iPhone Share of Smartphone Sales Continues to Increase

[Stella]

Wow that thing looks more primitive than even most Blackberry devices. It is not even in the same league as the iPhone. I would call that a slightly less dumb phone. Where is the full HTML browser? Where the the HTML email? I have not even gotten to the lack of a touch screen interface.

It can do email and has a slightly bigger screen but otherwise, I don't see a huge difference between it and old Nokia dumb phones that I've owned in the past. You are comparing iPhones to that?

Actually, the E71 is a very capable device.

It could do copy and paste, turn by turn GPS, and a whole load of other functionality way before the iPhone could. Has better battery life too than iPhone.

It also uses Nokia Web browser which uses webkit, which is also pretty good.

So what if it doesn't have touch screen? Its down to personal preference. Personally, I prefer a one handed phone.

I look at my E71 and then *down* on the iPhone as an inferior device.

Nokia Mail client is known to be crap. But does the job. If you don't like it then you can buy the third party solution ( Nokia doesn't ban 3rd party software for competing with its own ).

The E71 has been in high praise throughout the cell phone industry.

 

[*LTD*]

By 'dropping' do you mean 'selling over 3 million more smartphones than they did in the equivalent 2008 quarter?'



Uh... RIM increased sales by over 2 million.

Cheap and plentiful sells. Nokia's been in the game for years now. Nothing really impressive about Nokia's hardware, nor the abortion that is the OS running on it. Nokia's president has already admitted to the iPhone threat, and they're under the microscope and behind the 8-ball.

Actually, the E71 is a very capable device.

It could do copy and paste, turn by turn GPS, and a whole load of other functionality way before the iPhone could. Has better battery life too than iPhone.

It also uses Nokia Web browser which uses webkit.

So what if it doesn't have touch screen? Its down to personal preference. Personally, I prefer a one handed phone.

I look at my E71 and then *down* on the iPhone as an inferior device.

The E71 has been in high praise throughout the cell phone industry.

2001 called, and it wants its phone back. And its lousy OS.

 

[Oliver.m]

Perhaps this is just a egotistical American view, but if the Nokia smart phones were all that great, you'd think they would have been here by now, wouldn't you? I've always thought Nokia phones were pretty "no frills" myself, but admittedly I haven't seen one of their "smartphones"

I would imagine one of the main reasons they were not pushed in America would be, they didn't have the networks in place to support them; making them somewhat redundant. Why buy a phone with a forward facing camera and internet, if the networks wouldn't support the features.

 

[jholzner]

If Apple can accomplish this with just single carrier partners around the world. Could you imagine if they went universal and made the iPhone available on most carriers like RIM or Nokia. Because of that was the case, RIM and Nokia would be in a world of trouble. Numbers really don't lie I guess.

Actually they are on most carriers in most other countries. It's just the US, UK where they are exclusive to one carrier (and maybe just a handful of other countries).

 

[Zarniwoop]

You are comparing iPhones to that?

No you did.

But yep, I do my surfin' and e-mail with it. It's small, it has full keyboard and when it's freezing outside, I don't need to poke it with my nose as iPhonists do. (or remove gloves and freeze paws.

Ah, sorry.. nothing bad about iPhone. I just wanted to say why Nokia is unknown over there and that it has smartphones.. and that it sold 3 million units more than last year.

 

[samab]

True about flip phones. But topic was about smartphones. I put the word monopoly inside quotes because I meant that mobile operators want to have a monopoly on a specific phone model.

On the OECD list there was also a chart of heavy use. Same figures.

The topic is also what is really a smartphone --- Nokia smartphones are mainly used as highend feature phones. In the US, smartphones are mainly enterprise class business phones (i.e. blackberries). The biggest Nokia N-series market is China --- a country where they don't even have a single 3G network and nobody actually put apps on their N-series phones.

The OECD "heavy" use is classified as 1680 minutes PER YEAR (140 minutes per month) --- that's really nothing when the average American talks 800 minutes a month. Americans don't even think twice about signing a 2 year mobile contracts with big buckets of minutes --- that's the sign of affordability. The rest of the world have to constantly look for deals (like they are seafood prices), having one SIM card for sending phone calls, another SIM card for receiving phone calls, sending SMS instead of making voice calls because voice minutes are expensive --- those are signs of un-affordability.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Actually, the E71 is a very capable device.

