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  • Analyst upgrades estimates for iPhone production for 2008 to at least 17 million


    Apple will build at least 15 million 3G iPhones in 2008 bringing its total smartphone production to at least 17 million phones.
    At least that’s what Craig Berger, semiconductor analysts with Friedman Billings Ramsey, expects production levels to run to by the year-end.
    He has upgraded his figures after previously saying that Apple would build 13 million iPhones in 2008 (which, interestingly, included 2 million 2.5G Edge-only iPhones).
    His rationale for the change is because he thinks iPhone production in the third quarter will be higher than expected.
    In a report issued to clients, the Wall Street analyst said Q2 build volumes were 25 per cent lower than previous checks, “as Apple pushes production out a bit into Q3”.
    Specifically, Berger says that Apple will build 9 million iPhones in the third quarter, up from 2 million in the second quarter, and more than 5 million iPhones in the fourth quarter.
    His estimate for 2008 production of at least 17 million phones includes 2 million 2.5G iPhones.
    The analyst said Broadcom and Marvell stand to be amongst the largest beneficiaries of the increased iPhone build forecast, as they’re both believed to be supplying key components for the new iPhone 3G.
    In a research note, Berger said: “Apple continues to knock the cover off the ball, that its product cycle momentum is ramping and that any consumer spending malaise in the US or Europe has yet to impact Apple-related product demand.”
    The iPhone’s future in China, the world’s biggest handset market, has become a little clearer after it was confirmed that Apple is in talks over a possible distribution deal with China Mobile.

  • Matsushita plans to produce 37-inch OLED TVs within three years


    Japan’s Matsushita is aiming to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years in a move that could ignite the OLED market.
    The Japanese trade daily, Sankei Shimbun, reports that the electronics giant – the parent of better-known sub-brand Panasonic – is putting the finishing touches on plans to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years.
    If the plans bear out, it would make Matsushita the first manufacturer producing OLED televisions over 30 inches in size, and could enable Matsushita to challenge Samsung for the top spot in the flat-screen television market.
    According to the report, Matsushita is considering initial prices around Yen 150,000 (roughly US$ 1,400), although Matsushita would only confirm that the company is working on commercialising OLED televisions at some point in the future.
    Sony launched an 11-inch OLED television in late 2007, while Toshiba and Samsung are also developing OLED televisions – although so far Matsushita’s proposed 37-inch size would be the largest of the bunch.
    OLED panels are considerably slimmer than traditional LCDs and use less energy since they don’t require backlighting.
    Late last year, Toshiba and Matsushita ditched a joint effort to enter the OLED television market with a 30-inch unit, following difficulties getting the system from research to production. They had planned to offer the 30-inch set in 2009.

  • Movies from every major Hollywood studio now available in HD


    The Weinstein Company became the final major studio in Hollywood to release movies in high def.
    It has announced that its first offering in HD is to be the horror movie The Mist, which will be released in Blu-ray this August 5th.
    The Weinstein company, distributors of Dimension Films, briefly supported HD DVD, but pulled out before releasing a title after the format’s downfall.
    The extensive extras present on the standard DVD are set to be included on the Blu-ray.
    These features include and audio commentary with director Frank Darabont, making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, and theatrical trailers.
    Both the original theatrical version and the stylised black and white version of the movie will each be present and each on their own disc.
    Each will be presented in 1080p with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track. Price has been listed at US$ 34.98.

  • Olympics and Tour de France to be aired as Europe's public channels add to their high definition options


    The UK’s BBC has begun testing the transmission of high def services over Freeview in a move that could see the introduction of full HD terrestrial by the end of 2009.
    The broadcaster has started transmissions from a Guildford-based transmitter using the second-generation DVB-T specification DVB-T2.
    Justin Mitchell, leader of the DVB-T2 modem development team at the BBC, said the trial could enable the introduction of HD onto Freeview by December next year.
    DVB-T2 is said to offer 30 per cent more data carrying capacity as DVB-T under the same conditions.
    Across the Channel, the HD version of public channel France 2 has been launched on several platforms, including CanalSat DTH and Numéricable.
    As has been the case with other broadcasters across Europe, including VRT in Belgium and Nederland 1 in The Netherlands, France 2 will show sport events such as the Tour de France and the Beijing Olympics in HD.
    Freeview currently uses the ten-year old DVB-T standard. DVB-T2 was developed for use in a “post-Analogue Switch-Off environment”.
    UK communications regulator Ofcom has said it wants to convert at least one of the nation’s DVB-T multiplexes to DVB-T2 by the end of 2009.
    The test comes as HDTV services begin to flourish in the UK, which has almost 10m HDTV sets currently in use.
    While Sky – the main provider of HD broadcasts in the UK – has barely half a million subscribers signed up to its Sky HD service, much is being made of the May launch of Freesat.
    The venture – a joint initiative between the BBC and ITV – has the potential to give millions of UK viewers access to free HD programmes for the first time.
    Its launch has prompted Sky to cut the price of its Sky+ HD set-top box by 50 per cent.
    Virgin and Apple have also improved their HD offerings recently.

