Several Mobile Phone Vendors Post Thousands of Unit Sales

Selular Group Establishes 30 New Outlets

• 1.2B new internet users coming from BRICI countries by 2015
• Mostly coming from mobile, much of that will be advanced feature phones (not smart phones)
• Social in Indonesia & Brazil, Email in India, IM in China (QQ FTW!!!)
• That will only result in 20% internet penetration in those countries (i.e. lots more to come!)

This Bad Boy = $20

Blueberry Probably Outsells BlackBerry 2:1 In Indonesia

AT& T Quarterly Profits Drop by 10 Percent

By: Ian Mansfield | 21st Jul 2011: 2:24pm

­AT& T has seen its quarterly profits drop by 10.3% to US$3.59 billion as revenues rose by 2.2 percent to $31.5 billion. The company also saw its best-ever second-quarter smartphone sales of 5.6 million nearly 70 percent of total postpaid sales were smartphones.

Compared with results for the second quarter of 2010, AT& T's operating income margin was 19.6 percent, compared to 19.7 percent and operating expenses were $25.3 billion versus $24.7 billion operating income was $6.2 billion, up from $6.1 billion.

Total wireless subscribers up 1.1 million to reach 98.6 million subscribers in service, with gains in every customer category including 331,000 postpaid net adds. Total churn was 1.43 percent versus 1.29 percent in the second quarter of 2010.

iPhone activations remain strong at 3.6 million, with 24 percent of subscribers new to AT& T iPhone subscriber churn down slightly sequentially. Sales of Android and other smartphones doubled year over year more than 40 percent of smartphone sales in the quarter.

Postpaid subscriber ARPU (average monthly revenues per subscriber) up 2.0 percent to $63.87, the tenth consecutive quarter with a year-over-year increase.

" We delivered another strong quarter capping a solid first half of the year," said Randall Stephenson, AT& T chairman and chief executive officer. " Mobile broadband growth continues to be robust, and we are seeing encouraging signs in wireline revenues. This adds to our confidence as we look ahead."

" Mobile broadband with IP infrastructure and cloud services are transforming our industry and are creating unprecedented opportunity. AT& T is strongly positioned to lead in this new era," Stephenson added.

Led by increased wireless demand, AT& T now expects capital expenditures in the $20 billion range for full-year 2011. Previously, the company expected capital expenditures in the low-to-mid $19 billion range.

[Juniper Research reports smartphones with a price point of $150 or lower will make up one-third of shipments in five years.]

Hampshire, UK -- A new report published by analyst firm Juniper Research forecasts that the number of global smartphone shipments will reach one billion per annum in 2016, up from 302 million in 2010.

Smartphones -- traditionally high-end handsets -- will make-up the majority of shipments in five years' time, as this type of device becomes available at lower price points. Competition amongst vendors offering premium smartphones is intense, and so Juniper believes the best opportunity for new players is through economy models (those with an unsubsidised retail value of $150 or less).

Report author Daniel Ashdown explains: " in developed markets, many consumers will want to upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone, but still pay a feature phone price. In emerging markets though, lower average consumer spending power and lack of operator subsidies will make a low price point essential." Juniper predicts that open-source operating systems -- predominantly Android -- combined with the falling cost of key components will make this possible.

However, the market for standard smartphones ($151-$399) and premium smartphones ($400 and above) will remain robust:

* New technologies are arriving on these devices -- including NFC, 3D and Biometrics

* Features of other devices continue to be integrated into smartphones, including gamepads and,

* Smartphones are reaching the market which can morph into other devices -- notably tablets and netbooks.

The report provides substantial primary research on smartphone hardware specifications and analysis of recent trends and developments. Other primary research examines smartphone plans and handset subsidies, and the impact on subscriber retention costs for operators.

A whitepaper The Smartphone Opportunity and further details of the study, 'Smartphone Evolution Strategies: Premium, Standard and Economy Markets 2011-2016' are available at www.juniperresearch.com. Alternatively, please contact John Levett at john.levett@juniperresearch.com, telephone +44(0)1256 830001.

Apple Profit Tops Estimates on Record Sales

Apple Profit Top Estimates on Record Sales of IPhone, IPad

Kevin Lee/Bloomberg

Customers wait to buy Apple Inc. iPad 2s in Shanghai, China, on Friday, May 6, 2011.

Customers wait to buy Apple Inc. iPad 2s in Shanghai, China, on Friday, May 6, 2011. Photographer: Kevin Lee/Bloomberg

Apple Profit Seen Rising on Record IPad Sales

Apple Profit Seen Rising as IPad Buying Makes Up for IPhone

SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

A shopper tries out the Apple Inc. iPad 2 tablet computer at KT Corp.'s Gwanghwamun retail store, in Seoul, South Korea.

