Manual For Technology

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Nokia warns against growth expectations for handsets

Nokia sees profits drop 66% as competition and cost-cutting undermine its promise to strengthen market share

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has warned that it will not increase its share of the handset market this year because of fierce competition. The Finnish technology company also said its profit margins will continue to come under pressure as it battles the impact of the global recession.

Nokia today announced a 66% drop in second quarter profits to €380m (£326m), sending shares down almost 10%. The company, which makes roughly four out of every 10 phones sold worldwide, had previously reassured investors that it would strengthen its dominance in the market this year.

Nokia also said it now expects profit margins in its mobile phone business in the second half of the year to be the same as the 10.3% recorded in the first six months. It had originally promised margins of at least 13%.

There was some relief, however, as Nokia reiterated its forecast that the overall mobile phone market will only fall 10% this year, to just over a billion devices, having cut its forecast twice in the past nine months.

Chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the company had "put in a solid performance" during a "tough quarter" and signalled that conditions show some signs of improvement as retailers and mobile phone networks have run down their stocks of phones and are ordering again. "Competition remains intense, but demand in the overall mobile device market appears to be bottoming out," he said.

The Finnish company, which is cutting jobs as it looks to reduce costs, has suffered as cash-strapped consumers hold on to their existing handsets and opt for cheap SIM-only deals, leading to a dramatic drop in sales of mid-range phones. Sales in emerging markets have also been falling as a result of the economic turmoil, with consumers looking for ever cheaper phones.

Businesses are also reining in their spending and laying off staff, which has had an impact on sales at Nokia as a major supplier to corporate customers. Meanwhile, many consumers in more developed markets who are willing to sign up to another long-term contract have been looking for a so-called smartphone such as the Apple iPhone or BlackBerry Storm in return.

Nokia said the average price of its phones in the second quarter was €62, down from €74 last year and €65 in the first quarter as a result of intense competition and higher sales of lower-priced products.
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The smartphone threat

Nokia has been playing catch-up in the smartphone category, where the iPhone has made touchscreens all the rage. Its first mass-market touchscreen device, the Nokia 5800, was launched last year and has been selling well and Nokia recently expanded its touchscreen range with the release of the N97, which comes with a slide-out qwerty keyboard. The company sold 3.7m 5800s in the second quarter, meaning more than 6.8m have shipped since launch. Nokia did not separate sales of the N97, saying only that total shipments of its N-series phones – which include other devices such as the N96 and N95 – were 4.6m in the quarter and it sold 4.7m of its E-series business devices, such as the E71 which is aimed at business people who are used to using a BlackBerry.

In the three months to end June, Nokia shipped a total of 103.2m phones, down 15% year on year and 11% on the first quarter, while the industry as a whole shipped an estimated 268m phones, down 12% year on year and a decrease of 5% on the first quarter. Nokia reckons shipments of smartphones – or "converged mobile devices" as the company calls them – increased to 41m units in the second quarter from 36m in the first quarter. Nokia shipped 16.9m smartphones compared with 13.7m in the first quarter of the year, giving it a 41% share of the market.

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Sony Ericsson struggles

The news came as ailing rival Sony Ericsson announced a loss for the same period – its fourth consecutive quarterly loss – as it continued to lose market share to rivals such as Samsung, HTC and Apple. The joint venture between Sweden's Ericsson and Sony of Japan made a loss of €213m for the three months to the end of June compared with a profit of €6m last year.

The company, which is looking to slash costs by cutting 2,000 jobs on top of the 2,000 that went last year, shipped 13.8m phones in the quarter, down 43% on the same period last year, giving it a 5% share of the market. That is down from 6% in the first quarter of 2009.

"As expected, the second quarter was challenging and we still believe the remainder of the year will be difficult for Sony Ericsson," said the firm's president Dick Komiyama. "Our focus remains on bringing the company back to profitability and growth as quickly as possible, and our performance is starting to improve due to our cost-reduction activities."

The company also hopes that new devices to be launched this year will help it increase sales and raise its market share. Its recently launched W995 is selling well, but gadget fans are eagerly awaiting its first phone using Google's Android platform, a touchscreen device apparently codenamed 'Rachael'.

There is intense speculation that Nokia is also working on a phone that uses Google's Android operating system, although a spokeswoman for the Finnish company stressed that there is "no truth" to the rumours and Symbian, the software joint venture that Nokia bought out last year, remains its "platform of choice for smartphones".

There has also been a lot of buzz about another Sony Ericsson device – nicknamed Kiki – with pictures on the internet showing that the phone has a revolutionary see-through screen. One phone that definitely will be out later this year, however, is the Satio, which has a mammoth 12.1 megapixel camera and was unveiled earlier this year under the Idou code name.

But IHS Global Insight telecoms analyst Peter Boyland pointed out that the average selling price of Sony Ericsson's phones – at €122, up from €116 in the second quarter of 2008 – "is still well above that of its key rivals, and its smartphone portfolio has not gained enough traction to justify this".

