Try Yahoo Finance on Firefox »Source: Could InMobi Boost Microsoft's Presence in the Smartphone Space?
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Could InMobi Boost Microsoft’s Presence in the Smartphone Space?
Try Yahoo Finance on Firefox »Source: Could InMobi Boost Microsoft's Presence in the Smartphone Space?
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo: the challengers leading China’s charge against Apple
Xiaomi sold 70 million phones in 2015. Photograph: Pichi Chuang/Reuters
The idea that one of America's most talismanic businesses – and the world's biggest company by market value – might one day come to rely on China for its growth would have seemed strange just a decade ago. But for iPhone maker Apple, what happens on the other side of the world is suddenly crucial to its future.
Speaking to analysts last week as the company released its fourth-quarter earnings, chief executive Tim Cook couldn't assuage concerns. While proclaiming the "best results ever" in greater China, with revenues up 14% to more than $18bn, he also admitted that "we began to see some signs of economic softness [there] earlier this month, most notably in Hong Kong." The shares, already down from $130 last May to $100, clattered down another few dollars.
Cook emphasised that he remained "confident about the long-term potential of the China market". There again, on previous occasions Cook has been equally confident about the long-term future of the iPad – and its sales have now fallen for eight quarters in row.
Now Apple faces three key challenges in the Chinese market, the world's largest for smartphones: the economic headwinds and falling share prices cutting into consumer spending and confidence; the saturated market; and the intensifying competition from far cheaper homegrown rivals.
China's phone market, which accounted for a third of all smartphone sales worldwide in 2015, is already slowing as the number of first-time phone buyers declines and people delay replacement purchases. A year ago, phones were being replaced on average after just 13 months; now that period is lengthening. According to Woody Oh, an analyst at research group Strategy Analytics, total Chinese smartphone sales in October-December actually fell by 4%, to 118m; Apple sold 15.5m phones there, up from 13.5m a year before, while its worldwide sales remained flat at 74.4m.
But that was only enough to make Apple the third-biggest supplier behind local firms Huawei (pronounced "Hoo-wah-way") and Xiaomi ("she-yow-mee"), which each sold nearly 18m units. And just behind Apple were two more local rivals, Vivo and Oppo.
All of the rivals offer much cheaper products, running Android software (without Google's services inside China; with them outside) and they have seen scorching growth in 2015.
Huawei principally builds telecoms network equipment, but has been solidly expanding its handset business. Almost half of the 108m it turned out in 2015 were exported. Xiaomi had aimed for 100m in total, but slow first-half sales cut that to 70m for the year, of which 90% were sold in China. Oppo, meanwhile, has grown by 67% in the year, shifting 50m units worldwide.
Shops advertising the iPhone 6S in Shenzhen. Photograph: Bobby Yip/ReutersThe absence of Samsung, the world's most prolific smartphone maker, from China's top five may seem surprising. But it has been hurt more than Apple by low-cost rivals in the past two years; Xiaomi pushed it from the top spot in 2014, and the local competition has eaten away at its sales.
Now, though, those rivals are trying to take a bigger bite out of Apple. But they are coming up against the power of its brand – which, so far, remains highly aspirational in China.
Unlike phone makers using Google's Android, Apple – which writes its own iOS software – remains able to command premium pricing, and more.
The dollar's strength means that in China an entry-level iPhone 6S that in the US costs $649 is priced at the equivalent of $833. And this in a country where the mean income is 56,339 yuan – about £6,000 or $8,500. The cheapest iPhone thus costs more than a month's wages; in the west, that used to be the measure of how much to spend on a diamond engagement ring.
Yet it is a price people have been willing to pay, specifically because it is expensive. The FT's Jonathan Margolis recalled last week how "when I used a nice Android [phone] in the company of a friend in Shanghai, she advised me that I looked 'like a poor man from the country'." For urban dwellers, having an iPhone, or a phone easily mistaken for an iPhone, is still a status symbol.
In addition, Apple has better distribution than smaller rivals through deals with China Mobile, the world's largest telecoms player, and the two other networks. "Apple has worked hard to extend its retailer coverage across China, while Apple Music and other localised services have refreshed the iOS ecosystem for Chinese consumers," notes Oh.
Neil Shah at Counterpoint Research, another analysis firm, says that Xiaomi has had great success attracting first-time customers in the under-$150 segment, where it competes with local rivals such as Lenovo. But at the upgrade stage it loses customers, who shift to Huawei, Oppo – and Apple. "Almost half of the iPhones that we sold in China last quarter were to people who were buying their first iPhone," Cook told analysts – suggesting about 7m successes in getting people to lay out money.
However that willingness to buy Apple's product will be sorely tested this year as China's economy struggles.
Cook's revenue guidance already implies a fall in sales against the year before. Having pushed Samsung aside, local rivals will be looking to complete a clean sweep of the bestselling phones this time next year.
Samsung has fallen out of the list of China's top five smartphone suppliers Photograph: Edgar Su/ReutersRISING STARS
Huawei A Chinese company that also makes telecoms networking equipment, it sold 108m smartphones in 2015. Best known for its founder's links to the Red Army – which has meant its network gear has been banned from the US over spying suspicions. In the UK, however, BT uses Huawei equipment extensively.
ZTE Like Huawei, a Chinese company that also makes network equipment, but for which handsets are increasingly important: it grew 36% in 2015, to more than 60m handsets, aiming for the low-end market. But it doesn't publish financial data, so profit or loss is unknown.
Lava Indigenous to India, Lava is one of the fastest-growing companies in the newest fast-growth market, now that China has slowed to a crawl. Like all its rivals, it uses Google's Android, but unusually has Intel chips powering the phones. This year it aims to expand into Mexico.
Oppo The Chinese smartphone brand shipped 50m handsets in 2015, up 67%, to rank among the world's top 10. It competes with Xiaomi on price, but has had more success abroad in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.
FALLING STARS
HTC The Taiwanese company made the first Android phone, and was once the US's largest Android supplier. But it shrank 17% in 2015 and has made losses for three quarters in a row. With no services business, it is being crushed by the competition.
Lenovo/Motorola Lenovo is the world's biggest PC maker, and bought American mobile-phone pioneer Motorola in 2014, but has been unable to bring it to profit. It is also losing out in the fiercely competitive Chinese market to Huawei and Xiaomi, seeing sales fall and losses mount.
Microsoft/Nokia Microsoft bought the rump of Nokia's phone business in September 2013, but has seen sales droop and been unable to find profitability. Sales shrank nearly 30% in 2015, according to Counterpoint.
Sony Though it makes camera sensors for everyone including Apple and Samsung, Sony's phone business has lost more than $1bn in the past two years, and sales peaked in 2014. Management has wondered about a sale, even while scaling down to cut losses.
LG Korean rival to Samsung in almost every consumer electronics business, its premium phones are well-regarded by critics yet have sold poorly, leaving sales flat and profits elusive.
Source: Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo: the challengers leading China's charge against Apple
Friday, January 29, 2016
Chinese smartphone makers gain on giants Samsung and Apple
Global smartphone shipments grew 12 percent annually from 1.28 billion in full-year 2014 to a record 1.44 billion in 2015, according to Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) services. For the full year, however, Apple boosted its shipments by 20.2 percent to 231.5 million units.
This is the strongest year-on-year growth of any vendor, IDC said, crediting it to the firm's affordable handsets aimed at emerging markets and "increasingly competitive" high-end line-up.
He pointed out that Huawei, which Strategy Analytics ranked as the world's third-largest smartphone supplier past year behind Samsung and Apple, was facing a strong challenge on the mainland and in the worldwide markets by the iPhone maker and Xiaomi. It can also claim to be one of the few brands in China that have not been affected by the so-called economic slowdown.
Huawei follows at number 3 with 32.4 million units shipped and tallies 8.1 percent of the whole smartphone shipments.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, a total of 399.5 million smartphones have been shipped, which seems better when compared to the same quarter of 2014.
"Huawei is poised to be in a good position to hold onto a strong No. 3 over the next year", Chau said. And as the WSJ reported, the company also said it hired an R&D executive to focus specifically on mobile software - previously the company had an R&D executive focusing on both hardware and software.
Samsung shipped 85.6 million units in Q4 2015, up 14 percent year-over-year from 75.1 million units. The comparison is largely unbalanced, however, as Samsung sells dozens of different smartphone models worldwide, while Apple now only sells the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and iPhone 5s.
IDC had similar market share numbers, but IDC Research Manager Anthony Scarsella was a little more optimistic about Apple.
Tablets and wearables, meanwhile, should make up a growing amount of the mobile unit's business, Samsung said. Another Chinese brand, OPPO, pushed into the top-five China rankings for the first time ever, with 10.8 million smartphones shipped and 9 percent marketshare in Q4 2015. Last year's fourth quarter shipments grew just six percent from the same period in 2014, marking the sector's slowest growth rate of all time.
