Posts tagged Blackberry
Why Apple is winning the smartphone war while Nokia plays catch-up
Apr 30th
Smartphone owners of handset brands including Apple, BlackBerry and HTC are more likely to stick with the same brand when purchasing a new handset, according to new research from YouGov, but why are these devices so special?
Apple owners have the highest level of loyalty with 81% of users expected to buy the brand again. In contrast, LG, a traditional handset brand, comes bottom of the pile with only 10% of users saying that they would buy the brand again.
Remember back in the 90s, and even at the start of the millennium, when you swore you’d never use anything other than a Nokia because of its simplicity and easy usability? Now Nokia is being dubbed out of date.
Traditional mobile phone brands, such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG, do not fair well when it comes to loyalty and according to YouGov, and need to update their features in order to stay in the mobile handset game.
Russell Feldman, research manager in YouGov’s Technology and Telecoms team, says that the traditional phone brands have a battle on two fronts. “Firstly, the number of smartphone owners is growing at a very fast rate and the transitional gold rush to this new technology means traditional handset brands face tough competition from new and exciting brands. Read the rest of this entry »
MARKETING NEWS BITES: Apple’s 4G iPhone to launch June 7, RIM unveils BlackBerry 6 and Microsoft’s next generation Messenger
Apr 29th
A round up of news from around the web:
Apple is expected to formally debut its next-generation iPhone at a developers conference on June 7, the start of its five-day Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The annual event has become a stage for Apple to unveil software updates, particularly for iPhones that star in the company’s line-up of popular mobile gadgets. AFP
Research in Motion has unveiled the new features in BlackBerry 6, saying the update to the BlackBerry operating system will arrive in the next quarter. The new OS — described by RIM co-chief Mike Lazaridis as its “the biggest step forward” — was shown to an audience of BlackBerry partners, developers and users at the company’s Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando, Florida. ZDNet
AOL is to sell its ICQ instant messaging service to Digital Sky Technologies, the Russian internet company, for $187.5m, or less than half the $400m it paid for ICQ in 1998. The disposal came as AOL yesterday reported a 58 per cent decline in first quarter net profit and a 23 per cent drop in revenue year-on-year. Financial Times
Microsoft has announced the next generation of Windows Live Messenger, promising better sharing and interactivity. The onus of the Messenger redux is very much about creating richer and more meaningful conversations through the service, adding things like social-network integration and better video and photo sharing. Tech Radar
New figures reveal that that 66.7% of US Internet users—147.5 million people—are watching video online each month. By 2014, that figure is forecast to rise to 77% of Internet users, or 193.1 million people. eMarketer
Windows Phone 7 – in detail
Feb 15th
Following reports yesterday that Microsoft was to launch a challenger to the smartphone market currently dominated by Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Andriod and RIM’s Blackberry, the tech giant has unveiled the details of its closely kept mobile secret.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft showed off Windows Phone 7 for the first time. The handset will pull together content from social networking sites and other web services on a scale unseen on competing platforms and will most likely pose a serious threat to its competitors RIM, Apple and Google.
Why?
It’s flashy and new and has been designed with the user in mind, making all those things we use our mobile for more accessible, easier to use and to navigate.
Previous Windows Mobile versions were scrapped to make way for a completely new design that integrates Microsoft’s Zune music player and the Xbox Live gaming service.
The tech giant is ready to hit the smartphone market big time and has already secured partners including Samsung, HTC, HP, Sony Ericsson, Dell, LG and Toshiba.
At the Windows Phone 7 unveiling, Joe Belfiore, VP for Microsoft’s Windows Phone division, said the explosion of applications and web services available on mobile phones meant devices had become far too complex claiming that that phones had started to resemble PCs but “a phone’s just not a PC – it’s a smaller, more intimate device”.
Microsoft wanted a smart design that would separate applications and bring together some of the key things that are most important to people.
It’s five key hubs, that feature on a completely new interface with a ‘start’ page based around live ‘tiles’ representing the most common tasks include people, pictures, office, music + video and games.
