Tag: report

  • Smartphone Sales Surge As Prices Plummet

    The smartphone market is on an upward surge, according to IDC, the market research firm. The market has witnessed an outbreak of cutthroat competition among the major smartphone companies, leading to a fall in phone prices. Low cost coupled with the innovative marketing strategies has led to the growth in the smartphone market.

    The first quarter of 2011 witnessed a sale of 99.6 million smartphones, which is almost double the quantity that was sold in the previous quarter. The sales figures registered a 79.6 percent growth in this period. Senior analyst of Mobile phone Technology and Trends team of IDC, Ramon L lamas, attributed this growth to the prevailing smartphone market conditions.

    Fall of smartphone prices is the major factor that has contributed to the rise in sales. The market is flooded with new models from different companies, which has forced a slash in the rates of even expensive models. The corporate rat race has benefited the consumer market as expensive models are now within the reach of more people.

    The upward trend in the purchase of mobile phones has given companies a fillip in taking their wireless expense management further. IT departments all over the country are concerned about their employees’ demands to provide high-end smartphones.

    The IDC report has forecasted a bright future for Android phones. Google’s Android technology reinstated itself on the top in the first quarter of 2011. The demand for Android based phones has encouraged several phone manufacturers to come with phones that work on Android technology. Samsung registered a profit of 350% and HTC recorded a 229.6% growth in its sales owing to their Android based phones.

    A report by Global Industry Analysts has named enterprise mobility as the force behind the surging smartphone market. By 2017, the smartphone sales are expected to go beyond 1.6 billion units.

  • Shipments of GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA Handsets Grew 97 Percent in 2010

    According to a new research report by Berg Insight, global shipments of GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA handsets increased almost 97 percent in 2010 to 295 million units. Growing at a CAGR of 28.8 percent, shipments are forecasted to reach 940 million units in 2015.

    The attach rates for wireless connectivity technologies in handsets including GPS, Bluetooth and WLAN are increasing steadily as the adoption of smartphones accelerates. These connectivity technologies are already a standard feature on high-end smartphones. Adoption of GPS and WLAN will also increase rapidly in the medium- and low-end smartphone segments.

    The attach rate for WLAN connectivity in handsets reached 20 percent in 2010. Berg Insight forecasts shipments of WLAN-enabled handsets to reach 900 million in 2015. “There are numerous compelling use cases for WLAN in mobile phones, ranging from offloading data traffic from increasingly congested mobile networks to media synchronisation and hybrid navigation services”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight.

    “Hybrid navigation technologies are necessary to enable reliable positioning indoors. New multi-mode GPS receivers that also support the Russian GLONASS satellite system are already available in handsets. When using the two systems in combination, more visible satellites will increase the chance to receive sufficiently strong signals to get a fix in urban canyons,” he said.

    He added that further performance increases will come from hybrid location technologies that fuse signal measurements from multiple satellite systems, cellular networks and WLAN, together with data from various forms of sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and altimeters.

    Starting in the second half of 2011, more handsets supporting the Near Field Communication (NFC) standard for short-range wireless point-to-point communication will also become available. When deployed in mobile phones, NFC can be used for countless applications such as information exchange, electronic ticketing and mobile payments. Shipments of NFC-enabled handsets are forecasted to increase from less than two million units in 2010 to 400 million units in 2015.

  • iSuppli: Apple’s A5 Microprocessor Builds on Success of Predecessor

    Driven by the soaring sales of products including the iPad and the iPhone 4, Apple’s shipments of products based on its A4 microprocessor reached nearly 50 million units in 2010 from virtually zero sales in 2009, IHS iSuppli research indicates.

    Building on the success of its A4 microprocessor, Apple recently announced that its second-generation iPad line will be based on a new microprocessor, the A5, which the company said doubles the performance of the A4. Apple said the A5 will include dual microprocessor cores, compared to a single core for the A4. Along with the rise in computing power, Apple said the A5 will offer nine times faster graphics performance than the A4.

