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Bloomberg (Businessweek) legitimizes Allwinner and Rockchip as challengers to Intel and Qualcomm via the tablet space, as well as Spreadtrum in the smartphone space
Although the title is just:
- Qualcomm, Intel Threatened as Allwinner Nabs Tablet Share [Bloomberg, March 17, 2014]
- Qualcomm, Intel Threatened as Allwinner Gains Tablet Share: Tech [BloombergBusinessweek, March 17, 2014]
Note that for me there is nothing new about those titles as I introduced a whole new blog to the “Allwinner phenomenon” as evidenced with a specially designed banner on the right here:
And the first post of mine, “Hello world! Here is the Allwinner SoC and the ecosystem built around it”, was created 16 months ago, on November 26, 2012. For very well founded reasons which were explained in quite a detail in that post. Please read them as you will learn much more about the Allwinner case than from the whole Bloomberg (Businessweek) articles. Your interest will be more satisfied with quite a number of additional posts in January 2014, October 2013, September 2013, June 2013, April 2013, March 2013, January 2013 and December 2012.
Allwinner’s success is explained now in the Bloomberg (Businessweek) articles by the following quote:
Local chipmakers benefit from their proximity to the device manufacturers because it bolsters their ability to anticipate and react to new features that are in demand, said Ben El-Baz, head of U.S. marketing for Allwinner.
“Shenzhen is really the electronics hub for the world,” El-Baz said in a phone interview. “We are so close to the market that we’re able to come out with new solutions faster than our competitors. We can do it at lower cost.”
as well as the fact that:
The surge in cheaper devices hasn’t gone unnoticed by more established computer makers. Hewlett-Packard this year began selling the HP 8, a $170 tablet that runs on an Allwinner quad-core processor.
In [1], however, the internal text contains reference to Rockchip as well:
Note that this same blog of mine started to recognize Rockchip 2 years ago with MWC 2012: Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics post which was followed 10 months later with another one claiming no less than China’s HW engineering lead: The Rockchip RK292 series (RK2928 and RK2926) example. Under the Rockchip tag you could find even more recent ones.
Intel Corp. (INTC) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), the two largest U.S. chipmakers, are under threat in the fastest-growing part of the tablet market from a band of upstarts with names like Allwinner Technology Co. and Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Co. that are little known outside southern China.
Allwinner, based in Zhuhai near the manufacturing center of Shenzhen, became the No. 2 tablet-processor maker behind Apple Inc. in 2012 as demand for cheaper tablets stoked sales of its low-cost chips, according to IDC. Qualcomm ranks third, while Intel comes in at No. 6, following Rockchip.
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Success at Allwinner, which was founded in 2007, and Rockchip, established in 2001, is being driven by increasing demand for inexpensive tablets in their home market, where some devices sell for as little as $50, and in other developing economies. Sales of tablets that retail for less than $150 and don’t carry a brand name will rise 36 percent this year, IDC estimates, driving a 22 percent increase in total tablet shipments. The market for tablet processors grew 32 percent in 2013 to $3.6 billion, according to Strategy Analytics.
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Allwinner accounted for 18.2 million of the 88.3 million tablet processors shipped in the fourth quarter of 2013, IDC said. That was more than three times what Santa Clara, California-based Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, shipped in the same period. Rockchip sold 9 million.
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Rockchip representatives didn’t return messages for comment.
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Update: China’s Parallel Universe [EE Times, March 26, 2014]
End of update |
while both articles contain a whole paragraph devoted to Spreadtrum as well:
Note that this same blog of mine started to recognize Spreadtrum 27 months ago with World’s lowest cost, US$40-50 Android smartphones — sub-$100 retail — are enabled by Spreadtrum post which was followed 7 months later with another one claiming no less than Lowest H2’12 device cost SoCs from Spreadtrum will redefine the entry level smartphone and feature phone markets. Under the Spreadtrum tag you could find even more recent ones.
Spreadtrum’s Relationships
Like MediaTek, Shanghai-based Spreadtrum Communications Inc. is building on its relationship with handset makers serving the China market and exporting from there. The company, founded in 2001, supplies both processors and modems for smartphones that can retail for as little as $25, said Diana Jovin, a U.S.- based vice president at Spreadtrum.
Her company, which is owned by the Chinese government, has learned that quickly providing adaptable solutions is needed to succeed in a rapidly changing market, she said.
“A significant part of the mobile-handset ecosystem is centered in China,” Jovin said. “We’re the only vendor located in China serving those customers. We’ve expanded our portfolio quite rapidly and have the breadth and depth to compete effectively on a global basis.”
Spreadtrum, which has supplied chips used in Samsung’s Galaxy Star model and HTC Corp.’s Desire, is looking to build on its China base just as Qualcomm, the largest maker of semiconductors used in phones, is trying replicate its worldwide market dominance in that country, the biggest global mobile-phone market.
Regarding the question how the western chipmakers could meet these challenges:
Intel Priority
Intel Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich — who has made catching up in mobile computing a priority since taking over the company in May — said he’s aiming to quadruple tablet-chip sales to 40 million this year and processors from his company will make their way into devices costing less than $100. To speed adoption, Intel will provide tablet makers with subsidies — what it calls “contra revenue” — to make the cost of its chips competitive. That will cut into profitability this year.
Kathy Gill, a spokeswoman for Intel, said the company is “absolutely accelerating” its roadmap for its Atom line of low-power, low-cost processors for phones, tablets and budget laptops.
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New Chips
Qualcomm has already responded to the demand for lower-cost devices made in China with new chips, said Cristiano Amon, the head of the company’s chip division.
The adoption of a faster wireless-data technology called long-term evolution, or LTE, particularly by No. 1 wireless carrier China Mobile Ltd., will open the door for Qualcomm, the San Diego-based company says. While other companies including Intel, MediaTek and Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) have announced LTE-capable chips, Qualcomm has been in the market for more than two years and has 100 percent market share in devices that have integrated modems, according to IDC.
Qualcomm’s Edge
Qualcomm’s advantage in LTE modem chips will be tough to beat. Unlike for stand-alone processors, there’s no source of off-the-shelf modem designs [there is, however, highly advanced semiconductor IP on the market with CEVA as the lead vendor in that space which is dating back to CEVA Introduces Low Power, Multi-Mode LTE-Advanced Reference Architecture for the New CEVA-XC4000 DSP Architecture Framework [press release, Feb 21, 2012] – you can find more about that in The future of the semiconductor IP ecosystem post of mine], and building one takes years of experience, testing and qualification work with phone-service providers, according to Will Strauss, an analyst at Mesa, Arizona-based Forward Concepts Co.
In processors, “everybody can get in, thanks to ARM and the ease of implementing your own applications processor. They’ve lowered the bar,” Strauss said. At the same time, “the barrier for entry for LTE modems is still very, very high.”
The articles end, however, with a kind of gloomy outlook for the leadiong Western chipmakers:
I would be much more sceptical about the Western SoC vendors’ capabilities to withstand the onslaught of Chinese SoC vendors (including MediaTek). Even the “lack of modem technology” argument given above applies only to a limited degree as:
See more in: Chinese smartphone brands to conquer the global market? [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, March 18, 2014]
Still, Chinese companies have created an obstacle that their more established rivals may struggle to overcome, said Jim McGregor, an analyst at Tirias Research. While the volumes are huge in China and emerging markets, the devices’ low prices leave little room for profits — particularly for companies like Qualcomm and Intel that have shareholders who are accustomed to wide margins, he said.
“We are not just talking about a billion here, but several billion units,” McGregor said. “It’s foolish to avoid that kind of market. The problem is with a publicly traded company, it’s against their instincts to go for it.”
Chinese smartphone brands to conquer the global market?
The smartphone market in China became saturated between Q3’12 and Q4’13 as per the below chart from Analysys International (EnfoDesk):
Note that this chart corresponds to Chinese writing traditions, i.e. in Q2’11 16.81 million smartphones and 51.01 million feature phones were sold, while in Q4’13 97.63 million smartphones and 9.2 million feature phones. Source: 易观分析：2013年第4季度中国手机销量增速放缓，智能手机市场呈现饱和态势 (Analysys analysis: China mobile phone sales growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2013, the smart phone market is saturated) [EnfoDesk, March 11, 2014]
Chinese Handset Vendors Will Account for Over 50% of Mobile Handset Sales in 2015 [ABI Research press release, March 10, 2014]
ABI Research reports that Chinese handset vendors will account for over 50% of mobile handsets in 2015. Chinese vendors already accounted for 38% of mobile handset shipments in 2013 and the ongoing shift in growth to low cost handsets, especially smartphones, will increase their market share.
Greater China has long dominated the mobile handset manufacturing supply chain, but now its OEMs are beginning to dominate sales at the expense of the traditional handset OEMs, including even Samsung.
Many of the Chinese OEMs have focused almost exclusively on the huge Chinese market, with little activity beyond its borders, but this is set to change. Huawei (6th in worldwide market share for 2013) and ZTE (5th) have already made an impact on the world stage, but other Chinese handset OEMs like Lenovo—the Motorola acquisition is a clear statement of intent—and Xiaomi are set to join them.
“Chinese vendors already take up five of the top ten places in terms of worldwide market share, despite three of them only really shipping into China. The Chinese vendors highlight the changing shape of the mobile handset market, as the Chinese manufacturing ecosystem, specifically reference designs, enable the next wave of smartphone growth in low cost emerging markets and amongst price conscious consumers everywhere,” said Nick Spencer, senior practice director, mobile devices.
“South East Asia has already experienced this trend, but ABI Research expects to see the impact of these Chinese vendors increasing in all emerging markets and even advanced markets, especially on prepay,” added Spencer.
The New Phone Giants: Indian And Chinese Manufacturers’ Fast Rise To Threaten Apple And Samsung [Business Insider India, March 15, 2014]
The top Indian and Chinese smartphone manufacturers are classically disruptive. They produce products that are “good enough,” at a fraction of the cost of comparable models from premium brands. These ultra low-cost devices are the key to nudging consumers in massively untapped markets like India and Indonesia onto smartphones.
And these companies are starting to aim higher – producing 4G LTE smartphones that have the same processing power as Samsung and Apple premium devices.
They’re also far more innovative than they’re given credit for in terms of their strategy, supply chain management, and hardware.
In a new report from BI Intelligence, we explain why global consumer Internet and mobile companies will increasingly need to work with companies like Xiaomi and Micromax – not to mention Lenovo, Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad, Karbonn, and others – if they don’t want to miss out on mobile’s next growth phase in emerging markets
- Major local manufacturers now account for two-fifths of China’s smartphone market, and one-fourth of India’s. Xiaomi already sells four of the top 10 best-selling Android devices in China, and operates one of the top five app stores.
- Combined, the top five manufacturers in China and the top two in India – the “Local 7” in the chart above – are now shipping about 65 million smartphones every quarter, more than Apple, and coming close to drawing even with Samsung.
- These local manufacturers wield influence in various ways. They run their own successful app stores, mobile operating systems, and mobile services. They also hold the keys to which apps are preloaded on their phones. When BlackBerry wanted to take its BBM messaging service for Android into India, it signed a deal with Micromax.
- The local manufacturers are not provincial outfits producing knock-offs, as some might be inclined to assume. But their main competitive tool, for now, remains price. Local manufacturers in China and India match the features of more expensive devices and manage to produce comparable hardware at a fraction of the price. A Micromax handset comparable to Apple’s iPhone 5C costs less than one-fourth as much.
- Xiaomi has used a four-point strategy in its three-year rise to produce four of the most popular phone models in China. We discuss all four aspects, including tight inventory management and crowdsourcing product development feedback.
- These manufacturers will continue to expand overseas, in search of new growth opportunities. Micromax is in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Xiaomi has its eyes on Malaysia and Brazil. Huawei is already in the U.S. For example, it sells a 4G LTE handset on MetroPCS.
Smartphone Prices Race to the Bottom as Emerging Markets Outside of China Come into the Spotlight for Future Growth, According to IDC [press release, Feb 24, 2014]
Singapore and London, February 24, 2014 – Emerging markets have become the center of attention when talking about present and future smartphone growth. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, in 2013 the worldwide smartphone market surpassed 1 billion units shipped, up from 752 million in 2012. This boom has been mainly powered by the China market, which has tripled in size over the last three years. China accounted for one out of every three smartphones shipped around the world in 2013, equaling 351 million units.
Recently the surge in growth has started to slow as smartphones already account for over 80% of China’s total phone sales. The next half billion new smartphone customers will increasingly come mainly from poorer emerging markets, notably India and in Africa.
“The China boom is now slowing,” said Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager for mobile devices at IDC Asia/Pacific. “China is becoming like more mature markets in North America and Western Europe, where smartphone sales growth is slackening off.”
Emerging markets in Asia/Pacific outside of China, together with the Middle East and Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America, account for four fifths of the global feature phone market, according to IDC data. “This is a very big market opportunity,” said Simon Baker, Program Manager for mobile phones at IDC CEMA. “Some 660 million feature phones were shipped last year, which could add two thirds to the size of the current global smartphone market.”
India will be key to future smartphone growth as it represents more than a quarter of the global feature phone market. “Growth in the India market doesn’t rely on high-end devices like the iPhone, but in low-cost Android phones. Nearly half of the smartphones shipped in India in 2013 cost less than US$120,” said Kiranjeet Kaur, Senior Market Analyst for mobile phones at IDC Asia/Pacific.
“Converting feature phone sales to smartphone sales implies a relentless push towards low cost,” added Baker. IDC research shows nearly half the mobile handsets sold across the world have retail prices of less than US$100 without sales tax. Two thirds of those have prices of less than US$50.
“The opportunity gets larger the lower the price falls,” continued Baker. “If you take retail prices without sales tax, in 2013 nearly three quarters of the US$100-125 price tier was already accounted for by smartphones. Within US$75-100 the proportion was down to just over half, and between $50-75 it was not much more than a third.”
Many smartphone vendors have begun gearing up for this next wave of cost pressure. Samsung is increasingly switching production to Vietnam, where manufacturing costs currently undercut mainland China. Even Hon Hai, one of the largest contract manufacturers for handsets in China, has announced plans for a plant in Indonesia to furnish a lower production cost base.
In addition to the table below, an interactive graphic showing worldwide sub-$100 feature phone shipments by region is available here. The chart is intended for public use in online news articles and social media. Instructions on how to embed this graphic can be found by viewing this press release on IDC.com.
Worldwide Sub-$100 Feature Phone Shipments by Region, 2013
Region
Shipments (M Units)
India
212.3
Middle East & Africa
150.0
Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan, China, and India)
140.7
Latin America
76.4
PRC
68.1
Central & Eastern Europe
43.6
Western Europe
39.8
North America
13.9
Total
744.9
Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, February 24, 2014
Analysys International: Xiaomi Ranked Among Top Five in Q4, 2013 [March 11, 2014]
The statistics from EnfoDesk, the Survey of China Mobile Terminals Market in Q4, 2013, newly released by Analysys International, shows that the market share of Samsung, Lenovo, Huawei, Coolpad and Xiaomi ranked the top five of China smartphone in Q4, 2013. The market share of Samsung shrink slightly over the previous quarter, but it still accounted for 15.07 percent of smartphone market and maintain the leading position.
The release of Apple‘s new product has brought efficiency in Q4, and its market share slightly rebounded. Owning to the release of MI3 (Xiaomi), the market share of Xiaomi up 3.85 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. MI3 still should be bought from booking and the booking is relatively frequent. Meanwhile, the purchase restriction of MI2(Xiaomi) and Red MI(Xiaomi) has been relaxed, coupled with the strategic cooperation between Xiaomi and mobile operators, making it easier to buy custom models as well as contributing to the enlargement of Xiaomi’s market share. It can be expected that Xiaomi will put more energy into the complement of its retail capabilities and continue to increase their market share.
From: UMENG Insight Report – China Mobile Internet 2013 Overview [UMENG, March 12, 2014]
– The number of active smart devices in China exceeded 700 Million by the end of 2013.
– The five fastest growing mobile apps categories (excluding games) are : news, health & fitness, social networking, business, and navigation. These areas will bring new opportunities for developers in 2014.
– Socializing your apps is the key to success for developers. Currently among the top 1,000 apps (apps and games) in the Chinese market, 55% of them provide links to Chinese social networking services (e.g. Sina Weibo, Wechat, QQ, Renren) The amount of app content sharing to social network platforms per mobile Internet user per day has tripled in the last 6 months.
– Social network sharing in game has become incredibly popular on all social networking platforms, 48% of in app sharing traffic to social networks are from games.
– High-end devices (pricing above 500US$) have a significant market share in China, contributing 27% of total devices. These users have dynamic needs on mobile apps . The users of below 150US$ phones prefer casual games for their entertainment requirements.
– The year of 2013 became known as the first year Chinese developers took IP seriously with many developers licensing IP from rights holders. By the end of 2013, among the Top 100 games, 20% license 3rd party IP.
– Over the course of 2013 the percentage of iOS jailbroken devices in the Chinese Mainland fell by 17% to 13% of all devices. Domestic users are becoming more hesitant to jailbreak their devices.
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700 Million active smart devices in China
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The market for budget Android phones is strong in China with 57% of devices under 330 USD price range. However over a quarter of users are using high-end smart phones costing over 500USD, 80% of these are iPhones.
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Fragmented Android device market
- In the 4th quarter of 2013, Samsung and XiaoMi (a local brand) prove to be the most popular Android brands as between them they manufacture all of the top 10 active Android devices.
- However the Android market is still highly fragmented with hundreds of different handsets on the market. Samsung who manufacture many devices in all price ranges control 24% of the device market, while the domestic manufactures are battling it out with the international brands to extend their market share.
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- In 2013, changes to device connectivity saw a large growth in WiFi connectivity, from 38% at the beginning of the year to 52% at year end. Mobile Internet infrastructure has become better in China. However Chinese users are still price sensitive to mobile data tariff.
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- Glossary:
Active Device: active device refers to device which has activated at least one app covered by Umeng platform in the stipulated time frame. All the “devices” in the report refers to “active devices”, not the actual shipment.…
- Data Source:
Analysis data in the report is based on over 210,000 Android and iOS apps from the Umeng platform. All data was collected from January to December 2013.
From: More than 247 million mobile handsets shipped in India during CY 2013, a Y-o-Y growth of 11.6%; over 70 million mobile handsets shipped in 4Q 2013 alone [CyberMedia Research press release, Feb 26, 2014]
According to CMR’s India Monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review, CY 2013, February 2014 release, India recorded 247.2 million mobile handset shipments for CY (January-December) 2013. During the same period, 41.1 million smartphones were shipped in the country.
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India Smartphones Market
The India smartphones market during 2H 2013 saw a rise in shipments by 60.3% over 1H 2013, taking the overall contribution of smartphones to 16.6% for the full year. Further, 65.8% of the total smartphones shipped in the country were 3G smartphones during CY 2013.
Commenting on these results, Tarun Pathak, Lead Analyst, Devices, CMR Telecoms Practicesaid, “CY 2013 was primarily the year of smartphones for the India market, particularly for local handset vendors. A first for the India market was a marginal decline in featurephone shipments on a year-on-year basis. This trend is likely to continue with more vendors focusing on entry level smartphone offerings aimed at the consumer segment.”
“Nearly 70 vendors operated in the highly competitive India smartphones market in CY 2013, with ‘Tier One’ brands like Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Sony, HTC, LG and Blackberry capturing close to 53% of the total smartphones market, followed by India brands capturing close to 43% of total smartphone shipments. The remaining market of roughly 4% smartphone shipments was captured by China OEM brands, where we expect a few more players to enter the India market directly, instead of continuing as ODM partners to Indian brands”, Tarun added.
Rapid Growth In Smartphones Offset The Slump Witnessed In Feature Phone Sales In 4Q13, Says IDC [press release, Feb 26, 2014]
India was one of the fastest growing countries worldwide in terms of smartphone adoption in 2013. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) in 2013 the smartphone market surpassed 44 million units shipped, up from 16.2 million in 2012. This surge has been mainly powered by home grown vendors which have shown a tremendous and consistent growth over the past 4 quarters of 2013.
The overall phone market stood at close to 257 million units in CY 2013 – an 18% increase from 218 million units in CY2012.
CY2013 also witnessed a remarkable migration of the user base from feature phones to smartphones primarily due to the narrowing price gaps between these product categories.
Q413 Perspective:
The India smartphone market grew by 181% year over year (YoY) in the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13). According to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) APEJ Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 15.06 million smartphones in 4Q13 compared to 5.35 million units in the same period of 2012. 4Q13 grew by almost 18% Quarter-on-Quarter.
The shipment contribution of 5.0inch-6.99inch screen size smartphones (phablets) in 4Q2013 was noted to be around 20% in the overall market. The category grew by 6% in 4Q13 in terms of sheer volume over 3Q13.
The overall mobile phone market (Feature Phones and Smartphones) stood at 67.83 million units, a 16% growth YoY and a meager 2% growth quarter over quarter (QoQ).The share of feature phones slid further to make 78% of the total market in 4Q13, with the market showing a decline of 2% in 4Q13 over 3Q13.
The fourth quarter of 2013 witnessed a spike in the smartphone shipments by smaller homegrown vendors like LAVA, Intex which have shown tremendous growth in the past couple of quarters.
“The growth in the smartphone market is being propelled by the launch of low-end, cost competitive devices by international and local vendors which are further narrowing the price gaps that exist between feature phones and smartphones”, said Manasi Yadav, Senior Market Analyst with IDC India.
“The international vendors have understood the importance of creating a diverse portfolio of devices at varied price points and are striving to launch cost competitive devices that cater to every segment in the target audience ” comments Kiran Kumar, Research Manager with IDC India.
Top Five Smartphone Vendor Highlights
Samsung: Samsung maintained its leadership spot with about 38% in terms of market share. Its smartphone shipments grew by close to 37% from 3Q 2013 to 4Q2013. The fourth quarter saw quite a few new launches across price points by Samsung – however the low-end Galaxy portfolio in smartphones contribute to 50% in terms of shipment volumes
Micromax: Micromax held on to its second spot with about 16% in terms of market share in 4Q2013. Some of the top selling models were the entry level smartphones like A35 Bolt and A67. The Canvas range of devices has also done well in terms of volume contribution owing to the marketing campaigns launched around them.
Karbonn: The market share for Karbonn in 4Q2013 was close to 10%, some of the top selling models for this brand were A1+ and A51.
Sony: Sony managed to make a comeback in the top-5 smartphone vendor list in 4Q13 and garnered a market share of 5%. The top selling models included Xperia M Dual and Xperia C handsets, which are targeted at mid-tier price range.
Lava : Lava managed to hold onto the number 5 spot in the top-5 smartphone vendor list. The continued traction around the XOLO and IRIS range of devices helped the vendor garner a market share of 4.7% in 4Q13. Some of the top selling models include the newly launched XOLO A500 S and the existing models like IRIS 402 and IRIS 349.
IDC India Forecast:
IDC anticipates the growth in Smartphone segment to outpace the overall handset market growth for the foreseeable future. The end-user shift towards mid-to-high screen size products will be amplified by the declining prices and availability of feature-rich localized product offerings. Vendors who are able to differentiate their offerings at affordable prices will maintain a competitive edge and secure a strong position in the mobile phone market in CY 2014.
From: Gartner Says Annual Smartphone Sales Surpassed Sales of Feature Phones for the First Time in 2013 [press release, Feb 13, 2014]
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Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2013 (Thousands of Units)
Company
2013
Units
2013 Market Share (%)
2012
Units
2012 Market Share (%)
Samsung
299,794.9
31.0
205,767.1
30.3
Apple
150,785.9
15.6
130,133.2
19.1
Huawei
46,609.4
4.8
27,168.7
4.0
LG Electronics
46,431.8
4.8
25,814.1
3.8
Lenovo
43,904.5
4.5
21,698.5
3.2
Others
380,249.3
39.3
269,526.6
39.6
Total
967,775.8
100.0
680,108.2
100.0
Source: Gartner (February 2014)
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Company
4Q13
Units
4Q13 Market Share (%)
4Q12
Units
4Q12 Market Share (%)
Samsung
83,317.2
29.5
64,496.3
31.1
Apple
50,224.4
17.8
43,457.4
20.9
Huawei
16,057.1
5.7
8,666.4
4.2
Lenovo
12,892.2
4.6
7,904.2
3.8
LG Electronics
12,822.9
4.5
8,038.8
3.9
Others
106,937.9
37.9
75,099.3
36.2
Total
282,251.7
100.0
207,662.4
100.0
Source: Gartner (February 2014)
Top Smartphone Vendor Analysis
Samsung: While Samsung’s smartphone share was up in 2013 it slightly fell by 1.6 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2013. This was mainly due to a saturated high-end smartphone market in developed regions. It remains critical for Samsung to continue to build on its technology leadership at the high end. Samsung will also need to build a clearer value proposition around its midrange smartphones, defining simpler user interfaces, pushing the right features as well as seizing the opportunity of bringing innovations to stand out beyond price in this growing segment.