The ‘people’ tile is all of a users contacts from Outlook, social networking sites and web mail services – pulled together with thumbnail images into one interface. People the user has recently communicated with rise to the top and for each contact the phone can display their recent activity on various social networking sites.
Under the ‘pictures’ tile is all of the users photos taken with the phone, synced from a PC or uploaded to social networking sites. Photos uploaded by friends to their social media profiles can also be accessed.
The Office’ tile is pretty self-explanatory, it allows users to view and edit documents or make voice, text and picture notes.
Every Windows Phone 7 will essentially be a Zune music player, with users able to sync music and videos using PC software similar to iTunes under the ‘music + video’ tile. Third-party music and video applications such as Pandora are also integrated.
Lastly, finally finding a way to take Xbox to the next level, under the ‘games’ tile users will be able to play games against other Xbox Live users.
Microsoft has said a key priority with the new operating system was maintaining consistency in design. Each Windows Phone 7 device will have three buttons on the front - Start, Search and Back. The tile menu interface will also be virtually the same on all handsets.
The built-in calendar pulls together appointments from both web-based personal calendars and from Microsoft Exchange, while addresses and phone numbers are automatically hyperlinked. Clicking on an address brings it up on Bing Maps.
The maps feature is interesting, and will be a major competitor to Google Maps. By simply typing “sushi” into the search function – which is of course powered by Bing – the user is shown all of the sushi restaurants in the immediate area plotted on a map. From that screen the user can get directions, ring a restaurant or read reviews.
The web browser is based around the same code as the desktop Internet Explorer, and there is full support for multi-touch gestures such as pinching to zoom. But just like the iPhone, Adobe Flash support won’t be present at launch.
So that’s it. It all looks pretty simple to use, and smart too. But one burning question remains: what about apps?
With the actual launch to consumers still so far away, Microsoft said it would reveal more details about the applications that will be available on the platform at its Remix conference later this year.
Android crashes the smartphone party – will it push Apple out?
Dec 17th
Android is quickly gaining in the popularity stakes, but can it even come close to the success of Apple’s iPhone?
Consumer awareness of Google’s Android is growing rapidly, due in large part to the Verizon Droid ad campaign in the US.
Further, of those American consumers in the market for a smartphone, 17% are considering the purchase of an android-supported device in next three months, compared to 20% indicating they plan to purchase an iPhone.
Last week on UTalkMarketing, we revealed that the new Android handset is expected to become more popular than Apple’s iPhone, according to exclusive research from OneNewsPage.com.
Asked, ‘Will the new version of Android beat the iPhone?’, 77% of readers said yes, while just 23% disagreed.
The statistics show that despite Apple’s growing popularity, it might finally be losing its luster as new competition enters the market.
Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile, said, “With handsets on multiple carriers, from multiple manufacturers, and numerous Android device models expected to be in the U.S. market by January, the Android platform is rapidly shaking up the smartphone market.
“While the iPhone continues to set the bar with its App Store and passionate user base, and RIM remains the leader among the business set, Android is clearly gaining momentum among developers and consumers.”
Although Android’s share of the smartphone market is relatively small, it has quickly doubled in the past year to 3.5% in October 2009.
Understanding the mobile media behaviour of Android users highlights why operators and media companies might embrace the platform and fuel its growth.
An analysis of mobile media consumption on smartphones revealed that users of both Apple and Android-supported devices were more likely to engage with mobile media than an average smartphone user.
Users of the Apple iPhone were most likely to consume mobile media, with 94% of users doing so in September 2009, while 92% of Android device users, predominantly T-Mobile G1 users, engaged in mobile media activities – 12% higher than an average smartphone user.
Apple and Android users are equally likely to engage with news via their browser and nearly identical in their mobile application engagement, according to comScore.
Email was the only major activity in which iPhone users (87% were far more likely to participate than Android users (63%).
