Business News Holding

Tag: mobile-phones

  • Increased Demand for Smartphones in Europe

    Demand for mobile phones increased again in Europe, last year – mostly due to the growing popularity of smartphone. According to the findings of the latest study conducted by the research company GfK, 3.2% more mobile phones were sold in 2011, the sales of smartphones increased by 67%.

    Last year, 258 million handsets were bought by European consumers, a 3.2% increase on 2010.

    In what concerns the smartphone segment, the number of devices sold in 25 European countries surveyed was 93 million. If in 2010, smartphones represented only 22% of sales in the mobile market, in 2011 the percentage increased to 36% – so that in December 2011 the share rised to 45%.

    Retailers in all 25 monitored countries in Europe showed double-digit sales ranging from 35% in Britain and 105% in Eurasian countries such as Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. With a share in unit volume of over 17%, the UK is currently the largest market for smartphones in Europe, followed by Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with 16% in total. The average price paid for a mobile phone has increased in Europe by 8% between 2010 and 2011 – up to EUR 200.

    GfK retail expert predicts that the digital devices industry – including mobile phones, TVs, computers, digital cameras, tablet PCs and desktop devices – this year will reach 22% of its global sales only from the sales of smartphones. This would mean an increase of 4 percentage points over the figure recorded in 2011.

    The current analysis is based on data on the growth of mobile market in 2011 from 25 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

  • Vyke Launches Consumer Expat Marketing Campaign

    Cricket legend Sourav Ganguly appointed as brand ambassador


    Vyke Communications, the mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider, has announced the launch of its consumer marketing programme targeting the Asian expat communities.

    According to a recent national survey conducted by Vyke, expats spend more money on their mobile phones than they do on their food bills.

    With the desire to keep in touch with family and loved ones back home, texting internationally costs on average 25p per text, whereas, using Vyke’s FreeTxT application, costs are only 3p, or free if the recipient is also a Vyke user.

    The campaign is being supported by Indian cricket legend, Sourav Ganguly.

    The international sports star is frequently away from home on tour and finds technology such as Vyke’s VoIP help him to cost-effectively keep close to his family and friends.

    During a visit to the UK, Ganguly will be carrying out various media activities – web chats, radio and TV interviews discussing different ways of dealing with being away from your family, and demonstrating the benefits of Vyke’s service.

    Jan Berger, CMO, Vyke Communications said: “Our research clearly shows that 40 per cent of people from British ethnic communities keep in touch with their families back home by calls or text – an extremely costly habit to maintain. We are therefore very excited to launch this campaign.”

    As part of the programme, Vyke has launched an exclusive expat survival guide blog, www.vykehome.com, offering first-hand advice on coping with homesickness and adapting to life in the UK.

    Sourav himself will be writing a number of the blogs.

  • NBC uses Olympics to promote HDTV and study viewer habits

    NBC has made no secret of the fact it plans to use the Beijing Olympics as a campaign platform for HDTV.
    Now the US network has announced that the summer games will also act as a research lab to guage how viewers use different media platforms.

    The network hopes its research will reveal how people combine, for example, high def TV coverage of an event with tools such as video streaming, video on demand and mobile phones.
    Alan Wurtzel, NBC’s research chief, said the company would publicly issue a TAMi (Total Audience Measurement Index) for the first time.
    This is designed to measure the full range of cross-platform media consumption of the Olympics throughout the 17 days of coverage.

    NBCU will also conduct the largest research project in its history, taking advantage of the unique scope and duration of the Olympics to further the industry’s understanding of cross-platform media usage.
    “An event of this magnitude requires the biggest and most sophisticated research effort to measure it,” said Wurtzel.
    “The size and duration of the Olympics presents us with extraordinary opportunities to gather data on viewer behaviour.”

    NBC has scheduled 3,600 hours of Olympics programming on its main network, along with Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo.
    In addition, the company is planning to make 2,200 hours of streaming video available on NBCOlympics.com.
    Consumers may also get video on demand via their computer and Olympics content through their mobile phones.
    “Not only will we measure these Games in a way we’ve never done before, but we’ll also be able to gather data that helps us better understand the new media consumer,” said Wurtzel.
    “At the end of the Olympics, no other research entity in the world will have as much knowledge on cross-platform usage as NBC Universal.”

  • Brightpoint to implement cost-cutting in Europe after predicting slowdown in handset sales






    The mobile phone distributor, Brightpoint, is to take cost-cutting measures across its global operations over fears of a slowdown in handset sales.
    The company said it now expects the global handset market to reach 1.25-1.30 billion units this year, down from a previous estimate of 1.25-1.35 billion.
    Second-quarter sell-in units are expected to be “flat to slightly up” compared to the first three months of the year.
    This contrasts with a previous forecast for 3-5 per cent growth by the distributor.
    The cost-cutting will come mainly in Europe, at the former Dangaard operations.
    Brightpoint is cutting 50-75 jobs at its European head office in Denmark, and eliminating another 225-250 positions across its other European operations.
    This is expected to result in annual cost savings of US$25-30 million.
    Brightpoint is implementing other cost reduction initiatives in its Americas and Asia Pacific divisions as well as within its corporate and global information technology organisations.
    The company has simultaneously begun the evaluation and design phases of a European shared service facility and warehouse consolidation and automation projects.
    These measures are expected to contribute “significant additional cost synergies” as they are implemented over the next 6-24 months.
    Brightpoint also announced the resignation of Dangaard founder Steen Pedersen, currently president of Brightpoint Europe, from 19 November.
    Michael Koehn Milland, currently co-COO and president of international operations at Brightpoint, will take the new role of president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
    Milland will be responsible for global business development with the objective of increasing Brightpoint’s market share worldwide.
    Mark Howell, the other co-COO, will take up the position of president Americas and also oversee all global logistics operations.

  • European callers become more mobile as landlines increasingly shunned


    Almost a quarter of European households have given up fixed landlines for mobile phones and online calling, according to a European Union survey.
    The poll, carried out in November and December, found that 24 per cent of European households now eschew fixed landlines in favour of mobile phones, up from 22 per cent in a survey two years earlier.
    The Czech Republic, Finland and Lithuania had the lowest number of landlines in use across the 27-nation bloc.
    The results chime with the growing interest in the use of mobile VoIP services – either via GSM/GPRS wireless standards or through WiFi – and the widespread installation of internet calling software on smartphones.
    The EU survey – which questioned 26,730 people – also found that 22 per cent are now using their personal computers for phone calls or video chatting via programs such as Skype.
    That is a rise of 5 percentage points from the last poll.
    The survey said the bloc’s newer members, most of them in eastern Europe, were leading the trend in a shift to online calling.
    In Lithuania, 61 per cent of the households were using Internet phone services.