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Tag: Smartphones

  • Vietnamese prefer the most luxurious smartphones

    Vietnamese prefer the most luxurious smartphones

    USA Today reported that the ratio of iPhone 7/iPhone 7 Plus buyers in the US when the model hit the shelves was 55/45. The situation is the opposite in Vietnam. The representative of the biggest smartphone retail chain in Vietnam said the ratio of iPhone 7/7 Plus sold had been 35/65 by early December 2016.

    The same thing occurred with Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The most prestigious distribution chains all reported that 80 out of 100 buyers chose curved-screen S7 Edge, while only 20 wanted a S7.

    The distributors say that Vietnamese tend to choose premium versions instead of the standard ones if manufacturers market two models.

    iPhone 7 Plus is now sold at VND22.3 million for the 32 GB version, while the highest price of VND28 million is applied to the 256 GB version. Galaxy S7 Edge is priced at VND17 million though it has seen sharp price decreases. Vietnamese, who have an average income of over $2,000 per annum, prefer premium versions to standard ones. Sony once witnessed the same with Xperia Z and ZL.

    Xperia Z was among the best sellers in 2013 thanks to the luxurious design with glass cover, while ZL with plastics cover could not catch users’ eyes and it nearly disappeared from the domestic market.

    In mid-2016, LG was once heavily criticized when it intended to bring the LG G5 version with Snapdragon 652 and RAM 3 GB instead of the one with RAM 4 GB and Snapdragon 820.

    A branding expert said that Vietnamese tend to choose the best ones despite high prices. They also spend several millions of dong more to buy scooters instead of motorbikes.

    Meanwhile, Lac Huy from CellphoneS, a distribution chain, said that consumers prefer iPhone 7 Plus because of the larger screen, stronger battery and better camera.

    “Apple is a big name. Its design and appearance look luxurious. Therefore, it is favored by Vietnamese, who just want the product which can help them show off, rather than the product which can help fulfill their work,” an analyst said.

    “This explains why many Vietnamese buy iPhones, even though they never intend to learn about the features of the smartphone and they just send messages and make calls with the iPhones,” he said.

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  • Corporate-issued mobile device adoption still low

    Corporate-issued mobile device adoption still low

    Mobile device adoption in the workplace is not yet mature, research from Gartner indicates. Although 80% of workers surveyed by the analyst company received one or more corporate-issued devices, desktops are still the most popular corporate device among businesses, with more than half of workers receiving corporate-issued desktop PCs.

    The survey findings are based on the 2016 Gartner Personal Technologies Study, which was conducted from June to August 2016 among 9,592 respondents in the US, the UK and Australia.

    Thirty-six percent of workers received laptops, including convertible laptops. Adoption of convertible laptops as a corporate-issued device is still very low, but has been gradually increasing.

    Gartner analysts expect that more employees will receive convertible laptops in the next three years, driven by the Windows 10 refresh that can enhance the user experience with touch-based input. Adding desktops and laptops (including convertible laptops) together, 75% of workers will receive at least one PC-type device in mature countries.

    In contrast to the high numbers of corporate-issued PCs in the workplace, relatively few workers receive mobile devices. The majority of smartphones used in the workplace are personally owned devices — only 23% of employees surveyed are given corporate-issued smartphones.

    “The low adoption of corporate-issued mobile devices underlines the fact that large numbers of personally owned mobile devices are used in the workplace,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal research analyst at Gartner. “In fact, more than half of employees who used smartphones at work rely solely on their personally owned smartphones.”

    The usage rate of personally owned tablets lags behind that of personally owned smartphones. Only 21% of employees use tablets — regardless of whether they are corporate issued or personally owned.

    “In the era of mobility, it comes as something of a surprise that corporate usage of smartphones and tablets is not as high as PCs, even when the use of personally owned devices is taken into account,” said Kitagawa. “While it’s true that the cost of providing mobile devices can quickly escalate, proper usage of mobile devices can increase productivity, which can easily justify the extra costs.”