Apple: Strong sales of the iPhone 5s and continued strong demand for the 4s in emerging markets helped Apple see record sales of 50.2 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2013.
“However, Apple’s share in smartphone declined both in the fourth quarter of 2013 and in 2013, but growth in sales helped to raise share in the overall mobile phone market,” said Mr. Gupta. “With Apple adding NTT DOCOMO in Japan for the first time in September 2013 and signing a deal with China Mobile during the quarter, we are already seeing an increased growth in the Japanese market and we should see the impact of the last deal in the first quarter of 2014.”
Huawei: Huawei smartphone sales grew 85.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 to maintain the No. 3 spot year over year. Huawei has moved quickly to align its organization to focus on the global market. Huawei’s overseas expansion delivered strong results in the fourth quarter of 2013, with growth in the Middle East and Africa, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Europe.
Lenovo: Lenovo saw smartphone sales in 2013 increase by 102.3 percent and by 63.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013. Lenovo’s Motorola acquisition from Google will give Lenovo an opportunity to expand within the Americas.
“The acquisition will also provide Lenovo with patent protection and allow it to expand rapidly across the global market,” said Mr. Gupta. “We believe this deal is not just about entering into the U.S., but more about stepping out of China.”
Gartner expects smartphones to continue to drive overall sales in 2014 and an increasing number of manufacturers will realign their portfolios to focus on the low-cost smartphone sector. Sales of high-end smartphones will slow as increasing sales of low- and mid-price smartphones in high-growth emerging markets will shift the product mix to lower-end devices. This will lead to a decline in average selling price and a slowdown in revenue growth.
In the smartphone OS market, Android’s share grew 12 percentage points to reach 78.4 percent in 2013 (see below). The Android platform will continue to benefit from this, with sales of Android phones in 2014 approaching the billion mark.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2013 (Thousands of Units)
Operating System
2013 Units
2013 Market Share (%)
2012 Units
2012 Market Share (%)
Android
758,719.9
78.4
451,621.0
66.4
iOS
150,785.9
15.6
130,133.2
19.1
Microsoft
30,842.9
3.2
16,940.7
2.5
BlackBerry
18,605.9
1.9
34,210.3
5.0
Other OS
8,821.2
0.9
47,203.0
6.9
Total
967,775.8
100.0
680,108.2
100.0
Source: Gartner (February 2014)
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MediaTek is repositioning itself with the new MT6732 and MT6752 SoCs for the “super-mid market” just being born, plus new wearable technologies for wPANs and IoT are added for the new premium MT6595 SoC
wPAN = wireless Personal Area Network
In case of MediaTek a wPAN is organised around the smartphone. Take special note of the new ANT/ANT+ wearable link, Bluetooth 4.1 or Bluetooth Low Energy as called otherwise, as well as the 802.11ac Wi-Fi and multi-system GNSS technologies, all described in this post as new ones with roles in wPANs/IoT.
IoT = Internet of Things
Update: Shipment ratio of 8-core smartphone solutions to be lower in 2014 [DIGITIMES, March 13, 2014]
The shipment ratio of 8-core processors to total smartphone solution shipments will not be higher in 2014 as brand and white-box handset vendors in China will still prefer to use quad-core models in order to build their share in the entry-level to mid-range segment, according to industry sources.
While Samsung Electronics has been more upbeat about sales of 8-core smartphones, it remains unknown whether shipments of the Galaxy S5 will be as brisk as expected, said the sources.
Although a number of handset vendors in China have voiced their support for MediaTek’s 8-core CPUs, few of them have completed the design-in process for 8-core models, which will limit shipments of 8-core processors in 2014, revealed the sources.
Additionally, MediaTek has maintained a price gap between quad-core and 8-core CPUs in order to continue ramping up shipments of its quad-core solutions, said the sources, adding that MediaTek is also unlikely to adopt an aggressive price strategy to promote 8-core CPUs for the time being.
Since suppliers of 8-core chips are limited and demand for the top-end 8-core smartphones is getting lower, shipments of 8-core solutions are unlikely to ramp up until 2015, the sources commented.
First let’s look at the current standing of MediaTek on the market, and then at their strategy and products in Mediatek@MWC 2014: Jeffrey Ju, Head of Smartphones, Pre-MWC Presentation [mediateklab YouTube channel, March 5, 2014]:
Note that at this MWC event for the press and
analysts Ju’s presentation was the 2nd one, following a repositioning/rebranding presentation by Johan Lodenius, CMO of MediaTek which will be embedded here later on.
Note: As the MT6595 was announced earlier it has been presented with all related details in the earlier ARM Cortex-A17, MediaTek MT6595 (devices: H2’CY14), 50 billion ARM powered chips [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 18, 2014] post of mine.
Just 4 slides from that presentation in order to show here what kind of giant MediaTek is:
Then Mediatek@MWC 2014: Words from the media at the Fabrica Moritz Launch Event [mediateklab YouTube channel, March 3, 2014]
Mediatek hosted an exclusive invitation-only event for press and analysts ahead of Mobile World Congress to unveil the new Everyday Genius campaign and its forthcoming product announcements. Find out what the media thought about the new direction and products announced by Mediatek.
from PDF, also available as MediaTek to focus more on western markets as it targets Qualcomm
Watch also: Interview – CFO, MediaTek [Mobile World Live, March 3, 2014]
Targeting Qualcomm with products announced at MWC 2013 for the “super-mid market” just being born:
– 64-bit quad-core LTE SoC MT6732 [MediaTek press release, Feb 24, 2014]
MediaTek wants to make the world a more inclusive place, where the best user experiences and fully connected does not mean expensive,” said Johan Lodenius, Chief Marketing Officer for MediaTek. “We are committed to power devices that accelerate the global demographic and cultural transformation. Inclusiveness is such an important part of MediaTek’s vision, which is why we strive to put technology in the hands of everyone, to enable everyone to be an everyday genius.
Following the launch of the world’s first 4G LTE Octa-core smartphone SOC – MT6595 – earlier this month*, we are quickly expanding our LTE offering across a range of performance points to meet the growing demand for smartphone devices across all markets. The MT6732 provides excellent performance and a very comprehensive feature set.
…added Jeffrey Ju, General Manager of the MediaTek Smartphone Business Unit.
* The 32-bit octa-core LTE SoC MT6595 is to be commercially available by the first half of 2014, with devices expected in the second half of the year. See the details in the roadmap slide following the MT6732/MT6752 spacifications (the table below), as well as in the press release included in the end of this post.
– Update: MT6732—64-bit LTE SOC with ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cluster and Mali-T760 GPU [product page, March 13, 2014]
Overview
MediaTek MT6732 targets the rising ‘super-mid ‘market with LTE and a next-generation coherent 64-bit ARM® Cortex®-A53 cluster and Mali™-T760 GPU.
Features
64-bit Mobile Computing System
- Quad-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A53 processor
- ARM Mali-T760 GPU with Open GL ES 3.0 and Open CL 1.2 support
Advanced Multimedia Features
- Low-power 1080p video playback at 30sps
- H.265 and H.264 and 1080p, 30fps H.264 video recording
- 13MP camera image signal processor with PIP (Picture-in-Picture), VIV (Video in Video) and Video Face Beautifier
- MediaTek ClearMotion™ technology eliminates motion jitter and ensures smooth video playback at 60fps on mobile devices
- MediaTek MiraVision™ technology for DTV-grade picture quality
Integrated Multi-mode 4G LTE Modem
- Rel. 9, Category 4 FDD and TDD LTE (150 Mb/s downlink, 50 Mb/s uplink)
- 3GPP Rel. 8, DC-HSPA+ (42Mbit/s downlink, 11Mbit/s uplink), TD-SCDMA and EDGE for legacy 2G/3G networks
Integrated Connectivity Solutions
- Dual-band Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth 4.0 for low-power connections to fitness gadgets, wearables and other wireless accessories
– 64-bit octa-core LTE SoC MT6752 [MediaTek press release, Feb 25, 2014]
“The MT6752 is part of our commitment to provide high performance yet cost effective solutions, accelerating the global demographic and cultural transformation for the Super-mid market. We continue to democratize technology as previously seen in the TV and DVD industries. We launched world’s first true octa-core solution in November 2013 and now we continue to extend our lead to deliver on our vision to make the world a more inclusive place,” said Jeffrey Ju, General Manager of the MediaTek Smartphone Business Unit.
This is how the latest SoCs fit into the traditional roadmap (leaked in China) structure from which the new “super-mid market” is going to be born (according to MediaTek):
See the MT6595 details in the press release included in the end of this post. Alternatively all details are provided in the earlier ARM Cortex-A17, MediaTek MT6595 (devices: H2’CY14), 50 billion ARM powered chips [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 18, 2014] post of mine.
The essence of this repositioning: Mediatek – Everyday Genius [mediateklab YouTube channel, Feb 23, 2014]
From Everyday Genius [MediaTek campaign page, Feb 22, 2014]
Introducing Everyday Genius
The world is becoming a more connected place and MediaTek is making it happen. Our technology not only powers the smartphones and tablets helping people around the world get online for the first time, but also the Smart TVs and wearable technology that offer completely new ways to communicate. We’re even working hard to bring the Internet of Things to life, where everything and everyone can talk to each other using the internet. MediaTek makes life easier and more enjoyable, often in ways we couldn’t even imagine a few years ago. Our technology expands horizons and creates new opportunities to discover more about the world. We’re giving rise to a new generation of coders, unlocking new creative talent and inventing new ways of doing business — and we want to do it for everyone. With the right help, we believe anyone can achieve something amazing, even if it’s just in a small way. And we believe they can do it every single day. We call this idea Everyday Genius and everything we do is dedicated to making it happen.
What we do — and why we do it
MediaTek is a fabless semiconductor company, which is another way of saying we design chips for electronic devices that our partners manufacture. Our expertise is in shrinking multiple components into a chip no larger than your fingernail. So where anything from a DVD player to a smartphone used to require a complex array of chips to perform their many sophisticated tasks, they can now do the same thing with just one or two. This tight integration of components makes all kinds of technology much more efficient and the more efficient something is, the more it can do with even less resources. More importantly, it makes technology affordable to all. Making technology more affordable and more accessible is something MediaTek is deeply committed to — and something that’s at the very heart of Everyday Genius.
The repositioning/rebranding presentation which was actually the 1st one at the event for the press and analysts: MWC 2014 Cocktail Party – [MediaTek] CMO Johan Lodenius Presentation [mediateklab YouTube channel, March 3, 2014]
We have been on a fast moving journey since 1997.
Now we are taking our game to the next level with our products, business models and marketing.
The new branding is the foundation and this is the kick-off, but it’s just the beginning!There is a huge transformation going on in the marketplace.
Emerging markets are disappearing and the general view in the west of the developing world is being challenged. This means a lot more opportunity for everyone, wherever you are.Everyday Genius is the great outcome of the new all-inclusive connected mobile world.
For the first time it’s a level playing field, we can all be an Everyday Genius in this day and age.
– Whoever we are, wherever we are;
– Whatever our interests and desires are.
“Subsidies are being to be replaced by new buy-back and trade-in incentive programs. … Average prices will have to be adjusted to more normal, commoditized market levels”
“Android is now in over eighty percent of the world’s smartphones. That’s my own calculation because it was seventy-nine percent according to Strategy Analysis at the end of 2013. Android works the same way in all devices across phones and tablets creating a uniformed user experience. There’s more differentiation in the apps than in the OS itself. This means that Android is a great user experience leveller cross price tiers as the world is flattening.”
“All this gives strong reasons to believe that the current market structure is going to change, radically:”
“The super-mid market is born, fueled by global middle-class growth and the key industry changes we just talked about. We characterize super-mid as eighty percent in the middle with two dotted lines as boundaries at the opposite ends. The low boundary is set at 79 dollars, and the high boundary at 399 dollars. … This means that at the top of the range performance products are being pushed down into the super-mid, and price levels are getting adjusted.”
…
Mediatek@MWC 2014: Everyone can be an Everyday Genius [mediateklab YouTube channel, March 3, 2014]
Mediatek@MWC 2014: Internet of Things, Wearable Technology, Wireless Charging and more. [mediateklab YouTube channel, March 5, 2014]
In addition to a new brand identity, Mediatek introduced a number of new products at Mobile World Congress 2014. Johan Lodenius, Chief Marketing Officer, talks about resonance wireless charging, wearable technology, the Internet of Things, the new high powered MT6595 mobile chip and the company’s ambitions.
Note that the MT6595 was announced earlier, and also has been presented in the earlier ARM Cortex-A17, MediaTek MT6595 (devices: H2’CY14), 50 billion ARM powered chips [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 18, 2014] post of mine.
resonance wireless charging: MediaTek MT3188 Multi-Mode Wireless Charging ASIC Supports Inductive and Resonant Modes [press release, Feb 25, 2014]
MediaTek today announced MT3188, the world’s first multi-mode wireless charging ASIC that supports multiple competing standards. MediaTek MT3188 is a tightly-integrated solution that supports resonant charging technology and is fully compatible with current inductive chargers certified by the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) and the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC).
Key features
- Compatible with existing PMA and WPC inductive standards as well as emerging resonant wireless standard A4WP
- Ultra-compact design for smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices
- Highly integrated, with an optimized bill of materials that requires no external active components
- Supports out-of band communications in resonant mode (A4WP)
- Provides the option of in-band communications in resonant mode for applications where a Bluetooth transceiver is not available
- Operates stand alone or with Mediatek MT6595, MT6732 or other systems on a chip
- Sampling now, with first commercial devices expected in Q3 2014
“With resonant charging, MediaTek makes consumer lives better. The devices can be placed in any position on a resonant charging mat and one mat can simultaneously charge multiple devices with different power needs at their optimum rates,” said Mark Estabrook, Senior Director of Strategic Marketing at MediaTek. “Resonant charging also works through non-metallic materials, so there’s no need to remove a smartphone case before charging and the chargers can be built easily into furniture and vehicles.”
MediaTek’s in-band communication technology for power control provides a simple and reliable way to add resonant wireless charging support to a whole host of consumer devices where Bluetooth transceivers may not be available for out-of-band communication, such as ebook readers, noise-cancelling headphones and even spare batteries.
MediaTek MT3188 requires no external active components and its highly-optimized bill of materials (BOM) is comparable to best-in-class WPC inductive solutions. The solution can be mounted on a mobile device’s main PCB or battery cover, and provides a programmable output voltage from 1.5V to 5V at 1.4A (7.0W maximum). MT3188 is powered wholly by the charger and works even with a completely discharged battery.
MediaTek is an active contributor to the wireless charging standards community, and is co-vice chair for resonant technology at PMA and a member of WPC. Mediatek is also a member of the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) — a not-for-profit organisation that supports Rezence™ resonant charging technology.
MediaTek MT3188 is sampling now and expected to feature in commercial devices within Q3 2014.
More information: The convenience of wireless charging: It’s just physics [MediaTek whitepaper by Mark Estabrook, Jan 10, 2014]
wearable technology: MediaTek to Showcase Multiple New Products and Technologies at CES 2014 [press release, Jan 3, 2014]
MediaTek presents the all-in-one solution for wearables, Aster. It is not only the smallest SOC with high integration, but provides also a comprehensive Application Framework, MRE (MediaTek Run-time Environment) that allows users to install and upgrade APPs.
Internet of Things
Cloud applications, video over Wi-Fi (VoW), indoor positioning and smart home automation
MediaTek Going Wearable, Chinese & Cheap [EE Times, Jan 31, 2014]
MediaTek is quietly going after the emerging market of under-$50 wearable devices.
The company’s new “all-in-one” SoC, called Aster, is sampling now only to a select group of customers. The chip is not officially announced yet, with no datasheets or block diagrams publicly available.
Aster integrates ARM7 ESJ, Bluetooth 4.0/Bluetooth Low Energy, power management IC, and memory (4 Mbytes of flash and 4 Mbytes of SRAM). Housed in a 5.4 x 6 mm package, MediaTek describes Aster as the “smallest SoC” with “highest integration” for wearable devices.
Aster also comes with a comprehensive Application Framework. Its Run-Time Environment will make it easy for users to install and upgrade apps and run them on wearable devices, according to MediaTek.
With an ear close to the ground in China, Taiwan’s consumer chip behemoth MediaTek appears to know about something not readily evident to most system vendors and chip companies in the West: a surge in Chinese consumer demand for new gizmos designed to leverage the power of smartphones.
“Innovation can come up very quickly in China compared to Western society,” Cliff Lin, senior director of MediaTek’s US corporate marketing, told EE Times.
Let a thousand flowers bloom
MediaTek’s Aster, together with the company’s wearable “turnkey solutions,” is designed to let a thousand flowers bloom in a number of new consumer devices, ranging from a Bluetooth dialer to a smartwatch. These devices are meant to be wirelessly connected to a smartphone, a device already ubiquitous.It’s important to note that these wearable devices MediaTek has in mind are not positioned to replace smartphones — an idea sharply divergent from the hopeful thinking, more popular in the West, that wearable devices will supplant phones.
A Bluetooth dialer, for example, is, technically, not a phone. But the sleek, convenient device helps a user dial or receive a call without forcing her to haul a bulky tablet or phablet out of her bag.
Some in the industry, especially in the West, might argue that calling such a device — whose function appears to be simply a remote-control unit inside an already available smartphone — “wearable” is an overstatement.
After all, today’s wearable devices, if loosely defined, are all over the map — ranging from wristwatches, shoes, and glasses to headbands, clothing, and home healthcare devices — with no killer wearable form factor on the horizon, at least not yet.
Different wearable devices demand a different set of sensors. They also come in different shapes and sizes, as they will be worn on different parts of the body. Their evolutionary trajectory suggests that they will be far more diverse and complex than mere remote-control units in smartphones.
And the fact is, many smartwatches on the market today are designed for just that purpose. Besides email, voice mail, and social network message notifications, a smartwatch can control various functions of a smartphone remotely.
MediaTek’s Lin added that its Aster is even capable of offering a “viewfinder function” on a wearable device, when wirelessly connected to a smartphone’s camera. By reducing the image size, the picture can be transferred via Bluetooth from a camera in the smartphone to a small display of the new smartwatch. It allows a user to remotely frame a picture right on a smartwatch display, instead of awkwardly tilting a bulky phablet in the air.
Although MediaTek displayed Aster at its suite during the International CES earlier this month, the company is not giving out any more details of the SoC. When asked about its price, Lin noted that Aster is “suitably priced for end-products ranging from $20 to $50.” The SoC’s mass production is slated for the third quarter of 2014.
Internet of Things: MediaTek and ANT Create New Opportunities for Connected Lifestyle, Health and Home Management [ANT Wireless press release, Feb 26, 2014
New chip links mobile platform innovators to millions of available ANT+ wearables and devices
ANT Wireless, proven innovator in ultra low power (ULP) short range wireless technology and ANT+ interoperability, and MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company of wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announce native support for the ANT wireless protocol in MediaTek’s new MT6630 5-in-1 combo connectivity chip. Targeted for premium smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices aligned with the super-mid category of chips, the single chip MT6630 allows integrators to link end users to the millions of leading ANT+ wearables and products for sport, fitness and health as well as smart home and location based service devices.
The feature-rich MT6630 combines the latest connectivity options in a low power, small footprint chip including 802.11ac Wi-Fi, ANT, Bluetooth 4.1, multi-system GNSS, [Global Navigation Satellite System may also refer to GLONASS], and FM. Delivering full concurrent operation of all five systems, the MT6630 offers the advanced capabilities of ANT+ interoperability and connection to the vast array of certified ANT+ devices including monitors and software that track activity, heart rate, blood pressure, muscle oxygen, running, cycling, swimming, hiking, weight, etc.. ANT wireless communication will also facilitate the expanding connected use cases in home and industrial environments.
“MediaTek is committed to bringing an optimal experience to the digital home and mobile applications. ANT complements our unique leadership position,” said SR Tsai, General Manager of MediaTek’s Connectivity Business Unit. “ANT will continue to be a driver of wireless and wearable solutions for the Internet of Things. MediaTek’s inclusion of this established protocol gives manufacturers and their consumers simple and direct access to these innovative ANT+ products.”
“Our collaboration with MediaTek greatly expands access to more ANT+ enabled phones and ANT+ sensors, in more markets and regions, which is fantastic for everyone: mobile OEMs, ANT+ product manufacturers, and consumers,” added Rod Morris, Vice President, ANT Wireless. “The result will be a great range of offerings and best-in-class lifestyle products worldwide.”
MediaTek will be demonstrating ANT+ in combination with the MT6630 solution at Mobile World Congress, Feb 24-27, Hall 6, Stand 6E11. The MT6630 is sampling now and the first commercially available devices to use MT6630 IC’s are expected in the second half of 2014. ANT Wireless is also exhibiting at Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain, February 24 – 27, Hall 7, Stand 7M49.
Celebrating over ten years in ultra low power wireless technology, ANT also offers its expanded suite of ANT+ Plugins for Android applications to app developers and manufacturers selecting the MT6630. ANT+ Plugins eliminate the need for ANT+ profile development and technical expertise and facilitate the path to seamless ANT+ connectivity.
###
About MediaTek
MediaTek is a pioneering fabless semiconductor company, and a market leader in cutting-edge systems on a chip for wireless communications, HDTV, DVD and Blu-ray. MediaTek created the world’s first octa-core smartphone platform with LTE and its CorePilotTM technology released the full power of multi-core mobile processors. MediaTek [TSE:2454] is headquartered in Taiwan and has offices worldwide. Please visit www.Mediatek.com for more information. Press Office: PR@Mediatek.com +1 650 283 2781About ANT / ANT+ (www.thisisant.com**)
ANT is a proven protocol and silicon solution for ultra low power (ULP) practical wireless networking applications. ANT+ is the pervasive ULP wireless technology facilitating the capture of critical market share in the exploding mobile sensor sector. With over 100 million devices in the market, ANT+ facilitates interoperability between ANT+ devices and the collection, automatic transfer and tracking of sensor data. This standardized communication platform enables quick-to-market solutions for application developers, sensor manufacturers and cell phone makers. ANT+ has amassed an ecosystem of world-class technology vendors in the ANT+ Alliance, an open special interest group of companies who have adopted the ANT+ promise of interoperability. These industry leaders offer readily-available brand name products for sport, wellness management and home health monitoring.** Note that the web pages of www.thisisant.com describe ANT as:
ANT is a Wireless Personal Network [otherwise wPAN] protocol, by Dynastream Innovations Inc., with small size, reasonable cost and Very Low Power requirements.
My insert here: ANT+, from technology to the ecosystem [ANTAlliance YouTube channel, Oct 13, 2010], read also on Wikipedia:
– ANT (a proprietary open access multicast wireless sensor network technology)
– ANT+ (an interoperability function that can be added to the base ANT protocol)
The company behind ANT Wireless is Dynastream Innovations Inc. (www.dynastream.com). Dynastream was established in 1998 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. in December 2006. Dynastream is based in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, and is a world innovator in the research and development of inertial and wireless technology.
ANT+ Product Directory (www.thisisant.com/directory)
The ANT+ Product Directory is a complete inventory of all ANT+ certified or verified products. It is a tool designed specifically to help consumers source hundreds of industry-leading devices and all compatible products within the vast ANT+ ecosystem. Devices may be searched by product name, brand, activity or product category, allowing the consumer to create a monitoring system that meets their specific needs.
To get some idea watch these ANT-related videos
(see more in http://www.thisisant.com/news/video-gallery/):
– for lifestyle: Technology in Fitness – Enhancing the User Experience! [ANTAlliance YouTube channel, Nov 11, 2013]
– for health: 4iiii Innovation’s Cliiiimb System Demo [ANTAlliance YouTube channel, Nov 11, 2013]
– for home management: ANT Lighting Control Demo [ANTAlliance YouTube channel, July 31, 2013]
Mediatek Announces MT6630, World’s First Five-in-One Combo Wireless Connectivity SOC for Mobile Devices [press release, Feb 25, 2014]
Mediatek today announced MT6630, the world’s first five-in-one combo wireless system-on-a-chip (SOC) to support full featured smartphones, tablets and other premium mobile devices.
