Motorola phone division posted their quarterly results. It was positive, but only with the legal settlement fess from RIM. Phone business loss was $109M.
It will be very difficult for Motorola to ever come back. They are completely committed to Google Android operating system. HTC is profitable with Android, as is SonyEricsson right now. Samsung is entering the space. Competition will be fierce and Motorola will be the first victim.
2010-07-30
2010-07-08
Masscre at US mobile market
There is a massacre happening at the US smart mobile handset market. Investigators are not yet in the scene, but the expected victims are HTC and Motorola. The only suspect at the moment is Samsung family.
In the middle of the year 2010 Samsung family members, mostly cousins belonging to Galaxy branch, entered into every major operator inventory. Of course there were also some SIM-free members hanging around in Amazon and others stores to catch by those few who are interested in free mobiles.
That started the spree never seen before. HTC and Motorola first refused to escape, but things got very hot and they had to flee when the bottom line turned red. Samsung had better displays from its own factories, and HTC got first hits when there were no more displays left for its mobiles. HTC had to change to less perfect ammunition, which caused some frustration and display performance fees.
Soon Motorola started to bleed too. It had just gained the market share for 6-9 months, but now the Samsung family hit too hard with lower prices, large selection of different form-factors and good hardware.
Also Apple was seen wounded in the attack, although it is still unclear how serious the injuries are and how much of the injuries were caused by Apple itself, because it refused to bring different form-factors into the market.
Android will probably be abandoned later, after Samsung loses interest into it and will be seen hanging around with Bada.
To Be Continued...
In the middle of the year 2010 Samsung family members, mostly cousins belonging to Galaxy branch, entered into every major operator inventory. Of course there were also some SIM-free members hanging around in Amazon and others stores to catch by those few who are interested in free mobiles.
That started the spree never seen before. HTC and Motorola first refused to escape, but things got very hot and they had to flee when the bottom line turned red. Samsung had better displays from its own factories, and HTC got first hits when there were no more displays left for its mobiles. HTC had to change to less perfect ammunition, which caused some frustration and display performance fees.
Soon Motorola started to bleed too. It had just gained the market share for 6-9 months, but now the Samsung family hit too hard with lower prices, large selection of different form-factors and good hardware.
Also Apple was seen wounded in the attack, although it is still unclear how serious the injuries are and how much of the injuries were caused by Apple itself, because it refused to bring different form-factors into the market.
Android will probably be abandoned later, after Samsung loses interest into it and will be seen hanging around with Bada.
To Be Continued...
2010-07-05
Android is dead
Google Android OS is growing like a wildfire. The latest growth rate in activations was around 8% per week. Now I have gone mad and say it is dead.
Google has many troubles in different parts of the world. Google has been ousted from China. It is under criminal investigation in Germany. It is all the time pushing limits everywhere, and that is good. We need understanding and discussion on these topics.
Operators
But what about mobile? Android is a mobile OS and it has "nothing to do" with Google Street View cars and Google search. Well, Google is trying to bypass mobile operators, the powerhouses of the mobile economy. And it means troubles. By introducing Google voice, it is going to an unmapped territory operators in the US. Operators for sure do not like it. It is trying to make operators a bit pipe between the handset and Google servers. And US operators are very powerful, too powerful to innovate.
Handset makers
Another bitpipe here are handset makers. Everything that the handset does happens between Google and Google. Nothing between HTC, Samsung, SonyEricsson or anybody else. Well, there are radios, cell towers, backhaul etc, but this does not provide additional value. Everything is just pushing the boxes outside Google. Do you think the world's second largest handset brand, Samsung, wants this? No, it will try to make the additional value itself. Therefore Smasung will turn away from Android leaving already troubled handset makers to compete the Android market. Google does not leave space for differentiation between handset makers. Motorola has already committed to Android till death. The end will be ugly.
Now when you look at the handset market, two dominant players Samsung and Nokia are not supporting Android in the near future. What is left? Loss-making small manufacturers?
Final words
Of course Google will adapt to market requirements and keep its OS alive. But how? We are living interesting times next 1-2 years.
