Apple has been pushed from its number four spot in the top worldwide mobile phone market, with ZTE entering the top five ranking and pushing the iPhone maker down to fifth place. That’s according to IDC‘s Q4 2010 mobile phone market research, which pegs Nokia as maintaining the top spot despite a 2.4-percent slip in share. It’s worth noting, of course, that this particular research covers mobile phones overall, rather than simply smartphones.
Overall, IDC reckons the global mobile phone market grew 17.9-percent in the last quarter of 2010, exceeding 401m units of shipped devices. Altogether that makes 1.39bn shipments in 2010 as a whole, an 18.5-percent increase over 2009. ZTE’s success – the first time in IDC’s rankings that the company has broken into the top five – is put down to its low-cost portfolio of feature phones and smartphones, increasingly popular as developing users upgrade to affordable data-capable devices.
Samsung’s success echoes the company’s financial results, published earlier today, in which the company announced over 80m devices sold in Q4 2010. IDC’s smartphone-specific research is due to be published next week.
Press Release:
Mobile Phone Market Grows 17.9% in Fourth Quarter, According to IDC
27 Jan 2011
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. Jan. 27, 2010 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10), a new quarterly high driven by smartphones. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 401.4 million units in 4Q10 compared to 340.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009. Vendors shipped a total of 1.39 billion units on a cumulative worldwide basis in 2010, up 18.5% from the 1.17 billion units shipped in 2009.
The strong quarterly and annual growth comes after a weak 2009, which saw the market decline by 1.6%. A stronger economy and a wider array of increasingly affordable smartphones helped lift the market to its highest annual growth rate since 2006 when it grew 22.6%.
“The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. “Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles.”
It’s not just smartphone-focused suppliers that capitalized on the mobile phone market’s renewed growth last year. ZTE, a company that sells primarily lower-cost feature phones in emerging markets, moved into the number 4 position worldwide in 4Q10. It is the first quarter the Chinese handset maker finished among IDC’s Top 5 vendors.
“Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year,” added Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. “Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list.”
Market Outlook
IDC believes the worldwide mobile phone market will be driven largely by smartphone growth through the end of 2014. “Feature phone users looking to do more with their devices will flock to smartphones in the years to come,” noted Restivo. “This trend will help drive smartphone sub-market to grow 43.7% year over year in 2011.”
Regional Analysis
The Asia/Pacific mobile phone landscape was driven by low-cost and high-end devices in 4Q10. Domestic brands in India like G-Five, Micromax, and Karbonn grew with aggressive advertising and branding activities for entry-level phones, while ZTE and Huawei worked closely with carriers to push low-cost Android smartphones in China. High-end smartphones, however, were equally well-received, resulting in higher shipments from Apple, Samsung, and HTC in 4Q10. Korea had the biggest smartphone appetite accounting for two-thirds of phones shipped in 4Q10, up from one-eighth a year ago.
In Western Europe, carrier smartphone promotions motivated more users to scrap their feature phones, resulting in strong smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, HTC Desire, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy S, and Blackberry 8520, which were among the region’s top sellers, contributed to the overall market’s growth. Consequently, the feature phones experienced their sharpest decline ever. In CEMA, quarterly volumes breached the 70 million unit threshold for the first time, marked by an influx of Chinese and unbranded handsets. Meanwhile, smartphones experienced brisk growth due to falling prices and more Android-powered devices.
The United States mobile phone market closed out the year with more vendors becoming more active in this space. Market leaders RIM and Apple maintained a healthy lead, while newcomers Dell, Huawei, Kyocera, and Sanyo launched their first smartphones to the U.S. market. In addition, 4G took another step forward with the commercial launch of Verizon Wireless’ LTE network. Similarly, in Canada, the focus was on smartphones. Android-powered devices from multiple players, along with incumbent vendors RIM and Apple, pushed shipment volumes to a new record level.