The MT6630 dramatically reduces the component count and eBOM while improving ease-of-design for manufacturers by eliminating external low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and integrating the Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz power amplifiers (PAs), Bluetooth PA, and transmit-receive (T/R) switch into a PCBA footprint less than 65 mm2.
Key features
- Dual-band single-stream 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with 20/40/80MHz channel bandwidth
- 802.11v time of flight protocol support and management engines to enable higher accuracy of indoor positioning via Wi-Fi
- Advanced support for Wi-Fi Direct Services and Miracast™ optimization for easier pairing, increased robustness, advanced use-cases and lower power
- Bluetooth 4.1 with Classic, High-Speed and Low-Energy support, and ANT+ for compatibility with the latest fitness tracking, health monitoring and point of information devices and applications
- Concurrent tri-band reception of GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo and QZSS with industry leading sensitivity, low power, positioning accuracy, and the longest prediction engine
- FM transceiver with RDS/RBDS
- Integrated engines and algorithms for full concurrent operation and co-existence, including industry-leading throughput during LTE transmission
MT6630 delivers full concurrent operation of all 5 systems operating at maximum compute intensity with no degradation compared to single-system operation while offloading the mobile device CPU for design ease and extended battery life.
As a focus on low power and digital home convergence, the MT6630 uses a configurable PA architecture to save current at commonly used power levels, including those used for Miracast™ Wi-Fi Direct services. MT6630 implements advanced co-existence techniques, including for LTE to deliver industry-leading throughputs. MT6630 also supports Wi-Fi diversity for premium smartphones and tablets to improve antenna angle sensitivity and handheld scenarios.
“MT6630 makes it simple for manufacturers to bring mobile devices to market with sophisticated wireless features, lower power and uncompromised performance,” said SR Tsai, General Manager of MediaTek’s Connectivity Business Unit. “MT6630 furthers MediaTek’s focus to deliver the best experiences across the digital home and mobile applications by using its unique leadership position in digital TV host processors, smartphone platforms, and connectivity.”
The small-footprint design is available in 5 x 5mm WLCSP (Wafer Level Chip Scale Package) or a 7 x 7mm QFN (Quad Flat No-Leads) and requires only 44 components, which is around half that of other integrated wireless solutions.
Mediatek MT6630 is sampling now and complements the recently announced MT6595 octa-core SOC with LTE for premium mobile devices. The first commercially available devices to use MT6630 are expected in the second half of 2014.
new high powered MT6595: MediaTek Announces MT6595, World’s First 4G LTE Octa-Core Smartphone SOC with ARM Cortex-A17 and Ultra HD H.265 Codec Support [press release, Feb 11, 2014]
Note: As the MT6595 was announced earlier it has been presented with all related details in the earlier ARM Cortex-A17, MediaTek MT6595 (devices: H2’CY14), 50 billion ARM powered chips [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 18, 2014] post of mine.
MediaTek CorePilot™ Heterogeneous Multi-Processing Technology enables outstanding performance with leading energy efficiency
MediaTek today announces the MT6595, a premium mobile solution with the world’s first 4G LTE octa-core smartphone SOC powered by the latest Cortex-A17™ CPUs from ARM®.
The MT6595 employs ARM’s big.LITTLE™ architecture with MediaTek’s CorePilot™ technology to deliver a Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) platform that unlocks the full power of all eight cores. An advanced scheduler algorithm with adaptive thermal and interactive power management delivers superior multi-tasking performance and excellent sustained performance-per-watt for a premium mobile experience.
Excellent Performance-Per-Watt
• Four ARM Cortex-A17™, each with significant performance improvement over previous-generation processors, plus four Cortex-A7™ CPUs
• ARM big.LITTLE™ architecture with full-system coherency performs sophisticated tasks efficiently
• Integrated Imagination Technologies PowerVR™ Series6 GPU for high-performance graphicsIntegrated 4G LTE Multi-Mode Modem
• Rel. 9, Category 4 FDD and TDD LTE with data rates up to 150Mbits/s downlink and 50Mbits/s uplink
• DC-HSPA+ (42Mbits/s), TD-SCDMA and EDGE for legacy 2G/3G networks
• 30+ 3GPP RF bands support to meet operator needs worldwideWorld-Class Multimedia Subsystems
• World’s first mobile SOC with integrated, low-power hardware support for the new H.265 Ultra HD (4K2K) video record & playback, in addition to Ultra HD video playback support for H.264 & VP9
• Supports 24-bit 192 kHz Hi-Fi quality audio codec with high performance digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) to head phone >110dB SNR
• 20MP camera capability and a high-definition WQXGA (2560 x 1600) display controller
• MediaTek ClearMotion™ technology eliminates motion jitter and ensures smooth video playback at 60fps on mobile devices
• MediaTek MiraVision™ technology for DTV-grade picture qualityFirst MediaTek Mobile Platform Supporting 802.11ac
• Comprehensive complementary connectivity solution that supports 802.11ac
• Multi-GNSS positioning systems including GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo and QZSS
• Bluetooth LE and ANT+ for ultra-low power connectivity with fitness tracking devicesWorld’s First Multimode Wireless Charging Receiver IC
• Multi-standard inductive and resonant wireless charging functionality available
• Supported by MediaTek’s companion multimode wireless power receiver IC“MediaTek is focused on delivering a full-range of 4G LTE platforms and the MT6595 will enable our customers to deliver premium products with advanced features to a growing market,” said Jeffrey Ju, General Manager of the MediaTek Smartphone Business Unit.
“Congratulations to MediaTek on being in a leading position to implement the new ARM Cortex-A17 processor in mobile device”, said Noel Hurley, Vice President and Deputy General Manager, ARM Product Division. “MediaTek has a keen understanding of the smartphone market and continues to identify innovative ways to bring a premium mobile experience to the masses.”
The MT6595 platform will be commercially available by the first half of 2014, with devices expected in the second half of the year.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MediaTek Drives Global LTE Adoption with New ALCATEL ONETOUCH POP S7 [press release, Feb 25, 2014]
Powered by MediaTek’s 4G LTE Platform, ALCATEL ONETOUCH POP S7 will be available in Q2 delivering high-speed data performance to consumers worldwide
TAIWAN, Hsinchu – 23 February, 2014 – MediaTek and ALCATEL ONETOUCH today announce the LTE-enabled ALCATEL ONETOUCH POP S7, powered by MediaTek’s 4G LTE quad-core platform. Available in Q2 this year, the POP S7 launch will bring 4G LTE to the mass market at an affordable price point, and will further extend the product range for both ALCATEL ONETOUCH and MediaTek across their respective global portfolio of LTE devices.
The POP S7 features MediaTek’s 1.3GHz quad-core processor and multi-mode 4G LTE modem MT6290. By combining fast 4G connectivity with a sharp and bright 5” IPS display, users can enjoy a truly immersive mobile experience with the POP S7 such as streaming high-definition video content.
The MT6290 multimode 4G LTE modem embedded within POP S7 supports LTE Release 9 CAT 4, enabling data rates as high as 150Mbit/s downlink. The MT6290 modem is also compatible with FDD and TDD modes, as well as HSPA+, W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, EDGE and GSM/GPRS radio technologies.
“MediaTek is proud to again be selected to power the latest ALCATEL ONETOUCH smartphone. The new ALCATEL ONETOUCH POP S7, designed for the mass market and featuring our multimode 4G LTE modem, is the exciting first step for MediaTek to demonstrate its global capability in the fast growing LTE market.” said, Jeffrey Ju, General Manager of Smartphone Business Unit, MediaTek. “Our aim is to unleash the potential of everyone for the creation of a better world by maximizing the capacity of technology innovation,” Jeffrey added.
Dan Dery, CMO of ALCATEL ONETOUCH added, “The POP S7 is the first entry-level LTE-enabled smartphone powered by MediaTek’s innovative technology, and we’re rolling out across EMEA, APAC and other regions. We foresee a huge increase in LTE adoption worldwide in 2014, and we are pleased to working in close collaboration with MediaTek to meet the market demand at the right time.”
Upcoming FireFox OS powered $25 smartphones with Spreadtrum SC6821 EDGE SoC having 128MB on chip RAM used via zRAM swap by the OS
Hands on with the $25 Smartphone running Firefox OS at MWC 2014 [TrustedReviews YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
[0:15] “This is the newest … set that is running on ultra low-end memory which is 128MB RAM and 256MB ROM. So that’s why we call it the lowest [price] smartphone you probably can get on the market” [0:30]
From With Firefox OS, Mozilla begins the $25 smartphone push [CNET, Feb 23, 2014]
Mozilla doubled down on its bet that low-end smartphones will give Firefox OS a place in the crowded mobile market, announcing partnerships Sunday that will bring $25 smartphones to the large number of people who can’t afford high-end models like Apple’s iPhone 5S and Samsung’s Galaxy S5 that cost hundreds of dollars.
At the Mobile World Congress here, Mozilla announced a deal with Chinese chip designer Spreadtrum Communications that will mean Firefox OS smartphones will arrive in extremely cost-sensitive markets like India and Indonesia where people often buy phones from a bin in a store.
“We’re working with them to break through the
$50$25 barrier [should be corrected, obviously], which is hard,” Mozilla Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich told CNET. “This is going to be for a set of [sales] channels in Asia that do not involve operators,” the carriers that in other parts of the world dominate distribution.One company that plans to make and promote the phones is Indonesia-based Polytron. And Indonesian carriers Telkomsel and Indosat plan to sell the devices. Hands-on testing shows the cheap Firefox OS phones to be workable. “This is a price point currently out of the reach of Google and even the lowest-cost Android handset vendors. It pushes Firefox OS into feature-phone territory, potentially signaling the beginning of the end for the category,” said Ovum analyst Nick Dillon in a statement.
…
Mozilla has found a small niche in the mobile OS market by pursuing its low-end strategy, with the first phones debuting in countries such as Hungary, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, and Greece. Mozilla, a non-profit organization, hopes to use the browser-based operating system to lower the barriers that today keep people locked into ecosystems linking hardware, OS, app store, services, content, and apps.
…
Firefox OS takes on challenges
Today, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android dominate the market for smartphones and tablets. Challengers like Microsoft’s Windows Phone, Ubuntu Touch, WebOS, BlackBerry OS, and Samsung’s Tizen have struggled to push these aside: it’s hard to compete against an incumbent that’s got millions of users, hundreds of thousands of apps, and few signs of the complacency that can open a door for challengers.Firefox OS won’t have an easy time of it. There’s not as much money to be squeezed from low-end markets, so developers aren’t as likely to pursue it as avidly. The Spreadtrum chipset will support only 2.5G Edge mobile networks that, while common in poorer parts of the world, are too slow for a lot of modern apps. And Google is pushing toward lower-end phones, with Android 4.4 memory-saving techniques [“zRAM swap can increase the amount of memory available in the system by compressing memory pages and putting them in a dynamically allocated swap area of memory.”] that fit KitKat into phones with 512MB of RAM.
At the same time, though, Firefox is pushing, too. It uses the same ZRAM memory compression technique to halve its memory requirement to 128MB of memory, Eich said.
Getting down to $25 phones means Firefox OS will provide an alternative for people who’d otherwise buy a feature phone — a model with a few built-in apps but not much more.
So Firefox has a chance there. But in the long run, to succeed, Firefox OS will need to push up-market, and it’s not clear how Mozilla will succeed there with much stronger competition.
Think Big at #MWC14: Mozilla leadership discuss innovation and digital literacy [ThinkBigEurope YouTube channel, Feb 25, 2014]
Note: Think Big is a Telefonica initiative targeting young people in six European countries: Ireland, UK, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia (countries where Telefonica operates in Europe)
How good is the $25 smartphone from Mozilla – BBC News [BBC News YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
Mozilla plans ‘$25 smartphone’ for emerging markets [BBC News, Feb 23, 2014]
Mozilla has shown off a prototype for a $25 (£15) smartphone that is aimed at the developing world.
The company, which is famed mostly for its Firefox browser, has partnered with Chinese low-cost chip maker Spreadtrum.
While not as powerful as more expensive models, the device will run apps and make use of mobile internet.
It would appeal to the sorts of people who currently buy cheap “feature” phones, analysts said.
Feature phones are highly popular in the developing world as a halfway point between “dumb” phones – just voice calls and other basic functions – and fully-fledged smartphones.
Mozilla hopes that it will capture an early lead in a market that is now being targeted by mobile device manufacturers who see the developing world as the remaining area for massive growth.
It will face stern competition from bigger, more established brands, however – with more announcements of this kind expected over the course of the next couple of days at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“These solutions expand the global accessibility of open web smartphones to first-time and entry-level smartphone buyers by reducing the time and cost required for handset makers to bring these devices to market,” said Spreadtrum in a press statement.
Mozilla said the phone “redefines” the entry-level phone market.
The concept of a cheap smartphone may seem likely to appeal to consumers in developed countries, particularly those who locked into long contracts in order to subsidise the cost of the likes of the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy range.
But analyst Carolina Milanesi, from Kantar Worldpanel, said it should not be seen as a competitor.
“You’re not really talking about smartphone experience.
“You’re talking about a clumsy smartphone that’s a little bit better than a feature phone – still primarily for voice and text.”
The phone runs Mozilla’s own mobile operating system – something that could cause problems as competition in the cheap smartphone market steps up, Ms Milanesi added.
Mozilla also announced new high-end smartphones
In addition to the $25 smartphone, Mozilla also launched several high-end models, including devices from Huawei and ZTE.
Mozilla press conference about Firefox OS at MWC 2014 [firefoxchannel YouTube channel, Feb 23, 2014]
The $25 smartphone announcement comes at [15:30] with the following slides (note the 1Gb, i.e. 128MB LPDDR1 Embedded in the SoC!!):
From Firefox OS Unleashes the Future of Mobile [Mozilla Press Center, Feb 23, 2014]
Spreadtrum has announced WCDMA and EDGE turnkey reference designs for Firefox OS as well as the industry’s first chipset for US$25 smartphones, the SC6821, that redefines the entry level for smartphones in key growth markets. These solutions are already creating a stir, with global operators such as Telenor, Telkomsel and Indosat, and ecosystem partners such as Polytron, T2Mobile and Thundersoft expressing interest.
$25 Firefox Smartphone (MWC 2014) [ARMflix YouTube channel, Feb 25, 2014]
[0:33] “The key thing about this device is that this is only powered by 128MB of RAM. So this is only one half or one quarter of the existing entry level devices that we are seeing on the market.” [0:47]
Warning: This article does not take into account the SC6821 characteristics, especially its 128MB on chip RAM used via zRAM swap by the OS, as well as its EDGE only networking!
Is a US$25 smartphone possible? [DIGITIMES, Feb 25, 2014]
Mobile World Congress (MWC) kicked off with a bang, with Mozilla announcing a US$25 smartphone built around a turnkey solution that features silicon from China-based Spreadtrum and software from Firefox.
According to a Mozilla press release, Spreadtrum and Mozilla have now completed the integration of Firefox OS with several of Spreadtrum’s WCDMA and EDGE smartphone chipsets, including the SC6821, unveiled by Spreadtrum as the industry’s first chipset for a US$25 smartphone.
So the key to the solution is the SC6821, which Spreadtrum stated is “designed with a unique low memory configuration and high level of integration that dramatically reduces the total bill of materials required to develop low-end smartphones.” Mozilla added that with this chipset, handset makers will be able to bring to market smartphones with 3.5-inch HVGA [eg. 480×320] touchscreens, integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM and camera functions, the advanced phone and browser features of Firefox OS, and access to an ecosystem of web and HTML5 applications.
With a clearer picture of the specs Mozilla envisions for a US$25 smartphone, I approached Digitimes Research Analyst Luke Lin to ask if he thought it was possible to deliver such a product to the market at this time. According to Lin, the simple answer is that it would be “impossible” to see a US$25 Firefox phone hit the shelves this year, unless operators are willing to provide subsidies.
Lin explained that currently, the absolute lowest smartphone BOM in China is estimated to be around US$22 (and most are significantly more than that) and that manufacturing costs are highly unlikely to go below US$20 this year, which would be the cost needed to deliver a US$25 smartphone to end users. The cost would need to get to US$15-20 FOB in order to get a selling price of US$25, Lin said.
In terms of Spreadtrum‘s claims it has produced a level of integration and memory requirements that can reduce the BOM cost significantly, Digitimes Research Analyst Anthony Chen commented that Spreadtrum’s solution is no more integrated than any other integrated solution on the market so there is no clear advantage there. And as for memory, the cheapest and smallest memory modules (ROM and mobile DRAM) for smartphones in China run about US$5 for a configuration of 256MB ROM and 256MB of mobile DRAM, and Chen highly doubts the Mozilla solution could run with a lesser configuration than that.
One other argument being offered as to why Spreadtrum could offer lower pricing than competitors is that the China government has a stake in the company. The logic is that an edge in pricing could help Spreadtrum better compete with Taiwan-based MediaTek and US-based Qualcomm.
Chen responded to the suggestion by pointing out that such a statement is not really an argument. It’s merely speculation. Moreover, Chen noted that Spreadtrum’s cheapest products currently sell in the US$3-4 range, and he doesn’t see much chance for the price to be reduced significantly, with subsidies or without.
While it is true that BOM costs are always falling, Lin and Chen agreed that component makers are much more likely to be squeezed in the higher-end segments, where they have margins. At the bottom of the market, the component makers are not really making any money. As a long term strategy for the low-end of the market, they would much prefer to provide improved specs at the same price rather than cut prices, Lin explained, while adding that it is unlikely that the BOM would drop much further at the bottom end of the market, as it is already close to US$20. Therefore, while prices may drop a little, Digitimes Research does not expect prices to drop all that much in the near future.
Another perspective was offered by Digitimes Research Analyst Jason Yang, who stated that if there is any component that could influence the low-end smartphone BOM at this point, it was the touch panel, not the application processor. Yang indicated that currently the touch panel module, with LCD display, accounts for the largest portion of the BOM, at around US$7-8 for the cheapest modules. Yang did state that he believes the price may drop this year, but not enough to bring the overall BOM cost of the cheapest phones to below US$20.
So, if ultimately the announcement was all about Mozilla driving the launch of a US$25 smartphone, Lin doubts that this will happen this year or anytime soon. Based on the current cost structure, Lin believes Firefox models priced in the US$60-80 are more likely to appear in 2014. Of course, users may be able to find spectacular deals and price cuts, but such a situation would more likely be inventory clearance or something similar, not a mainstream price point.
However, if this announcement is not about Mozilla driving the market to low-cost smartphones and is more about a trend where emerging markets will become flooded with cheap smartphones, then it should be noted that this is a process that is already underway.
Currently in China, entry-level smartphones – mostly white-box but even some brands – are already selling in the US$50 range. And these smartphones are not just being shipped to the domestic market. China vendors exported about 30% of their smartphones in 2013 and that proportion is forecast to rise in 2014. According to Digitimes Research data tracking smartphone shipments by vendor and the related market breakdown, the non top-10 segment (which is dominated by Greater China vendors and white-box players) accounted for 12% of global smartphone shipments in 2012, 21% of the global market in 2013, and Digitimes Research forecasts the share will rise to 25.6% in 2014.
So the flow of cheap smartphones from China going to emerging markets has already started and the shipments are steadily increasing, it’s just that the devices cost a bit more than US$25 and almost all of them feature Android as the OS.
Spreadtrum and Mozilla Take Aim at Global Smartphone Accessibility with Turnkey Solution for US$25 Smartphones [press release, BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 23, 2014]
– Integration of Spreadtrum’s entry-level smartphone chipsets with turnkey reference designs for Firefox OS aims to bring Open Web Devices to an underserved audience of entry-level smartphone buyers around the world
– Spreadtrum unveils the SC6821, the industry’s first chipset for US$25 smartphones (retail), on Firefox OS
Today at Mobile World Congress, Spreadtrum Communications, Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company in China with advanced technology in 2G, 3G and 4G wireless communications standards, and Mozilla, the mission-based organization dedicated to keeping the power of the Web in people’s hands, announced that they have teamed up to deliver turnkey Firefox OS reference designs with Spreadtrum’s entry-level smartphone chipsets. These solutions expand the global accessibility of open Web smartphones to first-time and entry-level smartphone buyers by reducing the time and cost required for handset makers to bring these devices to market. Spreadtrum and Mozilla have now completed the integration of Firefox OS with several of Spreadtrum’s WCDMA and EDGE smartphone chipsets, including the SC6821, unveiled today by Spreadtrum as the industry’s first chipset for US$25 smartphones. These smartphones are available for demos at Mozilla’s booth (3C30) at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona.
“The combination of Firefox OS with Spreadtrum’s entry-level smartphone platforms has the potential to dramatically extend the reach of smartphones and the Web globally,” said Dr. Li Gong, Mozilla Senior Vice President of Mobile Devices and President of Asia Operations. “Firefox OS delivers a customized, fun and intuitive experience for first-time smartphone buyers and our collaboration with Spreadtrum enables the industry to offer customers an extremely affordable way to get a smartphone and connect with Web apps.”
At Mobile World Congress, Spreadtrum unveiled the SC6821, its new smartphone chipset that redefines the entry level of the global smartphone market. The chipset is designed with a unique low memory configuration and high level of integration that dramatically reduces the total bill of materials required to develop low-end smartphones. With this chipset, handset makers will be able to bring to market smartphones with 3.5″ HVGA [e.g. 480×320] touchscreens, integrated WiFi, Bluetooth, FM and camera functions, the advanced phone and browser features of Firefox OS, and access to a rich ecosystem of web and HTML5 applications, at prices similar to much more minimally featured budget feature phones.
Spreadtrum’s turnkey reference design brings together this highly cost-effective chipset platform with the intuitive, easy-to-use experience and Web/HTML5 application ecosystem of Firefox OS. “Turnkey solutions benefit the vast majority of small handset makers by reducing the time and cost involved in bringing new devices to market,” said Stuart Robinson, analyst at Strategy Analytics. “This joint effort between Spreadtrum and Mozilla will help make Firefox OS more readily available to handset makers that focus on the needs of entry level smartphone buyers in emerging markets.”
Firefox OS smartphones are the first devices powered completely by Web technologies to deliver the performance, personalization and price users want in a smartphone with a beautiful, intuitive and easy-to-use experience that is unmatched by other phones. Firefox OS has all the things users need from a smartphone as well as the things they want like built-in social integration with Facebook and Twitter, HERE Maps with offline capabilities, much-loved features like the Firefox Web browser, the Firefox Marketplace for apps and more. Firefox OS features a brand new concept for smartphones – an adaptive app search that literally transforms the phone to meet a user’s needs and interests at any moment.
Firefox OS offers Mozilla-pioneered WebAPIs that unlock the power of the Web and enable developers to build fun and rich app experiences that were previously only available to proprietary native apps, which are fragmented by platform and not portable.Xiaomao Xiao, Spreadtrum’s vice president of software development added, “By integrating Firefox OS support with our smartphone platforms, we are providing our customers with flexibility and choice in how they develop and design their smartphones as well as access to the increasingly rich base of HTML5 applications that are available on this platform. We are pleased to work with Mozilla to expand Firefox OS support to all of our smartphone platforms to provide the benefits of open web technologies to consumers around the world.”
Spreadtrum and Mozilla have completed the integration of Firefox OS with Spreadtrum’s SC6821 and SC7710 WCDMA smartphone chipsets, and expect to complete a turnkey reference design for the SC7715, Spreadtrum’s single-core WCDMA smartphone chipset with integrated connectivity, next month. Spreadtrum and Mozilla’s collaboration will extend across Spreadtrum’s full chipset portfolio.
About Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.
Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company that develops mobile chipset platforms for smartphones, feature phones and other consumer electronics products, supporting 2G, 3G and 4G wireless communications standards. Spreadtrum’s solutions combine its highly integrated, power-efficient chipsets with customizable software and reference designs in a complete turnkey platform, enabling customers to achieve faster design cycles with a lower development cost. Spreadtrum’s customers include global and China-based manufacturers developing mobile products for consumers in China and emerging markets around the world. Spreadtrum is a privately held company headquartered in Shanghai and an affiliate of Tsinghua Unigroup, Ltd. For more information, visit www.spreadtrum.com.About Mozilla
Mozilla has been a pioneer and advocate for the Web for more than 15 years. We create and promote open standards that enable innovation and advance the Web as a platform for all. Today, half a billion people worldwide use Mozilla Firefox to discover, experience and connect to the Web on computers, tablets and mobile phones. For more information please visit https://www.mozilla.org/.
