As Apple and Research In Motion have won a greater share in the Wi-Fi handset market over the past year, Nokia has lost share.
Though Nokia is still the leading vendor for dual-mode smartphones (Wi-Fi and cellular), its market share dropped to 35 percent in the second quarter, compared with 50 percent in the same period a year ago, according to a report released Monday from In-Stat.
The report "Wi-Fi in Mobile Phones: Dual Mode Becomes the In Thing" tracked the major Wi-Fi phone vendors, including Nokia, Apple, Research In Motion, HTC, and Samsung. Among those, Apple has enjoyed the greatest growth in market share, from 3 percent in the second quarter of 2008 to 20 percent in this year's second quarter.
Market share for both RIM and Samsung has also weakened the past few quarters, though less so than Nokia's. RIM's 15.7 percent chunk of the market for the second quarter of the year was down from its first-quarter high of 17.6 percent. Samsung's share has been relatively flat but usually dips a bit from the first to the second quarter, notes In-Stat.
In sheer unit volume, Nokia has done well the past few quarters, with 9.3 million Wi-Fi handsets shipped in the second quarter of the year compared with Apple's 5.2 million shipments. However, Nokia's shipments have dropped since the first quarter of 2008 when it saw 12 million units fly out the door. Over the same period, Apple, RIM, and HTC have seen their shipments grow.
As the No. 2 Wi-Fi handset vendor, Apple has also outsold third-place RIM in dual-mode phone shipments, says In-Stat. Though RIM still has a larger market presence, not all of its Blackberry devices include Wi-Fi. HTC and Samsung rounded out In-Stat's list as the fourth and fifth top Wi-Fi handset vendors, respectively.
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In-Stat)
The report also detailed the growth of the Wi-Fi smartphone market overall. The industry shipped 37 million handsets in 2007, and 103 million units in 2008. That rise is because of several factors, notes In-Stat, including greater functionality, lower prices, and carrier promotions. Initially targeted to the business market, smartphones are also now an entrenched hit with consumers, which In-Stat attributes to the success of the iPhone.
Wi-Fi handset shipments are expected to rise just 25 percent to 128.4 million units for 2009. That compares with a nearly 180 percent jump in 2008.
But In-Stat sees gains ahead. By 2010, the growth rate is likely to climb to 43 percent. Though that rate may not be sustainable, it should remain strong in the coming years. Wi-Fi will also become more prevalent in mobile phones. This year, 11.5 percent of handsets include Wi-Fi; by 2012, that figure will grow to 25 percent, predicts In-Stat.
To compile the report, In-Stat relied on its own data as well as interviews with Wi-Fi equipment vendors.
Apple may have blinked first in the ongoing battle with the Chinese government to allow the company to sell a Wi-Fi-enabled iPhone in that country.
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Apple)
The back-and-forth battle between Apple and China's Ministry of Industry and Information may be coming to a close. According to a BusinessWeek report, Apple has applied for a Network Access License that would allow the company to begin selling the iPhone without Wi-Fi.
In typical fashion, Apple has reportedly been hard-nosed in negotiations with the Chinese government over the iPhone. However, the government has been just as hard-nosed, refusing to allow Apple to sell the Wi-Fi-enabled phone in China.
AppleInsider guesstimates that the approval process for the iPhone would take four to six months, making a potential launch date no later than January 2010.
Of course, the iPhone is being used in many countries where it is not officially sold, China being one of them. The ability to unlock the phones and use them on any compatible network has made the iPhone popular worldwide.
Bringing a Chinese company, speculated to be China Unicom, on board as an official carrier would enable Apple to open the iPhone to a huge market of potential growth. It's unclear what the lack of Wi-Fi will do for the popularity of the smartphone, but it's obviously a concession that Apple felt was worth making.
Updated at 9:15 a.m. PDT with comments from analyst Daniel Amir.
Apple is expected to begin production on a high-end iPhone with 32GB of flash memory and a low-end 3G version this spring, according to a research report released Tuesday by Lazard Capital Markets analyst.
Production is anticipated to begin in April and ramp up in May, and the new phones could be announced in June, Daniel Amir, a Lazard Capital Markets analyst, said in his report.
He noted, however, that the low-end version may only be available in the fast-growing, emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, while the high-end version is expected to make its way to North America and Europe.