"As for the outlook for 2016, Samsung expects single-digit percentage growth in both the smartphone and tablet categories amid softening demand and intensifying competition", Samsung said in a statement.
Even Though, Xiaomi has increased sales in India and have launched the product in Brazil, it still is leaning heavily on the Chinese market for growth.
Source: Chinese smartphone makers gain on giants Samsung and Apple
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Huawei expects 300% smartphone sales growth, launches 2 models
NEW DELHI: Eyeing 300 per cent growth in its India smartphone sales, Chinese telecom major Huawei today launched two new 4G phones under the Honor brand.
Source: Huawei expects 300% smartphone sales growth, launches 2 models
"We have seen good response in India. This year we expect a large number of feature phone users to convert to smartphone and that is where our focus is. We are looking for 300 per cent growth in smartphones sales in India and Honor 5X and Holly 2 Plus are crucial for this," Huawei India President of Consumer Business Group Allen Wang told PTI.
Huawei sold one million smartphones in 2015 that includes 8,00,000 Honor branded phones.
Globally, Huawei shipped 108 million smartphones in 2015 and became the third largest player after Apple and Samsung.
The company today launched first metallic Honor phone 5X with expandable storage of up to 128 GB for Rs 12,999. It has Qualcomm's octa-core processor, 3,000 mAh battery, 13 megapixel main camera and 5MP front camera.
"The phone comes with a premium aircraft grade m etal that offers 5 layer heat sinks with copper shielding cover. It is full HD phone can be unlocked in 0.5 seconds. Honor 5X is a dual-sim phone where one slot is from nano-sim and other micro sim," Huawei India Vice President Sales Consumer Business Group P Snajeev said.
The company also launched Holly 2 Plus 4G smartphone for Rs 8,499. It has 4,000 mAh battery that support high-speed data service like video, music etc.
"Holly 2 Plus can deliver up to 48 hours of continued usage with 4,000 mAh battery. It can support 20 hours of usage with 10 per cent battery by switching the phone to ultra power saving mode. This phone features reverse charging technology so it can charge another smartphone or tablet using a micro-B USB cable," Sanjeev said
The phone supports both GSM and CDMA network as well and is specially designed for India market.
"Today what we are launching, our competitors will launch similar products in 5-6 months but we are not entering into pric e war. We are looking experience of customers and with Honor our strategy at present is to catch youth and convert feature phone user to smartphone," Wang said.
He said that company will keep the price at levels where it gets enough margin to plough it back in to research and development.
"A mobile can be made just by a team of 10 people but we have look at customers experience. We have our own chipsets, our own emotion UI and many patents. There are about 1.7 lakh Huawei employees working in R&D so you can imagine the effort we make in creating a product," Wang said.
In India, Huawei has around 3,000 people in R&D and 500 work on phones exclusively.
Source: Huawei expects 300% smartphone sales growth, launches 2 models
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
New quarterly data ranks iPhone high in China & US despite challenging conditions
iPhone loyalty is at its strongest point in the U.S. since 2012, and despite numerous obstacles in China, Apple has managed to reclaim a position as the bestselling smartphone brand in that region, according to a new December-quarter research report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
Source: New quarterly data ranks iPhone high in China & US despite challenging conditions
The company now has 27.1 percent share of the Chinese smartphone market, and the top three selling models, Kantar said on Wednesday. The iPhone is facing threats from a number of directions, including a troubled local economy and Android phonemakers like Huawei and Xiaomi. During a conference call on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that the company is beginning to face a tougher time in Greater China, particularly Hong Kong.
The company's U.S. share reached 39.1 percent during the quarter. Android, however, made progress in both the U.S. and the "big five" European markets (Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), advancing to 59 and 71 percent, respectively.
Apple's customer acqusition from Android also declined year-over-year from 13 percent to 11 percent. Simultaneously, the contribution of first-time smartphone buyers to iPhone sales dropped from 20 percent to 11 percent.
Althouh Apple recorded its most financially successful quarter ever on Tu esday, iPhone sales grew compartively little year-over-year. The company in fact guided to its first-ever iPhone sales decline in the March quarter, though it has tried to assuage fears by pointing out the decline would be relative to unexpectedly high sales from a year ago.
Source: New quarterly data ranks iPhone high in China & US despite challenging conditions
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
iPhone 5se: Apple Eyes Midrange With 4-Inch Smartphone Featuring Touch ID, Better Camera, Siri
The words "cheap" and "iPhone" don't usually go together. Yet rumors that Apple is about to launch a smartphone aimed at the masses have gained credence this week — signaling CEO Tim Cook's desire to boost growth even if that means sacrificing some of the luster typically associated with the Apple brand.
The strategy is risky. With the company due to report stagnant iPhone sales in its results Tuesday, analysts are warning that while a cheap iPhone may increase sales, if Apple's not careful it could also cannibalize its more profitable premium smartphones.
The most recent reports suggest Apple will launch a 4-inch iPhone in March, an update of the iPhone 5s that will look more like a slimmed-down version of the current flagship models, with curved edges and the same color options. It is also expected to bring a vastly improved camera, Touch ID, always-on Siri and the Live Photos feature that debuted on the iPhone 6s.
Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac, who has a pretty decent record with breaking details of new Apple products, says the new device will be called the iPhone 5se, which would seem an odd choice of branding for a phone launched in 2016, when Apple is also expected to launch the iPhone 7.
"The reports of a more affordable iPhone are becoming more and more detailed and therefore more credible," Jan Dawson, chief analyst with Jackdaw Research, told International Business Times. "It sounds like this device may be more compelling than the 5c was, but it will be very interesting to see how Apple positions it, and especially how it prices it."
The iPhone 5c was hailed, before it was launched, as the budget iPhone everyone had been waiting for. However, when Apple finally unveiled it in September 2013 it was priced at $549. Within weeks of the launch Apple was cutting orders for the colorful smartphone as consumers failed to get excited about a "cheap" device that had a price tag higher than most premium Android phones.
Gurman reports that the iPhone 5se will replace the iPhone 5s in Apple's lineup and will be priced similarly. Currently Apple is selling an unlocked iPhone 5s (16GB) for $450, which is slightly outside what most consider to be the midrange price bracket of $200 to $400 — a sector of the market in which Apple has not been active to date.
Apple has been able to command a huge price premium on its iPhones simply because they are aspirational products. The company rakes in over 90 percent of the profits from the smartphone market, while its share of that market is just over 13 percent — this is thanks to margins of up to 70 percent on its smartphones.
The hugely successful iPhone business has been a driving force in Apple becoming the world's most valuable company, but with Wall Street analysts declaring the party over, the impact of a cheap iPhone on Apple's overall business is unclear.
A cheap iPhone would be a compelling choice for many users, both in mature markets like the U.S. and developing markets like China and India, where the cachet of the Apple brand is still a huge selling point.
However, cheaper alone will not be enough, as consumers want access to at least some of the latest features, including the Apple Pay mobile wallet. "A device that is an update of the [iPhone 5s] with updates that allow users to access important aspects of the software and allows Apple to monetize from Apple Pay sounds like a smart move," Carolina Milanesi, research director with Kantar WorldPanel ComTech, told IBT.
If the iPhone 5se is too compelling, Apple will begin to eat into its core business and therefore lose money on lower-margin models. "It's got to be clear that this is an inferior device to the new, top-of-the-line models in order for Apple to continue to sell plenty of those," Dawson said.
Apple has embraced the big-screen smartphone in a big way and has allowed third-party keyboards to be downloaded through the App Store. The only thing left to do, it seems, is launch a midrange or cheap iPhone.
Source: iPhone 5se: Apple Eyes Midrange With 4-Inch Smartphone Featuring Touch ID, Better Camera, Siri
Monday, January 25, 2016
Now, Lenovo K5 Note in China Market
The Chinese smartphone maker Lenovo has announced K5 Note which is said to be the successor of the recently launched K4 Note in China. It gets a 13MP rear snapper with PDAF autofocus, f/2.2 aperture and an 8MP front-facing camera.
Lenovo K5 Note flaunts a 5.5-inch HD display with 1920x1080 pixels resolution.
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The Phone is priced at CNY 1,099 or approximately Rs. 11,350. It remains to be seen when Lenovo brings K5 Note in India. As of this writing, we don't have information about the availability of Lenovo K5 Note outside China.
The new Lenovo K5 Note packs a lot of improvement over the K4 Note such as an all-metal body.
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It's interesting why Lenovo has launched the K5 Note within a month of launching the K4 Note. Other feature that draws attention towards the handset is its fingerprint scanner, placed below the camera module on the rear panel, though a similar sensor is on board the Vibe K4 Note as well.
