Smartphone

249 'Smartphone' stories December 2010 - March 2014

RadioShack announces plan to close 1,100 stores nationwide as smartphone sales fail to carry company

Mike Beasley Mar 4 2014 - 2:51 pm PT

ABC News reports that RadioShack will close 1,100 stores following a disappointing holiday season and generally unsuccessful attempt to rebrand the chain as the go-to retailer for smartphones and accessories. The number represents about 20% of the electronics shop’s locations. The company previously announced plans to close only 400-700 stores.

That doesn’t mean RadioShack will be disappearing completely, though. Around 4,000 stores are still expected to remain open. While the cell phone business hasn’t been able to keep the entire company afloat, it has apparently provided enough fuel to keep the majority of the stores functional… for now, at least.

Opinion: Will Apple abandon the ‘low-cost’ iPhone concept after apparent failure of 5c?

Ben Lovejoy Mar 4 2014 - 7:32 am PT

100 Comments

Apple doesn’t break down its iPhone sales figures, so we don’t know for sure that the iPhone 5c sold poorly, but certainly everything we do know seems to point in that direction – from early sales estimates through analytics and consumer surveys to Apple switching production from the 5c to the 5s.

Tim Cook said in an earnings call that “the mix was something very different than we thought,” and intimated that the model might be dropped: “If we decide it’s in our best interest to make a change, then we’ll make one.”

None of this necessarily means that the 5c was a complete failure, of course: record-breaking iPhone sales right from the outset could mean that the plastic phone did ok, it’s simply that the 5s sold far better than expected. It could also be that it was the extra sales gained from the 5c that helped break those records.

But I suspect not. While the brightly-colored 5c was not without its fans, it was the iPhone 5s with its Touch ID sensor and gold colored model that got all the attention, and I don’t think Tumblr advertising is going to change that. So my bet is we will again see a trend away from colorful plastic iPhones …
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LG infographic breaks down the history and future of the smartphone… mostly

Mike Beasley Mar 4 2014 - 12:09 am PT

3 Comments

LG published an infographic this afternoon that details the history of smart- (and not-so-smart-) phones. The chart covers major jumps in cell phone technology from 1992 when the first SMS message was sent, all the way to 2013 when LG launched the G2 handset.

The chart also contains some interesting survey results about where people use their smartphones (an example of which is seen above), and a look at LG’s next-gen phone, the G Flex. The phone’s hardware is detailed and benefits like improved battery life and “more accurate selfies” are explained.

There does seem to be a pretty glaring omission on the chart, though: Apple’s massive contributions to the industry in the first iPhone are never mentioned at all. While LG may be able to accurately claim credit for the first touchscreen smartphone in 2007, it certainly wasn’t LG that drove the industry forward or inspired the modern touchscreen-focused versions of Android we know today.

You can find the full infographic below:

Click for full size

Smartphones are now a 95% Android-iOS global duopoly w/ Android closing in on 80% by itself

Jordan Kahn Feb 12 2014 - 7:54 am PT

10 Comments

Research firm IDC is out today with its latest report on the worldwide smartphone market highlighting shipments and marketshare by operating system for last quarter and all of 2013. Together Android and iOS made up around 95.7% of all smartphone shipments in the last quarter of 2013 (up from 91.2% in the year ago quarter), but the real story is how much Android has grown compared to iOS. As of last quarter, Android made up almost 80% of that 95.7% and shipped close to 800 million of the billion smartphones shipped during 2013.
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Americans officially living in post-PC world, spending more time using mobile apps & web

Ben Lovejoy Feb 12 2014 - 4:05 am PT

8 Comments

According to new data from Nielsen, Americans now spend more time using mobile web and apps on their smartphones than they do online on their PCs, reports Engadget.

That shift toward mobile is affecting how many spend their free time. Americans spent an average of 34 hours per month using mobile apps and browsers in 2013; that’s more time than they spent online with their PCs, which chewed up 27 hours …
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Apple regains lead over Samsung in US smartphone market thanks to new iPhones

Jordan Kahn Jan 30 2014 - 7:52 am PT

4 Comments

If you jump back to calendar Q3 2013, Apple was falling behind Samsung in US smartphone marketshare with just 34% of the market compared to Samsung’s 38%. The theory at the time was that US buyers were holding out for the new iPhones that launched in September. Fast forward to last quarter, the three month period ended December 31, and that theory appears to be holding up. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) just sent over its latest reports showing Apple has once again taken the lead thanks to a strong holiday quarter of iPhone sales.
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AT&T offering $100 to both new and existing customers

Zac Hall Jan 29 2014 - 7:13 am PT

4 Comments

Following a back and forth between T-Mobile and AT&T on promotions geared toward customers wanting to jump the carrier ship, AT&T announced today a short term promotion that actually rewards existing customers in addition to new users.