    When employees are provided with corporate-issued devices, they are generally happy with the devices that they receive. Less than 20% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with their employer-provided devices. The satisfaction level is higher with tablets and smartphones compared with desktop and laptops.

    “Usage of personally owned devices in the workplace is nothing new, but the survey results confirm that this trend has become a new workplace standard. Two-thirds of survey respondents said that they use a personally owned device or devices for work,” said Kitagawa.

    “Smartphones and phablets are the most popular personally owned devices used for work, with 39% of employees using them, compared with just 10% who are only using corporate-issued smartphones and phablets.”

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  • Smartphones can help India’s drive for cashless economy

    Smartphones can help India’s drive for cashless economy

    India is currently the largest growing market for smartphones and it is estimated that the number of smartphones sold in the country is very likely to be greater than 100 million in 2017.BEIJING: As India embarked on cashless economy with demonetisation of high value notes, smartphones could help in the country’s de-cashing drive like in China where online payment through phones have become order of the day, Chinese media said today.

    “While India is implementing the government-led de-cashing via demonetisation, China is experiencing a rapid market based de-cashing process via the digitalisation of transactions on the online or mobile payment platforms,” an article in the state-run Global Times said today.

    In the most recent 11/11 (Singles Day) online shopping day, consumers spent 120.7 billion yuan (USD 18 billion) on Tmall, the largest business-to-customer shopping website in China, with all transactions settled via Alipay, the online payment platform set up by Alibaba Group, the article said.

    “Meanwhile, Alipay and WeChat Pay (the online payment platform of WeChat by Tencent) are widely accepted by restaurants, shops and even grocers throughout the country,” it said.

    The high ownership rate of smartphones in China may explain this rapid digitalisation in transactions, it said, citing a recent survey by Pew Research Centre, which said smartphone ownership rate is 58 per cent in China, 37 per cent in Japan and 17 per cent in India.

    “This high ownership rate plus a relatively slow growth rate in credit card ownership has led to the ‘leapfrog development’ of de-cashing in China,” the article said.

    “Compared to traditional bank transfers, online payment systems are usually more convenient and user friendly. Hence, market-based de-cashing faces much less resistance than other types of de-cashing,” it said.

    “India is currently the largest growing market for smartphones and it is estimated that the number of smartphones sold in the country is very likely to be greater than 100 million in 2017,” it said, pointing to high sales witnessed by Chinese phone makers like Xiaomi.

    “If India would like to try the Chinese style of de-cashing through online/smartphone payment, it is very likely to be beneficial to both countries,” it said.

  • BlackBerry Phones Will Live On for Die-Hard Fans in Indonesia

    BlackBerry Phones Will Live On for Die-Hard Fans in Indonesia

    BlackBerry Ltd. may have decided to stop making its iconic handsets, but that doesn’t mean the gadgets will disappear, especially in places where they’re still popular. Case in point: an Indonesian wireless company is already hatching plans to introduce its own version of the keyboard-equipped smartphone for those who can’t live without the device.

    PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia Tbk, an affiliate of operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Persero Tbk, has struck the first deal with BlackBerry to form a local joint venture called PT BB Merah Putih to make its devices in Indonesia. While the Canadian company is shifting its focus to software, Indonesia remains one of BlackBerry’s biggest markets. BlackBerry in the past launched dedicated phones and apps for the Indonesian market, home to 240 million people.

    Under the preliminary deal, Blackberry phones will be manufactured at a factory owned by a subsidiary of Tiphone Mobile for domestic sales, said Tan Lie Pin, Tiphone’s chief executive officer. Another local company is in talks to join the venture and details are being negotiated, she said in an interview.

    “More than six million people still use BlackBerry in Indonesia and we believe that BlackBerry can still grow in the Indonesian market,” Tan said. “We are very optimistic and excited.”

