Category: Market

Market data & competition.

iPad outsells iPhone

Apple today announced that it sold its one millionth iPad on Friday, just 28 days after its introduction on April 3. iPad users have already downloaded over 12 million apps from the App Store and over 1.5 million ebooks from the new iBookstore.

via Apple Sells One Million iPads.

On March 14 I wrote:

I will be surprised if the number of units sold in Apple’s CQ2 doesn’t exceed 1 million. This will probably mean better performance with a new platform than Nokia, Google, Sony Ericsson or HTC and perhaps better than the iPhone.

On March 9 I wrote:
In either case, iPad will sell better than the iPhone out of the gate.
The iPhone sold 1 million within 74 days.  The iPad sold 1 million units in less than half the time the iPhone did.

Espoo, we have a problem.

Poor quality of Nokia software is source of astonishment for market analysts.

Helsingin Sanomat – International Edition – Business & Finance — Analysts: Nokia has wasted 3 years trying to come up with challenger to iPhone.

A queue is forming to get on board the clue train but, instead of getting in line, Finland seems to be sitting and watching incredulously how the line grows.

The Finnish newspaper article continues:

The media often takes a blindly uncritical view of all Apple’s doings, such that the positive attention paid to the company’s products is in no way proportionate to the weight of the products themselves.

A good example is Apple’s iPad tablet, the commercial success of which is still a large question-mark. This has nevertheless not prevented journalists over the Atlantic from writing profusely and ecstatically about the newcomer.

If Nokia keep believing this their competitiveness problem will surely not go away.
Additional thoughts on the likely response process from Nokia here.

200k apps (IV)

The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 200,000 apps on Apple’s App Store proves that Flash isn’t necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games.

via Thoughts on Flash.

How about that! On February 2nd from your correspondent: 200k Apps by May 1.

Including apps that have been removed, the total apps approved is about a quarter million. 200k available apps crossed over on March 23.

Apple overtakes Motorola in phone market share

However, it has lost its position as the largest U.S. maker of phones to Apple Inc. Motorola sold a total of 8.5 million phones in the quarter, while Apple sold 8.8 million iPhones. Four years ago, when the Razr was still popular, Motorola sold 46.1 million phones in the first quarter.

via Motorola posts profit, strong sales; stock jumps – Yahoo! Finance.

A year ago, Motorola sold 14.7 million phones in the fourth quarter (a y/y drop in unit volume of 42%). The drop in phone revenue in the same period was 9 percent.

41 million BlackBerry users

“Officials at the WES 2010 keynote said that RIM has redesigned all of the core applications within the BlackBerry operating system. It also revealed that there are 41 million BlackBerry users, and 90 million BlackBerrys have been sold to date.”

Apple already announced that they see 100 million iPhone OS devices sold by this summer. The installed base for iPhone OS devices is likely to be much greater than 40 million since most of the 85 million devices sold as of today were purchased less than 2 years ago. With the iPad and the iPod broadening the portfolio, the Apple mobile platform will grow more rapidly than RIM’s leading to increasing network effects.

Palm's Warning prior to HP's Acquisition

Buried in the news that HP is buying Palm is an updated lower guidance for the fourth quarter, otherwise known as a warning.

The Company expects revenues for its fourth fiscal quarter to be in the range of approximately $90 million to $100 million on a GAAP (1) and a non-GAAP basis. Revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter are being impacted by slow sales of the Company’s products, which has resulted in low order volumes from carriers. Palm also expects to close its fourth fiscal quarter with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance between $350 million and $400 million.

$90 million in revenues for an average ASP of $300 would put unit sales at 300,000 for the quarter. RIM just sold 10.4 million devices, Apple sold 8.75 million. 300k is just an astonishingly small number.

iPhone OS download rate 10X Blackberry

Today, Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie said his BlackBerry App World has 20 million registered users and nearly 1 million daily app downloads.

via Apple Doing 10-20X As Many App Downloads A Day As BlackBerry.

As previously stated, The App download rate increased to a record 10,753,000 per day during the last 90 days.  That makes the download rate for the iPhone platform 10x that of the Blackberry Platform.  The iPhone platform is nearing 100 million installed base.  Blackberry is citing 20 million registered users.  I think everyone is pretty clear on where this is going.

Nexus One coming to Vodafone not Verizon

“We wont be selling a Nexus One with Verizon and this is a reflection of the amazing innovation happening across the open Android ecosystem,” Google said in an emailed statement.

via UPDATE 1-Google smartphone coming to stores, no Verizon| Reuters.

Come again?

The breakdown of the deal signals Verizon may view Google as a competitor rather than a partner when it comes to Nexus One sales, which are probably at less than half a million since the phone’s January debut, said BGC Partners’s Colin Gillis. ‘It’s really a flop for Google,’ said the New York-based analyst.”

See also: Bloomberg.

Android Market passes 50k apps

Android has already crossed the 50,000 app mark, new stats from AndroLib show. Just a week after Google officially confirmed the 38,000 app mark, a raw estimate now says the mobile app store has added 10,000 more apps within at least a few weeks.

via Android Market passes 50,000 apps | Electronista.

The AppShopper iTunes app store spider shows the following totals today:

  • Total Apps Approved: 222431
  • Total Available Apps: 191465
  • Total Available iPhone Apps: 188005
  • Total Available iPad Apps: 4902

Sony Ericsson and RIM reach market share parity

[Sony Ericsson] said it shipped 10.5 million units in the quarter, a 28 percent decrease compared with the same three months in 2009. It was down from the 14.6 million units shipped in the fourth quarter.

via Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson posts Q1 profit – Yahoo! News.

A few weeks ago RIM said it shipped 10.5 million devices.

With Apple claiming 85 million installed base of iPhones and iPod touches vs. 75 million last quarter, it’s safe to assume at least 10 million Apple smart devices shipped in Q1.

By units at least, SEMC, RIM and Apple are neck and neck.