Focusing on China, the largest smartphone market in the world, the Wireless Device Lab (WDL) and Wireless Media Lab from the Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice conducted research with Chinese smartphone owners in order to understand consumer priorities and requirements regarding purchase and use decisions. Three reports identify Chinese smartphone habits and practices, purchase choice processes and smartphone apps experience. The reports are:
- “Understanding Behaviors of Advanced Mobile Phone Users in China;”
- “Smartphone Platform Benchmark: Meeting the Needs of Advanced Smartphone Users in China;” and
- “Best Practice Guidelines for Chinese Application Stores.”
Chinese smartphone users clearly desire a phone that is easy to use. After the phone itself, a decent camera feature was weighted as the most important phone add-on. While the music player is the most frequently used phone feature, mobile Internet is the most frequently used service by Chinese respondents. In addition to payment via credit card, users want to be able to purchase by Ali Pay, a Pay-Pal-like app, debit card, or by adding charges to their phone bill.
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As speculation surrounding the possible launch of an “iTV” from Apple continues to mount, new research from the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices (CHD) advisory service shows that nearly half of existing iPhone users would be very or somewhat likely to buy an Apple iTV soon after its launch. The report, “Apple's Smart TV: Assessing Purchase Intention and Willingness to Pay,” provides results from the latest Strategy Analytics ConsumerMetrix survey of 6000 consumers across the US, France, Germany, Italy and the UK, fielded in March 2012.
“Although the details of a possible Apple smart TV are still unknown, existing Apple customers clearly demonstrate strong interest,” says Jia Wu, Director and report author. “Meanwhile, consumers are still sensitive to price, even if Apple does launch another groundbreaking product. The success of an Apple iTV hinges on Apple’s ability to match innovation with appropriate price points.”
Apple, traditionally reliant on high device margins, would be challenged to find the right price/demand balance for an iTV. While 35 percent of surveyed US consumers indicate willingness to pay $1000 or more for an Apple-branded TV, only 14 percent would be willing to pay any more than $1600.
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NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today its second trial of an experimental service for real-time interpretation between Japanese and other languages via mobile devices, which will take place from June 1 to September 30.
In the first trial involving some 1,000 DOCOMO subscribers between November 2011 and March 2012, about 70 percent of the participants reported that they would like to use the service again. In response, DOCOMO will launch this second trial for 10,000 users. Also, the trial will expand to 10 languages besides Japanese, as compared to English, Chinese and Korean in the first trial. Seven of the languages will be available for face-to-face communication between people talking in the presence of each other.
The translator phone service utilizes DOCOMO’s “network cloud,” which integrates the company’s cloud and mobile network resources to handle the heavy processing required for rapid real-time interpretation. Interpretation generally is handled in three steps: machine recognition of spoken words, rendering into another language, and conversion into a voice readout that the other party hears. Thanks to the network cloud, interpretation will be processed at the same rapid speed even after the seven additional languages are introduced.
DOCOMO has enhanced its experimental service with two major upgrades in response to feedback from the first trial. First, the user interface now has a Repeat button, which enables the speaker to replay the last interpretation if the other party is unable to hear it. Second, a new start-up procedure enables users to launch the service faster.
DOCOMO expects to further enhance its translator phone service based on feedback from this second trial, aiming to launch a commercial service by March 2013. | |
A new report from Juniper Research finds that the number of streamed mobile TV users on smartphones will increase to 240 million by 2014. This increase will be driven by a rise in smartphone penetration and a growth in the usage of internet TV and IPTV services.
TV Anytime, Anywhere
The report found that the substantial growth in streamed mobile TV users would arise from a combination of both increased smartphone penetration and, critically, an increasing usage of live and on-demand services both on TVs and PCs. These catch-up and live internet TV services are already allowing users to become their own programme schedulers – mobile allows consumers to take this content away from the home by ‘placeshifting’ it and adding a new dimension to the TV experience.
Access to Time-Critical Content
Another driver for this growth is the need for consumers to be able to access time-critical content such as sports and news as they occur. These types of content are constantly changing and mobile TV allows consumers to become aware of events as they happen – particularly important for sports fans who typically wish to watch games live. | |
Qualcomm Incorporated and Clearwire Corporation today announced that Qualcomm will add support for Clearwire’s upcoming LTE TDD network to its line of multi-mode LTE chipsets with the inclusion of support for 3GPP’s Band 41 (B41) radio frequency. This new enhancement builds on Qualcomm’s existing multi-mode, multi-band support for LTE FDD, LTE TDD and major broadband wireless standards, thus enabling OEMs to develop a wide variety of cost-effective, fully harmonized LTE devices for networks around the world.