    BlackBerry CEO John Chen said this week the company would stop making phones and focus its attention on the more profitable and growing software business. The company plans to negotiate manufacturing agreements with multiple overseas partners. While Tan said Tiphone will manufacture phones for the Indonesian market, discussions on the venture are continuing with BlackBerry.

    BlackBerry’s popularity in Indonesia stems from its hugely popular instant-messaging app, BlackBerry Messenger, known as BBM. Many Indonesians still stick to BBM in order to connect with their curated groups of friends and family, even though some of them no longer use BlackBerry devices.

    BBM for iOS and Android devices ranked No. 1 in terms of downloads among chat apps in Indonesia in August, ahead of rival WhatsApp and Line, according to market researcher App Annie. Emtek Group, one of Indonesia’s biggest media and technology companies, signed a licensing agreement with BlackBerry in June in order to bring video content onto BBM and begin developing new applications and services for the messaging app.

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  • Chinese retail prices on the new iPhone 7 may drag down sales

    Chinese retail prices on the new iPhone 7 may drag down sales

    This is clearly a big change in the industry, and as big changes oftentimes go, people aren’t immediately excited about it. People also seem frustrated with Apple’s new wireless headphone option, the “AirPods”, which will retail for around $160. That’s even more impressive when you consider Apple Watch was only on sale for 8 months of the year. It means for all those who sit at their desks,charge the phone and plug in their headphones to listen to music, Apple’s latest smartphone isn’t going to cut the mustard -you simply can’t do both. Apart from having aLightning input at the rear of the dock, there is a 3.5mm output jack as well.

    We expect more third-party solutions to arrive in the next few weeks to make this less of a pain in the rear. This is only slightly more useful than the one port on the phone. AirPods auto-pair with all your iCloud-connected devices except Apple TV.

    Schiller mentioned that the Lightning adapter Apple includes with every iPhone 7 is a way the company is helping ease the transition from the 3.5 mm jack. Apple killed the 3.5mm audio port with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

    Apple initially quoted shipping dates of two to three weeks after September 16, but the company quickly pushed ship dates back to four to six weeks for some versions of the black iPhone 7s. And, these standalone left/right AirPods only play music when they detect that they’re in your ear.

    They’re just standard Bluetooth, with a little bit of “secret sauce” for easy pairing with Appledevices. When Apple unveiled the iPhone 7, people took issue with its lack of a headphone jack.

    “Apple has a very long history of removing features we all thought were necessary, and then convincing us that we didn’t need them”, said Ask, noting that Apple paved the way in phasing out the use of floppy discs and optical drives in computers.

    The Bluetooth or Lightning allow for the transfer of audio signals to the headphones digitally.

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  • Contactless mobile payments growing

    Contactless mobile payments growing

    The number of contactless payments made via mobile handsets will reach 148 million globally this year, according to a study conducted by Juniper Research.

    Samsung and Apple will account for approximately 70 per cent of new customers.

    The study showed consumers have been receptive to this payment method, predominantly because of their strategic placement. When Apple Pay was introduced in China, nearly 40 million payment cards were registered to the service in 24 hours in mid-February.

    Nearly one in five point-of-sale terminals in the US are now contactless-capable, with the report finding this will see smartphones be the number one driver of contactless payments in the US. The report also revealed banks and leading “over the top” players will deploy Host Card Emulation-based (HCE) models.

    “The combination of HCE and tokenisation is extremely attractive to banks. HCE means that they are not dependent on a mobile operator to enable the service; tokenisation reduces the burden on the issuer and allows them to use their existing infrastructure,” research co-author, Dr. Windsor Holden said.

    The study also found that NFC sticker-based solutions can be ‘risky,’ stating that in closed-loop solutions, ‘there’s a chance thieves could simply use all the money in the wallet at participating retail outlets.’

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  • SmarTone opens online store for smartphones, accessories

    SmarTone opens online store for smartphones, accessories

    SmarTone has launched a new online store for customers looking to buy smartphones and accessories.

