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Tag: 3g

  • Apple's earnings from iPhone could be higher than first estimated






    As pricing details continue to emerge about the new iPhone, one analyst estimates that Apple stands to make more from each device than previously thought.
    Gene Munster, of investment bank Piper Jaffray, said that AT&T’s complete official pricing for iPhone 3G units suggests Apple is making more from the reportedly abundant iPhone stock than estimated in the past.
    Although the US$199 starting price is much lower for the customers themselves, the US$599 pay-as-you-go price suggests that the carrier subsidy cuts much deeper.
    If so, then this hides potentially greater profits for Apple, which could be asking US$500 for each iPhone versus an earlier estimate of US$425.
    “This discrepancy leads us to believe our [average selling price] is conservative,” said Munster.
    The analyst said that a change of this level would boost Apple’s revenue for 2009 by eight per cent.
    Reitzes also points out that steep drops in the prices of NAND flash memory could further help Apple’s bottom line by reducing the manufacturing costs of each iPhone.
    However, such is the iPhone’s hunger for flash chips – Apple is understood to have ordered 50 million of Samsung’s eight gigabit (one gigabyte) – that Samsung’s supply is reportedly being put under pressure.
    Each iPhone typically uses multiple stacked chips.
    Some of Samsung’s smaller customers are apparently being told that their own orders are being reduced to keep Apple in healthy supply.
    The situation has been compounded by Samsung reducing production in April and May to prevent an oversupply later in the year, while Apple also reportedly ordered half as many NAND chips in June.
    Meanwhile, Toni Sacconaghi, research analyst with Bernstein Research, said he now expects Apple to sell 8.5 million iPhones for the rest of the calendar year, bringing his forecasted total for all of 2008 to 11 million units.
    The analyst expects 19.5 million units to be sold in 2009.
    Sacconaghi thinks the company can take 15 per cent of the post-paid US handset market in calendar 2009, and 6 per cent share of the post-paid market outside the US.
    “These are impressive numbers given the iPhone remains positioned at the very high end of the mobile handset market,” he said.
    Outside the US, Sacconaghi notes that the significant increase in the number of countries in which Apple will sell the phone should lead to much higher non-US sales than for the first generation phone – he expects the penetration rate will be 2.5 times higher.

  • Boost for mobile broadband as T-Mobile UK improves photo and video upload speeds


    Mobile operator T-Mobile UK has deployed HSUPA technology on a nationwide basis to improve upload speeds for users.
    The operator has promised the change will result in an improvement of to fivefold in the time it takes to upload photos and videos to web sites at speeds of up to 1.4Mbps.
    T-Mobile claims it is the first UK carrier to have committed to the data access protocol.
    The company said it is also upgrading the download capability of its HSDPA 3G network to 7.2Mbps, initially within the M25 zone encircling London but rolling out to other major cities during the second half of the year.
    T-Mobile is also trying to drive data usage, by cutting data roaming charges 80 per cent, to £1.50 per MB while travelling in EU member countries.
    Customers signing up for Mobile Broadband before October will also receive a £5 discount, knocking the price down to £10 per month.
    An online ‘postcode checker’ also allows potential customers to gauge the coverage and strength of 3G signal at their home.
    Jim Hyde, T-Mobile UK’s chief executive, said: “Mobile Broadband has come of age.
    “Today, 25 per cent of new contract customers are signing up and we expect to quadruple our user base in 2008.”

  • Mobile software set for rapid growth as inexpensive smartphones ring changes


    The mobile software market will be worth an estimated US$ 67.3 billion in 2013 – up from US$ 17.9 in 2007 – as the number of mobile devices grows and minutes of use increases steadily.
    This revenue growth will be fuelled by mobile carriers’ willingness to carry data apart from voice and the introduction of third-generation (3G) smartphones.
    That’s the conclusion of analysts at Frost & Sullivan in their report “World Next-Generation Mobile Software Market”.
    They say that with the expansion of memory, an increase in processor speed and the availability of better networks that allow for faster data transfer, mobile software is in for exponential growth.
    Daniel Longfield, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said there was a mass move towards mobile devices as people used them for tasks that a few years ago were performed on a desktop computer, a laptop, a MP3 player, an electronic gaming platform, or a digital camera.
    He said mobile software was key to placing mobile devices at the forefront of consumer habits by incorporating the applications and capabilities of other electronic devices into mobile devices.
    This, in turn, will benefit all members of the mobile value chain.
    “Over the next decade, the cycle of software development, where many mobile software products and applications were developed originally for other types of devices, will reverse,” said Longfield.
    “This reversal is likely because the number of mobile devices manufactured is expected to continue to outpace all other types of personal electronics and also due to smartphones possessing more processing speed and memory.”
    The report predicts that the mobile software market will grow at a faster rate than the total software market, thereby increasing its segment size.
    But it warns that as mobile carriers are extremely cautious about spending, mobile software vendors will have to prove the value proposition and return on investment of their products before clinching deals.
    Going forward, the mobile software market expects to witness greater standardisation, technological advances, and competitive changes. All these will further increase the mobile software market size.
    “Mobile software vendors are poised to receive large revenue increases from carriers and other mobile market value chain members,” said Longfield.
    “However, these spoils will not come without great effort to patch endless gaps in the current carrier service infrastructure and business models.”

