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Tag: smarthphones

  • Cheaper Knock-Off Phones Reportedly Doing Well in Smartphone Market

    According to a new report from ABI Research,  Smartphone shipments are expected to grow 21% this year to 224 million, but "Shanzai" devices may be getting a fair share of consumers’ money.

    BlueBerryABI Research VP of forecasting Jake Saunders says, "While there is considerable fanfare and interest around the latest iPhone and Android phones from Apple, HTC and Motorola, ‘White Box’ or ‘Shanzai’ handset manufacturers are rapidly reshaping the low-cost handset segment as they redefine the ‘look and feel’ of the low-cost/ultra-low-cost segments."

    "Many of these low-cost handset ‘brands,’ such as the ‘BlueBerry’ handset, sail pretty close to trademark infringement," the firm says. "While it has ‘Bold’ looks, RIM definitely does ‘not’ manufacture it. These handsets have very localized distribution, lack the full functions of the originals, and cater to end-users who, while they may not have deep pockets, do aspire to be smartphone users. These limited-function handsets, along with other low-cost models, will notch up 219 million sales in 2010."

    Of course the real deals will be doing quite well too. Apple’s new iPhone 4 is already off to a pretty solid start, despite a list of complaints among users.

  • U.S. Consumers Reportedly Go for Android Over iPhone in Q1

    It’s been quite clear that Android usage has been growing steadily, but a report from the NPD Group finds that in the first quarter of 2010, Android devices actually outsold iPhones (still behind RIM) in the U.S.

    Here are the market share numbers for sales in the first quarter according to the report:

    RIM: 36%
    Android: 28%
    Apple: 21%

    Droid Eris from Verizon"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," says Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones."

    Such offers have been available for devices like the Droid, Droid Eris (pictured), and BlackBerry Curve.

    As far as carriers, AT&T accounted for 32% of smarthone sales, with Verizon accounting for 30%, T-Mobile accounting for 17% and Sprint accounting for 15%.

    "Recent previews of BlackBerry 6, the recently announced acquisition of Palm by HP, and the pending release of Windows Phone 7 demonstrates the industry’s willingness to make investments to address consumer demand for smartphones and other mobile devices," says Rubin. "Carriers continue to offer attractive pricing for devices, but will need to present other data-plan options to attract more customers in the future."

    In considering the data from the report, it’s important to keep in mind the methodology behind it. It was compiled from 150,000 completed online customer research surveys. The figures don’t include corporate/enterprise mobile phone sales.