Firefox OS Expands to Higher-Performance Devices and Pushes the Boundaries of Entry-Level Smartphones [Mozilla Press Center, Feb 23, 2014]
Mozilla, the mission-based organization dedicated to keeping the power of the Web in people’s hands, today previewed the future of Firefox OS to show how the flexibility, scalability and powerful customization will empower users, developers and industry partners to create the exact mobile experience they want with relevant and innovative features, localized services and more.
Expanding Ecosystem
Today, device partners ALCATEL ONETOUCH, Huawei, LG and ZTE are all using Firefox OS on a broad range of smartphones that are tailored for different types of consumers. The Firefox OS devices unveiled today showcase dual-core processors for better performance, higher screen resolution and more. The newest Firefox OS devices to join the family include the ZTE Open C and Open II, Alcatel ONETOUCH Fire C, Fire E, Fire S and Fire 7 tablet, all using Snapdragon™ processors from Qualcomm Technologies Inc., a leader in mobile communications.
In the few months since initial launch, Firefox OS smartphones are now available in 15 markets, with new operators and new markets around the globe announced today. Mozilla is working to create a level playing field with the openness of the Web. The ecosystem is catching fire and resulting in development of new form factors beyond the smartphone. For example, Panasonic announced they will make SmartTVs powered by Firefox OS, Foxconn and Via are making Firefox OS tablets, and Mozilla is working with suppliers to enable devices for all target user groups.
Significant growth is also happening with apps and content on Firefox OS, proving the Web has the potential to be the world’s largest marketplace. Firefox OS offers two ways to discover and utilize apps and content – the Firefox Marketplace and an adaptive app search that enables discovery and access to apps that users can instantly use once or download to keep. This innovative approach helps maximize data and storage usage.
The Firefox Marketplace has seen thousands of developers submitting apps and millions of downloads of popular global and relevant local apps. Top global apps include Cut the Rope, Disney’s Where’s My Water?, Facebook, EverNav, HERE, Line, Pinterest, SoundCloud, The Weather Channel, TimeOut, Twitter, Yelp and YouTube.
The ZTE Open C will offer the latest version of Firefox OS
in Venezuela and Uruguay in Q2 of 2014The Firefox Marketplace makes it possible to create local and niche apps with relevant regional content by allowing developers to build on basic Web technologies, without gatekeepers. The top new local apps in the Firefox Marketplace include Despegar.com travel booking, Capp World Cup highlights, Captain Rogers game, Manana reading app, Napster, SurfTime and more.
Future of Firefox OS
At Mobile World Congress, Mozilla is showing off a preview of what to expect from Firefox OS in the coming year and what’s possible when the Web is the platform.Firefox OS is made to change with each individual and adapt to his or her interests and needs with features like adaptive app search, offline use and cost control. New content can be enjoyed instantly with a simple search, making downloads virtually a thing of the past. Firefox OS offers deep levels of customization that are unmatched by any platform or device. This is possible because Firefox OS is built on the flexible technologies of the Web and the user interface is made of a modular architecture of building blocks that make it easy for anyone to customize.
Upcoming versions of Firefox OS will offer users fun and innovative new features and services including new and intuitive navigation, a powerful universal search feature, support for LTE networks and dual SIM cards, easy ways to share content, ability to create custom ringtones, replaceable home screens and Firefox Accounts.
New versions of Firefox OS have many performance improvements that dramatically improve the user experience including speedier launch times, smoother scrolling and improved keyboard accuracy.
Here are highlights on a few of the features coming next for Firefox OS:
- Deep customization options for operators and manufacturers, developers and users. This includes the ability to create custom ringtones and replaceable home screens, which were direct requests from Firefox OS users.
- A new universal search that will revolutionize how users discover content on their phones. The feature is available on any screen – simply swipe down from the top to find new apps, content or navigate to anything on the phone or the Web.
- New navigation features to make multitasking intuitive, fluid and smart, much like how users interact with the Web. Users can easily swipe from the left and right edges to seamlessly move between pages, content and apps in a fun way that saves time.
- Easy and direct sharing of content (and even software updates) in a secure way with NFC support, without the need for data or Wifi.
- LTE support to make the mobile experience even faster.
- Firefox OS will introduce Firefox Accounts and services. Firefox Accounts is a safe and easy way for users to create an account that enables them to sign in and take Firefox everywhere. With Firefox Accounts, Mozilla can better integrate services including Firefox Marketplace, Firefox Sync, backup, storage, or even a service to help locate, message or wipe a phone if it were lost or stolen.
As the platform evolves, Firefox OS will enable new technologies for the mobile industry. Mozilla is already leading the way in areas like gaming, privacy and security, WebRTC and other services. Firefox OS is a great platform for which partners can build additional services that meet the needs of their customers regionally and individually.
Early examples:
- Telefonica offers a very helpful cost control app for customers to manage their usage and top off their account.
- Deutsche Telekom just announced they are utilizing the deep levels of customization Firefox OS offers to develop new privacy features for the Future of Mobile Privacy project, a joint effort with Mozilla to create effective, user-driven privacy functionality for mobile devices.
- WebRTC is an open, standards-based technology that enables operators to offer services like real time chat, image and file sharing. With WebRTC, operators can let users make calls to any desktop or mobile device, regardless of platform or service provider.
“We’re pleased to see the Firefox OS ecosystem grow so quickly as users, developers and partners come together to experience and build the future of mobile experiences,” said Andreas Gal, Mozilla Vice President of Mobile. “Firefox OS will continue to evolve and add more features to offer choice and customization that is unmatched by any other smartphone. We’re excited to see what other features and services will result from an open platform being contributed to by developers, partners and community around the world.”
About Mozilla
Mozilla has been a pioneer and advocate for the Web for more than 15 years. We create and promote open standards that enable innovation and advance the Web as a platform for all. Today, half a billion people worldwide use Mozilla Firefox to experience the Web on computers, tablets and mobile devices. With Firefox OS and
Firefox Marketplace, Mozilla is driving a mobile ecosystem built entirely on open Web standards, freeing mobile providers, manufacturers, developers and consumers from the limitations and restrictions imposed by proprietary platforms. For more information, visit http://www.mozilla.org.For More information: https://blog.mozilla.org/press/kits/firefox-os/
New Developer Hardware and Tools Show Firefox OS Ecosystem Momentum [Mozilla Press Center, Feb 23, 2014]
Mozilla, the mission-based organization dedicated to keeping the power of the Web in people’s hands, today announced new developer reference hardware and tools that will continue to accelerate momentum around the Firefox OS ecosystem, making it cheaper, faster and easier for developers, operators and OEMs to deploy innovative Web apps and create personalized Firefox OS experiences.
Mozilla announced a 4.5” dual-core reference phone, enabling developers to test new Firefox OS features and apps against different memory configurations. It also expanded the Mozilla tablet program that helps developers test their apps and build out Firefox OS for tablets.
New Firefox OS developer tools and hardware demonstrate ecosystem momentum
New Firefox OS PhoneGap integration was also announced, allowing hundreds of thousands of PhoneGap developers to port their existing apps to Firefox OS in a matter of hours, while new WebAPIs will continue to narrow the gap between native and Web apps. At Mobile World Congress, Mozilla also launched developer tools that will allow OEMs and operators to easily customize Firefox OS for a variety of customer segments.
Developers have always been the key to driving innovation around the Web, and continue to enable it as a platform for app development and distribution. With these new reference devices, tools, and WebAPIs, Mozilla is catalyzing the growth of Web apps and continuing to break down the barriers and restrictions inflicted by other app ecosystems. The Web not only simplifies app development and reduces fragmentation, but allows developers to own the direct customer relationship with the option to host their own apps and or sell them through the Firefox Marketplace.
Vision Mobile recently published a report showing that developer interest for Firefox OS continues to grow, capturing 7% of developer mindshare in just six months. The report also highlighted that during Q1 2014, 52% of developers were already using HTML5 for mobile websites or Web apps with an additional 16% indicating their intention to join them.
A recent survey by Strategy Analytics found that the number of mobile app developers building for Firefox OS is expected to triple this year, showing the biggest rise in developer interest of any mobile platform.
This industry momentum is fueled by the fact that there are already millions of Web developers programming in HTML5 who are eager to target mobile without having to learn a new programming language, or pay engineers to target specific mobile platforms.
The following expanded reference hardware, tools, and WebAPIs, will continue to drive growth of the Firefox OS ecosystem and help prove why the Web is a powerful platform for app development and distribution:
New Reference Phone
At Mobile World Congress, Mozilla is showcasing its new developer reference phone, the Firefox OS Flame, enabling developers to test the capabilities of Firefox OS in a real environment with a mobile network and true hardware characteristics like the accelerometer, NFC and camera. Like the commercially available Firefox OS phones, the Flame developer reference phone is powered by a Qualcomm processor, in this instance a high powered 1.2GH dual core processor, so developers can test their more processor-intensive games and apps with ease. Developers looking to target their apps for specific Firefox OS phones with lower memory footprints also have the option to alter the RAM capacity of the Flame, from 1GB to 256MB, to see how their apps would perform on lower specked phones. The Flame also provides developers and early adopters with access to the latest Firefox OS builds to test nightly releases and contribute to the overall development platform.
Firefox OS Flame Specs (Reference device):
- Qualcomm MSM8210 Snapdragon, 1.2GHZ Dual core [Cortex-A7 with Qualcomm Adreno 302 GPU] processor
- 4.5” screen (FWVGA 854×480 pixels)
- Cameras: Rear: 5MP / Front: 2MP
- 3G UMTS quad-band (850/900/1900/2100)
- 8GB memory
- 256MB -1GB RAM (adjustable by developer)
- A-GPS, NFC
- Dual SIM support
- Battery capacity: 1,800 mAh
- WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, Micro USB
Hundreds of Thousands of PhoneGap Users Can Now Target Firefox OS
Firefox OS will be supported in the next release of PhoneGap, the leading developer tool for building apps across platforms. This builds on the recently announced Firefox OS integration with Cordova, a popular Apache Foundation open source project that allows HTML5 applications to be packaged as native apps.
PhoneGap is a mobile application development framework used by hundreds of thousands of developers. It is based upon the open source Apache Cordova project and allows developers to write an app with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and then deploy it to a wide range of mobile devices with the same capabilities as native apps. With the Firefox OS integration, developers can now port their existing PhoneGap apps to Firefox OS in a matter of hours, with minimal work. For more information, please see this Hacks post.
App Manager Simplifies App Development with Live Prototyping and Debugging
App Manager brings the Firefox Web developer tools to mobile app developers. It shows how the power of the Web helps developers test, deploy and debug Web apps on Firefox OS phones directly from their desktop. The Firefox Web developer tools are already used by millions of Web developers for creating Web pages, and now the App Manager extends these capabilities to mobile app creation, with the same familiar workflow. There is no SDK to download, developers simply use the App Manager as part of the integrated developer tools in the Firefox browser.
Because the App Manager and Firefox OS both use open Web technologies, debugging, live editing and prototyping is straightforward. For example, an operator or OEM may want to prototype different branded homescreen themes for different audiences. Using the App Manager, they can code this on their desktop and in real-time see the changes appear on their connected Firefox OS phone, eliminating lengthy build times. To see how this is done, please see this MDN article.
New WebAPIs and Industry Adoption
There are now more than 30 Mozilla-pioneered WebAPIs with at least eight new APIs introduced in the last year, including WebNFC and Data Store API. These new APIs build more functionality and features into the Web for app development. There is increasing industry adoption as these APIs move towards standardization. Samsung added the Vibration API and Battery Status API to WebKit, while tools like Apache Cordova and Adobe’s PhoneGap now integrate six of the most popular WebAPIs into their products.
Foxconn and VIA Join Tablet Contribution Program
Mozilla recently introduced a tablet contribution program aimed at accelerating the build of Firefox OS for tablets and its supporting ecosystem, with Foxconn as the first hardware partner.
As part of the Firefox OS tablet contribution program, VIA is offering a 7” Vixen reference tablet for developers around the world to help the Mozilla community complete the build of Firefox OS for tablets. Developers can now apply to be a part of this program from this Mozilla Hacks post.
Developer Reference Tablet Specifications:
VIA Vixen:
- 7’’ 1024×600 HD LCD screen
- 1.2 GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 processor
- ARM Mali-400 Dual-Processor GPU
- 8GB storage
- 1GB RAM
- Cameras: Front 0.3 MP, Back 2.0 MP
- Wifi: 802.11 b/g/n
Foxconn InFocus:
- 10” screen (1280 x 800 pixels, 24-bit color)
- [Allwinner] A31 (ARM Cortex A7) Quad-Core 1.0GHz w/ PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU
- 16GB storage
- 2GB RAM
- Cameras: Rear 5MP/ Front 2MP
- A-GPS
- Battery capacity: 7,000 mAh
- WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, Micro USB
“It’s clear that more and more developers are choosing the Web as their preferred development platform for mobile apps, as the technical gap between native and Web apps narrows,” said Brendan Eich, Mozilla CTO and SVP Engineering. “We listen to what developers are asking for to make the Web their primary development platform and think Mozilla and its partners have made significant progress with these new hardware, tools, and WebAPIs. It’ll be exciting to see what new mobile innovations come in 2014.”
Firefox OS Unleashes the Future of Mobile [Mozilla Press Center, Feb 23, 2014]
Mozilla, the mission-based organization dedicated to keeping the power of the Web in people’s hands, demonstrated the breadth and growth of its Firefox OS open mobile ecosystem at a press event on the eve of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The event introduced seven new commercial Firefox OS devices and highlighted advancements and partnerships that will enable the platform to scale up in 2014.
In the year since MWC 2013, Firefox OS devices have gone on sale in 15 markets with four global operators and handsets from three manufacturers. Firefox OS will be expanding into important new markets in 2014. Telefónica will build on the list of countries where it’s selling Firefox OS phones, with eight more launching this year: Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama. Deutsche Telekom will also add four new markets: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Macedonia and Montenegro.
Operator support for Firefox OS also continues to expand, as Telkomsel and Indosat have joined the list of 21 key operators across the globe that support the open Web device initiative. That list also includes partners announced last year: América Móvil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, TMN and VimpelCom.
A new smartphone entry level
Spreadtrum has announced WCDMA and EDGE turnkey reference designs for Firefox OS as well as the industry’s first chipset for US$25 smartphones, the SC6821, that redefines the entry level for smartphones in key growth markets. These solutions are already creating a stir, with global operators such as Telenor, Telkomsel and Indosat, and ecosystem partners such as Polytron, T2Mobile and Thundersoft expressing interest.“In six short months, Firefox OS has more than established itself in the very markets it aimed to address,” said John Jackson, VP of Mobility Research, IDC. “Today’s announcements underscore the platform’s rapid maturation and growing ecosystem benefits. New products, tools, categories, partners, features, and extraordinarily compelling price points will reinforce Firefox OS’s momentum into 2014. IDC expects year-on-year Firefox OS volumes will grow by a factor of six times in the smartphone category alone.”
Flexibility and customization
Firefox OS devices are the first devices built entirely to open Web standards, with every feature developed as an HTML5 application. Mozilla previewed the future of Firefox OS at its press event, demonstrating how its flexibility, scalability and powerful customization empower users, developers and industry partners to create the exact mobile experience they want. Carriers can easily and deeply customize the interface and develop localized services that match the unique needs of their customer base.Deutsche Telekom is utilizing this customization to develop new Firefox OS features for the Future of Mobile Privacy project, a joint effort with Mozilla to bring data privacy closer to customers. The organizations’ privacy offices have been collaborating over the past year to conceptualize and develop new privacy features that are currently being tested for consideration in future Firefox OS releases.
Firefox OS is also expanding to additional form factors, as partners and contributors work to optimize the software for TVs, tablets and other devices. In January, Panasonic announced a partnership with Mozilla to release next-generation smart TVs powered by Firefox OS.
“Firefox OS is off to an amazing start. We launched our first smartphones in July, and have since expanded into fifteen markets,” said Jay Sullivan, chief operating officer of Mozilla. “People in Latin America and Eastern Europe have eagerly upgraded from their feature phones to Firefox OS smartphones and now have rich access to the Web and apps. Sales have far exceeded our targets. But 2013 was just the beginning. In 2014, we are differentiating our user experience and our partners are growing the portfolio of devices. We are also enabling a whole new category of smartphone, priced around $25, that will bring even more people around the world online.”
Streamlining the support process
Mozilla has received significant interest from mobile manufacturers looking to differentiate themselves by producing Firefox OS phones and tablets. To help service this demand and facilitate the next wave of device growth, Mozilla launched a new self– service partner portal to fast track manufacturers and streamline bringing devices to market. Manufacturers get all the resources and branding required to launch a Firefox OS device in one place.In order to promote the success of this ecosystem, the Open Web Device Compliance Review Board (CRB) was formed by Mozilla and major global partners in late 2013. The CRB’s aim is to define and evolve the process of encouraging API compatibility and competitive performance for open Web devices.
Partner quotes
Marieta Rivero, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Telefónica, said: “We started marketing Firefox OS less than eight months ago, commencing with Spain and expanding to several Latin American countries. In a number of these countries, Firefox OS has been a market leader in smartphone sales from the very start. We’re transforming the market, and will continue focusing our efforts on open environments that give clients more freedom, and prices that are better suited to their possibilities. 2014 will undoubtedly be a key year for all of this.”“The continuing rollout across our European markets is tangible proof of our drive to push Firefox OS, together with Mozilla and bring an open operating system to all of our customers,” said Thomas Kiessling, Chief Product & Innovation Officer at Deutsche Telekom. “The introduction of an even more affordable handset on the one hand and a higher-end model on the other also show we are reaching more market segments.”
“Telenor and our operating businesses have seen great consumer satisfaction and a continued appetite in the market for quality, low-cost products based on Firefox OS,” said Holger Hussmann, VP Device and OS at Telenor. “We are supportive and welcoming of the efforts of enabling vendors and device partners focused on serving this great, underserved market opportunity.”
Alistair Johnston, Director of Marketing for Telkomsel, said: “Telkomsel will support Mozilla with its Spreadtrum turnkey solution and device partner as an attempt to bring the smartphone to the palm of every Indonesian and to perform Telkomsel strategy to speed up and enrich the DNA (Device – Network – Application) ecosystem in Indonesia.”
President Director & CEO of Indosat, Alexander Rusli, said: “Indosat as the leading communications provider in Indonesia is ready for Firefox OS smartphones based on the Spreadtrum solution. This is in line with our strategy in 2014 to provide the best experience to our customers and become the customer’s preferred choice for smartphones and smart device users.”
“Polytron is announcing the intention of supporting the manufacturing, distribution, and promotion of Firefox OS smartphones based on Spreadtrum’s latest solution,” said Mr. Hariono, CEO of Polytron, Indonesia’s leading mobile device brand. “T2Mobile specializes in offering our customers the ability to rapidly address the needs of its customers in every segment of the wireless ecosystem,” said Aaron Zhang, CEO, T2Mobile, a leading ODM specializing in Firefox OS-based mobile solutions. “The creation of new Firefox OS and open Web devices will be further accelerated by these solutions and we are pleased to support these new offerings.”
“We are excited by the new and highly affordable possibilities enabled by Firefox OS,” said Hongfei Zhao, CEO, Thundersoft, a leading global technology and solutions provider that helps OEMs’ accelerate high quality product development and achieve fast time to market. “We have expanded our services in new areas including support for Firefox OS, enabling new and unique offerings in the mobile Internet device industry and ecosystem.”
More information
Opening remarks by Mitchell Baker, Executive Chair and Jay Sullivan, Chief Operating OfficerPlease visit Mozilla and experience Firefox OS at stand 3C30 in Hall 3, at the Fira Gran Via, Barcelona from February 24-27, 2014.
For additional resources, such as high-resolution Firefox OS images and b-roll video, visit: https://blog.mozilla.org/press.
Multiplatform value proposition for developers from Nokia, with potential of Microsoft joining the fray
After understanding what does the new Nokia X platform mean in preceding posts mine:
– Nokia’s “best of everything” X range smartphones to conquer the smartphone market between the Asha and Lumia devices [Feb 24, 2013] and
– Nokia X family of smartphones, leading local brand partners for Windows Phone and the potential of all that on the Indian market [Feb 27, 2014]
it is time to consider the Nokia X announcement from developers’ point of view.
Nokia Developer Day at MWC 2014 [nokiadevforum YouTube channel, Feb 27, 2014]
The Nokia provided content included here (later on): Lunagames success story—Nokia Developer Day Keynote—Nokia X: where Android apps will thrive—HERE Maps on Nokia X Family—Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1—Nokia X Porting Bus—bring apps to the Nokia Store for the Nokia X family—Five reasons: Android App to Nokia Store—Nokia’s Developer Day at MWC
But first take note of Nokia X Get Started Portathons [Nokia Developer, Feb 24, 2014]
The Nokia X Porting Bus is going to be driving all over Europe. If you’re nearby, please drop by with your Android app. We’ll show you just how easy it is to port to Nokia X. …
as well the Developer Offers for Nokia X.
And why there is a definite potential of Microsoft joining it? The proof-points for that were already included in a recent post of mine here:
- “Consumers are now calling the shots <—> consumerization of IT”, i.e. enterprise computing is not ruling ICT alone any more, and as a result of BYOD the private, consumer devices are even dictating.
- “Sales are not simple for developers anymore” Instead of the earlier uniform way of selling developers should use the most sophisticated approaches—think of the fremium, or advertisement based models as examples—in order to earn their revenue.
- …
- “The times of single platforms are gone, as developers own several platforms now”
…
I met “cloud first” last summer with regards to Microsoft at TechEd, primarily through the words of Satya Nadella, who is the CEO now (see “Cloud first” from Microsoft is ready to change enterprise computing in all of its facets [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, June 4, 2013]). … Tim … was elaborating that Microsoft was much more considering the cloud interfaces (APIs) in the development of their software in this regard.
From View from Redmond via Tim O’Brien, GM, Platform Strategy at Microsoft [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 21, 2014]
As the biggest news of this new developers’ value proposition is that of the new Nokia X:
We’ve maintained maximum possible compatibility with AOSP [Android Open Source Project]. We’ve made a few changes. And that’s mostly in the services layer. So we’ve taken away some of the Google services and replaced them with some of our own or some of the Microsoft services.
There are 3 services which we’ve changed:
– In-App Payment [Nokia In-App Payment], and I’ve already explained that it’s an advantage for developers
– Location [HERE Maps], and
– Notification [Nokia Notifications]
and for these APIs [Nokia APIs] some changes are needed. Otherwise your Android apps just work.
From [46:56 and on] of the keynote video (embedded later on) by Amit Patel, VP of Developer Relations
from [45:12] of the keynote video continued into the following feedback from partners:
Lunagames: A Nokia Asha success story [nokiadevforum YouTube channel, Nov 28, 2013]
Regarding the position of the upcoming owner of Nokia Devices & Services Business an actual report stated that Microsoft: ‘no surprises’ regarding Nokia X, knew about Android work, okay with it [Windows Phone Central, Feb 25, 2014]:
If there was any question today about what Microsoft thinks about the Nokia X and its Android phone, their public line is that they’re fine with it. During Nokia Developer Day, John Shewchuk [see Deep technical evangelism and development team inside the DPE (Developer and Platform Evangelism) unit of Microsoft [May 17, 2013]], a Microsoft technical fellow responsible for “strategy for cloud platform services”, took to the stage to demonstrate Microsoft services running on the Nokia X, noting that they’re a ‘devices and services company’ first and don’t consider Nokia’s choice to be against their interests.
Before the session even officially kicked off, Shewchuk chose to address the elephant in the room by talking about Nokia X and Microsoft. Their stance, at least overtly, was that they knew about Nokia’s Android work going into the deal (to acquire Nokia’s hardware division) and that there were “no surprises” here this week. Instead, Microsoft’s focus on services, specifically OneDrive, Outlook.com and Skype, were considered to be just as important business for Microsoft as Windows Phone.
The session then focused on the benefits of developing services on Nokia X and Lumia phones, with Microsoft’s services being front and center. Nokia then later returned to the stage to discuss their imaging SDKs and development work.
We spoke with Shewchuk briefly after the session regarding his statement. He was forthright in stating that Windows Phone, as a developer platform, is still superior for many companies out there whom are making apps. The idea here is yes, Android is popular, but Windows Phone has momentum now and things like the web developer tools offer a great alternative.
Microsoft clearly has two business here to consider. More, actually. It’s not about just Windows Phone, but about Skype, OneDrive, Bing and even Azure. While to Windows Phone users, prioritizing that OS seems very obvious, Microsoft is taking a different approach. At least in this regard, publicly, they are on board with Nokia X and do it see it as an opportunity to grow Microsoft’s services in emerging markets.
