IT Consultant: Field Force Automation
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Qualcomm (and competition) & Apple ...
Yo Roxie,
<< It is still TBD whether the 3GSM versions of new iPhone5 or iPad2 will contain QCT components. >>
Ahem, Cough. Cough. Point of order. You mean FauxGSM not 3GSM don't you? We are living in the land of hyportunitty, after all. Heck, according to AirTouch alum's William Y. C. Lee IS-95 cdmaOne was 3G, and of course cdmaOne 1xRTT was definitely 3G as was GSM EGPRS (EDGE).
<ggg>
Score another one for Bellevue's 4G Americas and Broadcom who in February announced their highly integrated '4G' (FauxG) BCM28150 GSM/EDGE/HSPA+ BCM28150 with dual-core ARM Cortex 1.1GHz Cortex A9s, dual LPDDR2 memory, their "high performance" Merlyn application processor, and 1080p VideoCore IV processor. It's a very sexy chip (on paper at least) and I'm wondering if the baseband protocol stack is their own or whether they developed it in conjunction with and licensed from Nokia. Are their any rumblings in Wireless Valley on that score?
<< JMO....I think that Apple played the game well.... getting their ODM to pay royalties on the price the ODM sold units to Apple. It is MO that the Verizon iPhone deal changed the game and brought Apple front and center to the licensing table. >>
I suppose that is possible and that Qualcomm's earnings call reference to resolving one of their "previously disclosed licensee disputes, which will be reflected beginning with the second fiscal quarter results" could refer to Apple, but I'm not banking on it. I'm not sure why any 'branded OEM' and particularly one with Apple's clout, who does not themselves manufacture would not take advantage of the terms of Qualcomm's license for their ODM suppliers of CDMA or WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+ SE. The MediaTek chipset manufacturing license was interesting in that regard since MediaTek pays no royalty to Qualcomm on WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+ components but their users are bound to be informed that they must be (should be) licensed by Qualcomm and pay royalties to them on the wholesale ASP on SE they manufacture or have manufactured.
The displacement of Infineon as a baseband supplier in upcoming iPhones would certainly be a nice win for Qualcomm, should it occur but given Apple's growing volumes of iOS based mobile wireless with 3G/FauxG product especially if they expand their iPhone product range by migrating product downstream, the several advantages of dual IC supply is potentially much in play.
In that regard and though it's not really a surprise since Samsung is currently ST-Ericsson's largest customer, Qualcomm evidently lost a potential socket in Samsung's HSPA+ Galaxy S FauxG and they are evidently using ST-Ericsson's Thor M5730 baseband to fill it. I assume they'll mate it with their 1 GHzx2 dual-core Exynos (Orion) 4210 ARM Cortex A9-based SoC, with Mali-400MP GPU and 1080p HD video accelerator, 3D graphics and GPS receiver.
I do have another question for you, since no one else has stepped to the bar and attempted to answer it when I've posed it elsewhere. RIM uses integrated (BB-+ A-Processor with their own protocol stack) ICs from Marvell (who announces Q4 earnings today) in their 3GSM Blackberries, but use Qualcomm ICs in their CDMA2000 units. Do you have visibility on whether or not the A-Processor supporting the BlackBerry OS is a Marvell IC or whether the OS is supported by Qualcomm's integrated ICs in Blackberry CDMA2000 units? I realize that I didn't phrase that question too elegantly but assume you'll get the gist. More appropriately I guess that should be asked as whether or not Qualcomm ASSPs provide native support the Blackberry OS. I don't think they do, but they may.
QCOM climbing nicely off yesterdays close and off its open, but the dip in oil (now recovering) may have floated all boats. QCOM EOW close will be interesting.
Cheers,
- Eric -
SmartMobs and Life on These Mean Streets ...
gdollasign,
<< What the heck is wrong with QCOM today???? >>
Not a bloody thing. Market's up, market's down. Mr. Mean Market giveth and it taketh away. It simply decided today that QCOM might be getting slightly ahead of itself in the highly competitive industry they play in after hitting an intraday 10 year high yesterday (profit taking time, but a few centavos short of my own GTC limit reduction and profit taking at $59.99). That's simply life on NYC's mean streets
As re their ten year high, my apologies to Rich and Data and other board members for the double post I accidentally made yesterday re that high on the increasingly sluggish iHub servers. I just got a notice from Verizon that they are doubling my upload and download rates for basic FIOS FTTP/FTTH service (about time), but also correspondingly increasing my rate for basic Internet connectivity as part of my triple play + mobile wireless a few bucks per month. I doubt that will compensate for the iHub server sloth which may be more due to backhaul or maintenance issues than my Verizon ISP host.
QCOM will no doubt have a challenge busting through $60 and staying there, and don't forget that the dog days of summer will soon be upon us, and we could see a dip below $50 between now and Labor Day. Techs are historically seasonal and loaded to November thru March high's and May thruu late August lows. .
It may have come to some (it should not have) as a surprise that Apple would use Samsung as the fab partner/supplier for their non-integrated dual-core A5 A-processor in the iPad2 shipping in a few weeks and that its 3GSM baseband (not the CDMA baseband) might still be supplie by Infineon. More likely, however profit taking is the root cause of a very small 1.6% dip at close today from yesterday close to today's.
Cheers,
- Eric -
A Decade (10 year) High: Bumping Resistance at ~$60 ...
... and nicely off the 2002 low of $11.61 and the 2002 YE close of $18.20.
Nostalgia: QCOM Price History from its Last Decade Low
Calendar Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ======
High Price 44.69 26.67 27.43 44.99 46.60 53.01 47.72 56.88
Low Price 19.16 11.61 14.79 26.67 32.08 32.76 35.23 28.16
Year End Price 25.25 18.20 26.97 42.40 43.08 37.79 39.35 35.83
Adolf Hitler's View of the NokiaSoft Smartphone Annoncement
Nokia and a Possible WinPhone Future with Verizon ...
... as well as an update on reasonably robust CDMA iPhone sales in Q1.
The 1st two article below which lead off with Verizon iPhone updates hint at a rather interesting and decidedly different NokSoft potential at Verizon Wireless (VZ) than some initial NokiaSoft comments reported a week or so ago in the pulp press (see the older 3rd article below) indicating a decided Verizon Wireless (VW) lack of interest in WinPhone with or without Nokia. Nokia has put a lot of effort into building and then rebuilding a relationship with VZ in the last decade. While they have had some good fortune with VZ it certainly is less than they had hope for and no Nokia's are currently stocked at VW.
I'm a 20 year user of Verizon Wireless (via BAM, dating back to the AMPs car phone with transceiver in the trunk days), and BAM provided my 1st non-GSM mobile (a Qualcomm AMPS/CDMA/One QCP800 11 ounce brick) that I used for over 3 years, purchased in April 1997, 3 months after they launched CDMA service across the US Northeat I-95 corridor from Boston to DC. I purchased my 1st Nokia mobile (with Nokia's own BREW and GIN enabled 'tri-mode ASIC fabricated by TI) in October 2003, and gave my initial reasonably comprehensive impression of it after a single afternoon's use here ...
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=1580857
That 7½ year old phone which has survived several drops including one off the roof of my moving SUV is still in use, I put it back in use not long ago using VW's online ESN changer and today it is my primary mobile phone. I'm using it because of its excellent incoming/outgoing voice quality and RF and because there are a few spots across the nearby Maryland border where there is still only AMPs coverage (a Verizon roaming partner in a state with very chopped up licensing) and it's about impossible to find another phone with AMPS radio these days. She(ila) who must be obeyed uses a 3 year old Nokia ODM to OEM 1xEVDO clamshell -- the Dark Knight batphone (no reflection on her, of course) ...
http://siliconinvestor.advfn.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=24813063
For overseas travel I am currently using my 2nd network operator unlocked 3GSM + WiFi Symbian Nokia (the N86) smartphone and I'm about to use my 3rd (the HSPA S^3 N8 imaging phone)..
>> Verizon Expecting LTE 4G Devices from Apple, Looking to Future with Nokia...
Michael Oryl
Mobile Burn
Saturday February 26, 2011
http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=13208
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal [see below], Verizon CEO Dan Mead said that he expects Apple to build devices for use on Verizon's 4G LTE network. "You'll see more coming from Apple on LTE" he said, adding "They understand the value proposition of LTE and I feel very confident that they are going to be a part of it." Mead provided no time frame as to when Apple would build LTE capable devices for Verizon's network.
Mead is also reported to have said that he reached out to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop when he heard about Nokia's deal with Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 smartphone operating system, saying "When you think about the capabilities of those two companies, we are very interested." Mead supposedly said that he is waiting to hear from Nokia on how Nokia and Verizon Wireless can move forward on that front. ###
>> Verizon Wireless CEO Says iPhone Sales Strong
Shayndi Raice
The Wall Street Journal
February 25, 2011l
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704150604576166694202120296.html
Verizon Wireless sold more iPhone 4s during its initial launch than any other product in the carrier's history, said Chief Executive Daniel S. Mead.
Mr. Mead, who made the remarks in an interview, tried to counter reports that sales of the iPhone were not meeting the company's expectations. Compared to the usually large crowds that have greeted previous launches of the iPhone, the Verizon iPhone launch saw modest crowds at some high-profile locations in major cities.
Despite the concern, Mr. Mead said it wouldn't release iPhone sales figures until the company's next earnings release. Mr. Mead said reports of lackluster sales were incorrect, arguing that the modest store lines were due to heavy online sales and an intentional strategy aimed at spreading out the purchasing activity.
Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Timothy Horan estimates that Verizon Wireless will sell 3 million to 4 million iPhone 4s in the first quarter of 2011, and 10 million for the year. Last summer, Apple said it sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s during the first three days the device was available to customers. However, that number was for total world-wide sales.
Verizon first offered pre-orders of the phone to existing customers on Feb. 3, and then began selling it in stores one week later. Mr. Mead said the company staggered the launch of the Apple Inc. device in phases so that customers would have a smooth purchasing experience. "It was a conscious decision to spread the launch over three phases," said Mr. Mead.
Mr. Mead said more than 60% of iPhone sales occurred online. That heavy activity online contributed to short lines on launch day, which were noted by many news outlets. "If we had not done online, you would have seen a much different flow in the pictures," he said. In a few days, the company will double the number of stores that sell the iPhone, going from 4,000 to 8,000.
Mr. Mead also said he expects Apple to offer mobile devices on the carrier's 4G technology, although he declined to specify the nature of those products or when they would be released. Verizon's fast fourth-generation wireless network, which it recently launched, runs on a technology known as Long-Term Evolution, or LTE.
"You'll see more coming from Apple on LTE," he said. "They understand the value proposition of LTE and I feel very confident that they are going to be a part of it."
Although Verizon is heavily promoting its launch of the iPhone, Mr. Mead said the company will continue to strongly support other operating systems such as Google Inc.'s Android, Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry, and eventually Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone 7.
When Mr. Mead heard that Nokia Corp. had struck a partnership with Microsoft to adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone operating system instead of its own Symbian software, he said he contacted Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop to congratulate him and express his interest in learning more about the company's plans.
"When you think about the capabilities of those two companies, we are very interested," he said. At this stage, Mr. Mead said Verizon is waiting to hear from Nokia on how to move forward.
Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC. ###
The older article below from a decidedly non-friendly to Nokia (and RIM) source that promotes Apple and Google (and many like it) hit the pulp press over a week ago.
>> Verizon CTO: We Don't Need Nokia-Microsoft
Matt Rosoff
Business Insider
Silicon Alley Insider
February 15, 2011
http://a3yw.sl.pt
Verizon chief technical officer Tony Melone had harsh words for the recent deal between Microsoft and Nokia. That's bad news for Nokia and Microsoft, who desperately need carrier support to compete in the U.S. market.
In an interview with News.com, Melone dismissed the Nokia-Microsoft deal, saying "I don't think Verizon needs the Nokia and Microsoft relationship. Right now the three OS players we see for our network are Android, Apple, and RIM."
There's a historical reason for Verizon not to use Nokia: Verizon's network uses CDMA technology, while most of the world -- and AT&T and T-Mobile in the US -- use variants of GSM. Nokia stopped making CDMA phones some years ago, and Verizon currently carries no Nokia phones.
Still, Verizon's show of support for RIM runs in sharp contrast to comments from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who called the smartphone battle a "three-horse race" between Android, Apple, and Nokia-Microsoft.
Melone even had kind words for HP's WebOS, which has been stuck in last place for years, saying he was "more optimistic" about its prospects as a 3rd or 4th player.
Verizon has said via Twitter that it's "excited" to carry other phones running Windows Phone 7 when Microsoft adds CDMA support to the platform later in 2011.
Now, check out 10 partnerships that actually changed the tech world like Microsoft and Nokia hope to do....
http://www.businessinsider.com/10-tech-partnerships-that-crushed-competitors-and-sparked-turnarounds-2011-2#
###
- Eric -
NSN Purchase of Moto's Network Equipment Assets ...
<< THE MOTOROLA EFFECT: When will it take hold? When do they start taking control of motorola's mobile wireless division? Is this deal still coming thru? Did it already come thru? >>
Presumably you are referring to the planned acquisition of Motorola's networks equipment assets by the Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) JV. That acquistion was stalled by a Huawei legal action in US District Court against Motorola over Moto's "contractual obligations to protect Huawei's trade secrets and intellectual property." That appears to be resolved clearing the way for the acquisition to be finalized ...
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2274955/huawei-motorola-nokia-siemens
NSN feels they are on track to finalize the sale as scheduled (but delayed by one Quarter from the original target if I recall correctly) by end of Q1 ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110221-705045.html
- Eric -
Whoops! Sorry for a duplicated post
Elop on MS and Nokia and other OEMs playing with Win Phone Software
Rich,
You may have already seen this Forbes piece. I hadn't when I responded to your question, but Elops provides insight ...
<< How much rein will MS allow Nokia to play with the software, how much say MS will have in approving any major change in chipsets, how much they will allow other WP7 vendors to have the same freedom. >>
>> Nokia CEO Offers Glimpse of Future Windows Phone Strategy
Elizabeth Woyke
Forbes | Mobilized
February. 18, 2011
http://blogs.forbes.com/elizabethwoyke/2011/02/18/nokia-ceo-offers-glimpse-of-future-windows-phone-strategy/
One of the lingering questions from Nokia’s recent decision to partner with Microsoft on smartphones is just how much control the handset maker will have over these future devices. To date, Microsoft has set specific guidelines for the manufacturers that license its Windows Phone 7 operating system. Those rules span everything from the type of mobile processor that goes into Windows Phone 7 phones to the degree to which device makers can alter the stock Windows Phone 7 software.
Manufacturers including HTC and Samsung have said they do not mind following Microsoft’s instructions. But they note that the approach differs from that of, say, Google, which is less strict about how companies use its Android mobile platform.
Nokia’s decision to tie a significant part of its future to Windows Phone 7 thus prompts several questions: Does Nokia think it can be successful within the current Windows Phone 7 framework? Will the Windows Phone 7 guidelines not apply to Nokia? Now that Windows Phone 7 has been in the market for several months, does Microsoft plan to revise its rules for all its partners?
In the week since Nokia announced its news, Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop has offered a few clues about how the company will work with Microsoft on smartphones. It appears that Microsoft plans to relax some Windows Phone guidelines for all licensees, allowing greater choice over mobile processors and other components. That change should make Windows Phone devices more affordable, broadening the potential Windows Phone audience.
Nokia may be able to push other Windows Phone changes, as well. In an interview Elop conducted with a small group of U.S. reporters — including Forbes — earlier this week, at the Mobile World Congress trade show, he described a particularly close relationship between the two companies.
Elop revealed, for instance, that engineers from the two companies have been working together for some time already, in places like Reykjavik, which is located about halfway between Nokia’s Espoo, Finland and Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash. headquarters.
At the same time, Elop remained respectful of Microsoft’s right to direct Windows Phone development. While Elop indicated that Nokia would modify the software, perhaps in areas like photography and mapping, where Nokia has historically been strong, he also hinted that the company would not apply the type of software overlays that HTC, Motorola and Samsung have used to customize their Android devices. Developing a software “skin” could introduce unnecessary complexity to the Windows Phone ecosystem, said Elop.
The other reason not to embellish Windows Phone is speed, the importance of which Elop has stressed in every conversation he’s had about Nokia’s decision. Creating skins takes time; something that Nokia, which badly wants to release a Windows Phone by the end of the year, does not have.
Here is Elop in his own words:
On the ways in which Nokia and Microsoft are already working together: One of the most important things that needed to happen [for the Nokia/Microsoft deal] was the belief that our engineers could work together and believe in each other. We brought in a small number of engineers, including some senior Symbian leaders, and put them in a room [with Microsoft engineers] without supervision. You can’t build products unless you have a group of people that can sit in a room and love each other. …It doesn’t matter how I feel…I’m not the one building products day-to-day.
How the two companies will collaborate on Windows Phone: What we’re doing with Microsoft…is unique. There are joint assets we are contributing to Windows Phone…we are building ecosystems. This mutual dependency creates a balance that will result in a hugely positive user experience. It’s different from Microsoft having a version of software that just shows up, which we drop on devices. We will be involved in every step of the Windows Phone development process, contributing to it. It’s quite different from the typical [equipment manufacturer] model…we’re doing things on a unique basis.