    The store at shop.smartone.com will provide customers with a range of online exclusive offers, including a 12-month screen replacement warranty for smartphones and HK$50 off on accessories for every HK$1,000 smartphone purchase.

    Customers will be able to use the shop to choose their own numbers for prepaid SIMs from a pool of sought after numbers.

    The store will also offer free delivery to commercial addresses in Hong Kong for every order over HK$300.

    As a promotional offer, the company is providing winning customers with up to a HK$1,000 rebate on their orders, for a total pool of store credit worth HK$100,000. The promotion ends on Tuesday.

    SmarTone interim CEO Stephen Chau said the new store is aimed at adapting to the changing demands of Hong Kong consumers.

    “SmarTone has always focused on delivering an outstanding experience to our customers. In recent years, we have observed the trend of Hong Kong consumers shopping online,” he said.

    “To better serve customer needs, our new online store focuses on bringing products from quality brands internationally to customers, and they also enjoy our renowned customer care such as gift wrapping service and 24/7 Web Chat. Leveraging on our omni-channel capability, we aim to provide customers with an enjoyable shopping experience.”

  • Apple China bracing for fall

    Apple China bracing for fall

    Even as it announces record revenues and net profit, Apple says it has sold fewer iPhones in the first quarter and is bracing for a fall in sales in its critical Chinese market.

    “It’s becoming more apparent that there are some signs of economic softness,” says CFO Luca Maestri. “We are starting to see something that we have not seen before.”

    He admits the tech giant is working in a “very difficult macroeconomic environment” and projects a further slide in iPhone sales for the second quarter, reports the International Business Times. Apple’s projected revenues indicate the company’s sales are about to fall for the first time in 13 years.

    Apple’s sales stumble was masked by the record corporate quarterly profit. Conlumino analyst Neil Saunders takes a close look at the latest Apple report in our international section.

    Apple sold 74.8 million iPhones in the first quarter, ending December 26, which is the first full quarter of sales of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. The 0.4 per cent growth in shipments was the lowest since the product’s launch in 2007.

    Maestri says that although Apple China revenue rose by 14 per cent in the quarter, the company is starting to see a shift in the economy, particularly in Hong Kong.

    Apple had record figures in the first quarter for both net profit ($18.36 billion, up from $18.02 billion) and revenue (up 1.7 per cent to $75.87 billion). Greater China accounted for 24.2 per cent of the total revenue, more than all of Europe combined.

    An indication of Apple’s popularity in China can perhaps be gauged by the dwindling number of fake Apple stores in the southern city of Shenzhen, some of which have been taken over by unauthorised outlets for local phone brands.

    In a street of gadget stores, copycat Apple outlets were not uncommon, complete with the latest iPhone models and accessories and uniformed staff. Only four months there were more than 30, but about a third of these have gone, reports Reuters. Instead of iPhones, some of these shops are now selling Huawei, Meizu, Oppo and Xiaomi phones.

    In fact, the iPhone has become a “street cellphone” – a Chinese term that means a widely available and popular product that lacks novelty value.

    “Using an iPhone is hardly something you can show off to people now,” a Shenzhen retailer told Reuters.

    In the US, iPhones are still popular, and 60 per cent of people who had an iPhone before the launch of the iPhone 6 have yet to upgrade, says the company.

    Meanwhile, the Indian market stands out as a rare bright spot for Apple with a growing demand for iPhones, reports The Indian Express.

    Sales of the company’s flagship smartphone climbed 76 per cent in India from the year-ago quarter, according to Luca Maestri.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook has suggested more growth lies ahead with median age in India being 27 years.

    “I see the demographics there also being incredibly great for a consumer brand,” he says. “We have been putting increasingly more energy in India.”

    India cannot immediately offset Apple’s woes in China, says analyst Neil Shah of Counterpoint Technology Market Research. Apple averaged about 450,000 smartphone shipments a quarter in India last year, compared with more than 15 million a quarter in China.

    Also, nearly 70 per cent of smartphones sell for less than $150, leaving  a slim market for Apple’s high-end phones. Its smartphone market share stands at less than 2 per cent, says Shah.