“The growth of LTE networks and services is closely tied to device manufacturers’ ability to develop and commercialize cost-efficient LTE devices,” said Steve Mollenkopf, president and chief operating officer, Qualcomm. “By adding support for the B41 band to our LTE chipsets, in combination with providing support for other LTE bands, Qualcomm is enabling OEMs to design cost-competitive devices and offer them in multiple geographies.”
“We are pleased that Qualcomm will expand the size of the LTE ecosystem by adding support for Clearwire’s LTE frequency bands to their chipsets. By working with Qualcomm, Clearwire will ensure that LTE TDD and LTE FDD will work seamlessly together. This will bring significant benefits to OEMs, network operators and consumers alike,” said Erik Prusch, president and CEO, Clearwire. “Qualcomm is a well-established leader in mobile processor and modem solutions. Their Snapdragon processors and Gobi modems are synonymous with fast, low-power mobile computing and high-quality mobile broadband connectivity.” | |
4G Americas reports that North America continues to dominate the LTE market with 10.8 million LTE subscriptions, more than two-thirds of the global subscriber base as of March 2012, based on preliminary figures from Informa Telecoms & Media. The U.S. has about 10.5 million LTE connections, while Canada contributes nearly 300,000 connections as of the first quarter 2012.
On a global basis, the leading mobile broadband technology, HSPA, with more than 80 percent share of subscriptions in the mobile broadband market today, continues to achieve milestones. There are now 221 commercial HSPA+ networks in 107 countries including 80 commercial HSPA+ Dual-Carrier networks in 46 countries with peak theoretical uplink rates of 42 Mbps.
"The surge is beginning for LTE subscriptions as operators gain new wireless spectrum, deploy infrastructure and offer LTE service," stated Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. "With over 220 HSPA+ deployments around the world providing fast mobile broadband connections, it is both logical and impressive to see the tremendous momentum of LTE now taking place to provide an even more robust and efficient experience."
Informa's early reports estimate that the Americas region had more than 200 million HSPA and LTE connections at the end of the first quarter of 2012. It is expected that the Americas region will exceed 250 million 3GPP mobile broadband subscriptions by the end of 2012; that number is expected to more than double by 2015, and is forecasted to reach more than 700 million subscriptions by 2016.o reach an incredible 95 percent market share of all mobile connections in the region. | |
Data from leading mobile analyst firm Juniper Research shows Samsung and Apple trading places once again in the smartphone market, in what is increasingly becoming a two-horse race. In the first quarter of 2012, the company estimates that nearly 60% of the 139 million smartphones shipped worldwide carried either the Apple (35.1 million) or Samsung (46.9 million) brand – up from 46% in the last three months of 2011. While Apple and Samsung have taken it in turns to lead the smartphone market over the last four quarters, it seems as if Samsung may now have established a firm lead in this space – shipping 11.8 million more units that the Cupertino, California company in Q1.
Samsung Tops Sales, But Apple leads in Revenue
With the iPhone launch craze now past, the analyst firm believes Samsung may hold onto its lead next quarter, but as Daniel Ashdown, Research Analyst with Juniper Research notes: “Apple’s revenues from its ‘mobile division’ continues to remain significantly higher than Samsung’s, even when you take into account the latter’s featurephones”. Apple’s iPhone revenue was $22.7 billion in Q1 ($29.3 billion including the iPad), compared with Samsung’s KRW18.9 trillion (~$17.0 billion) from its entire mobile division. While flagship devices, the Samsung Galaxy SII and Galaxy Note contribute substantial unit volumes, the company’s rise to top spot is evidence of the smartphone’s entry into mass market price points with products like the Galaxy Y. | |
Next week, the city of New Orleans will serve as the center of the mobile universe as the industry's leaders and innovators from around the world gather to experience the latest advancements in wireless, enterprise, retail, devices, apps and social networking. International CTIA WIRELESS® 2012 takes place May 8-10, 2012 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
With an expanded show floor to accommodate more than 1,000 companies, including 366 first-time exhibitors, International CTIA WIRELESS 2012 will offer one of the largest platforms for innovation and technology in the world. With in-depth education and access to partners and customers in the key areas that are impacting the mobile industry now, International CTIA WIRELESS offers attendees an unprecedented learning and networking experience.