  • Sony outlines plans for Blu-ray, PS3 video downloads, games and BRIC nations


    The world’s second-largest maker of consumer electronics aims to double its revenue in Brazil, Russia, India and China within three years by bolstering sales in seven main businesses including Bravia televisions and Blu-ray disc players.
    Sony’s plans for sales of electronics to so-called BRIC nations will rise to 1.2 trillion yen (US$11.1 billion) by the 12 months ending March 31, 2011, from 600 billion yen last fiscal year.
    Speaking in Tokyo, Sony chairman and CEO, Howard Stringer, was presenting the company’s mid-term corporate strategy, which included the first concrete details on the plan for on-demand video content, including a launch window of later this summer.
    After touting an installed base of 50 million network-enabled PS3 and PSP units and a plan to achieve profitability this year, Stringer outlined a large-scale video service for Sony’s entire empire.
    The as-yet-unnamed video store is described as a “premium film and TV service”. Aside from Sony titles, no other content deals have been announced.
    Stringer also said Sony expects its Blu-ray Disc-related business to approach US$ 10 billion in annual revenue within three years, while returning its games and liquid-crystal display TV operations to profitability.
    The company’s goal is to add Blu-ray-related operations to its portfolio of “trillion yen businesses” (US$ 9.27 billion), which include LCD TVs, gaming and mobile phones, by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011.
    “We are very pleased with the cross-divisional cooperation that led the success of the Blu-ray format,” said Howard Stringer. “Blu-ray Disc has positive implications for our hardware, software and game business.”
    He estimated that 15 million Blu-ray players and PlayStation 3 game consoles, which include the players, have been sold worldwide.
    Earlier this month, Sony said its electronics division’s operating income for the year ended March 31 more than doubled to 356 billion yen (US$ 3.3 billion) as electronics sales rose 8.9 per cent to 6.61 trillion yen (US$ 61.3 billion). The company didn’t specify Blu-ray-related sales or earnings.
    Additionally, Sony expects its liquid-crystal-display TV business to be the world’s largest within three years.
    For the first quarter, Sony’s 13 per cent market share trailed only Samsung’s 20 per cent among global LCD TV units, though in North America, the company was leap-frogged by closely held Vizio.
    “Three years ago, we had no significant presence in the LCD TV business,” said Stringer. “Today, we are competing well for first place for worldwide market share due to the strength of our Bravia lineup.”
    Finally, the company said 90 per cent of its electronics categories would be both network-connectable and wireless-enabled in an attempt to capitalize on its leadership position in LCD TVs, high-definition DVD players and game consoles.

  • Vodafone to launch "world first" converged solution of services and equipment in Australia


    A three-way initiative between Vodafone Australia, Cisco and Research In Motion (RIM) is to launch an integrated business communications services in Australia known as Vodafone Business One.
    Starting later this year, it will combine all telecommunication services – fixed and mobile, voice and data, services and equipment – into one managed service with single-point accountability on installation, technical support and fleet management and one monthly invoice.
    The service will be focusing primarily on small-medium sized businesses of between 10 to 100 employees.
    By using Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry smartphones along with Cisco Wi-Fi and IP-PBX in the office, Vodafone Business One customers will be able to make calls within the office zone at fixed-line rates, while making calls outside the office via the Vodafone mobile network.
    Both fixed and mobile calls will be covered by a single account-level service fee.
    BlackBerry smartphones can automatically select Wi-Fi as the preferred transmission method to send and receive calls and emails, as well as access other data applications, when in the office.
    Customers can choose to use IP phones or their BlackBerry dual-mode smartphones while in the office.
    Russell Hewitt, CEO at Vodafone Australia described the service as its most significant strategic play since the launch of 3G services three years ago.
    “With the announcement of Vodafone Business One, Vodafone has evolved from being a ‘mobile-only’ provider, to the world of full-service telecommunications services, enabling Vodafone to bring the principles of innovation and competition it has delivered in the mobile space to the fixed-line arena,” he said.
    Hewitt said the service offered a genuine alternative to spending money on traditional, fixed-lines with costly line rentals.
    Vodafone says that it will begin a progressive rollout of Vodafone Business One over the coming months to small and medium-sized enterprises in New South Wales before extending the service to customers in all major business centres by the end of the year.

