 1H 2008 success of Tier One handset vendors – with Apple’s latest iPhone leading the charge – Nokia’s overall market share is likely to hold.

    This is in large part down to it refreshing its portfolio in the mid-tier and high end categories and pretty much cornering the ultra-low cost handset market.

  • DISH first to broadcast live Blu-ray quality video

    Satellite broadcaster becomes first the TV broadcaster to offer video in a full 1080p resolution

    Subscribers to America’s DISH Network who have its MPEG-4 HD DVR boxes are to be offered full 1080p (1920×1080 progressive) resolution wherever content is available.

    Starting on August 1 with a Video On Demand option for the movie I Am Legend, the new high resolution programming will supercede the 1080i (interlaced) or 720p which until now was usual HD fare for DISH and other services.

    The satellite company claims it is giving subscribers Blu-ray quality images for a lower price than renting a disc.
    It is also launching a new set of channel bundles known as TurboHD that are claimed to be the first in the market to offer customers a package that only contains HD stations.

    Charlie Ergen, CEO of DISH Network, said the upgraded resolution was possible as a result of its new satellite, Echo XI.
    This will also allow the broadcaster to extend its current 114 HD channels to 150 by the autumn.

    He said that by early August, all DISH Network customers with MPEG-4 HD DVR receivers will be able to view 1080p content.

    “This marks the first time in history a pay-TV provider offers movies in 1080p, the highest resolution format available for HD video enthusiasts,” he said.

    “Our latest system upgrade, coupled with the introduction of TurboHD, further strengthens our position as the leader in digital television and high definition television, platforms we look forward to enhancing even more with mobile and portable options.”

  • First Blu-ray Disc player with streaming movies

    Korean firm LG has announced the first Blu-ray Disc player able to instantly stream movies from Netflix to the TV

    LG Electronics and Netflix are to launch the first Blu-ray Disc player that will have the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly to the TV.

    The LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, which is to be launched in the autumn, will play high definition Blu-ray discs and up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p.

    But it will also allow Netflix subscribers to stream more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV for no additional charge.

    Teddy Hwang, president of LG Electronics USA, said with Blu-ray player sales expected to triple in three years, consumers are craving content and seeking a premium home entertainment experience.

    “The BD300 is another LG industry first and provides consumers with an advanced high-def disc player with unparalleled flexibility and networked access for services such as Netflix,” he said.

    Using a Queue-based user interface, subscribers will use the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues.

    Those choices will automatically be displayed on members’ TVs and available to watch instantly through the LG player.
    It is claimed that once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds.

    With the BD300’s accompanying remote control, Netflix members will be able to browse and make selections on the TV screen and have the ability to read synopses and rate movies.

    In addition, they will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream. The player also has a BD Live feature, BonusView and LG’s SimpLink technology, which allows users to control similarly equipped LG TV and AV products via on-screen menus or directly from the product itself.

    In January, prior to the 2008 International CES, LG Electronics and Netflix announced their technology partnership to provide a set-top box for consumers to stream movies and TV episodes from the Internet to the TV beginning in the second half of the year.

    Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, said: “LG Electronics was the first of our technology partners to publicly embrace our strategy for getting the Internet to the TV, and is the first to introduce a Blu-ray player that will instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV.”

  • Set Top Box unit shipments spike as digital TV services proliferate


    Strong demand for digital STBs led to record shipments totalling 143 million units in 2007, according to market analysts In-Stat.

    The results ensure that the digital STB market remains one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer electronics industry.

    UK set-top box specialist Pace just announced a rise in STB shipments of 55 per cent in the first half of this year, helping push revenues forward 22 per cent to £231m.

    Heavy consumer interest in Free-to-Air satellite services, coupled with the expanding availability of digital cable TV and IPTV services, have helped fuel the industry’s best ever results.

    Among the other results included in The Global Digital Set Top Box Market are:

    *  Worldwide digital set top box unit shipments reached 143 million in 2007, up sharply from 121 million in 2006.

    *  Satellite set top box unit shipments accounted for just over 50 per cent of all global digital set top box unit shipments last year, while digital cable set top boxes made up 29 per cent of total unit shipments.

    *  Worldwide digital set top box product revenues hit US$14 billion in 2007, an increase of US$3 billion over 2006 revenues.

    * The market for semiconductor components inside digital set top boxes also grew significantly last year. The total value of semiconductors embedded in digital set top boxes increased to US$7.7 billion in 2007.

  • HDTV-enabled receivers boost Pace's STB shipments

    “HD is the flavour for just about everyone…there is a big trend upwards towards HDTV”

    Pace CEO Neil Gaydon


    UK set-top box specialist Pace saw box shipments rise 55 per cent in the first half of this year with HDTV-enabled receivers with built-in hard drives fuelling the growth.