The handset is powered by a octa core 1.8GHz Helio P10 processor and it comes with 2GB of RAM and a Mali-T860 GPU. Interestingly, the Lenovo K5 Note has a Dolby Atmos powered speakers for enhanced sound. There is 16GB of internal storage along with a MicroSD card slot that can expand the storage upto 128GB. It runs 5.1 Lollipop with a layer of company's Vibe UI on top. The smartphone has a Dual Nano-SIM. It also has a digital compass, accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensor. 4G LTE is compatible with India's LTE bands as well. Connectivity options include GPRS / EDGE, 3G, A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and Micro-USB and FM Radio.
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Source: Now, Lenovo K5 Note in China Market
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Half of China uses mobile phones to go online
Beijing: About 620 million, nearly half of China, used mobile phones to access the web as of the end of 2015, making them a major driver of growth in the country's Internet user population, a new official report has showed.
According to the report released by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) on Friday, the number of Chinese surfing the web via phone increased by 63.03 million in 2015, accounting for 90.1 percent of the total 688 million Internet users in the country.
It said about 620 million Chinese, nearly half of the country's population, had used mobile phones to access the Internet as of the end of the last year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Mobile phones have become a major driver of growth in China's Internet user population - already by far the world's most numerous, the CNNIC report noted.
Beijing, however, imposes strict controls on online content, while e-commerce is a vital part of its efforts to transform the economy into one driven more by consumer demand.
China blocks websites it deems politically sensitive in a system dubbed the "Great Firewall of China".
The report also said that around 127 million Chinese access the Internet only via cellphones.
Internet coverage expansion has helped improve public services, living standards, and e-commerce.
China's population stood at over 1.35 billion as per the 2013 data.
According to the report, the numbers of people who use mobile payment services, consult doctors online or receive education through the Internet reached 358 million, 152 million and 110 million, respectively, in 2015.
Moreover, about 96.6 million Chinese, or one in 14, ordered a taxi online in 2015, with most using mobile phones to do so, the report showed.
China has 413 million online shoppers. Last year, more than 50 million people tried online shopping for the first time.
Source: Half of China uses mobile phones to go online
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Xiaomi to maximize its offline smartphone sale this year
New Delhi, Jan 23: Signalling a shift from an online-focused strategy to offline sales, Xiaomi Inc announced that it aims to sell double the number of handsets offline in China this year than analysts estimated it sold offline in the last year. The online-driven sales model propelled Beijing-based Xiaomi to second among Chinese smartphone vendors in 2015, just three years after releasing its first handset and five years after inception, showed data from researcher TrendForce. (Also Read: Xiaomi launches Mi Pad 2)
China's smartphone market witnessed Xiaomi make the most of its sales by ramping up sales through retailers and raise its number of "Mi Home" stores to 50 from 20 stated a source. This year, the company aims to sell 58 million smartphones in China alone through retailers including Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd, GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. Xiaomi is China's most valuable technology startup with an estimated worth of USD 45 billion. But missing the tail end of its 80 million to 100 million handset sales target last year has cast doubt on that valuation, analysts said.
Modified Date: January 23, 2016 4:39 PM commentSource: Xiaomi to maximize its offline smartphone sale this year
Friday, January 22, 2016
Facebook Tweak Could Evade Chinese, Iranian Censors
Many Facebook users in China and Iran may be able to access the world's largest social network on their smartphones without fear of surveillance, thanks to a software adjustment that links them to an "anonymizer" that hides their location and identity.
Facebook's app for smartphones that use the Android system has the new feature. It links Facebook to the Tor Project, which allows users to circumvent censorship and effectively shield their privacy.
Tor software is free, maintained by volunteer privacy advocates. Facebook users with Android phones can install a mobile Tor app called Orbot, tap a button in the Facebook app and be automatically connected to Facebook through the Tor network.
Apple's iPhones, which use a different operating system, cannot link to Tor, and no counterpart to the Android app is expected.
Facebook says the "tweak" to its app was not designed with China and Iran in mind. Since much of Facebook's growth - there are currently 1.4 billi on users worldwide - is occurring outside the United States, industry analysts see the "anonymizer" feature as a tool to expand the social network's audience even further, especially among cellphone users.
"It's really about making the experience better for people who are already connecting to Facebook over Tor," Facebook spokeswoman Melanie Ensign told CNN television.
A spokeswoman for the Tor Project echoed those sentiments, emphasizing the importance of privacy.
"Everybody in the world needs more privacy online and almost everybody is on Facebook," Tor's Kate Krauss said in an interview with Reuters. "This will allow people to choose whether to share their location or not. For some people, this is convenience. For others it is lifesaving."
Tor originally was created by United States Naval Research Laboratory employees as a way to protect secret data sent over the Internet. As the service has grown it has been criticized by some for complicating the work of U.S. intelligence agencies that extensively monitor Internet traffic.
Using Tor is no guarantee of free access for Facebook users in China, Iran or other relatively closed societies. The Chinese government, for example, has long been engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Tor and other privacy advocates looking for new ways to get past the so-called Great Firewall of China.
A technology industry analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology, Joseph Lorenzo Hall, sees the latest development primarily as a way to increase Facebook's "share" of cellphone users worldwide.
"They want to make sure they get everyone in the world connected to Facebook, and this is the only way they'll get people to do it," Hall told CNN.
Source: Facebook Tweak Could Evade Chinese, Iranian Censors
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Xiaomi to double offline smartphone sales
Xiaomi Inc aims to sell double the number of handsets offline in China this year than analysts estimated it sold offline globally last year, an internal document showed, signalling a shift away from an online-focused strategy copied by resurgent competition.The online-driven sales model propelled Beijing-based Xiaomi to second among Chinese smartphone vendors in 2015, just three years after releasing its first handset and five years after inception, showed data from researcher TrendForce.But Xiaomi missed its global shipment target by 12%, selling 70mn handsets in a year when local rivals such as Lenovo Group and top player Huawei Technologies Co countered at home with similar Internet-only sales.Last year also saw growth slow for the first time in China's smartphone market, the world's biggest and where Xiaomi makes most of its sales. In response, Xiaomi aims to ramp up sales through retailers and raise its number of "Mi Home" stores to 50 from 20, said a pers on close to the matter."Xiaomi is trying to expand offline rapidly," said the person, who declined to be identified as the information was confidential. "But mi.com is still the core business," the person said, referring to Xiaomi's website.Analysts estimated 40% of Xiaomi's 2015 global total, or 28mn smartphones, was sold offline. This year, the company aims to sell 58mn smartphones in China alone through retailers including Suning Commerce Group Co, GOME Electrical Appliances Holding and Beijing Digital Telecom Co's D.Phone, showed an internal document reviewed by Reuters.Privately held Xiaomi, in response to a request for comment, said it had not set any performance targets for this year. Suning and GOME did not immediately respond to requests for comment. D.Phone Marketing Manager Wang Yue said Xiaomi would account for "a big part" of its smartphone sales but declined to elaborate.Xiaomi is China's most valuable technology startup with an estimated worth of $45bn. But missing the tail end of its 80mn to 100mn handset sales target last year has cast doubt on that valuation, analysts said.The vendor has been losing market share as consumers increasingly split between those opting for cheaper phones and those aiming at premium models from established rivals such as ZTE Corp Xiaomi's line-up sits mainly in between.Partnering retailers to stem the decline would add costs to a startup whose profit margin is likely already very thin, said analyst Jason Low at researcher Canalys."Xiaomi certainly has to adjust its strategy," said Low. "You can't reach a certain target audience, such as people in the countryside, solely via online channels."
Source: Xiaomi to double offline smartphone sales
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
China's LeEco makes India debut; partners ErosNow & YuppTV
By indiantelevision.com Team Posted on : 20 Jan 2016 07:59 pm
MUMBAI: Internet and technology company and one of the largest online video companies in China LeEco has forayed into the Indian smartphone market with the launch of LeEco Max smartphone. What's more, the company has inked content partnerships with over-the-top (OTT) players ErosNow and YuppTV. LeEco has launched their flagship superphones, Le Max & Le1s, in the Indian market. As their partner, ErosNow will be integrated within the Le ecosystem of internet enabled smartphones and smart televisions, showcasing ErosNow's Bollywood films, music and Originals. Devices will include a one-year premium subscription to ErosNow service pre-bundled with the purchase of the phones. On the other hand, YuppTV will provide 250 live channels across 12 languages, offering entertainment, news, movies, music, kids, lifestyle and spiritual content. With a focus on maximum user engagement and satisfaction, the ErosNow service will be seamlessly integrated into the user interface of Le devi ces purchased in India. Eros International group CEO and MD Jyoti Deshpande said, "Content consumption is surging across consumers with patterns changing rapidly and internet entertainment networks becoming increasingly popular. Our partnership with LeEco is part of our philosophy to provide consumers entertainment whenever and wherever they want it." "When content owners and platforms come together like Eros and LeEco, we provide a compelling consumer proposition. We are confident the LeEco range will be able establish its success in the attractive Indian market bundled with our premium content that consumers will love," she added. LeEco Asia Pacific CEO Tin Mok said, "We are excited to be entering the attractive and vibrant Indian market and partner with some great companies here like Eros who is a proven market leader in Indian entertainment. We sold four million phones in China last year and our target this year is 15 million and we hope to replicate that success in India and wow the Indian consumer with our super phones and televisions packed with features. We are pioneers and innovators in the technology world and creating a seamless ecosystem has worked for us very well in China. We believe the Indian consumer will get great value and user experience from our cool phones at compelling prices with annual subscription of ErosNow built into the price."