  • iPhone 3G costs US$ 173 to make – 23 per cent less than predecessor


    The new iPhone is expected to carry an initial hardware Bill Of Materials (BOM) and manufacturing cost of US$ 173, according to a preliminary “virtual teardown” analysis conducted by iSuppli Corp.
    If correct, the second-generation iPhone could be even more profitable for Apple than either the original iPone or the iPod.
    Dr Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst for iSuppli, said that at a hardware BOM and manufacturing cost of US$ 173, the new iPhone is significantly less expensive to produce than the first-generation product.
    He said this was despite major improvements in the product’s functionality and unique usability, due to the addition of 3G communications.
    “The original 8Gbyte iPhone carried a cost of US $226 after component price reductions, giving the new product a 23 per cent hardware cost reduction due to component price declines,” he said.
    Last week, a survey revealed that nearly a quarter of US consumers questioned in a survey highlighted price as the main reason why they were not considering buying an Apple iPhone 3G.
    Dr Rebello said Apple was making a significant departure in its pricing strategy from the original 2G phone, which was sold at an unsubsidised price of US$ 499.
    Unlike the first version of the iPhone, Apple will not receive a portion of the wireless carriers’ revenue from service subscriptions – making it more imperative that the company makes a profit on the actual hardware through the carrier subsidies.
    He said the estimated subsidy to be paid by the wireless carriers to Apple would be about US$ 300 per iPhone.
    “This means that with subsidies from carriers, Apple will be selling the 8Mbyte version of the second-generation iPhone to carriers at an effective price of about US$ 499 per unit, the same as the original product,” he said.
    This represents a higher BOM/manufacturing margin than that on Apple’s iPod and original iPhone, which typically are priced about 50 per cent more than their BOM and manufacturing costs.
    The analysts project that with BOM costs likely to decrease over time as component prices decline, the BOM/manufacturing cost of the second-generation iPhone will decrease to US$ 148 in 2009, down 37 per cent from US$ 173 in 2008.
    If the design remains unchanged, this cost will decline to $126 in 2012.
    iSuppli’s preliminary virtual teardown estimate of the 8Gbyte 3G iPhone’s costs doesn’t include other costs, including software development, shipping and distribution, packaging, and miscellaneous accessories included with each phone.
    Once the 3G iPhone becomes available, iSuppli will perform an actual, detailed teardown of the new iPhone’s components and cost structure.

  • Launch of iPhone fails to dent RIM's optimism for Blackberry as profit and revenue doubles in Q1


    Strong sales of Blackberry devices have helped Smartphone-maker Research in Motion Ltd (RIM) to more than double its first quarter profit and revenue.
    The Canadian company earned US$482.5 million for the three months that ended May 31, up from US$223.2 million in the same period last year.
    RIM’s revenue increased to US$2.24 billion from US$1.08 billion for the same period.
    There was a net gain of 2.3 million BlackBerry subscribers in the quarter, six per cent higher than in the fourth quarter, to bring the total number of subscribers to more than 16 million.
    Around 5.4 million new devices were shipped by the company in the first quarter of 2008.
    Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive of RIM, said revenue had increased 107 per cent in the quarter, a rise he attributed to the continued popularity of the BlackBerry platform in business, government and consumer segments.
    “Our comprehensive technology and business strategies continue to reap strong results in the market, and RIM is well positioned to build on its momentum throughout the remainder of fiscal 2009,” he said.
    “As we prepare this summer to ship our 40 millionth BlackBerry smartphone, we continue to steadily scale our business and partnerships to support the opportunities ahead in this thriving sector.”
    But despite the buoyant results, financial markets took an unfavourable view of the the company missing analysts’ earnings per share estimates by a penny and giving disappointing guidance for next quarter.
    The news sent shares of RIM tumbling in after-hours trading, down 7.61 per cent, to US$ 10.84.
    RIM expects its revenue in the second quarter, which ends August 31, to be in the range of US$2.55 billion to US$2.65 billion.
    Balsillie said RIM’s strong product portfolio and the continued commitment by carrier partners to promote BlackBerry throughout the summer months, would ensure healthy growth in Q2
    The company’s Kickstart flip phone and the BlackBerry Bold, a touch-screen device, are both due for launch in the second quarter.

