China's Huawei to Supply Smartphones to Cuba

HAVANA: Cuba's Etecsa and China's Huawei have signed an agreement to bring smartphones to the island and improve the quality of both voice and data services.

The deal will enable Etecsa to acquire phones "in a reliable way with guarantees" as well as parts and technical training to enable repairs, Efe news agency reported.

The contract "will improve the voice quality and data services offered by Etecsa," said Friday's report.

Etecsa and Huawei have worked together to develop "important telecommunication solutions," said Javier Villariño, the Chinese firm's director of sales in Cuba.

Huawei, with operations in more than 170 countries, has a presence in Cuba for more than a decade, Villariño said.

Trade between Cuba and China, totalled $1.59 billion in the first nine months of this year, an increase of almost 57 percent from the same period in 2014.

More than 40 Chinese companies are taking part this week in the Havana International Fair, the largest business event in Cuba.

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Source: China's Huawei to Supply Smartphones to Cuba

Xiaomi sells more than 1 million smartphones in India in Q3 2015

Home » Handsets, India, Xiaomi Submitted by Sneha Bokil on November 6, 2015 – 11:34 pm

Xiaomi has reported a biggest ever quarter in India since it started its operations in the country in 2014. The Chinese smartphone maker has sold more than 1 million smartphones in India in Q3, 2015 (July, August and September).

"We are thrilled to achieve this significant milestone of crossing the one million mark in one quarter, for the first time ever. Our sales continue to grow every quarter, and we have witnessed an average quarterly growth rate of 45%, which signifies huge momentum for our journey in India. Additionally, our online selling platform Mi.com has been growing significantly since its launch in June 2015, recording over 10 million visits in the month of October itself. During our #DiwaliWithMi campaign, over 1 million unique visitors came to Mi.com on the first day of our sale (3rd November)."

said Manu Jain, India Head, Xiaomi in a statement.

Jain said that Redmi 2 Prime, Mi 4, Mi 4i, and Mi Pad witnessed a massive increase in demand while the Redmi 2 Prime smartphone, that is the first Made in India smartphone from the company emerged as the best-selling product. Last month, a report Canalys stated that Huawei has dethroned Xiaomi to become the number one smartphone maker in China.

Source: Xiaomi sells more than 1 million smartphones in India in Q3 2015

Xiaomi sells over one mn smartphones in July-Sept quarter

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has sold over a million units in the quarter ended September, nearly 45% higher sequentially, a first of a kind achievement for the company which entered India in August last year.

"We've had our best ever quarter during August to September this year with more than 1 million units," Manu Jain, head of Xiaomi's India operations, told ET.

He said that Xiaomi's sequential growth in the third quarter was nearly the same as that of the second quarter ended June over the first quarter ended March 2015. Xiaomi had already clocked 3 million unit sales as of August this year, when it announced the beginning of local manufacturing in partnership with Foxconn.

The million-strong sales are in sharp contrast to data shared by analysts at Counterpoint Research, which on Tuesday said that the Beijing-headquartered company underwent its first sequential decline in India as shipments dropped "by almost 46% due to fierce competition from Lenovo and Microma x's Yu brands, especially in the higher volume sub-$100 segment".

The Hong Kong-based research firm had said that Micromax's Yu brand alone is now selling more smartphones than Xiaomi online, underlining the immense challenge for the Chinese company of scaling up in India.

Jain said that the company was doing exceedingly well in the online space and added that its Mi.com site which sells Xiaomi smartphones and other accessories to consumers directly was attracting customers in millions.

"Within five months of enabling sales through Mi.com, we've achieved 10 million visits in October," Jain said. Xiaomi had started its own ecommerce portal in June, and followed it up with the Mi Store app.

Emulating ecommerce platforms in India, Xiaomi also started Diwali sale from November 3 till November 5, which saw over 1 million unique visitors to the Mi.com site on day one. "We have been able to achieve these figures without doing any marketing in print or TV media, but only through social media and word of mouth," Jain added.

Besides giving discounts on Mi4, Mi4i, Redmi 2 Prime and Mi Pad, Xiaomi is also offering goodies such as Mi Band, earphones and several other accessories for Re 1, on certain conditions. Xiaomi will also offer a Mi TV each of the three days of sale to lucky winners who shop on the Mi Store app, but Jain did not say when the Mi TV will be officially launched in India. "We do have plans to bring more and more products," he said.