    Volumes rose from 1.8 million in the half-year to December 1 2007 to 2.8 million units to June 30. The additional shipments helped push revenues forward 22 per cent to £231m (£190m to Dec 1 2007).

    They also signalled a reversal of fortune at its French operation, which in the half-year moved from an anticipated loss, to profit of £2.1m.

    Despite the inevitable squeezes on factory-gate prices Pace’s operating margins were up marginally from 20.7 to 21 per cent.

    The performance helped profits (before tax and exceptionals) rise from £10.6m (half-year to Dec 1 2007) to £11.2m this year.

    The company says it is now working with 17 of the world’s top 25 pay-TV operators, and reported a CAGR of its HD-PVR shipments up 49%.

    Pace CEO Neil Gaydon said the company had made strong progress in the first half, building on the performance momentum it has created over the last three years.

    “We launched ten new high definition products with customers around the world and improved the overall performance across the group,” he said.

    “The business is in good shape to capitalise on growth in our core set-top box business, new markets and new technologies as the world embraces the wide range of digital TV solutions.”

  • Sales of Full HD TVs rising in UK

    Price cuts for LCD TVs ensure drop in value of UK consumer electronics market – but continued growth of full HD TVs help bolster figures

    Demand for Full HD TVs is helping to offset the declining market value for UK consumer electronics products, according to a report from market research specialists GfK.

    The total market for electrical goods fell in value for the first time for years in May, with A/V turnover down 7 per cent compared to the same period last year.

    The study by GfK shows that with “vision” products contributing most of the market value, a key factor in the downturn was the performance of the LCD market.

    For the first time ever in the UK, this declined in May – dropping 4 per cent despite a 12 per cent increase in LCD unit sales over that period.

    Central to the decrease was a fall in the 32” segment and, coupled with an overall average price fall of 20 per cent, a sizeable decline in value was registered.

    However growth remains strong in the 37", 40" and 42" LCD sectors which now represent one fifth of LCD units (Q/E May 08).

    “There are signs that the overall price erosion for these larger screen sizes are slowing too: 40-42" average prices fell by 31 per cent in the latest year ending, 27 per cent in the year to date, but a less pronounced 21 per cent in the latest month,” says the report.

    It goes on to point out that one of the factors contributing to this is the continued emergence of Full HD sets, which in May saw a significant increase in share of the overall LCD market, increasing from 10 per cent to 14 per cent of sales from April to May.

    The report adds: “Plasma sales remain strong at 50" with Full HD also continuing to penetrate the market. A fifth of Plasma sets sold in May were Full HD.”

    The second most important section of the vision market is the DVD market.

    Although total DVD value has fallen on a year on year basis, the GFK report say it is “encouraging” that there are still two key growth sectors.

    One is the standalone player, which it notes is boosted by High Definition.
    “And with the High Definition format war now resolved we should expect to see increased activity within this area,” says the report.

    “The other growth sector is DVD Recorder with Hard Disc Drive (HDD) and the HDD sector is now worth more than the no HDD sector (51 per cent of total Recorder value in May).

    Although camcorders are a much less high profile market, GfK says High Definition models also offer a source of value to the market.

    The report concludes that despite the downward trend seen for vision products as a whole in May there remains plenty of opportunity with High Definition/Full HD and the new service of Freesat.

  • Paul Semenza appointed senior vice president at DisplaySearch

    Display industry veteran Paul Semenza has been named as Display Search’s senior vice president managing its North American and European analyst teams.

    With more than 20 years of global market research experience, Semenza most recently served as vice president and manager of iSuppli’s Display Business.

    In this role he managed the firm’s market intelligence and consulting practice in the electronic display and consumer electronics sectors.

    A frequent speaker at major industry events such as CES and SID’s DisplayWeek, Semenza is has been quoted in leading business and trade publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, EE Times, Bloomberg, Information Display and CNBC.

    Tim Bush, DisplaySearch’s group president and general manager, said the company was “thrilled” to have Semenza join its team of global analysts.

    “Paul’s leadership, industry knowledge, and market insights will be a great complement to the DisplaySearch business,” he said.

    Prior to iSuppli, Semenza was a program officer at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council, where he directed studies on IT policy.

    Before that, he served as a consultant for Mogee Research on international patent activity and was an analyst for the US Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), covering emerging technologies such as flat panel displays.

    He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and master’s degree in electro-optics from Tufts University.
    In 1994, he received a master’s degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

  • Touchscreens to become more than just smartphone feature

    Touchscreen–equipped mobile handset shipments are to exceed 230 Million by 2012 as technology spreads to feature phones

    The popularity of touchscreens in smartphones and their influence in driving data revenues will cause the technology to rapidly spread to other handsets.