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Apple)
The low-end version is expected to run on a 3G network, rather than on Wi-Fi, while the high-end version is anticipated to double its storage capacity from 16GB to 32GB of NAND flash memory and feature improvements to its camera, Amir noted in his report, citing checks with Apple's iPhone channel partners.
Meanwhile, Amir predicts, iPhone unit shipments for the first and second quarters could be higher than Wall Street's current forecast.
He expects iPhone shipments to come in around 3.8 million to 4 million in the first quarter, while Wall Street is anticipating 3 million to 3.5 million units.
In the second quarter, iPhone shipments could reach 7 million to 8 million units, a threefold to fourfold increase over last year's second quarter performance, he asserts. Apple's new iPhones are expected to account for about 3 million of these figures, Amir said. Wall Street, meanwhile, is expecting Apple to ship 6.5 million to 7 million iPhones in the second quarter.
Apple was not immediately available for comment.
Reports of an Apple flash-memory buying binge surfaced in February, with one analyst from Think Equity Partners noting that Apple had virtually cleaned out one large supplier and was hitting up two others for more flash memory.
Amir told CNET New that the February rise stemmed from increased production for the iPhones that shipped in March. In order to meet its needs for a 32GB iPhone, Apple will hit up its suppliers up toward the end of next month, he said.
Amir noted in his research report:
About 20 percent of all NAND capacity goes to Apple, and its impact on the NAND market should not be underestimated...
NAND prices should move up further off the Apple orders. We believe that with the new iPhone design which could include 32GB NAND, Apple is setting the stage for another potentially big flash order starting in April. With the potential for 3 million units to be shipped in 2Q, we believe the magnitude of such an order could enable prices of NAND components to move up an additional 20 percent in the (first half) of 2Q.
The New York City school system has refused to accept any more iMac shipments until Apple fixes a Wi-Fi flaw, according to a report.
MacBook shipments are on hold to Big Apple schools until the other Apple fixes a Wi-Fi problem.
(Credit: Apple)MacNN is reporting that the city's Department of Education has instructed Dell Managed Services, which is apparently the DOE's IT partner, to stop all iMac shipments until Apple fixes a Wi-Fi connectivity issue. The exact nature of the issue wasn't explained in MacNN's report, which cited an e-mail from Apple to school faculty apologizing for the problems.
It's unclear how long this problem has been going on, but AppleInsider reported that some shipments have been on hold for almost two months, which was right around the time Apple shipped the 10.5.2 release of Leopard. A News.com reader directed us to several discussions on Apple's user forums regarding Leopard Wi-Fi problems that go back as far as November.
AppleInsider also believes that Apple is getting set to fix the Wi-Fi flaw in the next release of Mac OS X Leopard, which will be 10.5.3. That's expected sometime in the next few weeks, although signs have appeared that the update will be here sooner rather than later, as Apple also works to correct a QuickTime flaw with that release.
An Apple spokesman said the company is looking into the issue. If you have been running into any kind of Wi-Fi connectivity problems with your Leopard machine, let us know.
Well, you can't say they didn't warn you.
Apple released an update for the iPhone on Thursday that brings the Wi-Fi Music Store to the device, as well as several security fixes and enhanced features. But, as expected, it also turns iPhones that were unlocked to run on cellular networks other than AT&T's into little more than emergency call boxes.
Macworld reported two iPhones in its office with SIM (subscriber identity module) hacks did not work after the update was installed. A message prompted the phone's owner to install "an unlocked and valid SIM card" before the phone could be completely activated. It's almost like the phone was in the same pre-activation limbo stage that frustrated many iPhone users waiting for activation the first weekend the device went on sale.
Gizmodo is reporting that both the original SIM cards as well as new SIM cards from AT&T won't work in iPhones that had been activated with the original SIM card, then unlocked from the network. That could present a huge problem for iPhone owners who thought they could get around the reactivation process by getting a new AT&T SIM card.
Other reports are trickling in of similar experiences. It appears that those who downloaded the "jailbreaking" software application that lets you install third-party software aren't running into the same problems if they are still using AT&T's network. However, they are reporting that their third-party applications have vanished upon reactivation.
Did you hack your iPhone, and have you had similar problems after installing the latest update? Let us know.
Apple gave hacked iPhone owners another warning that they might have trouble with the latest software update, and many did.
(Credit: Apple)
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