Sony reportedly targeting 50 million Xperia smartphone sales in '13

Sony to use the usual ODM suspects: Foxconn, Arima and Compal

Sony Mobile is expected to ship 50 million Xperia smartphones next year, and pull off that ambitious growth by turning to Taiwan-based original device manufacturers, according to a DigiTimes source.

"[Foxconn] is currently the largest ODM for Sony Mobile, followed by Arima and Compal," an industry source told the Taiwanese site.

"The three ODMs may receive up to 20 million smartphone [of the 50 million] orders from Sony Mobile in 2013."

The source was unnamed, but the statements back up a previous report that indicated Sony is expecting 50 percent year on year growth for its Xperia line.

Forecast for the current year

Sony Mobile will ship 35 million smartphones by the end of this year, estimated the same source.

This would represent a 50 percent increase from last year, but that might not be enough to leave the company in the black.

"[Sony] is still unlikely to swing back to profitability in the year," according to the industry talker.

This may be due in part to the additional scale and high fixed costs that Sony had to incur after it acquired Ericsson's stake in Sony Ericsson.

Outsourcing almost half of its Xperia line to Taiwan could reverse that trend, and Sony has already put the plan into motion.

Foxconn began making low-cost Xperia smartphones in the third quarter of this year, and Arima and Compal will take on similar duties by the second half of 2013, according to DigiTimes.

The 50 million smartphone question

How Sony Mobile is able to create enough demand to warrant shipping 50 million smartphones is the big question.

The company's Xperia S and Xperia T were well reviewed, and T (and the U.S. variant, the Xperia TL) has some star power behind it.

Both the Xperia T and the TL are featured in the new Bond flick, Skyfall, ensuring that it'll peak the interest of 007-wannabes everywhere.

It also doesn't hurt that both the Xperia T and the TX models are receiving feature upgrades this week.

But the real question mark lies with the long-rumored Sony Odin and its just-as-unconfirmed 5-inch WhiteMagic display. That may be the key to Sony's 50 million smartphone target.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/sony-reportedly-targeting-50-million-xperia-smartphone-sales-in-13-1110962

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Report: Sony Mobile aims to ship 50 million XPERIA smartphones in 2013

Sony to use the usual ODM suspects: Foxconn, Arima and Compal

Sony Mobile is expected to ship 50 million Xperia smartphones next year, and pull off that ambitious growth by turning to Taiwan-based original device manufacturers.

"[Foxconn] is currently the largest ODM for Sony Mobile, followed by Arima and Compal," an industry source told Taiwan's DigiTimes.

"The three ODMs may receive up to 20 million smartphone [of the 50 million] orders from Sony Mobile in 2013."

The source was unnamed, but the statements back up a previous report that indicated Sony is expecting 50 percent year-on-year growth for its Xperia line.

Forecast for the current year

Sony Mobile will ship 35 million smartphones by the end of this year, estimated the same source.

This would represent a 50 percent increase from last year, but that might not be enough to leave the company in the black.

"[Sony] is still unlikely to swing back to profitability in the year," according to the industry source.

This may be due in part to the additional scale and high fixed costs that Sony had to incur after it acquired Ericsson's stake in Sony Ericsson.

Outsourcing almost half of its Xperia line to Taiwan could reverse that trend, and Sony has already put the plan into motion.

Foxconn began making low-cost Xperia smartphones in the third quarter of this year, and Arima and Compal will take on similar duties by the second half of 2013, according to DigiTimes.

The 50 million smartphone question

How Sony Mobile is able to create enough demand to warrant shipping 50 million smartphones is the big question.

The company's Xperia S and Xperia T were well reviewed, and T (and the U.S. variant, the Xperia TL) has some star power behind it.

Both the Xperia T and the TL are featuring in the new Bond flick, Skyfall, ensuring that it'll peak the interest of 007-wannabes everywhere.

It also doesn't hurt that both the Xperia T and the TX models are receiving feature upgrades this week.

But the real question mark lies with the long-rumored Sony Odin and its just-as-unconfirmed 5-inch WhiteMagic display. That may be the key to Sony's 50 million smartphone target.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/report-sony-mobile-aims-to-ship-50-million-xperia-smartphones-in-2013-1110962

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AT&T lays out plans to cover 300 million with 4G LTE by end of 2014

AT&T commits to $14 billion in network improvements over the next 3 years

AT&T has announced significant expansion and infrastructure investments to support future growth, including a scheme to extend 4G LTE coverage to 300 million Americans over the next two years.

