Apple won't be the big 2012 growth winner, despite iPhone 5, neither will Android

Friday, August 24, 2012

Digitimes has done some research and has put together some numbers for what the market share could look like by the end of the year. Surprisingly, despite the iPhone 5, Apple won't be the big growth winner of 2012, and, at least based on growth rate, neither will Android. Not surprisingly though are the big losers according to market share growth: BlackBerry and Symbian.

Apple won't be the big 2012 growth winner, despite iPhone 5, neither will Android

The numbers from Digitimes compare year-on-year shipments, and BlackBerry and Symbian are continuing their freefalls. Symbian shipments have dropped nearly 66% over last year, and BlackBerry saw a decline of 41%. There really isn't any hope for Symbian, but for RIM, BlackBerry 10 can't come fast enough if the carrier excitement is to be believed.

Android's growth rate is understandably slowing from 2010, when it's year-on-year growth rate was a mind-boggling 679%, but it is still by far the largest of all, and could end up being 70% of all smartphone shipments. This year, Android is looking at just under a 90% increase, which would mean somewhere around 425 million units shipped compared to 224 million in 2011.


Apple is expected to increase shipments by just 35%, but given the volume of iPhone shipments, that will still add up to 125 million units in 2012. The big surprise is that Windows Phone will have the biggest growth rate by more than doubling its shipments this year (up 108%). Of course, that only adds up to 21 million units, because WP has such a small share, but the growth rate is impressive.


source: Digitimes

Continue Reading | comments

Chinese ZTE to introduce first Windows Phone 8 devices only in late 2013

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Chinese ZTE recently cemented its position in the top 5 smartphone makers with its 8 million devices shipped in the second quarter of 2012, but when it comes to Windows Phone 8, ZTE is in no hurry. ZTE will only introduce its first Windows Phone 8 devices in late 2013, almost a year later than most other phone manufacturers that will rely on the initial hype around the new platform around October.

"Although we haven't announced anything yet, I can confirm that ZTE's first Windows Phone 8 handsets will be arriving towards middle-late 2013," ZTE European marketing and development director Chris Edwards said.

Edwards clarified that with Windows Phone 8 ZTE will continue focusing on “middle ground” devices offering customers cheaper options to devices from “tier one” phone makers.

ZTE will build its strategy around the most important things and not gimmicks. The company plans on being there to capitalize on mistakes from companies like Huawei and Samsung. "We plan to concentrate on things that really matter: good batteries, fast speeds and decent cameras," Edwards added.

At the same time, ZTE, fourth biggest mobile phone and fifth-biggest smartphone maker, saw net profit slide to 244.88 million yuan (around $38.5 million) in the first half of 2012, down from 769 million yuan in the same period last year. Still, this was better than analysts expectations.

Continue Reading | comments