In Latin America, sustained user interest in smartphones drove the market, resulting in strong results for Nokia, RIM, and Samsung as well as relative newcomer Huawei. Smartphones, as well as QWERTY-enabled feature phones, helped boost social networking and messaging, two fast-growing trends in the market. Finally, Alcatel and ZTE once again thrived in the inexpensive entry-level device market.
Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors
Nokia overall unit volume slipped 2.4% in the fourth quarter, which the vendor attributed to the “intense competitive” environment and component shortages. The result was lower feature phone shipments. The company did, however, grow smartphone volume by 38% compared to the same prior-year quarter. Nokia launched the C7 and the C6-01 touchscreen smartphones as well as the C3 combination touchscreen & QWERTY device in the fourth quarter. Still, smartphone ASPs dropped 16% on a year-over-year basis.
Samsung reached a new milestone in 4Q10, pushing through the 80 million unit threshold for the first time in the company’s history and improving its profit margins for the second straight quarter. Driving shipment volumes was the continued success of its Galaxy S smartphones, of which the company sold nearly ten million units worldwide for the year. Similarly, Samsung’s mass-market and touch-screen phones earned a strong following in emerging markets.
LG crossed the 30 million unit mark for the quarter, due in part to the success of Optimus One smartphone sales across multiple regions. LG’s smartphone strategy is paying off; the company sold more than a million units in the first month of availability, and newer versions (Optimus 2X, Optimus Black) are expected later this year. Meanwhile, LG’s feature phones comprised the majority of shipments, but an aging portfolio and lower prices within emerging markets left the company vulnerable to the competition.
ZTE finished the quarter in the number four position with shipments steadily spreading from its home country of China to developing regions such as Africa and Latin America. ZTE has also recently made inroads in developed markets such as Western Europe and the U.S. as well as Japan. While most of its shipments have historically concentrated on entry-level and mid-range devices, some of its recent success is directly attributable to its rapidly expanding smartphone line, such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices. Meanwhile, its S- and C-series entry-level feature phones provided additional competition within emerging markets.
Apple The iPhone maker slipped to the number 5 position despite a record quarter for unit shipments and the departure soon thereafter of CEO Steve Jobs on medical leave. It was the company’s second straight quarter on IDC’s Top 5 list. The iPhone sold particularly well in developed regions of the world, such as North America and Western Europe. Apple, which said it could have sold more iPhones last quarter had it been able to make more, is set to introduce the touchscreen device on Verizon next month.
Nokia has announced its Q4 and annual 2010 financial results, and devices shipments are down in comparison to a year ago. The Finnish company shipped 123.7m devices in Q4 2010, a rise of 12-percent compared to Q3 but a drop of 3-percent compared to the same period in 2009; still, net sales of devices & services were up 4-percent year-on-year and 18-percent sequentially. The delay in releasing a MeeGo range has also eaten into their estimated smartphone share, down to 31-percent in Q4 2010 compared to 38-percent in Q3 and 40-percent a year ago. Operating profit was down from €1.47bn in 2009 to €1.09bn in 2010.
Ironically, Nokia’s smartphone – which the company refers to as “converged devices” – sales were actually up in 2010, with volumes of 28.3m in Q4 (up to 36-percent compared to Q4 2009). Unfortunately gross margin – the amount Nokia makes on each device – fell over five points from last year, to 29.2-percent in Q4 across all devices. Nokia estimates the market as a whole grew 13-percent in 2010 compared to 2009, whereas its own overall share decreased two points to 32-percent in the same period.
New CEO Stephen Elop says that “Nokia faces some significant challenges in our competitiveness and our execution. In short, the industry changed, and now it’s time for Nokia to change faster”; the company has long been criticized for the lengthy delays between announcing devices and actually shipping them, and the MeeGo launch hasn’t helped matters. There’s still no word on what exactly the company will be bringing to MWC 2011 next month.
Facebook has announced a new mobile app, targeted at regular cellphone users rather than those with smartphones. Facebook for Feature Phones is a Java app, and will reportedly work on more than 2,500 devices from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG and others, giving access to the homescreen, wall posts, photo galleries and even contacts synchronization.
