Android vs. Apple and the state of smartphone industry: 4 takeaways

By Larry Dignan | July 28, 2011, 7:16am PDT

Summary

Nielsen data indicates that Android is the top smartphone platform and Apple is the top manufacturer. In between those data points is a lot of nuance.

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Nielsen data indicates that Android is the top smartphone platform and Apple is the top manufacturer. In between those data points is a lot of nuance.

First, here’s Nielsen’s money graphic.

That graphic says a lot about the state of the smartphone market today. Here are my top four takeaways:

1. There’s a toss-up between integrated and partner-based platforms. The smartphone industry is often compared to PCs in the early days. Once upon a time, Apple controlled hardware and software. Microsoft partnered with OEMs. Microsoft won that market share game. So far in the smartphone industry, we have a draw for the most part. Consider that Research in Motion and Apple both control their software and hardware and integrate the two. Combined RIM and Apple have 48 percent of the market. Considering that RIM hasn’t had product on the market for a year that integrated share is impressive. Toss in HP, which controls the WebOS and you have half the market with an integrated system approach. On the partner side of the equation, Android has 39 percent share and Microsoft chips in another 9 percent.
2. RIM isn’t dead yet. Imagine a company that has management issues and a product void that has lasted forever in smartphone terms and still had 20 percent of the OS market. That’s RIM. If RIM’s BlackBerry OS 7 devices can do anything in the market, the company has a shot at being a major player.
3. Microsoft needs more hardware partners. Look at the sliver that is Microsoft’s platform share. Then look at the partners. Microsoft has two friends on the smartphone block—HTC and Samsung. The software giant will need more OEMs if it’s going to compete. Given Nokia is a no-show in the U.S. there are no guarantees that Microsoft’s partnership with Finland’s leading tech company will matter much.
4. Android looks zero sum for hardware players. The Android partners—HTC, Motorola and Samsung—have carved up the market nicely. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see Android doing much better in market share than it is today. That fact means that HTC, Motorola and Samsung are going to wind up killing each other to grow share.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/android-vs-apple-and-the-state-of-smartphone-industry-4-takeaways/53392?tag=nl.e539

AT&T preps for September iPhone 5 launch

By Ricardo Bilton | July 25, 2011, 9:19am PDT

Summary

AT&T is preparing for a September iPhone 5 release. Let’s hope they don’t come out disappointed.

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While the iPhone 5 has been an elusive thing, most recent speculation has pointed to a September release for the device. That speculation is gaining a bit of steam now, as BGR reports that AT&T is preparing internally for the iPhone 5’s September reveal.

That preparation so far consists largely of AT&T telling employees, especially those in retail, to finish employee training ahead of the expected September launch. AT&T, it seems, is going to need all the man power it can get.

Of course, it’s also likely that AT&T knows about as the rest of us regarding when, exactly, the iPhone 5 is coming. After all, Verizon itself was surprised to find that the iPhone 5 didn’t drop earlier this summer, a confusion that had some effects on its bottom line. Thus it’s certainly possible that AT&T knows very little about the iPhone 5 launch except for the all-too-certain fact that it is, at some point soon, happening. And it’s better to be safe than sorry.

[BGR]

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/at-t-preps-for-september-iphone-5-launch/26472?alertspromo=&tag=nl.rSINGLE

AT&T's Q2: 3.6 million iPhone activations; Android diversification effort underway

By Larry Dignan | July 21, 2011, 4:45am PDT

Summary

AT&T’s smartphone diversification effort appears to be paying off as the company added 331,000 net postpaid subscribers, activated 3.6 million iPhones and doubled Android device sales from a year ago.

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AT&T’s smartphone diversification effort appears to be paying off as the company added 331,000 net postpaid subscribers, activated 3.6 million iPhones and doubled Android device sales from a year ago.

The telecom giant reported second quarter earnings of $3.6 billion, or 60 cents a share, on revenue of $31.5 billion, up 2.2 percent from a year ago. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 59 cents a share. AT&T’s earnings were down from $4 billion, or 67 cents a share, in the second quarter a year ago.

Going into the earnings report, most analysts were focused on AT&T’s postpaid additions. On that front, AT&T had a respectable showing. The company added 1.1 million total wireless subscribers to reach the 98.6 million mark. Of that sum, AT&T added 331,000 postpaid additions. Excluding migrations of Alltel and Centennial, AT&T said net postpaid adds would have been 504,000. Barclays Capital analyst James Ratcliffe was expecting 200,000 postpaid subscriber additions and Morgan Stanley’s Simon Flannery was looking for 130,000.

Analysts are also going to focus on the T-Mobile purchase given that opposition is starting to emerge. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), who heads up the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, asked regulators to shoot down the deal.

The company, which indicated that its acquisition of T-Mobile was on track, said that it added 137,000 prepaid subscribers and 379,000 connected devices such as the Kindle and iPad. Overall, AT&T said the results indicate broad adoption of smartphones.

Indeed, smartphones were nearly 70 percent of AT&T’s postpaid sales. The company said it sold 5.6 million smartphones, up 43 percent from a year ago. Of those smartphone sales, Android and other devices were 40 percent of the mix.

AT&T didn’t offer a breakdown between the non-iPhone devices. Other devices include BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone 7 smartphones.

By the numbers:

• Half of AT&T’s 68.4 million postpaid subscribers had smartphones up from 35.8 percent a year ago. Of those smartphones subscribers, 85 percent have FamilyTalk or business plans.
• Total wireless revenue for the second quarter was $15.6 billion. Data revenue was up 23.4 percent from a year ago to $5.4 billion.
• AT&T said total churn for the second quarter was 1.43 percent, up from 1.29 percent a year ago. Postpaid churn was 1.15 percent, up from 1.01 percent a year ago. That churn rate is stable, but does indicate AT&T is losing a few customers.
• Wireline revenue for the second quarter was $5.4 billion, up slightly from a year ago. AT&T added 202,000 U-verse TV customers and now has 3.4 million subscribers. Most of those customers have U-Verse Internet access too. Overall, AT&T added 439,000 U-Verse broadband subscribers in the second quarter.
• The company’s business revenue remains a challenge. Second quarter revenue was $9.3 billion, down 4.1 percent from a year ago. AT&T is losing out in its traditional voice and data accounts and trying to offset those losses with services such VPNs, hosting, IP conferencing and application services.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/at-ts-q2-36-million-iphone-activations-android-diversification-effort-underway/52925