For the first time ever, International CTIA WIRELESS 2012 has added afternoon keynotes to the show program to accommodate the growing number of world-class speakers. This year's show features a dynamic lineup of keynote sessions and roundtable discussions that reflects the diversity of today's wireless world. The 2012 keynote sessions will be located in the convention center's La Nouvelle Ballroom (Level 2) and streamed live at www.ctiashows.com/keynoteslive. | |
The worldwide mobile phone market declined 1.5% year over year in the first quarter of 2012 (1Q12), as Samsung ousted longtime leader Nokia to become the world's top mobile phone vendor. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 398.4 million units in 1Q12 compared to 404.3 million units in the first quarter of 2011.
Nokia has been the global market leader in total mobile phone shipments since the inception of IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker in 2004. Samsung's ascension to the market's top spot is largely a reflection of its gains in the smartphone market over the past two years. "The halcyon days of rapid growth in the smartphone market have been good to Samsung," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker program. "Samsung has used its established relationships with carriers in a mix of economically diverse markets to gain share organically and at the expense of former high fliers such as Nokia."
Meanwhile, the worldwide smartphone market grew 42.5% year over year in 1Q12, as Samsung overtook Apple for the smartphone leadership position. Vendors shipped 144.9 million smartphones in 1Q12 compared to 101.7 million units in 1Q11. The 42.5% year-over-year growth was 1% higher than IDC's forecast of 41.5% for the quarter, and lower than the 57.4% growth in the fourth quarter of 2011.
"The race between Apple and Samsung remained tight during the quarter, even as both companies posted growth in key areas," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends program. "Apple launched its popular iPhone 4S in additional key markets, most notably in China, and Samsung experienced continued success from its Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet and other Galaxy smartphones. With other companies in the midst of major strategic transitions, the contest between Apple and Samsung will bear close observation as hotly-anticipated new models are launched." | |
Locally-developed and well-translated content is the key to having mobile apps discovered by consumers. In Apple’s Japanese App Store, 87% of the ten highest-ranked apps in all 21 categories were available in Japanese, as of February. Germany (83%) and France (82%) were other markets where over four-fifths of the highest-ranking apps were available in the local languages. In China, Chinese-speaking apps accounted for 76% of the highest-ranked apps – with about half of them developed specifically for the local market.
Senior analyst Aapo Markkanen comments, “Our findings confirm that apps that fit into the local culture, or at least speak the audience’s native language, see a measurable boost in their download rankings. This means two things. First, domestic developer communities will always have a certain edge in winning over the consumers’ hearts and minds. Second, larger developer houses with global ambitions risk seeing their expensive releases go unnoticed if they don’t localize the content properly.”
However, designing apps solely according to consumers’ needs is often not enough. Developers who struggle to be discovered should envisage and pay attention to what the device vendors that distribute and curate apps want to showcase about their products.
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“In-flight Wi-Fi and cellular communication is becoming increasingly common, particularly in the US, and today 1,000s of aircraft are fitted with equipment that allows passengers to connect to the internet,” says Alastair Hayfield, Research Director, IMS Research. “Today US airlines like SouthWest and Delta are offering in-flight internet access. However, the aim for many airlines is to be able to offer many other services wirelessly, vastly improving the travelling experience for everyone.”
At the moment, traditional IFE is usually available in the seat back or from the cabin roof. However, a new wireless solution is emerging that is removing the need for cabling, and removing the need for ‘fixed’ IFE systems altogether. Wireless IFE – sometimes known as wireless content distribution – beams media such as video, TV, games and audio, around the cabin to be received on passengers’ tablets, smartphones, or airlines’ own handheld devices.
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The Federal Communications Commission today launched a new ‘bill shock’ website , an online tool to help consumers track implementation of recent commitments by wireless carriers to provide usage alerts before and after consumers exceed their plan limits. Bill shock is a sudden and unexpected increase in monthly wireless bills that happens when consumers’ unknowingly exceeding plan limits for voice, data and text. Bill shock can also happen when consumers travel abroad and get hit with unexpected international roaming charges. A recent FCC survey found that 30 million Americans – or one in six wireless users – have experienced bill shock.
In October 2011, Chairman Julius Genachowski announced a new program that would provide free alerts for wireless consumers as they approach monthly voice, data and text limits, and after those limits have been exceeded. Chairman Genachowski was joined by CTIA-The Wireless Association, which accounts service to approximately 97% of U.S. wireless consumers.