The app has also been announced alongside a new deal with select carriers, which will – for a 90 day period – be offering free data access to Facebook for Feature Phones, as with Facebook Zero. Fourteen operators have signed up to the scheme, with more in the pipeline.
You can download Facebook for Feature Phones by visiting http://m.fb.snaptu.com/f/ on your device. The full list of carriers and countries offering free access is below.
Launching today:
Dialog (Sri Lanka)
Life (Ukraine)
Play (Poland)
StarHub (Singapore)
STC (Saudi Arabia)
Three (Hong Kong)
Tunisiana (Tunisia)
Viva (Dominican Republic)
Vodafone (Romania)
Launching soon:
Mobilicity (Canada)
Reliance (India)
Telcel (Mexico)
TIM (Brazil)
Vivacom (Bulgaria)
Nokia is scaling back its Ovi Music Unlimited all-you-can eat download service, which offers buyers of select Nokia handsets unlimited access to a catalog of tracks for a 12-month period. As of the end of 2011, Nokia “plan to cease producing Ovi Music Unlimited-edition devices” for all markets aside from China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa; however, buyers with an Ovi Music Unlimited device outside of those countries will still get access.
“We are currently working with our partners to deliver new, innovative music services as part of the Ovi experience during 2011. As we focus on delivering these, we will continue to offer 12 month Ovi Music Unlimited in China, India and Indonesia, while offering 6 month subscriptions in Brazil, Turkey and South Africa.
For other markets, we plan to cease producing Ovi Music Unlimited-edition devices at the end of the year. Naturally, there will be no disruption to the service for our existing customers in these markets or anyone who in the future purchases an Ovi Music Unlimited-edition device from stores while stocks last – they can continue to enjoy unlimited downloads for the duration of their original Ovi Music Unlimited subscription and keep those tracks forever.
Ovi Music – our DRM-free, a-la-carte music store – is not affected in any way and music fans can continue to purchase music in 38 markets.” Ray Haddow, Nokia
After their bundled unlimited access period expires, however, it seems there will be no option to extend it any further. Tracks will remain playable, though Nokia uses DRM to limit them to the user’s handset; the service first launched as “Comes With Music” in late 2007.
If you still want to get on the Ovi Music Unlimited bandwagon, Nokia says that existing stocks will still be able to access the service, so it makes sense to buy while they last. Nokia’s regular Ovi Music service, which offers DRM-free downloads for individual purchase will continue to operate as normal.
Nokia’s nHD 640 x 360 displays have been looking all the more outmoded compared to the WVGA and higher panels rivals offer, and so rumors that the upcoming Nokia E6-00 will up the pixels on offer is a good sign that the trend is changing. According to a Nokia user agent file, the E6-00 will have a 640 x 480 VGA display together with Symbian^3 OS, WCDMA/HSPA, WiFi and a QWERTY keyboard.
There’s also Bluetooth 2.0, GSM/GPRS/EDGE and, unsurprisingly, an ARM CPU confirmed. Photos apparently shot with an E6-00 prototype were spotted on Picasa earlier this month, suggesting an 8-megapixel fixed-focus camera with a dual-LED flash. Otherwise we don’t know whether this will be a touchscreen or non-touch handset, nor what form-factor it might use.
The E6-00, slotting into Nokia’s business-centric line-up, may not be of a huge amount of interest to most consumers, but we can assume that if the company is looking to higher resolution panels on one device then it’s likely to continue that with others. Hopefully we’ll see something to that affect at Mobile World Congress next month.
We’re used to seeing – in Europe, at least – “free” phones given away with new agreements, but an almost-free pre-pay handset is still relatively rare. That’s just what Carphone Warehouse is offering from today, however, with the super-budget Alcatel OT 209 going up for sale in the UK for just one penny.