It could do copy and paste, turn by turn GPS, and a whole load of other functionality way before the iPhone could. Has better battery life too than iPhone.

It also uses Nokia Web browser which uses webkit, which is also pretty good.

So what if it doesn't have touch screen? Its down to personal preference. Personally, I prefer a one handed phone.

I look at my E71 and then *down* on the iPhone as an inferior device.

Nokia Mail client is known to be crap. But does the job. If you don't like it then you can buy the third party solution ( Nokia doesn't ban 3rd party software for competing with its own ).

The E71 has been in high praise throughout the cell phone industry.

Sorry, I refuse to use Nokia smartphones until Symbian is 50ft under.

 

[seedster2]

No surprise that RIM and Apple are leading the way in smartphone growth in the US and many other places. Palm has just released it's update on Sprint. Once they expand to Verizon, AT&T and other global carriers they will become a player as well.

Nokia doesn't play into the ridiculous locking games that US Carriers demand and all of you so willingly embrace. So they will always have limited presence here. Nokia E series phones are also well received and I look forward to trying them out soon

I switched to the BB Bold for its great battery life and communication capabilities which trumped my iPhone's "OS slickness". People should buy what works for them, not because of simple brand allegiance.

 

[deconstruct60]

Is that because we choose the iPhone & RIM phones over the Nokia phones or because we still have use for wired phones in our Wild West? With non-metered wired service there is no out of the box incentive to go to cell phones.

No. It is primarily because the 3G deployments in the US have lagged that of many other places in the world. They have had 3G networks before even the first iPhone came out. Nokia has been shipping smart(data network)phones for a longer period of time to a broader deployed, more advanced network.

It may turn out like when the Apple II dominated the PC market and then the IBM PC came along. (except Apple gets to play the IBM role in that old story.) First several years of the PC market Apple was the top supplier. Then they got lapped and have never caught back up.

Smartphone market looks to be a bit more fragmented than the PC market turned out of be ( where it eventually just boiled down to Windows vs. Mac OS X with small sprinkles of Linux ) The fragmentation is more around OS then hardware ( iPhoneOS , webOS, Android , Symbian, and WindowsMobile (that refuses to go away and has super deep pockets) )


Nokia is in bit of a lacking hype position because many of the phones are are Symbian. At one point Symbian was also the leading Smartphone OS (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10111501-94.html).

Apple waited for an inflection point where 3" touch screens would be a viable solution. Nokia and others had touchscreens in labs, but also had designs with legacy constraints in the pipeline. As the touchscreen/RAM/CPU component costs drop we'll see if they can actually switch gears.

Apple jumped in before those components were mainstream but will be interesting to see what happens as the other vendors have a crack at the some stuff at price points their historical customers have preferred to pay.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Nokia with a Chrome OS netbook (with a great radio inside) offering though.

If folks make enough apps that are Web centric then the others will be quite viable and it will stay somewhat fragmented. If it turns out that Phones and Gaming consoles merge then iPhone OS is in a better position.

Connectivity is the "killer app" for mobile solutions; not so much one specific application binary hooked to one specific OS API.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Sorry, I refuse to use Nokia smartphones until Symbian is 50ft under.

Start digging, this fall Nokia should introduce their first Linux + Qt Smartphone.

 

[acidfast7]

Americans don't even think twice about signing a 2 year mobile contracts with big buckets of minutes --- that's the sign of affordability.

Given the average current debt:income ratio of an American, I wouldn't directly correlate the propensity "of not thinking twice before committing to a long-term fixed contract" with "affordability."

 

[samab]

Nokia doesn't play into the ridiculous locking games that US Carriers demand and all of you so willingly embrace.

These are the same people who invented the BB5 simlock that took 3 years to crack.

As the iphone's worldwide launch has taught the world --- the fact that overseas carriers unlock their phones ISN'T due to some sort of government laws that require them to provide you with unlocking codes. It is because the carriers chose to provide unlocking codes.

 

[Electrolytic]

I'm surprised that Nokia is # 1, nokia must be popular outside the USA. I never see anyone using their phones...

 

[samab]

Given the average current debt:income ratio of an American, I wouldn't directly correlate the propensity "of not thinking twice before committing to a long-term fixed contract" with "affordability."

Sure, you are right.

