By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 4:23 AM PST
In Research
According to Gartner, Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) slipped to fifth place in global mobile phone market share during the first-quarter of 2008, overtaken by Korean vendor LG.
Sony Ericsson sold 22.1 million units in the quarter for a 7.5% market share, behind LG’s total sales of 23.6 million units and 8% share. The Swedish-Japanese company previously warned that it was experiencing weakened demand in the European mid-to-high-end device market.
On the other hand, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) continued its dominance in the first-quarter, growing its market share to 39.1% on sales of 115.2 million units, up from 35.5% share in the same period last year. Samsung was in second position, increasing its share from 12.4% to 14.4% on sales of 42.4 million units, whilst Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s troubles continued. The US handset maker saw a sharp drop in the quarter, selling 29.9 million units to give it a market share of 10.2%, compared to 18.4% last year.
Gartner forecasts worldwide mobile phone sales will continue to rise between 10 and 15 percent in 2008. Emerging markets will drive the growth, but the value of the market will be lower than expected. The analyst firm added that West European mobile phone sales fell 16.4% in the first-quarter compared with the year-earlier period. Worldwide sales, however, reached 294.3 million units in the first quarter, a 13.6% increase from sales last year.
[Via: CNN]
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 4:19 AM PST
In General
Two Indian companies have announced plans to enter the country’s fast-growing mobile handset market by launching low-cost devices.
According to India’s Economic Times, the electronics and home appliances company Orpat is launching two new GSM handsets based on NXP Semiconductors’ chips. It will promote the devices at its 50,000 retail outlets and is targeting sales of 2 million units this year.
Meanwhile, The Times of India reports that the Calcutta-based computer and motorcycle manufacturer Xenitis Group has created a new unit called Xenitis Telecommunications that will also launch entry-level handsets priced as low as Rs499 (around $12). Xenitis’ Santanu Ghosh said the company was looking at a number of options — including selling the devices under its own brand, acting as an OEM for other vendors, or selling the device in partnership with carriers. He added that the company has already received orders for around 160,000 handsets from operators and manufacturers…
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 AM PST
In Devices, Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) and/or the fans of their products keep infiltrating YouTube with latest phone demo clips. Today, we bring you the latest batch of these videos. Four devices are presented – two Walkman phones – W760 and W980; and two Symbian UIQ smartphones – G700 and G900. All phones mentioned target mid-to-high-end market segment, and each of them rock in its respective category. Don’t know about you, but the G900 is my personal favorite.
Enough rant, demo clips are starting after the jump.
Read the full article »
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 3:58 AM PST
In Devices, LG
LG keeps adding new Viewty color options. Aside from the original black, the 5 megapixel camera equipped device is also available in silver, pink, and purple. Add “Hot Red” in the mix too, as the Korean giant just announced such-colored Viewty in Ukraine, according to Mobile-Review.
LG will certainly market the device towards women who may like the new color. Unfortunately, at this stage we don’t know whether the Hot Red Viewty will ever leave Ukraine and reach other markets. Furthermore, we’re not sure how much the device costs, but I guess the price can’t go much higher because of the color.
[Via: Unwired View]
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 3:42 AM PST
In Devices, Windows Mobile
RoverPC has released a new smartphone in Russia, P7, which supersedes the earlier P6 model. The fancy-lookin’ device runs the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.1) and gets all its power from Marvell’s PCA270 416MHz CPU.
Other specs include 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, tri-band GSM/GPRS + EDGE radio (900/1800/1900 MHz), and a 2 megapixel camera. On the downside, the all-touchscreen devices lacks 3G support, and arguably a better camera. Still, if priced correctly, it could be a winner.
Finally, size wise the RoverPC P7 measures 112×61x13.8 mm and has a weight of 95 grams.
[Via: ubergizmo]
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 3:14 AM PST
In Accessories
Roughly a year ago, we wrote about Callpod’s 6-in-1 charger called Chargepod. The versatile charger used to cost $79.95, but Callpod decided it’s about time to make it appealing to wider audience, hence they’ve reduced the price to $39.95. The problem, though, is that “manufacturer specific adaptors” kept their price, meaning that you’ll still have to pour out additional $9.95 per adaptor. At the end, you’ll still have to pay about 80 bucks to get the Chargepod along let’s say 4 custom adaptors. Or you could grab a bundle pack for $79.95, which includes the Chargepod base unit, AC wall plug, car charger, carrying case and six popular adapters: Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)/iPod/phone, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Blackberry (NSDQ: RIMM), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Treo and Sony PSP… More information is available on Callpod’s website.
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 2:55 AM PST
In Devices, FCC, Pantech
Let’s see, the Pantech Duo is actually the model number C810, so what kind of a device would wear the C820 “badge?” Maybe Pantech Duo 2? We’re not sure of course, but that certainly makes sense. To be fair, the “Duo 2″ is kinda awkward name, but hey, if Intel could do it, Pantech can do it just as well.
We don’t have all the details at this stage, but FCC filling does reveal the right 3G frequencies for AT&T (NYSE: T) (WCDMA 850/1900), which consequently is the carrier of choice for the original Pantech Duo smartphone. So, adding the latest version Windows Mobile to the mix, alongside that QWERTY keyboard + numeric keypad combo, could prove as a winning combination. Hopefully, a powerful CPU and abundance of available RAM will also find its way under the Duo 2 hood. Stay tuned…
[Via: Gizmodo]
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 2:30 AM PST
In Devices, Sony Ericsson, Windows Mobile
Like I already don’t want the XPERIA so bad, Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) is adding salt on my wound. September never felt so distant, and in the meantime the Swedish-Japanese handset maker’s website (or that’s marketing) team made more XPERIA X1 images available. As you’ve just seen — and there are more photos after the jump — the device rocks. That new color, Steel Silver, may even look better than the original black we saw at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. And the “Xperia Panel” looks as sexy as Windows Mobile can be. Keep reading for more photos…
Read the full article »
By Dusan Belic on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 2:16 AM PST
In Announcements, Apple, Devices, iPhone
And we’ve wondered what happened to Spain. The country was left out in all iPhone announcements during last couple of weeks. It was kinda obvious Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) will re-use its existing “partner in crime” from the UK, where Telefonica (NYSE: TEF)-owned O2 (NYSE: TEF) is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone. Now, their Spanish subsidiary, Movistar, got the same contract with Cuppertino folks. Or at least, no other carrier in the country manage to scoop the deal with Apple.
Again, no exact release date was given, nor pricing information. More details will be unveiled soon. Stay tuned…
[Via: Engadget Mobile]