"Sony Ericsson has been hit by a double whammy of a drop in consumer spend, and a loss of interest in the company's high-end, often niche handsets, which have seen particularly sluggish take-up in emerging regions such as Latin America," he added. "The joint venture has also been criticised for dragging its feet in its entry to the smartphone market, allowing key rivals such as Apple, Palm and RIM's BlackBerry to leap ahead."

iPhone Pushes Mobile Gaming To $5.4 Billion

Apple's smartphone is leading the pack, as developers and mobile gamers are attracted to the App Store and its business model, according to one research firm.

Mobile gaming was once simple games like "Snake" that were meant to kill time, but the market is rapidly becoming a lucrative business. Thanks to smartphones like Apple's iPhone 3G, mobile gaming rose 20% and hit $5.4 billion in 2008, according to a new report from JupiterResearch.

The report said overall game downloads were flat in the U.S. and Western European markets, but volumes rose in developing markets like India and China. While Java-based games saw a steep decline, those volumes were offset by a sharp increase of iPhone game downloads.

"The combination of iPhone and the Apple App Store has galvanized the mobile games industry," said report author Dr. Windsor Holden in a statement.

"Apple has provided an innovative device which enables developers to create smooth, compelling, visually attractive games for the mobile users, together with a business model offering a highly competitive revenue share for developers."

The touch input, robust hardware, and graphics capabilities have given the iPhone an advantage over its rivals on the mobile gaming front. Users of the iPhone also download apps at a higher rate than other phone users, and the platform has drawn high-profile developers like Electronic Arts and Sega.

One of the advantages the iPhone has over its competitors is the tight integration of the App Store. This makes browsing, buying, downloading, and installing games over the air easier than on most rival platforms. Additionally, users with an iTunes account already have a credit card on file, which makes buying games easier than on other platforms. For example, Google's Android Market uses Google Checkout, and Research In Motion will use PayPal for its BlackBerry App World.

The report also said that more than half of games downloaded by 2012 will be funded by advertising. This could drive additional business opportunities for the likes of Medialets, which has a rich media ad platform for iPhone apps.

Motorola Phones: Mobile Phones With A Difference

In today's time, the youths quite surprisingly, outnumber the other age groups, specially in regard to the usage of mobile phones. Teens and youngsters can be rarely seen without a mobile phone these days. Mobiles phones have become a necessity for them. But they don't select any handset for them at random. Their taste demands, cool and attractive in looks along with funky features such as a good camera, music player qualities and great storage capacity. However, among the youngsters, the Motorola is the favourite brand without any second thoughts.

The Motorola handsets appeal a huge number of youngsters because of their smart and trendy looks and equally smart features. It's not that only youngsters who are attracted towards the Motorola mobile phones, even the adults drool over them. Of late, the latest Motorola handsets, which have become the eye candies for the mobile phone lovers are the Motorola Jewel and Motorola Rokr E8. Both these handsets come enhanced with unique styling and plethora of features.

The Motorola Jewel mobile phone, has been provided with superb styling. This handset is rightly named jewel because of its stupendous and glittering looks. The fine and clear finishing, further makes the appearance of this gadget very similar to a precious jewel. This device comes in a flip design with 90 x 48 x 16 mm dimensions. This gadget is also pretty easy to carry as it is light weight i.e., of 95 grams. The users are privileged with a smart external screen displays time, caller name, new message etc. This device also has some wonderful imaging features. The gadget is provided with 2 mega pixels camera supported by outstanding features like 8x digital zoom, multi shot, landscape mode and quality video recording. Quite interestingly, this widget is also capable of providing musical entertainment.

This handset has been powered with music related features such as music player, music library,
auto pause control and touch sensitive music keys. For network availability, this handset has quad band technology which enables it to access four different 2G network spectrum. This device can also connect you to high speed internet with the help of GPRS and EDGE technologies. The Motorola Jewel also has some other fantastic utility features which makes it a pretty useful device.

On the other hand, the Motorola Rokr E8 model is a state of the art music phone. This gadget has the potential to deliver crystal clear audio quality to the music lovers. This device even has the FM radio option along with music player and high end music management softwares. The gadget can also store large number of tracks with the help of external memory. The external memory can be expanded up to 4 giga bytes with the help of a microSD card. The mobile phone also has an embedded 2 mega pixels camera. The embedded camera comes complimented with extra features such as 8x digital zoom, camera setting and camera modes to capture best shots. For transferring music files, picture etc., this phone is provided with Bluetooth and USB port. The Motorola Rokr E8 handset is has been designed with perfection. This device has touch sensitive keypads and a navigation scroll wheel which would definitely add spice to your connectivity options. The widget has dimensions of 115 x 53 x 10.6mm and weighs 100 grams.