Google has many troubles in different parts of the world. Google has been ousted from China. It is under criminal investigation in Germany. It is all the time pushing limits everywhere, and that is good. We need understanding and discussion on these topics.
Operators
But what about mobile? Android is a mobile OS and it has "nothing to do" with Google Street View cars and Google search. Well, Google is trying to bypass mobile operators, the powerhouses of the mobile economy. And it means troubles. By introducing Google voice, it is going to an unmapped territory operators in the US. Operators for sure do not like it. It is trying to make operators a bit pipe between the handset and Google servers. And US operators are very powerful, too powerful to innovate.
Handset makers
Another bitpipe here are handset makers. Everything that the handset does happens between Google and Google. Nothing between HTC, Samsung, SonyEricsson or anybody else. Well, there are radios, cell towers, backhaul etc, but this does not provide additional value. Everything is just pushing the boxes outside Google. Do you think the world's second largest handset brand, Samsung, wants this? No, it will try to make the additional value itself. Therefore Smasung will turn away from Android leaving already troubled handset makers to compete the Android market. Google does not leave space for differentiation between handset makers. Motorola has already committed to Android till death. The end will be ugly.
Now when you look at the handset market, two dominant players Samsung and Nokia are not supporting Android in the near future. What is left? Loss-making small manufacturers?
Final words
Of course Google will adapt to market requirements and keep its OS alive. But how? We are living interesting times next 1-2 years.
2010-07-02
Apple will face hard times with iPhone4. Why?
Apple has launched a celebrated device which has sold millions in its first few days. That is an excellent achievement from Apple. But hard times are ahead.
Piper Jaffray reported that most of the units(77%) were upgrades to existing customers. It is a good achievement, too, because repeat purchase of same brand shows loyalty to the brand. However, repeated sales does not help Apple to increase its market share.
It was also reported that there are some design flaws regarding the antenna structure and some manufacturing failures related to screen and other components. This happens to every device that is sold in a massive scale. Bloggers strengthen the failed unit message by linking videos and photographs to everyone. Of course, every device should be perfect, but it is a statistical fact that some devices are not manufactures properly. There can be more that 10.000 failed devices and it can still be considered as "normal", because the number of sales is massive. But these things are not the hard times I mean. These are usual flaws for a new consumer electronics device, and can be corrected with redesign, improved quality control and more efficient production process.
The hard times come from the operators. They do not support Apple any more, because they know the costs after the previous models. John Strand from Strand consulting has been ranting this for a long time. Apple does not bring money to operators, as it sells apps in its own App store. Operators do not have any reason to advertise iPhone beyond the point the device sales brings them. An example is that in the United Kingdom iPhone 4 is available unlocked and every operator is selling it. It is not a competitive advantage to any operator. And losing operator support is the game lost in the mobile space.
Piper Jaffray reported that most of the units(77%) were upgrades to existing customers. It is a good achievement, too, because repeat purchase of same brand shows loyalty to the brand. However, repeated sales does not help Apple to increase its market share.
It was also reported that there are some design flaws regarding the antenna structure and some manufacturing failures related to screen and other components. This happens to every device that is sold in a massive scale. Bloggers strengthen the failed unit message by linking videos and photographs to everyone. Of course, every device should be perfect, but it is a statistical fact that some devices are not manufactures properly. There can be more that 10.000 failed devices and it can still be considered as "normal", because the number of sales is massive. But these things are not the hard times I mean. These are usual flaws for a new consumer electronics device, and can be corrected with redesign, improved quality control and more efficient production process.
The hard times come from the operators. They do not support Apple any more, because they know the costs after the previous models. John Strand from Strand consulting has been ranting this for a long time. Apple does not bring money to operators, as it sells apps in its own App store. Operators do not have any reason to advertise iPhone beyond the point the device sales brings them. An example is that in the United Kingdom iPhone 4 is available unlocked and every operator is selling it. It is not a competitive advantage to any operator. And losing operator support is the game lost in the mobile space.
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