Business News Holding

Tag: cell-phones

  • iPhone Sets The Standard In China


    The iPhone may be made in China but Apple still hasn’t launched its game-changing handset there yet.

    That hasn’t stopped the 3G smartphone having a huge impact on China’s estimated 700 million cell phone market, according to the latest report from Research and Markets.

    It says that Apple’s iPhone has had a significant impact on the smartphone world generally, because of its user interface (UI), user experience (UE), and business model.

    And despite not being officially on sale in China, the report says it has also made a big impact on the smartphone market there as well.

    "The iPhone has set a standard for users’ expectation of entertainment smartphones, resulting in iPhone-like models appearing in the marketplace," the report states.

    Not surprisingly, it goes on to predict that this type of revolutionary UI/UE, enabled by a touchscreen, with acceleration and proximity sensors technologies will be a distinct trend in China’s entertainment smartphone market over the next two years.

    The report analyses Chinese consumer attitudes toward smartphones (including the iPhone) based on a web survey carried out in May 2008.

    Based on this analysis, the repsearch provides drivers and barriers for the Chinese smartphone market and smartphone shipment forecasts from 2008 to 2012.

  • Passengers Oppose Mobile Calls During Flights


    Seventy-five per cent of travellers would never use a mobile phone during a flight, according to a survey by Wanderlust Magazine.

    High in-flight charges and the irritation of having fellow passengers make irritatingly “pointless” calls in a confined space were among the main reasons for not allowing mobiles to be used.

    The poll comes as Ryanair announces that passengers will shortly be able to make mobile calls during flights.

    In March, Emirates became the first commercial airline to allow mobile calls during flights. The airline says the average call costs more than USD $3.50 a minute.

    The poll of over 1000 of the magazine’s readers, showed that three-quarters of respondents (76%) said that they would never use a mobile phone in the air.

    Only 2% of those questioned said that they would happily use their phone on a plane regularly and 17% said they might be tempted, but only if they were delayed.

    Dan Linstead, editor of Wanderlust said: “The message from our readers, who are all seasoned travellers, is loud and clear.
    “Planes are one of the last sacred mobile-free havens and they want it to stay that way – let’s hope the airlines start listening.”

  • Smartphones Confuse a Fifth of New Users


    The US telecoms giant Sprint is to offer free, in-store smartphone training in an effort to reduce the number of phones returned to it by confused customers.

    This could be a reflection on the technical competence of the average purchaser of today’s function-packed smartphones.

    Or it could be that retailers and manufacturers aren’t doing enough to explain how new handsets operate.

    Whichever it is, the fact that 21 per cent of Sprint’s smartphone buyers come back to the store to return the phone or to seek help in setting it up and learning to use it, is a mite worrying.

    In response, employees at the US’s number three mobile carrier will be able to provide training.

    Initially the program is only in Sprint-owned stores but it is to be rolled out to selected independent stores as well.

    Sprint has hired extra employees for every store to handle the workload.

  • Mobile Operators Must Improve Pricing Transparency


    Europe’s telcoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, has told the European Parliament to back proposed changes to telecoms regulation across Europe.

    She called for quicker data portability, compulsory data breach laws if private information is lost, more transparent pricing structures to make life easier for consumers, and more wireless broadband services to improve net access for rural types.

    Reding said there was no reason for lengthy delays in moving your number from one mobile operator to another.
    "If it can happen in Australia in two hours, then one day should be entirely feasible in Europe," she said

    But Reding said she found it harder to understand why the Parliament had watered down proposals on data breach notification.

    “What I find more difficult therefore to understand in Parliament’s changes, is why subscribers are not similarly empowered and informed, when it comes to the privacy of their personal data?

    “I know that Parliament takes the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights very seriously, so I am surprised that the breach notification requirements in the Commission’s proposals are diluted by the changes now on the table.”

    Reding said the default position should be that subscribers know of a breach of security concerning their personal data, so that the appropriate precautions can be taken.

    “It cannot be left to the service provider to determine whether such a breach is likely to cause the subscriber harm,” she said.

    The Commission also wants a more effective common emergency number across Europe – including better caller location information from some VoIP providers and better access to mobile devices and phones for disabled people.