Will Nokia X remain after the sale? We’re leaning towards yes, that this is a long term strategy by Microsoft. We’ll just have to wait and see. But for now, Nokia and Microsoft are acting like everything is business as usual.
Nokia Developer Day Keynote @ Mobile World Congress 2014 [nokiadevforum YouTube channel, Feb 27, 2014]
Nokia X: where Android apps will thrive [Nokia Conversations, Feb 26, 2014]
The developer world for our devices is changing. With the Nokia X software platform opening up rich opportunities for Android devs to expand the reach for their apps, what does this mean for the developer community and consumers?
We spoke to Amit Patel, Vice President of Developer Relations, Nokia to get his take on this brave, innovative world.
NC: How do you see the Nokia X software platform as an attractive proposition for developers?
AP: Developers are interested in reaching more consumers. With the Nokia X family of device, we are able to reach new consumers in the affordable smartphone segment. This part of the smartphone (sub €100) is growing four times faster than any other part of the smartphone market and we are in the best possible shape to capture our share.
The majority of the growth is coming from the emerging markets – Indonesia, Thailand, India, etc. – where we are already significantly present, especially with Nokia Asha. There’s already brand preference and brand loyalty for Nokia.
In essence, we’re going to be able to deliver a large amount of consumers to developers very easily.
NC: What if developers already have Android apps. How can they get them onto Nokia X?
AP: Those developers are our primary target audience. And, for them, we have made it really easy to bring their apps to Nokia Store. We provide an online tool called Nokia X Analyser where you can drag and drop your app to see whether you’re 100% compatible, or whether you need to make some changes. In most cases, the majority of apps just work. If that’s the case, just publish your app into the Nokia Store and you’re done.
NC: And if you don’t reach the magic 100% compatibility rating?
AP: There are three APIs that make them non-compatible; HERE Maps, notification and in-app payment. For any apps that are using these APIs, the developer would need to be some modifications. In many cases the changes are relatively small and can be completed in a matter of hours. Once done, just package your app and put it into the Nokia Store.
NC: Ok, so from a consumer’s point of view – how will they see an ‘Android’ app?
AP: Consumers can find apps in Nokia Store and from third-party stores. In Nokia store, modified and unmodified apps will be shown side-by-side, there is no difference. From a consumers’ point of view, the only thing that changes is the ever increasing amount of apps on offer.
NC: How do in-app purchases work on Nokia X?
AP: We’ve had in-app payments on Nokia Asha for a while now, and it’s the same mechanism that’s being used on Nokia X. All a developer needs to do is change the in-app purchase API ‘call’ from Google Play to Nokia.
However, one of the big worries that developers have is fragmentation – where they need to service all types of app stores. What we’ve done is to develop the platform, tools and APIs in such a way that we’re promising developers that they can maintain a single ; if you need to support the Nokia APIs, you can make the edits in the same code as your Google code.
The benefit of this for the developers is that he has much lower costs to maintain his app. This is just one of the things we’ve done to make things easy for developers.
NC: Is there anything else you’ve done to make the process easier for devs?
AP: Absolutely. One key area is in-app payments linked to operator billing. Taking India as an example, there are 1.2 billion people, around 350-million phones and 24-million credit cards. It’s clear that most people aren’t using credit cards for their in-app purchases. People are paying with operator billing. And we have ‘more than one’ operator billing deal in India.
Not many of our competitors have that.
So, publishing in the Nokia Store using our in-app payment method, means you’ve instantly got 350 million people at your disposal to buy your app, or an in-game sword!
NC: Are there any upcoming Nokia X apps that you’re excited about?
AP: We already have many of the top apps preloaded on the Nokia X devices including apps like Plants vs. Zombies, BBM, Skype, Facebook and many more. And we have others like OneDrive, Outlook.com, Angry Birds and hotels.com in the Nokia Store. We are continuously adding new apps and I am looking forward to apps like Facebook Messenger, Spotify and Temple Run 2, which should be amongst the many apps coming soon.
NC: Do you think there’s a good enough range of apps on Nokia X to give, what might be some peoples first foray into phone apps, a great experience?
AP: Right now, for the Nokia X family, we’ve got hundreds of thousands of apps available in the Nokia Store and in third-party stores. The Android ecosystem being what it is, there are lots of places for consumer to get all the apps they want.
NC: What do you think of people side-loading apps onto Nokia X?
AP: Side-loading happens predominantly in markets where consumers are reluctant to spend money on data. Often the mobile data costs in these markets make downloading large apps prohibitive. Obviously we encourage people to download over wi-fi, but we also realise that it’s convenient for people to side-load apps, often in bulk, to their devices.
Our focus is to give developers the chance to reach millions of consumers. Side-loading helps us to achieve that. With our in-app payment solution and our leading operator billing network, we are also uniquely position to maximize the revenue potential for developers regardless of how the apps are distributed.
None of our major competitors have the same operator billing coverage and device market share in growth markets.
Are you a developer? We’ve love to know what you think of the porting system. Let us know in the comments, below.
HERE Maps shows the way on Nokia X Family [Nokia Conversations, Feb 27, 2014]
The new Nokia X family bring together popular Microsoft services like Skype, OneDrive and Outlook as well as the best of Nokia experiences – HERE Maps included.
We sat down with the HERE team to learn more about the HERE Maps experience on the Nokia X and how it all came to be.
Nokia’s HERE business was charged with creating the new location and navigation app for the Nokia X family, working from scratch and in a time-frame of less than twelve months.
Nonetheless, says Niko van Eeghen, HERE Maps for Nokia X product manager:
“We’ve managed to pull off a hell of a release. We’d say that, though it says it’s version 1.0, it’s more like a version 2.0 release in terms of functionality and polish.”
The team had high ambitions. Niko’s colleague Jens Klaus explains:
“For Nokia X we have brought the HERE Maps experience, with regular search, nearby search, and points of interest. We also have routing functionality for cars, pedestrians and transit. And there’s the in-car experience with voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation.”
Niko adds that the app offers online and offline functionality, with maps available for nearly 200 countries, and navigation available for 98 countries.
The experience is very smooth and Lumia-like. “Customers will be really surprised at the performance of HERE Maps on the Nokia X family,” says Niko with a smile.
“Compared to mapping and navigation solutions that draw their maps from online, it’s amazingly fast, because we store our maps offline.”
While the app is installed out of the box, the team decided not to preload the local country maps. “This way, we give customers the choice of which map, what regions and cities to install, and whether to install the map in the main storage memory or on a MicroSD card,” explains Jens.
The HERE Maps app also integrates with the device’s Fastlane feature. The HERE Maps shows up on Fastlane together with other apps you’ve recently launched. This way you can easily go back to your most recent locations and also get notifications for when updates are available to be downloaded for your offline maps. You can perform direct searches for locations on HERE Maps for Nokia X using the device’s global search. The app also integrates with contacts in the address book. If you’ve stored your friend’s address, you can click through to show a map and get directions.
But the HERE Maps application was not the only job for Niko’s team. They also had to power location services on other apps, creating API’s to allow developers to tap into HERE services for their own functionality. “When you share your location in WeChat, for example,” Niko explains, “the app uses our APIs to establish your location and our maps are shown when you share that location.” Developers can tap into the HERE API by downloading an SDK plug-in that makes it simple to switch from competing mapping services.
“It’s our ambition to provide a great experience for all mobile phone users,” Niko concludes.
More on this story on HERE Three Sixty.
New Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1 available [Developer News | Nokia Developer, Feb 24, 2014]
Today we’re announcing the latest release of the Nokia Imaging SDK. This powerful library of exciting image manipulation tools makes it quicker and easier to create imaging apps for Windows Phone 8, and now also Windows 8.1 – desktop and RT.
With the Lumia 2520 tablet (running Windows 8.1 RT) now part of the Nokia family; the shared API allows developers to reuse a lot of the code across Windows Phone and Windows 8.1
The new 1.1 release also includes a number of new effects:
- Interactive Foreground Segmenter: this filter API picks the foreground/background from an image and makes it easier for you to create an interactive UI where users tap, swipe or point at the object boundaries and the API will figure out which objects belong to foreground and vice versa. This is often used to e.g. swap backgrounds or for blurring effects.
- Lens Blur, also known as Bokeh: this is used in professional photography for creating photorealistic image effects. The Nokia Imaging SDK makes applying the new Lens Blur effect or blending with mask quick and easy.
- Single Image HDR: this effect can be applied to an image to create stunning and vibrant photorealistic color effects similar to HDR, or with more conservative settings, auto enhance the image colors.
We have also made some improvements under the hood, with fixes and memory optimisations.
Bottom line, the Nokia Imaging SDK is now even more powerful than before.
Documentation and sample code have been updated to help you get started and you can now also sign up for next week’s Lumia App Lab webinar, where Windows Phone MVP Michael Samarin will walk through everything that’s new in this release.
More than 1,500 developers have already created great imaging experiences for consumers using the SDK 1.0. Will you create the next outstanding imaging app using 1.1? If you think you’ve got what it takes, make sure you enter our new Imagin8 Mission competition: your creation you could win you an expenses-paid trip for 2 to experience zero gravity! Check out the Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1 today!
More information: Get creative with Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1 [Nokia Conversations, Feb 25, 2014]
Get on the Nokia X Porting Bus [Developer News | Nokia Developer, Feb 27, 2014]
A lot of enthusiastic developers came over to meet us this week at Mobile World Congress. Now it’s time for us to return the favour: we’re going to come to you. The Nokia X Porting Bus has been parked in Hall 8 in Barcelona all week and inside its comfort we’ve helped developers port hundreds of apps to Nokia X. (To be honest, not much help’s required; most ports are simple.)
Now it’s time to hit the open road. Over the next month we’re driving across Europe with a crew of experts, a pile of Nokia X devices and DVLUP XP that we’ll trade for ported apps. When we stop in your area we’d love it if you pop in. No registration, no reservations. Just bring your laptop, your Android apps, and an appetite. We’ll get you started with Nokia Store and you just might walk away with some DVLUP points you can redeem for rewards.
Nokia and Handster, an Opera Software company, bring apps to the Nokia Store for the Nokia X family [Developer News | Nokia Developer, Feb 27, 2014]
Working together, Nokia and Handster, an Opera Software company, have brought apps submitted via the Opera Mobile Store’s publisher portal and published them in Nokia Store for use with the Nokia X family of devices.
Announced this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia X family offers access to the world of apps via Android Open Source Project (AOSP), coupled with Nokia signature experiences and the most popular Microsoft services. For Android app developers, it’s an easy, risk-free way to expand the reach of their applications to a new user base while still using the existing code base.
Based on Handster’s existing agreements with its developers, they have granted distribution rights to Nokia for these free Android apps which have been published in the Nokia Store.
How Handster developers can join the Nokia Store and reach new users
Developers with apps distributed by Handster can quickly join the Nokia Store and reach new users with their apps.
If you are ready to start the registration process, click here. Nokia will then contact you to get your consent and to explain the process for creating your Nokia Store account.
Also, if you already have a Nokia Store account, you will not need to do anything else. Your compatible Android apps will automatically be added to your account. Log in to Nokia Publish to check your apps.
Want to learn more about Nokia X?
Check out the five reasons why you should publish your Android app to Nokia Store.
Five reasons to publish your Android App to Nokia Store [Developer News | Nokia Developer, Feb 24, 2014]
- Nokia X opens new markets to your existing apps
Nokia’s sales leadership and brand strength in the fastest growing smartphoneand mobile app markets provide the launchpad for your apps’ success. With Nokia X, you can reach an untapped pool of savvy – and app-hungry — new smartphone users around the world.
Learn more …- Nokia X’s monetization tools create additional revenue streams for your apps
Monetization tools like Nokia In-App Payment, combined with Nokia’s extensive operator billing network, provide your existing apps with new monetization mechanisms in emerging markets. Consumers in many high growth markets do not have international credit cards, making revenue collection a challenge. Nokia X leverages Nokia’s wide operator billing coverage, which extends to over 3 billion mobile subscribers, with over 160 operators in more than 60 markets. Operator billing has been shown to deliver up to a 5x increase in revenues and a 10x increase in purchases over credit-card billing in the Nokia X targeted markets, meaning more revenues opportunities for your apps.
Learn more …- Android app compatibility
Nokia has tested over 100.000 Android apps and approximately 75% are directly compatible and ready to be published to Nokia Store. If your app uses Google services for maps, push notifications or in-app payments, you will need to replace these APIs with Nokia specific APIs that have been built to work almost identically to those they replace.Nokia services have been designed to minimize porting effort from apps using corresponding Google services and allow developers develop and distribute a single app package targeting both ecosystems.
Learn more …- Develop apps for Nokia X using your existing Android SDK, toolkit and skillset
If you already develop Android apps, you can continue to use your existing tool chain. Nokia provides a plugin package to the Android SDK, including the services APIs and the Nokia X emulator.You’ve already got the other tools and skills you need.
Learn more …- Nokia Developer programs provide the marketing and technical support you need
Through programs like DVLUP, Nokia Developer Offers and local outreach, Nokia offers you opportunities to promote your apps to new users and potential customers, while our online training, events and support tools make sure you’re putting your best app forward.
Learn more …
A success! Nokia’s Developer Day at MWC [Nokia Conversations, Feb 27, 2014]
Porting, tech sessions, space selfies, a bus and games. This year’s event had it all!
The figures are incredible; more than 102-billion app downloads and $26 billion in revenue. That’s what the app economy looks like today. In the next three years, the takings are expected to grow to $77 billion.
It’s no wonder then, that hundreds flocked to this year’s Nokia Developer Day at MWC 2014 to see how they could be part of one of technology’s biggest growth areas, summed up by Nokia’s Seppo Aaltonen, VP Mobile Phones Business Management who said: “Our affordable smartphones are about connecting the next billion.”
Seppo Aaltonen telling it how it is…
Welcomed by an excited and upbeat crowd, Stephen Elop kicked off the event with a keynote where he recapped Nokia’s product announcements and how the Nokia X software platform opens up new opportunities for existing and new developers. He also emphasized that Windows Phone is the fastest growing ecosystem today and that between Nokia X and Lumia families, Nokia is further increasing the market opportunity for developers.
Stephen Elop working up a dev frenzy
Timo Toikkanen, EVP Mobile Phones, cemented the news: “The Nokia X is the ultimate affordable smartphone in growth markets. Now that we’ve re-mapped the software platforms as well as the hardware. It will introduce new apps to millions of new people.”
Many of our partners agree. Richard Hazenberg, CEO Lunagames, told the crowd that he is excited about the market potential Nokia X has to offer his company as it combines high volume, ease of porting and seamless billing. He announced “Our game HighWay Hei$t, is now available in the Nokia Store and we are going all in and shipping 20 more games for Nokia X platform”.
Bryan Biniak, VP & GM of Developer Experience, Amit Patel, VP of Developer Relations, Neil Broadley, Director of Product Marketing for Nokia X, Sam Browne, Managing Partner from Carat, and David Proulx, from Blackberry, also took the stage.
Besides Nokia X, developers also heard more details about some of the other news of this week, including, the availability of the Blackberry messaging service BBM on Nokia X and Lumia, as well as the latest release of the Nokia Imaging SDK and the Imagin8 Mission competition for Windows Phone.
A packed developers’ hall
The agenda was packed, with technical sessions about Nokia X and Windows Phone, as well as a number of fun activities for developers to engage and learn about Nokia Developer offerings.
Hundreds of Android apps were ported to Nokia X on the spot, with all participants walking home with a brand new Nokia X. Porting continues at the Nokia X bus, which is parked in Hall 8, so if you are a developer make sure you stop by.
Hop on, plug in, port out!
Attendees also went to space. Really.
They experienced the capabilities of the Nokia Imaging SDK at a special photo booth where they took a very cool #spaceselfie, and learned about the Imagin8 Mission, the new imaging contest which will earn the winner a trip to experience zero gravity.
#1 Conversations’ Editor in space
#2 Conversations’ Editor in space
The day ended with a cocktail reception where the winners of Nokia Create, who flew in from all over the world, were congratulated and received their prizes from Patrick Stanton, Director of Lumia Developer Offering.
The day was a huge success, inspiring hundreds of developers to learn, do and have fun.
Nokia X family of smartphones, leading local brand partners for Windows Phone and the potential of all that on the Indian market
For some observers in the Western media the Nokia X family is a kind of challenge to Microsoft unlike my earlier post describing it as Nokia’s “best of everything” X range smartphones to conquer the smartphone market between the Asha and Lumia devices [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 24, 2014]. In Will Satya Nadella and Microsoft Pick Up The Challenge Laid Down By The Android-Powered Nokia X? Forbes contributor, Ewan Spence simply concludes that:
If Nadella is looking to move Microsoft towards a future with more focus on easily accessible services rather than hardware lock-in, then the Nokia X should continue to receive some love and affection, along with continued support in the media and from the press teams in Redmond. It may even be made available for other manufacturers looking for an Android base to build on with some preferential patent licensing bundled along with the deal.
Other journalists accustomed to the U.S. market, where you don’t buy your smartphone but getting it as part of your paid subscription “for free”, even critisizing the Nokia X performance (see two critics on the right) unlike the head of UX Design, an American (see his view on the left) in charge of the team in Beijing, China “with global scope and BRIICA (Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, Africa) focus”:
Doug Walston, Head of MP [Mobile Phones] UX Design, Nokia – Beijing*:“With the X family,” says Doug, “we were really focused on the needs of new people using smartphones, especially those in emerging markets. We wanted to create a beautifully simple device that gives access to a wealth of apps.”“Apps don’t need to be rewritten to tap into Fastlane. We’ve used some special sauce (and native platform hooks) so it all just works.” “If there’s an element of the interface of which I’m particularly proud, it’s the home screen. It’s so distinctive, bold and direct. It’s a break from the confusion that you see elsewhere in phones at this price.” “The simplicity of the interface also means that it has a very low overhead on performance. Typically for a phone with all these features, you would expect a horrid battery life and a laggy interface in this segment, but that isn’t true of the X family at all. The performance is surprisingly good.”From Not just a pretty face – the UI of the X family [Nokia Conversations blog, Feb 26, 2014]
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Jane McEntegart, Writer/Editor at Tom’s Hardware: Nokia X 1.0 is not slow or sluggish, but in the brief time we played with it, it wasn’t blazing fast either. The tile-interface also didn’t feel quite as sleek as it does in Windows Phone 8. From Hands On with Nokia’s Windows Phone-flavored Android OS [Tom’s Hardware, Feb 24, 2014]Tom Warren, Senior Reporter for The Verge, the resident Microsoft expert: If you put the Nokia X side-by-side with the company’s Lumia 520 handset it might be hard to tell them apart. Using the X software can be quite frustrating, however, as the entire interface is prone to slow response and a lot of lag. Closing or switching between apps on the X takes far longer than other, even entry-level, smartphones, and browsing the web will quickly test your patience. The third-party apps we saw on the X, such as Facebook, looked as they do on other Android smartphones, but they too suffered from poor performance. Nokia’s choice to combine the functions of home and back into the single back button is confusing, and it’s difficult to predict exactly where in the interface the button will take you when you press it. Part of the reason for the laggy interface and apps … is more likely related to the Android version in use on these devices. Nokia appears to be positioning the X as a method to draw people to Microsoft’s cloud services. From This is Nokia X: Android and Windows Phone collide [The Verge, Feb 24, 2014] |
Is the head of MP UX design is right or such a harsh critic as Tom Warren? You could decide it for yourself by watching the video below. Draw special attention to the Fastlane performance difference between the Nokia X with 512MB of RAM and Nokia X+/XL with 768MB ([3:46-4:30] vs. [5:53-6:26]). It is also not an accident that “Resizeable tiles” are demonstrated on the 768MB version. My impression is, that if you are buying the 768MB versions (Nokia X+ or Nokia XL) you won’t feel the problems Tom Warren outlined above, won’t feel at all:
Nokia Launches Nokia X At Mobile World Congress In Barcelona [Red Robot – Intelligent Distribution YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
[0:06] Press conference
>> [0:50] Elop’s 1st introduction: the new Nokia 220
>> [1:20] 2nd introduction: the new Nokia Asha 230
>> [1:32] 3d introduction: the new Nokia X and Nokia X+
>> [2:07] Preloaded great applications on the Nokia X family, hundreds of thousands of Android apps, Nokia signature experiences (HERE Maps, Nokia Mix Radio)
>> [2:42] Fastlane as a fantastic element of Nokia X experience
>> [2:57] 4th introduction: the Nokia XL
[3:40] B-roll (i.e. alternative) footages (with no sound):
> [3:42] Nokia X: Runs Android Apps, 4″ display, Fastlane, 3MP camera, 1GHz Dual Core Processor, Dual SIM
>> [3:46] Nokia X: Fastlane
>> [4:30] Nokia X: Skype
>> [5:08] Nokia X: Nokia Store
>> [5:33] Nokia X: Third Party App Stores
> [5:49] Nokia X+: Runs Android Apps, 4″ display, Fastlane, 3MP camera, 1GHz Dual Core Processor, 768MB RAM, Dual SIM
>> [5:53] Nokia X+: Swipe
>> [6:26] Nokia X+: Resizeable tiles
>> [7:15] Nokia X+: Nokia Mix Radio
>> [8:02] Nokia X+: Demo App: Plants VS Zombies 2
> [8:40] Nokia XL: Runs Android Apps, 5″ display, Fastlane, 5MP camera with flash, 2MP fron-facing camera, 1GHz Dual Core Processor, 768MB RAM, Dual SIM
>> [8:45] Nokia XL: Swipe
>> [9:26] Nokia XL: Camera: 5MP with autofocus and flash
Even more, as the rest of my post goes through the below details (i.e. sections 1. to 4.), you will find (along with with me) that from the point of view of focusing on the BRIICA (Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, Africa) markets (which was the task of the development team in Beijing China) this is an excellent product with no problems mentioned by some media people in the West. There is even no conflict with Microsoft at all (another critical speculation typical to the Western Media) as the Nokia X family is also preparing the ground for the upcoming super low-cost (higher levels as well) Windows Phone devices from local and regional brands like the #3 Karbonn and the #4 Lava (Xolo) in India, as well as Gionee which is a large local brand in China with strong recognition in India as well, not to speak of those who will supplied from Foxconn, the biggest white-label phone manufacturer in China.
- Why does this post concentrate on the Indian market?
- Nokia X family has been well positioned for the highest growth Indian market
- The feature phone and smartphone markets in India according to CyberMedia Research India and IDC
- New low-cost Windows Phone partnering strategy by Microsoft especially aimed at the Indian market
1. Why does this post concentrate on the Indian market?
Answer #1: The Indian smartphone market is expected to double and touch 80 million by the end of current fiscal, a top Samsung India official said today.
“We are expecting smartphone sales in the country to touch 80 million mark by the end of current fiscal [Samsung’s fiscal years are the same as the calendar years], while total sales were around 40 million in 2012-13,” Samsung Mobile and IT India Head Vineet Taneja said.
From Indian smartphone market to double to 80 million by fiscal end: Samsung [The Economic Times (of India), Feb 18, 2014]
Answer #2: “Now is the right time because there is a rapidly growing low-price affordable smartphone segment that’s really taking off in a number of growth economies. We’re seeing that in countries like Indonesia, Russia, Vietnam and a number of others,” [Stephen] Elop [former Nokia CEO and soon-to-be Microsoft executive vice president] says in the interview, shot at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
While Nokia X is based on Android, the user interface “is remarkably similar to the Windows Phone interface,” he says.
That means these customers, many of whom have never owned a smartphone before, will learn to navigate in Microsoft’s world first, with the potential over time to buy higher end Nokia Lumia phones that run Windows Phone as Lumia prices drop.
“And so we’ve gone for that and we’ll take advantage of that to keep people in the Lumia family but using Nokia X as a feeder system into our Windows Phone strategy,” Elop says.
The strategy isn’t meant for the U.S. where cellular carriers widely and generously subsidize the price of high-end phones in order to lock customers in to long-term contracts, he says.
The above excerpts are from the Nokia’s Stephen Elop Talks Android video interview:
From Nokia chief: Nokia X Android smartphone is a gateway drug to Windows Phone [Network World, Feb 25, 2014]
Answer #3: is in another post of mine: Nokia’s “best of everything” X range smartphones to conquer the smartphone market between the Asha and Lumia devices [‘Experiencing the Cloud’ Feb 24, 2014] but before reading that here is Nokia X/ Nokia X Plus Hands On (Dual SIM) [WPXBOX YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014] video from which you can easily understand why is it “best of everything” instead of a stock Android smartphone:
Answer #4: in section 2 of this post I will show you that these smartphones will quite probably have a competitive on line pricing starting at most from:
– Rs 7400 ($119) for Nokia X vs. the list price of EUR 89 [$122]* (Rs 7582)
– Rs 8000 ($129) for Nokia X+ vs. the list price of EUR 99 [$136]* (Rs 8434)
– Rs 8600 ($139) for Nokia XL vs. the list price of EUR 109 [$150]* (Rs 9284)
* Although these prices are before local taxes.
