Smartphones – Page 3 – Tech Narratives

I’ve already commented this quarter on Samsung’s preliminary results, which let us know that it would report record high revenues and operating income. But we had to wait until its final and full results for the quarter were out to know the contributions made by its various divisions, though I’d had a good guess in that first comment. As expected, the Semiconductors division (which includes memory, ASICs, and Samsung’s new separate foundry business) was by far the strongest performer in the quarter, growing 47% year on year and contributing 57% of operating income for the company on just 27% of its revenue. That was driven, as expected, by a combination of market growth and price increases, with memory making up nearly 80% of sales. But the IT & Mobile division, which has been stagnant or declining in recent quarters, also contributed to revenue growth, up 17% year on year, the best in several years. A big contributor was the shift of the company’s Galaxy S launch from Q1 to Q2 this year, which had sent Q1 revenues down 15% year on year but boosted the year on year comparison this time around. Profits and margins, though, were both down on last year in the mobile division, suggesting perhaps because of the expenses associated with the launch shifting from Q1 to Q2 as well, and perhaps because the company is making a big marketing push around one of its most compelling flagships in several years. My bet is that the rest of Samsung’s year will go as well as its first half, based largely on the combination of higher chip prices, growing components shipments, and a big boost from Apple OLED orders for its new phones. Some of those drivers will ease next year, especially if other suppliers are able to ramp up OLED production to help meet Apple’s needs in the next generation of phones, but Samsung’s on a pretty healthy trajectory right now and there’s not much sign of that stopping. The biggest short term question is how it will position the Note 8 that’s due to launch next month, given the increases in usable screen size in the Galaxy S line and last year’s troubles, and how competitive it and the Galaxy S8 will be versus the new iPhones launched a month later by Apple.

via Samsung (PDF)

Samsung

Apple Drops to Fifth Place in China Smartphone Market in Q2 (Jul 26, 2017)

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Motorola Announces Moto Z2 Force, Shatterproof Phone With Mods (Jul 25, 2017)

Motorola today announced the latest variant in its flagship Moto Z series, the Z2 Force, which is a follow-up to the Z2 Play announced a while back. Motorola, of course, is part of Lenovo, which had pared back the Motorola branding over the past year, although today’s launch suggested it’s reversed course on that front, with lots of “batwing” Motorola logos and the full version of the brand (not just “Moto”) on stage and elsewhere. The Moto Z is the only really high-end phone either Lenovo or Motorola makes, but even then the Z2 Play is priced at $500, well below flagships from other manufacturers. Lenovo has said on earnings calls over the past year that it expected the Z to sell around 3 million units in its first year, so this isn’t a mass-market flagship in anything like the same category as the iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy S and Note phones, or even the LG G series. The Z line has been pretty much a niche proposition, and there are two big reasons for that: the modular approach, and the Verizon exclusivity in the US. Though neither of those changed with the Z2 Play, the Z2 Force will be available on all four US carriers, and offers a shatterproof screen and some other advantages over the Z2 Play. But it will also command a far higher price at around $800, putting it in line with the most expensive flagships from competitors. That’s a fairly bold move, but suggests Lenovo/Motorola feels comfortable about the device and its ability to differentiate in the market. Motorola has had an interesting set of differentiators over the last few years, in some ways going back to basics by emphasizing battery life and now shatterproof screens, while the modular approach is likely to be too niche to drive really meaningful sales. But will four-carrier support and a monthly financing program through Affirm, Motorola is definitely broadening the distribution this time around, and that should help it expand the addressable market quite a bit. None of that is going to catapult Motorola into being a major player in the US market again, but it should certainly allow it to take more meaningful share and re-appear on the radars of people who have written it off as a Verizon-only vendor in the US.

via CNET

Maturing Smartphone Market

India’s Jio Launches Free VoLTE Feature Phone, Cheaper Data Plans (Jul 21, 2017)