AT&T is shelling out $100 (in the form of a credit) for new lines including smartphones and tablets.

New and existing customers are eligible when you activate a qualifying wireless line

Add a new line for any smartphone, feature phone, tablet, wireless home phone, MiFi puck, or other connected device

You must remain active and in good standing for 45 days; your credit will be applied within 3 bill cycles

The promo runs through the end of March, so it’s not permanent, but it’s certainly a hefty incentive and hopefully of sign of what carrier competition can bring.

Virgin Mobile cuts unsubsidized iPhone 5s to $440 or iPhone 5c for $360 shipped (Update)

9to5 Staff Jan 28 2014 - 7:10 am PT

8 Comments

From 9to5Toys.com:

Virgin Mobile is knocking another 20% off their marked down iPhones yielding the lowest prices we’ve ever seen on the unsubsidized phones (that’s another 10% less than this weekend’s mention).

iPhone 5s is $439.99/519.99/599.99 for the 16/32/64GB.
iPhone 5c is $359.99/439.99 for 16/32GB .
Note you can also pick up an iPhone 4 for $159.99 shipped.

Note Apple charges $650 for an unlocked iPhone 5s and $550 for an iPhone 5c so savings is around $200/iPhone. While the iPhones are unsubsidized, Virgin does offer extremely competitive plans on the Sprint 4G LTE network starting at $30/month for unlimited text/data.
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A billion smartphones were sold last year, says IDC

Ben Lovejoy Jan 28 2014 - 6:19 am PT

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Image: theguardian.com

A billion smartphones were sold in 2013, according to IDC data, the first time the milestone has been hit. The number represents one smartphone sale for every seventh man, woman and child on the planet.

IDC says that price has been the main driver for growth, putting yesterday’s market share stats into perspective.

Markets like China and India are quickly moving toward a point where sub-$150 smartphones are the majority of shipments

Virgin Mobile cuts unsubsidized iPhone 5s to $495 or iPhone 5c for $405 shipped

9to5 Staff Jan 26 2014 - 7:57 pm PT

6 Comments

From 9to5Toys.com:

Virgin Mobile is knocking another 10% off their marked down iPhones yielding the lowest prices we’ve ever seen on the unsubsidized phones.

iPhone 5s is $494.99/584.99/674.99 for the 16/32/64GB.
iPhone 5c is $404.99/494.99 for 16/32GB .
Note you can also pick up an iPhone 4 for $159.99 shipped.

Note Apple charges $650 for an unlocked iPhone 5s and $550 for an iPhone 5c so savings is around $150/iPhone. While the iPhones are unsubsidized, Virgin does offer extremely competitive plans on the Sprint 4G LTE network starting at $30/month for unlimited text/data.
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Using your own iPhone at work? Watch that it doesn’t get wiped when you leave …

Ben Lovejoy Jan 22 2014 - 3:57 am PT

29 Comments

Employees who use their own electronic devices at work under a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) arrangement may have unwittingly authorised their employer to remotely wipe their device when they leave the company, reports the WSJ.

In early October, Michael Irvin stood up to leave a New York City restaurant when he glanced at his iPhone and noticed it was powering off. When he turned it back on again, all of his information—email programs, contacts, family photos, apps and music he had downloaded—had vanished […]

It wasn’t a malfunction. The device had been wiped clean by AlphaCare of New York, the client he had been working for full-time since April. Mr. Irvin received an email from his AlphaCare address that day confirming the phone had been remotely erased.

A survey found that 21 percent of companies perform a remote wipe of employee-owned devices registered on the company network, with employees ostensibly agreeing to this when they connect to the company network.

Many employers have a pro forma user agreement that pops up when employees connect to an email or network server via a personal device, he added. But even if these documents explicitly state that the company may perform remote wipes, workers often don’t take the time to read it before clicking the “I agree” button.

The legality of the practice has reportedly not yet been tested in court.

In principle, an iCloud or iTunes backup should allow wiped iPhones to be restored, but you may want to pay a little more attention to the small-print next time one of those corporate messages pops up on your screen, to find out what it is you’ve been agreeing to …

Update: Several readers have pointed out that the remote wipe would be performed via the company’s Exchange servers, so removing the Exchange account the day before you leave would be a good precaution.

Smartphone sales expected to fall for the first time in two years

Ben Lovejoy Jan 17 2014 - 5:12 am PT

0 Comments

TrendForce is predicting that total worldwide smartphone sales will fall by around five percent in the first quarter of this year. If so, this will be the first fall in two years.