    In an indication of how successful the microprocessor has been, Apple in 2010 shipped nearly four times as many units of A4-based products as it did of X86-based .

    According to the analysts, the low-cost, highly integrated A4 and A5 designs represent an important element in Apple’s philosophy of offering products focused on delivering a compelling user interface (UI) and a greatly optimized computing platform for Apple’s iOS operating system.

    "In the new design paradigm of smart phones and tablets, computing efficiency trumps raw computing power. Designs like the iPad demand highly integrated microprocessors that emphasize graphics performance, lower power consumption and small space usage," Wayne Lam, Senior Analyst at iSuppli.

    Apple so far has introduced five products based on the A4: the first-generation iPad, the AT&T version of the iPhone 4, the Apple TV, the iPod Touch and the CDMA iPhone 4 carried by Verizon Wireless.

    The A4 combines an A4 microprocessor core and a graphics processing unit (GPU). The device was custom designed by P.A. Semi—a company acquired by Apple in 2008—and is manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co.

    Partly because of the popularity of Apple’s iPad, companies around the world are developing media tablets and other products that feature small and innovative form factors. These products require highly integrated semiconductor solutions that consume less power and space, similar to the A4 microprocessor.

    "In the PC market, this trend is driving rising sales of notebook microprocessors that integrate graphics processing capabilities, eliminating the need for separate GPUs," said Lam.

    In tablets and smart phones, companies are offering alternatives to the A4 that provide similar levels of integration. For instance, Intel and Nvidia have announced plans for tablet-oriented microprocessors with similar characteristics to the A4.

  • Hosted Communications Services Present Excellent Growth Opportunities to European Service Providers

    Although the on-premise model with its control and security advantages will dominate the enterprise communications market in the immediate future, the revenue share of hosted services is poised to increase significantly, according to Frost & Sullivan. Hosted communications services present an ever more popular alternative for deploying IP telephony and unified communications applications.

    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan – European Hosted IP Telephony and Unified Communications Services Market – finds that the hosted IP telephony market in Europe earned revenues of €0.9 billion in 2010 and estimates this to reach €4.9 billion in 2016.

    "The hosted IP telephony and UC services market in Europe is witnessing rapid growth mainly due to the increasing awareness about hosted solutions and improved feature sets," notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Dorota Oviedo. "The economic slowdown and limited capital availability for investments urged many enterprises to consider alternative communications delivery methods."

    Once companies experience the actual functionality and service level offered, they become more comfortable with communications being delivered as a service. Services are becoming more mature, offering a complete PBX capability rather than the limited functionality of Centrex solutions previously witnessed in the market.

    "With the economy rebounding, companies will continue using hosted IP telephony services," adds Oviedo. "At the same time, they are also expected to complement them with new communications and collaboration applications."

    The European hosted IP telephony and UC services market is highly fragmented. All the major enterprise communications providers and vendors show interest in tapping this opportunity to leverage the strong customer demand for operational expenditure (OPEX)-based solutions.

    However, building a distribution channel is one of the key challenges faced by this growing industry.

    "Channel partners need to be educated on the benefits of predictable revenues based on recurring monthly revenues and commissions, which are less sensitive to the general economic fluctuations and will increase as hosted services gain traction," concludes Oviedo.

  • Berg Insight: Shipments of Smartphones Grew 74 Percent in 2010

    According to a new research report by Berg Insight, global shipments of smartphones increased 74 percent in 2010 to 295 million units. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.4 percent, shipments are forecasted to reach 1,200 million units in 2015.

    The global user base of smartphones increased at the same time by 38 percent year-on-year to an estimated 470 million active users in 2010. In the next five years, the global user base of smartphones is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42.9 percent to reach 2.8 billion in 2015.