Whether Nokia will customize Windows Phone with software “skins”: We want to be thoughtful about not creating an arbitrary forking of the Windows Phone user experience. If we skin Windows Phone and an app won’t work on it, that’s a problem. We will be very thoughtful about this. You see skins going on with Android, but my sense is that Google will tighten the degree to which people can do that.There are things Nokia could do with photography or the phone’s camera that could show an experience far richer and more complete than what anyone else has [on Windows Phone today]. Maybe if you take a picture of an ad, you get a discount. …But it has to be within the framework of Windows Phone.
How modifying Windows Phone could affect release times: Nokia historically did very precise hardware [modifications] like making its chips just a bit different from the competition’s. Some of that [modification] is still advantageous, but a lot of it slows you down. We could do a skin user interface but that could also delay the release of a phone. The pressure is on in terms of time to market and building this ecosystem. If we’re going to make changes that are special to Nokia, they will be the right things to do. …We will talk very carefully about [the modifications] to make sure they’re worth the price.
Whether other Windows Phone manufacturers will have access to the software/ modifications Nokia creates: Nokia will have some exclusive differentiated capabilities. Maybe something related to maps. [That said] we believe our most important competitor is not Samsung, Dell or HTC. It is Android and Google. Nokia will do what we can do to complete and strengthen the Windows Phone ecosystem. We’re assuming that success in the Windows Phone ecosystem will attract more competition. If we’re really successful, we will end up being more concerned about competition within Windows Phone, but we’re not [concerned about that] yet.
How Windows Phone could be more profitable than Android: Even if a company today is making money with Android…they well-understand that the risk of commoditization is high. As that commoditization sets in, margins will come under increasing pressure. We’re joining the Windows Phone ecosystem because we can deliver a differentiated experience [with Windows Phone]. And the margins…can be higher.
How Nokia will help consumers transition from Symbian to Windows Phone: We will make a path forward [from Symbian] to Windows Phone. [Elop went on to describe a scenario that involved allowing users to transfer data from Symbian phones to Windows Phone handsets, once they're ready.] ###
- Eric -
The Nokia Microsoft Agreement, Chipset Supply beyond Qualcomm, and MSRP ...
In my prior post here I stated ...
Somewhere I heard (and darned if I can remember where I heard it or whether the source was somewhat credible (although I think I thought it was) that the 2 companies expected to have the formal agreement finalized and signed within 90 days. -- mot 2 weeks or even 2 months. I don't really see it happening too much quicker.
This was NOT the source I spoke of but since the statement is enclosed by quotation marks, I would say the source is quite credible ...
"The conclusion of the agreement will happen, we think, quite quickly, measured in a couple of months, it may be a bit longer, it may be shorter." - Stephen Elop -
>> Nokia sees Windows phone prices dropping fast
Terhi Kinnunen and Tarmo Virki (Helsinki)
Reuters
18 February 2011
http://9t1c.sl.pt
Prices of smartphones using Microsoft's Windows Phone software platform will fall fast, Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop said on Friday.
Last week Nokia, the world's largest phone maker by volume, said it would adopt Microsoft's software across its smartphones, raising fears the firm would miss out during the transition on surging demand for cheaper smartphone models.
Elop said one of the key topics in the talks on doing a deal with Microsoft was convincing Nokia that it could reach "a very low price point."
"We have become convinced that we can do that very quickly," Chief Executive Stephen Elop said in a meeting with Finnish business journalists.
Trying to better compete with Apple's iPhone, Microsoft has so far had tight hardware requirements for phone models using its software -- pushing up handset prices and limiting the potential market. As part of the push to a wider market and lower prices, Microsoft plans to open its mobile platform to other chipset suppliers beyond Qualcomm.
Nokia's shares dropped more than 20 percent after it announced the Microsoft deal, but industry executives have said the new alliance will be good for competition and innovation.
Elop said the final agreement between Nokia and Microsoft would be signed in the next few months.
"The conclusion of the agreement will happen, we think, quite quickly, measured in a couple of months, it may be a bit longer, it may be shorter," he said.
Elop Sells Microsoft, Buys Nokia
Elop, who joined Nokia from Microsoft last September said he sold all his Microsoft shares on February 17 and has bought 150,000 shares in Nokia. The Canadian is the first non-Finn to head the firm. ###
- Eric -
Microsoft, Nokia, and Qualcomm ...
Hi Rich,
<< Eric, it will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out. How much rein will MS allow Nokia to play with the software, how much say MS will have in approving any major change in chipsets, how much they will allow other WP7 vendors to have the same freedom. >>
I personally think it will be extremely interesting (exciting even), but at the moment I would not venture even a guess on how it will play out. There is simply not enough detail available to begin to hazard a guess, but it's one hell of an ecosystem play.
I would guess that Nokia will have reasonably substantial influence on Win Phone 8 software development and I also expect that other vendors will have less ... but that's a personal expectation, and certainly not a given. Nokia is most likely not going to field product 1 and a range of product to quickly follow for the better part of a year. I'm guessing they'll enter with Win Phone 8, not 7. In the interim Softie (and Nokia) need other vendors to press forward and bring evolving Win Phone product to market.
Why such lack of detail? For one thing, Nokia and Softie don't even have a finalized agreement in place. They have a terms sheet, and a lot of water needs to flow under the dam before the agreement is finalized. Somewhere I heard (and darned if I can remember where I heard it or whether the source was somewhat credible, although I think I thought it was) that the 2 companies expected to have the formal agreement finalized and signed within 90 days. -- mot 2 weeks or even 2 months. I don't really see it happening too much quicker. Compromises will need to be reached (they will) and the legal staffs, not just management, will be plenty busy. In the interim we'll hear a rumor a day (an AROD) while the limos pull in an out of the MS Redmond campus and Nokia's new Silicon Valley headquarters in downtown Sunnyvale ...
Your nicely firm Nokia namesake will likely be deeply involved in the negotiation and he's no stranger to such discussions ....
http://9sss.sl.pt
So will this 39 year old Brit (Louise Pertland) who became Nokia CLO in 2008 and a member of Nokia's Leadership team (formerly the Group Executive Board) last week. She serves as vice chair of the International Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Forum, is a qualified and active Solicitor in England and Wales as well as a licensed attorney and an active member of the New York Bar ...
<< Will Nokia play nicely with MS ?? I know Elop will, but will those in the trenches ?? >>
Why wouldn't they? Firm but nice. Both sides bring a lot to the table and are looking for a win-win. I would anticipate one side playing as nicely (and firmly) as the other. The trenches on either side probably won't hold much sway ... best not hold much sway or they'll need to find another trench. Steve and Stephen are committed to making this work and the fact that they have worked closely with each other for the last few years almost insures it, I would think.
Out of curiosity how do you know Stephen will? <ggg>
<< ST/Ericsson in only one of the many that will now be trying to bring the WP7 ecostructure a viable option to Q >>
For sure. Many, many, Qualcomm is, however, nicely positioned as silicon supply for Windows Phone expands which it was bound to be with or without Nokia in the picture although Nokia certainly enables that expansion. A single source of supply simply would not hack it for Microsoft beyond getting initial Win Phone 7 production relatively quickly out the door by having a single reference platform. Two potential Win Phone silicon suppliers with strong ties to Nokia (and Microsoft in the latter case) that I particularly wonder about are Broadcom and Renesas. Strategy Analytics wrote last week ...
"As for chipset vendors, last week we wrote that Qualcomm could be a prime beneficiary from this deal. We believe Nokia will add Qualcomm, Broadcom, ST-Ericsson, Renesas and Intel to its Windows Phone supplier list. We will know more on these questions as it unfolds.".
http://9swa.sl.pt.
No mention of TI. I wouldn't necessarily rule 'em out. MediaTek? I don't see them as a potential supplier to Nokia and they have their own problems of late, but they could be in play with Softie. Time will tell.
Here's PR from Renesas about their (non-integrated) LTE Triple-Mode Modem Platform, the SP2531 ...
The platform is Renesas Mobile’s first modem product integrating technologies from Renesas Electronics and the latest generation of the advanced modem technology developed by the former Nokia Corporation’s Wireless Modem team ... The LTE triple-mode modem platform is targeted at the convergence market which demands high performance, high levels of integration and a power efficient implementation covering such key use cases as browsing and streaming. It also supports TD-LTE and FDD-LTE cat 3 (100Mbps downlink (DL) / 50Mbps uplink (UL)) along with HSPA+ features such as DC-HSDPA cat 24 and HSUPA cat 7 giving 3G data rates of 42Mbps (DL) /11.5Mbps (UL) respectively with global coverage through its unique RF design. The LTE triple-mode modem platform comes with extensive support for all the major mobile OS’s including Android, MeeGo and Symbian as well as Linux and Windows Mobile on PCs allowing easy integration as an embedded modem, including standalone, or a companion to an applications processor in a high-end smartphones or tablet devices. ... The triple-mode modem platform will be available for sampling in March 2011 as a reference design and comes complete with consulting services to enable rapid time to production. Mass production is expected to be in late 2011.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110208007253/en/Renesas-Electronics-Renesas-Mobile-Announce-LTE-Triple-Mode
That's about all I know or can even reasonably speculate on. As usual its darned hard to keep track of all the happenings at GSMA's MWC.
Did we see a QCOM decade closing high today? Finest kind, as Captain Hawkeye Pierce, MD, from Crabapple Cove, Maine, and as portrayed originally by Donald Sutherland from Elop's country of origin and citizenship was fond of saying. Hats off to PJ, who was the subject of much distracting whining, moaning, and groaning on our various Qualcomm boards for some time. Heck, we were in a global recession, and like many others in mobile wireless. Qualcomm was impacted severely.
Best,
- Eric -
Qualcomm Competition for Windows Phone (ST-Ericsson) ...
... maybe, but it's a not unexpected possibility, as I pointed out in the prior post.
>> ST-Ericsson: Ready on WP7 When Nokia Is (Rpt Corrected -- Official)
Tarmo Virki
Reuters
Barcelona, February 17 2011
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/17/mobile-fair-stericsson-idUSLDE71G1PH20110217
ST-Ericsson is focusing strongly on Microsoft's platform to deliver chips and will be ready when Nokia (NOK1V.HE) ramps up production of new Windows Phones, the chief executive of the mobile chip venture said.
Nokia announced last Friday it would partner with Microsoft and would adopt Windows Phone software across its smartphones, replacing its home-grown platform.
So far Microsoft has allowed use of its software only on Qualcomm's chipsets, but ST-Ericsson Chief Executive Gilles Delfassy said that was due to change.
"We expect this situation will not prevail. Now everything has changed. The environment is different," he told Reuters in an interview, adding the company had already increased its focus on the Windows Phone platform.
"We will be ready when Nokia ramps big volumes," he said.
The joint venture between Sweden's Ericsson and STMicroelectronics of France is a key supplier to Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, and Delfassy said more major customers were to be announced later this year. ###
- Eric -
Qualcomm's CEO on Elop's Strategy Decision (from Finland's Helsingin Sanomat) ...
Yo Roxie,
Good to see a little activity on this board and you (and Rich) still active on it. It's going on 9 months since I last posted and over 100 hundred posts since I last lurked (but I just caught up). It has been almost exactly 2 years since I tried to encourage expanded participation here. Time flies. Actually I've been rather inactive on iHub all together, even on the single board I host here.
Several drop outs here including Mindy who was contributing nicely for a time after she and I had a few clashes. but too few new faces considering the way QCOM has been performing. I see Pumpkin's still here and that his personality has not changed, and so on occasion is the head cheerleader on our SI No Cheerleading board that Herr Su founded for those of us with a long QCOM view a decade ago and which Slacker now hosts. It's still a fine board but it collects an awful lot of daily posts to wade through. Not exactly the tight ship Ramsey envisioned. This one's certainly tighter. <ggg>
>> Jacobs says, taking Samsung’s Windows phone out of his pocket ...
"It will bring depth and sprit to the Windows ecosystem, which is very important for application developers. It is also a sign of the fact that even though the company worked hard with MeeGo, a new operating system had to be introduced on the market sooner. I feel that it is important to notice that [Nokia CEO] Stephen Elop has made a decision which will push Nokia forward. In addition, the new operating system will help the company to rationalise its service strategy ... I am looking forward to getting an opportunity to work with him"
Jacobs is one of the few people with whom Elop has discussed the change. Qualcomm is the world’s largest maker of handset chips, which are already in use in various Windows Mobile and Google Android devices. ###
Nicely chosen words, IMO.
As detail about how (and why) Nokia plans to position Symbian, MeeGo, Ovi, and Qt on a short, medium and possibly long term basis through what will be a tough transition I'm beginning to somewhat warm to Elop's 'Ecosystem' and primary OS platform decision (the Nokia Board's decision which he facilitated and publicly presented). Please don't take the preceding statement as an endorsement of the decision, however. My personal jury is out on Elop and the decision, and I have no intention of rushing to judgment on the matter.
I NEVER expected. the decision, however, and was floored when Stephen announced it. I assumed that Nokia would ratify the prior platform strategy based on Qt with Ovi as its cornerstone, promise significantly better execution in delivering it, and announce expanded cooperation with the Microsoft collaboration with Nokia that Elop had previously engineered.
As a LT QCOM shareholder I view this as a significant medium and hopefully long term opportunity for Qualcomm and a chance to cement a relationship that has been building for some time. Nokia will want at least ine 2nd source and ST-Ericsson is no doubt still in the picture but I think Nokia is not real happy with the way the relationship has evolved to date and while I don't rule it out altogether I don't see them doing Win Phone IC business with Media Tek who supposedly will supposedly be producing low cost Win Phone ICs. Then of course there is TI who is still producing the majority of Nokia's integrated (BB and A-Processor) custom ASICs and Renesas which is certainly a wild card. Lots of options but I would think Qualcomm could have the inside track. First units probably not till 2012 and very possibly the 1st Windows Phone 8, not WP7, although Qualcomm has to give HTC high priority for WP8.
>> Nokia’s New Strategy Prompts Suspicions Among Investors And Consumers Alike
At Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress the Partnership between Nokia and Microsoft Sparked Lively Debate
Helsingin Sanomat
International Edition
Helsinki Finland
February 15, 2011
http://9r42.sl.pt
Everybody is talking about it: in restaurants, in the streets, in the corridors of the congress venue, even in the loos.
Visitors to the Barcelona Mobile World Congress stopped in the street to listen to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaking about his company’s new alliance with Nokia.
The mobile phone giant Nokia’s decision to start utilising Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system as the primary software platform for its smartphones has been possibly the hottest topic of debate at the Mobile World Congress that started in Barcelona on Monday.
Many professionals working in the mobile phone industry have already expressed astonishment at Nokia’s decision. Even investors seem to have plenty of doubts. On Monday, the Nokia share price continued to fall on the Helsinki Stock Exchange: the share price came down by more than 5%, after shedding 14% of its value on Friday.
The prevailing opinions about Nokia and Microsoft’s alliance are comparatively convergent: Nokia is taking a major risk by outsourcing the operating system of its smartphones. If consumers are not enthusiastic about Nokia’s Windows handsets, the situation at the company could in a couple of years’ time be even more fraught than it is today.
Tim Boddy, an analyst at Goldman Sachs International, estimated in his report on Monday that this is the most significant change at Nokia since the beginning of the 1990s. At that point, the company divested many of its businesses, investing strongly in mobile phones and network equipment.
At the 2010 Mobile World Congress, Nokia and Intel, the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductors, announced that they would be linking up their programming develop activities. The Moblin software platform, developed by Intel for mobile devices, and Nokia’s corresponding Maemo were to be merged into MeeGo, a new Linux-based software platform.
Now Nokia has decided to give up its open MeeGo software [actually it hasn't], and replace it by a closed operating system.
”When it comes to Nokia products, we will have to ask them, but we are disappointed with their decision. Instead, Intel is committed to MeeGo, like very many other device makers and teleoperators. We are annoyed, but life goes on”, said Renée James, the senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group for Intel Corporation, at a press conference. After the occasion, she refused to comment on the time when Nokia informed them about replacing MeeGo or on the existence of any legal disputes between the two companies relating to contract law.
Nomura analyst Stuart Jeffrey, who is familiar with Nokia, stresses that Nokia had only a bare few options left.
”For four years, Nokia has tried to fix its own Symbian platform without success. The several years of development in the Maemo and MeeGo operating systems did not yield any meaningful results either, and neither did the OVI services”, Jeffrey notes. In Jeffrey’s view, the Nokia CEO could still have waited for MeeGo to develop.
”Maybe he noticed that the company did not have enough know-how to fix these issues, which is why Nokia had to choose a swap out for Microsoft software. However, we can say that when it comes to risk management, the company could have chosen both {or even Google's Android}”, Jeffrey continued.
In Jeffrey’s opinion, it is now clear that Nokia is no software company.
Paul Jacobs, the CEO of the US semiconductor company Qualcomm, regards Nokia’s decision as exciting.
”It will bring depth and sprit to the Windows ecosystem, which is very important for application developers. It is also a sign of the fact that even though the company worked hard with MeeGo, a new operating system had to be introduced on the market sooner”, Jacobs says, taking Samsung’s Windows phone out of his pocket.
Qualcomm is the world’s largest maker of handset chips, which are already in use in various Windows Mobile and Google Android devices.
”I feel that it is important to notice that [Nokia CEO] Stephen Elop has made a decision which will push Nokia forward. In addition, the new operating system will help the company to rationalise its service strategy”, Jacobs contemplates.
Jacobs is one of the few people with whom Elop has discussed the change.
”I am looking forward to getting an opportunity to work with him”, Jacobs adds.