It doesn’t mean demand for smartphones is actually dropping, but rather than the upward trend has slowed to the point that the seasonal effect – people buying smartphones as holiday gifts – is now bigger than the overall growth rate.

Apple and Samsung of course maintain their lead, though Sony saw significant growth in its home territory of Japan, and LG’s share grew 57 percent year-on-year to a 4.2 percent market share thanks largely to sales of the Nexus handsets it makes for Google.

Via re/code

iOS/Android market share vs. installed base visualized

Ben Lovejoy Jan 10 2014 - 5:52 am PT

25 Comments

As the Guardian‘s Charles Arthur points out, market share is a very different thing to installed user-base. The highly-detailed piece is worth reading in full, but the take-out is the bottom graph. That’s what the real world of U.S. smartphone users looks like. Or, to put it in two sentences …

Here’s the reality: at the time this was written, more than 40% of the smartphones in use in the US […] were iPhones. Only about 51% of the smartphones in peoples’ hands in the US are Android phones.

Smartphone adoption as a whole has grown at a rapid rate, and within that iOS and Android have, in the U.S. (and many other developed markets, I’m sure) grown at pretty much the same rate, with a rather modest gap between them.

Incredibly sketchy, thin, and unverified next-generation larger iPhone frame photos surface

Mark Gurman Jan 8 2014 - 10:57 am PT

26 Comments

The latest iPhone model came out just a few months ago, so that means that rumors and speculation about the next model are already emerging. Sometimes reliable CTech posted the above snaps on Weibo. They and others believe that the above kit represents frames for the rumored larger-screened iPhone. While such a device is due out later this year, the above photos appear to be incredible sketchy in nature. They are also completely unverified by us. The frames also look particularly thin, but in the age of the iPad Air, maybe there is some truth behind the blur.

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Corning shows off germ fighting antimicrobial Gorilla Glass at CES

Zac Hall Jan 6 2014 - 8:46 am PT

8 Comments

In an effort to combat spreading germs and bacteria through sharing smart phones and touch screen devices, Corning announced today plans to produce a Gorilla Glass variant with an antimicrobial surface for inhibiting bacterial growth. This version of Corning Gorilla Glass is made up of an antibacterial agent and contains levels of ionic silver that sustains the germ fighting capabilities through the life of the surface, according to the company.
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iPhone-controlled door lock market heating up as Openways announces Okidokeys

Ben Lovejoy Jan 6 2014 - 4:30 am PT

14 Comments

A company that makes smartphone-controlled door locks for hotels has announced its first home door lock system, going by the rather cringeworthy name Okidokeys.

Once fitted, you’ll be able to unlock your front door from your iPhone (or Android handset) via Bluetooth. The locks are also compatible with RFID chips, allowing you to open them with a keycard or wristband in case your phone battery goes flat. As you’d expect from a hi-tech lock, you can also manage access and accounts online …
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Corning announces 3D-shaped Gorilla Glass variant for curved displays

Mike Beasley Jan 3 2014 - 2:03 pm PT

2 Comments

Gorilla Glass featured in action during product testing.

Corning, the company that makes the Gorilla Glass found in Apple’s iOS devices and many other mobile phones across the market, announced today that they have achieved “manufacturing readiness” for a 3D-shaped version of Gorilla Glass. This essentially means that the company has finished developing the process to create this new and improved glass and is ready to start manufacturing it for smartphone manufacturers and other companies.

The press release notes that “more than half of the top 10 smartphone manufacturers already market devices that incorporate cover glass with subtle curves.” Up until now, those phones have had to forego the super-durable display afforded by Corning and settle for something more pliable.

What this means in the long run is that phones with curved displays will become less of a compromise in quality for companies like Apple, which was rumored to be developing a curved-glass iPhone for some time in the near future, perhaps even next year.

Delayed China Mobile iPhone launch may be due to renegotiations based on 5c vs 5s sales

Ben Lovejoy Dec 20 2013 - 4:30 am PT

0 Comments

Photo: arstechnica.net

KGI’s Mingchi Kuo has suggested in a note to investors that the mystery of the apparent delay in the iPhone launching on the world’s largest carrier, China Mobile, may be due to last-minute renegotiations with Apple on volume discounts across the two new models.