Source: Xiaomi sells over one mn smartphones in July-Sept quarter

Steal the deal of top smartphones this Diwali

New Delhi: Get ready to steal the deal of gadgets this Diwali. This festive season the smartphone makers are going to give you discount up to 50% and more. You can also avail cash back offers. Moreover, facility of upgrading is also available on exchanges.

To give surprise to customers the Smartphone makers will also come with prices as low as Rs.1 on some goodies. This cheerful season is going to rock the customer's world who are eager to welcome the festival of lights.

Smartphone companies like Micromax, Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo, karbonn, lava and some others started the deal to celebrate the season and came with the smartphone offers for the shoppers who are looking out for the best deals and freebies.

Let's have a look what these companies have got on offer:

Xiaomi

This Diwali Xiaomi India announced its sale from November 3 to November 5. Go for the best smartphones and tablets during the sale period.

Get Redmi 2 Prime budget handset for Rs 6,499, compared to asking price of Rs 6,999.

If a consumer  want to go for the 16GB variants of Mi 4 and Mi 4i smartphones, they purchase it for Rs 12,999 from its usual price Rs 14,999 and Rs 10,999 usual price Rs 12,999, respectively.

The company which made flash sale a household name in India after it entered the market July last year is using the same model, to sell products which it has not disclosed, for Rs 1.

The best part is that Xiaomi is selling selected products, including accessories and smartphones, at Re 1 between 2pm and 6pm on all three sale days.

Power banks, the Mi Band, earphones and several other accessories are expected to be on sale at this rock-bottom price

Microsoft

Microsoft has got a Smart Buyback offer for its Lumia 540 smartphone. It has announced Lumia 540 at a buyback price of Rs 7,199. Moreover, one will also get cashback offer of Rs 3,600 in MobiKwik wallet and discount on Jabong app worth Rs 3,000.

The Rs 3,600 MobiKwik wallet and Jabong app discount worth Rs 3,000 are valid till November 11.

The offer will remain open till the stock lasts.

Asus

Customers buying Asus Zenfones will get an opportunity to win Flipkart gift vouchers that's worth Rs 1,000 every hour. The lucky customer will also stand a chance to win gold vouchers worth Rs 25,000 everyday.

Asus notebook buyers can also make use of the offers who can win gifts worth Rs 12,499 by paying just Rs 1,199.

Buyers would also get a package of products like Bluetooth portable speaker worth Rs 4,999, a pack containing watches, sunglasses worth Rs 4,500, and travel vouchers worth Rs 3,000.

Customers who want to buy PQC laptop and below would be required to pay Rs 1,499 to get the same offer.

The offer ends on November 10.

Micromax

Micromax users can exchange their old smartphones and get Rs 9,000 off on purchase of Micromax Canvas Sliver 5 and Canvas Knight 2 smartphones.

The exchange offer is valid on smartphone that's purchased at a value of Rs 20,000 and above or Micromax Canvas smartphone purchased at a value of Rs 15,000 and above, on or post January 1, 2014.

Karbonn

 Karbonn is giving away special festive season discounts of up to 50% on its Titanium Mach Five and Titanium Mach Two and Titanium S201 smartphones on various e-commerce platforms.

Lava

Be it feature phone or a smartphone,  Lava customers will be eligible to avail a one-time screen replacement offer within 365 days from the date of purchase.

The offer started on October 13, 2015 and will be valid till November 30, 2015.

Meizu

Chinese device maker Meizu is giving away 32GB microSD card free with its budget smartphone m2. The smartphone that comes with 5-inch display and 1280 x 720 pixels resolution is priced at Rs 6,999.

BLU Mobile

BLU Mobile is offering discounts of up to 47% on Amazon and Snapdeal this Diwali.

BLU Win JR LTE and Win HD LTE are now available for Rs 3,999 and Rs 4,999 online.

Intex

Intex, the Indian smartphone brand is offering one-year screen replacement warranty on Rs 6,000 and above smartphones. Intex's  customers will also get a free backpack.   