The carrier announced plans Wednesday to invest $14 billion in the next three years to augment its wireless and wireline IP broadband networks, which promises to offer high-speed data access to 99 percent of its customers in wireline service areas.

The investment plan is called Project Velocity IP (VIP), an initiative aimed at supporting growing customer demand for high-speed internet access across the country.

AT&T plans to expand its 4G LTE network dramatically between now and the end of 2014, when it expects to service 300 million customers.

Eye to the future

Not just focused on wireless, AT&T's will also expand its wired IP broadband network to 75 percent of customer locations by the end of 2015 across 22 states, where the services are offered.

"This is a major commitment to invest in 21st century communications infrastructure for the United States and bring high-speed Internet connectivity - 4G LTE mobile and wireline IP broadband - to millions more Americans," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer.

"Revenues in our key growth areas - wireless data, U-verse and strategic business services - are all growing at a strong double-digit rate.

"Project VIP expands our potential in these key platforms and makes them available to many more customers."

Stephenson noted that such a significant capital investment would is only possible because of AT&T's "strong balance sheet," and considers the plan to be "logical extensions" of the company's proven technologies.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/broadband/at-t-lays-out-plans-to-cover-300-million-with-4g-lte-by-end-of-2014-1110855

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AT&T 4G LTE to cover 300 million people by end of 2014

AT&T commits to $14 billion in network improvements over the next 3 years

AT&T has announced significant expansion and infrastructure investments to support future growth, including LTE coverage for 300 million Americans over the next two years.

On Wednesday, AT&T announced plans to invest $14 billion over the next three years to augment its wireless and wireline IP broadband networks, which promises to offer 99 percent of its customers in wireline service areas high-speed data access.

The investment plan is called Project Velocity IP (VIP), an initiative aimed at supporting growing customer demand for high-speed internet access across the country.

AT&T plans to expand its 4G LTE network dramatically between now and the end of 2014, when it expects to service 300 million customers.

Eye to the future

Not just about wireless, AT&T's wired IP broadband network will also be expanded to 75 percent of customer locations by the end of 2015 across 22 states where the services are offered.

"This is a major commitment to invest in 21st Century communications infrastructure for the United States and bring high-speed Internet connectivity - 4G LTE mobile and wireline IP broadband - to millions more Americans," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer.

"Revenues in our key growth areas - wireless data, U-verse and strategic business services - are all growing at a strong double-digit rate. Project VIP expands our potential in these key platforms and makes them available to many more customers."

Stephenson noted that such a significant capital investment would is only possible because of AT&T's "strong balance sheet," and considers the plan to be "logical extensions" of the company's proven technologies.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/broadband/at-t-4g-lte-to-cover-300-million-people-by-end-of-2014-1110855

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Smartphone and tablet sales to top 1.2 billion devices in 2013

Gartner, a leading IT research and advisory company, has compiled estimates on the growth of smart devices and the effect they will have on the consumer electronics market. According to the report some 70 percent of total devices sold this year were either tablets or smartphones.

Android is expected to continue to dominate the mobile market even in the business sector, with 56% of devices expected to run on Google's OS by 2016 (up from 34 percent this year).

Tablets are expected to achieve a three-fold growth for business within the next four years, with 53 million units predicted to be sold in 2016.

Finally, Gartner predicts that Windows 8 tablets and smartphones will move to third place behind Apple and Android by 2016, with many businesses choosing smart devices rather than upgrading Windows on desktop PCs like in the past.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/smartphone_and_tablet_sales_to_top_12_billion_devices_in_2013-news-5049.php

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Android tablet sales explode, but iPad holds firm

A new report by research firm IDC says that tablet sales are growing immensely, but most of that growth is by devices running Google's Android operating system.

The market research firm International Data Group (IDC) today announced its latest findings in the market trends and performance for worldwide tablet sales, and while it’s looking good for all of the top manufacturers, Apple’s beginning to show some slip in its market share control.

The firm released data showing, after a strong Q2 performance in the tablet realm, that the iPad manufacturer was beginning to slip in market share, falling to about 50 percent of all tablet sales for Q3, down from an impressive nearly 66 percent market share in Q2. Despite this apparent loss in market share, Apple still sold 14 million tablets in Q3, while its nearest competition (Samsung) sold just 5 million. In the bigger picture, Apple is actually selling more tablets, the problem is that it’s selling these tablets up against a roaring amount of competition composed of Samsung, Amazon, HTC, and now Microsoft — which spells trouble for its Q4 market share.