The 1p phone will be available on the Talkmobile Pay As You Go Essentials tariff, though it’s fair to say the OT 209 won’t convince any iPhone 4 owners to ditch their Apple smartphone. It has a full numeric keypad and color display, along with an FM radio and a “fake call” trigger just in case you need to escape from an awkward blind date. It also recharges in just 2hrs.
As for the tariff itself, calls are 8p per minute, texts are 4p per message, mobile internet at 25p a day and you get half-price calls and texts to other Talkmobile numbers. Even if you don’t want to opt for Talkmobile, the Alcatel OT 209 is still pretty affordable on other networks: Virgin Mobile, for instance, will give it to you for just 99p.
Press Release:
1p Phone Available at The Carphone Warehouse
From today, 4 January 2011, The Carphone Warehouse will be offering customers the chance to snap up the ultimate bargain and get a new mobile phone for the price of just one penny. Leading a host of price cuts in the January sales, the Alcatel OT 209 will become one of the best value phones on the market, perfect for those trying to save money after an expensive festive period.
The 1p phone will be available on Talkmobile’s Pay As You Go Essentials tariff, which offers fantastic value on calls and text with calls at 8p per minute, texts at 4p per message, mobile internet at 25p a day and half price calls and texts to other Talkmobile numbers.
The compact, easy to use phone is simple to navigate with its super bright display and large separated buttons. It has a surprising number of extra functions, including a useful fake call feature which enables users to pretend their phone is ringing to excuse themselves from tricky situations, and a built-in FM radio and mobile games to provide entertainment while out and about. Plus, the phone has a great battery life that supplies up to 400 hours of standby power for every charge. Even when the battery does begin to run down, just two hours is all it takes to get back to full power.
Matt Stringer, UK MD of The Carphone Warehouse said, “This is a great deal which represents brilliant value for money. The competition in the UK mobile market has seen the price of phones driven lower and lower over the last couple of year. Now, we’ve become the first to offer one for just one penny which we hope will prove a huge money-saving hit with our customers after Christmas.”
When purchasing a new mobile phone, customers can take advantage of The Carphone Warehouse’s free Walk Out Working and trade-in service which gives money for old phones. Find out the trade in value of any mobile online at www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/trade-in. Alternatively, make use of the recycling scheme in store which not only benefits the environment, but The Carphone Warehouse will also donate £10 to charity for every phone they receive.
New details on Sony’s patent lawsuit against LG have emerged, with the Korean company saying it “will take action and actively respond” to claims that over ten LG handsets infringe on Sony technology. Sony is seeking an injunction on LG imports into the US, alleging the devices use audio and microphone technology, caller ID systems and radio transmission tech that Sony and the Sony Ericsson joint venture have patented.
Sony has also claimed that LG infringes on the patents of some of its licensees, including Samsung and Nokia, though neither company has made an official statement at this time. The handsets potentially affected by the import ban would include the Encore, LG Accolade, Neon, Quantum and Rumor Touch.
At the end of June, in 2009, the European Commission started a movement to make micro-USB the standardized charging port for cellphones. It was subsequently backed by roughly 90% of the cellphone market holders, with Apple, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung (among others) all agreeing to the standardization. As any major decision usually does, even if it’s obvious it should be in place, it’s taken the EC plenty of time to make a decision, and now thanks to the two vital bodies within the European Standardization Bodies, it’s finally been passed.
In a press release that’s not very lengthy, but certainly very wordy, the EC and European Standardization Bodies have agreed that the micro-USB charging port should be the standard amongst all cellphones. Both ETSI and CEN-CENELEC have published the harmonized standards needed for the manufacture of data-enabled mobile phones compatible with a new common charger.
But, it’s still up the manufacturers out there to make sure that micro-USB ports are installed in their phones. According to the European Commission, the first of these standardized cellphones will be released in early 2011, and they expect the charging port to be “predominant” by the end of 2012. You can check out the press release below.