Source: China's LeEco makes India debut; partners ErosNow & YuppTV
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Chinese Smartphone Giant Xiaomi, Huayi Brothers Partner on Film Venture
Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has made an undisclosed investment in a start-up film venture backed by Chinese movie studio Huayi Brothers Media.
Xiaomi's investment in the new banner, dubbed New Saint, was unveiled in Beijing. Huayi Brothers is said to have been one of the earliest investors in the year-old start-up film company. Financial details of both companies' stakes in New Saint have not been disclosed.
"Xiaomi will make more investment[s] to build one of the biggest video content pools in the industry," Xiamoi CEO Lei Jun told state-backed newspaper China Daily. "It is important for us to beat competitors," he added, explaining that the deal is part of a broader strategy of winning over customers with content, not just smartphone and smart TV hardware.
Xiaomi is the latest major Chinese tech company to try to tap into China's booming film industry, which saw theatrical box office expand 48 percent last year. Search giant Baidu, e-commerce behemoth Alibaba and tech titan Tencent have all launched or acquired multi-faceted entertainment subsidiaries in recent years.
Beijing-based Xiaomi is the world's fourth-largest smartphone producer by sales volume and market share, behind Apple, Samsung and Huawei, respectively, according to International Data Corporation. One of the company's top rivals in the hardware space, LeTV, launched a film studio of its own, LeVision Pictures, back in 2011, so Xiaomi has some catching up to do.
In Nov. 2014, Xiaomi announced that it would invest $1 billion in TV and video content in an effort to diversify from its core hardware business by also owning a piece of the content beamed to its phones. The company followed the announcement with a $300 million investment in Baidu-owned streaming video service iQiyi, followed by an additional tie-up with competing online video platform Youku Tudou.
New Saint will focus initially on screenwriting and talent development. "We want to promote screenwriting, and the significance of screenwriters to film projects," Tian Yusheng, a co-founder of New Saint and screenwriter (Lost on a Journey), told the Chinese state press.
The venture has already recruited several established Chinese filmmakers, including cinematographer and director Gu Changwei (Farewell My Concubine, Love on the Cloud) and Guan Hu (Mr. Six) to serve in supervisory and consulting roles.
Source: Chinese Smartphone Giant Xiaomi, Huayi Brothers Partner on Film Venture
Monday, January 18, 2016
Xiaomi Sales Climb, But Still Miss Target of 100m Smartphones in 2015
The 100m target was set in 2014 by Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, then lowered to 80m in the middle of 2015 when H1 results were less than expected. In the end, the company managed to sell 70m handsets in 2015, an impressive result but surely disappointing to Jun and the rest of the company which has seen a meteoric rise in the last few years.
The company cited the saturation of the Chinese smartphone market as the major reason it failed to reach its goal, with overall smartphone sales slowing as the market reaches maturity and consumer needs change.
The Beijing-based startup is currently valued at $46bn and has built its success on low- and mid-range phones supported by unconventional marketing that has focused on building a loyal online community and avoiding traditional print and television ads.
While the company will hardly be elated about missing its target for the year, it does have cause for celebration in its victory over rival manufacturer Huawei which, despite boosted international brand awareness from its partnership with Google for the Nexus 6P, it beat for first place in terms of sales.
Source: Xiaomi Sales Climb, But Still Miss Target of 100m Smartphones in 2015
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Huawei vows to grab more of luxury smartphone market
Huawei Technologies Co, which analysts said boosted the global prominence of Chinese smartphone makers in 2015, has set an ambitious goal for 2016. The company wants to be the biggest mid- and high-end smartphone brand in China. Other domestic smartphone manufacturers have also entered the high-end segment, signifying threats to Apple Inc.
Source: Huawei vows to grab more of luxury smartphone market
A consumer checks out Huawei smartphones earlier this year at a store in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province. Photo: CFP
After spending two years in fight for survival in fiercely competitive smartphone business, Huawei Technologies Co believes now is the time for it to take a leading position in the mid- to high-end segment of the market.At an internal meeting on Wednesday, Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei required the company's consumer division to "rapidly" grab more of the smartphone market where the company has an advantage in scale.
Ren, who played a key role in the development of China's telecom industry, set an ambitious sales goal for the division, according to a written record of the meeting seen by the Global Times. It aims to generate more than $100 billion in revenue in five years.
In 2015, Huawei made a big splash when its consumer division's revenue surged nearly 70 percent year-on-year to more than $20 billion. Its sales revenue was driven by a 44 percent annual increase in smartphone shipments to a robust 108 million units.
"I think we will be the survivor in the futu re, but whether we can be a real leader depends on [our efforts in the] next significant period of 2016-17," Yu Chengdong, head of Huawei's consumer division, told the press at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the US.
Great ambitions
To meet its goals of becoming a market leader, Huawei has pinned its hopes on the mid- and high-end smartphone market.
At Wednesday's meeting, Ren gave the consumer division a mission-critical assignment to create the mid- and high-end smartphone brand, which he believed would then drive sales of Huawei's low-end phone brand Honor.
Analysts applauded Ren's new strategy. "The only way that Huawei can boost its brand awareness and maintain sustainable development is by entering the high-end market, which has much higher profit margins than the low-end market," said Zhu Dalin, an industry analyst with the market research firm Analysys International.
Huawei actually started raising its profile at t he upper end of the market in 2015, when it released an array of premium smartphones, including the Mate and Ascend P models.
It launched its latest high-end smartphone, the Mate 8, a couple of months after the release of the iPhone 6s Plus by Apple Inc. Huawei sold more than 1 million units of the Mate 8 in the first month after it debuted on December 9, 2015.
Huawei is not alone in targeting the high-end market.
"This is an industry trend, a way of seeking higher profits," Zhu told the Global Times on Thursday.
The mid- and high-end smartphone market, which encompasses phones priced between 3,000 yuan ($456) and 4,000 yuan, accounted for around 77 percent of the overall mobile phone shipments in China in the third quarter of 2015, according to a report released by market consultancy Qianzhan in November 2015. That figure is up from 8 percent in all of 2014.
Challenging Apple
The goal of China's aggressive smartphone manufacturers is to seize mar ket shares from other high-end overseas brands, including Apple and Samsung.
"Our new year's resolution for 2016 is to overtake Apple in China's high-end market," Yu said.
He added that Huawei is trying to become the No.1 smartphone vendor in 2016, as well as the No.1 high-end player, especially in its home market.
A report by Taipei-based market research firm TrendForce on Thursday showed that China-based makers' combined shipments accounted for more than 40 percent of the global smartphone market in 2015, taking seven of the top 10 spots in the global vendor ranking.
Huawei led the global rise of Chinese smartphone makers, ranking the third overall. It's global smartphone shipments increased by 2.2 percentage points from a year earlier to 8.4 percent in 2015. Apple ranked the second with 17.5 percent, up 1.1 percentage points from 2014. TrendForce forecast that Apple's market share will drop to 16.8 percent, while Huawei's will rise to 9.3 percent in 2016.< /p>
Regarding the domestic smartphone market, Beijing-based Xiaomi Inc had the largest share - 15 percent, according to an industry consultancy OFweek's report issued on Friday. Huawei followed with 14 percent and Apple came in third with 11 percent.
Li Yi, an independent IT expert, predicted Huawei will be the leader of China's smartphone industry in 2016.
"Thanks to the growing brand awareness of Huawei boosted by the company's dual-brand strategy and its strong R&D capabilities, Huawei would undoubtedly surpass Xiaomi and threaten Apple," Li told the Global Times on Thursday.
Still, there is some doubt about whether Huawei can challenge Apple in the high-end segment.
"I have not seen any smartphones made by Chinese companies that can compare with iPhones," Zhu said.
"The latter has always been more competitive due to its unique operating system, while its Chinese rivals are Android adopters," Zhu noted.
As a whole, Chinese vendors remain strong across all market segments. "In 2016, TrendForce expects Chinese vendors to take around 45 percent of the global market share, with their shipments exceeding the combined shipments of Samsung and Apple… major international vendors are now facing a tougher market situation," TrendForce smartphone analyst Avril Wu said.