Investors still failed to grasp fully the benefits of the Nokia-Microsoft partnership in Helsinki on Tuesday, as the stock opened at just EUR 6.57 and briefly touched EUR 6.56, its lowest level in the 21st century. Thereafter there was some cautious buying and by 14:00 the share had risen from the depths somewhat, reaching EUR 6.75 at one stage.
The enthusiasm was rather short-lived, however, and at the time of posting this article at 14:27, Nokia was trading only marginally up on the day at EUR 6.63, the self-same price at which it closed on Monday, with a sharply downward trend. Much will depend in the medium term on the speed with which the two companies can get a new handset model onto the market, and then of course on the relish with which consumers respond to it.
Nokia's woes in recent years have been all about failure to secure a foothold at the top end of the lucrative smartphone market, where it has faced serious competition from Apple's iPhone and the newer Android phones. ###
Best to All,
- Eric -
Links to Nokia's Q4 2010 & CY 2010 Earnings Material
• Nokia Q4 2010 and CY 2010 Earnings Release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NzkxMTd8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1482864
• Earnings CC Presentation Slides ....
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NzkxNjZ8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
• Earnings CC Presentation Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
http://seekingalpha.com/article/249092-nokia-ceo-discusses-q4-2010-results-earnings-call-transcript
• Earnings CC Q&A Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
http://seekingalpha.com/article/249092-nokia-ceo-discusses-q4-2010-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=qanda
• Earnings Conference Audio Webcasr and Other Material
http://investors.nokia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=107224&p=irol-newquarterlyearnings
- Eric -
Cumulative Handsaet Revenue Share in India in 2010 (GfK Nielse)
• GfK Nielsen Revenue Share January-November, 2010
--> Nokia: 49.2%
--> Samsung: 20.5%
--> LG: 5.3%
--> Micromax: 5%
--> Others: 20%
• "A total of 155.9 million mobile phones were sold in India during the whole of 2010, as per estimates."
• "According to another research firm -- IDC -- Nokia had a 31.5 per cent share of the mobile handset market in India during the July-September, 2010, period in terms of the number of units shipped (sales)"
>> India: <B>70% of Mobiles Sold in Jan-Nov, 2010, were Nokias or Samsungs</B>
The Economic Times
New Delhi. India
2 Jan, 2011
http://87xo.sl.pt
Nokia and Samsung were the top picks for Indian consumers when it came to mobile phones in January-November, 2010, with the two handset-makers cornering almost 70 per cent of the market during the period in terms of total sales revenue.
Data released by global market research firm GfK Nielsen shows that Finland-based Nokia retained the top slot in Indian mobile phone buyers' minds in the January-November, 2010, period, with a market share of 49.2 per cent in terms of revenue. Korean electronics giant Samsung had a 20.5 per cent share, as per the GfK Nielsen data.
Among the other manufacturers, GfK Nielsen has pegged LG's market share at 5.3 per cent and Micromax's at 5 per cent, on the basis of their revenues.
Nokia continued to be the market leader in India and its latest offering, N-8 -- a touchscreen phone -- has boosted the brand's appeal.
Samsung also consolidated its share of the Indian mobile phones market in the year 2010, registering strong sales growth during the year on the back of strong demand for its Galaxy and WAVE series smartphones, besides its dual-sim phones.
The company strengthened its dual-sim portfolio considerably during the period and was the leader in the touchscreen segment, with a 36 per cent market share, as per GfK Nielsen.
Meanwhile, according to another research firm -- IDC -- Nokia had a 31.5 per cent share of the mobile handset market in India during the July-September, 2010, period in terms of the number of units shipped (sales).
A total of 155.9 million mobile phones were sold in India during the whole of 2010, as per estimates.
With the country's mobile subscriber base growing by as many as 20 million new customers every month, the mobile handset market in India is set to register faster growth than anywhere in the world in the near-term.
According to analysts, growing demand in the rural market and Tier-II and III cities will further fuel booming sales in the Indian mobile phone market. ###.
- Eric -
Nokia's Stephen Elop (from Globe and Mail)
>> Stephen Elop: Get Smart
Eric Reguly
The Fixers: Canadians Changing the World (#1 of 9)
Globe and Mail (Canada)
December 31, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/changing-the-world/the-fixers/article1839198/
In September, a Canadian became Nokia's first non-Finnish chief executive officer in 145 years, only to face perhaps the most challenging turnaround job on the planet: making the company competitive in the sizzling smartphone market.
Stephen Elop was an experienced, if unusually low-profile, candidate to take over the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, which had 124,000 employees and sales of $53.7-billion (U.S.) in 2009.
Born in Ancaster, Ont., and a graduate of McMaster University, the father of five (including triplets), turned 47 on Dec. 31. He arrived at Nokia after stints at Microsoft, Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems and Macromedia in various top information technology, sales and operating positions since starting at Boston Chicken as systems chief in 1994.
At Microsoft he was president of the company's business division and oversaw its main product, Microsoft Office. Upon his departure, CEO Steve Ballmer praised Mr. Elop for leaving a strong business and technical team behind.
Nokia seemed unassailable until Apple launched the iPhone in 2007. Since then, it has been losing great gobs of the market in smartphones, which can be stuffed with apps and come with fat profit margins.
Without a range of popular smartphones, any mobile company risks becoming a faceless player in the cheapo-handset market.
The ongoing success of Research in Motion's BlackBerry and the arrival of devices for Google's Android operating system have accelerated the losses.
While still the leader in overall sales, Nokia's share of the market slipped to 36.6 per cent this fall, down from 44.6 per cent a year earlier, according to research firm Gartner.
The stock value of the former pride and joy of corporate Finland has fallen 70 per cent in three years.
Software development will be the key to Nokia's revival.
Mr. Elop apparently wants to make the new MeeGo operating system the platform for high-end smartphones with the most sophisticated applications, while Symbian, its old workhorse system, will be upgraded and used for lesser models.
Mr. Elop won't say what's in store for 2011, other than the launch of the first MeeGo-powered phones, though he has high hopes for the new, somewhat delayed E7 smartphone based on a juiced-up Symbian.
“My role as the leader of Nokia is to lead this team through this period of change, take the organization through a period of disruption,” he said when he was appointed.
A splash in the United States, one of Nokia's weaker markets, would be a bonus. Mr. Elop's wealth of U.S. experience will help him on that front.
Clawing back even a small amount of Nokia's lost market share in 2011 would make him a star while calming the nerves of desperate investors. ###
- Eric -
Nokia and Symbian Foundation Changes ...
>> Nokia Commits To Make The Symbian Platform Available under An Alternative Open Model
The Symbian Foundation Press Release
Amsterdam, Symbian Exchange & Exposition (SEE)
November 8, 2010
http://www.symbian.org/news-and-media/2010/11/08/symbian-foundation-transition-licensing-operation
Following a strategy review, the board of the Symbian Foundation has today decided to transition the role of the non-profit organisation. The foundation will become a legal entity responsible for licensing software and other intellectual property, such as the Symbian trademark. Nokia has committed to make the future development of the Symbian platform available to the ecosystem via an alternative direct and open model.
“The founding board members took a bold strategic step in setting up the foundation, which was absolutely the right decision at the time,” says Tim Holbrow, executive director, Symbian Foundation. “There has since been a seismic change in the mobile market but also more generally in the economy, which has led to a change in focus for some of our funding board members. The result of this is that the current governance structure for the Symbian platform – the foundation - is no longer appropriate.
“However, the platform enjoys strong support from some of the largest and most innovative device creators in the world. And we continue to see solid momentum behind the platform, with 25 percent of all Symbian-based devices shipping in the last 12 months.
“I’m immensely proud of the work we’ve done at the Symbian Foundation. Perhaps most notably, in the last year we’ve delivered the biggest open source project ever in releasing the entire Symbian codebase under an open source license, and we did it four months ahead of schedule.”
The first phase of the foundation’s transition will involve a reduction in operations and staff numbers. By April 2011, the Symbian Foundation will be governed by a group of non-executive directors tasked with overseeing the organisation’s licensing function.
“Nokia remains committed to Symbian as the most used smartphone platform around the world,” said Jo Harlow, senior vice president, Smartphones, Nokia. “The Nokia N8 generated the highest online pre-orders we’ve ever experienced and we have a family of Symbian^3 smartphones including the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, and Nokia C6-01 which are available now, as well as the Nokia E7 which is expected to ship before the end of 2010. Nokia expects to sell more than 50 million Symbian^3 smartphones.”
The Symbian Foundation leadership team will work together with Nokia to ensure that the reduction in operations of the foundation will bring as little disruption to the ecosystem as possible. Further details of this process will be shared at a later date.
Today’s announcement does not affect the Symbian Exchange & Exposition (SEE 2010), which will commence on November 9th in Amsterdam. SEE 2010 will bring together attendees from over 55 countries to engage, exchange and explore opportunities offered by the Symbian platform. For more information about the event, visit http://www.see2010.org ###
>> Nokia Reaffirms Commitment to Symbian Platform
As Symbian Foundation announces changes, a new era of Symbian development and innovation begins
Nokia Press Release
Espoo, Finland
November 08, 2010
http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1460185
Following an announcement by the board of the Symbian Foundation that it will be transitioning from its current operational activities to become a licensing operation only, Nokia today reaffirmed its commitment to the Symbian platform. Nokia plans to continue to invest its own resources in developing Symbian, the world's most widely used smartphone platform, and expects to deliver a strong portfolio of Symbian-based smartphones to people around the world.
"The future of Symbian as a platform does not depend on the existence of the foundation," said Jo Harlow, Senior Vice President, Smartphones, Nokia. "The changes announced by the foundation have no impact on Nokia's Symbian device roadmaps or shipping commitments. The platform powers hundreds of millions of smartphones - including our own - and we expect to deliver ongoing support and innovation benefitting the Symbian ecosystem in the future."
Nokia's recent decision to focus on Qt as its sole application development framework is expected to bring greater efficiency and speed of evolution to the Symbian platform. This approach is aimed at ensuring compatibility for apps with future Symbian platform versions, and enables more frequent updates and upgrades for Nokia smartphones. To take advantage of this ever-growing opportunity, developers can find the tools and support they need through Forum Nokia, and global distribution to Nokia's broad base of smartphones through Ovi Store.
Nokia is the volume market leader in smartphones and the company's commitment to the Symbian platform is unchanged. Nokia smartphones based on the new Symbian platform include the Nokia N8, Nokia C7 and the new Nokia C6-01 which are available now, as well as the upcoming Nokia E7 which is expected to ship before the end of 2010. Nokia expects to sell more than 50 million Symbian^3-based devices.
Nokia at Symbian Exchange and Exposition 2010
Nokia will exhibit and demonstrate its portfolio of Symbian-based smartphones at the annual Symbian Exchange and Exposition (SEE) 2010 event in Amsterdam, Netherlands November 9-10. Nokia's Jo Harlow will deliver a keynote address on Tuesday, November 9 at approximately 10:15am CET. For more information on the event, which is hosted for the Symbian community and free to attend, visit http://www.see2010.org/ ###
>> Long Live Symbian
Jo Harlow, SVP, Smartphones (Nokia)
Nokia Conversations: The Official Nokia Blog Site
8th of November 2010
http://conversations.nokia.com/2010/11/08/long-live-symbian/
You may have seen today that the Symbian Foundation announced it will be ramping down its operational activities and over the next six months will transition into a simple licensing body. I know that this was not an easy decision for the board. A few big companies announced their intention to leave the Foundation recently taking their funding with them. The Foundation was forced to reconsider its future and after a board meeting, decided it could not continue in its present form.
There has been a lot of speculation about Symbian in recent years. Nokia acquired Symbian in 2008 and established the Symbian Foundation, making Symbian available royalty free and in open source. At that time, this was the fairest way to ensure that the huge ecosystem benefitting from Symbian development didn’t lose out. Since then the competitive landscape has changed considerably. With competition comes choice and every company has had to make choices about their software strategy based on their own priorities and capabilities.
Make no mistake, Nokia chooses Symbian.
Do not confuse the end of the Foundation with the end of the Symbian platform. The Foundation has been very important in steering the platform through increasingly challenging waters, but the Foundation and the platform are not the same. Nokia has no intention to change the plans announced on the 21st October to continue to develop and evolve Symbian.
Nokia believes in Symbian because we know that it isthe only platform capable of serving our global audience with a range of devices carrying locally relevant content and services. We also believe that decisions were needed to make Symbian more competitive and attractive to developers. That’s why we announced we would focus on Qt and Qt Quick for application development. Qt is itself a thriving open source framework and already a firm favourite with many developers because of its ability to accelerate the development of rich, visual applications.
We will focus on Qt and Qt Quick for our own development for both Symbian and the MeeGo platform, which means that applications developed in Qt for Symbian now will still work on Nokia MeeGo devices in the future (we’re planning 2011 for launch of MeeGo products). Finally, focusing on a single framework means that there will be no break between current and future versions of Symbian on Nokia devices. Anything developed for the latest range of Nokia Symbian smartphones would work on future devices, and importantly, any future developments of the Symbian user experience would benefit users of the recently launched products like the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, recently shipped Nokia C6 or soon to be shipped Nokia E7.
The Foundation’s decision does not in any way slow down our plans for Symbian or Qt. Nokia has already started to focus its own engineering resources on Qt and Qt Quick and we’re busy developing our own applications and services in the framework.
We are grateful to the Foundation and its employees for all they have done to keep Symbian as the the most used global smartphone platform. Now it is time for Nokia to drive where Symbian can go next. The end of the Foundation is the end of an era, but for Symbian, a new era is only just beginning. ###
- Eric -
Nokia Q3 2010 Earnings Call Transcript and a Qt/Symbian/MeeGo Press Release ...
Stephen Elop's 1st Earnings CC with Timo Ihamuotila. Very well done by both and Stephen and Timo coordinated with and complemented each other as if they had several prior calls together under their belt.
Still no presentation slides. I'm hopeful that is a one time occurrence.
>> Nokia CEO Discusses Q3 2010 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
Seeking Alpha
October 21, 2010
http://seekingalpha.com/article/231421-nokia-ceo-discusses-q3-2010-results-earnings-call-transcript ... ###
Below is an important related Nokia Press Release that ties into Elope's comments in the CC elevating focus on the Qt cross platform development environment internally and externally, Symbian structural changes, and S^3/S^4 release methodology which eliminate a binary code break at S^4 which would have affected backward compatibility. See the CC transcript and/or better yet listen to the call for more detail ...
>> Nokia Further Refines Development Strategy to Unify Environments for Symbian and MeeGo
Sole focus on Qt framework and support for HTML5 further clarifies platform strategy and enables the continuous evolution of the Symbian experience
Nokia Press Release
Espoo, Finland
October 21, 2010
http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1453894
Nokia announces that as of today, greater clarification and simplicity in its developer offering will empower the development community to create applications to reach users across both the Symbian and MeeGo platforms. The decision to focus on Qt as the sole application development framework will ensure that applications will continue to be compatible with future evolutions of Symbian as well as upcoming MeeGo products. In addition, Nokia announces its intent to support HTML5 for development of Web content and applications for both Symbian and MeeGo platforms. To demonstrate its commitment to the new offering, Nokia will develop its own future applications using Qt for a more consistent experience and better integration of applications and services.
Nokia is focusing on Qt as a robust, tried and tested framework that unlocks the hardware, software and service capabilities of the existing Nokia smartphone range as well as creating huge opportunities for future Symbian and MeeGo products. Nokia's introduction of Qt Quick into the Qt framework enables the more rapid creation of rich user interfaces and the most visually engaging applications. In addition, Qt's in-built support for HTML5 complements Nokia's intent to support HTML5 in Web browsers.
One benefit of this simplified approach is that planned and future improvements in Symbian will be developed in Qt and will be compatible with the existing Symbian^3 platform release. This means that Nokia's continued commitment to develop the Symbian platform will benefit not only future users of Symbian-based products, but will result in updates and upgrades for existing Symbian^3 users. The resulting change to a model of continuous evolution replaces the previous release-based model. Nokia will no longer refer to Symbian^3 or Symbian^4. The benefit to consumers will be a constant improvement in the experience of their Symbian-based Nokia products.
Rich Green, CTO of Nokia: "We're making strategic technology decisions that will accelerate our ability to offer the strongest possible opportunity for developers and the richest possible experience for consumers. For developers, it will open up a huge installed customer base for their applications. For consumers, it means a more compelling engagement with their Nokia product in terms of access to the best applications in the marketplace and a constantly improving product experience. We firmly believe that the choices we have made will not only mean significant opportunity and success for our developer partners, but for Nokia as well."
For more information about Qt application development framework including Qt Quick and HTML5 support go to. http://qt.nokia.com/qtquick and http://qt.nokia.com/HTML5 . Developers can start developing with Qt today at http:// www.forum.nokia.com/Develop/Qt/ ###
- Eric -
Nokia Q3 2010 Earnings ...
... are summarized on the iHub Nokia Board in case anyone is interested:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=55799915
- Eric -
Nokia Q3 2010 Earrnings ...
Nokia Q3 2010 Earrnings Results ...
... were better than expected (particularly in Devices and Services operating margins) which certainly beats a poke in the eye. As a consequence, with earnings out and the earnings CC concluded NOK1V is trading up from yesterday's close on the Helsinki Exchange on very high volume and so is NOK on NYSE.
Nokia's third quarter 2010 net sales increased 5% to €10,27 billion ($13.98 billion USD), compared with €9.8 billion in the third quarter 2009, and increased 3% compared with €10.0 billion in the second quarter 2010. Nokia EPS was
Forex was much in play as it always is for Nokia given their global manufacturing presence and sales volumes. Supply constraints hit Nokia's low end mobile devices particularly in Q3 and weigh heavy (across the industry) going into Q4.