Answer #5: India will be key to future smartphone growth as it represents more than a quarter of the global feature phone market. “Growth in the India market doesn’t rely on high-end devices like the iPhone, but in low-cost Android phones. Nearly half of the smartphones shipped in India in 2013 cost less than US$120,” said Kiranjeet Kaur, Senior Market Analyst for mobile phones at IDC Asia/Pacific.
From Smartphone Prices Race to the Bottom as Emerging Markets Outside of China Come into the Spotlight for Future Growth, According to IDC [press release, Feb 24, 2014]
Answer #6: In addition to existing partners — Nokia, Samsung, HTC and Huawei — Microsoft has announced it is now working with Foxconn, Gionee, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer, JSR, Karbonn and ZTE to develop on the Windows Phone platform. … Customers can expect to see an even broader array of devices, from iconic to lower-cost options, coming to market. … The expanded Windows Phone ecosystem will also provide mobile operators and retail partners with additional opportunities to offer white-label Windows Phone devices under their own brands.
From Microsoft adds nine new Windows Phone hardware partners [press release, Feb 23, 2014] where Karbonn is the #3 and Lava (Xolo) the #4 brands (after #1 Samsung and #2 Micromax), while Gionee is a local brand in China with strong recognition in India as well, and Longcheer as a local Chinese brand that has long been in India as well (albeit with top recognition already lost). Finally Foxconn is the biggest white-label phone manufacturer in China whose production has already influenced the Indian market very much.
We are adding support for Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and 400 series chipsets, with options that support all major cellular technologies, including LTE (TDD/FDD), HSPA+, EVDO and TD-SCMA. We will also support soft keys and dual SIM where our partners want it for their devices. One nice benefit of these additions is that many hardware vendors will be able to use the same hardware for both Android and Windows Phone devices [obviously if they are using the Qualcomm SoCs]. From Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsoft Windows Phone in Scaling Windows Phone, evolving Windows 8 [Windows Phone Blog, Feb 23, 2014]
Q. Many of your recent partnerships and announcements have focused on emerging markets. Is that a major priority?
A. It’s not our only focus, but it’s a very big one. The purpose of low-cost phones in emerging markets is to drive volume. From Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsoft Windows Phone in Q.&A. With Joe Belfiore on the Future of Windows Phone [Bits blog of The New York Times, Feb 23, 2014] That is the Nokia X family will not only prepare the ground for its own Lumias but for these upcoming low-cost Windows Phone devices as well (also why IMHO Microsoft will not kill the Nokia X family after Nokia devices and services becomes part of it)
2. Nokia X family has been well positioned for the highest growth Indian market
X marks the sweet spot [Nokia Conversations, Feb 25, 2014]
We asked Jussi Nevanlinna, VP for Mobile Phone marketing, some of your questions about the new Nokia X family, why it’s important for Nokia and why customers will be delighted with the phones.
First of all, why now? Why is the timing now right for an Android-based smartphone from Nokia?
There are a couple of answers to that question.
To launch the Nokia X family, we needed to be able to create a product that was true to Nokia’s heritage in design and build quality. But we also needed to make it very affordable. Lots of different components had to come into place for us to create something that’s clear and easy to use, but also high quality and within people’s financial reach.
The other answer is that the market itself is moving. We’re the number one manufacturer in growth markets in the ‘entry-level’ and ‘feature phone’ categories. But a lot of those people are now aspiring to smartphone products. There are a significant number of users worldwide who are about to experience the Internet through a mobile device. As you can imagine, we want to be ready for them.
The Nokia X family is based on the Android Open Source Platform (AOSP). Does that put the future of the family at the mercy of Google?
To fully explain, this is a Nokia smartphone that runs Android apps. At its heart, we have AOSP on top of which we have added Nokia design and usability expertise to create the user interface that people see. Then we have added Nokia experiences like HERE Maps and Nokia MixRadio, and Microsoft services like Skype, Outlook.com and OneDrive. What we don’t have is Google services: this was deliberate. Instead, we have implemented Nokia and Microsoft services to create something truly differentiated.
So who is the target audience for the Nokia X family?
These are global products, which will be available pretty much everywhere except North America, Korea and Japan. We have a particular focus on growth markets – for example, India and China, Thailand and Indonesia then over to Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria, and South America, especially countries like Brazil, and Mexico. They are all places where we’re seeing this big shift from feature phones to affordable smartphones.
Our Nokia X family customers are young, social, very aspirational and are fans of Nokia. They love our brand and our product design. And they also love Android apps: the quantity and choice is very appealing to them.
So we’re offering them the best of three worlds:
- Nokia design and build quality;
- Microsoft cloud services; and
- Android apps.
Does the X family compete with the Lumia family and maybe mean lost sales for Lumia?
Our approach to compete in the affordable smartphone market is twofold. While Lumia remains our primary smartphone platform and we continue to push the prices down, Nokia X addresses price points that are generally lower than those reached by Lumia, and we’ll keep pushing the Nokia X prices down even further.
In fact we see Nokia X as a stepping-stone to Lumia. With Nokia X we are bringing people the best of Nokia and Microsoft services and experiences, making a future switch to Lumia natural.
Some might see creating an Android-based device as strange considering that the plan is for Nokia’s devices and services business to join Microsoft soon?
I can’t speak on Microsoft’s behalf; what I can say is our strategy with Mobile Phones has been, and remains, connecting the next billion. Microsoft is equally focussed on ‘mobile first; cloud first’. As I have explained, getting people exposed to and loving Microsoft and Nokia services in the affordable segment creates a natural pathway to Lumia, which is designed to be the pinnacle smartphone experience.
Technology becomes cheaper all the time. When it becomes possible to create a Lumia for $100, will the X family be retired?
I think the key word is ‘family’. We will be announcing more products in the family over the course of the next year, and the price range it covers will change to suit the markets. We will be taking Nokia X into even more affordable price points.
What do app developers need to do to make their Android apps available for the Nokia X family?
The short answer is: nothing. In the vast majority of cases, Android apps will run very well on the Nokia X family, out of the box.
Furthermore, we’re working with developers to make it very easy to submit apps into the Nokia Store. In most cases, they simply republish their apps to Nokia Store .
Where apps depend on functionality that isn’t on the Nokia X family devices, like Google Maps, we’ve created API plugins for the Android SDK to allow developers to simply tick the box to use HERE Maps instead.
And what advantages can developers and customers gain by using Nokia Store?
Android developers stand to make big gains by supporting the Nokia X family. We have heard many times that they find it hard to monetise their apps. One reason for that is, in emerging markets, people are a lot less likely to have credit cards. The Nokia Store offers in-app payments through operator billing, and we have the largest network of operators signed up for that. It’s been shown through experience that when operator billing is available, then revenues increase by up to five times.
That’s one reason the Nokia Store offers a better alternative. The other is from the user’s side. The Nokia Store is curated. The apps are screened and scanned so you won’t bump up against malware or inappropriate content. So they can shop in our store with confidence and security.
And worldwide, people are very comfortable with using third-party app stores that aren’t owned by Google. In Russia, the Yandex Store dominates the Android marketplace. In China, Google Play isn’t available, so all app purchases are through third parties. So you see, non-Google stores are already the norm for most Android owners.
Nokia X is a phone made for India [India Today, Feb 24, 2014]
The Finnish handset maker has finally unveiled its much talked of Android phone, the Nokia X, at the ongoing Mobile World Congress 2014.
Nokia has launched a family Android phones with three variants–Nokia X, X+ and XL–at affordable prices. All three Nokia X variants are going to be low-cost phones with the Nokia XL expected to be priced around Rs.9,000 [$145]. For now, the prices that have been revealed are: Nokia X for 89 euros, the X+ 99 euros and the larger LX carries a price tag of 109 euros.
Specs-wise, these are basic level phones. All three devices are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Dual Core processor and are dual SIM. The Nokia X comes with 4-inch display, the X+ has a bit of more storage options and the XL variant comes with 5-inch LCD screen and and 5-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras.
The Nokia X phones do not come with pre-installed Google Play Services. As a result the Play Store isn’t available on the Nokia X or Nokia X+. Though, Android apps can be downloaded through Yandex Store.
Once, Nokia was the leader of Indian mobile industry. Nokia feature phones used to be first choice of the Indian consumers. But it could not keep pace with the emergence of smartphones. Its competitors like Samsung, Sony and Micromax took away the markets from the Finnish handsets maker with innovative smartphones at affordable prices.
With affordable Android phones, the world’s largest smartphone maker, Samsung, is dominating the Indian market. Even, the home grown tech company Micromax made a market for itself with range of affordable Android phones having great features.
With its budget prices and widely used Android OS, the Nokia X series of smartphones will target the consumers looking to upgrade themselves from feature to smartphones. As the smartphone market is growing in India, given its brand reputation in the country, Nokia phones are going to give its competitors a run for their money in the sub Rs.10,000 [$161]segment. An Android phone from the Nokia at affordable price will be a good deal.
Well aware of its advantageous positing in the price-sensitive Indian market, Nokia has listed the X series devices on its India website as coming soon just after unveiling the devices at the ongoing Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona.
Nokia Lumia 525 – First Impressions [Digit YouTube channel, Jan 7, 2014]
The current (Feb 25, 2014) lowest online price for Lumia 525 (in India) is on Snapdeal.com:
(list price) –> Rs 9519 [$154] Black/White –> Rs 9712 [$158 ] Yellow
Rs 11499 [$186]
Competing with the following models of the marketing leading brands (Samsung, Micromax, Karbonn):
Rs 11230 [$181]Rs 9244 [$149] …Rs 12100 [$195]Rs 9379 [$151] … Rs12990 [$207]Rs 9997 [$161]
For comparison the preceding the Lumia 520 on the same site:
Rs 10499 [$169](list price) –> Rs 7976 [$128] Black –> Rs 7995 [$129] White
–> Rs 8169 [$132 ] Yellow
Then some leading competitors for the Nokia X range (also from Snapdeal.com):
All list prices:Rs 9999 [$161]Rs 8949 [$144] … Rs 7225 [$117] … Rs 7895 [$127]
13767 |
6878 |
10957 |
7440 |
7623 |
Broadcom BCM23550 |
Broadcom BCM21654G |
MediaTek MT6572 |
Qualcomm MSM8225 |
Qualcomm MSM8225 |
Which means a competitive on line pricing starting at most from:
– Rs 7400 ($119) for Nokia X vs. the list price of EUR 89 [$122]* (Rs 7582)
– Rs 8000 ($129) for Nokia X+ vs. the list price of EUR 99 [$136]* (Rs 8434)
– Rs 8600 ($139) for Nokia XL vs. the list price of EUR 109 [$150]* (Rs 9284)
* Although these prices are before local taxes.
For comparison the top of the Asha Touch range, the Asha 503 on the same site (currently):
Rs 7399 [$119] (list price) –> Rs 6549 [$106] Black/White –> Rs 6894 [$111] Yellow
–> Rs 6939 [$112] Red
Which means that the price of Asha devices could be lowered after the Nokia X devices appear on the market. This is especially true with the introduction of Asha 230 using the same SoC:
As the Asha 230 was announced for EUR 45 [$62]* (Rs 3823) you got an immediate price indication for such a decrease. In fact this new model is an effective replacement for the current Asha 500 as the entry level Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.1 device which has:
- 2 MP rear camera instead of a 1.3 MP one on Asha 230
- standby time up to 840 h (2G), talk time up to 14 h (2G) because of an 1200 mAh battery instead of the 1020 mAh one on Asha 230
but has the best online price of Rs 3999 ($66), actually from Nokia India against the list price of USD69 before taxes or subsidies.
3. The feature phone and smartphone markets in India according to CyberMedia Research India and IDC
From CMR announces top Telecom trends for 2014 in India [CyberMedia Research India press release, Dec 31, 2013]
CMR today released its MarketVision 2014 for Telecommunications in India. Below are the key trends identified for 2014 for some priority segments.
Mobile Handsets
2013 witnessed the first time decline in growth of feature phones in India and this trend is going to further sharpen in 2014 as the primary focus of the industry as well as consumers would remain around the smartphones.
CMR identifies the following trends for 2014 in Smartphones
- LTE enabled smartphone releases to be among priority areas of the vendors.
- Chinese ODM’s have started taken a direct OEM route towards India Smartphone market. CMR expect around 10 Chinese ODMs entering into India Mobile market in 2014.
- ‘Made in India’ smartphones amount to 47% of the total sales. With such tremendous growth and success witnessed by these brands in the local market, 2014 will be the time to look at newer geographies including MENA, Latin America and the SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] region for the home grown vendors. CMR expects 3-4 such brands looking for new geographic markets.
- With the increasing confidence and reliance of Indian consumers on the online retailing, particularly after the emergence of successful platforms like flipkart, CMR expects the role of ‘etailing’ becoming important for emerging brands who for various reasons cannot establish their physical distribution network across the country, particularly the non-metro cities and towns.
- While the ecosystem partners like ODMs and app developers will be exploring Windows as a platform for mobility, CMR identifies Tizen, Firefox, Ubuntu and Sailfish among the new open source OSs emerging in 2014 in the India market.
- CMR expects vernacular apps to start getting focus in 2014 from the developer community in the country. Since national elections are going to be among the predominant themes for 2014, we expect a lot of apps being developed around this space which could be owned by a political party or being promoted by a neutral app developer.
62.9 million mobile handsets shipped in India during July-Sept 2013, a Y-o-Y growth of 10.9%; September registers, 19.5 million handset shipments; Nokia retains overall leadership [CyberMedia Research India press release, Nov 19, 2013]
- Smartphone shipments cross 11.1 million units; Samsung still the market leader in smartphones category with Micromax and Karbonn at #2 and #3, respectively. Top 3 vendors make up nearly 63.1% of the total smartphone shipments.
- Featurephone segment witnesses the first ever negative growth in shipments in the India Mobile handsets market.
According to CMR’s India Mobile Handsets Market Review, 3Q 2013, November 2013 release,India registered 62.9 million mobile handset shipments for the period July-September (3Q) 2013. During the same period, 11.1 million smartphones were shipped in the country.
Commenting on the results, Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice said, “We have been saying that the way forward is smartphones. JAS 2013 is the first quarter to actually report this trend in numbers. This means vendors can expect to see large opportunities in the upgrades market where many featurephone users will upgrade to a smartphone. It may also so happen that new smartphone purchases register lower volumes vis-à-vis upgrades. But this phenomenon may be a few quarters away.”
“So there is going to be a huge opportunity as well as competition in the entry- to mid-level smartphone segments, which is where the volumes would remain for a while,” Faisal further added.
India Smartphones Market
The India smartphones market during July-September 2013 saw a rise in shipments by 152.3% over and above the July-September 2012 number, taking the contribution of smartphones to 17.6% of total mobile handset shipments during the period July-September 2013.
Commenting on these results, Tarun Pathak, Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice said, “The India smartphones market continues to be a competitive space with close to brands vying with each other. Going forward, we expect this segment to be even more competitive as we expect some of the China-based ODM partners entering directly into the India market during 1H 2014. It will be interesting to see what impact this will have on the market share of existing smartphone players.”
“Another interesting observation is that local handset brands have now close to 47% market share in the India smartphones market and this momentum has been a source of confidence to a couple of players to enter new geographies outside India where the smartphone market is on the rise. Going forward 3G smartphone shipments will continue to rise and we can expect to see a few smartphone vendors introduce 4G-enabled devices by the end of 2013,” Tarun concluded.
Notes for Editors
This release is a part of the CyberMedia Research (CMR) Smart Mobility Market Programme.
CyberMedia Research (CMR) uses the term “shipments” to describe the number of handsets leaving the factory premises for OEM sales or stocking by distributors and retailers. For the convenience of media, the term shipments has been replaced by ‘sales’ in the press release, but this reflects the market size in terms of units of mobile handsets and not their absolute value. In the case of handsets imported into the country it represents the number leaving the first warehouse to OEMs, distributors and retailers. CyberMedia Research does not track the number of handsets brought on their person by individual passengers landing on Indian soil from overseas destinations or ‘grey market’ handsets. These are, therefore, not part of the CyberMedia Research numbers reported here.
CyberMedia Research (CMR) tracks shipments of mobile handsets on a monthly basis. However, as per convention, the market size is reported on a calendar quarter basis where appropriate to the context; in all such cases this refers to an aggregated number for the three calendar months in the quarter to which the press release refers.
About CyberMedia Research
A part of CyberMedia, South Asia’s largest specialty publisher, CyberMedia Research (CMR) has been a front runner in market research, consulting and advisory services since 1986. CMR offers research and consulting services – insights, market intelligence, market sizing, ecosystem mapping and go-to-market services – covering the Information Technology, ITeS, Semiconductor & Electronics, Telecommunications, Government, SMB & Entrepreneurship, Smart Infrastructure, Energy & Utilities and Healthcare & Life Sciences verticals.
Cyber Media Research Ltd., an ISO 9001: 2008 company, is a member of the Market Research Society of India (www.mrsi.in) and enrolled with ESOMAR (www.esomar.org) CMR’s forthcoming studies include stakeholder satisfaction surveys, mega spender assessments and market mapping studies for these domains.
For more details, please visit http://www.cybermediaresearch.co.in or http://www.cmrindia.com/
Explosive Smartphone Growth Driven by Lower-Priced Models, Cannibalises Feature Phone Sales in Indian Mobile Market, Says IDC [press release, Dec 2, 2013]
The India smartphone market grew by 229% year over year (YoY) in the third quarter of 2013 (3Q13). According to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) APEJ Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 12.8 million smartphones in 3Q13 compared to 3.8 million units in the same period of 2012. 3Q13 grew by close to 28% over the units shipped in the second quarter of 2013 (2Q13).
The 5.0 inch-6.99 inch screen size smartphones (phablets) continued to show sustained growth in 3Q2013 as well – the phablet category contributed to 23% in the overall market in terms of volume.
The overall mobile phone market (Feature Phones and Smartphones) had a 12% growth YoY and a 7% growth quarter over quarter (QoQ) with the share of feature phones sliding further to make 81% of the total market in 3Q13 despite the feature phone market growing at 3% in 3Q2013 over 2Q2013.
Source: IDC Asia Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 3Q 2013
The third quarter of 2013 witnessed a slowdown in the numbers for top local vendors such as Micromax and Karbonn – while international vendors like Samsung and Nokia powered by their new product launches made up for close to 30% of the overall market in 3Q2013.
“The growth in the smartphone market continues to drive the overall growth numbers for the phone market – given that there’s still a huge potential for smartphone penetration in India, this trend is expected to continue in the coming quarters”, said Manasi Yadav, Senior Market Analyst with IDC India.
“The change agents for this rapid shift of consumer preference towards Smartphones have been the narrowing price gap between Feature phones and Smartphones. The Smartphone market is expected to maintain these elevated levels of growth in the near future” comments Kiran Kumar, Research Manager with IDC India.
Top Five Smartphone Vendor Highlights
Samsung: Samsung maintained its leadership spot with about 33% in terms of market share. Its smartphone shipments grew by close to 36% from 2Q 2013 to 3Q2013. The third quarter saw quite a few new launches across price points by Samsung – however the low-mid tier phones such as Galaxy S
Duos and Galaxy Star continued to drive their volumes.
Micromax: Micromax held on to its second spot with about 17% in terms of market share in 3Q2013. Some of the top selling models were A27 and A26 in terms of volumes – we have seen a dedicated marketing and advertising push from the brand with continued investments to up the brand recall.
These efforts are expected to bear fruit in the coming quarters in time for their upcoming launches.
Karbonn: The market share for Karbonn in 3Q2013 was close to 11%, some of the top selling models for this brand were A6 and A50. There has been a significant pick-up for the Titanium range of phones especially S5 and S2 specifically.
Nokia: The Lumia range of devices continued to show a growth trajectory in 3Q2013 and garnered close to 5% market share – the trend is expected to continue with greater support from Microsoft in the coming quarters. The third quarter of 2013 saw a few notable launches like the Lumia 625 and Lumia 925 which have been able to generate positive interest from consumers and developers alike.
Lava : Lava made it to the top 5 for the first time in 3Q2013 owing to huge shipments coming in from its XOLO and IRIS range of competitively priced devices. Some of the top selling models for the brand are IRIS 349 and IRIS 402. Keeping in mind the shifting consumer preferences, there has been a conscious shift from feature phones to smartphones, which is expected to continue in the upcoming quarters too.
Smartphone Prices Race to the Bottom as Emerging Markets Outside of China Come into the Spotlight for Future Growth, According to IDC [press release, Feb 24, 2014]
Singapore and London, February 24, 2014 – Emerging markets have become the center of attention when talking about present and future smartphone growth. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, in 2013 the worldwide smartphone market surpassed 1 billion units shipped, up from 752 million in 2012. This boom has been mainly powered by the China market, which has tripled in size over the last three years. China accounted for one out of every three smartphones shipped around the world in 2013, equaling 351 million units.
Recently the surge in growth has started to slow as smartphones already account for over 80% of China’s total phone sales. The next half billion new smartphone customers will increasingly come mainly from poorer emerging markets, notably India and in Africa.
“The China boom is now slowing,” said Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager for mobile devices at IDC Asia/Pacific. “China is becoming like more mature markets in North America and Western Europe, where smartphone sales growth is slackening off.”
Emerging markets in Asia/Pacific outside of China, together with the Middle East and Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America, account for four fifths of the global feature phone market, according to IDC data. “This is a very big market opportunity,” said Simon Baker, Program Manager for mobile phones at IDC CEMA. “Some 660 million feature phones were shipped last year, which could add two thirds to the size of the current global smartphone market.”
India will be key to future smartphone growth as it represents more than a quarter of the global feature phone market. “Growth in the India market doesn’t rely on high-end devices like the iPhone, but in low-cost Android phones. Nearly half of the smartphones shipped in India in 2013 cost less than US$120,” said Kiranjeet Kaur, Senior Market Analyst for mobile phones at IDC Asia/Pacific.
“Converting feature phone sales to smartphone sales implies a relentless push towards low cost,” added Baker. IDC research shows nearly half the mobile handsets sold across the world have retail prices of less than US$100 without sales tax. Two thirds of those have prices of less than US$50.
“The opportunity gets larger the lower the price falls,” continued Baker. “If you take retail prices without sales tax, in 2013 nearly three quarters of the US$100-125 price tier was already accounted for by smartphones. Within US$75-100 the proportion was down to just over half, and between $50-75 it was not much more than a third.”
Many smartphone vendors have begun gearing up for this next wave of cost pressure. Samsung is increasingly switching production to Vietnam, where manufacturing costs currently undercut mainland China. Even Hon Hai [better known outside as Foxconn], one of the largest contract manufacturers for handsets in China, has announced plans for a plant in Indonesia to furnish a lower production cost base.
In addition to the table below, an interactive graphic showing worldwide sub-$100 feature phone shipments by region is available here. The chart is intended for public use in online news articles and social media. Instructions on how to embed this graphic can be found by viewing this press release on IDC.com.
The China Smartphone Market Hiccups as Growth Streak Ends with First Sequential Decline in 2013 Q4, Says IDC [press release, Fev 13, 2014]
Singapore and Hong Kong, February 13, 2014 – After 9 consecutive quarters of explosive growth, which propelled China into the top smartphone market in the world, the China smartphone market experience its first slowdown in 2013 Q4.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, shipped 90.8 million units compared to 94.8 million in 2013 Q3, declining by 4.3% quarter on quarter (see Figure 1). Several factors drove this stumble – for one, China Mobile’s 4G TD-LTE network went live on December 18, translating into supplies of 4G handsets not able to reach the market fully until 2014 Q1. The increasing popularity of phablets and channel inventory also played a role, whereby operators cut phone subsidies on phones with smaller screens, triggering distribution channels looking to clear out those stocks.
“The world has increasingly looked to China as the powerhouse to propel the world’s smartphone growth and this is the first hiccup we’ve seen in an otherwise stellar growth path,” says Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager with IDC Asia/Pacific’s Client Devices team.