Press Release
Commission welcomes new EU standards for common mobile phone charger
Following a mandate from the European Commission, the European Standardisation Bodies CEN-CENELEC and ETSI have now made available the harmonised standards needed for the manufacture of data-enabled mobile phones compatible with a new common charger. This is the most recent development in the process towards a global common mobile phone charger initiated by the European Commission. It follows the June 2009 agreement of fourteen leading mobile phone producers to harmonise chargers for data-enabled mobile phones (i.e. that can be connected to a computer) sold in the European Union.
European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: “I am very happy that the European Standardisation Bodies have met our request to develop within a short space of time the technical standards necessary for a common mobile phone charger based on the work done by industry. Now it is time for industry to show its commitment to sell mobile phones for the new charger. The common charger will make life easier for consumers, reduce waste and benefit businesses. It is a true win-win situation.”
Incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones is not only a major inconvenience for users, but also a considerable environmental problem. Users who want to change their mobile phones must usually acquire a new charger and dispose of the old one, even if it is in good condition. In response to citizens’ demand for a common charger, the Commission invited manufacturers to agree on a technical solution making compatible the chargers of different brands.
As a result, world leading mobile phone producers committed themselves to ensure compatibility of data-enabled mobile phones, expected to be predominant in the market within two years, on the basis of the Micro-USB connector. The agreement was established in June 2009 and signed by Apple, Emblaze Mobile, Huawei Technologies, LGE, Motorola Mobility, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson, TCT Mobile (ALCATEL), Texas Instruments and Atmel (IP/09/1049).
The Commission then issued a mandate to the European Standardisation Organisations CEN-CENELEC and ETSI in December 2009, requesting the development of European standards for the common charger. The two organisations have now delivered. The standards allow for interoperability, i.e. the common charger is compatible with data-enabled mobile telephones of different brands. They also take account of safety risks and electro-magnetic emissions and ensure that common chargers have sufficient immunity to external interference.
The European Commission expects the first common chargers and mobile phones compatible with the new standards to reach the European market in the first months of 2011.
As patent application illustrations go, Canon hasn’t exactly pushed the boat out this time, but there’s enough to see that the company is interested in how digital cameras and cellphones might one day talk among themselves. In an application titled “Communication Device and Control Method Thereof“, Canon outlines a system whereby NFC – or another short-range wireless technology – could be used to turn your cellphone display into an ad-hoc viewer for content on your digital camera, as well as transferring content across or updating settings.
As soon as the camera and phone are moved within wireless range, the processors in each bump heads and figure out the exact capabilities on offer: so, if your phone has a data connection, you may be offered uploading functionality to put your pictures onto Flickr or another online gallery. Meanwhile, Canon expects the same wireless negotiation protocols to be used in other hardware, such as printers, so that moving the camera close to a printer would offer task-specific choices such as producing thumbnail previews or whole-page images.
Considering we’re seeing a push for NFC in mobile devices by Google, with Android 2.3 and the NFC hardware in the Nexus S, together with companies like Apple seemingly looking to the short-range wireless as well, this could well be a useful system for getting DSLR content online more easily and without a computer.
Having looked at several models from Nokia’s Symbian^3 smartphone range over the past few months – including the range-topping Nokia N8 – today it’s the turn of more basic fare from the company. The Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type may have a touchscreen but it also keeps a numeric keypad, albeit one with an unusual layout, for those for whom T9 has yet to be eclipsed by on-screen keyboards. Is Nokia still the king of budget cellphones? Check out our full review after the cut.
Hardware
The X3-02′s hardware is unmistakably Nokia in origin, but even having come from the slender C7 its compact dimensions are a pleasant surprise. Measuring in at 106.2 x 48.4 x 9.6 mm and weighing a mere 78g, the chassis is plastic – with a brushed metal battery cover – but feels sturdy and high quality. It’s still unusual to see a candybar phone with both a touchscreen and physical keypad, but Nokia squeeze in both: the X3-02 gives you a 2.4-inch QVGA display and a well-sized, nicely-clicky keypad.