Troubling times ahead
Without a doubt, 2015 was a good year for Huawei and other domestic smartphone brands. But their challenges will only grow as the market matures.
As the smartphone demand weakens and users buy new phones less frequently, many cellphone makers in China will go out of business, analysts said.
Lenovo, which once had been seen as the leader of China's cellphone market, may be one. Both Li and Zhu said that Lenovo will not be able to return to its former glory, even with its acquisition of Motorola, due to its rigid management system.
"Phone makers can no longer rely only on smartphone sales as times have changed, " Li said. "Only the ones that offer users advanced Internet technology and killer online services via their devices will survive."
He said that traditional phone makers need to follow the example of Internet companies by creating their own ecosystems that combine Internet content with smart devices so they can further monetize their user traffic.
Foreign phone makers such as Apple and Samsung, as well as domestic peers like ZTE and Huawei, have already diversified into smart wearables area and now are exploring opportunities in Internet value-added services such as online payment tools.
While disclosing that its more than 70 million shipments in 2015 missed its 80 million unit target, Lei Jun, Xiaomi's CEO, said in a press conference held in Beijing on Friday that Xiaomi would set up its own R&D laboratory to develop cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent robots and the virtual reality.Newspaper headline: Aiming high-end
Source: Huawei vows to grab more of luxury smartphone market
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Xiaomi falls short of smartphone sales target in 2015
The Chinese smartphone maker sold more than 70 million smartphones in 2015, after it predicted reaching a 100 million milestone at the end of past year.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer had initially set its sales target at 100 million before revising it to 80 million. It had sold 34.7 million handsets during the first half of the year.
Growth in sales of smartphones is starting to slow down across China due to the saturation of this market, said an analysts located in Hong Kong. Also, even as giants including Samsung and Apple predict 2016 as a tough year for sales and are already taking precautionary measures, the company [Xiaomi] may just want to reconsider its goals too. It's a good number but falls short of their target of 80 million, and compared to erstwhile rival Huawei, it may not be enough to claim that they're the top selling Android brand.
However, other than India and China, its performance in certain markets has been nothing but lackluster, said analysts.
While Xiaomi's smartphones account for 90 percent of its revenues, the company is attempting to create an eco-system of products and services that are controlled by the smartphone in a bid to lessen its reliance on sales of smartphones though, to date, this has yet to prove viable. In December, the company signed a global licensing deal with USA chip maker Qualcomm, which will help any expansion into the us market.
A lack of patents has shackled Xiaomi's efforts in some of those regions so far - one court ruling has severely limited its pursuit of consumers in India, for instance - but the company appears to be arming itself with a patent portfolio to enable it to better compete in foreign markets. In his speech, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said: "The past year has been extraordinarily hard". This group is open to IT Leaders, MIS & IT Managers, Network & Infrastructure Managers who share insights, discuss challenges & wins and keep abreast of cutting edge technologies.
Source: Xiaomi falls short of smartphone sales target in 2015
Friday, January 15, 2016
Xiaomi tops Chinese smartphone market, despite sales miss
Xiaomi's Redmi Note 2 reflects the company's interest in budget phones.
Aloysius Low/CNETXiaomi has a case of good news, bad news.
The good news: The Chinese electronics maker sold 70 million smartphones last year and snagged the biggest slice of domestic market share. The bad news: Xiaomi was 30 million phones short of the 100 million target its CEO Lei Jun had set.
Jun initially set the 100 million goal in 2014, but later lowered his forecast to 80 million. The company released the new figures Friday.
Part of the reason Xiaomi failed to reach its goal was the general lagging in the Chinese smartphone market. Growth overall slowed in 2015. Still, Xiaomi's market share is significant because it means victory over rival Huawei, which itself had a big year and boosted international brand awareness via its partnership with Google on the Nexus 6P.
Another potential factor for lower phone sales is the lack of a successor to the Mi 4.
Xiaomi's brand was built on its midrange Mi line, but the company spent 2015 focusing both on budget phones such as the Redmi 3 and on higher-end devices like the Mi Note Premium.
Xiaomi also announced that Miui, its tweaked version of Android, has 170 million users across 156 countries, despite that its products are largely sold in Asia. Outside of smartphones, the company's MiTV line of televisions passed 1 million sales in 2015.
Source: Xiaomi tops Chinese smartphone market, despite sales miss
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Lenovo Launches Lemon 3 Smartphone in China for RMB 699
Tech
Lenovo's Lemon 3 Smartphone comes in two colors -- Silver and Gold color. (Photo : YouTube)
Tech giant Lenovo has launched its latest Smartphone called Lemon 3 in China for the price of RMB 699 ($106).
Earlier this week, the company introduced the Lenovo A7000 Turbo Smartphone in India and it has received good reviews and feedbacks from tech enthusiast. Lenovo again is releasing another flagship handset -- the Lemon 3.
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The Lenovo Lemon 3 Smartphone features a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution IPS display with pixel density of 441ppi. The device is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 clocked at 1.5GHz, paired with 2GB of RAM and Adreno 405 GPU on board. It supports dual standby SIMCARD slot with 4G connectivity and is powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system.
The Lemon 3 handset features 4G LTE networks. The device comes with a Bluetooth, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, and GPS options. It has a built-in 16GB internal storage, which can be expanded with a microSD card.
In terms of the camera, the Smartphone features a 13-megapixel main camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front "Selfie" shooter camera. The phone measures 142x71x7.99 mm and weighs 142 grams. Lemon 3 is powered by a 2750mAh capacity battery, which according to the company, can deliver up to 15 days of standby time on 4G, 32 hours of talk time on 2G, 12 hours of audio playback and 6.2 hours of video playback. In addition, the handset's audio output is powered by Maxx Audio.
Lenovo's Lemon 3 Smartphone comes in two colors -- Silver and Gold color. The company has announceed that the handset device is ready for reservation through the Lenovo shopping website. However, Lenovo has not announced any details regarding the availability and the price of the device outside China.
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Source: Lenovo Launches Lemon 3 Smartphone in China for RMB 699
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Indian mobile industry expects Chinese companies to invest $2-3 billion
NEW DELHI: The Indian mobile industry expects Chinese companies to invest $2-$3 billion (Rs 13,400 crore-Rs 20,100 crore) in local manufacturing operations over the next two years, although the component makers listed policy certainty, stable power supply and water availability as among the critical needs for setting up shop in the South Asian nation.
Source: Indian mobile industry expects Chinese companies to invest $2-3 billion
"To enter the Indian market, we need to make sure that the market is growing and secondly, that the policy of the local government is stable," said Bingshuang Chen, a representative from Holitech Technology Ltd., a maker of LCD and touchscreen panels. "We also care about the supply chain coming together with clients (smartphone makers) so that we can build an ecosystem."
Holitech plans to set up a manufacturing facility in India over the next three to five years, for which it is willing to put in 20% equity.
The government's Make in India programme is aimed at fuelling the manufacture of electronic products in the country, cutting imports to net zero by 2020. As a first step, many Indian and Chinese smartphone makers have started assembling devices in India. The Indian Cellular Association expects 500 million handsets to be manufactured locally by 2019. The target is to generate employment for about 1-2 lakh people.
The next step in the world's fastest-growing smartphone market is to set up a component manufacturing ecosystem so that handset makers can move up from assembling semi-knocked down devices to completely knocked-down and building from scratch up. For this, the entire component supply chain, which is largely based out of China, needs to be brought to India. This will ensure development of the country's mobile ecosystem and enable operational efficiencies from economies of scale and a reduction in prices.
Gordon Zhang, vice director of Transsion Holdings, said infrastructure that state governments offer such as power supply, water and gas required for manufacturing should be stab le. "Infrastructure of the Indian industry has room to improve," he said.
Transsion Holdings will launch its smartphone brand Tecno in India in the second quarter of this year. The company plans to set up a manufacturing plant for mobile phones in India, followed by tablets, lighting solutions and components. "We will focus on chargers and battery in the beginning and in the future maybe LCD modules," he added.
He Huang, representing Shenzen CameraKing Technology Co, said that while Indian handset makers offered a great market, a slew of Chinese players entering India at the same time will help create demand for a localised supply chain and make a stronger case for component makers to invest in the country.
However, he emphasised on the need for long-term policy stability because component makers would have to bring in their entire supply chain to India, which means they will invest much more than handset makers.
"It will be difficult for us to move out of In dia once we're invested," Huang said.
The concerns and challenges around production in India emerged from the first-of-its-kind summit to boost mobile handset and component manufacturing in India, jointly organised by the ICA in association with Mobile World (Shoujibao), China's leading mobile industry service platform.
