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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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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.
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.
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.
The Samsung Instinct, touted as a worthy rival to the iPhone, has gone on sale in the US at a reduced price.
Wireless phone network Sprint is offering the touchscreen handset for USD$129.99.
The drop in price from the expected USD$ 199.99 is a move clearly intended to fuel rivalry with the new iPhone before it comes on the market next month.
Sprint’s an unlimited data plan (at $69.99 per month) and two year contract agreement are similar to AT&T’s iPhone options.
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.
The success of Research In Motion’s Blackberry Curve will ensure the company announces good first quarter 2008 results, according to analysts.
Simona Jankowski, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, said results, driven by US sales of its Curve at Verizon Wireless, were likely to be at the high end of current guidance when revealed on June 25.
“Our view is based on very strong retail checks suggesting that the Curve remains the most popular device among consumers and small and medium businesses alike, partially offset by a softer enterprise environment,” she said.
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.
Smaller than a notebook computer with a larger screen than a Smartphone – this is how the authors of research into Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) define them.
Consumers may still be relatively unaware of this emerging class of device, but that’s unlikely to be the case for long.
Global sales of MIDs expected to leap from 305,000 units shipped in 2008 to a projected 40 million in 2012, generating USD12 billion in revenue.
At least that’s the conclusion of a survey by semiconductor analysts Forward Concepts, which examined the market potential for MIDs and provided forecasts for both the devices and the integrated circuits that enable them.
It says that MIDs will have an unprecedented level of multimedia capabilities and typically will come in a tablet-like form factor.
“In our opinion, MIDs are not designed to replace mobile phones (or Smartphones) but to be used as companion devices,” the report states.
A new application is to go on sale in July that turns the iPhone into an all-purpose remote control capable of operating everything from your HDTV to audio, video and lighting.
While the iPhone is popular as an interface for home-control systems such as home automation (HAI, Savant), multiroom audio (SpeakerCraft) and media servers (Sooloos), so far there hasn’t been a low-cost solution for using the iPhone (or iPod Touch) as an ordinary universal remote control.
Now London-based integrator, Steve Moore, has launched the AirRemote application which he modestly describes as “the greatest little TV remote you’ve ever used”.