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Popularity of RIM's Blackberry Curve points to strong Q1 results for handset maker


    The success of Research In Motion’s Blackberry Curve will ensure the company announces good first quarter 2008 results, according to analysts.
    Simona Jankowski, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, said results, driven by US sales of its Curve at Verizon Wireless, were likely to be at the high end of current guidance when revealed on June 25.
    “Our view is based on very strong retail checks suggesting that the Curve remains the most popular device among consumers and small and medium businesses alike, partially offset by a softer enterprise environment,” she said.
    However, Jankowski added that she expected RIM’s guidance for the next quarter to fall below Wall Street consensus.
    Maynard Um, an analyst at UBS, agreed with the prognosis on the current quarter and said that results for the first fiscal quarter should reach the high end of RIM’s prior guidance of USD$2.23 billion to USD$2.3 billion.
    In contrast to Goldman Sachs, however, Um said he sees various factors favouring RIM’s outlook for subsequent quarters.
    He pointed to RIM’s launch of its Bold handset appears on target for mid- to late-July, which should boost fiscal second-quarter results.
    Additional launches later this year — including a clamshell-style Pearl, a 3G world phone and an iDEN BlackBerry — should drive strong sales in the fiscal third quarter, according to Um.
    The UBS analyst also said that the 3G iPhone’s availability worldwide would drive network operators without the Apple Inc. device to subsidise other high-end handsets, including BlackBerrys.
    In the US market, Avian Securities LLC’s May handset survey found RIM’s BlackBerry Curve and Pearl to be the two top-selling handsets.
    “RIM’s strength in our survey continues to be broad based, as the company was No. 1 or No. 2 at all four (top-tier) carriers, driven by the continued momentum of the Curve and Pearl franchises,” according to analyst Matt Thornton.
    “RIM gained share at three of four carriers and the Curve and Pearl remained the top two devices, with the Curve moving to No. 1 with the recent launch of a CDMA Curve at Verizon Wireless.”

  • Price biggest factor in deterring purchase of iPhone


    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.
    Another impediment to purchase was people’s preference for a network carrier other than AT&T, Apple’s exclusive provider of the handsets in the US.
    Only 4 per cent of those surveyed by PriceGrabber.com, a part of Experian, currently own an iPhone, but 42 per cent said they are considering buying one.
    The study investigated purchasing trends and smartphone pricing history based on a survey of 3,066 online consumers conducted from May 20 to June 5, 2008.
    Of the remaining 54 per cent who do not intend to purchase the iPhone, 41 per cent – or 22 per cent of the total – said that the mobile device costs too much.
    The researchers pointed to the recent announcement of the lower-priced iPhone 3G, which they concluded could persuade more online consumers to buy one of the new smartphones.
    That could hinge on how potential buyers view the expensive data plans and contract agreements that come with the iPhone – some of which are required for at least two years.
    Apple has announced that it plans to sell at least 8 million new iPhones worldwide by the end of 2008.
    In the UK, where the first-generation iPhone was not exactly the success that Apple had hoped for, interest in the latest version is high.
    More than 130,000 people have expressed their desire to buy an iPhone 3G since O2, the UK’s largest mobile operator and exclusive iPhone carrier, has announced the upcoming availability of iPhone 3G.
    This represents a huge increase over the interest shown by the British consumers for the first handset.
    On the corporate side, Apple appears to be appealing to more US business users.
    Of the 4 per cent of respondents surveyed by PriceGrabber who currently own an iPhone, 40 per cent own two smartphone devices — one device for work and the iPhone for personal use.
    More than half of those respondents plan to get rid of their second device because of the Apple’s new synching capabilities.
    Survey respondents also indicated that the MP3 player within the iPhone is one of their least favorite features.
    The majority of online consumers say that the fingertip navigation feature is the best feature of the iPhone, while 17 per cent chose the Web browsing connection and 16 per cent enjoy the integrated applications.