Samsung, Nokia dominate third quarter mobile phone sales

Samsung and Android continue to outpace Apple and iOS

A look inside the quarterly sales numbers showed smartphones are up 46.9 percent over the same period in 2011, and revealed Android phones outpaced Apple's iOS phones by 5:1 during the third quarter.

The sales figures, as reported by the analysts at Gartner, show mobile phone sales have decreased by 3 percent overall, continuing a trend started earlierthis year.

Despite the overall sales dipping, smartphone sales bolstered by Samsung, Nokia, and Apple have continued to escalate, and are now responsible for almost 40 percent of all mobile phone sales.

Samsung holds lead

During the third quarter, Samsung was able to maintain its lead over Apple in smartphone sales, largely due to the Galaxy lineup, including the Galaxy SIII.

With a 32.5 percent share of the smartphone market, Samsung was able to hold off second-place Apple, which earned 14 percent of the sales.

Research in Motion was able to slip into third place, with HTC following closely behind, as Nokia's smartphone sales slipped to seventh.

Samsung still found itself in the overall lead with 97.9 million phones sold (22.9 percent), a narrow margin of victory over Nokia's 82 million total mobile phones sold (19.2 percent).

Apple was able to solidify third place by selling 23.5 million iPhones (3.9 percent), which was a 36.3 percent jump from 2011, and accounted for the largest increase in year-over-year sales.

Gartner expects Apple to have another traditionally strong fourth quarter due to the expanding availability of the iPhone 5, but doesn't think holiday sales will impact the overall market all that much.

Android still king of the hill

Even though iPhone sales increased tremendously during the third quarter, Apple's iOS still had trouble catching up to Android.

With 122 million Android phones sold during the third quarter, Google's OS increased it's share to 72.4 percent of the market.

Despite Android earning 20 percent more users during the third quarter, iOS was still able to garner 13.9 percent of all users, a drop of just one percent from Q2.

Apple was able to maintain second place largely due to the decreasing numbers of Symbian and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, as both OS were being phased out for Windows Phone 8.

iOS is expected to increase its numbers during the fourth quarter according to Gartner analysts, but all that depends on how strong Apple's final quarter turns out from a sales perspective.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsung-nokia-dominate-third-quarter-mobile-phone-sales-1112629

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Android distribution unveils marginal Jelly Bean and ICS growth

Android distribution numbers for October are in and Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean are still short of the reach Google might have hoped for.

At merely 2.7%, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean usage has jumped just 0.9% compared to September, 2012. The OS debuted exactly 6 months ago, and despite Samsung and HTC's best efforts to update their high-end devices, Jelly Bean is still to get proper traction.

Ice Cream Sandwich distribution is also on the rise clocking in at 25.8%, almost 2 points up from last month. With most manufacturers having completed their scheduled ICS updates, we don't expect this number to continue to climb. Especially with the majority shifting their attention to Jelly Bean.

Finally, Gingerbread is continuing to drop from 55.8% in September to 53.9% in October. With most devices comprising this number being low-end droids that would never see an update in their life, this number isn't likely to plummet anytime soon.

For more details and data, click on the source link below.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/android_distribution_unveils_marginal_jelly_bean_and_ics_growth-news-5035.php

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Samsung Q3 report: Operating profits reach $7.4 billion

Samsung has released their quarterly earning figures and once again has come up with some impressive numbers. Their total revenue last quarter was 52.18 trillion won ($47.5 billion), a 26 percent increase over last year, and the operating profits were 8.12 trillion won ($7.4 billion), a 91 percent increase over last year.

Samsung's mobile communication department has seen some strong growth, contributing to 26.25 trillion won ($23.9 billion) to the overall revenue of the company. The display department also did well this time, with revenue of 8.46 trillion won ($7.7 billion) and operating profits of 1.09 trillion won ($1 billion), a 19 percent increase over last year.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_q3_report_operating_profits_reach_74_billion-news-5000.php

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Apple weighs in: more than 2 million iPhone 5 pre-ordered

A couple of hours after AT&T announced that the iPhone 5 had broken the previous record for best-selling iPhone, Apple stepped up and gives us some exact numbers.

In a Press Release the Cupertino-based company shares that the iPhone 5 has hit over 2 million pre-orders in the first 24 hours after it went available.