“There will certainly be future drivers to unlock further smartphone growth in China, as Apple demonstrated with its China Mobile tie-up in January, and the massive device migration to come of phones only supporting 2G and 3G networks to devices supporting 4G networks. However, we are now starting to see a market that is becoming less about capturing the low-hanging fruit of first time smartphone users and moving into the more laborious process of convincing existing users why they should upgrade to this year’s model”
Looking ahead at the prospects for the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) region, with mature Asia/Pacific markets like already having hit market saturation and China growth facing more moderate increases, two trends will become more prominent.
First, growth will increasingly shift to ever-more emerging markets. While India volumes significantly lag China, India has taken the number three ranking of largest smartphone markets in the world in 2013, surpassing Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany and France, which were all ranked higher in 2012.
Second, Chinese phone players which have previously been content to make their mark on the China market itself, are looking to expand their ambitions overseas. While this trend has started already through 2013, IDC expects it to become more common in 2014.
“Chinese players are getting hungrier to turn themselves into international rather than China-only brands. Nowhere is this more clear than Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola’s handset business, and even smaller players, some unknown to much of the world, like Oppo, BBK, Gionee and of course Xiaomi are ramping up on international expansion.”
Figure 1.
Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Smartphone Shipments by Sub-Region, 2011Q1-2013Q4
Notes:
- Mature markets include Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan
- SEA markets include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
Source: Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, February 2014
4. New low-cost Windows Phone partnering strategy by Microsoft especially aimed at the Indian market
Mobile World Congress, Microsoft and Nokia [The Official Microsoft Blog, Feb 24, 2014]
The following post is from Frank X. Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Communications at Microsoft.
Mobile World Congress is in full swing in Barcelona this week, one of the biggest events of the year for the mobile industry. I love Barcelona, and am sad to miss MWC this year. There is something about the combination of the history and tradition of Barcelona past and the energy and innovation of Barcelona present, with all the attendees of MWC a punctuation mark. And there is always something new, companies with something to say.
Microsoft is no exception. On Sunday afternoon, we hosted a press conference where we reinforced the momentum we’re seeing for Windows Phone – the fastest growing mobile OS with 91 percent year-over-year growth. We announced we’re working with nine new Windows Phone hardware partners , including Foxconn, Gionee, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer, JSR, Karbonn and ZTE as well as a collaboration with Qualcomm to help more manufacturers build Windows Phones faster. You can read Joe Belfiore’s blog post [see also below] from yesterday for more details.
Nokia held its press conference earlier Monday. They announced a number of new devices from their Mobile Phone division including Nokia X, which will compete with Android devices in the affordable smartphone category and introduce the Microsoft cloud to a new set of customers in growth markets.
There’s been lots of speculation about what this announcement means for Microsoft and about our pending acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business. Here are a couple of points to put things into context.
First, our transaction with Nokia has not yet closed. Today, we operate as two independent companies as required by antitrust law, and we will until the acquisition is complete. The anticipated close timeframe for the acquisition remains end of the first quarter of 2014.
Second, we’re pleased to see Microsoft services like Skype, OneDrive and Outlook.com being introduced on these devices. This provides the opportunity to bring millions of people, particularly in growth markets, into the Microsoft family. The Skype team on Monday announced an offer in select markets for the first customers who purchase a Nokia X, one month of Skype’s Unlimited World Subscription. Read the Skype blog for more details.
Finally, our primary smartphone strategy remains Windows Phone, and our core device platform for developers is the Windows platform.
It is a fascinating time in the industry today. The rate of improvements in devices, the breadth of services offered, the way consumers and businesses are using devices of all shapes and sizes to do more – it is a reminder to all of us that what is considered status quo in Barcelona this year has the potential to look very different in the rear view mirror a year from now.
We’d have it no other way. 🙂
Microsoft adds nine new Windows Phone hardware partners [press release, Feb 23, 2014]
New hardware partners and tools will accelerate global scale.
Microsoft Corp. on Sunday announced nine new hardware partners for Windows Phone and direct access to tools that will broaden the portfolio of devices for consumers and introduce new price points to accelerate growth in key markets. In addition to existing partners — Nokia, Samsung, HTC and Huawei — Microsoft has announced it is now working with Foxconn, Gionee, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer, JSR, Karbonn and ZTE to develop on the Windows Phone platform.
With this latest news, Microsoft is now working with seven of the top 10 smartphone manufacturers in the world in addition to leading brands in China, India and Taiwan, representing more than 56 percent of the addressable market globally (IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, 2013). Customers can expect to see an even broader array of devices, from iconic to lower-cost options, coming to market.
“We are pleased to add these new partners to our expanding Windows Phone ecosystem. They will be key contributors to continued growth across price points and geographies for Windows Phone,” said Nick Parker, corporate vice president of the OEM Division at Microsoft.
Windows Phone is the fastest-growing smartphone operating system, according to IDC, and posted the largest increase for 2013 (90.9 percent), more than doubling the growth of the overall market during the year.
Microsoft also unveiled expanded hardware support that provides more flexibility so Windows Phone partners can build devices to meet the unique needs of their region or customer segments. Microsoft is adding support for Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 200 and 400 processors by Qualcomm Technologies Inc. with options that support various major cellular technologies, including LTE (TDD/FDD), HSPA+, EVDO and TD-SCMA. Windows Phone will also support soft keys and dual SIM, critical requirements particularly in Asian markets. These changes allow for manufacturing partners to easily leverage existing design investments to diversify their portfolio to include Windows Phone devices, including larger screen phablets.
On Sunday, Microsoft launched the Windows Hardware Partner Portal, which is designed to speed up device commercialization while minimizing development costs. Speed and economies are especially important for manufacturers needing to compete and win in the dynamic high-volume smartphone segment. The Windows Hardware Partner Portal is now open to all smartphone device manufacturers to learn about and begin the process to develop on the Windows Phone platform. Windows Phone device manufacturers will also be able to leverage the great services Microsoft has to offer in that market, which could include Office Mobile, Skype, Xbox and Bing; a growing app catalog; and features like Live Tiles and People Hub, which make Windows Phone so uniquely personal.
To further help enable smartphone device manufacturers to quickly and easily broaden their portfolio to include Windows Phone devices, Microsoft and Qualcomm Technologies are collaborating to give OEMs and ODMs that are working with the various Qualcomm Reference Designs for Snapdragon 200 and 400 processors direct access to Microsoft tools, content and adaptation kits to build devices on the Windows Phone platform. With Microsoft and Qualcomm Technologies, through its Qualcomm Reference Design program, delivering the building blocks to help design and build Windows Phones, Microsoft hardware partners will be able to focus on differentiating their offering based on apps and services. Device manufacturers will now be able to choose from hundreds of ways to customize their Windows Phone devices while keeping the consistently high-quality experience that the Windows Phone platform provides.
“We are making it easier, faster and more affordable for partners to develop a Windows Phone,” Parker said.
The well-established Qualcomm Reference Design program offers Qualcomm Technologies’ leading technical innovation, differentiated hardware and software, easy customization options that save engineering costs, access to an ecosystem of hardware providers, and testing and acceptance readiness for regional and leading operator requirements.
The expanded Windows Phone ecosystem will also provide mobile operators and retail partners with additional opportunities to offer white-label Windows Phone devices under their own brands. Mobile operators will also have more options to build custom apps and services for their Windows Phone devices that increase customer satisfaction, retention rates and revenue streams.
Scaling Windows Phone, evolving Windows 8 [Windows Phone Blog, Feb 23, 2014]
The following post is from Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President of corporate vice president of Windows Phone and Windows Program Management & Design at Microsoft.
A lot of you folks know me as “the Windows Phone guy.” Over the past five years I’ve been co-managing the Windows Phone product team on a mission to make Windows Phone a delightful and successful platform. Recently my job changed to focus not just on Windows Phone but also on the user experience of Windows 8 and future versions of Windows. Today Nick Parker and I had a chance to talk to media and analysts from around the world attending Mobile World Congress in Barcelona—we shared some updates about Windows and Windows Phone, and we announced a new phase in our plan to continue growing and scaling Windows Phone globally.
Let’s start with Windows Phone.
We’ve experienced steady growth in recent years due to our “highly personal” approach to the smartphone experience and the amazing devices we’ve seen from our hardware partners HTC, Huawei, Nokia and Samsung. Together we’ve solidified our spot among the top three operating systems and celebrated some impressive milestones:
- Recognized as the fastest growing OS with 91% year-over-year growth in 2013 (IDC, February 2014)
- More than 10% share across Europe—which is more than double compared with last year. (Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, January 2014)
- Most important to me, we’ve seen high customer satisfaction data—a fact that even our competitors have acknowledged!
- Reached critical mass in the Windows Phone Store (now over 240,000 apps) and are still growing – fast – with an average of 500 apps added each day. We’ve had key additions such as Instagram, Vine, Waze and Mint—and today, we announced Facebook Messenger will be available in the coming weeks.
This past year was especially busy as we delivered three updates to the Windows Phone platform—we continued building the platform out for scale (via new chipsets, new carrier/country support, and more screen sizes) and we enabled some great scenarios for customers (e.g. the Nokia Lumia 41 MP camera and advanced camera features).
New Windows Phone Hardware Partners
Broadly speaking, our partners overall are the engine of growth for Windows. In addition to our great partners HTC, Huawei, Nokia and Samsung, today in Barcelona we announced we’re now working with nine new Windows Phone partners, including: Foxconn, Gionee, JSR, Karbonn, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer and ZTE. Collectively, Windows Phone partners make up an impressive 56 percent of the global smartphone market, according to IDC.
This is exciting news for phone buyers around the world. With seven of the top 10 global OEMs—in addition to some of the leading brands in China, India and Taiwan— now collaborating with Windows Phone, you can expect to see an incredible new range of devices across screen sizes and price points. And of course we’re committed to delivering this device diversity without compromising the consistent, designed-around-you Windows Phone experience our users have grown to love.
Some of these partners are names that might not be familiar to you, but they’re leading the global expansion in the smartphone category. They bring competitive products to market because of their knowledge of the local markets, channels and consumers. They are important partners that will help broaden availability of Windows Phones to new and emerging markets.
New Windows Phone Hardware Support
Getting a wider range of device builders to create Windows Phones required us to enable even more hardware flexibility and to make the engineering process of building a Windows Phone even easier. Thus we also announced:
- We are adding support for Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and 400 series chipsets, with options that support all major cellular technologies, including LTE (TDD/FDD), HSPA+, EVDO and TD-SCMA. We will also support soft keys and dual SIM where our partners want it for their devices. One nice benefit of these additions is that many hardware vendors will be able to use the same hardware for both Android and Windows Phone devices.
- To streamline the process of building a Windows Phone device, today we launched the Windows Hardware Partner Portal so that all our hardware partners will have direct access to the tools and content needed to build and market their Windows Phone devices efficiently and cost-effectively.
We also are working closely with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. to help manufacturers anywhere in the world quickly and easily broaden their portfolio by building Windows Phone devices through the well-established Qualcomm Reference Design (QRD) program. Making it easier for manufacturers to take advantage of reference design options is an important step for Windows Phone. ABI Research notes a major smartphone industry shift towards reference designs since they speed time to market, and estimates that more than 400 million reference design smartphones will be shipped in 2014.
Evolving Windows 8
As part of my “new job,” I talked as well about Windows on tablets and PCs, and what to expect from us in the near future.
We are committed to making Windows the best place for our partners to build great devices. Today that means different screen sizes, input methods, connectivity needs, and usage scenarios. Above all, we want that experience to feel natural for our customers. We want it to be familiar and tailored to the device. We want your stuff to be there no matter where you are, ready for whatever you need, and we want it to run beautifully on hardware made by partners around the world.
With Windows 8, there’s no doubt that we made a big bet and took a first step toward that future. We bet on touch and on mobility in a big way, and included a fresh take on what a touch-based interface could be for customers. We believe deeply in this direction and the future will continue to build on Windows 8.
We shipped Windows 8.1 in under a year in response to customer and partner feedback, and we’ll continue to refine and improve Windows to deliver a productive and delightful experience for all users on all devices. And, you’ll see us continue on a more rapid release cadence where we deliver ongoing value to all your Windows devices.
Over the next few months, we’ll continue to deliver innovation and progression with an update to Windows 8.1, coming this spring. We’re especially excited about several things I want to preview with you here.
- We’ll enable our partners to build lower cost hardware for a great Windows experience at highly competitive price points.
- We are making improvements to the user interface that will naturally bridge touch and desktop, especially for our mouse and keyboard users. We have a number of targeted UI improvements that keep our highly satisfying touch experience intact, but that make the UI more familiar and more convenient for users with mouse/keyboard. Don’t worry, we still LOVE and BELIEVE IN touch… but you’ll like how much more smooth and convenient these changes make mouse and keyboard use!
- We are enhancing support for enterprise customers via a few tweaks, particularly including features that greatly improve IE8 compatibility in Internet Explorer 11, which is especially critical for web-based line of business applications. Additionally, we’re extending mobile device management capabilities and making deployment easier.
More news still to come
Speaking of our enterprise customers, we are also hard at work on delivering a compelling new update for Windows Phone that will add key features for consumers, as well as a big investment in enterprise customer capabilities, including VPN, S/MIME support, enterprise Wi-Fi, extended mobile device management and certificate management. Along with a host of great developer and consumer value, we expect to deliver this to customers this spring with new phones following as we move into summer.
2013 was an exciting and busy year chock full of big changes in our industry and at Microsoft. I’m really excited about seeing what the new and hot technologies are as Mobile World Congress opens tomorrow, and even more excited about the work we’ll be able to deliver for customers, partners and developers over the next several months. Stay tuned!
Q.&A. With Joe Belfiore on the Future of Windows Phone [Bits blog of The New York Times, Feb 23, 2014]
Joe Belfiore is the corporate vice president of Microsoft Windows Phone, and he oversees the software that powers handsets using the company’s operating system. Microsoft is expected to close its $7.2 billion deal to buy the handset and services division of Nokia by the end of March. The acquisition will give Microsoft control of both mobile software and hardware, as it looks to expand its 4 percent market share in global smartphone sales. Mr. Belfiore will play a crucial role in Microsoft’s efforts to take on Apple and the cellphone makers that use Google’s Android operating system.
On Sunday, Mr. Belfiore declined to comment on rumors that Nokia would unveil an Android-based phone on Monday at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona. But during a news conference earlier in the day, he said, “What they do as an independent company is up to them. There are some things they do that we are excited about. There are other things that we are not so excited about.”
The following is an edited interview with Mr. Belfiore on other questions facing Microsoft and Windows Mobile.
Q. You have talked about 2013 being a year that Windows Phone had to eat its vegetables. What do you mean by that?
A. We faced a massive problem. It would have been very difficult to create a range of devices for every operator at every price that included every app in the world. We decided to focus on building something at a limited set of price points in a small, limited number of countries. That’s what we did this year. We had to get that right. Now that we’ve done that, we want to get Windows Phone at more price levels and in more countries.
Q. It’s difficult to attract users if you can’t offer them the apps that they want. But to get the apps, you need users. How do you solve that problem?
A. There’s no magic solution. We have to grow phone volume where we can. To increase our market share, we have to be available where customers are at low-cost and high-end price points. The stage is now set. Given our hardware partners, and Microsoft and Nokia coming together, we are in a good position to kick-start our market share.
Q. The Microsoft-Nokia acquisition is expected to close this quarter. What excites you about the deal?
A. There are some straightforward benefits. We can build on our existing healthy engineering relationship between software and hardware. And when one company takes products to market, it can tell the story with one voice. That will be a benefit. The biggest problem we face is how to get the word out about what we do. Those marketing activities, the storytelling around our products, are underestimated.
Q. When Microsoft closes the deal with Nokia, it will compete directly with other handset makers that also use the Windows Phone operating system. What is your response to that?
A. We can help build the market for Windows Phones. When there’s a healthy ecosystem, there’s a sales opportunity for all our partners. There are some markets and some countries where Nokia already competes with other manufacturers. But there’s a large opportunity out there. There are niches that are partners will be able to fill.
Q. Many of your recent partnerships and announcements have focused on emerging markets. Is that a major priority?
A. It’s not our only focus, but it’s a very big one. The purpose of low-cost phones in emerging markets is to drive volume. But doing high-end products like the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1020 also gives an aspirational view of the way the product line will go.
Q. In a year’s time, where would you like the Windows Phone experience to be?
A. A year from now, I would like to have widespread consumer knowledge of the type of value proposition that is available with Windows Phone. People who use the phones have a favorable experience with them. But we need to get the word out there.
Q. Smartphones that use either Android or Apple’s iOS have almost 95 of the global market share. What is your response to analysts who say that Microsoft should give up on Windows Phone?
A. We benefit from investing in mobile innovation. And we think we have a lot to offer our partners and customers. The mobile market will continue to grow, the opportunities will continue to grow. We are not going anywhere.
Q. Microsoft has just appointed a new chief executive. How does Windows Phone fit into his vision?
A. The way we’ve built our team and how we have approached innovation is massively focused on mobile first, cloud first. That’s very much aligned with the vision that he has outlined.
Nokia’s “best of everything” X range smartphones to conquer the smartphone market between the Asha and Lumia devices
Nokia X and X+ [Henrique Martin YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
Updates:
– NOKIA X DUAL SIM, Go! With Nokia X [Nokia India product page, March 10, 2014]
… Starting from: Rs 8,599 [$140] …
– Nokia X Price in India – Buy Nokia X Black 4 GB Online [Flipkart.com, March 13, 2014]
…
Rs. 9990[$163] 18% OFF Rs. 8175 [$133] Inclusive of taxes (Free home delivery) …
– Nokia X Pre Orders: More Than 1 Million In Just 4 Days, in China [G for Games, March 14, 2014]
– Source from the above Weibo: Nokia X – Jingdong Mall [March 3, 2014]
… RMB 599 [$97] … (RMB 699 [$114]) …
End of Updates
Stephen Elop interview at MWC 2014 [Myriam Joire YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
… OR how the market impetus noted as Nokia should introduce an Android forked smartphone for the $75-120 range in order to enhance its Asha Software Platform strategy [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Jan 17, 2014] has been met now
… OR how and why Nokia segmented the mobile market better than everybody else (note also that: “our new Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL smartphones primarily for growth economies” and those products will not even be available in North America)
To understand that see: Playback: Nokia’s MWC 2014 keynote in four minutes [The Verge YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
… OR how that is a very powerful answer from Nokia to the current mobile phones situation:
… OR what are the incredible new developer advantages from Nokia to support that strategy:
- multiple platforms from Asha, Nokia X and Lumia, which means list prices starting at EUR 45 [$62]*;
- access to one of the largest mobile operator billing network in the world (in more than 60 markets and with more than 160 operators), which is a powerful revenue driver (up to five times that of credit-card billing offered within other platforms);
- ~75% of Android apps portable without code changes, while for the rest porting is supported in a way that it takes usually less than 8 hours
… OR how the following points from View from Redmond via Tim O’Brien, GM, Platform Strategy at Microsoft [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 21, 2014] are now getting a very powerful meaning:
- “Consumers are now calling the shots <—> consumerization of IT”, i.e. enterprise computing is not ruling ICT alone any more, and as a result of BYOD the private, consumer devices are even dictating.
- “Sales are not simple for developers anymore” Instead of the earlier uniform way of selling developers should use the most sophisticated approaches—think of the fremium, or advertisement based models as examples—in order to earn their revenue.
- …
- “The times of single platforms are gone, as developers own several platforms now”
Nokia X and XL hands-on with Nokia’s Jussi Makinen [SlashGear YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
My transcript (done because conveying unique information not available elsewhere):
0:05 My name is Jussi Mäkinen and I’m working at the Nokia X range product marketing and I’m going to give you a demo of the new Nokia X range family.
0:15 We have today introduced three new products. We have the Nokia X which is a device combining great Nokia design, Android applications with the power of Microsoft services like Skype. We have also introduced the Nokia X+ which is exactly same as Nokia X but with more memory, with 768 MB of internal memory, and then 4 GB of user memory for storing applications.
0:41 Also we introduced the Nokia XL, a 5 inch screen Nokia XL that has great Nokia design, changeable covers, really stirdy kind of designer things, a lot of cool kind of things like beatings and holds ups for a long-long time. It also is a same thing, so Android applications that you can download from Nokia Store and many global and local app stores, and you have of course the Microsoft services like Skype, for example.
1:11 The user interface is inspired by—I would say—three things. So we have taken the best out from the Windows Phone world. So the home screen with these tiles. For example I have a live imaging tile here that updates from time to time, and you have the great design that’s really kind of shows you great way that we can feed people into the Lumia ecosystem.
1:33 We have taken from the Nokia Asha, we have taken the Fastlane [see in: New Asha platform and ecosystem to deliver a breakthrough category of affordable smartphone from Nokia [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, May 9, 2013] So this is inspired by not only Nokia Asha but also the Nokia N9, MeeGo. So we have the kind of Fastlane of all your favorite applications, so you can find your favorite applications faster. So it isn’t taking your time and gives you more freedom.
1:51 Also from the Android you can see this way to access most-used settings from here like WiFi, Bluetooth and sound, and so on.
2:00 So it’s really kind of —I would say—the best of everything.
2:04 We have the power of Microsoft services, and here—for example—we have the swipe keyboard. So you can write very easily just by swiping. So we have taken that into account as well. The Microsoft services are of course first and foremost in this product. We have Skype, we have Outlook on that phone, then you can download more from different app stores, so this is really important for us.
2:27 And again, one more user interface thing, just a small thing we have taken again from Asha, is the contextual menu that you can access inside applications.
2:37 So I would say that it’s really kind of best of all worlds: taking that great Nokia design that built to last, and Android applications with power of Microsoft services.
2:47 I’ve been working on this product now for one a half year on the product development side, and it’s a kind of really there has been a kind of opening for this product. Not only in a way [of being] in the right price point between Lumia and Asha, but also in the consumer mindset. When we have done consumer research everybody has been saying, or I’ve been asking people all around the world like: “What is the feature that you want to have in your Asha?” And people have been saying that “We want Android”. And this is exactly what we were doing here. Giving people what they want.
3:19 And I think we’ve positioned that with Nokia and with Microsoft uniquely in order to do this, unlike any other company out there.
From Nokia connects the next billion with affordable smartphones [press release, Feb 24, 2014]
Stephen Elop, executive vice president of Nokia’s Devices & Services, commented on the launches:
“Nokia has connected billions of people around the world, and today we demonstrated how our portfolio is designed to connect the next billion people to great experiences.”“Our deliberate approach is to offer four tiers of products including our affordable entry-level devices like the new Nokia 220; our entry-level Asha touch phones like the new Nokia Asha 230; our new Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL smartphones primarily for growth economies; and our Lumia portfolio, which is where we introduce the greatest innovation and provide full compatibility with the Microsoft experience,” he added.
Nokia X family delivers the best of all worlds
The Nokia X family features Nokia’s renowned handset quality and design, with a fresh, tile-based user interface inspired by our Lumia family. All devices come with Fastlane, a screen which lets people switch between their favorite apps more smoothly. People can access curated, quality-tested apps from Nokia Store, more than a dozen third-party app stores and by sideloading. Out of the box, they can enjoy signature Nokia experiences including free* HERE Maps, with true offline maps and integrated turn-by-turn navigation, and Nokia MixRadio for free* music streaming and downloadable playlists. All devices are also pre-loaded with a variety of third-party apps and games.
The Nokia X family is also an affordable introduction to popular Microsoft services, including free* cloud storage using OneDrive. With the purchase of any Nokia X family smartphone in select markets, people will get one month of Skype’s Unlimited World Subscription for a limited time, ideal to make international calls to landlines in more than 60 countries and to mobile phones in 8 countries.
The first device, the Nokia X, comes with a 4″ IPS capacitive display and 3MP camera. The Nokia X+ is optimised for multimedia enthusiasts, who can enjoy even more games, music, photos and video thanks to more memory and storage. Both the Nokia X and Nokia X+ will be available in bright green, bright red, cyan, yellow, black and white**. The third family member, the Nokia XL, boasts a 5″ display with 2MP front-facing camera – ideal for Skype video calls – and a 5MP rear-facing, autofocus camera with flash. The Nokia XL will be available in bright green, orange, cyan, yellow, black and white. The entire Nokia X family is powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon(TM) dual core processor and supports Dual SIM, letting people switch SIM cards to get better tariffs.
The Nokia X will go on sale immediately, starting at EUR 89 [$122]* and rolling-out in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa [i.e. NOT in North-America]. The Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are expected to roll out in these markets starting early second quarter, priced at EUR 99 [$136] and EUR 109 [$150], respectively.
* All prices are suggested retail before local taxes and subsidies. Actual in-market prices may vary.