"Net sales in the third quarter 2010 were negatively impacted by industry-wide shortages of certain components, particularly in the low end of the market where Nokia’s position is strong, and [they] expect this situation to continue through the fourth quarter 2010 and into 2011."
Nokia Devices and Services net sales in Q3 were €7.174 billion ($9.8 billion USD) up 6% sequentially from 6 8 billion and up 4% YoY from €6.9 billion.
Nokia total mobile device volumes of 110.4 million units were up 2% year-on-year and down 1% sequentially (resulting in share loss) while Nokia converged mobile device (smartphone and mobile computer) volumes of 26.5 million units were up 61% year-on-year and 10% sequentially. Nokia mobile device ASP (including services revenue) was €65 ($88.5), up from €64 in Q3 2009 and €61 in Q2.
Total Mobile Devices and Services revenue sales were 7.173 billion ($9.8 Billion USD). Converged mobile devices accounted for 3.613 billion ($4.9 billion USD) -- 50.4% of total mobile device revenue -- up 5% sequentially and 16% YOY, and Mobile Phones accounted for 3.56 billion ($4.85 billion USD).
Converged Devices (Smartphones and Mobile Computers): While Nokia Symbian share will undoubtedly be somewhat down, unit volume was up sequentially once again to yet another Nokia record high. Smartphone ASPs of €136 (185) were down sequentially since the new N8 (and other new Symbian devices that are yet to ship) had no material impact in Q3 but should in Q4 ...
"Of the total industry mobile device volumes, converged mobile device industry volumes in the third quarter 2010 increased to 70.4 million units, based on Nokia’s preliminary estimate, representing an increase of 57% year-on-year and 19% sequentially. Nokia’s preliminary estimated share of the converged mobile device market was 38% in the third quarter 2010, compared with an estimated 37% in the third quarter 2009 and an estimated 41% in the second quarter 2010."
The High Point: In Q2 Nokia guided to Devices and Services operating margins of 7 to 10% for Q3 but actual Q3 non-IFRS op-margin in Q3 was 10.5% (up from 9.5% in Q2) and Reported IFRS op-margin in Q3 was 11.3% (up from 9.5% in Q2). Devices & Services reported operating profit increased 3% to €807 million ($1.09 billion USD), compared with €785 million in the third quarter 2009, and increased 26% compared with €643 million in the second quarter 2010.
The Q3 2010 Earnings Release:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NjY0NTV8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
Third Quarter 2010 Highlights:
• Nokia net sales of EUR 10.3 billion, up 5% year-on-year and 3% sequentially (down 2% and up 1% at constant currency).
• Devices & Services net sales of EUR 7.2 billion, up 4% year-on-year and 6% sequentially (down 5% and up 2% at constant currency).
• Services net sales of EUR 159 million, up 7% year-on-year and 1% sequentially; billings of EUR 325 million, up 89% year-on-year and 10% sequentially.
• Nokia total mobile device volumes of 110.4 million units, up 2% year-on-year and down 1% sequentially.
• Nokia converged mobile device (smartphone and mobile computer) volumes of 26.5 million units, up 61% year-on-year and 10% sequentially.
• Nokia mobile device ASP (including services revenue) of EUR 65, up from EUR 64 in Q3 2009 and EUR 61 in Q2 2010.
• Devices & Services gross margin of 29.0%, down from 30.9% in Q3 2009 and 30.2% in Q2 2010.
• Devices & Services non-IFRS operating margin of 10.5%, down from 11.4% in Q3 2009 and up from 9.5% in Q2 2010.
• NAVTEQ non-IFRS net sales of EUR 252 million, up 52% year-on-year and flat sequentially (up 47% and down 2% at constant currency).
• Nokia Siemens Networks net sales of EUR 2.9 billion, up 7% year-on-year and down 3% sequentially (flat and down 4% at constant currency).
• Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS operating margin of -3.9%, down from -1.9% in Q3 2009 and 1.7% in Q2 2010.
• Nokia operating cash flow of EUR 439 million, and cash generated from operations EUR 1 206 million.
• Total cash and other liquid assets of EUR 10.2 billion and net cash and other liquid assets of EUR 4.4 billion, at the end of Q3 2010.
• Nokia taxes continued to be unfavorably impacted by Nokia Siemens Networks taxes as no tax benefits are recognized for certain Nokia Siemens Networks deferred tax items. In Q3 2010, this was more than offset by lower Devices & Services taxes due to dividend withholding tax legislation changes in certain jurisdictions with a one-quarter impact. If Nokia’s estimated long-term tax rate of 26% had been applied, non-IFRS Nokia EPS would have been approximately 1.5 Euro cents lower.
Industry and Nokia Outlook
• Nokia expects Devices & Services net sales to be between EUR 8.2 billion and EUR 8.7 billion in the fourth quarter 2010.
• Nokia expects its non-IFRS operating margin in Devices & Services to be between 10% and 12% in the fourth quarter 2010.
• Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks expect Nokia Siemens Networks’ net sales to be between EUR 3.4 billion and EUR 3.8 billion in the fourth quarter 2010.
• Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks expect the non-IFRS operating margin in Nokia Siemens Networks to be between 2% and 5% in the fourth quarter 2010.
• Nokia now expects industry mobile device volumes to be up more than 10% in 2010, compared to 2009 (based on its revised definition of the industry mobile device market applicable beginning in 2010). Nokia previously expected industry mobile device volumes to be up approximately 10% in 2010, compared to 2009.
• Nokia now expects its mobile device volume market share to be slightly down in 2010, compared to 2009. Nokia earlier targeted its mobile device volume market share to be flat in 2010, compared to 2009.
• Nokia continues to expect its mobile device value market share to be slightly lower in 2010, compared to 2009.
• Nokia continues to expect non-IFRS operating expenses in Devices & Services of approximately EUR 5.7 billion in 2010.
• Nokia continues to expect Devices & Services non-IFRS operating margin of 10% to 11% in 2010.
• Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks continue to expect a flat market in Euro terms for the mobile and fixed
infrastructure and related services market in 2010, compared to 2009.
• Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks continue to expect Nokia Siemens Networks to maintain its market share in 2010.
• Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks continue to target Nokia Siemens Networks to reduce its non-IFRS annualized operating expenses and production overheads by EUR 500 million by the end of 2011, compared to the end of 2009.
• Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks continue to expect Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS operating margin of breakeven to 2% in 2010.
Today's Webcasted Conference Call ...
http://investors.nokia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=107224&p=irol-newquarterlyearnings
No presentation slides today (yet). The slidemeister must have resigned for personal reasons" <ggg>
Stephen Elop, Nokia's new CEO handled his 1st Earnings CC with CFO Timo Ihamuotila ...
“In the five weeks since joining Nokia, I have found a company with many great strengths and a history of achievement that are second to none in the industry. And yet our company faces a remarkably disruptive time in the industry, with recent results demonstrating that we must reassess our role in and our approach to this industry. Some of our most recent product launches illustrate that we have the talent, the capacity to innovate, and the resources necessary to lead through this period of disruption. We will make both the strategic and operational improvements necessary to ensure that we continue to delight our customers and deliver superior financial results to our shareholders.” - Stepen Elop -
Conference Call Notes and Points of Interest (by Rafe Blanford of All About Symbian) ...
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/12213_Nokia_Q3_2010_results-beats_ex.php
• Elop opened by talking about his first five week at Nokia and the way ahead. He said that he would "characterise Nokia as a landscape with unpolished gems" and it would be necessary to "more deliberately focus on strengths around a tighter strategy".
• In talking about Nokia's software platform he noted the importance the familiarity of Symbian and Series 40 as an asset for the company, and MeeGo ability to allow for a contemporary UI. However the biggest emphasis was on Qt and its ability to provide a cross platform solution for developers.
• Going forward Nokia will be focusing on Qt and Web (HTML 5) for application development on both Symbian and MeeGo. This applies to both internal (particularly notable) and external development. In a sense the underlying platform is becoming less relevant. This will improve software platform efficiency.
• Elop indicated there would be a shorter period between the announcement and availability of new products and services.
• Elop noted that he was excited about Nokia's first MeeGo product, but that it would be a "2011 event". Previously Nokia was expected to make an announcement before the end of the year. He noted that he had met with the "passionate" teams working on MeeGo and was "excited" about what is to come.
• Nokia lost market share in Q3 "because [we] were not able to keep up with demand, particularly at the low end of our product range. We expect this to continue into Q4 and the start of 2011".
• In the Q and A session Elop noted, with regard to software platforms, that: "What I am most focused on evaluating is on ensuring Nokia has plan for sustainable differentiated solutions. This is about the hardware, the software platform, the application ecosystems and the services [as a whole]. We need a solution that allow us to differentiate from our competitors. When you consider other alternatives [in software platforms] it is unclear to me how we could main differentiation with other paths."
• Ovi Store downloads are now 2.7 million per day (equivalent to almost 1 billion per year).
• The number of miles navigated using Ovi Maps doubled in Q3 to 2.5 million km per day.
• Ovi Mail and Chat signups have now surpassed 17 million accounts.
• The number of miles navigated using Ovi Maps doubled in Q3 to 2.5 million km per day.
• Worldwide converged device (smartphone) marketshare was 38%, down 3% sequentially and up 2% year on year. Estimated global market volume (i.e. all manufacturers, all markets) was up to 70.4 million from 47 million, year on year, and from 59 million sequentially. This means that Nokia's smartphone sales grew just below the average pace of the overall market.
Timo Ihamuotila addressed Nokia's third-quarter profit and product pipeline today in this Bloomberg video interview
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/63889860/
... and it's worth a listen.
• Nokia Capital Market Days will move from early December to early February.
• The 1st Nokia MeeGo device will not ship until 2011.
###
- Eric -
Competitive Advantage: Brand and Brand Value ...,
http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/Best-Global-Brands-2010.aspx
On September 15 Interbrand, the worlds leading brand consultancy, released its closely watched 11th Annual Ranking of the 100 'Best Global Brands' -- a benchmark closely followed by CEO's and CMOs and voted one of the 3 most influential benchmarks by business leaders, Its rankings assign an asset value to the brand based on a unique methodology analyzing the many ways a brand touches and benefits an organization, from attracting top talent to delivering on customer expectation. "Three key aspects contribute to a brand's value; the financial performance of the branded products or services, the role of brand in the purchase decision process and the strength of the brand to continue to secure earnings for the company." [Bloomberg]
Last year was the 1st year that the combined value of the world’s top 100 brands fell in the 10 years Interbrand assessed them, a reflection of the global recession, and this years study signals a "slow creepback on the path to economic recovery."
"2010 was the beginning of a long road back towards economic recovery. From real-time customer feedback through social media to increased transparency about corporate citizenship, brands were faced with a profound change in the way they relate to customers and demonstrate their relevance and value. Despite this new paradigm of brand management, the advantages of building a solid brand remain the same." - Jez Frampton, Interbrand -
Technology brands continued to lead the brand pack, with IBM (#2), Microsoft (#3), Google (#4), Intel (#7), Nokia (#8), and HP (#10) earning top 10 rankings. Smartphones are beginning to have a material impact on society and the top smartphone players figured prominently in the brand rankings, with most moving up in the rankings or at least maintaining brand prominence, and the majority increased their brand asset value, some significantly.
The Good News for Nokia: Nokia is still a top 10 Global Brand and the top ranked brand in mobile wireless equipment.They are the only Top 10 Brand of a multinational company headquartered outside the United States now that Toyota slipped to #11. and only one other tech company headquartered in a relatively small cuuntry (albeit considerably larger than Finland) with relative small home market and located outside the US has a Top 25 Globel Brand -- Samsung, who remains at #19. Two of Nokia's strategic partners are companies with Top 10 Global Brands -- Microsoft at #3 and Intel at #7. The rest of the news for Nokia other than the fact they didn't slip as far as some thought they might is not so good ... ..
he Bad News for Nokia: Nokia slipped 3 slots from #5 to #8 and lost a substantial $4.2 billion USD (-15%) to $29,495 billion in brand asset value while their cloud computing and smartphone competitor Google leapfrogged from the 7 slot to #4 increasing its brand asset value a whopping 36% to $43,6 Billion, and Apple moved up from #20 to #17 increasing its brand asset value 37% to $21.1 billion. Their handset and spmartphone competitor Samsung maintained its #19 ranking but increased its brand asset value 11% to 19,5 billion and RIM's Blackberry brand moved up 9 slots to #54 (after moving up 10 slots the prior year) while increasing its brand asset value 32% to $6.8 Billion. Interbrand commented on Nokia's slip ...
For years Nokia has been perceived as a company that is committed to enhancing of communications by offering affordable, accessible, functional and creative mobile phone devices and applications. However, while Nokia certainly maintains leadership in global market share of handsets, the brand has fallen behind where the most profitable sectors of the market have developed – most notably, smartphones. The brand was late in coming to market with a compelling product and it is in this new category that growth, relevance and emotional connection with the brand is built. Nokia was also caught unprepared for the follow-on explosion of apps and the OS they run on, making it difficult for the brand to build an effective ecosystem for its products. With these challenges and the weakening of the role of hardware over carriers, Nokia is seeing clear challenges ahead that may be hard to overcome in the short-term.
Interbrand's Top 10 Global Brands 2009 (USD Billions)
2010 2009 2008 2007 Change 2010 2009 2008 2007 Change in
Brand Brand Brand Brand YoY Brand Brand Brand Brand Value from Hdq.
Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Brand Value Value Value Value Prev. Year Country
===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ============= ======= ======= ======= ======= ========== =======
1 1 1 1 - Coca-Cola $70,452 $68.734 $66.667 $65.324 2% U.S.
2 2 2 3 - IBM $64,727 $60.211 $59.031 $57.091 7% U.S.
3 3 3 2 - Microsoft $60,895 $56.647 $59.007 $58 .709 7% U.S.
4 7 10 20 3 Google $43,557 $31.980 $25.590 $17.837 36% U.S.
5 4 4 4 -1 GE $42,808 $47.777 $53.086 $51.569 -10% U.S.
6 6 8 8 - McDonald’s $33,578 $32.275 $31.049 $29.398 4% U.S.
7 9 7 7 2 Intel $32,015 $30.636 $31.261 $30.954 4% U.S.
8 5 5 5 -3 Nokia $29,495 $34.864 $35.942 $33.696 -15% Finland
9 10 9 9 1 Disney $28,731 $28.447 $29.251 $9.210 1% U.S.
10 11 12 12 2 HP . $26,867 $24.096 $23.509 $22.197 12% U.S.
2009 2009 2008 2007 Change 2010 2009 2008 2007 Change in
Brand Brand Brand Brand YoY Brand Brand Brand Brand Value from Hdq.
Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Brand Value Value Value Value Prev. Year Country
===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ============= ======= ======= ======= ======= ========== =======
14 14 17 18 - Cisco $23,219 $22.030 $21.306 $19.099 5% U.S.
17 20 24 33 3 Apple $21,143 $15.443 $13.724 $11.037 37% U.S.
19 19 21 21 - Samsung $19,491 $17.518 $17.689 $16.853 11% S. Korea
22 24 23 27 2 Oracle $14,881 $13.699 $13.831 $12.448 9% U.S.
26 27 31 34 1 SAP 12,756 $12.106 $12.228 $10.850 5% Germany
33 33 36 36 - Canon $11,485 $10.441 $10.876 $10.581 5% Japan
34 29 25 25 -5 Sony $11,356 $11.953 $13.583 $12.907 -5% Japan
36 43 58 62 7 Amazon.com $9,665 $$7.858 $6.434 $5.411 23% U.S.
38 39 40 44 1 Nintendo $8,990 $9.210 $8.772 $7.730 -2% Japan
41 35 32 31 -6 Dell $8,880 $10.291 $11.695 $11.554 -14% U.S.
42 42 43 42 - Philips $8,69 $8.121 $8.325 $7.741 7% Nethrlands
43 46 46 48 3 eBay $8,453 $7.350 $7.991 $7.456 -8% U.S.
47 45 47 50 2 Accenture $7,481 $7.710 $7.948 $7.296 -3% U.S.
49 47 48 43 -2 Siemens $7,315 $7.308 $7.943 $7.737 0% Germany
54 63 73 New 9 BlackBerry $6,762 $5.138 $4.802 N/A 32% Canada
59 56 59 56 -3 Xerox $6,109 $6.431 $6.393 $6.050 -5% U.S.
66 64 65 55 -2 Yahoo! $4,958 $5.111 $5.496 $6.067 -3% U.S.
73 75 78 78 2 Panasonic $4,351 $4.225 $4.281 $4.135 4% Japan
88 95 New New 7 Adobe $3,626 $3.161 N/A N/A 15% U.S.
The Value of Brand (Smartphones) ...
Competitive Advantage: Brand and Brand Value ...
http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/Best-Global-Brands-2010.aspx
On September 15 Interbrand, the worlds leading brand consultancy, released its closely watched 11th Annual Ranking of the 100 'Best Global Brands' -- a benchmark closely followed by CEO's and CMOs and voted one of the 3 most influential benchmarks by business leaders, Its rankings assign an asset value to the brand based on a unique methodology analyzing the many ways a brand touches and benefits an organization, from attracting top talent to delivering on customer expectation. "Three key aspects contribute to a brand's value; the financial performance of the branded products or services, the role of brand in the purchase decision process and the strength of the brand to continue to secure earnings for the company." [Bloomberg]
Last year was the 1st year that the combined value of the world’s top 100 brands fell in the 10 years Interbrand assessed them, a reflection of the global recession, and this years study signals a "slow creepback on the path to economic recovery."