Both have some compromises, to accommodate the X3-02′s size and relatively low £159 ($247) SIM-free price. The touchscreen uses a restive panel, though it’s a decent example of the technology; you don’t get multitouch gestures, but neither do you get lag or an overly squeeze feel to the display. Meanwhile the keypad has an unusual 4 x 4 layout, with the star, zero and hash keys shifted to the side of the 1-9 buttons rather than underneath them. Dedicated call-end, messaging, media and call buttons run along the top row; we’d prefer them down the side instead and a more regular layout, but our fingers did eventually get used to the change.
Inside, there are quadband GSM and quadband WCDMA modems (850/900/1900/2100) along with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and an FM radio; you also get a microUSB port and a separate Nokia charging port. Disappointingly absent is GPS, which means one of Nokia’s key advantages, Ovi Maps with free turn-by-turn navigation, isn’t available. Internal storage is a mere 50MB but you can use up to 16GB microSD cards. That’s handy, considering the X3-02 has a 5-megapixel camera.
Software
Unlike the N8, C7 and C6-01, the X3-02 uses Nokia’s ageing S40 OS. That puts it resolutely in the feature-phone category, rather than smartphone, but it’s actually a solid platform for those with less ambitious expectations from their mobile device. The combination of touchscreen and physical keypad works well, with decent-sized on-screen icons and text. The only real stumbling block is scrolling, which tends to be more jumpy as a result of the touchscreen technology, but it’s a minor issue.
The S40 homescreen supports widgets, shortcuts and themes, though the flexibility isn’t as broad as with Symbian^3. Think more customizable launcher than anything else. Preloaded apps include the usual Nokia Messaging Service 3.0, which offers POP/IMAP compatibilty along with Gmail, Yahoo!, Windows Live and Ovi Mail, with up to ten simultaneous accounts supported. There’s also Ovi Chat, the Ovi Store for downloads – though these are general Java applets and lack the complexity of what you’d find in, say, the Apple App Store or Android Market – and the Opera Mini browser.
The internet experience on a 2.4-inch QVGA display is nothing to write home about, and heavy webpages generally brought the X3-02 to a standstill (or at least a timeout warning). Opera’s rendering system does its best to strip out most of the complexity to suit the Nokia’s capabilities, but if you’re planning on doing much in the way of mobile web browsing then you should probably look to a smartphone not a feature-phone.
Camera, Phone and Battery
5-megapixels is impressive stuff for a feature-phone, though we’ve been spoilt by Nokia’s optics over recent years. While the X3-02 produces decent stills with a fair amount of detail and nice color balance, video is limited to 30fps QVGA resolution or just 15fps VGA resolution; that’s likely a shortcoming of the handset’s processor rather than the camera unit itself.
Phone performance is strong, with clear audio to both parties, and we had no problems using a Bluetooth headset either. Nokia claim up to 300 minutes talktime or 430 hours standby; in practice, even with several calls and some messaging, the X3-02 lasted multiple days between charges.
Wrap-Up
With the focus on mid- to high-end smartphones, it’s easy to forget that there’s a considerable market for capable, well-designed feature-phones. The X3-02 isn’t perfect in that respect – we’re not keen on Nokia’s tendency over the years to tinker with their keyboard layouts – but the numeric keypad isn’t as outlandish as some we’ve seen from the Finns, and the tactile buttons go a long way to making up for it. The touchscreen may not be capacitive but it does the job, and S40 lacks the finesse and ambition of a smartphone platform but should satisfy most mainstream users.
At £159 SIM-free and unlocked, or around £89 ($138) on pre-pay, it’s also reasonably affordable. Entry-level smartphones like the Android-powered Orange San Francisco offer strong competition at around the £99 ($154) pre-pay mark, but at the expense of the camera performance and battery life. If your focus is on calls, pecking out SMS/MMS messages, snapping photos and going the distance between recharges, the X3-02 will likely fit the bill. Still, cheap Android devices provide a tempting step-up onto the smartphone ladder.
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We’re used to seeing – in Europe, at least – “free” phones given away with new agreements, but an almost-free pre-pay handset is still relatively rare. That’s just what 