In comparison the iPhone 4S got 1 million pre-orders last October in its first 24 hours, while the iPhone 4 got 600000 in 2010. Of course, the iPhone 5 is available in more markets than its predecessors, but the growth is still pretty impressive.

You can find the Press Release in the source link below.

Source | Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_weighs_in_more_than_2_million_iphone_5_preordered-news-4815.php

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Apple's iPhone arrogance could cost it in the long term

Look! A different port! That's new.

Apple has once again executed its perfect strategy: an underwhelming phone that will still sell in record numbers. But is it failing its fans?

The immediate response to the iPhone 5 has been one we've seen time and again: is that it? Scream the naysayers, only to see it sell in record numbers.

And I've no doubt we'll see the same thing here, millions upon millions of iPhone sold and Cook proclaiming that this is 'the most successful smartphone of all time'.

And sure, there are reasons it deserves the accolade. It's the thinnest out there. It's well-designed and packs the most well-stocked app store on the planet.

The game has changed

But we're not sitting here in 2008, witnessing the launch of the game-changing iPhone 3G with no real competition. We're in 2012, where there are at least three other phones on the market that match the iPhone 5 for specs and at a much lower cost.

Take the Samsung Galaxy S3 – quad core power, larger screen and £130 cheaper to buy. Or the Nokia Lumia 920, with a screen that's as high-res as the iPhone 5 but comes with more advanced camera technology and a fresh interface through Windows Phone 8.

There will be those that sniff at such options, stating that the iOS ecosystem is perfectly good enough for them and the iPhone 5 is the best device to show off that platform yet.

And they're right – this is the best iPhone yet without a shadow of a doubt. But what's so special about it beyond a slightly larger screen and a two tone back? The processor is a bit more efficient and snappy and it will work on the 4G networks when they emerge later this year, but it's still running the same tired OS we've seen time and again – iOS 6 is essentially the same as it was in 2007 with a few more bells and whistles.

I've got nothing against what Apple is up to in the smartphone game – I'd have to be pretty arrogant/foolish to claim to be smarter than the world's most valuable company – but if Samsung or HTC brought out a phone that was the same shape as the predecessor and then followed it up with the same thing but a bit longer and with new headphones, it would be dismissed as an also-ran before the handset hit the shelves.

We all know Apple can convince the world that the same is good when it needs to, and that slight upgrades are all that's needed. But if it doesn't bring out something as impressive as the iPhone 4 soon – which genuinely married up the best technology with superior design – then Apple could start having a problem convincing the world that it knows best when it comes to telling iFans which phone they should be craving.

Our hands on: iPhone 5 review stated: "But, in truth, Apple will be well aware that it doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to succeed"... it would be nice if it tried once in a while though.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/apples-iphone-arrogance-could-cost-it-in-the-long-term-1096806

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Nielsen: Android growth in US continues, iOS stays strong

It's Nielsen's turn to post its report on the US smartphone market in the second quarter of this year. The numbers show that Android continues to dominate while iOS is a very solid second. The two platforms combine for a total of 86.2% of all smartphones in the States.

In the second quarter of the year, Android powered 51.9% of US smartphones, while 34.3% ran on Apple's proprietary iOS. RIM's faltering BlackBerry OS came a very distant third, taking 8% of the Stateside smartphone market .

The gaps are even more pronounced among recent acquirers. Of all the US citizens who bought a smartphone over the past three months, a whopping 58.6% chose Android and another 33.0% went for iOS. The trend is understandable, given that the iOS flagship - iPhone 4S was already nine-months old at the end of that quarter, while the Android-powered One X had just made it to the market.

Given that the Samsung Galaxy S III only made it to the US market in Q3 and the next iPhone is expected to debut at the very end of the quarter, we expect the two leading platforms to expand their market shares even further by the time the next report rolls around.

As you see from the graph, the BlackBerry sales were down to 2.7%, while all other platforms, including Microsoft's Windows Phone managed a combined 5.8%. We don't expect Windows Phone to make a significant impact before the holiday season, as we are still waiting for the new WP8 devices to launch.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nielsen_android_growth_in_us_continues_ios_stays_strong-news-4785.php

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