    According to the report’s authors, smartphones are receiving more attention from handset manufacturers, network operators and application developers. Most importantly, an increasing number of users are now discovering how smartphones can act as personal computing devices enabling access to the mobile web and applications, besides voice and text services. Although high-end devices tend to get most attention, the primary growth will come from medium- and low-end smartphones.

    “Chipset developers and handset vendors are working on technologies that will ensure a good user experience also for low cost smartphones”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. “The challenge is to develop a handset with enough memory, graphics performance and processing power to run the operating system with multiple applications while ensuring a responsive system with fluid user interface and still keep costs down”.

    He added that smartphones in general will also benefit from advancements in chipset design. In the next five years, further performance increases will come from dual- or quad-core application and graphics processors. These new processors will enable smartphones to rival the performance of dedicated gaming consoles and notebook computers.

    At the same time, new user interfaces will be developed that make better use of sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes as well as cameras to detect movement or gestures without the need to touch the display.

  • Vizio Maintains Lead in U.S. LCD TV Market

    Riding a wave of demand for its light-emitting diode (LED)-backlit televisions, Vizio managed to maintain leadership in the U.S. market for LCD TV in the fourth quarter as well as for the entire year in 2010, according to new IHS iSuppli research.

    U.S.-based Vizio in the fourth quarter shipped 2.9 million LCD TVs, up 78.9 percent from 1.6 million in the third quarter. This gave the company a 27.6 percent share of unit shipments, up from 19.5 percent in the third quarter. Vizio’s lead over second-place Samsung expanded to 7.4 percentage points in the fourth quarter, up from 2.1 percentage points in the third quarter.

    Topped by a strong fourth-quarter performance, Vizio padded its leadership of the U.S. LCD TV market for the entire year of 2010. Company market share amounted to 21.3 percent in 2010, up from 18.3 percent in 2009. Vizio’s lead expanded to 2.5 percentage points over chief rival Samsung, up from 1 point in 2009.

    “Vizio’s market share gains in the U.S. LCD TV market in 2010 were driven by strong consumer demand for the company’s LED-backlit sets,” said Riddhi Patel, director, television systems for IHS. “Vizio has been able to offer sets with this advanced feature while maintaining competitive pricing. Consumers are snapping up LED-backlit LCD TVs from Vizio and others because of their thinner profile, superior picture, lower power consumption and reduced prices.”

    Vizio Takes Flat-Panel Lead in Q4 2010 but Samsung Takes the Year

    Vizio in the fourth quarter of 2010 also managed to displace Samsung for leadership in the U.S. market for flat-panel televisions, a category that combines the LCD TV and plasma segments. With its strong business in both plasma and LCD sets, Samsung historically has led this area. However, Vizio captured the lead because of aggressive shipments of feature-rich LCD TVs at attractive pricing through its distribution network.

    Vizio in the fourth quarter shipped 2.9 million flat-panel sets, up 78.9 percent from 1.6 million in the third quarter and a 55.5 percent increase from 1.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. This gave Vizio a 23.9 percent share of the U.S. flat-panel market in the fourth quarter, up from 16.6 percent in the third quarter.

    Meanwhile, Samsung’s share rose to 21.5 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 18.8 percent in the third. While its share rose, the increase was not sufficient to keep it from falling to second place in the U.S. flat-panel television market.

    Samsung shipped 2.6 million flat panel sets in the fourth quarter of 2010, up 41.5 percent from 1.8 million in the third quarter and a 22.8 percent rise from 2.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

    However, because Samsung led Vizio in flat-panel television shipments during the first three quarters of 2010, it maintained leadership for the year as a whole. Samsung accounted for 20.1 percent of U.S. flat-panel shipments in 2010, compared to 18.4 percent for Vizio.
     

  • Google's Android Becomes the World's Leading Smartphone Platform

    Canalys today published its final Q4 2010 global country-level smartphone market data, which revealed that Google’s Android has become the leading platform. Shipments of Android-based smartphones reached 32.9 million, while devices running Nokia’s Symbian platform trailed slightly at 31.0 million worldwide.

