Category: Market

Market data & competition.

Stop the Presses! RIM Buys own OS Kernel

RIM Buys QNX to Tie Phones to Cars | News & Opinion | PCMag.com.

Seriously, a real operating system. This is their first.

As a (Unix-like real-time) microkernel-based OS, QNX is based on the idea of running most of the OS in the form of a number of small tasks, known as servers. This differs from the more traditional monolithic kernel, in which the operating system is a single very large program composed of a huge number of “parts” with special abilities. In the case of QNX, the use of a microkernel allows users (developers) to turn off any functionality they do not require without having to change the OS itself; instead, those servers are simply not run.

…which is more than can be said for the BlackBerry “OS”.

Source: Wikipedia

iAd adds up to a lot of cash

“The average user spends over 30 minutes every day using apps on their phone. If we said we wanted to put an ad up every 3 minutes, that’s 10 ads per device per day. That would be 1b ad opportunities per day.”

This is going to take some time to sink in over at the Googleplex.  By pushing Android, Google removed themselves from this opportunity.  Jobs continues:

“We do not have any plans to become a worldwide ad agency. We tried to buy a company called AdMob, and Google came in and snatched them from us. We bought Quattro instead. They’re teaching us and we’re learning as fast as we can.”

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I did suggest iAd was coming on Dec. 30 of last year:

I think it’s a certainty that Apple will introduce an ad serving platform for the iPhone (and any tablet) in 2010. This will amount to a checkbox that developers will check when submitting their app to the store. Doing so will allow Apple to place ads on the app in return for a check in the mail to the developer for the impressions.

Apple sells 450,000 iPads in 5 days, users download 3.5 million apps

Apple said Thursday that it has shipped over 450,000 iPads since the device went on sale this past Saturday, spurring 3.5 million app downloads for the new tablet device by its earliest adopters.

via AppleInsider | Apple sells 450,000 iPads in 5 days, users download 3.5 million apps.

Jobs also updated with 600,000 downloads of iBooks.  The first day sales of books was 250k, so it’s keeping a bit above 1 book per device.  First day apps was 1 million, so the app attach rate is now 7.8, well above the 3 from day one.  Keep in mind that the iPhone attach rate grew to over 50 so it’s early days to see how iPhone compares to iPad as an app magnet.

One billion apps downloaded in 93 days

A bit less than one year ago, on April 23rd 2009, Apple reported 1 billion apps downloaded.

158 days later, on September 28th 2009, Apple reported 2 billion apps downloaded.

99 days later, on January 5th 2010, Apple reported 3 billion apps downloaded.

93 days later, on April 8th 2010, Apple reported 4 billion apps downloaded.

The download rate for the past 93 days was 10.7 million apps per day.

Given 85 million iPhones and iPod touches sold, the 4 billion app downloads amount to 47 per device.  (Although that number is likely to be considerably higher due to many iPhones/iPods having gone out of use–an attach rate of well over 50 seems like a good estimate).

Nokia Tablet?

“Getting a strong Intel backing here could be an important advantage,” says MKM Partners analyst Tero Kuittinen, who sees the Nokia tablet as part of an array of mobile computers.

via Nokia Aims a Tablet at Apple: Exclusive | Technology | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com.

No doubt Nokia’s tablet plans preceded the launch of the iPad–product cycles being what they are.  And the relationship with Intel is certainly a big part of this push (vs. on the handset side where Intel has no cards to play).

However, the elephant in the room is what software will run on this Tablet.  Any discussion on competitive potential of iPad competitors must include a view on the software/platform and ecosystem that tablet will rest on.

This is not a hardware business.  In fact, the hardware is designed to get out of the way.

The hardware is so understated — it’s just a screen, really — and because you manipulate objects and interface elements so smoothly and directly on the screen, the fact that you’re using an iPad falls away. You’re using the app, whatever it may be, and while you’re doing so, the iPad is that app. Switch to another app and the iPad becomes that app. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.

source: http://db.tidbits.com/article/11152

Google and Microsoft swap mobile share

according to a report published Monday. ComScore reported that Google’s share of smartphone subscribers rose to 9%, compared to 3.8% at the end of November. Meanwhile Apple’s share fell 0.1 points to 25.4%, while Microsoft’s share fell 4 points to 15.1%.

via Google’s share of mobile market grows: report – MarketWatch.

Seems Google’s gain is Microsoft’s loss.

BlackBerry, saw its share rise 1.3 points to 42.1%, according to the data. The number of owners of smartphones rose 21% in the U.S. in the three months ended in February compared to the prior period.

One million iPad apps in one day

Apple also revealed that more than a million applications were downloaded from the App Store for the iPad. Apple’s iBookstore saw over 250,000 books downloaded on the first day alone.

via AppleInsider | Apple sells more than 300,000 iPads on launch day.

Consider that with 300k devices sold, that amounts to 3 apps and nearly one book per device–in one day.  Or an attach rate of 4 content items per device (per day).

Palm’s entire market cap is comparable to the amount of Apple’s free advertising in the last 48 hours

The product is getting in depth coverage from CNBC, Fox News, The NY Times, The LA Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Dave Letterman Show, The Jimmy Fallon Show, and practically every local news station and newspaper around the world.  Not to mention prime time product placement in ABC’s Modern Family as well as a cameo in the most memorable Jay-Z moment at the 2010 Oscar’s.

And Apple has only spent to run one ad (which itself went viral on YouTube).

(credit: Jason Schwarz newsletter (subscription only))