But by the same token, people in the rest of the first world countries have to monitor mobile tarriff like seafood prices and then they have to restrict their usage to a tiny fraction of Americans do. Individuals may be frugal --- but when whole nations of people have to do it, it just mean that they are overpriced.

 

[Zarniwoop]

But by the same token, people in the rest of the first world countries have to monitor mobile tarriff like seafood prices and then they have to restrict their usage to a tiny fraction of Americans do. Individuals may be frugal --- but when whole nations of people have to do it, it just mean that they are overpriced.

I pay 9.90 € /month tax incl. for unlimited data 3G. To contact people I use Fring. No extra costs. And when I travel (spent 3 month in Egypt last winter where they had nice 3G network aswell) I use a local prepaid sim. With locked Phone I'd have to count every minute. But with unlocked phone I don't have to worry when I travel. Just take a local prepaid card and go.

 

[acidfast7]

Sure, you are right.

But by the same token, people in the rest of the first world countries have to monitor mobile tarriff like seafood prices and then they have to restrict their usage to a tiny fraction of Americans do. Individuals may be frugal --- but when whole nations of people have to do it, it just mean that they are overpriced.

it's called being thrifty.

i'd rather finance my ocean-side summer house than a more expensive mobile carrier.

i'm thrifty and go with the unlimited data transfer plan for 9€ / month and pay-i-as-go for everything else. it must be because i cannot afford to pay a high monthly fee to have inane conversation for over 800 minutes / month.

 

[xIGmanIx]

Research firm Gartner today released a report detailing mobile phone sales for the second quarter of 2009. While Apple does not rank among the top five worldwide vendors for all phones, the report also highlights the smaller smartphone segment, where Apple held the third position in unit sales with 13.3% of that market.

at the end of the day, this is what matters, although its a good indication to see performance quarter to quarter. I still refuse to call the iPhone a smart phone as i see it more as a multimedia phone since there are glaring "smart phone" omissions especially with the mail client, calendar, OTA syncing etc.

 

[samab]

it's called being thrifty.

i'd rather finance my ocean-side summer house than a more expensive mobile carrier.

i'm thrifty and go with the unlimited data transfer plan for 9€ / month and pay-i-as-go for everything else. it must be because i cannot afford to pay a high monthly fee to have inane conversation for over 800 minutes / month.

As I said it before, individuals can be frugal --- but when the entire nation has to do it, that just mean it's overpriced.

Comparing regular price plans with other regular price plans is the only fair thing to do --- AT&T's regular priced iphone plans offer a lot more than Sweden's regular priced iphone plans.

 

[LagunaSol]

i'd rather finance my ocean-side summer house than a more expensive mobile carrier.

If you can find me an ocean-side summer house that costs the same as my monthly mobile bill, I'll take it!!!

 

[BongoBanger]

Cheap and plentiful sells. Nokia's been in the game for years now. Nothing really impressive about Nokia's hardware, nor the abortion that is the OS running on it. Nokia's president has already admitted to the iPhone threat, and they're under the microscope and behind the 8-ball.

And your point? Nokia remain far more popular than Apple with the exception of the US. Apple are a threat but so is Android and RIM (and RIM are a considerably larger one than Apple).

Which still doesn't change the fact you were wrong.

2001 called, and it wants its phone back. And its lousy OS.

*facepalm*

Nokia is in bit of a lacking hype position because many of the phones are are Symbian. At one point Symbian was also the leading Smartphone OS (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10111501-94.html).

Symbian remains the leading Smartphone OS as far as market share is concerned.

I appreciate it's difficult for Americans to understand because Nokia has no presence in the US but Nokia remains the phone of choice for most of the rest of the world whether we're talking dumb, feature or smartphones. That may change but it won't be Apple who knock them off their perch because Apple doesn't have the range of units to appeal to the mass market Nokia do. Personally I think if anyone's going to do it it'll be Samsung and HTC running Android with UI skinned phones.

 

[samab]

I pay 9.90 € /month tax incl. for unlimited data 3G. To contact people I use Fring. No extra costs. And when I travel (spent 3 month in Egypt last winter where they had nice 3G network aswell) I use a local prepaid sim. With locked Phone I'd have to count every minute. But with unlocked phone I don't have to worry when I travel. Just take a local prepaid card and go.

Comparing regular priced plans with other regular priced plans.