A shopper tries out the Apple Inc. iPad 2 tablet computer at KT Corp.'s Gwanghwamun retail store, in Seoul, South Korea. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

IPhone Orders

Topping Projections

Apple Overtakes Nokia for Mobile Ad Impressions in Europe

By: Ian Mansfield | 18th Jul 2011

­During Q2 2011, over 2 billion ad impressions were served on Apple devices in Europe, propelling Apple past Nokia for the first time, according to figures compiled by InMobi. Over the same period, Nokia devices dropped by 0.9 share points and now represent 18.7% of ads in the region. One of every five ads across Europe is now on Apple manufactured devices.

As a result of Apple's iOS popularity, Android's operating system has lost 5.0 share points against iOS's gain of 3.3 over the past quarter. RIM, whilst ranked third in terms of operating systems, saw the highest gain during this period, gaining 6.1 share points. Despite this though, Android remains the top mobile platform by ad requests with nearly 25% of all requests.

Rob Jonas, VP and MD Europe and Middle East at InMobi, comments: " The Q2 2011 results show another major inflection point for Mobile Advertising in Europe. Smart devices, driven by iPad, iPhone, and Android devices, are now defining the mobile experience for the majority of Europeans. The next phase of mobile advertising is upon us. It is now up to brands and agencies to capitalise with immersive, creative experiences delivered at scale for consumers."

Total mobile advertising impressions on the InMobi network in Europe grew by 21 percent in Q2, primarily driven by smartphone impressions, which grew by 31%. Three out of every five mobile impressions in Europe are now on a smart device. Among European nations, United Kingdom and Spain showed the fastest growth in Q2.

Top 3 Mobile Platforms by Ad Impressions

Top 3 Device Manufacturers by Ad Impressions

Survey Shows Smartphone Use Growing Rapidly with Regional Differences

By: Ian Mansfield | 12th Jul 2011

­Mobile devices are gaining popularity very rapidly worldwide. An online survey by IDG Global Solutions (IGS) identified differences in favored smartphone brands and usage by region, but it is clear that the traditional cellphone is fading fast.

More than two-thirds of the nearly 13,700 online respondents to a 16-country survey said they use a smartphone for personal (73%) or business (69%) purposes. Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson dominate the market depending on the country. In business and personal use, Nokia and Apple lead the way in Europe. In the US, Apple (29%) and Blackberry (26%) are very competitive for business users whereas Samsung (15%) is second to Apple (33%) for personal use.

Smartphone Use

Smartphone owners show a new behavior: 70% browse the Internet regularly and use mobile applications. These devices are no longer limited to calls, email, and text messages as people go online from home, on the move, and in the office. When surfing the web on smartphones, respondents indicated that general and IT news are most popular, followed by social networking access.

GPS navigation topped instant messaging as an application. Most countries' GPS usage surpassed 50% led by Finland (77%), Sweden (75%), Denmark (88%), Brazil (68%), Australia (66%), Germany (57%), Spain (56%), US (54%), and UK (41%). Instant messaging use reached 68% in Brazil, China (67%), and Mexico (64%). Behind Canada's 46% are Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Sweden at between 43%-to-48% and the US (40%), France (38%), Germany (34%), and UK (26%).

Geolocation use for vouchers, deals, and offers is not a major factor in most geographies: China (42%), Brazil (31%), Italy (30%), and US (29%).

App Downloads

According to the IGS survey, app vendors are in good position. A large majority of respondents said they download apps to their phones and also pay for apps. Two-thirds regularly use between one to seven apps with the most popular being general news, social media, gaming, and IT news.

Tablets Taking Off

Twenty percent of all respondents own a tablet. Tablet growth is set to take off over the next 12 months as 67% are planning to buy one. Apple owns this category in all countries with 80% market share, followed by Samsung Galaxy at 9% worldwide. The IGS survey revealed that half of all tablet owners use it for work.

The most popular uses are web browsing (93%), email (84%), mobile apps (72%), watching videos (69%), and reading publications (66%).

Sixty-seven percent of all tablet owners share it with colleagues or family, spreading the tablet experience to much more than the 20% ownership figure.

Data Commentary

IDC reported last month that the worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow by 55% this year compared with 2010. Vendors are projected to ship 472 million phones in 2011. IDC, an IDG subsidiary, predicts the Android operating system will own 40% of the market in the second half of this year, posing a serious threat to Apple, Nokia, and Blackberry.

" The dramatic growth in smartphone and tablet use is exciting news for media companies as their audiences can browse the Internet and engage with brands 24/7," said Christina Carstensen, director, Mobile Strategy, IGS in London. " The new technologies have changed user behavior and expectations. Our survey shows that tablets are an unstoppable trend this year with two-thirds of consumers planning to buy a tablet in the coming months."

" Tech marketers are recognizing the value of mobile advertising as the device market heats up," said Matthew Yorke, president, IGS. " I expect spending on mobile to rise sharply in the coming year much like what happened with social media marketing over the past two years."

Methodology

Almost 13,700 people from 16 countries completed surveys last February and March that were promoted across IDG media brands including Computerworld, PCWorld, Network World, CIO and Macworld.