  • Report says HDTV will not become the new "normal" television until around 2015


    The uptake of HD technology in Europe is accelerating rapidly but there remains a “significant” content gap caused by the lack of HD programming on free-to-air platforms across the region.
    That’s the conclusion of the latest report from media analysts Screen Digest which says that by the end of 2007, 18 per cent of the 165 million European TV households were equipped with HD displays.
    But less than one per cent of these (approximately one million) were fully “HD enabled” – that is equipped with an HD set-top box and an HD subscription enabling them to watch HD broadcasts.
    The report forecasts that by 2012 the situation will have improved little – only 20 per cent of the 85 per cent of European households with HD displays will actually be watching in HD.
    It says that ultimately HD will become the default choice of TV viewers but in the most part they will have to wait at least until 2015 to enjoy the content for free.
    This will be driven by the availability of HD across all free platforms, channels upgrading to HD making other formats unwatchable and next-generation TV’s coming with MPEG4 capability.
    Vincent Létang , senior analyst with Screen Digest and author of the report, said that in the next five years, HDTV will remain little more than a pay TV product in Europe – primarily on satellite.
    He said analogue switch-off, which will happen between 2010 and 2012 will free-up bandwidth capacity on the digital terrestrial platform and will kick-start the next phase of growth in high definition TV.
    “HDTV will become the mainstream and ultimately the standard form of free television around the middle of the next decade,” he said.
    “In ten years time, nobody will ever refer to “high definition” because HD will be everywhere.”
    The report, entitled “HDTV 2008: Global Uptake, Strategies and Business Models”, identifies three critical success factors that will support the successful expansion of HDTV: penetration of HD displays; supply of HD content and the availability of HD broadcast platforms.
    It identifies the lack of access to free-to-air HD channels as a key reason behind the low take-up of HD.
    “In Europe there are currently approximately 100 HD channels, with the vast majority on satellite and only a handful available on cable,” the report states.
    “As of today, only Sweden has launched HD on free-to-air digital terrestrial TV and only France and the UK are likely to follow suit in the short term.”

  • DVD still dominates the movie market but Blu-ray set to overtake by 2012


    The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) expects sales of Blu-ray disks in the US to exceed those of standard DVDs by 2012.
    In its latest Annual Report on the Home Entertainment Industry, the EMA reports that home video continues to dominate the movie market.
    This segment of the market had sales of approximately US$24 billion, making it the largest segment of consumer movie spending by far, accounting for 49% of total consumer movie spending in 2007.
    In the video game market, game software sales increased 34% in 2007, to a total of US$8.6 billion.
    EMA is the not-for-profit international trade association that represent s the interests of the home entertainment industry.
    The report said that nearly 9 million high-definition discs were sold in 2007, for which consumers spent more than US$260 million.
    But it projected that in 2012, sales of Blu-ray Discs will have outstripped those of standard DVDs and will generate sales of US$9.5 billion.
    Bo Andersen, president and CEO of EMA, said the report provided comprehensive data on and analysis of sales and rentals of DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, video on demand, computer and console video games, and competing technologies.
    He said DVD still dominated the movie market but consumers were swiftly adopting new technologies.
    “Consumers remain enamored with DVD and video games even as they incorporate new forms of entertainment media into their consumption patterns,” he said.
    “New generations of hardware and software, and alternative delivery channels, will ensure that home video and video games remain phenomenally popular entertainment options for the American public for years to come.”
    Other statistics in the report included:
     Home video generated US US$15.9 billion in sales and US$8.2 billion in rentals in 2007.
     There were 12,177 DVDs released in 2007, down from a peak of 13,950 in 2005.
     Home video spending is projected to increase to US$25.6 billion in 2012.
     Traditional rental stores, dominated by Blockbuster, accounted for 73% of the rental business in 2007.
     Online subscription rental (such as Netflix and Blockbuster’s Total Access) were 25% of the market. Kiosk rental doubled its market share to 2%.