"2010 was the beginning of a long road back towards economic recovery. From real-time customer feedback through social media to increased transparency about corporate citizenship, brands were faced with a profound change in the way they relate to customers and demonstrate their relevance and value. Despite this new paradigm of brand management, the advantages of building a solid brand remain the same." - Jez Frampton, Interbrand -
Technology brands continued to lead the brand pack, with IBM (#2), Microsoft (#3), Google (#4), Intel (#7), Nokia (#8), and HP (#10) earning top 10 rankings. Smartphones are beginning to have a material impact on society and the top smartphone players figured prominently in the brand rankings, with most moving up in the rankings or at least maintaining brand prominence, and the majority increased their brand asset value, some significantly.
Interbrand's Top 10 Global Brands 2009 (USD Billions)
2010 2009 2008 2007 Change 2010 2009 2008 2007 Change in
Brand Brand Brand Brand YoY Brand Brand Brand Brand Value from Hdq.
Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Brand Value Value Value Value Prev. Year Country
===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ============= ======= ======= ======= ======= ========== =======
1 1 1 1 - Coca-Cola $70,452 $68.734 $66.667 $65.324 2% U.S.
2 2 2 3 - IBM $64,727 $60.211 $59.031 $57.091 7% U.S.
3 3 3 2 - Microsoft $60,895 $56.647 $59.007 $58 .709 7% U.S.
4 7 10 20 3 Google $43,557 $31.980 $25.590 $17.837 36% U.S.
5 4 4 4 -1 GE $42,808 $47.777 $53.086 $51.569 -10% U.S.
6 6 8 8 - McDonald’s $33,578 $32.275 $31.049 $29.398 4% U.S.
7 9 7 7 2 Intel $32,015 $30.636 $31.261 $30.954 4% U.S.
8 5 5 5 -3 Nokia $29,495 $34.864 $35.942 $33.696 -15% Finland
9 10 9 9 1 Disney $28,731 $28.447 $29.251 $9.210 1% U.S.
10 11 12 12 2 HP . $26,867 $24.096 $23.509 $22.197 12% U.S.
2009 2009 2008 2007 Change 2010 2009 2008 2007 Change in
Brand Brand Brand Brand YoY Brand Brand Brand Brand Value from Hdq.
Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Brand Value Value Value Value Prev. Year Country
===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ============= ======= ======= ======= ======= ========== =======
14 14 17 18 - Cisco $23,219 $22.030 $21.306 $19.099 5% U.S.
17 20 24 33 3 Apple $21,143 $15.443 $13.724 $11.037 37% U.S.
19 19 21 21 - Samsung $19,491 $17.518 $17.689 $16.853 11% S. Korea
22 24 23 27 2 Oracle $14,881 $13.699 $13.831 $12.448 9% U.S.
26 27 31 34 1 SAP 12,756 $12.106 $12.228 $10.850 5% Germany
33 33 36 36 - Canon $11,485 $10.441 $10.876 $10.581 5% Japan
34 29 25 25 -5 Sony $11,356 $11.953 $13.583 $12.907 -5% Japan
36 43 58 62 7 Amazon.com $9,665 $$7.858 $6.434 $5.411 23% U.S.
38 39 40 44 1 Nintendo $8,990 $9.210 $8.772 $7.730 -2% Japan
41 35 32 31 -6 Dell $8,880 $10.291 $11.695 $11.554 -14% U.S.
42 42 43 42 - Philips $8,69 $8.121 $8.325 $7.741 7% Nethrlands
43 46 46 48 3 eBay $8,453 $7.350 $7.991 $7.456 -8% U.S.
47 45 47 50 2 Accenture $7,481 $7.710 $7.948 $7.296 -3% U.S.
49 47 48 43 -2 Siemens $7,315 $7.308 $7.943 $7.737 0% Germany
54 63 73 New 9 BlackBerry $6,762 $5.138 $4.802 N/A 32% Canada
59 56 59 56 -3 Xerox $6,109 $6.431 $6.393 $6.050 -5% U.S.
66 64 65 55 -2 Yahoo! $4,958 $5.111 $5.496 $6.067 -3% U.S.
73 75 78 78 2 Panasonic $4,351 $4.225 $4.281 $4.135 4% Japan
88 95 New New 7 Adobe $3,626 $3.161 N/A N/A 15% U.S.
Formally Introducing Stephen Elop as Nokia CEO ...
Yesterday Nokia's former CEO and non-executive COB, Jorma Ollia, introduced Stephen Elop to the media in an event webcasted from Helsinki that can be viewed here ... .
http://www.nokia.com/press/media_resources/audio/nokia-webcasts
I thought Stephen acquitted himself extremely well in style, manner, candor, and content. Rafe Blandford of All About Symbian (AAS) published excerpts from the Press Conference. As follows ...
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/12096_Stephen_Elop_replaces_Olli-Pek.php
RB/AAS: Nokia held a press conference at 11 am (BST) today, where Jorma Ollia, Chairman of Nokia, introduced Stephen Elop to the media and explained some of the process behind the new appointment. Ollia indicated that, "in late May of this year we started a CEO search program", and that it had been, "an extensive process":
Jorma Ollia: "We asked ourselves who would be the best person for Nokia and enable [the company's] renewal to be successfully accelerated. In the last month, after we had looked at several internal candidates, as well as several external candidates, we narrowed in on Stephen Elop and, after a number of discussions, concluded a contract with him.
The board felt that now is the right time to accelerate the company's renewal, to bring in some new executive leadership, with slightly different skills and strengths. We believe that Stephen has the right industry experience and the leadership skills to realise the full potential of this great company. It is particularly his strong software background and proven record in change management that will be his strongest assets as we push harder on completing the transformation.
I want to make one particular observation, from Steve's background, and evident from many discussions the board and myself have had. He has a very strong culture sensitivity and a grasp of the importance of Nokia's special heritage. These [will be] important attributes in making his tenure a success."
RB/AAS: Stephen Elop then made a number of opening remarks, noting that, in the technology world, there are critical moments when fundamental changes take place, such as the introduction of the GUI and the advent of the browser based Internet. With this changes come tremendous opportunities and challenges.
Stephen Elop: "Today, right now, we are going through a similar fundamental change. If you think about the explosion in the use of all forms mobile devices, smartphones, tablets and everything else, if you think about the advent of cloud computing strategies and delivery of services form the Internet. Or if you think about how, all of us, and our children, are communicating using new forms of social media. Put these altogether and these are conspiring to create a moment of fundamental disruption. And we are in that moment of disruption now."
When those moments of change arise, tremendous opportunities are created, as well as tremendous challenges. Both of those things come. Whenever there is a big moment of change, you see all sort of other companies, entrepreneurs and competitors rushing to the scene and offering new approaches to hardware, new operating systems, new application platforms, new services and even new ways of making money.
For Nokia, the opportunity represents a huge opportunity. The reason for this is that Nokia can take advantage of its many strengths and assets and apply them. These strengths include the calibre of the people, here at Nokia in Finland, and all around the world. It includes the quality of our products and our engineering prowess. It includes the strength of our partners, our suppliers, our entire logistics and distribution networks. And it also includes our developing strengths in software development and the delivery of services. All of these things can be brought to bear, if we take advantage of all of those assets, while also listening, listening very carefully, to the ultimate consumers of our products. Because things are changing so quickly, we have to listen and respond and react and deliver solutions that make sense today. That is Nokia's opportunity.
My role, as the leader of Nokia, is to lead this team through this period of change, take the organisation through a period of disruption. My job is to create an environment where those opportunities are properly captured, to ultimately ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers, while delivering superior financial results.
I will start my employment on Tuesday 21st, 2010, and what I will begin to do immediately, most importantly, is to listen. I will be doing a great of listening, learning and adjusting... From that work, the team will introduce the changes necessary to ensure that Nokia can take advantage of all of the opportunities that are here to deliver great results during this time of change, while also recognising that the core element of our strategy, that of connecting people, will continue as a critical element of our strategy."
RB/AAS: Elop reminded the audience that he has had many opportunities to interact with Nokia, during his career:
Stephen Elop: "When I was leading Macromedia, we entered into a strategic partnership with Nokia to deliver Flash on a range of Nokia devices. At Microsoft, we entered into a very strategic partnership to deliver Microsoft solutions on the Symbian platform, which demonstrated the strategic importance of the platform to both Nokia and Microsoft"
RB/AAS: Elop also indicated that he recognised the importance of Nokia to Finland (and vice versa).
Stephen Elop: "I also recognise, as Jorma mentioned, that I have a unique responsibility. The critical relationship which exists between Nokia and the society of Finland. So in the weeks and months ahead I have a great deal to learn about Nokia, but also about Finland. And that has already begun. The one thing I will say is that process has been greatly supported by my heritage as a Canadian. Canada and Finland share the Arctic Circle, and that will hold me in good stead as I move forward!"
During the question and answer portion of the conference, Elop was asked about potential changes:
Stephen Elop: "It is way to early to make comments [about changes]. The one thing I will say is that the process through which I will go, one of deep listening, recognises that I believe the challenges that Nokia face are well known within the walls [of Nokia] and the answers are also well known. My job is to surface those, to make sure we are dealing with them efficiently and are moving the company forward."
RB/AAS: This, perhaps, gives an early indication that the primary focus will not be a fundamental change in strategy, but rather an improvement on execution and communication of the current strategy. ###
- Eric -
Nokia World Next Week: Business as Unusual
Nokia World ...
http://events.nokia.com/nokiaworld/home.htm
... kicks off next Tuesday September 14 in London with an updated speaker list:
>> Nokia Corp. Names Microsoft Executive as New CEO
Announcement comes ahead of Nokia World event in London next week
Aude Lagorce
MarketWatch (London)
September 10, 2010
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nokia-corp-names-microsoft-executive-as-new-ceo-2010-09-10?siteid=yhoof
Shares of Nokia Corp. surged Friday after the world's largest mobile-phone maker broke with tradition in an effort to revive its fortunes, appointing a foreigner from Microsoft Corp. as its chief executive and president. Canadian-born Stephen Elop will take the helm on Sept. 21, Nokia said in a statement.
His appointment signals a major shift at Nokia which has traditionally put Finns in the top job, and suggests the company is ready to try a different approach after years of struggle in the lucrative smartphone market.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation about who would lead the Finnish firm after media reports surfaced in July that Nokia was looking to replace CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, who's been in charge since 2006.
The news also clears the air ahead of Nokia's annual showcase, known as Nokia World, next week in London. The event is where the company traditionally unveils its flagship products for the crucial holiday season.
The management shakeup means that the focus of the show is likely to be on the firm's new strategic direction rather than on the handsets it's rolling out to try and claw back market share from more agile and innovative rivals like Apple Inc.and Samsung.
But at least now Nokia won't be facing accusations of inaction at the show.
"This is the best thing Nokia could do for investors who had grown tired of hearing it knew how to fix its problems," said Carolina Milanesi, research director in the mobile device and consumer-services practice of Gartner.
"They may not have the right products yet, but at least now they've gone and done something at the management level."
Royal Bank of Scotland analysts called the appointment the key catalyst they had been waiting for and lifted their rating on the stock to buy from hold.
Nokia shares rose 4% in afternoon trading in Helsinki, bucking the lower trend in the wider market.
A software specialist comes in ...
While relieved to finally see some decisive action on the leadership front, industry observers noted that Elop, who currently heads Microsoft's Business division, ticks some, but not all of the boxes.
"We're really of two minds about him," Milanesi said. "He comes from a software background, which is good, but he also comes from a company that's had the same issues as Nokia in terms of adapting to a new world."
Microsoft longs to be the top player in the mobile world but has struggled to make the transition from PC to handset. Its operating system, recently renamed Windows Phone, isn't as popular as that of the iPhone or Google's Android.
But at least Elop has been immersed in the U.S. corporate culture and has experience running large operations. He previously held senior executive positions in several U.S.-based public companies, including Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems Inc. and Macromedia Inc.
"The time is right to accelerate the company's renewal; to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success," said Jorma Ollila, chairman of the Nokia board, in a statement.
Lee Simpson, an analyst at Jefferies, said he believes the appointment can lead to deep changes at Nokia.
"It's positive news. The guy comes with the right passport and he's got the right experience," Simpson said. "He's worked at the biggest software firm in the world. This is very important for Nokia, which is trying to go from being a Finnish box maker to being a player in the U.S-centric software and Internet-services business."
Elop's appointment will raise a lot of questions at Nokia World, such as whether the company might finally abandon Symbian as its smartphone operating system of choice.
But it is unlikely such key strategic questions will be answered at the show.
"The timing of the appointment, less than a week before Nokia World, is unfortunate but was likely unavoidable," said Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics. "Nokia was going to face lots of questions about leadership at the event and they wanted to pre-empt that."
It is not known whether Elop, who said in a conference call that he will move to Finland shortly, will attend the event.
In his absence, the star guest will likely be the N8, Nokia's latest Symbian smartphone and the culmination of its efforts to improve and simplify that operating system.
The release of this Symbian update was delayed earlier this year, causing a big slump in Nokia's shares. They have fallen more than 20% since the start of the year, hit by two profit warnings.
Kallasvuo doesn't leave empty-handed
Kallasvuo will leave his current position as president and CEO of Nokia on Sept. 20 and will step down from his position on the Nokia board with immediate effect. He will continue to chair the board of Nokia Siemens Networks in a non-executive capacity.
Nokia said that Kallasvuo is entitled to a severance payment consisting of 18 months gross base salary and target incentive which totals approximately 4.6 million euros ($5.8 million).
He will also receive as compensation the fair market value of the 100,000 restricted Nokia shares granted to him in 2007, which vest on Oct. 1. ###
- Eric -
Changing of the Guard: Stephen Elop
>> Nokia Appoints Stephen Elop to President and CEO as of September 21, 2010
Nokia Corporation
Espoo, Finland
Stock Exchange Release
September 10, 2010
Nokia's Board of Directors has appointed Stephen Elop President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia as of September 21. Elop currently heads Microsoft's Business Division. Before joining Microsoft, Elop held senior executive positions in a number of US-based public companies, including Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems Inc. and Macromedia Inc. He holds a degree in computer engineering and management from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, which is his home country.
"The time is right to accelerate the company's renewal; to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success. The Nokia Board believes that Stephen has the right industry experience and leadership skills to realize the full potential of Nokia. His strong software background and proven record in change management will be valuable assets as we press harder to complete the transformation of the company. We believe that Stephen will be able to drive both innovation and efficient execution of the company strategy in order to deliver increased value to our shareholders," said Jorma Ollila, Chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors.
Elop commented on his new Nokia position: "I am extremely excited to become part of a team dedicated to strengthening Nokia's position as the undisputed leader of the mobile communications industry, with a relentless focus on meeting the needs and expectations of customers. Nokia has a unique global position as well as a great brand upon which we can build. The company has deeply talented and dedicated people, and I am confident that together we can continue to deliver innovative products that meet the needs of consumers. The Nokia slogan clearly states our key mission: Connecting People, which will acquire new dimensions as we build our portfolio of products, solutions and services."
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will leave his current position as President and CEO of Nokia on September 20, 2010 and his position on the Nokia Board of Directors with immediate effect. He will continue to chair the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks in a non-executive capacity.
"The whole Board of Directors joins me in thanking Olli-Pekka for his thirty years at Nokia, during which he has been deeply involved in developing the company and its operations. His dedication and contribution throughout the years has been exceptional. The Board wishes him every success in his future pursuits," says Jorma Ollila.
In accordance with the terms and conditions of his service contract, Kallasvuo is entitled to a severance payment consisting of 18 months gross base salary and target incentive which totals approximately 4.6 million euro. He will also receive as compensation the fair market value of the 100 000 restricted Nokia shares granted to him in 2007, which vest on October 1, 2010.
As of September 10, 2010, the Nokia Board will consist of the following members: Jorma Ollila (Chairman), Dame Marjorie Scardino (Vice Chairman), Lalita D. Gupte, Bengt Holmström, Dr. Henning Kagermann, Per Karlsson, Isabel Marey-Semper, Risto Siilasmaa, Keijo Suila.
A press conference will be held today at Nokia's head office in Espoo, Finland, at 13:00 (CET+1). The press conference will be webcast live via: www.nokia.com/press or http://www.nokia.com/press/media_resources/audio/nokia-webcasts ###
Stephen Elop Bio
Stephen Elop joins Nokia as President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia as of September 21, 2010.
Most recently, Elop served as president of Microsoft’s Business Division and was a member of Microsoft’s senior leadership team responsible for the company’s overall strategy. In this position, he oversaw the Microsoft Office systems and other communications tools and applications for consumers, small and midsize businesses, as well as large organizations and enterprises.