For latest news on mobile and tablet, download IndiaTV Android app and iOS app. Also like IndiaTV's official Facebook page and follow us on Twitter to stay tuned to latest news.

Source: Steal the deal of top smartphones this Diwali

Samsung debuts new media-centric On series of smartphones

Samsung

Samsung is known for its cutting-edge premium Galaxy S line of smartphones, but it's prepared a different flavour of device for India and China.

The South Korean electronics behemoth on Tuesday unveiled its new line of On smartphones via a webcast in India. The 5-inch On5 and 5.5-inch On7 are being marketed as multimedia-focused smartphones sold at the budget prices of 8,990 rupees ($140, AU$190, ‎£90) and 10,990 rupees ($170, AU$230, ‎£110) respectively. They'll be sold online from November 4.

Both devices come with a subscription to MixRadio, a music streaming service that, like Spotify and Apple Music, boasts a library of over 30 million songs. An ultra data-saving (UDR) mode will help people make the most of it, with Samsung claiming it saves up to half the data thanks to compression technology.

Both Android 5.1 phones are equipped with 1,280x720-pixel HD screens, quad-core processors and 1.5GB of RAM. The major differences between the On5 and On7 are their cameras, with the On7 sporting a 13-megapixel sensor as opposed to the On5's 8-megapixel one. The On7 also has a 3,000 mAh battery, larger than the On5's 2,600 mAh cell. A final minor difference is in the processors, with the On5 running on 1.2GHz and the On7 on 1.3GHz.

Though also available in China, the phone appears to represent an effort by Samsung to tighten its grip on budget phone-focused India, where it's the industry leader. The Indian market is increasingly important, growing by 44 percent between the second quarter 2014 and the same period this year, according to IDC research. As of August, the company had a healthy lead on its nearest competitor, holding 23 percent of the market against local brand Micromax's 17 percent.

A peculiar detail is the media-centric phone being sold on the back of the Line-owned MixRadio, formerly Nokia's in-house music system, instead of Samsung's own Milk music service. Samsung Milk was launched last March, although its Milk Video counterpart will be shut down later this month.

Though Tuesday was the On series' official unveiling, the phones first appeared on Samsung China's website last week.

Source: Samsung debuts new media-centric On series of smartphones

With Google and Twitter still blocked in China, executives woo Beijing

China's Great Firewall is still blocking the services of Facebook, Google and Twitter, but that hasn't stopped top brass from all three Silicon Valley firms from visiting Beijing in a span of less than 10 days, perhaps hoping to boost their business prospects on the mainland.

Following in the footsteps of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg -- who gave a much-discussed speech in Chinese late last month at Tsinghua University -- senior executives from Google and Twitter made appearances in Beijing on Monday, attending a technology conference hosted by San Francisco-based TechCrunch.

"In fact, we do hope to provide service in China, and we continue to communicate with the Chinese government. This is also why I'm here this week," said Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet/Google, according to a Chinese-language transcript of his remarks provided by organizers. He added that the company has "always been in touch with the Chinese government" and that Chinese officials had visited Google offices in California in the past.

When Google decided to abandon the Chinese search market because of censorship and hacking concerns and move its servers to Hong Kong in 2010, it kept about 500 employees on the mainland who are mainly responsible for selling Google's ad services to Chinese companies looking to reach consumers overseas.

Google recently revealed its first direct investment into a Chinese start-up since its 2010 exit, putting an undisclosed amount into Mobvoi, an Android voice search software. And it has partnered with Chinese hardware maker Huawei on a new phone. Google cofounder Sergey Brin obliquely suggested in recent remarks to the Wall Street Journal that some business units of Alphabet (as Google's corporate structure has recently been renamed) could move into unnamed countries (China?) ahead of others. 

Helping Chinese companies to "go out," echoing the Chinese government's campaign of promoting Chinese businesses globally, has been the business strategy for Facebook and Twitter as well. Numerous Chinese firms, including smartphone makers, airlines, the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily and the official New China News Agency, have set up official accounts on both Facebook and Twitter -- in English and Chinese -- to reach out to audiences abroad.

"One of our clients is the New China News Agency," said Alan Lan, head of online sales, greater China, at Twitter, during a panel meeting Monday morning. "During the National Day holiday in October, we helped them with a lot of their global communications." So far, though, that seems to have earned Twitter little goodwill.

