Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Although LG has promised Microsoft that they will be one of their main partners for Windows Phone 7, they are going to sell many more Android phones. LG has predicted that 70% of their smartphone units sold this year will be based on Android.
This is in fact quite a jump for LG in the Android market, since they haven’t been one of the companies to promote Android the most on their phones. However, Android is helping them to catch up in sales quickly with the early adopter companies. It is expected that LG would sell 4.2 million Android phones by the end of 2010.
What LG needs to do is to produce some Android phones that can compete head-on with the best phones that other manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola or Samsung has put up in the maket. Also, another thing that LG could use to differentiate from others, is to not use a skin like the others do, but instead use stock Android. LG should allow fast updates from Google, and this can only happen if they don’t skin their phones. Making it easy for developers to root and make custom ROM’s for their phones could also help them stand out from the rest.
Source:
http://androidheadlines.com/2010/08/lg-says-70-of-their-smartphones-sold-in-2010-use-android.html
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
There has been questions about when will the Windows Phone 7 OS be launched, and whether this Microsoft’s mobile OS will be successful in relaunching their image in the smartphone’s industry so that they are able to compete with Research in Motion, Apple and Google.
Until now, the launch window has always been stated as during the third quarter of 2010, but there is no precise date given yet. But according to Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s COO, the commercialization phase of Windows Phone 7 OS should begin in October for Europe and November in the United States.
The timing remains coherent with a launch that has to make a big impression during the end of year festive season, a time at which the purchasing of electronic devices is at its highest. This launch should coincide with announcements of compatible handsets by numerous Smartphone manufacturers including HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, confirmed during a press conference last week that he had no back up plan in the event that Windows Phone 7 is a flop. The failure of the Kin handsets in the first half of the year has certainly not increased confidence in the group’s mobile projects.
Source:
http://us.generation-nt.com/windows-phone-launch-smartphone-microsoft-news-2382311.html
Weekend Mobile Industry Snippets!
According to a recent comScore reporton the US subscriber market share, BlackBerry’s RIM and Apple have both lost a small amount of market share while Android is bridging this gap between them.
The market share of RIM is 41.7%, Apple 24.4%, Microsoft 13.2% and Google 13%. These are typical numbers, but Google has increased their market share by 4%, suggesting a shift in the market pie. The previous comScore report also shows a 5.2% Google growth.
Microsoft has lost out the most, with a decrease of 1.9% in market share between February and May, though there might be changes when Windows 7 phones start shipping.
With the rapid growth that Google’s Android has recently shown, we will be anticipating changes in the numbers again in 2011.
Source:
http://androidheadlines.com/2010/07/android-bridging-gap-on-rim-and-apple-market-share.html
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Since the Microsoft’s MIX event in March, there has been early versions of the Windows Phone 7 developer tools floating around.
Things have finally got more robust and feature enough that this kit is going into BETA. In fact, Microsoft is coming out and saying that this release “represents the near final version,” which could likely means that you can develop with some confidence that your world won’t be turned upside down when the time comes to prep your apps for shipping devices and firmwares.
Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/12/microsofts-windows-phone-developer-tools-package-goes-to-beta/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
ComScore has just released its smartphone market share report for March to May. The trend continues from previous months, with Android seeing the most significant growth in market share. There is a 4.0 percentage point increase, capturing 13.0 percent of smartphone subscribers.
Despite Android’s gain, RIM and Apple dominated, with RIM taking 41.7 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.4 percent share. Microsoft saw a 13.2 percent share and Palm rounded the top five out with a 4.8 percent share. In total, 49.1 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May, up 8.1 percent from the corresponding February period.
In terms of manufacturer share, the report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 22.4 percent market share. LG ranked second with 21.5 percent share, followed by Motorola (21.2 percent share), RIM (8.7 percent share, up 0.5 percentage point) and Nokia (8.1 percent share).