Top officials from major Chinese companies such as Techno, Gionee, Coolpad, Holitech, Wingtech, Camera King, Galaxy Core, Poxiao, Vivo and Sprocomm participated in the summit and explored avenues to tap existing and emerging opportunities. Indian mobile companies such as Micromax, Lava, Karbonn, Spice, Vodafone and Intex also took part.
As per the joint initiative between Chinese and Indian mobile vendors, the local electronics manufacturing sector sought support of their Asian counterparts and ecosystem players to fulfill the ambitious objectives of Make in India and Digital India set out by the Narendra Modi-led government.
Source: Indian mobile industry expects Chinese companies to invest $2-3 billion
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
China's iPhone-clone Xiaomi defending its valuation after missing sales targets
Xiaomi—a Chinese startup that aimed to push out high volumes of low cost smartphones and then make money on ecosystem-related services—has missed its volume goal for 2015 while substantial revenues from services remain a "figment," casting doubts upon its $46 billion valuation.
Source: China's iPhone-clone Xiaomi defending its valuation after missing sales targets
In a report for the Wall Street Journal, Eva Dou stated that having "raised vast sums on China's mobile-Internet boom," Xiaomi is now "facing growing pressure to live up to expectations."
The smartphone maker, famous for making Android-based devices that look nearly indistinguishable from iPhones, has a $46 billion valuation based on "yet unrealized plans to generate substantial revenue from Internet services" the paper stated.
It added that Xiaomi also failed to reach its target of selling 80 to 100 million smartphones in 2015. The previous year it had sold 61 million units, representing 300 percent growth over 2013. However, improving sales volumes by another 30 percent proved to be impossible.
No room for hardware profitsWhile Apple has also come under scrutiny over the "difficult compare" of improving upon its massive sales volumes (in fiscal 2015 it sold 231 million iPhones), Apple sells its phones at a profit. iPhones have comfortable room for hardware margins, thanks to an Average Selling Price that increased over the past year by $67 to reach $670.
Over that same period of time, Xiaomi's smartphone ASP fell from $160 to $122, the Journal reported, based on figures from IDC. Huawei's ASP sits at $209 (up $8 over the last year). However, China's overall smartphone average price rose from $202 to $240 over the past year, suggesting that most of that price appreciation came from Apple's sales.
Similarly, while IDC depicted Xiaomi and Apple being virtually tied in global wearables unit sales and market share in August, it was comparing the roughly $450 Apple Watch to Xiaomi Mi Bands, which cost at most $25.
Services remain an illusory "figment"Despite slowing sales growth and plummeting ASPs, Xiaomi has centered its business strategy around services-based ecosystem and branded products, including a series of acquisitions related to smart-home products.
However, according to Steven Hu, a former partner in Xiaomi investor Qiming Venture Partners cited by the Journal, while "Xiaomi's promise lies in its ecosystem," he noted that "mobile services, e-commerce, branded consumer products—these still are largely just a figment rather than a huge and growing source of profits that could validate last year's sky-high valuation."
Failing to reach its forecast of 80-100 million units—a growth goal given by chairman Lei Jun last March, then dialed back in December as "not the number one priority for us" indicates a crisis of confidence.
"For Xiaomi, we currently need to return to our original aspiration, to be like a startup," Lei said last month. "We need to be more persistent in building a good user experienc e and product."
Apple's 64 BeatsOne of the problems Xiaomi ran into in 2015 was the problematic Snapdragon 810 chip rushed to market by Qualcomm in order to have something to position against the 64-bit A7 Apple had introduced in 2013.
While Apple sailed into the lead with iPhone 5s' A7, and then enhanced its design with the 2014 A8 used in iPhone 6 models, Qualcomm struggled to achieve even a generic 64-bit processor by early 2015. That left Xiaomi's most expensive phone, the $350 Mi Note, plagued with overheating issues that tarnished its image.
Further, when it attempted to expand its sales into India, that country's Delhi High Court issued an injunction blocking sales of Xiaomi's phones not using Qualcomm chips, due to an ongoing patent infringement lawsuit filed by Ericsson affecting alternative MediaTek processors.
Other handset makers were able to work around Qualcomm's flawed chip by rolling out their own processor, as Huawei and Samsung did. Samsung's use of its own Exynos processor al so made it a major customer of Cirrus Logic, one of the "iPhone suppliers" now suffering an earnings shortfall that coincidentally occured as Samsung's premium flagships failed to sell in competition with iPhone 6, but which is being widely interpreted as a harbinger of doom for Apple because, it too, is a Cirrus customer.
In addition to lacking vertical integration in chips and the ability to defend against patent infringement suits, Xiaomi is also "locked in a Chinese demographic ghetto of mainly males 18 to 30" according to Peter Fuhrman, the chairman of investment bank China First Capital.
Rather than increasing its appeal, Xiaomi's focus on low prices has further tarnished the company's brand he added.
Media darling gets Journal jiltingJust over a year ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that, based on a "a confidential document" that it had "viewed," Xiaomi had earned 3.46 billion yuan ($566 million) on revenues of 27 billion yuan.
Journal reporters said this "shows that Xiaomi's net profit nearly doubled last year, making it a lucrative business in an industry where most players selling cheap handsets struggle to break even."
While noting that "a Xiaomi spokeswoman declined to comment" on the reported earnings, the paper marveled at how Xiaomi could be making so much money on smartphones that start around $114, with the company's Mi4 flagship priced at just $327.
"A possible explanation for Xiaomi's ability to squeeze out so much profit while selling affordable phones is its inexpensive but efficient marketing tactics," the Wall Street Journal reporters Prudence Ho, Lorraine Luk and Juro Osawa collectively speculated.
Based on that report, clickblog Business Insider published "Xiaomi Is Creating An Uncertain New World That Apple Must Learn To Live In," which gravely warned that "the news that Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi makes a healthy profit could horrify executives at both Samsung and Apple."
It mused that the report "suggests that new phone makers can use Android to arise from nowhere and steal vast chunks of market share, profitably."
It was later reported by Reuters that Xiaomi had actually only earned $56 million, one tenth as much as had been previously reported. While the privately-held Xiaomi does not have to publicly report its earnings, it had included them in a securities filing related to an investment in another company.
AppleInsider reported that the Wall Street Journal had been wrong, although the paper didn't correct its report and Business Insider didn't address its alarmist sensationalism based on the incorrect report either.
in 2015, Apple's iPhone 6 grew so popular in China that it displaced Xiaomi for firs t place in unit volumes, despite iPhones selling for an ASP 5.5 times higher than Xiaomi.
Six months later, the Wall Street Journal has shifted its glowing adoration of Xiaomi to a much more critical tone.
That calls to mind the doe-eyed, enthusiastic coverage of Samsung by Wall Street Journal reporters including Daisuke Wakabayashi, Ian Sherr and Evan Ramstad who spent 2013 promoting the idea that Apple had "lost its cool" to Samsung, that its "formidable growth had petered out," that Samsung "was eating its lunch" and that developers were shifting their efforts to Android, all before later acknowledging that "the story line" the paper had authored was not really true, that most of Samsung's huge unit shipments were actually not very profitable and that Android was not really stealing away any significant developer interest from iOS.
Source: China's iPhone-clone Xiaomi defending its valuation after missing sales targets
Monday, January 11, 2016
Lenovo mobile chief spills the beans on Google's plans for China
Google left China in 2010 due to increased government censorship, but rumors claim it wants to return with Google Play services. That rumor has just been verified by Lenovo's head of mobile, Chen Xudong, who said Google is on track to launch Play services this year.
While not a verification directly from Google, it is worth just as much. Lenovo will almost certainly be a launch partner for Play services, since it works with Google on Android in countries outside of China.
Related: Is China looking to build its own secure smartphones?
Xudong did not say when Google plans to launch Play services, the closest indication being sometime this year. He also didn't say which services will be available at launch — we would be surprised to see all of Google's services available in China straight away, given the privacy concerns.
We also don't know if manufacturers will be given the choice between Play services and third-party app stores, or if Google will force them to adhere to the same policies as manufacturers outside of China.
It is an interesting turn of events, considering that in 2014 China removed Docs, Play, and Gmail from the country. No apology has been forthcoming for the hacking scandal in 2010 either, which led to a U.S. investigation into China hacking services for private information.
Related: Apple deactivates its News app in China to appease censorship requirements
Huawei appears to be the moderator for talks between Google and China, though this has not been confirmed. When Google announced Huawei would build the Nexus 6P, rumors suggested in return that Huawei opened communications with China.
As China continues to add more mobile and Internet users, Western companies are beginning to change their views on censorship. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg tried for all of 2015 to woo the Chinese government, to no avail, and Google appears to be taking a similar route to receive the government's approval.