Previously, Elop was Chief Operating Officer at Juniper Networks, a leading provider of high-performance network infrastructure. As COO, Elop was responsible for the company’s product groups, corporate development, global sales and service, as well as marketing and manufacturing organizations. Prior to Juniper, Elop served as president of worldwide field operations at Adobe Systems Inc. He joined Adobe following the 2005 acquisition of Macromedia Inc., where he was president and CEO. Previously in his career, he served in a number of executive positions, including chief information officer. Elop earned a bachelor's degree in computer engineering
- Eric -
US Mobile Subscriber Connections (H1 2010 End)
United States Mobile Subscriber Connections and Net Additions (thousands), Q2 2010
Total ¦ Contract ¦ Prepaid ¦ Wholesale ¦ Embedded
============= ¦ ============= ¦ ============= ¦ ============= ¦ ============
Verizon Wireless 99,737 1,614 ¦ 81,573 665 ¦ 4,603 -211 ¦ 5,887 896 ¦ 7,674 264
AT&T Mobility 90,130 1,562 ¦ 66,970 496 ¦ 5,881 300 ¦ 10,597 -130 ¦ 6,682 896
Sprint 48,169 111 ¦ 33,161 -228 ¦ 11,209 173 ¦ 3,799¹ 166¹¦ 1,900² 83²
T-Mobile 33,620 -93 ¦ 26,752 106 ¦ 6,868 -199 ¦ 2,100³ 0³ ¦ 1,500° -
MetroPCS 7,634 303 ¦ - - ¦ 7,634 303 ¦ - - ¦ - -
Leap Wireless 5,288 112 ¦ - - ¦ 5,288 112 ¦ - - ¦ -
· ·
Source: Company data, Wireless Intelligence
· ·
¹ Including affiliates
² Sprint wholesale connections inclusive of embedded
³ T-Mobile prepaid connections inclusive of wholesale
° T-Mobile contract connections inclusive of embedded
The Symbian^3 Nokia N8: Available for Preorder in the US and an Early Hands-On Review
Earlier this week Nokia USA started accepting preorders for the unlocked Nokia N8 for $549 (plus $3.99 standard shipping) with availability shown as "End Of September 2010" ...
http://www.nokiausa.com/find-products/phones/nokia-n8
• N8 Specifications here ...
http://www.nokiausa.com/find-products/phones/nokia-n8/specifications
There still are very few hands on reviews of the N8. This is one of the 1st ...
>> Nokia N8 Review
Richard Goodwin
Know Your Mobile (UK)
August 18, 2010
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/nokia/nokian8/n8reviews/568394/nokia_n8_review.html
We review the Nokia N8, but can Finland’s finest produce the goods with its latest Symbian^3-powered flagship smartphone?
The Nokia N8 is easily one of the most eagerly anticipated devices on the year. It has the new Symbian^3 OS, a 12-megapixel camera, an HDMI port, huge processing and graphical display power and a massively overhauled UI – basically, it’s meant to be pretty damn good.
We were lucky enough to get a pre-production handset to have a play with before the handset gets its official UK release in October. So we had to opportunity to see if the Nokia N8 was really worth all this fuss…
Obviously, there’s been a lot of hype surrounding this handset. It represents the regeneration of the Symbian platform, has oodles of features and technology packed into it and, most importantly, it is Nokia’s latest attempt to steal some of HTC’s and Apple’s thunder.
The Nokia N8, while being something of a departure from Nokia’s usual design, is still very much a ‘Nokia’ device in terms of aesthetics. The handset features a unibody design made from Anodised Aluminium, which gives it a solid, durable, feel in the hand.
Thankfully, though, this hasn’t brought any “weight issues” into play, and the Nokia N8 feels extremely light in the hand for a phone its size. For example, we compared the Nokia N8’s in-hand weight to that of the iPhone 4 and the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and really couldn’t notice any discernable difference.
The Nokia N8 also features a non-removable battery, like the iPhone, and two side slots for both your SIM and microSD cards, which are located on the device’s left side. On the right, there’s a volume rocker, lock switch and the camera activation button. The top of the device features a 3.5mm jack slot, HDMI port and the power button.
Prior to getting the N8 in, we were quite apprehensive about Symbian^3. Yes, we’d read lots of good things about it, but over the years, like many people, we’ve really fallen out of love with Symbian.
So when we booted the device up and saw what Symbian^3 looked like for the first time we were very impressed. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still very much a Symbian OS, both in terms of the way it looks and feels, it’s just received a massive overhaul and has been dragged kicking-and-screaming into the 21st Century with multiple homescreens, widgets and live tiles.
You’ve got three homescreens to play with on the Nokia N8 and these can be customised with apps, widgets, tiles, folders, shortcuts and contacts – practically anything. Doing this, thankfully, is both very simple and intuitive. You simply press down on the screen, then add or remove the widget, app or shortcut – simple.
Each Tile or Widget, take the news ones for example, displays all the information you’ll require at a glance and the animation is literally seamless, each headline melts into the next perfectly. And if that wasn't enough, there are even pictures present on some, which really does add a touch of class to an already impressive looking UI.
In terms of customisation, you can get up to 24 shortcuts on each of the homescreens – so, across the three you can potentially have 72. And with the help of the constantly improving Ovi Store, you really are spoilt for choice with apps, games, tools and widgets.
Unfortunately, adding shortcuts isn’t quite as straightforward as it is on Android. For instance, you have to first add a “Shortcuts” tile – these have four shortcut links in them – then, once the Shortcuts tile has loaded, you edit what shortcut icons appear inside it.
The built in stock Ovi applications, such as Social for example, are also worth a mention as both the Facebook and Twitter clients within it give both Android’s and RIM’s a serious run for their proverbial monies.
There’s also a video and photo editor, built-in user guides and Ovi Music among other things. And when you add the above to the constantly growing Ovi services, like Mail, Maps and Messenger, you’ve got more than enough stuff on board the N8 to keep you entertained for literally hours.
But it’s not just looks that have been improved, the email and text aspects of the Nokia N8 have been vastly rejigged as well, with the implementation of a conversational display for texts and support for multiple email clients (Windows Live, Hotmail, Yahoo, BT and Gmail etc) that you can switch between very easily. There is also a new set of filters such as dates, attachments, names etc, that can be used to search, view and sort through content in your inbox.
Nokia has also stepped up the performance on the Nokia N8 as well, bringing an ARM 11 680MHz processor and a 3D Graphics HW accelerator into the mix. Sure, everyone is banging on about 1GHz and 1.5GHz processors, but once you’ve has a go on the Nokia N8, you’ll see that it has more than enough power for even the most heavy user.
The N8’s onboard browser is also quite a treat as well, featuring both pinch-to-zoom and, that all-important, Flash support. It is also extremely quick and, while Opera Mini was one of the first apps we installed, we only opened it about twice after using the Nokia N8’s stock browser – it literally left Opera in the dirt, both in terms of quality and speed.
Typing, browsing and navigating on the Nokia N8 is superb and Nokia has really outdone itself in this department. There is no lag whatsoever, scrolling through menus and folders is smooth and typing is an absolute breeze. So much so, we’d probably say the Nokia N8 has the best touchscreen we’ve ever used, bar the iPhone, which is really saying something.
The touch keyboard can either be used in portrait, where it is alphanumeric, or in landscape, where it switches to landscape and a full Qwerty. Using both modes is easy enough, thanks to the responsiveness of Nokia’s infinitely improved touchscreen, but we generally found doing things in full Qwerty mode was a little nicer.
All in all though, the Nokia N8’s touchscreen keyboard is absolutely brilliant. We really can’t praise it enough – and our device was a pre-production one as well!
Then there’s the N8’s camera, which at 12-megapixels, is something of a beast – even by today’s high standards. In addition to this, there’s also a Carl Zeiss lens, auto-filter and a Xenon Flash. We took quite a few pictures during testing and we have to say, the Nokia N8’s camera is easily one of the best mobile cameras we’ve ever had the pleasure of using – only the most abhorrent of photography geeks will fail to be impressed by it.
But that’s not all, there’s also the Nokia N8’s ability to shoot video in 720p at 25fps (H.264), which is just about as good as it gets on a mobile device. Granted, the iPhone 4 shoots at 30fps, but can you export videos and pictures via a HDMI port on the iPhone 4 to your TV? Unfortunately, you can’t. And, when there’s just five frames in it, the difference in quality is hardly noticeable, at least to most average Joes, anyway.
As we said, the N8 has a HDMI port, which means you can export content from the device to a TV. We downloaded a few film trailers during testing and hooked the N8 up to our 32-inch HD TV back home and the results were pretty impressive, especially with the N8’s built-in Dolby Digital Plus sound and the high-end 720p image quality.
Couple this with the fact that the Nokia N8 can potentially carry 48GB of data on board and you’ve got yourself a smartphone that doubles up as a nice external hard drive as well, so you can take your movies with you wherever you go. So long as the receiving TV has HDMI connectivity and you don’t forget the lead, that is.
What about the Nokia N8’s screen? Well, it crams 360x640 pixels into a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen and is probably one of the brightest and most detailed we’ve seen and while it might not have the same level of finesse as the Apple’s retina technology, the Nokia N8 is still certainly up there with the iPhone 4.
Overall, this is an absolutely fantastic smartphone. It has everything you could possibly wish for in bucket loads – camera, tech, features, storage, UI, looks, etc – and is a fine first – and only!? – outing for the new and vastly improved Symbian^3 OS. In short, if you don’t want an iPhone 4, but want a device that can match it in practically every department, the Nokia N8 should be your first port of call.
Nokia, it seems, is finally beginning to move in the right direction. And, please also note: the device we tested was still a pre-production model. Needless to say, we can not wait to see the finished article.
Verdict:
Typical Price: £419.99 (Unlocked PreRelease in UK)
Pros: Well designed, brilliant OS, tons of features, amazing camera and video, masses of storage, browser with Flash, HDMI, easy to use, top notch touchscreen
Cons: Non-removable battery & only has 3 homescreens
Verdict: The Nokia N8 is a brilliant handset and is one of the best smartphones we've reviewed in a long time. Symbian^3 is a great OS and is worthy of some series attention – watch out Android, Nokia might just have got its groove back!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 ###
- Eric -
Technology Mix ...
Data,
<< thanks (again) Eric. Have you seen any breakdown by technology? or 2G vs 3G? >>
I saw one tiny data byte somewhere a few weeks back. One of the research houses -- maybe ABI -- but it was for 3GSM/UMTS (WCDMA/HSPA) only and did not include CDMA2000 EV-DO. I meant to post it, but now I'll have to hunt it up.
Whoops. There it is ...
"2Q-2010 proved to be a very solid quarter for the mobile handset market with 321.2 million handsets shipped, of which WCDMA handsets made up 31%. Growth was 5.9% Quarter-on-Quarter and 19.4% Year-on-Year."
http://4bz1.sl.pt
<< Any idea if RIM is still shipping any 2G (only) devices. >>
Yes. Definitely. In emerging nations primarily but not exclusively. Helps keep their margins up since they aren't paying Qualcomm. Mix is changing of course and increasingly is 3G. The new 980x Torch is WCDMA/HSPA and they continue to use their own GSM/WCDMA/HSPA protocol stack in the updated Marvell Pantheon PXA930 custom ASIC with integrated C- and A-processor.
- Eric -
I dunno! - E -
There are Fools, and there are FOOLs ...
... and TMFCop (Rich Dupre) is the latter:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=51967844
<< Even though the fool has that article poorly worded, the important thing they do is connect IDCC and Clearwire, no one has done that before. >>
That FOOL has. In this case "they" is him, and his knowledge of mobile wireless telephony and what is happening in the industry is about as great as my knowledge of nuclear physics.
- Eric (InCards on TMF) -
Gartner Q2 2010 Sell Through (Handsets and Smartphones) ...
• Gartner reports that 325.6 million mobile wireless handsets were sold through to end users in Q2 2010 (+12.1% YoY).
• They also report that of that total 61.65 million smartphones (18.9%) were sold through to end users in Q2 2010 (+33.5% YoY).
• In the OS platform game Symbian grew by 4.5 million units YoY but lost 9.8 percentage points of total global sell through share. RIM grew by 3.5 million units but its global share was down marginally (0.8 .ppt). Android smartphone sell through was up almost 10 million units YoY, passing both WinMob and iOS, in units and share for the quarter.
Gartner Table 1: Worldwide Mobile Device Sales to End Users in 2Q10 (Thousands of Units)
2Q'10 2Q'10 2Q'09 2Q'09
# Company Units Share Units Share
=== ========= ========== ====== ========== ======
01. Nokia 111,473.8k 34.2% 105,413.4k 36.8%
02. Samsung 65,328.2k 20.1% 55,430.1k 19.3%
03. LG 29,366.7k 9.0% 30,497.0k 10.7%
04. RIM 11,228.8k 3.4% 7,678.9k 2.7%
05. SEricsson 11,008.5k 3.4% 13,574.3k 4.7%
06. Motorola 9,109.4k 2.8% 15,947.8k 5.6%
07. Apple 8,743.0k 2.7% 5,434.7k 1.9%
08. HTC 5,908.8k 1.8% 2,471.0k 0.9%
09. ZTE 5,545.8k 1.7% 3,697.9k 1.3%
10. G’Five 5,208.6k 1.6% NA NA
Others 62,635.2k 19.3% 45,977.2k 16.1%
--------- ---------- ------ ---------- ------
Total: 325,556.8k 100.0% 286,122.3k 100.0%
2Q'10 2Q'10 2Q'09 2Q'09
# Op Sys Units Share Units Share
=== ========= ========= ====== ========= ======
01. Symbian 25,386.8k 41.2% 20,880.8k 51.0%
02. BlackBerry 11,228.8k 18.2% 7,782.2k 19.0%
03. Android 10,606.1k 17.2% 755.9k 1.8%
04. iOS 8,743.0k 14.2% 5,325.0k 13.0%
05. WinMobile 3,096.4k 5.0% 3,829.7k 9.3%
06. Other Linux 1,503.1k 2.4% 1,901.1k 4.6%
07. Other OSs 1,084.8k 1.8% 497.1k 1.2%
--------- --------- ------ --------- ------
Total: 61,649.1k 100.0% 40,971.8k 100.0%
Gartner Q2 2010 Sell Through (Handsets and Smartphones) ...
• Gartner reports that 325.6 million mobile wireless handsets were sold through to end users in Q2 2010 (+12.1% YoY).
• They also report that of that total 61.65 million smartphones (18.9%) were sold through to end users in Q2 2010 (+33.5% YoY).
• In the OS platform game Symbian grew by 4.5 million units YoY but lost 9.8 percentage points of total global sell through share. RIM grew by 3.5 million units but its global share was down marginally (0.8 .ppt). Android smartphone sell through was up almost 10 million units YoY, passing both WinMob and iOS, in units and share for the quarter.
Gartner Table 1: Worldwide Mobile Device Sales to End Users in 2Q10 (Thousands of Units)
2Q'10 2Q'10 2Q'09 2Q'09
# Company Units Share Units Share
=== ========= ========== ====== ========== ======
01. Nokia 111,473.8k 34.2% 105,413.4k 36.8%
02. Samsung 65,328.2k 20.1% 55,430.1k 19.3%
03. LG 29,366.7k 9.0% 30,497.0k 10.7%
04. RIM 11,228.8k 3.4% 7,678.9k 2.7%
05. SEricsson 11,008.5k 3.4% 13,574.3k 4.7%
06. Motorola 9,109.4k 2.8% 15,947.8k 5.6%
07. Apple 8,743.0k 2.7% 5,434.7k 1.9%
08. HTC 5,908.8k 1.8% 2,471.0k 0.9%
09. ZTE 5,545.8k 1.7% 3,697.9k 1.3%
10. G’Five 5,208.6k 1.6% NA NA
Others 62,635.2k 19.3% 45,977.2k 16.1%
--------- ---------- ------ ---------- ------
Total: 325,556.8k 100.0% 286,122.3k 100.0%
2Q'10 2Q'10 2Q'09 2Q'09
# Op Sys Units Share Units Share
=== ========= ========= ====== ========= ======
01. Symbian 25,386.8k 41.2% 20,880.8k 51.0%
02. BlackBerry 11,228.8k 18.2% 7,782.2k 19.0%
03. Android 10,606.1k 17.2% 755.9k 1.8%
04. iOS 8,743.0k 14.2% 5,325.0k 13.0%
05. WinMobile 3,096.4k 5.0% 3,829.7k 9.3%
06. Other Linux 1,503.1k 2.4% 1,901.1k 4.6%
07. Other OSs 1,084.8k 1.8% 497.1k 1.2%
--------- --------- ------ --------- ------
Total: 61,649.1k 100.0% 40,971.8k 100.0%
RIM Launches BlackBerry OS 6 and the Blackberry Torch (AT&T, Vodafone, Others) ...
The Launch Event: slides and detail at link below ...
Live from RIM and AT&T's BlackBerry Torch Event!
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/03/live-from-rim-and-atandamp-ts-blackberry-torch-event/?sort=newest&refresh=0
>> RIM Fights Back the iPhone and Android with touchscreen BlackBerry Torch
Devindra Hardawar
MobileBeat
August 3, 2010
http://3z7n.sl.pt
We knew that BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion was going to announce something big at its joint AT&T event today, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The company unveiled its latest flagship device, the touchscreen BlackBerry Torch, which will be available on AT&T August 12 for $199 with a two-year contract, and will be the first device to run its new BlackBerry 6 operating system.
After striking out twice with the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm, RIM has gone back to the drawing board and created a device that combines the brand’s beloved hardware keyboard, with a more modern touchscreen design. The Torch features a slide-out keyboard (so it’s only accessible when necessary), a 3.2-inch touchscreen, and an optical trackpad. With the keyboard folded up, it looks like a typical touchscreen smartphone — but with the keyboard out, it’s unmistakably BlackBerry.
Other hardware includes a 5-megapixel camera with flash and geolocation capabilities, 4GB of on-board storage and a 4GB SD card, 802.11N WiFi support, and a quadband 3G radio so that it functions seamlessly on international cellular networks. The Torch also features a surprisingly low 480 by 360 display resolution — something that was probably done for app compatibility reasons, but pales in comparison to even low-end Android phones.
