The rapid growth of the Chinese smartphone market means that it is set to top the U.S. iOS and Android install base next year. According to a research report by Flurry released last month, China currently has 167 million iOS or Android devices, compared to 181 million in the U.S.
Tag Archives: market analysis
Ebook Readers: Device to Go the Way of Dinosaurs?
Shipments of ebook readers by year-end will fall to 14.9 million units, down a steep 36 percent from the 23.2 million units in 2011 that now appears to have been the peak of the ebook reader market. Another drastic 27 percent contraction will occur next year when ebook reader shipments decline to 10.9 million units. By 2016, the ebook reader space will amount to just 7.1 million units—equivalent to a loss of more than two-thirds of its peak volume in 2011.
Windows XP Drops Below 40% Market Share, Windows 8 Passes 1%
While the 1 percent share for Windows 8 is completely expected, it’s interesting to note that less than half of users have chosen to stick with the default IE10 browser: just 0.51 percent. Everyone else appears to be using Chrome, Firefox, or yet another browser.
via Windows XP Drops Below 40% Market Share, Windows 8 Passes 1%.
Feature phones dwindle as Android powers ahead in third quarter
But Samsung dominated that field as it does the rest of the market: Apple made up 13.9% of the smartphone market, slightly down in share even though its shipment numbers grew by 36%, giving Samsung 32.6% of the entire smartphone market.
via Feature phones dwindle as Android powers ahead in third quarter | Technology | guardian.co.uk.
Africa’s Wireless Gold Rush
It’s no surprise to find multiple network expansion investments, given the rate of mobile growth in the region: According to a new report issued by the GSM Association (GSMA) , sub-Saharan Africa is “the fastest-growing mobile market in the world,” with an average annual growth rate of 44 percent since 2000. The region now has 475 million mobile connections, compared with 12.3 million fixed lines.
via Africa’s Wireless Gold Rush – 4G/LTE – Telecom News Analysis – Light Reading Mobile.
Hard drive prices one year after the flood
Only a quarter of the drives we’re tracking cost less now than they did before the flooding. A couple have come full circle, but the vast majority have higher prices.
via Hard drive prices one year after the flood – The Tech Report – Page 1.
Chinese smartphone vendors cut Apple out of top five in shipments for Q3
The big surprise was the rise of Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific which took third place. Yulong sells smartphones under the brand name Coolpad. The company is largely unknown outside China, but has seen its shipments in the country steadily increase as a result of its broad product profile and low-end handsets, which reach prices below US$100, said Nicole Peng, an analyst with Canalys.
HTC suffers 79% crash in quarterly profits
HTC’s share of the global smartphone market by shipments fell to 5.8% in the second quarter from 10.7% a year earlier, according to Bloomberg.
via HTC suffers 79% crash in quarterly profits | Technology | guardian.co.uk.
HTC has seen falling average selling prices for its phones as it has tried to break into the fast-growing Chinese market. Approximately 30% of shipments go to China but price pressures mean they account for only 20% of revenues.
Tellabs Finds New PON Frontier
The manufacturer claims to be the first company to convert its GPON platform into an enterprise switch, back in 2009, to enable enterprises to take advantage of the bandwidth capacity and lower costs of passive optics, and considers itself a global leader in optical LANs. Tellabs is getting competition in the field from Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and newer fiber-to-the-desktop players such as Zhone Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ZHNE) are also exploring how to use their PON expertise in what is expected to be a growing market. (See Moto Expands PON Family.)
Other companies capitalizing on this market are fiber management firms, such as 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) and TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL).
Tellabs has had success selling its optical LAN technology into enterprises through Value Added Resellers, and into federal government agencies. One of its new pushes is to encourage telecom service providers, especially those in rural areas, to look to optical LAN technology as something they can sell to their business customers, as part of a hosted or managed service they deliver, says Van Horne.
Disk drive shipments rebound from Thai floods
HDD shipments in 2012 for the overall computer market, including PCs, are forecast to reach 524 million drives, up 4.3% percent from 502.5 million units last year, according to an IHS report.
Hard drive prices, however, will remain high, and prices are not expected to fall to pre-flood levels until 2014, IHS stated in a report earlier this year.
via Disk drive shipments rebound from Thai floods – Computerworld.
Hard drives sales will also get a boost from ultrabooks, including machines that use hybrid drives, which combine spinning disk with solid state storage. Those drive shipments are flat now but will take off in the fourth quarter of this years, according to IHS.