FCC Chairman Genachowski said, “Using technology to empower consumers with information has been among the top priorities of the Commission. Last October, we were pleased that CTIA-The Wireless Association and Consumers Union joined us to announce new commitments to provide free alerts to consumers before they approach limits and incur fees. We also promised an online resource with information about when carriers begin providing these alerts. Today, we deliver on that promise.”
The new website is available at http://fcc.us/billshocks. The Commission will regularly update the table to reflect each carrier’s progress in providing the bill shock alerts, based on information provided by CTIA-The Wireless Association, and in partnership with Consumers Union.
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For more than a decade, LightSquared and its predecessor companies have worked to bring a private sector solution to a public problem – expanding wireless broadband connectivity to every corner of this country – and in doing so, encouraging economic development, increasing competition and lowering prices for American consumers. Recognizing that America was not keeping pace with the rest of the world with respect to wireless innovation, the United States government encouraged, and in our case, mandated investment from the private sector to help solve this problem. They did this to help ensure that we no longer lose ground to global competitors and fall behind in a technology crucial for creating jobs and growing economies in the 21st century.
Typically, when America has faced a challenge, the private and public sectors join together to help solve these problems to better serve this country. Unfortunately, with its action yesterday, the FCC has harmed not only LightSquared, but also the American public by making it impossible to build out a system that would meet public policy goals of successive administrations.
Today, we ask the FCC to restore American values of rule of law and regulatory certainty to help America maintain its place as a global leader in both public safety and economic development.
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4G subscriber adoption is primed to take off in 2012 as a range of 4G-enabled mobile devices, from USB dongles, smartphones, tablets, 4G portable hotspots, and wireless broadband CPE modems, are shipping from assembly line to retail stores. “4G devices are expected to generate 87 million in unit sales in 2012, up 294% year-on-year,” states Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting. “The lion’s share of the market is now backing LTE as service provider and vendor support has fallen away from WiMAX.” Observing the success of 3G cellular services, it is clear there is a natural evolutionary demand from end-users, both business and consumer, to jump onto the 4G data bandwagon. However, there are still some teething issues that will need to be worked through.
Some operators in Western Europe have stated that while customers do recognize 4G offers higher speeds, they are not necessarily signing up in droves, as many of them are not prepared to pay the premium for 4G handsets and 4G tariffs. “High definition,” from video streaming to richer, more interactive/immersive social networking and gaming experiences, should coax 3G customers to migrate to 4G. Furthermore, mobile device vendors are experiencing intense competitive pressure, which is expected to bring down LTE handset prices, estimated at 10 to 20 percent over the next two years.
“As evidenced by the Australian iPad 3 promotion fiasco, when iPad 3s were being promoted as being ‘LTE-ready,’ even though the modem is unable to access the Australian LTE spectrum band, the number of LTE spectrum bands will hamper initial pricing and product roll-out,” comments Philip Solis, research director, mobile devices. “Nevertheless, in addition to 61 million 4G handsets being shipped in 2012, we estimate 26 million 4G non-handset products will be shipped. In the short-term, most of that will reflect customers purchasing USB dongles for legacy laptops and netbooks, followed by customer premise equipment, or home modem, purchases.”
ABI Research’s “4G Subscriber, Device, and Networks Market Data” contains regional and selected country-level segmentation for the 4G market. | |
Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. today announced the upcoming introduction of Muve Music and all-inclusive, nationwide Cricket monthly voice products into nearly 1,600 Target stores nationwide. These products will be available beginning Sunday, April 22, and will further enable Cricket to bring its industry-leading value proposition to an expanded nationwide audience. The introduction into Target is another step in Cricket's major retail expansion, begun in 2011, that will result in Cricket products and services being available to more consumers across the country.
Cricket's fast-growing music service Muve Music(1), that is winning the praise of customers and critics alike, will headline the selection of Cricket's products and services in Target. At launch, two smartphones will be available with Muve Music. The full-feature Samsung Vitality smartphone will be available for $99.99 (MSRP). In addition, Muve Music will be available on the popular ZTE Score smartphone for $69.99 (MSRP).
With the Muve Music Smartphone rate plan, Target guests will enjoy unlimited song downloads, ringtones, and ringback tones, as well as nationwide calling; unlimited text, picture, video messaging and 3G mobile data; mobile video; data back-up, and 411 assistance all for just $55 per month.
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