While the Torch’s hardware feature set is certainly better than previous BlackBerrys, it also needs a major software revamp to compete with the more mature iOS4 and upcoming Android 2.2 operating systems. Enter BlackBerry OS 6. RIM’s new operating system makes a noble attempt at introducing powerful new productivity features, while also making the platform better suited for media.
BlackBerry OS 6 introduces universal search — which lets users search their email, feeds, and pretty much anything on the device, as well as the web — and a universal inbox that combines email with social networking updates from the likes of Twitter and Facebook. There’s also a unified social feeds app that combines RSS, Twitter, Facebook, and Google Talk — which I assume is a more robust way to view those updates than the unified inbox. The home screen has also been revamped with support for more content — including individual contacts and bookmarks — as well as notification previews.
In terms of media, there’s a podcast application which lets you subscribe and download podcasts wirelessly. RIM also added WiFi music sync, thanks to an updated desktop application. The application syncs files, as well as the overview of your entire music catalog. When away from home you can tag a song that isn’t synced on your device, and it will be instantly synced when you return to your home network.
With the OS comes a new focus on mobile apps for the platform. RIM says that they will be easier for consumers to find, as well as easier for developers to create and make money from. The Torch will feature a new version of the BlackBerry App World application with support for carrier billing. Developers will be able to use other payment models with the new BlackBerry Payment Service, and there are also new ad service APIs that will make it easier for developers to plug ads into apps.
The new BlackBerry 6 browser is based on WebKit — the browser framework used on the iPhone’s Safari mobile and Android’s browser — with full support for HTML5. Developers will also now be able to make apps using HTML5 and CSS — making them much easier to build than ever for the platform — and those apps still be able to take advantage of native app functions like being able to run in the background, access local files, and use location services. ###
>> RIM Introduces Torch Slider with OS 6; In-App Advertising; On Sale Aug. 12, $199 With 2-Year Contract
Tiernan Ray
Barron's
August 3, 2010
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/08/03/waiting-for-blackberry-rim-special-announcement/
I’m standing on line on West 42nd Street in Manhattan, where a crowd of 100, mostly journalists, are lined up to hear this morning’s special announcement from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIMM) and AT&T (T). RIMM is expected to show off a new phone with a touch screen and slide-out keyboard.
Here’s hoping there’s coffee inside.
10:48: There is, in fact, coffee, and sandwiches, juice bar. People are gathering in the auditorium, where the stage is draped in blue, playing the Black Eyed Peas’ “Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night.”
10:57: We’ve transitioned to The Shins’ “Caring is Creepy.” Now The Killers’ “When You Were Young”.
11:01: AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega, head of consumer business, is on stage. He’s saying U.S. is no longer a laggard in wireless innovation. Today introducing “the best BlackBerry ever!”. He whips out what looks like … the slider! AT&T was first to offer BlackBerry messaging. First to offer BlackBerry with voice and data. First to offer the Bold and the Curve.
11:07: introducing Mike Lazaridis, RIM co-CEO. Today introducing one of the most important products in company history … The BlackBerey Torch, RIM’s first Touch QWERTY slider devices. Technology came from a company called Torch Mobile they bought a year ago. Touch-screen, sliding keyboard, five-megapixel camera with flash. Introducing it with BlackBerry 6 operating system. “You’ll notice all these new things you can do. We’ve spent a long time on the details. Something called Universal Search. Really defines the product.
11:13: introducing text wrap to make text easier to read. Re-designed multimedia to make a new way to look at your content: album art, thumbnails, wifi synching to your home multimedia connection.
11:14: Don Lindsay of RIM is on stage to discuss new user interface in BB OS 6. Wanted to define a great new user experience. The design criteria: “Fresh but familiar” — it has to be familiar to existing BB users. “Approachable” — a user should feel encouraged to explore new features. “The touch screen is the epitome of easy to use.” “Power and Flexibility”– moving between touch-screen, trackpad and keyboard feels totally natural. He’s talking about re-designing the home screen. Added notifications. “Notification previews” — shows more detail from home screen about new messages, etc. Swipe to right or left on touchscreen provides different arrangements of icons for most used applications or favorite applications.
11:20: Universal search can be accessed just by sliding open the device. Type firs few letters of someone’s name in contacts and the names star to show up in address book, but also pictures with those letters in the title, also emails. Also can look it up on Google or YouTube. “we’ve made search extensible to third parties. We think this is going to be really powerful to end users.” Example of searching for “U2? across the device but also brings up results on YouTube.
11:22: Wanted to enhance the media capabilities. We’ve never been able manage pictures effectively. Adding ability to manage folders of pictures on the device. Never seen on a phone. New gestures: tap with two fingers, called “multiple selections,” to manipulate the pictures in a group. Geotagging of photos, but also adding the city name automatically, to be able to search pictures by name. Adding
Podcasts that you can download wirelessly, via WiFi or 3G.
11:25: WiFi music syncing. See your entire library of music on your PC, tag music when you’re walking around town to sync to your phone later on when you’re at home.
11:26: Social feeds. Many of us subscribe to several social networking feeds. We’ve aggregated them into one social feeds application. I no longer have to go to each separate app to see updates. Also see RSS feeds a swipe of the finger on the touch scree moves you between feeds. A “seemless” flow between apps on the BlackBerry. I’m using multiple apps but I’m unaware that I’m doing so.
11:29: Roll the video of OS 6.
11:32: Now up is David Yach, CTO, to talk about the app platform on OS 6. Improved app discovery for users: type “weather” in Universal Search on the device and you’ll see apps concerning weather on the BlackBerry App World. Now purchases in App World go right onto the AT&T bill. Adding APIs for developers for BlackBerry payment system. Purchase subscriptions to things, and now … Advertising! Developers will be able to get access to multiple ad networks to display ads in their apps. Also analytics to see effectiveness.
11:36: Introduction of WebKit framework onto OS 6 devices — will support HTML 5, Java and JavaScript technologies, but apps will be able to run in the background, unlike Web-based apps, and access Universal Search, GPS, other device features.
11:39: Going to pre-load icons to download the most popular types of applications optimized for Torch. Now rolling a video of the new apps. Use Slacker to tag music and sync later to your SD card. PrimeTimeToGo will download latest TV episodes, over WiFi or cellular. Yach is back on stage. “You’ll notice these apps make use of Universal Search, to, say, look up an artist’s name, then listen to their music on Slacker.”
11:43: David Christopher, chief marketing officer for AT&T mobility, is up. How are they going to bring it to market? Starts will AT&T integrated billing for app purchases. Will market with significant investment, starting with national advertising this Thursday. Roll first TV ad. Graphics of the phone rotating, sliding open, etc. “Less an evolution than a triple axle.”. On sale August 12 for $199 with two-year contract.
And that’s it! ###
Coming Soon: The BlackBerry Torch on Vodafone ...
>> BlackBerry Torch 9800 headed to Vodafone in the UK
Jennifer Allan
ElectricPig, UK
August 3, 2010
http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/08/03/blackberry-torch-9800-headed-to-vodafone-in-the-uk/
We knew the BlackBerry Torch 9800 was headed to the UK, but now the first network here has played its cards. Vodafone will stock the new query touchscreen slider – will anyone else follow suit?
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is set to go on sale on 12 August in the US with network AT&T, but RIM was curiously quiet about an exact launch date elsewhere. But Vodafone UK has just announced that it will be coming “soon”, in a one line statement to press. You’ll be able to sign up for updates at this here link ...
https://blackberry.vodafone.co.uk/torch/
It’s currently not live, but we’d expect that to change shortly. O2 and Three declined to comment when contacted about a BlackBerry Torch 9800 release. We’ve reached out to the other three other major UK networks too (Orange, T-Mobile) and will update when we hear back. ###
--> Official photos (8) of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 here ...
http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/08/03/blackberry-torch-9800-all-the-official-photos/blackberry-torch-gallery-5/
Early Web Reactions to the Torch and BlackBerry 6 ...
... even though it's too early to really assess its significance.
>> BlackBerry Announcement: What the Web is Saying
James Kendrick
jkOnThe Run
Aug. 3, 2010
http://jkontherun.com/2010/08/03/blackberry-announcement-what-the-web-is-saying/
Research in Motion (RIM) held a major press event in New York City this morning to unveil the new BlackBerry Torch and officially launch the BlackBerry 6 operating system. The event was held jointly with AT&T, which is the carrier selling the new Torch. Kevin Tofel live blogged the event in real time as it unfolded, so take a look for a recap of the announcements by RIM and AT&T. This is a big roll-out for the future of the BlackBerry, so we’ve rounded up a variety of opinions about the launch and whether or not, it will help BlackBerry stop its market share slide.
Bloomberg: “The operating system is “a very good upgrade to OS 5 as it fixes its browser and has a lot of good features,” said Ken Dulaney, an analyst at researcher Gartner Inc. in San Jose, California. “But it doesn’t have the look and feel of an Android or Apple operating system and I’m not sure it will achieve the goal of taking volume away from them.””
PC World: “Even BlackBerry addicts, though, can become frustrated with a lack of innovation, and become increasingly envious of the features and functionality available on other smartphone platforms. The BlackBerry Torch lets companies maintain the investment in a BlackBerry infrastructure, while also meeting the demand of BlackBerry users jealous of what the iPhone and Android are capable of.”
Laptop Magazine: “Based on our early impressions, RIM has probably done enough to keep a fair share of BlackBerry loyalists around, but we’re not convinced the combination of the Torch hardware and the new BlackBerry 6 OS will make those already interested in devices like the Evo 4G, Droid X, Captivate, and iPhone 4 from thinking twice.”
Folks on Twitter were following the announcements with bated breath, and paint a telling picture of the next version of the operating system and the new BlackBerry Torch.
* Gartenberg. Blackberry Torch appears loaded with crapware on the home screen. Thanks ATT.
* JoannaStern. Blackberry OS 6 seems to have what it needs to keep the diehards, like myself, in place. Not sure it has the sex appeal to attract, however.
* aulia. Now that it’s official, I played with the BlackBerry Torch last weekend, OS 6 felt like Android. Some say like Palm OS. Decent but not wow.
The initial impressions of the BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry 6 are very consistent. The new OS is a nice improvement over previous BlackBerry OS versions, but is much like iOS and Android in look and feel. The new Torch and OS is likely going to make BlackBerry fans happy, but may not be enough to attract new customers to the fold. ###
- Eric -
Canalys Q2 2010 Smartphone Share by OS
Q2 2010 Worldwide Smartphone Shipments by OS (Canalys)
==================================================================
Q2 2010 Q2 2010 Q2 2009 Q2 2009 Unit
OS Units Share Units Share Growth
======== ========== ======= ========== ======= ========
Symbian 27,129,340 43.5% 19,178,910 50.3% 41.5%
RIM 11,248,830 18.0% 7,975,950 20.9% 41.0%
Android 10,689,290 17.1% 1,084,240 2.8% 885.9%
Apple 8,411,910 13.5% 5,211,560 13.7% 61.4%
Microsoft 3,083,060 4.9% 3,431,380 9.0% -10.2%
Others 1,851,830 3.0% 1,244,620 3.3% 48.8%
---------- ------- ---------- ------- --------
Total 62,414,260 100.0% 38,126,660 100.0% 63.3%
===================================================================
Motorola Infra Sale
<< Is the motorola sale of their wireless division to NOKIA, final? >>
No. Regulatory approvals necessary. It's ecpected to close by year end.
= Eric -
Strategy Analytics Q2 2010 Handset Sales and Share
LG Motorola, HTC, and Samsung all reported Q2 20110 handset sales results in the last two days. and Strategy Analytics recapped total global unit handset sales and share today. Price wars are raging and while Nokia (at 9.5% operating margin down sequentially from 12.2%) Samssung (at 7.6% down YoY from 10.8%) Sony Ericsson (2%) and HTC, had positive operating margins in handsets. LG and Motorola both had negative operating margins. Nokia was the revenue leader in handsets in Q2 ($8.9 billion), Samsung was 2nd with $6.8 billion and Apple 3rd with $5.33 billion.
Q2 2010 Global Handset Unit Sell-In and Marketshare and 2008 to H2 2010 Sales & Share (Strategy Analytics)
==============================================================================================================
2008 ¦ Q2 '09 ¦ 2009 ¦ Q1 '10 ¦ Q2 '10 ¦ H1 2010 CYTD
Vendor Umits Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share
====== ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== | ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ======
Nokia 468.4m 39.8% ¦ 103.2m 37.8% ¦ 431.8m 37.7% | 107.8m 37.2% ¦ 111.1m 36.1% ¦ 218.9m 36.7%
Samsung 196.6m 16.7% ¦ 52.3m 19.1% ¦ 227.1m 19.8% ¦ 64.3m 22.2% ¦ 63.8m 20.7% ¦ 128.1m 21.4%
LG 100.8m 8.6% ¦ 29.8m 10.9% ¦ 117.9m 10.3% ¦ 27.1m 9.3% ¦ 30.6m 10.0% ¦ 57.7m 9.7%
RIM 23.5m 15.5% ¦ 8.0m 2.9% ¦ 34.5m 3.0% | 10.6m 3.7% ¦ 11.2m 3.6% ¦ 21.8m 3.6%
SEricsson 96.6m 8.2% ¦ 13.8m 5.1% ¦ 57.0m 5.0% ¦ 10.5m 3.6% ¦ 11.0m 3.6% ¦ 21.5m 3.6%
Apple 13.7m 1.2% ¦ 5.2m 1.9% ¦ 25.1m 2.2% | 8.8m 3.0% ¦ 8.4m 2.7% ¦ 17.2m 2.9%
Motorola 100.1m 8.5% ¦ 14.0m 5.3% ¦ 55.1m 4.8% ¦ 8.2m 2.9% ¦ 8.3m 2.7% ¦ 16.5m 2.8%
Others 177.6m 15.1% ¦ 60.8m 24.9% ¦ 242.8m 24.2% | 69.7m 24.0% ¦ 71.5m 23.3% ¦ 141.2m 23.6%
------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------
Total 1177.3m 100.0% ¦ 273.1m 100.0% ¦1145.5m 100.0% ¦ 290.0m 100.0% ¦ 307.5m 100.0% ¦ 597.5m 100.0%
==============================================================================================================
Growth YoY +4.9% ¦ -8.1% ¦ -2.8% ¦ - ¦ +12.6% ¦ -
==============================================================================================================
2008 ¦ Q2 '09 ¦ 2009 ¦ Q1 '10 ¦ Q2 '10 ¦ H1 2010 CYTD
Vendor Umits Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share
====== ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== | ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ======
Nokia 60.5m 40.0% ¦ 16.9m 40.7% ¦ 67.8m 38.8% | 21.5m 40.0% ¦ 24.0m 40.3% ¦ 45.5m 40.2%
RIM 23.5m 15.5% ¦ 8.0m 19.3% ¦ 34.5m 19.7% | 10.6m 19.7% ¦ 11.2m 19.0% ¦ 21.8m 19.3%
Apple 13.7m 9.1% ¦ 5.2m 12.5% ¦ 25.1m 14.4% | 8.8m 16.4% ¦ 8.4m 14.2% ¦ 17.2m 15.2%
Others 53.4m 35.4% ¦ 11.4m 27.5% ¦ 7.3m 27.1% | 12.8m 23.8% ¦ 15.9m 26.1% ¦ 28.2m 24.9%
------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------
Total 151.1m 100.0% ¦ 41.5m 100.0% ¦ 174.7m 100.0% ¦ 53.7m 100.0% ¦ 59.5m 100.0% ¦ 113.2m 100.0%
==============================================================================================================
Growth YoY +23.1% ¦ +7.5% ¦ +15.6% ¦ +49.6% ¦ +43.4% ¦ +25.9%
==============================================================================================================
Smartphone Sell-In Growth Year-over-Year (Strategy Analytics)
==============================================================================================================
Q2'09 2009 Q2'10
===== ====== =====
Nokia 10.5% 12.1% 42.0%
RIM 42.9% 46.8% 40.0%
Apple 642.9% 83.1% 61.5%
Others -18.0% -11.4% 39.5%
------ ------ -----
Total 16.9% 15.6% 43.4%
==============================================================================================================
Strategy Analytics Q2 2010 Handset Sales and Share
LG Motorola, HTC, and Samsung all reported Q2 20110 handset sales results in the last two days. and Strategy Analytics recapped total global unit handset sales and share today. Price wars are raging and while Nokia (at 9.5% operating margin down sequentially from 12.2%) Samssung (at 7.6% down YoY from 10.8%) Sony Ericsson (2%) and HTC, had positive operating margins in handsets. LG and Motorola both had negative operating margins. Nokia was the revenue leader in handsets in Q2 ($8.9 billion), Samsung was 2nd with $6.8 billion and Apple 3rd with $5.33 billion.
