Filed under: News | Technology News
Apr 28 2011, 12:29pm CDT | by Robert Evans
Well that's it, we've hit the future. The smartphone- not too long ago a toy for those with lots of money, is now a household necessity. Just four years ago almost nobody had one. But, as of April 28, 2011, the smartphone now accounts for the majority of mobile phone sales in the United States. The NPD group reports that 54% new mobile handsets purchased in this country were smartphones in Q1 2011.
As a result of the smartphone explosion, the average price of a mobile phone has jumped 2% to a total of $102. However, the average price of a smartphone is actually in decline, down to $145. This seems to be due to the mass of low-end Android handsets that have rolled out over the last year. You'd expect to see these cheap entry-level phones give the open-source OS yet another boost in the numbers.
But they haven't.
In fact, Android is down in market share for the first time since Q2 2009. It accounted for only 50% of sales in Q1, a 3% drop year-over-year. To what do we owe this startling change?
Verizon's iPhone. After months of speculation, we can finally see the market impact of iOS expanding out of AT&T. Apple's share of the US smartphone market has leapt 9% to a total of 28%. RIM's BlackBerry, meanwhile, is down 5% to 14%. Ross Rubin of the NPD group closed off their results with this little gem:
"The rise of Apple and HTC show how companies can drive change in a mature device market to change the rules of the game. The overall success of U.S. market leaders Samsung and LG will be tied to their success in the smartphone market."
Samsung holds 23% of total cell phone unit sales in the United States, while LG is hovering at 18%. In terms of the whole handset market, Apple only holds 14% share. But that number is rising steadily. The iPhone is already nipping at LG's heels, and the possible launch of further iPhones with new carriers only increases Apple's odds of breaking that 20% mark.
Source: CIO.com
IDG News Service (Miami Bureau) — Yahoo's board of directors has approved spending US$1.1 billion [b] in cash to buy popular blogging site Tumblr, according to The Wall Street Journal. The plan is for Tumblr to operate as an indepen ...
Full article at: CIO.com
More like this 1 hour ago
Source: The New York Times
Yahoo ’s board has agreed to buy Tumblr, the popular blogging service, for about $1.1 billion in cash, a person with knowledge of the agreement said on Sunday. The deal, sealed at a meeting of Yahoo’s board, is expected to be announced as soon as Monday, ...
Full article at: The New York Times
More like this 1 hour ago
Source: GHacks Technology News
Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ using the icons below. Download ...
Full article at: GHacks Technology News
More like this 1 hour ago
Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive
Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast
moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows
where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.
blog comments powered by Disqus