    But Nokia did retain its position as the leading global smart phone vendor, with a share of 28%.

    The fourth quarter also saw the worldwide smartphone market continue to soar, with shipments of 101.2 million units representing year-on-year growth of 89%.

    According to the report, in Q4 2010, volumes of Google OS-based smartphones (Android, OMS and Tapas) were again boosted by strong performances from a number of vendors, notably LG, Samsung, Acer and HTC, whose volumes across these platforms grew 4,127%, 1,474%, 709% and 371% respectively year-on-year. HTC and Samsung together accounted for nearly 45% of Google OS-based handset shipments.

    "2010 has been a fantastic year for the smart phone market. After a difficult 2009, the speed with which the market has recovered has required real commitment and innovation from vendors and they have risen to the challenge," said Canalys VP and Principal Analyst Chris Jones.

    "But vendors cannot afford to be complacent. 2011 is set to be a highly competitive year with vendors looking to use new technology, such as dual-core processors, NFC and 3D displays, to differentiate their products and maintain value," he added.

    At a regional level, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remained the largest market, with shipments totalling 38.8 million and a year-on-year growth rate of 90%. Nokia continued to lead in EMEA and Asia Pacific, but in 2010 it was overtaken by RIM in Latin America, which shipped over a million more units than Nokia in Q4 2010. The vendor was particularly helped by the popularity of its mid-range smart phones, such as its Curve family of devices.

    The United States continued its reign as the largest country market in terms of shipments, at more than double the size of the Chinese smart phone market. RIM recaptured first place from Apple, as the latter experienced its usual US seasonal dip, and RIM benefited from the first full quarter of shipments for the BlackBerry Torch. HTC successfully maintained its third-place ranking in the US for the third consecutive quarter, driven by its speed to market with the latest Android updates and new Windows Phone 7 devices.

    "The US landscape will shift dramatically this coming year, as a result of the Verizon-Apple agreement,’ said Canalys Analyst Tim Shepherd. "Verizon will move its focus away from the Droid range, but the overall market impact will mean less carrier-exclusive deals, while increasing the AT&T opportunity for Android vendors, such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung."

    Android was by far the largest smart phone platform in the US market in Q4 2010, with shipments of 12.1 million units – nearly three times those of RIM’s BlackBerry devices. Windows Phone 7 devices appeared too late in the quarter to take full advantage of holiday season purchasing. As a result, Microsoft lost share in the United States, from 8% in Q4 2009 to 5% in Q4 2010.

    Related news
    IDC: Mobile Phone Market Grows 17.9% in Fourth Quarter
    Android Overtakes iOS in Latest Mobile Mix Report
    Amazon Opens Android Application Store to Developers
    Google Android Reaches #2 Spot among Smartphone Platforms

  • IDC: Mobile Phone Market Grows 17.9% in Fourth Quarter

    The worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010, a new quarterly high driven by smartphones. According to the IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 401.4 million units in 4Q10 compared to 340.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009.

    Vendors shipped a total of 1.39 billion units on a cumulative worldwide basis in 2010, up 18.5% from the 1.17 billion units shipped in 2009.

    The strong quarterly and annual growth comes after a weak 2009, which saw the market decline by 1.6%. According to IDC, a stronger economy and a wider array of increasingly affordable smartphones helped lift the market to its highest annual growth rate since 2006 when it grew 22.6%.

    "The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. "Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles."

    He noted that it’s not just smartphone-focused suppliers that capitalized on the mobile phone market’s renewed growth last year. ZTE, a company that sells primarily lower-cost feature phones in emerging markets, moved into the number 4 position worldwide in 4Q10. It is the first quarter the Chinese handset maker finished among IDC’s Top 5 vendors.

    "Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year," added Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list."