You are still stuck with a simlocked iphone in Finland --- with their regular priced iphone plans that aren't that great (with data allowance as low as 100 MB per month).

 

[xIGmanIx]

At the current rate, Apple could immediately cease OS development for a decade and still be ahead of Microsoft in the operating systems "race."

how serious can you take some one who makes a statement like that?

 

[BongoBanger]

how serious can you take some one who makes a statement like that?

You can't really given that Apple are only now getting round to releasing a fully 64 bit OS.

 

[LagunaSol]

how serious can you take some one who makes a statement like that?

Not very...though if you think about it, he does make a point (though not quite the point he intended to make). Without OS X, Microsoft has nothing to "emulate." Microsoft doesn't innovate, they merely keep pace (though a step behind) with their competitors. Look how long IE stagnated until Firefox kicked it in the rear. Even now it lags behind, but if there were no Firefox, do you think we'd have IE 8 right now? Remember IE for Mac? The thing sat stagnant for years - there was no competitive threat (though when Apple announced Safari, Microsoft simply threw in the towel). Windows Mobile = junk. Apple introduces the iPhone, Palm creates the Pre, Google comes out with Android - suddenly Microsoft is scrambling to update their mobile OS to try to maintain some degree of relevance.

Without OS X, would we have had Vista (the failed OS X emulation) or Windows 7 (the follow-up attempt)? Probably not. Why not just stick with XP when you get $$$ for every computer sold no matter what? You sell copies of your OS regardless of how long in the tooth it is. Why spend big money on new OS development?

You think there would be Zune without iPod? Of course not.

Microsoft is purely a reactive company. So in that sense, if Apple did stop OS X development, MS would likely be perfectly content to sit on what they have for years.

(Office being the exception to the rule: they have to throw some new features in Word every few years to compel corporations to continue their "tribute" payments.)

 

[zacman]

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/aug09/08-12PixiPR.mspx

"Microsoft and Nokia Form Global Alliance to Design, Develop and Market Mobile Productivity Solutions

NEW YORK — Aug. 12, 2009 — The worldwide leader in software and the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer have entered into an alliance that is set to deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity. Today, Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop and Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices Kai Öistämö announced the agreement, outlining a shared vision for the future of mobile productivity. This is the first time that either company has embarked on an alliance of this scope and nature.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions for the mobile professional, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia’s Symbian devices. These solutions will be available for a broad range of Nokia smartphones starting with the company’s business-optimized range, Nokia Eseries. The two companies will also market these solutions to businesses, carriers and individuals.

Both Microsoft Corp. and Nokia possess a rare combination of enterprise experience and consumer understanding and, in addition to the collaboration on existing software and services, will use these assets to jointly design a range of new user experiences for future Nokia devices. These experiences will be identified together, and will be created by dedicated teams inside both companies to better meet the growing needs of the mobile professional.

“With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us,” said Elop. “Today’s announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser.”

“If you are going to provide a seamless and integrated productivity experience on a mobile device, Microsoft is an ideal partner,” said Öistämö. “Together with Microsoft, we will develop new and innovative user experiences for employees of small and large businesses alike, ensuring Nokia’s smartphones are an integral part of the office and home-office environment, and addressing the significant opportunity in mobile enterprise productivity.”

Microsoft and Nokia's collaboration solutions will be available for a broad range of Nokia smartphones starting with the company’s business-optimized range, Nokia Eseries.

This announcement builds on the existing work Nokia is doing by optimizing access to e-mail and other personal information with Exchange ActiveSync. Next year, Nokia intends to start shipping Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones, followed by other Office applications and related software and services in the future. These will include:

The ability to view, edit, create and share Office documents on more devices in more places with mobile-optimized versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft OneNote

Enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing and collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile

Mobile access to intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft SharePoint Server

Enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center

“Having these two major players cooperating at this level will help us continue to meet our customers’ needs and reinforces our future business mobility strategy,” said Diane Sanchez, head of Telefonica USA.

“The scope of the alliance between Microsoft and Nokia, and potential value for the enterprise and individual is significant,” said Stephen Drake, VP of Mobility & Telecom at IDC. “By bringing Microsoft’s productivity solutions to Nokia’s large customer base, the two companies should be better able to serve the needs of the growing mobile worker population, which IDC estimates to reach 1 billion worldwide in 2011.”"