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  • Smartphones outpace tablets in Asian eCommerce

    Smartphones outpace tablets in Asian eCommerce

    For the first time, 34 per cent of browser-based online transactions globally are now made on a mobile device, compared to slightly more than 30 per cent last quarter.

    And smartphones are starting to outpace tablets.

    These were key findings of the fourth quarter edition of the Mobile Payments Index by Global payments technology company Adyen, which tracks mobile payment data from browser-based transactions across its client base and monitors Asian eCommerce shopping patterns.

    It also found that many consumers in Asia are increasingly using mobile devices to shop online. This is being driven particularly by such major payments methods as Alipay, JCB and UnionPay. JCB had the highest share (54 per cent) of mobile payments on the Adjen platform, up from 47 per cent the previous quarter. Alipay increased to 44 per cent (up from 35 per cent) while UnionPay reached 31 per cent (from 23 per cent).

    “The checkout stage of the shopper journey is not the end, but the beginning of an on-going relationship with the consumer,” says Adyen Asia Pacific president Warren Hayashi. “Merchants with a frictionless mobile checkout experience are driving repeat traffic, especially in Asia.”

    For the first time, the index shows that smartphones have overtaken tablets as the preferred device for online shopping – 17.5 per cent on smartphone against 16 per cent on tablet, compared to 14 per cent and 17 per cent respectively the previous quarter.

    When it comes to mobile payments globally, the trend to use smartphones rather than tablets continues for the 10th consecutive quarter. Last quarter this share was up 2 per cent to 68 per cent on smartphone versus 32 per cent on tablet.

    Smartphone use far outweighed tablet in Asia, with 29.5 per cent of online payments on a smartphone compared to 4.5 per cent on a tablet.

    In terms of average transaction value, iPad led the way for the first time at $107, edging out not just smartphones but also desktop/laptop, the traditional leader (at $106). Following were Android tablets at $86, iPhone at $83 then Android smartphones at $73.

    Adyen has been tracking the evolution of mobile payments since June 2013. The index is based on its global browser-based mobile payment transaction data. It does not track in-app mobile payments. With its headquarters in Amsterdam and San Francisco, Adyen serves more than 4500 businesses, customers including Airbnb, Booking.com, Crocs, Dropbox, Facebook, KLM, Mango, Netflix, Spotify and Yelp.

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  • Used phone chain launches in Seoul subway stations

    Used phone chain launches in Seoul subway stations

    Stores purchasing used cell phones are set to open at Seoul subway stations.

    Seoul Metro, which manages lines No.1 to No.4, says it will open stores that buy used mobile phones at 12 subway stations including Seoul Station, in a bid to stop wasting resources and promote reusing and recycling.

    The new businesses will pay rent to Seoul Metro as well as a commission per phone of at least 7660 won (US$6.50) including VAT. During the contract period of two years, which is the standard agreement period per store, it is expected that 28,800 phones will be purchased.

    Seoul Metro has stipulated the businesses will only be permitted to purchase used phones, and the contract will be invalidated if other forms of business are conducted or the location of the store is changed.

    Clauses forbidding the sale of other items at the store, and limiting the opening hours to within the subway’s hours of operation will be added to the contract.

    However, due to the strict conditions, Seoul Metro is having a hard time attracting investors for the new business.

    Seoul Metro officials emphasised they are starting the venture to strengthen their management efficiency and enhance the convenience of customers. The additional business could be a countermeasure to overcome the organisation’s chronic deficit.

    The selected stations are Dongdaemun Station, Seoul Station, Chungjeongno Station, Sindorim Station, Sillim Station, Seolleung Station, Wangsimni Station, Jongno 3(sam)-ga Station, Oksu Station, Express Bus Terminal Station, Mia Sageori Station and Sadang Station.

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  • Wearable power supplies: the next new retail category

    Wearable power supplies: the next new retail category

    What’s the next new retail category in electronics? Wearable power supplies, judging by product innovations just revealed in Korea.