    Market Outlook

    IDC believes the worldwide mobile phone market will be driven largely by smartphone growth through the end of 2014. "Feature phone users looking to do more with their devices will flock to smartphones in the years to come," noted Restivo. "This trend will help drive smartphone sub-market to grow 43.7% year over year in 2011."

    Regional Analysis

    * The Asia/Pacific mobile phone landscape was driven by low-cost and high-end devices in 4Q10. Domestic brands in India like G-Five, Micromax, and Karbonn grew with aggressive advertising and branding activities for entry-level phones, while ZTE and Huawei worked closely with carriers to push low-cost Android smartphones in China. High-end smartphones, however, were equally well-received, resulting in higher shipments from Apple, Samsung, and HTC in 4Q10. Korea had the biggest smartphone appetite accounting for two-thirds of phones shipped in 4Q10, up from one-eighth a year ago.

    * In Western Europe, carrier smartphone promotions motivated more users to scrap their feature phones, resulting in strong smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, HTC Desire, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy S, and Blackberry 8520, which were among the region’s top sellers, contributed to the overall market’s growth. Consequently, the feature phones experienced their sharpest decline ever. In CEMA, quarterly volumes breached the 70 million unit threshold for the first time, marked by an influx of Chinese and unbranded handsets. Meanwhile, smartphones experienced brisk growth due to falling prices and more Android-powered devices.

    * The United States mobile phone market closed out the year with more vendors becoming more active in this space. Market leaders RIM and Apple maintained a healthy lead, while newcomers Dell, Huawei, Kyocera, and Sanyo launched their first smartphones to the U.S. market. In addition, 4G took another step forward with the commercial launch of Verizon Wireless’ LTE network. Similarly, in Canada, the focus was on smartphones. Android-powered devices from multiple players, along with incumbent vendors RIM and Apple, pushed shipment volumes to a new record level.

    * In Latin America, sustained user interest in smartphones drove the market, resulting in strong results for Nokia, RIM, and Samsung as well as relative newcomer Huawei. Smartphones, as well as QWERTY-enabled feature phones, helped boost social networking and messaging, two fast-growing trends in the market. Finally, Alcatel and ZTE once again thrived in the inexpensive entry-level device market.

    Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors

    Nokia overall unit volume slipped 2.4% in the fourth quarter, which the vendor attributed to the "intense competitive" environment and component shortages. The result was lower feature phone shipments. The company did, however, grow smartphone volume by 38% compared to the same prior-year quarter. Nokia launched the C7 and the C6-01 touchscreen smartphones as well as the C3 combination touchscreen & QWERTY device in the fourth quarter. Still, smartphone ASPs dropped 16% on a year-over-year basis.

    Samsung reached a new milestone in 4Q10, pushing through the 80 million unit threshold for the first time in the company’s history and improving its profit margins for the second straight quarter. Driving shipment volumes was the continued success of its Galaxy S smartphones, of which the company sold nearly ten million units worldwide for the year. Similarly, Samsung’s mass-market and touch-screen phones earned a strong following in emerging markets.

    LG crossed the 30 million unit mark for the quarter, due in part to the success of Optimus One smartphone sales across multiple regions. LG’s smartphone strategy is paying off; the company sold more than a million units in the first month of availability, and newer versions (Optimus 2X, Optimus Black) are expected later this year. Meanwhile, LG’s feature phones comprised the majority of shipments, but an aging portfolio and lower prices within emerging markets left the company vulnerable to the competition.

    ZTE finished the quarter in the number four position with shipments steadily spreading from its home country of China to developing regions such as Africa and Latin America. ZTE has also recently made inroads in developed markets such as Western Europe and the U.S. as well as Japan. While most of its shipments have historically concentrated on entry-level and mid-range devices, some of its recent success is directly attributable to its rapidly expanding smartphone line, such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices. Meanwhile, its S- and C-series entry-level feature phones provided additional competition within emerging markets.