The IDC also drew a comparison in Q3 performance this year with that of 2011, and that’s where the numbers get startling. While Apple’s sales have grown by about 26 percent, Samsung’s have grown by an impressive 325 percent, and Asus by 242 percent. Apple’s top dog position won’t remain if it can’t slow down competitors’ momentum. In one such attempt to stop this momentum, Apple launched the iPad Mini and iPad 4, which sold 3 million in their first weekend alone.

Despite the momentum of the Apple iPad Mini, it seems that Apple cannot change the fact it’s competing against dozens of other companies who continue to refine and build upon their own mobile user experiences. They will do everything in their power to nibble away at the iPad market share. While lawsuits have been one route to settle this, the fact remains that Apple couldn’t have certainly expected its huge, 60-70 percent market share to last much longer.

At the end of the day, we’ve seen this coming. The introduction of two more tablets today alone only confirms it. The tablet market is exploding. That means that there will be plenty of competitors coming over the next few years, and they’ll all be doing whatever they can to have a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie. While Apple is far from hurting now, the IDC’s reports are just a taste of what’s to come.

 

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/idc-reports-android-market-share-growing-apples-dwindling/

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Windows Phone Store reaches 125,000 apps, but report shows growth has slowed

A new report indicates that Microsoft's Windows Phone Store has reached 125,000 apps, just ahead of Windows Phone 8's launch. However, despite incoming new hardware, growth has slowed over recent months.

A report published by AllAboutWindowsPhone.com shows Microsoft’s Windows Phone Store now contains more than 125,000 applications, up from 100,000 at the beginning of May.

The exact, official figure may be slightly lower, as according to the report, the amount of apps available depends on how you count them, as not all are live or available in all locations.

Regardless, 125,000 is a respectable figure, but it’s a long way short of the 675,000 apps in its Google Play store and Apple’s 700,000 available in the iTunes App Store, a figure it confirmed during the iPad Mini event this week. Apparently, the Windows Phone Store is growing at the rate of around 215 apps per day, and there are 30,000 currently active developers too.

Microsoft hasn’t confirmed these figures, but has the ideal opportunity to do so on October 29, when it will officially launch Windows Phone 8. While a growing app store is essential for the success of a mobile platform today, the rate of new apps being added has slowed over the past few months, which as the report points out, will be due to Windows Phone 8’s impending release.

Looking at the “Items Added” chart, the difference is startling. In December last year — the store’s high point, just after the release of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango — more than 12,000 apps were added, but fast forward to July 2012 and less than 5,000 made their debut. August was much the same, as is October so far, but a spike to around 6,500 came in September.

We know what you’re thinking, with just weeks to go before sparkly new Windows Phone 8 hardware goes on sale, why aren’t developers busily submitting new apps to capitalize on the rush? Microsoft has made things difficult in this area, as it still hasn’t released the Windows Phone 8 SDK to all developers, an essential piece of software to create and test new apps.

It should make an appearance on October 29, right after Microsoft reveals everything it has held back about Windows Phone 8, so November and December should see a big increase in apps being submitted and released. At least, Microsoft better hope it does.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/windows-phone-store-has-reached-125000-apps/

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Texas Instruments backing away from mobile business

Future Kindle Fires likely to be impacted by TI change of direction

Despite the explosive growth of wireless mobile devices, particularly smartphones and tablets, at least one longtime chipmaker looks to be shying away from that market.

Reuters reported that Dallas-based chipmaker Texas Instruments has started to expand its business beyond investments in mobile wireless, which currently includes powering Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet.

Amazon's latest Kindle Fire, the Kindle Fire HD, sports a TI OMAP 4470 processor.

In a webcast meeting with investors, Greg Delagi, TI's senior vice president for embedded processing, painted mobile as "less attractive" for the company moving forward, which analysts view as the beginning of the end of the company's smartphone and tablet ambitions.

Investor reaction

"TI made it very clear they no longer want to be in the business of proving application processors for smartphones or tablets," remarked Longbow Research analyst JoAnne Feeney to Reuters. "What remains uncertain is for how long they'll support customers."

For the time being, TI promises to continue supporting mobile application chip customers, but won't invest as heavily into its future roadmaps where tablets and smartphones are concerned.

Texas Instruments plans to instead focus its efforts on industrial clients, such as auto makers, where the company sees future growth for its embedded chip business.

Judging from the company's stock, the announcement on Tuesday made investors nervous, with a three percent decline over worries that TI's new direction would adversely affect their bottom line.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/texas-instruments-backing-away-from-mobile-business-1099999

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