    A report from IMS Research credits the original iPhone for sparking interest in touchscreen phones.
    But its says what is currently a steady growth in sales of touchscreen-equipped mobile handsets will become even stronger.

    The report forecasts that while fewer than 30 million touchscreen phones were sold in 2007, this will surge to over 230 million by 2012.

    It cites numerous signs that show touchscreens are poised to significantly increase their presence in the mobile handset market.

    Among them are recent announcements from the three largest mobile phone manufacturers which have highlighted a trend in the increased production of phones using touch technology.

    In July, LG revealed that it had sold 7 million touchscreen handsets. This announcement came just five quarters after LG launched its very first touchscreen mobile phone.

    Showing similar success, Samsung recently released the Instinct, a full touchscreen handset, through Sprint.
    Just one week after the launch, Sprint announced that the Instinct had already become the best selling EV-DO device in the carrier’s history.

    Not to be outdone, Apple reported selling 1 million of the new 3G iPhone handsets in just the first three days of its release.

    Femi Omoni , IMS Research analyst and report author, said the original iPhone was the catalyst that created this huge market interest in touchscreen phones.

    “The fact that it was not only popular with consumers, but also helped drive data revenues proved how important touchscreen handsets can be,” he said. “Now all of the network operators and handset manufacturers want a piece of the pie.”

    The impressive growth that IMS Research is predicting will not be driven solely by the smartphone segment either.

    According to the report Touchscreens & Input Technologies for Mobile Handsets, touchscreens will increasingly penetrate the much larger feature phone segment.
    In fact, Nokia just announced that its initial foray into the touchscreen market will be targeted at the “volume market” because that segment of the population is the largest consumer of mobile phones.

  • Chinese rival to Blu-ray squares up for fight

    Odds stacked against Blu-Ray competitor despite cheaper production costs and lower royalties

    Volume production of China’s self-developed high-definition optical disc format – China Blue High-definition Disc (CBHD) – is to begin in the fourth quarter of 2008.


    Shanghai United Optical Disc has completed its first production line and its output is initially expected to sell only in the Chinese market.

    Until recently CBHD was known as CH DVD (China High-definition DVD) – the Chinese version of the Toshiba-supported HD DVD format that lost out to Sony-backed Blu-ray last year.

    Yet while the costs of setting up a CBHD manufacturing facility and royalty fees to produce players are lower than those for Blu-ray, Taiwanese drive-makers are not optimistic about the format’s prospects.

    A report in the Chinese-language enorth.com.cn says that CBHD will find it difficult to compete with Blu-ray Disc (BD) in the Chinese market.

    This is despite the costs for refitting a DVD production line to manufacture CBHD discs being only US$800,000 – much lower than the US$3 million needed to set up a BD disc production line.

    Royalty fees to produce licensed CBHD players will be about 55 yuan (US$8.10), are also much lower than BD licensing rates.

    However, the enorth.com.cn report suggests that these cost advantages will not be sufficient to impact upon BD’s increasing market penetration.

    It points out that members of the BD Association have reduced retail prices for their entry-level Chinese-made BD players in the North American market to around US$299 and prices are expected to drop further.

    This would leave CBHD players facing challenging price competition once they are launched in the China market.
    The reports also notes that CBHD has not won support from leading movie studios in Hollywood and this is expected to render the format at a significant disadvantage in competition with BD.

  • Verizon gets a bite of Apple's success

    iPhone credited with spurring Verizon’s smartphone sales as Q2 earnings exceed predictions

    Verizon Wireless has exceeded analysts’s predictions and posted impressive second quarter earnings of US$1.88 billion.
    A key factor in the results was increased smartphone sales, which now account for 30 per cent of the US carrier’s device sales.

    Denny Strigl, Verizon’s president and COO, even went as far as to give the build up of interest for the 3G iPhone’s launch earlier this month some of the credit for his company’s results.

    Verizon, currently the number two phone service provider, is fighting the Apple handset’s exclusive carrier, AT&T, for the market leadership slot.
    “As we saw with the initial introduction, the iPhone has actually stimulated smartphone sales,” he said.

    Verizon Wireless’s revenue for the second quarter was US$24.12 billion, up from US$23.27 billion in the first quarter and a 3.7 per cent increase compared with second quarter 2007.

    Shrugging of a sluggish economy, the company attributed strong growth in wireless services and demand for data services as the primary stimulators in the results.

    Businesses or individual smartphone users don’t appear to be switching off services, pulling back on data services or putting off handset upgrades.

    Verizon Wireless added 1.5 million subscribers in the second quarter bringing its total subscriber base to 68.7 million.
    Last week AT&T reported adding more than a million subscribers.