    Apple
    The iPhone maker slipped to the number 5 position despite a record quarter for unit shipments and the departure soon thereafter of CEO Steve Jobs on medical leave. It was the company’s second straight quarter on IDC’s Top 5 list. The iPhone sold particularly well in developed regions of the world, such as North America and Western Europe. Apple, which said it could have sold more iPhones last quarter had it been able to make more, is set to introduce the touchscreen device on Verizon next month.

  • Mobile VoIP Gateway Revenues to Soar Past $6 Billion in 2015

    VoIP, the technology that has revolutionized voice services over the past several years and has brought calling costs down for residential and business customers alike, is spreading from the fixed-line world to the mobile world. Usage is on the rise creating significant opportunity for mobile VoIP gateway equipment suppliers as expenditures in this space are expected to soar beyond the $6 billion mark in 2015, says In-Stat.

    "Mobile VoIP has only recently begun being implemented in the business environment," says Amy Cravens, Market Analyst.

    "One of the key benefits of mobile VoIP for enterprises is extending desk phone functionality to mobile devices. Business-oriented solutions will essentially enable the users’ cellphones to become an extension of their desk phones and will deliver, in addition to voice, a unified communications experience, including email, IM, and collaboration," she daid.

    Business mobile VoIP users will increase tenfold over the next five years. According to the report, mobile operators are currently a barrier to adoption but could become a significant driver of adoption over the next several years.

    The research also finds that business mobile VoIP is based on IP PBX and hosted PBX solutions and that growth in IP PBX mobile VoIP usage will largely be driven by mid-sized and enterprise businesses.

    Related news
    Unified Communications Market Has Strongest Quarter Since 2008
    Demand Up, Prices Down for Carrier VoIP and IMS Equipment
    China Sourcing Report: VoIP Products 2010

  • Android Overtakes iOS in Latest Mobile Mix Report

    According to Millennial Media’s Mobile Mix Index, for the first time Android surpassed iOS as the largest smartphone operating system on Millennial Media’s network last month, with an 8% month-over-month increase and 46% of the impression share. iOS represented 32% of the impression share.

    In 2011, Millennial Media anticipates that we’ll continue to see increased platform diversity with not only Android, but RIM and Windows Phone 7 applying pressure on iOS.

    “This prediction once again stresses the importance of advertising and developing across platforms,” said Mack McKelvey, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Millennial Media.

    Here are a few additional highlights from the December issue:
    • Samsung maintained the number two position in the Top 15 Manufacturers for the third consecutive month. The Samsung Code entered the Top 30 Mobile Devices for the first time in December and is the only Windows OS device in the Top 30 Mobile Device Ranking.

    • HTC claimed the number three position in the Top 15 Manufacturers – with a 9% growth month-over-month. There is a direct correlation with this increase and HTC having the highest number of devices (nine) in our Top 30 Mobile Device Ranking, including the debut of four new devices on our network: HTC Nexus One (Passion), HTC Evo, HTC Droid Incredible, and the HTC Desire.

    • Travel and Vacation app impressions doubled quarter-over-quarter. Apps in this category have evolved to bring online capabilities to the mobile platform (e.g., reservations, check-in, boarding passes, travel updates, etc.). The double digit quarterly growth shows that mobile consumers found value in staying connected through their mobile devices as they traveled this holiday season.

    • Music and Entertainment apps maintained the number three position quarter-over-quarter with 22% of the impression share. Television apps are the fastest growing sub-category with 259% growth in impression share quarter-over-quarter.

    • Touch Screen devices grew 10% month-over-month, with approximately 57% share of impressions in the December Device Input Mix. This growth can be attributed to the increased penetration of Smartphones with this input method.

    Related news
    Amazon Opens Android Application Store to Developers
    Google Android Reaches #2 Spot among Smartphone Platforms
    Broadcom Announces New Android Platform to Enable Mass Market Smartphones
    Apple Takes the Lead in the US Smartphone Market with a 26% Share