Windows phones overtake Apple iPhone in China (China)
The Chinese market has been showing great acceptance for Windows phones over other operating systems. According to a report by mobile and apps, just two months after the first set of Windows Phones entered the Chinese market, the platform made giant strides to take 7 percent of the market. In doing this, Windows has overtaken Apple and is now second only to Google’s Android based smartphones.
Microsoft’s ultimate target is to overtake Android to be the dominant player in the smartphone arena. As per the report, another 7 percent growth in similar time frame would propel Windows Phone to be viewed as a viable alternative to Android, which would boost growth more significantly.
Michel van der Bel, COO Greater China Region at Microsoft said that their smartphone and tablet-pc are hybrid, making them suitable for the consumer, but also easy to insert within an existing company infrastructure. This will allow them to better anticipate the consumerization of IT than many competitors.
50.4% US customers use smartphones; Android accounts for 48.5% (USA)
According to a recent report by Nielsen, in March 2012 smartphones as many as by 50.4 percent of consumers in US were using smartphones over basic devices, with Android maintaining its dominant position, accounting for 48.5 percent of all smartphone handsets. Apple follows at 32 percent remaining the single-biggest smartphone handset brand.
However, the smartphone growth in US has been slow in the past three months, with a growth of only 3 percent from 47.8 percent in December 2011. The report also highlights that Asian Americans have the highest usage, at 67.3 percent, using a smartphone device.
Hispanics were in second place with 57.3 percent of the group using smartphones, with African Americans closely following with 54.4 percent. Whites had the lowest penetration of all, with 44.7 percent. A gender analysis revealed that in the U.S. 50.9 percent of females had smartphones, while among men it was 50.1 percent.
Orange to launch TV Check app in iPhone in UK (UK)
Telecom operator Orange is planning to launch its TV Check iPhone application in the UK this month, and will launch the app on the Android platform in both France and the UK at the same time, according to a report by DTVE. The app offers additional content and games such as quizzes around TV shows, and the ability to chat and comment on shows via Twitter and Facebook.
Patrice Slupowski, vice-presdent, digital innovation and communities at Orange, said that they are happy to open a second country. They will see how the UK audience does with it.
Slupowski told DTVE that Orange would add social recommendation features to the app and said that Orange would discuss with channels in the UK about building partnerships with them. He said the Android version of the app would launch both in France and the UK at the end of May. Slupowski said that the app had been downloaded about 100,000 times in France.
The real reason behind Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility (USA)
Google’s mobile operating software – Android – has resulted in it controlling a dominant position in the mobile phone market, beating rivals Apple and Nokia to the number one spot. The acquisition of Motorola Mobility further earned Google access to over 17,000 patents, enabling the internet giant to protect its Android software from patent infringements.
A report by CNET offers an insight into the possible opportunities offered by such a merger to users. As per the report, this deal may enable Google to be the first to offer smartphone devices that completely replace a user’s personal computer (PC).
In terms of smartphones, Apple and Samsung offer extremely competitive services. However, if Google was to make the jump towards a functioning PC on a mobile phone, Apple could find itself in a lot of trouble.
The report highlights the massive appeal such a gadget would offer business customers. Most companies are moving business apps to either the cloud or private browser-based apps. Webtop-enabled Android devices — if they are well-orchestrated — could take a big bite out of the corporate sales of Windows.
While the PC supported smartphone sounds very impressive, Google still has a long distance to cover before it achieves this feat.
LG favours Android over Windows (USA, South Korea)
Microsoft’s chief executive, Steve Ballmer has recently announced that the company is planning to focus on smartphones running on Google’s Android mobile operating system. According to a report by KoreaHerald, the executive also said LG is taking a step back from Windows phones powered by Microsoft’s platform, adding that it will continue research and development efforts on Windows Phones.
As per the report, a spokesperson for LG revealed that the total unit of Windows Phone sold in the global market is not a meaningful figure. Further, the company currently has no plans of rolling out another LG-manufactured Windows phone soon.
The report reveals that Ballmer may holding a meeting with the chief of LG Electronics, as the U.S. software giant chief is expected to visit Seoul this month. Microsoft Korea spokesperson Lee Seung-yeon said that Ballmer, who will speak about the ‘new era of technology,’ will be staying for a day in Seoul.
Nokia Windows phone receives support from carriers (USA)
With the increasing dominance of iPhones and Android powered smartphones in the handset arena, wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon Wireless have been looking at phones from Nokia and Microsoft as alternatives, according to a report by BN.
As per the report, both carriers praised Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, which powers the new Nokia Lumia phone, when they reported quarterly results this month. AT&T began offering the Lumia 900 for $99.99 on April 8, and Verizon is preparing to add a new Nokia model to its lineup soon.
The operators are hoping that these handsets act as an alternative for users as devices such as iPhone can be more costly to subsidize. The companies also face the risk that an Apple-Google duopoly will erode carriers’ ability to distinguish themselves and will further squeeze their profit margins.
AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens told BN in an interview that they want the Lumia to succeed — they love to have competition in the handset market. It’s always better to have more choices for the customers.
Sprint report net loss of $863 million in Q1 2012, adds 1.1 million subscribers (USA)
Sprint Nextel Corp. announced its Q1 2012 results wherein it reported a net loss of $863 million and a diluted net loss of $.29 per share for the first quarter of 2012. The company had wireless service revenues of $7.2 billion during the quarter, an increase of more than 7 percent year-over-year, driven primarily by Sprint platform postpaid ARPU growth of $4.03 – the largest year-over-year increase on record for the U.S. wireless industry. The company reported total net subscriber additions of nearly 1.1 million during the first quarter, bringing total ending subscribers to a record 56 million.
The total number of customers on the Sprint platform grew almost 4 percent sequentially including 263,000 postpaid net subscriber additions, 870,000 prepaid net subscriber additions and 785,000 wholesale and affiliate net subscriber additions. Sprint recorded more than 1.5 million iPhone sales in the first quarter with 44 percent going to new customers. Prepaid churn on the Sprint platform improved to 2.92 percent, the tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement.
According to Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO, the continuing revenue growth on the Sprint platform, which represents the future of the company, driven by record ARPU improvement and strong net subscriber growth, contributed to the Adjusted OIBDA performance of $1.2 billion. He added that the value and simplicity of their unlimited data, talk and text plans, combined with an unsurpassed customer experience and their increasingly robust device portfolio make for a strong combination.
In terms of customer experience, during the first quarter, Sprint recorded its lowest level of calls to customer care per postpaid subscriber on record, consistent with more third-party recognition of Sprint’s customer experience.
Sprint also launched several innovative products and services in addition to its 4G LTE devices. Sprint introduced its first tablet for under $100 with a two year agreement, ZTE Optik as well as ZTE Fury, a family-friendly Android-powered device. Boost Mobile began offering LG Rumor Reflex – the fifth device from Sprint with eco-friendly attributes and the second from Boost. Additionally, the company introduced Sprint Complete Collaboration, the most comprehensive hosted and fully managed unified communications bundle available for businesses and launched additional Sprint Biz 360 solutions, phone and applications for small businesses. Sprint also created New Ventures, a new organization focused on delivering new business models that leverage open platforms to drive revenue and overall customer satisfaction for the global marketplace.
