According to new estimates, Samsung smartphone samples left Apple in the dust for Q2 of this year. TrendForce reported that Apple sold 27 million iPhones in the second quarter as its global market share fell to 12.1%, which would mark a 30% sequential decline – and if the 5S doesn’t launch until October, the numbers are projected to get worse. Samsung, on the other hand, sold 71 million smartphones, which explains their record profits. The Galaxy S4 shipments totaled 23 million units in Q2, which was the fastest-selling Android smartphone in history, as well as the best-selling smartphone in the world last quarter.
Tag: apple
Apple Patents Touchscreen Dashboard
The connected car is quickly becoming a reality. Apple was granted a patent for a new car dashboard that would make most manual controls in your vehicle obsolete. Apple spoke about bringing iOS to vehicles during its developer conference earlier this year, but some design features that will likely make it into the vehicle will likely include the Airplay feature that will allow content on your phone to be displayed on your car’s screen – and Siri support to allow you to do lots of things hands free. iOS in the Car is expected to be released in 2014.
Apple Might Be Ready To Skip Commercials
When Apple takes on existing technologies and puts their product design expertise to work, they have the power to move technologies formerly only accessible to the more technically-minded among us into the mainstream. DVR technology is hardly exclusive to mega-geeks, but if Apple moved into the sphere, it is likely the popularity of the technology could explode. Sources indicate that the technology giant has begun meeting with cable networks to pitch an ad-skipping service much like TiVo or Hopper. This could only be a small part of a larger set-top-box project, but it could still spell a big problem for TV advertisers. The report indicates that Apple would pay networks every time a user skips ads, so it’s possible there would be a subscription fee involved as well. In any case, if the rates are not set carefully, Apple could seriously disrupt the effectiveness and cost of TV advertising.
Amazon Expected To Overhaul Kindle Fire
Based on insider reports, Amazon is expected to overhaul the Kindle Fire for this year. Though Kindle desirability is second to Apple’s iPad lineup, Samsung’s tablets overtook the Kindle as far as sales are concerned. In an attempt to capitalize on Samsung’s tablet stumbles, Amazon may be looking to launch new Fire models for the holiday shopping season this year. The first will be a replacement for the base model 7-inch Fire, with a new panel that boasts the same resolution as the Fire HD. There will also likely be an upgrade to the Fire HD, improving the panel to 1,920 x 1,200-pixel resolution. Finally, the 8.9-inch model is also expected to undergo an overhaul, upgrading its pixel count to 2,560 x 1,600 – which is more pixels than Apple’s 9.7-inch Retina display. What’s more, expect some design changes along with these new models – a more angular, chiseled approach – that results in some weight loss and the relocation of the power button. Expect to hear more about these major additions to the tablet market come early fall.
iTunes Radio Pays More Royalties Than Pandora
Many around the tech industry thought that Apple’s long negotiations with record companies leading to its release of iTunes Radio meant that they were trying to get copyright holdings for less. Instead, it turns out that Apple is paying more than its major rival, Pandora – to the tune of $0.13 per song, one cent more than Pandora. As well, Apple is paying out 15% of its advertising revenue over the first year of its contract, and that number will increase to 19% in the second year. Apple is offering music publishers more than twice as much in royalties than Pandora pays, meaning that iTunes Radio has the potential to be much more lucrative for record companies moving forward.
Imgur Debuts Android App
Imgur, known to most people as a simple but popular photo-sharing website favored mostly by Reddit users, officially launched its first mobile application today. Fitting with its off-kilter ways, the app is, as of yet, Android only. Its Beta app was tested in the wild, which is why its rating is so poor in the Google Play store – many users had issues with the beta builds. The official, public app allows viewers to view and upload pictures, but it also supports sharing, commenting, and engaging within the broader Imgur community. There will also be updates in the coming months that guide content creation and personalization. Whether this becomes a major player in the photo-app landscape remains to be seen, but for now it remains an important addition, and a profoundly new way to interact with one of the most popular photo-sharing websites on the web.
Apple Announces iTunes Radio
Apple announced the Fall launch of iTunes Radio, a Pandora-like streaming service geared towards music discovery and driving increased iTunes sales. Available on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, and Apple TV the service will be free and ad supported, or completely ad-free with an iTunes Match account. While it’s hard to call the offering a game changer, there are differentiating features like voice command integration with SIRI to make song requests. Apple’s biggest advantage though should be its ability to get exclusive tracks or album previews from big artists before you can hear them anywhere else.
Apple Rumored To Plan iRadio
With the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference days away, the speculation has begun regarding the new products that Apple are bringing to bear. Reportedly, Apple has reached a key licensing deal for its rumored Internet radio-service-to-be, iRadio. According to CNET, Apple finalized negotiations with Warner Music Group, just one month after the company reached another deal with Universal Music. CNET says that talks are still underway with Sony, but UM and WMG represent big steps forward in the music licensing world. These reports were corroborated by The New York Times, so iRadio could be a reality in a short few days.
The Problem With Market Share
Think market share is the be-all end-all in terms of measuring success for Apple or Android? Then you may want to check out editorial from John Kirk breaking down the problems with that metric and why we might want to start considering a few more like, say, profit margin or product differentiation.
Report: Smart TV Penetration
The Advanced TV space can be difficult to navigate but a new report from Diffusion Group casts some new light on the ecosystem. According to the report, Smart TVs with embedded app platforms make up 25% of all US broadband households compared to just 14% with streaming devices like Roku and Apple TV. Marketers looking to engage these early adopters should consider Smart TV platforms like Samsung’s Smarthub for the largest reach.