Q2 2010 Global Handset Unit Sell-In and Marketshare and 2008 to H2 2010 Sales & Share (Strategy Analytics)
==============================================================================================================
2008 ¦ Q2 '09 ¦ 2009 ¦ Q1 '10 ¦ Q2 '10 ¦ H1 2010 CYTD
Vendor Umits Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share
====== ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== | ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ======
Nokia 468.4m 39.8% ¦ 103.2m 37.8% ¦ 431.8m 37.7% | 107.8m 37.2% ¦ 111.1m 36.1% ¦ 218.9m 36.7%
Samsung 196.6m 16.7% ¦ 52.3m 19.1% ¦ 227.1m 19.8% ¦ 64.3m 22.2% ¦ 63.8m 20.7% ¦ 128.1m 21.4%
LG 100.8m 8.6% ¦ 29.8m 10.9% ¦ 117.9m 10.3% ¦ 27.1m 9.3% ¦ 30.6m 10.0% ¦ 57.7m 9.7%
RIM 23.5m 15.5% ¦ 8.0m 2.9% ¦ 34.5m 3.0% | 10.6m 3.7% ¦ 11.2m 3.6% ¦ 21.8m 3.6%
SEricsson 96.6m 8.2% ¦ 13.8m 5.1% ¦ 57.0m 5.0% ¦ 10.5m 3.6% ¦ 11.0m 3.6% ¦ 21.5m 3.6%
Apple 13.7m 1.2% ¦ 5.2m 1.9% ¦ 25.1m 2.2% | 8.8m 3.0% ¦ 8.4m 2.7% ¦ 17.2m 2.9%
Motorola 100.1m 8.5% ¦ 14.0m 5.3% ¦ 55.1m 4.8% ¦ 8.2m 2.9% ¦ 8.3m 2.7% ¦ 16.5m 2.8%
Others 177.6m 15.1% ¦ 60.8m 24.9% ¦ 242.8m 24.2% | 69.7m 24.0% ¦ 71.5m 23.3% ¦ 141.2m 23.6%
------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------
Total 1177.3m 100.0% ¦ 273.1m 100.0% ¦1145.5m 100.0% ¦ 290.0m 100.0% ¦ 307.5m 100.0% ¦ 597.5m 100.0%
==============================================================================================================
Growth YoY +4.9% ¦ -8.1% ¦ -2.8% ¦ - ¦ +12.6% ¦ -
==============================================================================================================
2008 ¦ Q2 '09 ¦ 2009 ¦ Q1 '10 ¦ Q2 '10 ¦ H1 2010 CYTD
Vendor Umits Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share ¦ Units Share
====== ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== | ====== ====== ¦ ====== ====== ¦ ====== ======
Nokia 60.5m 40.0% ¦ 16.9m 40.7% ¦ 67.8m 38.8% | 21.5m 40.0% ¦ 24.0m 40.3% ¦ 45.5m 40.2%
RIM 23.5m 15.5% ¦ 8.0m 19.3% ¦ 34.5m 19.7% | 10.6m 19.7% ¦ 11.2m 19.0% ¦ 21.8m 19.3%
Apple 13.7m 9.1% ¦ 5.2m 12.5% ¦ 25.1m 14.4% | 8.8m 16.4% ¦ 8.4m 14.2% ¦ 17.2m 15.2%
Others 53.4m 35.4% ¦ 11.4m 27.5% ¦ 7.3m 27.1% | 12.8m 23.8% ¦ 15.9m 26.1% ¦ 28.2m 24.9%
------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------ ¦ ------ ------
Total 151.1m 100.0% ¦ 41.5m 100.0% ¦ 174.7m 100.0% ¦ 53.7m 100.0% ¦ 59.5m 100.0% ¦ 113.2m 100.0%
==============================================================================================================
Growth YoY +23.1% ¦ +7.5% ¦ +15.6% ¦ +49.6% ¦ +43.4% ¦ +25.9%
==============================================================================================================
Smartphone Sell-In Growth Year-over-Year (Strategy Analytics)
==============================================================================================================
Q2'09 2009 Q2'10
===== ====== =====
Nokia 10.5% 12.1% 42.0%
RIM 42.9% 46.8% 40.0%
Apple 642.9% 83.1% 61.5%
Others -18.0% -11.4% 39.5%
------ ------ -----
Total 16.9% 15.6% 43.4%
==============================================================================================================
Motorola Q2 2010
• Q2 2010 Motorola Earnings Release
http://3x8w.sl.pt
• Q2 2010 Motorola Earnings CC Slides
http://3x8u.sl.pt
Mobile Devices Segment
• Shipped 8.3 million handsets, including 2.7 million smartphones
• Revenue sales of $1.7 billion
• GAAP operating earnings of $87 million: GAAP Operating Margin of 5%, but,that was inflated by income from a significant legal settlement of $228 million,
• Non-GAAP operating loss of $109 million (-6.3%) excluding settlement inome above.
Mobile Devices segment sales were $1.7 billion, down 6 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. GAAP operating earnings were $87 million, which included income from a significant legal settlement of $228 million, compared to an operating loss of $287 million in the year-ago quarter. The non-GAAP operating loss was $109 million, compared to an operating loss of $239 million in the year-ago quarter. ###
- Eric -
LG Q2 Handsets ...
Units up 2 percent sequentially to 30.6 million units but operating margins and profit go negative.
The Earnings Release Slides .
http://www.lg.com/global/download/pdf/2010%202Q%20Earnings%20Release_Final.pdf
>> LG Posts Record Handset Loss on IPhone, Smartphones
Bloomberg
July 28, 2010
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-28/lg-posts-record-handset-loss-on-iphone-smartphones.html
LG Electronics Inc., the world’s third-biggest mobile-phone maker, reported a record loss at its handset business after lagging behind Apple Inc. and smartphone makers in selling models that send e-mails and surf the Internet.
Losses from mobile phones totaled 120 billion won ($101 million) in the second quarter, compared with profit of 620 billion won a year earlier, Seoul-based LG said in a statement today. The loss, the division’s first in four years, was triple the size projected by the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. ... <snip> ... The handset business’s loss, the biggest since the company started tracking the division’s financials in 2002, drove down overall operating profit 90 percent to 126.2 billion won, missing the 290.6 billion won projected in the Bloomberg survey.
LG expects the business to recover in the fourth quarter as it “may not be easy” during the current period, Chief Financial Officer David Jung said at a briefing in Seoul today. LG’s second-quarter handset shipments rose 2 percent to 30.6 million units and the company aims to increase revenue from the business by introducing smartphones in North America and South Korea, it said. The company, which began sales of the LG-GW620 phone equipped with Google’s Android last year, said handsets based on the operating system will account for more than half its smartphone models this year. Worldwide sales of smartphones rose 43 percent to 60 million units last quarter, with Nokia, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion and Apple widening their lead over smaller producers, research firm Strategy Analytics said this month. Global sales of smartphones may increase 36 percent to 247 million in 2010 and expand 30 percent next year, ISuppli said in April. ###
- Eric -
Ashok Kumar, CFA, (48) and Intel, Infineon, (or Apple, or Qualcomm or Anyone ...
Rev,
<< Who is right? Intel has a contract to acquire the wireless division of German chip maker, Infineon, according to brokerage Rodman & Renshaw’s Ashok Kumar, who said so in a note to his clients today. >>
Best to bear in mind that Kumar the rolling stone with his numerous but questionable never-named sources is the proverbial blind pig that occasionally finds an acorn but in recent years he's had more employers than rumors that panned.
When he was with Northeast Securities in January he was quoted as saying:
"Apple has chosen Qualcomm as its chip supplier for the new version of the iPhone headed to Verizon (VZ) this summer" [who confirmed the decision with the manufacturers and suppliers involved with the phone.] ... "Apple elected to go with Qualcomm in its Verizon iPhone, which is expected to arrive soon after AT&T's exclusive contract with Apple expires in June."
http://3a7v.sl.pt
He's also the same analyst that 2 weeks later told Scott Moritz -- a 3rd tier technology journalist and a veritable dumping ground for analysts working for 3rd tier houses and trying to get themselves and their employers recognized in print -- that Qualcomm would supply the mobile wireless IC for what we now know is the iPad ...
"The hotly anticipated Apple Tablet -- or the Apple Newton II -- will feature a wireless chip made by Qualcomm. This discrete little fact would confirm that Apple has chosen Verizon (VZ) as its telco partner, says Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar." [Scott Moritz: The Street: January 21 2010]
http://3a8c.sl.pt
Undaunted, and after moving over to Rodman & Renshaw he stuck to his frequently misfiring guns using ammo supplied by his questionable industry sources:
"Apple is on track to launch a version of the IPhone on Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD) by the holiday shopping period, according to Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok KUMAR, He writes in a research note today that “supply checks indicate” a launch later this year." [Eric Savitz: Barron's Tech Trader Daily: May 28, 2010]
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/05/28/apple-verizon-iphone-on-track-for-holidays-analyst-contends/
One of these days he'll probably hit his target, but I wouldn't take anything he types to the bank.
Ashok has no shortage of intelligence, academic background, or questionable calls mixed with a few that occasionally have panned. He's an MEE with an MBA from Wharton who in the nineties worked for Intel in engineering and marketing positions. He also has had no shortage of employers of lateThe 48 year old analyst with former stints at Piper Jaffray, Raymond James, and Prudential Securities joined Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group "a full-service investment bank" in late March. It's his 3rd posting in the last year moving from Collins Stewart, to Northeast Securities, and now Rodman & Renshaw. Back in his Piper Jaffrey days a decade ago he made Smart Money magazine's ranking of the '30 Most Influential People in Investing' at about 27th.based on some prescient calls he made in 2000 but such fame can be fleeting and most certainly has been in Kumar's case. ###
Cheers,
- Eric -
Bluetooth 4.0 with Ultra-Lwer Power ...
... which was conceived in Nokia Research Center in 2001, matured int he EU FP6's project MIMOSA. and originally branded as WiBree in 2006 by those uninnovative Finns. It is being brought to market via their donation of it to the Bluetooth Sig ...
>> Bluetooth 4.0 Go-Ahead
New specification slashes power consumption.
Alastair Otter
MyBroadband
23 July, 2010
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/hardware/13832-Bluetooth--ahead.html
The specifications for Bluetooth 4.0 have been approved by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and promise to slash the power consumption of the devices using the new specification.
The most exciting feature of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification is the ability to transmit data over short distances at ultra-low power. According to the SIG Bluetooth 4.0 devices will use as little as 10% of the power used by existing Bluetooth devices.
Mike Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, says that "some of these new low-energy devices will be able to operate for years on just a tiny, button-sized battery."
But, even though Bluetooth 4.0 devices will consume less power they will not be underpowered. Devices using the new technology will be able to transmit data at up to 1Mbps in ultra-low power mode and significantly higher speed in full power mode.
Bluetooth is also an improvement on the 3.0 standard which introduced the ability to connect to WiFi networks as well. Over 802.11 WiFi networks Bluetooth 4.0 will kick up to 25Mbps data transfer speeds.
Bluetooth 4.0 is aimed, in part, at catering for the market for gadgets such as heart rate monitors, pedometers and so on which use coin-cell batteries. In low-power mode these type of devices could be used for years on a single battery.
Bluetooth 4.0 also improves its range capabilities, making devices capable of connecting over distances as far as 100 metres.
For now, however, Bluetooth 4.0 devices are being tested by device makers and consumers can expect to see the specification in devices in the latter part of 2011. ###
Flashback to 2007 ...
>> Nokia's Low-Power Link to be new Bluetooth Standard
Rex Merrifield
Reuters (Helsinki)
Scientific American
June 12, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/353wrc
Mobile handset firm Nokia's ultra low power short-range wireless technology is to be developed as a new version of Bluetooth to connect devices such as watches and heart monitors, the company said on Tuesday.
An agreement to use the Nokia technology as the basis for an ultra low-power Bluetooth standard should help to speed its use and acceptance -- rather than be a competing technology, the Bluetooth SIG industry interest group said.
Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, said product developers had been calling for an ultra low power standard, which should now be finalized in about a year.
"I would see the products coming relatively quickly after the specs are done," he told Reuters in an interview.
The Wibree short-range radio link -- likely to be marketed as ultra low power Bluetooth -- uses just a fraction of the power of earlier systems and can hook up devices with small batteries or power capacity.
That could allow links for toys, sports monitors and watches, as well as sensors used in health monitoring, which have not been able to use Bluetooth until now because of its power demands.
Nokia has worked since 2001 on Wibree, which provides a radio link of up to 10 meters (30 feet) between devices. ###
>> Wibree — From Unknown Technology to Bluetooth SIG Adoption
Wireless Development Net
Wellingborough, UK
12 June 2007
http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2007/jun/12/news2.html
In 8 months Wibree has gone from a relatively unknown technology, introduced to the unsuspecting wireless world, to being included under the Bluetooth SIG umbrella. The technology is being hyped as “the missing link between small devices and mobile/devices/personal computers”, so the total available market (TAM) is significant.
Until today, Wibree has mostly been a Nokia solution; however, it has been supported by the likes of Broadcom and CSR for the development of Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode ICs. Now Wibree will officially become part of the Bluetooth® specification as an ultra low power extension of Bluetooth® technology.
As per a recent report from IMS Research, “ICs with Multiple Wireless Functionality” (May publication), we have been confident that Wibree will be a success; the Bluetooth SIG adoption of the standard has now secured this. This decision a big step for the Bluetooth SIG who’s portfolio, which now includes both high speed and low power Bluetooth®, is diversifying across the wireless landscape as part of their umbrella initiative.
A lot of work has gone into rewriting the Wibree specification; the Bluetooth SIG and Nokia anticipate the first version of the specification during the first half of 2008. According to Fiona Thomson, Senior Market Research Analyst with IMS Research, ”Before now it has been almost impossible to forecast Wibree; however, IMS is confident that shipments of Wibree ICs will go from zero to tens of millions very quickly.” She added, “We expect to see shipments of Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode ICs exceed 120MU in 2011”. ###
>> Wibree Forum Merges With Bluetooth Sig
Bluetooth Technology Expands For Ultra Low Power Pan Applications With Nokia's Wibree
Nokia (Espoo, Finland)
Bluetooth SIG (Bellevue, WA, USA
June 12, 2007
http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1132534
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the more than 8,000-company strong trade association responsible for advancing Bluetooth wireless technology, joined Nokia today in announcing that the Wibree forum, the group specifying the Nokia developed ultra low power wireless technology, will be merged with the Bluetooth SIG.
With this announcement, the Wibree specification will become part of the Bluetooth specification as an ultra low power Bluetooth technology. Because Wibree addresses devices with very low battery capacity and can be easily integrated with Bluetooth technology, it will round out Bluetooth technology's wireless Personal Area Networking (PAN) offering and strengthen the technology's ability to provide wireless connectivity for smaller devices.
"By including or referencing other wireless technologies like ultra wideband for high speed applications, near field communication (NFC) for association and now Wibree for ultra low power applications under the well-established Bluetooth profiles, we are opening up a host of new applications and functionality while keeping the user experience consistent," said Michael Foley, Ph. D. executive director, Bluetooth SIG. "Our members have been asking for an ultra low power Bluetooth solution. With Nokia's innovative development and contribution to the Bluetooth specification with Wibree, we will be able to deliver this in approximately one year."
Wibree's development started at the Nokia Research Center in 2001. Wibree was announced to a broader audience in October of 2006 and Nokia stated its intention to incorporate the technology and its current forum into an open, preferably existing industry forum to ensure Wibree's wide adoption.
"The development work for Wibree began when we discovered a series of interesting new use scenarios that no current local connectivity solution was addressing. Now we are happy to see Wibree become part of the open Bluetooth standard, opening new market opportunities and space to innovate for the industry," said Jarkko Sairanen, Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Nokia. "Including Wibree within an existing forum will ensure interoperability and its wide and fast adoption. The Bluetooth SIG is the optimal new home for Wibree."
To this day Broadcom, Casio, CSR, Epson, ItoM, Logitech, Nordic Semiconductor, ST Microelectronics, Suunto, Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. and Texas Instruments have contributed to the interoperability specification, profiles and use case definition of Wibree in their respective areas of expertise and will continue this work in the Bluetooth SIG working groups. Several new companies, including device, watch and access systems manufacturers will join the finalization of the specification. Once the specification is finalized, the technology will be made broadly available to the industry via the Bluetooth SIG.
"Nokia's contribution of its Wibree technology into the Bluetooth SIG as the basis for ultra low power Bluetooth specifications will continue to enhance the consumer experience of connecting to anything and anyone from anywhere with Bluetooth wireless technology," said John R. Barr, Ph.D., chairman of the Bluetooth SIG board of directors. "This new technology, as the basis of a wide range of ultra low power devices, is a commendable advancement in Bluetooth technology."
From the start, Wibree was designed to work with two implementation options - as an easily implemented extension to a classic Bluetooth radio, and as a stand-alone implementation
The Bluetooth SIG recognized the potential of Wibree to enhance current Bluetooth use cases around the mobile phone and PC by bringing very low power, sensor type devices into the fold. The ultra low power extension will allow watches and toys, as well as sports & wellness, healthcare and entertainment devices to be easily added to one's personal area network. This opens a new range of mobile possibilities for end users.
By leveraging Bluetooth technology's high consumer awareness (86 percent globally), the Bluetooth SIG's large membership and proven development and qualification programs, the ultra low power solution will be integrated faster and at a lower cost to the industry and consumers. Thanks to its innovative design, Wibree consumes only a fraction of the power of classic Bluetooth radios. In many cases it makes it possible to operate these devices for more than a year without recharging.
As stated in his March 2007 ABI Research Short Range Wireless Service, research Director Stuart Carlaw predicted a $432 milllion, 809 million device industry for Wibree by 2012. Carlaw said, "We believe [Wibree] is a unique technology that can leverage the very positive market position of Bluetooth technology in segments such as medical, sports equipment and well-being, where the total available market is extremely large and still relatively untouched."
The work of integrating the low power technology within the existing Bluetooth specification has begun and the first version of the specification is anticipated during first half of 2008. ###
- Eric -