We believe weak sales of iPhone 5C may trigger a re-negotiation of the Apple-China Mobile partnership. While previously we estimated that Apple originally planned the TD-LTE version would account for 30% of total iPhone 5C shipments, our latest survey indicates that demand for the TD-LTE iPhone 5C has declined dramatically due to 5S being far more popular than 5C among China Mobile subscribers […]

We believe this would necessitate a re-negotiation of the Apple-China Mobile deal and therefore defer its finalization …

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Qualcomm employee said Apple’s 64-bit A7 chip was Spinal Tap moment

Ben Lovejoy Dec 17 2013 - 4:54 am PT

18 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc]

If Qualcomm seemed rather taken by surprise by Apple’s use of a 64-bit chip in a smartphone, first dismissing it as a gimmick and then hastily backtracking and announcing it would be making 64-bit smartphone chips itself, that’s because it was, says Dan Lyons in a nicely-written piece on HubSpot. The piece includes what has to be a strong contender for tech quote of the year:

The 64-bit Apple chip hit us in the gut,” says the Qualcomm employee. “Not just us, but everyone, really. We were slack-jawed, and stunned, and unprepared. It’s not that big a performance difference right now, since most current software won’t benefit. But in Spinal Tap terms it’s like, 32 more, and now everyone wants it.”

The reference is to a scene in the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap where the band proudly shows an amp that goes all the way up to 11, explaining that “it’s one louder.” What Qualcomm missed was that while 64-bit smartphone chips may be of limited immediate value, the A7 made for a compelling marketing sell, leaving other companies scrabbling to catch up.

Qualcomm has just created a 64-bit version of its Snapdragon SOC and expects to see it appearing in Android phones sometime in the second half of next year.

Two-thirds of Americans will own an iPhone by 2017, calculates analyst

Ben Lovejoy Dec 16 2013 - 5:07 am PT

10 Comments

Smartphones will reach saturation point in the U.S. by 2017, and by that time two-thirds of all Americans will own an iPhone – the conclusions Asymco’s Horace Dediu reaches through a series of calculations.

Dediu bases his calculation on three factors. First, that the rate of growth seen in the smartphone market so far will continue at the same pace. Second, saturation point for smartphones will be 90 percent (no technology ever achieves 100 percent). Third, that Apple’s market share will remain roughly constant, Dediu pointing out that iPhone growth has pretty much exactly mirrored the smartphone market as a whole …
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iPhone 5s undisputed king at all four major U.S. carriers ever since launch

Ben Lovejoy Dec 13 2013 - 4:22 am PT

6 Comments

The iPhone 5s has retained its status as the best-selling smartphone at the four tier-1 U.S. carriers for the third month running, with the iPhone 5c taking third place after the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Data from Canaccord Genuity showed that the iPhone 5s has topped the sales charts at AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile every month since launch, reports AllThingsD.

“Our surveys indicated continued strong sales of the iPhone 5s, as it was by far the top selling smartphone at all four tier-1 U.S. carriers and at most channels where the smartphone launched globally,” analyst T. Michael Walkley explained in a note to clients. “Our surveys also indicated steady iPhone 5c sales with the smartphone’s color options and more affordable price point proving popular with its intended audience” …
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Spotify goes free with new streaming tier on tablets, smartphones…with a caveat

David Beren Dec 11 2013 - 7:36 am PT

1 Comment

From 9to5Google:

Spotify fans the world over take note, the company is moving into the ad-supported model with a new app for both iOS, Android tablets and smartphones. The company is introducing a whole new tier of service on mobile, providing users an opportunity to listen and search for songs on the go for free with a small catch.

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Get your subsidized iPhones while you can – AT&T says the deals can’t last

Ben Lovejoy Dec 11 2013 - 4:57 am PT

31 Comments

AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson told investors yesterday that with smartphone penetration approaching 90 percent, the existing business model – where carriers sell highly-subsidized smartphones to drive demand – will have to change.

When you’re growing the business initially, you have to do aggressive device subsidies to get people on the network. But as you approach 90 percent penetration, you move into maintenance mode. That means more device upgrades. And the model has to change. You can’t afford to subsidize devices like that.

Many U.S. iPhone buyers don’t realise the true cost of their handsets, as carrier subsidies mean they typically pay no more than $200. The full retail cost of those handsets, however, ranges from $549 for a 16GB iPhone 5c to $849 for a 64GB iPhone 5s. The balance is paid by the carrier, then clawed back through the contract payments …
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AT&T launches ‘Mobile Share Value Plans’ with notable monthly savings for BYOD customers, 18-month Next option

Mark Gurman Dec 5 2013 - 5:00 am PT

13 Comments

AT&T has launched a new initiative called Mobile Share Value Plans that is designed to save customers money on their monthly AT&T mobile phone service bills. The following changes are specifically for the Mobile Share program, which allows devices to work under the same AT&T account and share data, talk, and text plans. Similar to T-Mobile’s “un-carrier” approach, the new AT&T plans separate the cost of the device hardware completely from the monthly service charges:

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