Both Motorola Jewel and Motorola Rokr E8 handsets have their own unique features and unique style. The choice is up to the users to select the one which would perfectly suit their requirements. Last but not the least, it would prove to be a tough decision to select anyone as both these motorola phones have qualities which are highly admired.

iPhone Launched in Thailand with Poor 3G Network

The iPhone 3G has arrived in Thailand with the mobile operator True Move. According to the website iPhones Talk, Apple reportedly negotiated for some time to get the phone into the country. Despite its potential appeal in the Thai market, there is speculation surrounding how many Thai users will be able to take full advantage of the iPhone 3G's rich features due to spotty 3G coverage and lack of education about the phone's advantages, in addition to the lack of heavy data related usage there.
Given its price tag, another question arises: Does the iPhone make sense for consumers and operators in countries where voice calls dominate mobile use, and data/Wi-Fi usage isn't very high?
Due to a decision made by leading Thai mobile operators last year the country has scaled down their investment on 3G network upgrades, which could result in a large group of iPhone users without a fast, native network on which to use their gadget. According to Reuters India, however, True Move expects to launch 3G mobile services in Bangkok this coming April.

Nokia Sues Apple Over iPhone

The suit claims the iPhone infringes on 10 Nokia patents involving wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption.

Nokia has filed patent infringement litigation against Apple, charging that the iPhone infringes on several Nokia patents.

The litigation, which involves 10 patents, was filed, on Thursday in the Federal District Court in Delaware. The patents at issue, Nokia said, involve GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA), and wireless LAN standards. “The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for,” said Ilkka
Rahnasto, Nokia VP of legal and intellectual property, in a statement. “Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree [to] appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.” Apple did not immediately respond to reports about the Nokia complaint.

The litigation is just the latest in the mobile industry, which has been racked by scores of patent and intellectual property suits. Nokia itself was involved in long and bitter patent litigation with Qualcomm that was settled in July 2008 with Nokia agreeing to make payments to Qualcomm over a 15-year period. That agreement included licenses for GSM features, which appear to constitute a major piece of Nokia’s complaint against Apple.

Nokia pioneered GSM, which has figured in AT&T’s exclusive network deal with the iPhone in the United States. The AT&T network also utilizes UMTS, likewise cited in the Nokia litigation. AT&T was not named by Nokia in the litigation. The Nokia complaint appears to be aimed largely at handset intellectual property, although Nokia didn’t completely spell out the charges in its Thursday press release.

Nokia noted that it has successfully entered into licensing agreements with about 40 companies that include the patents cited in the Apple litigation, adding that it maintains that all Apple iPhones shipped since the smartphone’s debut infringe on Nokia patents that cover wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption.

Last week Nokia reported its first quarterly loss in years, while Apple reported very favorable earnings and revenue. Nokia leads the world in handset shipments with a 38% market share while Apple, still relatively new to the mobile market, is gaining share at a rapid rate.

Phone of the month: Sony Ericsson C905

My Mobile is India’s leading B2C telecom magazine bringing information related to the mobile industry to its readers. It has adjudged ‘Sony Ericsson C905’, as the “phone of the month” for the month of December 15 to January 14, 2008-09.

MY MOBILE, India’s leading mobile magazine, known for covering the latest in mobile technology, gizmos and gadgets has adjudged ‘Sony Ericsson C905’, as the ’phone of the month’ for the month of December 15 to January 14, 2008-09. This is 8.1-megapixel camera phone with a great set of multimedia features. The phone also comes with built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver with A-GPS support, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, music player, FM radio, etc. Sony Ericsson C905 is available in the market for Rs 31,500.

Evaluation criterion

The phone is tested for its technical prowess and user experience and is ranked on the basis of five parameters ie, looks, features, ease-of-use, performance and value for money.

The other mobile phones reviewed along with ‘Sony Ericsson C905’ were Spice S580, Motorola W388, Nokia N85, Asus P552w, HTC Touch Viva, Samsung M3510 Beat, LG KP 115, to name a few.
Tech Specs of ‘Sony Ericsson C905’:

* Size: 104x49x18mm
* Weight: 136 grams
* Memory: 160 MB, Memory Stick Micro
* Battery: Li-Po 930mAh
* Screen: 262,144 colours
* Talktime/ Standby: up to to nine hours/ up to 380 hours
* Bluetooth
* 8.1 mega pixel camera
* 850/900/1800/1900

About My Mobile

My Mobile is India’s leading business to consumer (B2C) telecom magazine bringing information related to the mobile industry to its readers. The magazine caters to the interest of Indian mobile users and also analysis the impact of global developments within the mobile industry. It is a complete reference guide for individual seeking information on headsets, mobile services, value added services and related mobile accessories.

High-end Mobile Phone Prices Drop

Mobile phones are our lifeline and it helps if the swanky ones are a bit affordable.

Here's a list of the high-end mobiles phones that have become cheaper.

The recently announced Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 that was priced at Rs. 35,795 is now available for Rs. 32,800.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz that was also launched in Singapore last month along with the Xperia X10 and was priced at Rs. 25,695 now costs Rs. 23,200.

The stylish, haute couture Samsung-Giorgio Armani B7620 now costs Rs. 34,000 down from Rs. 40,000.

Motorola's latest, the MILESTONE that at its launch was Rs. 32,990 is now available for Rs. 27,000.