Source: Lenovo mobile chief spills the beans on Google's plans for China
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Letv will launch the world’s first smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset
Chinese internet conglomerate Letv said on Saturday it would soon launch a series of world's first smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor from Qualcomm Technologies.
The company's Le Max Pro would be the first smartphone to pack the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that offers better user-experience as well as the display quality than other processors.
"Letv has already established itself as one of the world's top innovators and our decision to include the Snapdragon 820 processor in these new devices demonstrates our commitment to creating and delivering the best technology available to our customers," Jun Liang, chief operating officer at Letv said in a statement.
The Le Max Pro would also include Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology — the mobile industry's first comprehensive ultrasonic-based fingerprint biometric solution, providing a more secure, reliable alternative to capacitive-based fingerprint sensors.
The Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology now has a liveness detection feature that ensures an actual finger is being used for biometric authentication.
The Le Max Pro also features Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 for up to 75 percent faster charging than conventional methods.
"We are very pleased that Letv is first to bring compelling and advanced smartphones to consumers that are powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor and feature Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology," Alex Katouzian, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies said.
Additionally, Letv will be the first to roll out commercial devices integrating 802.1 1ad multi-band wireless connectivity with up to 4.6 Gbps speeds and nearly uncompressed content transfer.
"The collaboration between Qualcomm Technologies and Letv underscores the importance of 802.1 1ad solutions in allowing users to interact with Wi-Fi like never before, including moving content onto and off of devices in seconds, and unwiring virtual reality (VR) glasses," Katouzian added.
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Tags: LeTV, LeTv in India, LeTv India, LeTv smartphone launch
Source: Letv will launch the world's first smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset
Saturday, January 9, 2016
China Trading Halted After Shares Plummet More Than 7%
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 7.3 percent to 3,115.89.
Global stocks plunged on Wednesday and Thursday, as traders' anxious about the debacle on the China stock exchanges and the reduction in the value of the RMB.
A Chinese investor takes a smartphone photo of electronic displays showing stock prices in a brokerage house in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. Trading halted only 13 minutes into the morning session.
The weakening of the fixing contributed to a selloff in stocks that led exchanges to close early on Monday and Thursday after the retreat triggered new circuit-breaker mechanisms.
The FTSE 100 tumbled more than 2% to 5,914 at its open after trading in China was suspended overnight, following a 7% fall in the country's CSI 300 index. The contract on Thursday dropped $2, or 5.6 percent, to settle at $33.97 a barrel. But it could hurt foreign currency borrowers and suggests that China's economy is in far worse shape than official data indicate.
Analysts also said that the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran was bearish for crude markets. Then, on Thursday, China stocks traded only 15 minutes before plunging an additional seven percent and setting off the circuit breaker again to halt trading.
The tempest in China's markets has been felt around the world.
The introduction of the new measure does not mean an exit of the "national team" including China Securities Finance Co.
The latest slump comes after China's government guided the yuan lower over several days, an indication authorities are prepared to weaken the tightly controlled currency to boost flagging exports.
Today's trading was the shortest trading time in the history of China's capital market history, Xinhua news agency reported.
In Europe, France's CAC 40 was down 2.8 percent at 4,353.76 and Germany's DAX slid 3.5 percent to 9,858.15. Futures augured sharp losses in the U.S.: Dow and S&P 500 futures were each down 2.3 percent.
"Under the circuit breaker mechanism, the market was suffocated".
"Singapore has a dynamic limit, where the 10 percent upwards or downwards band is based on the last traded price at least 5 minutes ago, instead of the previous closing price or the start of the trading day.
The market-selling pressure was originally not this heavy".
Despite reassuring statements by the central bank and stock regulator before midday, worries about how Chinese authorities would address the volatility exacerbated selling.
Meanwhile, shares in Hong Kong followed the mainland, with the Hang Seng down by 2.3% at 20,509.39 points.
The stop - activated when markets fall more than seven percent - was also triggered on Monday, its first day of operation.
Concerns about China have also helped ravage oil prices - a trend that in turn hurts global economies and further unsettles stocks. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 146.34 points, or 3 per cent, to 4,689.43.
On currency markets, a rush to safe investments hit emerging currencies, while the dollar fell below 118.00 yen for the first time since August.
Policy makers fighting to stem declines in the currency amid slower growth and plunging stocks have been burning through the stockpile to reduce yuan volatility.
Source: China Trading Halted After Shares Plummet More Than 7%
Friday, January 8, 2016
New Market Report: The Chinese Smartphone Industry, 3Q 2015
Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/08/2016 -- This report presents a recent review of the Chinese smartphone industry in the second quarter of 2015. The report includes shipment volume of major smartphone branded vendors in China, breakdowns of each vendor's shipment volume share by chipset maker, application processor model, ASP, panel size, camera pixel, resolution, as well as 3G and 4G technologies. The report also examines major chipset makers' product mix for smartphones sold in China.
Companies Mentioned in this Report: Apple, ASUS, Coolpad, Doov, Gionee, Google, Hisense, Hisilicon, HTC, Huawei, Intel, Koobee, Leadcore, Lenovo, Marvell, MediaTek, Meizu, Microsoft, Oppo, Qualcomm, Samsung, Spreadtrum, TCL, Vivo (BBK), Xiaomi, ZT
Get More Details on this Report and a Full Table of Contents at The Chinese Smartphone Industry, 3Q 2015
About Fast Market ResearchFast Market Research is a leading distributor of market research and business information. Representing the world's top research publishers and analysts, we provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available. Our unbiased, expert staff is always available to help you find the right research to fit your requirements and your budget. For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.
Browse all Wireless research reports at Fast Market Research
You may also be interested in these related reports:
-Chinese Smartphone Market Development, 3Q 2015-Global Mobile Broadband - a Trailblazing Market - Insights and Statistics-Chinese Smartphone Market Development, 1Q 2015-The Taiwanese Mobile Phone Industry, 4Q 2014-Global Smartphone Display Market 2015-2019
Source: New Market Report: The Chinese Smartphone Industry, 3Q 2015
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Gionee set to launch Marathon M5 Lite smartphone in India
Oppo to launch camera smartphone F1 on 28 January in India
This is what Trai is blaming call drops on
Reliance Jio to soon launch LTE-ready mobile handsets under Lyf brand
Leadership crisis in Indian IT: Top companies opt for outsider CEOs
Flipkart starts talks with investors to raise $1.4 billion
Go easy on the money: Hexaware's Atul Nishar advises startup founders
Startups take the limelight at the CES 2016
Google goes on hiring spree in China
Toshiba to exit home appliance, TV business in India
Source: Gionee set to launch Marathon M5 Lite smartphone in India
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Huawei launches flagship smartphone at CES, eyes to beat Apple within 2 years
LAS VEGAS, United States, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Imagine a smartphone that can work continuously for days without a recharge and even when you have to charge it at last, you can do it in just half an hour for another full day's use. Want to own one?
China's tech giant Huawei has launched such a cute and eye-catching smartphone, called Mate 8, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 in Las Vegas in the hope that it can help the company overtake Apple as the world's second largest smartphone maker within two years.
Equipped with a 4000mAh high-density battery, the 6-inch Mate 8 smartphone delivers industry-leading power efficiency offering over two days of normal usage, Huawei said.
"Is this enough?" asked Kevin Ho, president of Huawei consumer group's handset business, at a press conference at CES 2016 on Tuesday. "No, not enough!"
The device also has impressive rapid charging technology. "This simply means only 30 minutes of charging, you can have one day of use," he said. "Excellent! Fabulous!"
In fact, regular users can go without charging their phone for 2.36 days, and heavy users can go without charging for 1.65 days, the company said.
The Mate 8 also features advanced six-layer thermal mechanics, which allows higher heat dissipation, leading to an excellent handling experience and lower power consumption.
The Android-based system also has many other interesting and useful features, including a long-page screen capture system and the Knuckle Sense Technology, which allows users to take screenshots or capture snippets of a film by double-clicking the screen with a knuckle, as well as omnidirectional recording and directional playback.
The Mate 8 supports global connectivity and more bands than any other dual-SIM phone, including four 2G bands, nine 3G bands and 18 4G bands in 217 countries and regions, which "makes it the perfect device for the global business traveler," Ho said.
The smartphone will be initially available in 30 countries, including Spain, Germany, France, United Arab Emirates, Mexico and Australia.
The device won't be cheap: the version with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage space costs 599 euros (about 647 U.S. dollars), while the version with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage space is priced at 699 euros. It is available in four elegant colors: champagne gold, moonlight silver, space gray and mocha brown.
At the CES press conference, Huawei also launched a new tablet called M2, and two new versions of smartwatch for ladies, known as Jewel and Elegant, respectively.
Huawei also revealed Tuesday that its revenue exceeded 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, nearly a 70 percent increase from 2014.