Facebook has also tried a kill-with-kindness approach. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the U.S. in September, Facebook set up a special page dedicated to document Xi's every move stateside. After dining with the Chinese president at a White House banquet in Washington, Zuckerberg delivered a 22-minute speech at Tsinghua University last week, showing his progress in Mandarin, which he's been studying for about five years. 

Apple's massive sales growth in China has underscored how valuable the Chinese market can be to U.S. tech firms. Apple posted an 84% increase in Greater China sales (which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong) in the last fiscal year, generating $23 billion in operating income in the region, the company said last week. And Apple said in its annual securities filing that 96% of Greater China sales are derived from the mainland alone.

Twitter has recently struggled to demonstrate user growth -- and is unable to tap the Chinese market. CEO Jack Dorsey announced last month that the company planned to lay off approximately 8% of its work force, or more than 330 employees. 

Experts say lack of access to the Chinese market is costing California tech firms billions a year.

Intelligence agencies in the U.S. have debated whether to find a way to breach China's Great Firewall as a means of retaliating against China for the hacking of official U.S. databases containing of personal information of government personnel, the New York Times reported in July. 

Tommy Yang in The Times' Beijing bureau contributed to this report. 

Follow @JulieMakLAT for news from China

Source: With Google and Twitter still blocked in China, executives woo Beijing

Should Apple and Samsung Fear Huawei?

Source: Huawei.

It's been a good year for Huawei's smartphone business. After a change in strategy, cutting back on low-end smartphone production to focus on higher-end units, the company is now experiencing success. Earlier this month, research firm Canalys, by way of The Wall Street Journal , found Huawei increased its year-on-year smartphone shipments a massive 81% in China during the recently completed third calendar quarter, pushing past oft-discussed Xiaomi.

In the U.S., the company is looking to compete in the high-end markets, as the company is the OEM for the larger variant of Google's current-gen Nexus model: the Nexus 6P. This high-end unit aims to compete against Apple 's iPhone and Samsung 's Galaxy line of phones. The question is: Should these other manufacturers be fearful in regard to this growing competitor?

For Apple, probably not As far as Cupertino is concerned, Huawei's rise is probably not a reason to be worried in its now second-largest market. Although Huawei grew shipments 81% in China during the third calendar quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook reported that total iPhone unit sales increased 87% in its Greater China region on a year-on-year basis, driven by a huge 120% increase in Mainland China -- an area excluding developed markets Hong Kong and Macau. Therefore, it's hard to assume this will reverse in the immediate future.

As for Apple's largest market, I doubt it has much to fear either. In the Americas, which obviously includes Apple's home country, Huawei's best chance to steal market share from Apple lies in its partnership with Google for the Nexus 6P. And although the Nexus unit has always been highly rated, it hasn't been the game changer that fans have envisioned.

In addition, Apple's been successful in converting Android-based users, with Tim Cook boasting that 30% of new users are coming from Android. For Huawei and Google, it may be possible to consolidate Android-based market share, but I doubt the company will reverse Apple's domestic growth.

For Samsung, this is a bad omen On the other hand, Samsung should be wary of Huawei's moves. Its well-reported bifurcated strategy, in which it focuses on lower-range units in developing markets and sell its Galaxy line in the high-end markets, has a lot to lose from Huawei. For China, a maturing smartphone market appears to be trading up, with average selling prices for smartphones in China on the rise.

This trade-up has already hurt Samsung -- first with fans buying Apple clone Xiaomi's Mi line -- and now Huawei is growing faster than Xiaomi. And while these two continue to grow market share amid intense competition, Samsung stands to lose out in an increasingly crowded Chinese smartphone market.

Of course, Samsung still has its high-end Galaxy line in the developed markets, but unit sales appear to have peaked with the Galaxy S4. Going back to the aforementioned Android-switcher commentary from Tim Cook, it is widely considered that Samsung bears the brunt of this phenomenon, from both users directly making the switch from its Galaxy line and by missing out on low-end Android upgraders who cross ecosystems to go to Apple's iOS. If Huawei's partnership with Google bears fruit, this could further hurt the South Korean electronics conglomerate.

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Source: Should Apple and Samsung Fear Huawei?