For the three month period from March to May, comScore reports that 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Across the board, comScore’s numbers show mobile phone users in the U.S. are interacting more with their phones. In terms of actions, 65.2 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device in May, up 1.4 percent versus the prior three month period. Mobile browsing also increased to 31.9 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 30.0 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the previous period. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs also saw growth, increasing 2.6 percentage points to 20.8 percent of mobile subscribers.
Although Android ssaw a gain in market share over the three month period, the platform is still far behind Apple’s mobile user base. Android still has a long way to go in terms of market share before it can be seen as a major competitor to Apple, but the platform is slowly gaining a larger user base, so who knows.
Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/08/comscore-android-continues-to-gain-smartphone-market-share/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Microsoft’s Kin has just been launched for six weeks, and Microsoft is going to end it. There will not be a separate Kin product anymore, main reason being the sales, where it is clear that the response has been completely under target.
Microsoft’s official statement on the matter, for what it’s worth, is vague but telling:
“We have made the decision to focus on our Windows Phone 7 launch and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones.”
Sources:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/microsoft-kin-is-dead/
http://mashable.com/2010/06/30/rip-microsoft-kin/
http://gizmodo.com/5576764/microsoft-kills-kin
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/06/30/microsoft-puts-down-the-kin/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Appcelerator has just published the results from its most recent mobile developer survey and the results show what platforms and device types are most compelling to developers in the short term and for the long term as well.
In March, Appcelerator’s developer survey indicated that 53% of developers were interested in developing for the iPad. The most recent survey results however, show that that number has gone up drastically, with 84% of responding developers now saying they are “very interested” in developing for the iPad. Android held steady at 81%.
Appcelerator also asked developers to rate the major phone platforms, iOS, Android, BlackBerry and “Other” in a number of categories, including, “best app store,” “biggest market for consumer apps” and “most ‘open’ platform. Although Apple dominates the results, the last category: “This OS has the best long-term outlook.” shows that Android won this round with 54% of the vote. Developers think that Apple’s iOS has the best near-term outlook, but if we are talking about planning ahead for the future, Android’s openness and ability to run on many device types makes it a real contender in a larger picture.
Comparing the pros and cons of the different app platforms:
Source:
http://mashable.com/2010/06/23/mobile-developer-survey-iphone-4/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
We have seen a lot of skinning on the Android handsets, where OEMs differentiate themselves with consumers, such as Motorola (Motoblur), Samsung (TouchWiz), and HTC (Sense).
Windows Phone 7 devices, which has a narrow set of hardware and software guidelines that restrict OEMs from modifying their user interface. Microsoft has come up with plans to help them write unique apps. At least that’s what this June 1st Microsoft job posting for a senior Windows Phone software developer says:
“We are looking for a strong and experienced developer to help the OEM to design and develop applications that make their devices stand out in the marketplace. You will also help them to bring new phones to market.”
The position would be “working directly with a top Korean cellular phone manufacturer, who has made a large commitment to Windows Phone.” It’ll be interesting to see if these apps are enough to differentiate one touchscreen handset from another.
Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/11/microsoft-helping-oems-develop-unique-windows-phone-7-apps/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha revealed to Reuters that the company’s Android-powered mobile devices are selling faster than they can be manufactured. Verizon has had similar experiences with the Droid Incredible from HTC, an Android phone whose biggest problem has been that demand outstrips current supply.
Additionally LG, a company that had previously committed to releasing Windows Mobile handsets, has stated that it will release 20 Android handsets this year alone.
Source:
Weekend Mobile Industry Snippets!
An “iPhone versus Android” market share report shows that has about three times more market share in the smartphone world today as compared to Google’s Android. We face up to the reality that Android devices still account for less than one in every ten smartphones owned by users in America today.
The figures also show that iPhone and Android users have a high rate of loyalty, with 80 percent and 70 percent expressing a preference for the same OS in their next phone, respectively. Microsoft and RIM BlackBerry’s numbers however, shows a mediocre 34 and 47 percent, respectively. In fact, this report finds that Android and iPhone users are more similar to each other than anyone else, and this might be an uneasy fact for both parties to deal with.
Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/05/iphone-vs-android-report-finds-apple-has-three-times-googles/