I don’t usually cover the Indian market in depth here, but Jio feels like one of those stories that more people outside of India need to know about. It’s part of one of the big Indian conglomerates, Reliance Industries, and launched public LTE-only mobile services in September last year, signing up 125 million customers since then, an unprecedented rate of growth for any mobile operator anywhere. Until now, that service was available only on smartphones, either compatible devices customers brought with them or those sold by Jio. But today, Jio announced its own VoLTE-capable feature phone, which it will offer for free (albeit with a 1500 rupee – $23 – refundable security deposit) starting next month, with an unlimited voice, text and data plan for 153 rupees ($2) per month. What Jio has done in India over the past year or so is one of those things that just doesn’t seem like it should be possible – massive customer growth from zero, while offering fairly leading edge technology in devices and its network. The big enabler is that Jio is part of that massive conglomerate, which makes lots of money from the petroleum industry and therefore doesn’t need Jio to be profitable, at least not yet. In addition, although Jio touts its broad coverage (and promises to cover 99% of the population shortly), my understanding is that the coverage can be unreliable and some users are deploying it as a second-SIM solution rather than their only option. A lack of network density is likely the big problem, offering nominal coverage across a wide area but offering spotty coverage within that area in practice. But it’s been disruptive nonetheless, providing access to 4G and smartphones for those who previously hadn’t taken the plunge, and the new feature phone is going to extend 4G and some basic data services to a far larger number.

via NDTV

Maturing Smartphone Market

HTC Inadvertently Shows Some Users Ads in its On-Screen Keyboard (Jul 17, 2017)

Users of some of HTC’s devices, apparently mostly the HTC 10, are seeing ads popping up above the on-screen keyboard. Apparently, the issue was created by the company which provides the keyboard on a white-label basis to HTC (and apparently quite a few other Android manufacturers) and which offers a version with ads as well. Though it’s not directly HTC’s fault (or its intention to show ads, contrary to what some seem to have assumed), it’s definitely a sign of poor quality control that something like this could have slipped through the cracks. And it’s also indicative of a broader issue, which is Android vendors installing and setting as default alternatives to the default features and apps on their devices, even when those features and apps add very little value for the user (and in some cases, such as this, actively detract from it). Google’s own default keyboard on Android is fine, and avoiding it for the sake of having something custom does very little to help users while exposing HTC to risks like this mishap.

via Engadget

Google’s Second Generation Pixel XL Renders Leak, with LG as ODM (Jul 11, 2017)

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Google's Hardware Push

Xiaomi Claims 70% Quarter on Quarter Smartphone Shipment Growth (Jul 7, 2017)

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Xiaomi

iPhones at Lower Prices Taking Increasing Share in US Prepaid (Jul 6, 2017)

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Apple is Doomed

Essential Phone Fails to Launch Within Promised 30-Day Window (Jul 6, 2017)

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Essential

Hardware is Hard

KGI and Bloomberg Report Leaks on iPhone 8 Security Features (Jul 3, 2017)

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Smartphones

Qualcomm Demos Under-Display Fingerprint Recognition with Vivo (Jun 28, 2017)

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Apple is Doomed

Samsung Galaxy Note8 Reported to Cost 999 Euros / $900 at September Launch (Jun 23, 2017)

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Samsung

Samsung Bungled the Note7 Recall

BlackBerry Misses on Earnings Due to Unpredictable Professional Services Biz (Jun 23, 2017)

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BlackBerry

Sprint’s Virgin Mobile Goes iPhone-Only in Relaunch (Jun 22, 2017)

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Apple Supplier Wistron Appears to Confirm Wireless Charging in Next iPhone (Jun 15, 2017)

This is exactly the kind of speaking out of turn that Apple suppliers absolutely know not to engage in, so it’s baffling that Wistron’s CEO would have been so careless. Wistron, of course, is the vendor Apple is using for its first foray into manufacturing in India, and this is the kind of thing that tends to jeopardize those relationships. It’s not a huge revelation – Apple joined the consortium that manages the Qi wireless charging standard which it already uses in the Apple Watch a while back. But it’s one of a number of new hardware features that are likely to make it into the next iPhones – certainly not the headline feature, but one of a checklist of features that will be used to drum up demand. On the other hand, I remain skeptical of the value of mat-based wireless charging – though there’s some appeal to just putting your phone down to have it charge, that really requires several chargers in different places around your home and/or office to be useful, and it’s actually more limiting than traditional plugged-in charging for things like making phone calls or typing on your phone, where you might want to hold it while it’s charging. I’m still most curious to see whether Apple has made any advances in this regard and how it will both approach and sell wireless charging as a feature.

via The Verge

Apple
iPhone

Google Pixel Launcher User Numbers Cross 1m Mark, Suggesting 1m Pixel Sales (Jun 13, 2017)

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Google's Hardware Push

Essential Phone Will be Exclusive to Sprint in US, Further Limiting Appeal (Jun 12, 2017)

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