Posts Tagged: apple

Signs that South Korean handset barrier may be lifted offers alluring prospect to foreign manufacturers










South Korean regulations requiring handset applications to be based on a homegrown technology are largely why the country’s mobile phone market is dominated by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
As a result of the WIPI ruling – the acronym stands for wireless internet platform for interoperability – foreign companies have found it too expensive to produce handsets tailored for South Korean consumers.
Nokia is virtually absent in the country and Motorola is a minor competitor with less than 5 per cent of the market. Apple has kept its iPhone out of the market because of the WIPI rule.
Yet international handset makers are keen to enter South Korea, one of the world’s most technologically advanced and expensive telecoms markets.
Now President Lee Myung-bak’s newly elected government has expressed a willingness to soften the WIPI rule, potentially opening the door to foreign handset makers.



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Apple's earnings from iPhone could be higher than first estimated






As pricing details continue to emerge about the new iPhone, one analyst estimates that Apple stands to make more from each device than previously thought.
Gene Munster, of investment bank Piper Jaffray, said that AT&T’s complete official pricing for iPhone 3G units suggests Apple is making more from the reportedly abundant iPhone stock than estimated in the past.
Although the US$199 starting price is much lower for the customers themselves, the US$599 pay-as-you-go price suggests that the carrier subsidy cuts much deeper.
If so, then this hides potentially greater profits for Apple, which could be asking US$500 for each iPhone versus an earlier estimate of US$425.
“This discrepancy leads us to believe our [average selling price] is conservative,” said Munster.
The analyst said that a change of this level would boost Apple’s revenue for 2009 by eight per cent.

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Nokia knocked off prime spot as iPhone and HTC hit top of the chart


Nokia may still be the world’s leading mobile phone supplier but it’s been toppled from its pedestal when it comes to phone cases.
Krusell, the Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable electronics, has released its “Top 10” – list for June 2008.
The list is based upon the number of pieces of model specific mobile and smartphone cases that have been ordered from the company during June 2008.
Its chart is unique, according to Krusell, due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones on six continents and in more than 50 countries around the globe.

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Analyst upgrades estimates for iPhone production for 2008 to at least 17 million


Apple will build at least 15 million 3G iPhones in 2008 bringing its total smartphone production to at least 17 million phones.
At least that’s what Craig Berger, semiconductor analysts with Friedman Billings Ramsey, expects production levels to run to by the year-end.
He has upgraded his figures after previously saying that Apple would build 13 million iPhones in 2008 (which, interestingly, included 2 million 2.5G Edge-only iPhones).
His rationale for the change is because he thinks iPhone production in the third quarter will be higher than expected.

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iPhone 3G costs US$ 173 to make – 23 per cent less than predecessor


The new iPhone is expected to carry an initial hardware Bill Of Materials (BOM) and manufacturing cost of US$ 173, according to a preliminary “virtual teardown” analysis conducted by iSuppli Corp.
If correct, the second-generation iPhone could be even more profitable for Apple than either the original iPone or the iPod.
Dr Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst for iSuppli, said that at a hardware BOM and manufacturing cost of US$ 173, the new iPhone is significantly less expensive to produce than the first-generation product.
He said this was despite major improvements in the product’s functionality and unique usability, due to the addition of 3G communications.
“The original 8Gbyte iPhone carried a cost of US $226 after component price reductions, giving the new product a 23 per cent hardware cost reduction due to component price declines,” he said.
Last week, a survey revealed that nearly a quarter of US consumers questioned in a survey highlighted price as the main reason why they were not considering buying an Apple iPhone 3G.

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Launch of iPhone fails to dent RIM's optimism for Blackberry as profit and revenue doubles in Q1


Strong sales of Blackberry devices have helped Smartphone-maker Research in Motion Ltd (RIM) to more than double its first quarter profit and revenue.
The Canadian company earned US$482.5 million for the three months that ended May 31, up from US$223.2 million in the same period last year.
RIM’s revenue increased to US$2.24 billion from US$1.08 billion for the same period.
There was a net gain of 2.3 million BlackBerry subscribers in the quarter, six per cent higher than in the fourth quarter, to bring the total number of subscribers to more than 16 million.
Around 5.4 million new devices were shipped by the company in the first quarter of 2008.
Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive of RIM, said revenue had increased 107 per cent in the quarter, a rise he attributed to the continued popularity of the BlackBerry platform in business, government and consumer segments.

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Mercedes provides mobile home for the iPhone

The popularity of the Apple iPhone in Germany – over 100,000 people have bought iPhones there since its launch in November 2007 – has prompted Mercedes-Benz to offer what it claims is an industry first.
The luxury car-maker has unveiled a new cradle specifically for the device which boosts reception and moves controls and display onto the steering wheel and dashboard.
A company report said the move was an acknowledgement by Mercedes of Apple’s current dominance in the mobile arena.
It said the cradle offered owners the means to seamlessly integrate the device’s music and telephone functions into their vehicles’ architecture.

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Analyst declares Nokia "undervalued" based on growth plans in the Smartphone market


Nokia’s intention to compete in the Smartphone market by launching an array of devices will lead to a substantial and prolonged “upside” for the mobile giant.
Gus Papageorgiou, an analyst at Scotia Bank, said he believes Nokia is undervalued after hearing its CEO outline future growth plans.
Among the reasons for his optimism is the company’s aggressive plan to compete in the high-end Smartphone market, so far largely dominated by the rivalry between Research in Motion’s Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone.
Nokia is launching a range of new Smartphones and repositioning its image away from the hardware/”mobile phone” tag, by integrating services with its handsets to deliver web-enabled customer solutions.

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Price biggest factor in deterring purchase of iPhone


Nearly a quarter of US consumers questioned in a survey highlighted price as the main reason why they were not considering buying an Apple iPhone 3G.
Another impediment to purchase was people’s preference for a network carrier other than AT&T, Apple’s exclusive provider of the handsets in the US.
Only 4 per cent of those surveyed by PriceGrabber.com, a part of Experian, currently own an iPhone, but 42 per cent said they are considering buying one.
The study investigated purchasing trends and smartphone pricing history based on a survey of 3,066 online consumers conducted from May 20 to June 5, 2008.
Of the remaining 54 per cent who do not intend to purchase the iPhone, 41 per cent – or 22 per cent of the total – said that the mobile device costs too much.

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JVC launches HD camcorder with ability to record up to 50 hours of video


The first ever AVC/MPEG-2 HD camcorders are to go on sale this summer.
JVC’s Everio HD30 and HD40 are the first camcorders that capture picture in AVCHD (H.264) or MPEG-2 format with the ability to use either.
The dual-format provides access to the superior long time compression afforded by AVCHD, as well as MPEG-2’s superior editing and post-production environment.
With the ability to record up to 50 hours of 1920×1080 video in Extended Play mode, the HD40 also claims to be the “longest-running HD camcorder available”.

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