    Samsung SDI Co and LG Chem Co, South Korea’s two major battery makers, are expanding their product portfolios into flexible cells for wearable devices, a move seen to meet increasing global demand for bendable gadgets such as smartwatches.

    The two battery-making units of Samsung Group and LG Group showcased their latest flexible battery lineups at an exhibition in Seoul.

    Samsung SDI unveiled two types of flexible batteries – a stripe and band-type — that are designed to be applied for use in various wearable devices as necklaces and hair bands, the company said.

    The ultra-slim, 0.3mm-thin stripe battery, showcased for the first time, is a next-generation battery made with fibre which enables far greater flexibility than existing bendable cells, the company said.

    The band-type battery is designed to be used in smartwatches and is proven to resist over 50,000 bendings and enhance a gadget’s capacity by up to 50 per cent, it added.

    The Samsung unit supplies the bulk of its batteries to its bigger affiliate Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s top smartphone maker. Recently there have been market speculations that Samsung’s next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S7, will come in a bendable form. The smartphone is forecast to be released early next year.

    LG Chem also put on display a wristband-type battery called “wire battery” that can be folded into half. The company developed a wire-type battery in 2013 for the first time in the world, before it came up with the world’s first hexagonal-shape battery in June.

    LG Chem said the band-type and hexagonal batteries will likely double the battery capacity for smartwatches.

    According to global market tracker Gartner, smartwatches are forecast to account for 40 per cent of wrist-wearing devices in the world by 2016, with its global shipments to surpass 100 million in 2020.

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  • Malaysia smartphones sales peak at 8.5m units in 2014

    Malaysia smartphones sales peak at 8.5m units in 2014

    Malaysian consumers just cannot get enough of smartphones; buying more of them each year to bring annual sales volume to yet another peak in 2014 at 8.5 million.

    GfK retail sales tracking showed consumers buying around USD2.66 billion worth of the popular gadget between January and December last year. Total consumer spend, however, was down by 4 percent against 2013 due to the falling prices of smartphones in the country.

    “There was an influx of strong new players in the smartphones and phablets market in the past year, presenting an even wider array of more affordable options for consumers,” saidSelinna Chin, Managing Director for GfK in Malaysia. “Demand peaked in December when sales volume in that month alone reached nearly 769,000 units—over 106,000 more than the slowest sales month in the same year.”

    All regions across the country exhibited stable growth in 2014, with the Central region contributing to nearly half (46 percent) of the entire market share volume.

    The biggest spike in sales was contributed by the USD150 to USD200 segment of smartphones. Its volume share grew from 10 percent of the total market in 2013 to 16 percent in 2014; making it now the biggest segment within the local market.

    “Smartphones below USD200 will continue to be in demand moving into 2015, driven by the multitude of brands, improved technical specifications, aggressive marketing and price erosion — key factors which will further encourage consumers to replace their smartphones,” said Chin. “In a separate GfK consumer survey conducted nationwide, nearly half of all respondents indicated that price is the most important deciding factor when choosing which phone to buy.”

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  • Smartphones boost Indonesian ecommerce

    Smartphones boost Indonesian ecommerce

    Smartphone shipments to Indonesia will grow 20 percent during 2015 and will give a boost to the country’s ecommerce industry, according to a new forecast from research firm IDC. Some 24.8 million smartphones were shipped in 2014.

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  • Over half of mobile phones now smartphones in Japan, says survey

    Over half of mobile phones now smartphones in Japan, says survey

    Smartphone users now account for over half of Japan’s mobile telephone subscribers, a survey of 2,000 adults said on Saturday.

    The Dec. 5 to 8 survey, which drew valid responses from 63.7 percent of the pollees, found the ratio had risen to 52.7 percent from 43.7 percent a year ago.

    Usage was quite high among young people, with 93.4 percent of subscribers in their 20s and 85.7 percent in their 30s using smartphones, the survey said.

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