    The next stage is a vote in the European Parliament on 23 September. This could be followed by an agreement by Telecoms Ministers at a meeting on 27 November under the French presidency.

  • US-style Billing Would See 40m Europeans Dump Cell Phones


    Vodafone has voiced its opposition to plans to introduce a Receiving-Party-Pays (RPP) model in Europe, saying the move would force operators to raise retail charges.

    The telecoms company said this would lead to 40 million users getting rid of their cell phones, according to a report in the Financial Times.

    Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner, wants to reform the industry and has been carrying out a public consultation on its proposals, which closes on Wednesday.

    As well as adopting RPP, the plans also include reducing mobile termination rates from an average €0.08 a minute to between €0.01-0.02 in the next few years.

    According to the report, Vodafone isn’t opposed to the argument for cuts, but wants to see the rate at between €0.05-0.06 per minute by 2012.

    Reding favors the US-style RPP system, in which users pay to receive calls as well as making them, because American consumers pay lower call charges and make greater use of their mobiles. Termination rates are typically set at near zero.

    Vodafone used its submission to the European Commission, seen by the Financial Times, to argue against the adoption of a RPP model.

  • Motorola sues former executive now with Apple


    Motorola has sued a former executive for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement and threatening to reveal its trade secrets by taking a job with Apple’s iPhone division, the mobile phone maker said in a lawsuit.

    Michael Fenger accepted “millions of dollars in cash, restricted stock units, and stock options” in exchange for agreeing not to join a competitor for two years after leaving Motorola, where he oversaw mobile devices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the lawsuit said.

    According to the lawsuit filed in Illinois last week he took the iPhone job on March 31, less than a month after leaving Motorola.
    Fenger, who now serves as vice president of global iPhone sales, also employed two high-level Motorola employees who have access to Motorola’s trade secrets and customer relationships, the suit said.

    An Apple spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the lawsuit. Fenger could not be reached for comment.
    Motorola, based in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, is asking the Cook County court to stop Fenger from working for Apple for two years and to bar him from soliciting or hiring Motorola employees or disclosing Motorola’s confidential information.
    It is demanding damages and repayment of stock options given to him in exchange for signing the non-compete agreement.

  • Sony Ericsson cuts jobs as demand falls for its smartphones

    Plummeting demand for its high-end smartphones and inflation eroding margins for inexpensive mobile phones leads to job cuts

    The world’s fifth-placed handset maker is to shed 2,000 jobs as the company reports a Q2 operating loss of US$3.17 million.
    Sony Ericsson a drop in net income from US$347.6 million a year ago to US$9.48 million, while sales slumped 9.4 per cent to US$4.4 billion.

    Unit sales in the quarter reached 24.4 million, down from 24.9 million units a year ago.
    The closely watched average selling price per unit was US$183. A year ago, Sony Ericsson’s average price per unit was US$197.50.

    The joint venture between Sony and Ericsson AB also forecast further bad news in the third quarter.
    “Challenging market conditions are expected to prevail this quarter,” the company said in a statement.

    Sony Ericsson said the 2,000 job cuts among the company’s 11,900 employees will save US$474 million annually.
    The July 18 results marked the second consecutive quarter that Sony Ericsson has issued a profit warning before issuing quarterly results.

    A little more than a year ago, Sony Ericsson was the number four handset maker, pushing Motorola for the number 3 spot.
    Since then, however, the company has fallen to fifth while LG Electronics has taken over the fourth spot.

    Dick Komiyama, CEO of Sony Ericsson, said: “We are aligning our operations and resources worldwide to meet an increasingly competitive business environment and to help restore our capability for profitable growth.”

    Sony Ericsson is the second of the world’s handset makers to announce its quarterly results since research firm Gartner slashed its forecast for the mobile phone market to between 10 per cent and 11 per cent growth from a May estimate of 10 per cent and 15 per cent.
    In 2007, mobile phone growth margins were 16 per cent.

    Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia issued second quarter results earlier this week that were in line with analyst predictions.
    LG Electronics will announce its second quarter results on July 21, followed by Samsung on July 25 and Motorola on July 31.