Overall, Android users will behave more like iPhone users than other smartphone users giving some hope to Google and its endeavor into the mobile market next year. However, it is more bad news for BalckBerry and Nokia, which have already suffered declines this year following the launch of Apple’s 3G iPhone.
The question now is, is there room in the market for all four devices, or will older player be squeezed out?
Google’s Android platform has continued to gain awareness and has sparked interest this week by announcing a Google handset in the testing phases, but to be rolled out next year.
In August 2009, just 22% of mobile users had heard of the Android, while in November 2009 this figure had reached 37%, largely prompted by an advertising push launched in September. The comScore study found that not only is general awareness increasing about Android, but intent to purchase an Android-supported device is also increasing among mobile phone users.
When mobile users were asked in November which phone they planned to buy in the next three months, 17% said they planned to purchase an Android-supported device compared to 20% of respondents who said they planned to purchase an iPhone.
Has the iPhone lost its lustre?
Technology is a fickle market these days. Consumers have little loyalty and a very ‘gadget’ driven, keen to try out new devices and technologies – out with the old and in with the new is the attitude. We want the latest, up-to-date, ‘wow’ technology and we’re even more willing to ‘give it a go’. And with a brand name such as Google behind it, it’s no surprise the Android is participating success.
However, 21% of consumers are still planning to purchase an iPhone in the next three months. Remember, Apple is untouchable. For now.
Google’s Nexus One marks a new era for search giant
Dec 14th
Can Google crack the handset market too?
Google has been forced to confirm that it is currently testing out its own branded mobile handsets after rumours surfaced on the internet over weekend. A rare but strategic move for Google…can it possibly pay off though?
Dubbed the ‘Nexus One’ and made by smartphone maker HTC, the phone will run on the search giant’s Android operating system and will be sold online, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal.
Looks like Google is desperately trying to cling to its market share and internet monopoly as in the past few months, the search engine giant has announced a number of new products as competition from tech giant Microsoft heats up.
But, can Google be everything to everyone?
It’s one thing to be a leader in search – an area where Google has established itself as one of the most enterprising, innovative and ‘cool’ brands of the decade. But will consumers follow the brand through to its new endeavors?
There is no doubt that Apple’s iPhone will have little competition over the next year or so. It’s virtually pushed Nokia out of the market as its profits and sales dipped dramatically this year. Even BalckBerry is suffering declines as consumers are wooed to Apple by its ‘wow’ factor.
However, Google’s Android phones have won attention in the mobile industry lately, with Motorola and Sony Ericsson choosing to launch it with their new top models.
But perhaps Google isn’t after ‘world domination’ with this new venture. Analysts have said that the company is aiming to gain access to valuable consumer data that can be used to sell ads at premium prices. So perhaps Google is just going that one step further to confirm it is still the King of search engine marketing.
Producing its own phone would be seen as competing with its partners and would represent a rare venture by Google. By the time January comes around (when the launch is predicted) we’ll have a much clearer explanation as to why Google has chosen to go down this route. For now though, it seems like the giant is just looking to stay ahead – by any means possible.
RIM still holds smartphone market share…but Apple catching up
Nov 4th
Research In Motion’s Blackberry continues to be the smartphone of choice among consumers, but Apple’s iPhone is quickly catching up, according to a recent survey by ChangeWave Research.
A week long survey conducted in September, revealed that RIM has 40% market share. But there’s a dip f one percentage point compared to June 2009. And this is the lowest market share for RIM in two years.
RIM is facing Stiff competition from Apple, its iPhone (on the market for two years this September) already has a 30% market share now. An increase of 5% since June.
Palm has remained steady, retaining its 7% market share since June. It’s to note that the two important launches, Palm Pre and Pixi, have not positively affected the Palm market share.
Back in June 2006, Palm had a market share of 36% it had eroded steadily from that peak to 7% now.
Perhaps it’s the array of iPhone applications that has ensured Apple’s success. Or it could just be done to its incredible brand. Visitors to Brandchannel.com claim Apple is the brand they cannot live without. It is the marque they most want to sit next to at a dinner party and with which they most identify.
Recent Comments