Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
State of the handset market: Nokia/Symbian holds a slim lead
Mobile device sales surged to 325.8 million units worldwide during the second quarter, a 13.8% year-over-year increase, according to a report from Gartner Inc. The report noted that smart phones accounted for 19% of sales worldwide to end users, a 50.5% increase from the second quarter of 2009. Strategy Analytics reported last month that its data showed smart phone shipments jumped 43% year over year to 60 million units, while total handset sales grew by 13% to 308 million units. Despite the strong sales, Gartner noted that average selling prices and margins both shrank year over year, which the firm attributed to “a stronger dollar, a depreciating euro, and intense competition that drove price adjustments and changes to the product mix.” Among handset vendors, Nokia Corp. (NOK) remained the largest seller of mobile devices with nearly 111.5 million handsets sold during the second quarter and a 34.2% market share. The company’s total device sales were an increase compared with the 105.4 million sold during the second quarter of 2009, but its handset market share dropped from the 36.8% it carried the previous year. “Nokia’s senior executives need to do more to attract developers and other ecosystem members by revising its platform strategy and improving its communications,” Gartner noted. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. maintained its No. 2 position increasing both its total device sales (55.4 million during Q2 2009 to 65.3 million during Q2 2010) and its market share (19.3% in Q2 2009 to 20.1% in Q2 2010). … Read more
WiMAX in China
Few would argue the complex nature of mobile services in China. However, most agree that the potential for return on mobile services in China make the risk worth the reward.
One company confident in that chance in U.S.-based ChinaTel Group Inc. (CHTL), which is currently working with CECT-Chinacomm Communications Co. Ltd. to deploy a WiMAX-based network using 3.5 GHz spectrum across 29 markets in China, including Shanghai and Shenzhen. ChinaTel, which was formed in 2008 through a reverse merger of a pair of Nevada-based companies, one of which had experience building out wireless networks with Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile International AG, originally gained a foothold in China by deploying a Wi-Fi network in Beijing in support of the 2008 Olympics, a network ChinaTel said was still operating. The company was then tapped through its partnership with CECT-Chinacomm Communications, which was granted spectrum licenses by the government, to begin building out a wireless broadband network using the 802.16e WiMAX specification.
“We have 20 megahertz of spectrum now, but that could be bolstered in the future by the Chinese government,” noted Kenneth Hobbs, VP of mergers and acquisitions for ChinaTel.
Hobbs added that it was under government mandate to have 12 markets deployed by June 2011, and that it had already completed work on three network operating centers and three switches. Deployment of the network in the remaining 17 markets is not expected to begin until 2014. The company also noted that it has between 400,000 and 500,000 people currently paying for access to its Wi-Fi network that is operating in parts of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. … Read more
US mobile users double data use in six months
With so much talk these days about uninhibited mobile data growth and the impact it’s having on wireless carrier networks, you’d think there was no money in mobile broadband. Think again. Revenues from mobile data in the United States jumped 6% in the second quarter from the previous quarter and climbed 22% from the year-ago period, according to fresh data from Chetan Sharma Consulting. In Q2 alone, revenues for mobile data eclipsed $13.2 billion. No wonder the consultancy is confidently holding firm to its initial estimate of $54 billion for the year. Verizon Wireless (VZ) is still on top with almost 100 million data connections and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) had its first positive net-add quarter in three years, according to the research firm. During the second quarter, AT&T Mobility (T) and Verizon accounted for 75% of all data revenue growth and now command 70% of all related revenue in the United States overall. With data traffic increasing across all networks, the first half of 2010 ended with the average U.S. subscriber consuming about 230 megabits of data per month, representing a 50% increase in just six months, Chetan Sharma wrote. The United States “has become ground zero for mobile broadband consumption and data traffic management evolution,” he concluded. … Read more
Droid 2 comes to Verizon
Verizon Wireless said it would begin taking pre-orders on the Motorola Inc. Droid 2 beginning tomorrow ahead of its expected launch later this month. The handset will retail for $200 after all rebates and a two-year contract. The device is set to replace the original Droid that launched late last year and was bolstered by an ambitious advertising campaign targeting Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The Droid name has now become the brand for some of Verizon Wireless’ devices powered by Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Verizon Wireless began offering the Motorola-built Droid X last month for $200 after all rebates, and prior to that launched the HTC Corp.-built Droid Incredible for the same price. The Droid 2 improves on the original model using Google’s latest Android 2.2 OS, “enhanced” QWERTY keyboard, greater social networking integration, mobile hot spot capabilities, more enterprise functionality and support for Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash 10.1. More importantly for those drawn to the Droid name, Verizon Wireless also said it would offer a limited edition R2-D2 version of the device in honor of one of the stars of the “Star Wars” movie franchise. The model, which will be available only online beginning in September, will include exclusive Star Wars content and an external hardware design to look like R2-D2. Verizon Wireless licenses the Droid name from Lucasfilm Ltd. The Droid 2’s presale availability falls just one day before AT&T Mobility is set to begin exclusively offering Research In Motion Ltd.’s Torch smart phone. … Read more
Skype plans an IPO
With more than 560 million registered users and one of the most disruptive technologies the telecommunications industry has ever faced, Skype Technologies S.A. is now ready to take things public. The company, which has gone through a fair share of suitors and would-be sellers, filed its plans for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission today. Skype intends to raise as much as $100 million through the offering. The filing also shined some new light on the state of Skype’s business. It’s user base has jumped nearly 30% from 397 million in June 2009 to 560 million at the end of June 2010. Average monthly connected users has also jumped in kind, climbing nearly 27% from 91 million a year ago to at least 124 million today. Revenue is an entirely other issue though. Less than 1.5% of Skype’s users are paying customers. Only 8.1 million of its customers are paying for the service, but on average they are paying $96 a year for the service, according to the filing. The pool of paying customers has jumped as well, from 6.6 million a year ago to 8.1 million at the end of June. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