Additionally, it shipped 108 million smartphones in 2015 -- a 44-percent increase from the previous year -- becoming the leading Chinese smartphone manufacturer to top the 108 million milestone.
"Several years ago, we are nothing, nobody knew Huawei," Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer business group said of the company's dramatic increase in the global market share of smartphones. "(Now,) every year, every month, we increase our market share. I do believe that within two years or next year we have a chance to be No. 2 (smartphone maker)."
According to figures from market research firm GfK, cited by Yu at Tuesday's press conference, Samsung and Apple are still the top two smartphone brands, respectively holding 28.3 percent and 11.8 percent of the market in September 2015. Huawei came in the third place with a 9.7 percent market share.
Source: Huawei launches flagship smartphone at CES, eyes to beat Apple within 2 years
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Huawei Ships 108 Million Smartphones in 2015, Contributing to Annual Revenue Exceeding $20 Billion USD
Huawei Ships 108 Million Smartphones in 2015, Contributing to Annual Revenue Exceeding $20 Billion USD
Today at CES 2016, Huawei announced strong business results and rapid year-over-year growth for Consumer Business Group (CBG).
Today at CES 2016, Huawei announced strong business results and rapid year-over-year growth for Consumer Business Group (CBG). Huawei's revenue exceeded $20 billion USD in 2015, nearly a 70 percent increase from 2014. Additionally, Huawei shipped 108 million smartphones in 2015 – a 44 percent increase from the previous year – becoming the leading Chinese smartphone manufacturer to top the 108 million milestone.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160105006528/en/
Huawei experiences growth in global markets while becoming the top smartphone brand in China
With Huawei shipping 108 million smartphones in 2015, the company cemented its position among the top three in market share, while significantly reducing the competition gap. Additionally, Huawei has held the highest market share in China since March 2015, during which it launched two premium smartphones, the P8 and Mate S. Along with its breakthrough in China, Huawei experienced great success in global markets. In western Europe, Huawei's market share in the high-end smartphone market (phones priced between 400 to 500 Euros) achieved outstanding results, and the company ranked in the top three in market share in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal and several other countries.
Huawei also continued to increase its brand awareness and had notable achievements in this area:
Huawei Focuses on Winning Collaboration and Research to Drive Future Innovation
Huawei's outstanding business performance can be attributed to its tremendous investment in innovation and R&D. Huawei has established 16 research laboratories around the world, including locations in China, Germany, Sweden, Russia and India. In 2014, Huawei invested 14.2 percent of its annual revenue in R&D while securing 76,687 patents, 18,000 of which apply to Huawei devices.
Huawei has applied its self-developed innovation to its latest products, enabling people to have amazing experiences using the devices. For example, Huawei invested $98 million USD over three years and established a research team in France to create the first Huawei-developed ISP for the Mate 8. This enabled users to take better photos with faster focus, enhanced clarity and a more accurate color shade. Additionally, the Press Touch technology introduced in the Mate S broke the tradition of two-dimensional touch-screen control and launched a new era of interaction between humans and machines. Furthermore, Huawei's Fingerprint 2.0 technology increased recognition speed by 100 percent, while the Knuckle operation was well-received by users.
At CES 2015 Huawei partnered with some of the world's top brands to provide people with amazing device experiences:
In 2016, Huawei will continue its spirit of winning collaboration by partnering with the industry's top brands in various industries, ranging from flagship products, the smart home to cloud services. Through advanced technology, innovation and collaboration, Huawei will continue to deliver leading technology products to its customers. The ongoing integration between future direction of consumer devices and partners' advanced technology will result in new, cutting edge products and amazing user experience.
About Huawei Consumer BG
Huawei's products and services have covered over 170 countries, and a third of the population in the world, ranking third in the world in mobile phone shipments last year (2014). Sixteen R&D centers have been set up in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India, and China. Huawei Consumer BG is one of Huawei's three business units and covers smartphones, mobile broadband devices, home devices, and cloud services. Huawei's global network is built on 20 years of expertise in the telecom industry and dedicated to delivering the latest technological advances to consumers around the world.
For more information, please visit: http://consumer.huawei.com/
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160105006528/en/
Source: Huawei Ships 108 Million Smartphones in 2015, Contributing to Annual Revenue Exceeding $20 Billion USD
Monday, January 4, 2016
China And Friends Are Watching You
This ain't George Orwell fiction. It's real life, baby. You're being watched and your identity is in peril. Beware of Chinese spies.
When my grandmother was 29 years old, an author named George Orwell published the Hunger Games of 1949. In his dystopian novel titled 1984 Orwell imagines a futuristic society ruled by a dictatorship. In order to maintain a tight grip on power, the ruling elites engage in total surveillance of the citizenry. The mantra repeated throughout the novel is: "Big Brother is Watching You."
Our own prying politicians in Washington, D.C. are surprisingly no longer the biggest brother on the block. Even the U.S. president—long considered the most powerful world leader—is being watched by Big Brother China.
As we embark on a new year, I want to empower you to make every effort to safeguard your identity from spies within the Chinese government—before our own government follows suit.
Hillary Applauds Chinese Spy Tactics
On December 27, 2015 Reuters reported chilling news out of Beijing. The Chinese government will be forcing technology companies to "hand over sensitive information such as encryption keys to the government" as part of a "controversial new anti-terrorism law."
Alarmingly, though not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton also came out last month in support of doing the exact same thing in the United States should she become president. "You are going to hear all the familiar complaints: 'Freedom of speech,'" she quipped, insisting there was no other way to fight terrorism than to force companies like Apple and Google to hand over encrypted data to the government upon request—and to block the websites of suspected terror groups.
First of all, terrorists love attention and they love to fight. Deleting a terrorist's Twitter account, for example, routinely spurs them to create a new one. Hillary's strategy is endless, fruitless and will surely backfire.
Furthermore, law-abiding citizens like you and me need free speech in order to defend and maintain our freedom. We certainly cannot trust a politician like Hillary—who broke federal law by using a private server and private email account as Secretary of State—with the keys to all of our electronic communication.
Minneapolis information technology security risk manager Greg Kline wrote in the Star Tribune on December 8, 2015 that smartphones and tablets "have become intimate extensions of our lives. I propose that the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination be extended to cover these devices…"
Source: China And Friends Are Watching You
Sunday, January 3, 2016
China Focus: Phones and drones - China's risk-takers who rule the world
BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- From a company founded by a college student in 2006 to a global leader in the civilian drone industry, the story of Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) illustrates just what a true commitment to innovation can do.
"The key to innovation is not 1-to-n, it's the 0-to-1 part that makes all the difference," said Wang Tao, DJI's founder.
"First-mover advantages are difficult to lose when you are in the market with groundbreaking technology." he said.
In 2010, DJI sales were a respectable 3 million yuan (460,000 U.S. dollars). In 2014, that number jumped to nearly 3 billion yuan. DJI is on track to make a billion dollars in 2015.
The Shenzhen company sells nearly 70 percent of the world's civilian drones, and 80 percent of its revenue is generated outside China.
DJI's success story is not an isolated case. Xiaomi, a mobile phone firm founded in 2010 became the third-biggest seller of mobile phones worldwide in 2014, the same year that Xiaomi came 35th on a list of the world's most innovative companies compiled by The Boston Consulting Group.
Aside from its low price, Xiaomi's popularity can be explained by its innovative MIUI OS which was more smooth than the original Android OS.
As Xiaomi took the phone market by storm, it continually looked to the future and now offers a diverse range of Internet of Things products that interact with its mobiles including an air purifier, bathroom scales, blood pressure monitors, light bulbs, TVs and a webcam.
The success of Xiaomi and DJI boils down to continually reinventing themselves. The search for new technology and new ideas has become a palpable tide in China as the era of cheap labor and fast exports is washed away.
Innovation was put in first place in China's plan for the next five years, a plan with the grand goal of doubling 2010 GDP and per capita income of both urban and rural residents.
The government set aside 40 billion yuan last year to nurture startups. In the first three quarters of 2015, 10,000 new companies were registered each day.
As China becomes prosperous and more families, even those from rural backwaters, have access to higher education, people are becoming more confident risk-takers. Stable government jobs have gradually lost their shine with the chance of making a new product and reaping rich rewards within the reach of many.
In 2014, venture capitalists pumped a record 100 billion yuan into startups. The figure for 2011 was 30 billion yuan, but there is still ample room for improvement.
Despite being the world's second biggest gross R&D spender behind the United States, China still lags behind developed countries which normally spend 3 to 4 percent of their GDP on R&D. Last year, expenditure in research and development reached 1.3 trillion yuan, up 9.9 percent from 2014, and more than 2 percent of GDP, only the second straight year above the 2-percent mark.
Source: China Focus: Phones and drones - China's risk-takers who rule the world
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