Porting on Nokia X [nokiadevforum YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
- The entire process – from downloading SDKs and porting, to integrating Nokia HERE in place of Google Maps – has been seamless. Satyajeet Singh, VP Products, Zomato
- The API analyzer made it very simple to identify the areas of change, making app portability even simpler. Vinodkumar Putta, Team Lead, Zomato
- Nokia X services API documentation is fabulous and helped me port my app in a few hours. Pedro Monteiro Kayatt, Lead Developer, Naked Monkey
- Porting our apps to Nokia X was a very pleasant experience due to in-app billing and push notification APIs being compatible with Google’s architecture. Marko Štamcar, Senior Android Developer, Outfit7
- From a development perspective it’s not going to cost you anything and it just take you a few hours to do. Samuel Forrest, VP of Business Development, PICSART
Nokia X is ready for your Android Apps! [Nokia Developer Blog News, Feb 24, 2014]
We’re happy to announce that Nokia X is now ready for your apps!
Nokia X is a new developer platform made to run Android apps, including yours. It’s an easy, risk-free way to turn your Android app on to a whole new user base without adding to your code base.
We’re excited to be able to deliver your Android applications on Nokia X smartphones. If you’re as ready as we are, head over to Nokia Publish now to get started—it should only take a few minutes to test and submit your app. (Note that if your app uses Google Cloud Messaging, Google Maps, or Google In-App Billing, you will need to migrate to our APIs[ link] for those services.)
If you want to learn more before jumping in, check out five simple reasons why you should publish your Android app to Nokia Store now.
Five reasons to publish your Android App to Nokia Store [Nokia Developer Blog News, Feb 24, 2014]
- Nokia X opens new markets to your existing apps
Nokia’s sales leadership and brand strength in the fastest growing smartphoneand mobile app markets provide the launchpad for your apps’ success. With Nokia X, you can reach an untapped pool of savvy – and app-hungry — new smartphone users around the world.
Learn more …- Nokia X’s monetization tools create additional revenue streams for your apps
Monetization tools like Nokia In-App Payment, combined with Nokia’s extensive operator billing network, provide your existing apps with new monetization mechanisms in emerging markets. Consumers in many high growth markets do not have international credit cards, making revenue collection a challenge. Nokia X leverages Nokia’s wide operator billing coverage, which extends to over 3 billion mobile subscribers, with over 160 operators in more than 60 markets. Operator billing has been shown to deliver up to a 5x increase in revenues and a 10x increase in purchases over credit-card billing in the Nokia X targeted markets, meaning more revenues opportunities for your apps.
Learn more …- Android app compatibility
Nokia has tested over 100.000 Android apps and approximately 75% are directly compatible and ready to be published to Nokia Store. If your app uses Google services for maps, push notifications or in-app payments, you will need to replace these APIs with Nokia specific APIs that have been built to work almost identically to those they replace. Nokia services have been designed to minimize porting effort from apps using corresponding Google services and allow developers develop and distribute a single app package targeting both ecosystems.
Learn more …- Develop apps for Nokia X using your existing Android SDK, toolkit and skillset
If you already develop Android apps, you can continue to use your existing tool chain. Nokia provides a plugin package to the Android SDK, including the services APIs and the Nokia X emulator.You’ve already got the other tools and skills you need.
Learn more …- Nokia Developer programs provide the marketing and technical support you need
Through programs like DVLUP, Nokia Developer Offers and local outreach, Nokia offers you opportunities to promote your apps to new users and potential customers, while our online training, events and support tools make sure you’re putting your best app forward.
Learn more …
Nokia X Platform overview [Nokia Developer, Feb 24, 2014]
Nokia X is a customized platform built on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), the software stack upon which some of the most popular smartphones in the world are based. Nokia X lets you leverage your existing Android apps, while taking advantage of Nokia’s optimizations to help you grab more downloads and generate more revenues in targeted markets.
Ready to start porting your apps? Get started › Download the plugin ›
Will your Android app work on Nokia X?
Nokia Store testing has shown that approximately 75% of Android apps will run properly without any modifications; they’re ready to be published in Nokia Store.
Develop and distribute a single APK targeting multiple stores.
If your app uses Google services for push notifications, maps or in-app payments, you’ll need to make a few changes, but it won’t take long (usually less than 8 hours). Nokia services have been designed to minimize porting effort from apps using corresponding Google services and allow developers develop and distribute a single APK targeting multiple stores.
Test your app’s compatibility ›
Nokia X platform details
The core Nokia X platform is built on AOSP v4.1.2 [Jelly Bean], which supports API level 16. On top of this, Nokia has added several enhancements to improve both the user experience and the developer experience:
Nokia service APIs
Distribution and billing
UX elements
– Nokia In-App Payment ›
– HERE Maps ›
– Nokia Notifications ›– Distribution in Nokia Store ›
– Payment with Operator billing ›– Design overview ›
– Design essentials ›
– Nokia X icon toolkit ›Nokia X app development uses a plugin to the Android SDK, so it will be familiar to developers who have used the Android SDK before. The Nokia X services SDK includes support for emulating Nokia X devices for testing and debugging.
First hands-on with the Nokia X family [Nokia YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
The above video has been expanded in XTRAORDINARILY XCELLENT: THE NOKIA X FAMILY [Nokia Conversations, Feb 24, 2014] by the following information:
Today Nokia introduces a brand new family of smartphones, the Nokia X family, a range of handsets that combines Nokia design, build quality and services with the ability to run Android apps.
The first three phones in the family – the Nokia X, X+ and XL – are priced between the existing Asha and Lumia lines, at €89 [$122], €99 [$136] and €109 [$150] respectively, to appeal to new smartphone users looking for popular apps and their first cloud services.
The X family boasts Nokia’s exciting, high quality hardware design and a range of bright colours. The brand new, tile-based Home screen offers you a simple, elegant way to manage your apps and phone functions and also reintroduces a redesigned version of the enormously popular Fastlane notifications centre – a second Home screen if you like – from the latest Asha devices.
My insert here: The new Nokia X family – Your Fastlane to Android™ apps [Nokia YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
My insert here: Nokia X – Life in the Fastlane [Nokia YouTube channel, Feb 24, 2014]
Xciting services bring a smile
The Nokia X family offers terrific value with acclaimed Nokia and Microsoft services and experiences. HERE Maps with turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps are included. Nokia MixRadio offers hundreds of free streaming and offline playlists. Free cloud storage from Microsoft OneDrive with 7GB of space for free is included out of the box. There’s also access to Outlook.com as your email service. And there’s Skype with a month’s free calls to international landlines in selected markets.
All three of the devices are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Dual Core processor and are Dual SIM. A range of third-party apps comes preinstalled, including BBM, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Viber, Vine and Twitter. As many more as you can fit can be obtained from the Nokia Store, third-party app stores and sideloaded.
Xtreme family resemblance
The table below covers the differences between the devices, but these are the highlights:
- The Nokia X is the entry level member of the family, with 4-inch IPS LCD screen, 512MB RAM and a 3-megapixel camera. It will be available in green, black, white, yellow, cyan and red.
- The Nokia X+ offers you a little more, as the name suggests: there’s 768MB RAM and a 4GB MicroSD card is included in the box. It comes in the same colours as the Nokia X.
- Lastly, the clue is in the name for the Nokia XL, as well, with its 5-inch screen. The Nokia XL also boasts 768MB RAM, the free MicroSD card and it has both a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for Skype calls, as well as a 5-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and flash. The same colours are available as for the Nokia X and X+, except bright orange replaces the red with this model.
Check the speX
Nokia X
Nokia X+
Nokia XL
Screen
4-inch IPS LCD, 800 x 480px
4-inch IPS LCD, 800 x 480px
5-inch IPS LCD, 800 x 480px
RAM
512MB
768MB
768MB
Storage
Up to 32GB
MicroSDUp to 32GB
MicroSD; 4GB card includedUp to 32GB
MicroSD; 4GB card includedRear camera
3-megapixel fixed focus
3-megapixel fixed focus
5-megapixel with autofocus and flash
Front camera
–
–
2-megapixel
Processor
8225 Qualcomm Snapdragon
1GHz Dual Core
8225 Qualcomm Snapdragon
1GHz Dual Core
8225 Qualcomm Snapdragon
1GHz Dual Core
Networks
ESGM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
WCDMA 900 / 2100
ESGM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
WCDMA 900 / 2100
ESGM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
WCDMA 900 / 2100
Dimensions
115.5 x 63 x 10.4mm
115.5 x 63 x 10.4mm
141.3 x 77.7 x 10.8mm
Weight
128.66g
128.66g
190g
Standby time
2G = Up to 28.5 days
3G = Up to 22 days
2G = Up to 28.5 days
3G = Up to 22 days
2G = Up to 41 days
3G = Up to 26 days
Talk time
2G = Up to 13.3 hours
3G = Up to 10.5 hours
2G = Up to 13.3 hours
3G = Up to 10.5 hours
2G = Up to 16 hours
3G = Up to 13 hours
The Nokia X will be available to buy immediately in Asia Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle-East and Africa [i.e. NOT in North-America]. The Nokia X+ and XL are expected to be available from Q2 2014. The prices quoted do not include any local taxes or operator subsidies.
We’ll be bringing more details and interviews with the Xperts on the new Nokia X family over the next few days. But let us know your first impressions below.
Note 1: The 8225 Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz Dual Core is based on 45nm Cortex-A5 cores and corresponds to the previous Snapdragon tiering which was upto Qualcomm decided to compete with the existing Cortex-A5/Krait-based offerings till the end of 2012 [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 30, 2012] in which it was described as follows:
From the announcement point of view the [MSM]8225 was launched by Qualcomm Brings Snapdragon S4 Processors to High Volume Smartphones and Expands Qualcomm Reference Design Development Platform and Ecosystem Program [press release, Dec 8, 2011] in which it was declared that:
The MSM8625 and MSM8225 chipsets will be available on Qualcomm’s third generation QRD development platform in the first half of 2012, in addition to being available as standalone chipsets. QRD development platforms based on both the MSM7x27A and MSM7x25A chipsets [the previous entry level from Qualcomm] are currently available. Qualcomm has shipped over 100 million MSM7225 and MSM7227 chipsets [the preceding even to those “A” chipsets entry level from Qualcomm], and smartphones based on these chipsets are operating on multiple carrier networks worldwide.
Note 2: The hardware is therefore quite similar to HTC Desire X [Qualcomm Developer Network, Aug 30, 2012]
Manufacturer:
HTC
Name:
Desire X
Model:
HTC Desire X
CPU:
Qualcomm MSM8225 snapdragon
CPU Clock:
1000
GPU:
Adreno 203
Platform OS:
Android 4.0.4
Operators:
Unlocked
Date announced:
8/30/12
Date available:
10/8/12
ROM Capacity:
4GB
RAM Capacity:
768MB
Display type:
Super LCD capacitative touchscreen
Display Resolution:
480×800
Primary camera:
5 megapixels
Secondary camera:
None
Connectivity:
GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WLAN, USB, Bluetooth 4.0
Sensors:
Accelerometer, Compass
Stand-by (GSM):
Up to 750 hours
[31 days]Talk Time (GSM):
Up to 6 hours
For the less familiar heritage of the Nokia X range watch Nokia N9 [Meego] UI hands-on demo [NokiaConversations YouTube channel, June 20, 2011]
For more information on that see: Nokia N9 UX [?Swipe?] on MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, June 24, 2011 – Aug 10, 2012]
Nokia welcomes Android developers; expands global developer footprint with momentum across Lumia and Asha [press release, Feb 24, 2014]
News at-a-glance:
New Nokia X software platform opens fast-growing segment to Android(TM) developers to monetize and expand the reach of their apps.
Nokia’s market-leading operator billing network powers in-app purchases, gives developers global reach.
Leading apps available for Nokia X devices include BBM, Facebook, LINE, Skype and Twitter.
Nokia Lumia momentum continues with addition of BBM, Adobe Photoshop Express and Facebook Messenger.
Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1, with powerful editing features, now available for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1 tablets and PCs.
Barcelona, Spain – Today at Mobile World Congress, Nokia unveiled five new affordable handsets including a new family of smartphones debuting on the Nokia X software platform. Based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), and backed by Nokia’s deep ties with operators, the Nokia X platform gives Android(TM) developers the chance to tap into, and profit from, a rapidly expanding part of the market. The launch builds on Nokia’s leadership in delivering innovation to more price points with its family of Lumia smartphones, and the latest momentum for Windows Phone.
“Today Windows Phone is the fastest growing mobile ecosystem in the world, and we continue to see incredible momentum with our Lumia smartphones,” said Bryan Biniak, Vice President and General Manager, Developer Experience at Nokia. “Now, with the introduction of the Nokia X family of devices, we’re delivering the same design, quality and innovation Nokia is known to lower price points to capture the fastest-growing segment of the smartphone market.”
Monetization, plus porting made easy
With billing agreements in more than 60 markets and with more than 160 operators, Nokia provides developers with access to one of the largest mobile operator billing network in the world, offering the scale and global reach needed to successfully monetize their apps and generate higher revenues.
“The reach of Nokia’s operator billing network provides developers with a powerful revenue driver – up to five times that of credit-card billing offered within other platforms,” said Amit Patel, Vice President, Developer Relations at Nokia. “Combined with Nokia In-App Payment, developers have the freedom to build on the model that works best for them.”
The vast majority of Android apps can be published to the Nokia Store as is. For those that require modifications, the Nokia X analyzer tool significantly reduces porting time by identifying the required changes. To make porting even easier, developers only need to maintain one code base and distribute a single application package file (APK) to target multiple stores.
At launch, leading global apps will be available for the Nokia X family of devices, including Facebook, LINE Free Voice and Messages, LINE Camera, LINE Bubble, Picsart, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Real Football 2014, Skype, Spotify, Swiftkey, Twitter, Viber, Vine and WeChat, among others. And in a first for Nokia customers around the world, BBM, a premier mobile messaging platform, will also be available on the Nokia X family of devices in addition to Windows Phone.
“BBM continues to provide a best-in-class mobile messaging platform with productivity, collaboration and community-building as cornerstones,” said David Proulx, Senior Director, BBM at BlackBerry. “We continue to see great enthusiasm for the BBM experience around the globe and we are thrilled to work with Nokia to preload BBM on devices beginning with Nokia X in select markets. We welcome Nokia X users to the BBM community.”
“LINE’s partnership with a global player such as Nokia is indeed an honor. Delivering LINE on Nokia X represents our commitment of ensuring that people around the world will experience the joy of communication through LINE on Nokia X smartphones,” said Shin Jung-ho, CEO of LINE Plus Corporation. “We are pleased to announce that LINE will continuously offer a variety of features to Nokia X platform to enhance users’ exciting experience in communication, social sharing, imaging, and gaming.”
Lumia momentum continues while developers embrace cross-platform opportunity across Nokia’s product portfolio
Many partners such as Facebook, BBM, Twitter, LINE, Viber, Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Rovio are also making their key apps available across Nokia’s device portfolio of feature phones, Asha, Nokia X and Lumia. Facebook Messenger, a fast, free and reliable way to stay in touch, will also be coming soon across Nokia’s four tiers of products. Global food delivery app, Foodpanda/hellofood, will also launch across the Nokia Asha, Lumia and X family of devices.
Developer innovation on Nokia Lumia continues, which reflects Windows Phone’s status as the fastest-growing mobile ecosystem in the world. Today, Nokia also announced that leading partners, including Adobe Photoshop Express, Facetune and JUSP will soon launch for Windows Phone – joining other must-have apps and games including Instagram, Vine, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Subway Surfers, among others that have recently launched.
Adobe’s Photoshop Express app, already available on Windows 8, is coming to Windows Phone later this year to allow consumers to edit easily across Windows PCs, tablets and smartphones. European mobile payment provider JUSP will launch across Windows PCs, tablets and smartphones in the coming weeks, while Facetune will soon let users create high-end portraits from everyday photos with intuitive and powerful tools previously reserved for the pros.
“In a world of mobile development, speed and time-to-market is of the utmost importance,” said Biniak. “At Nokia, we’re focused on helping developers accelerate the development process across platforms, while also providing access to the latest innovation and tools to help them focus on what they do best – creating the next great app.”
Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1 now for Windows
Built on the technology that powers Nokia’s own imaging apps like Nokia Storyteller and Nokia Camera, Nokia introduces a key update to the latest Nokia Imaging SDK – version 1.1. Nokia’s Imaging SDK 1.1 brings powerful image editing features to Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1 tablets and PCs. Developers can now utilize the capabilities of the SDK to deliver a converged Windows app experience across any Windows Phone 8 device, such as the Lumia 1020 and 1520, as well as the Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet.
The Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1 is available today at developer.nokia.com.
Also starting today, the Imagin8 Mission competition further encourages developers registered with DVLUP to create innovative imaging apps. Among many prizes, the developer of the best new or updated app will win a trip to experience zero gravity with the ZERO-G Corporation. More information at developer.nokia.com/imagin8.
Nokia Developer Exchange Marketplace
Nokia now offers premium merchandising slots in 181 countries to its key partners through the Nokia Developer Exchange Marketplace. This new offer represents an expansion of the Campaign feature introduced in October 2013 for DVLUP, Nokia’s rewards program for developers. Inaugural partners participating in the exchange include Electronic Arts, Gameloft, AE Mobile, Miniclip and Outfit7.
“Even in digital, selling is all about ‘location, location, location,'” said Daniel Morel, Chairman and CEO, Wunderman. “With Nokia Developer Exchange Marketplace, developers have access to prime real estate for their apps, they can leverage performance metrics and do so much more. It’s a big step forward.”
“Nokia Developer Exchange Marketplace is an exciting new proposition,” said Sam Browne, Managing Partner of Carat Global, the number one-ranked agency network in the world. “Nokia’s investment illustrates ongoing intent to build, support, and cooperate with the developer community. Partners will have unique access to a range of valuable media properties, with a proven capability to deliver high consumer reach, and the opportunity of app distribution growth. Both large and small partners can view this as a significant new marketing asset.”
View from Redmond via Tim O’Brien, GM, Platform Strategy at Microsoft
Tim is currently touring Europe as part of preparations for the upcoming Build 2014 conference. He had an opportunity to meet some people in Hungary as well which allows me now to summarize how they see the current sitution from Redmond:
- “Consumers are now calling the shots <—> consumerization of IT”, i.e. enterprise computing is not ruling ICT alone any more, and as a result of BYOD the private, consumer devices are even dictating.
- “Sales are not simple for developers anymore” Instead of the earlier uniform way of selling developers should use the most sophisticated approaches—think of the fremium, or advertisement based models as examples—in order to earn their revenue.
- “No matter how much things like ‘identity’ are alien to developers without these things they are not credible partners to the enterprises”
- “The times of single platforms are gone, as developers own several platforms now”
- “Instead of traditional big IT companies thinking in terms of commercial software, like IBM and HP, those Silicon Valley startups which are well capitalised via VCs and turning at full steam towards the enterprise market (e.g. Dropbox) are more and more significant for Microsoft”. For more information I was looking for a current background: Dropbox Makes a Move Into the Enterprise [Businessweek, Nov 13, 2013].
This is what was left in my head after the meeting from the current situation point of view, as the most important elements of the actual view of the world from Redmond.
Tim O’Brien arranged his introductory speech around three topics: mobile first, cloud first and openness. In this regard I had two questions for him:
- As far as cloud first and openness are concerned he didn’t mention the OpenStack initiative. This is, nevertheless, has a growing significance as IBM, Dell, and especially HP—all crucial for the enterprise business of Microsoft—are building their own cloud business on OpenStack. How Microsoft is looking at that, what is his position? The essence of Tim’s answer was that on one hand these companies are the ones who are thinking in terms “commercial software”, as it was mentioned before, and that their own public cloud offerings are not so much developed yet, on the other. OpenStack has not made big difference for them yet.
- The basic line of thought was built on “mobile first” and “cloud first”. I met “cloud first” last summer with regards to Microsoft at TechEd, primarily through the words of Satya Nadella, who is the CEO now (see “Cloud first” from Microsoft is ready to change enterprise computing in all of its facets [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, June 4, 2013]). Since then, however, I’ve seen such interpretation of this by the media, that from now on Microsoft will develop its software for the cloud and that’s it. What does he think about that? Tim was rejecting this simplification, and then, at somewhat greater length, was elaborating that Microsoft was much more considering the cloud interfaces (APIs) in the development of their software in this regard. He even illustrated that with the fact that async was introduced into the latest .NET 4.5.1.
Since regarding “cloud first” Tim even mentioned that this is a quite common concept, I browsed the web back at my office to find out the actual case. By doing so it came out that in the U.S. it is indeed the case but only in the realm of so called federal computing. As Microsoft interpreted that concept after Satya Nadella overtook the “cloud & enterprise” business in 2011, and then started to use that with the external preview readiness of the corresponding developments at the TechEd last summer, even that carried a wider meaning. Overall, the interpretation of the “cloud first” concept cannot be considered common at all, especially outside U.S. Who are interested in my web-based study could read my “Cloud first”: the origins and the current meaning [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 18, 2014] post on this blog.
With this result on hand I got interested in finding out what is the case with “mobile first”. The similar “Mobile first”: the origins and the current meaning [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 18, 2014] post is not only giving the denial of commonality of this second basic concept from Microsoft, but even makes one to realize how much emphasis IBM put on MobileFirst (not a typo) in its platform strategy, already one year publicly, in which almost immediately achieved spectacular results. This magic quadrant from Gartner is the proof of that (works as a teaser as well):
After this it came to my mind what was missing from this whole view of world from Redmond. That which was detailed in my earlier Device businesses should have a China-based independent headquarter at least for Asia/Pacific if they want to succeed [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Jan 28, 2014] post. Tim was just mentioning in his introduction that 2 years ago nobody would have thought with Samsung overtaking Apple. … My reaction to that would be that you in Redmond are not even considering the “non-Samsung, non Apple” part of the below chart:
as well as with these charts:
not speaking of this video:
Hugo Barra, Vice President, Xiaomi Global & Loic Le Meur, LeWeb Founders- LeWeb’13 Paris – [LeWebYouTube channel, Dec 11, 2013]
WILL SOMEBODY ENLIGHTEN THEM PLEASE?
P.S. 
This post was first made in Hungarian: Kilátás Redmondból Tim O’Brien tolmácsolásában (‘Szoftver aktualitások’, 2014. február 19.). I asked Gabor Fari (Director, Business Development and Strategy, Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft, Greater New York City Area), as my closest acquaintance to corporate Microsoft today, to do something regarding this mobile computing issue within Microsoft.
To my shocking suprise I got a completely unfounded barrage of accusations from him instead. I put a screenshot of the Facebook exchange in which the blunt accusation part was as follows (since the exchange was in Hungarian):
The arrogant tone of your articles I can’t understand either. You dissed Chris Capossela. Now you’ve done the same to Tim O’Brien. Both of them I know and respect, and I believe that they are on top of their professions. From the tone of your articles my conclusion is that you believe MS is managed by incompetent gimps.
One thing I asked Gabor Fari regarding these blunt accusations, is to prove them, i.e. give concrete examples what text from the above post (since here is an English version of the original one in Hungarian) is proving “The arrogant tone of your articles”, “You dissed Chris Capossela”, “Now you’ve done the same to Tim O’Brien”, “From the tone of your articles my conclusion is that you believe MS is managed by incompetent gimps.”
As I didn’t get any reply, and quite probably won’t get in the future either, I am getting really worried. Not because of such unfounded judgement of my post, but because I am a Microsoft shareholder as well. I am extremely worried for my extremely tiny part of the whole $313.35 billion market capitalisation Microsoft is worth currently.
So through a response to this post I will offer Gabor Fari the last chance to respond to my appeal to prove his unfounded judgements via concrete examples from the above post. If he will not do so than nothing is left as to turn to the board of directors of Microsoft with a warning that corporate complacency is much more inside Microsoft than one might have thought before, and this will definitely make things worse than one could have thought before.
P.S. in the P.S. As Gabor Fari was declaring that “You dissed Chris Capossela” I searched through all my postings about Chris Capossela, and found only the following one, which I couldn’t understand either, how on the Earth that might be considered a “dissing of Chris Capossela”?
Here is the traslation of that (later a screen-shot containing the Facebook discussion in Hungarian):
Microsoft in the direction of the market failure? Chris Capossela was shining (literally) for half an hour today expounding “devices and services” and “enterprise and consumer”, as the directions Microsoft is taking in both regards. That is the the fact that every other company COULD realise just a part of that.
WHY, THEN, IN THE DIRECTION OF THE MARKET FAILURE? Because it is not only the case that Capossela could not be found on the net with such an exposition, but NO ONE ELSE!!! PUT IT SIMPLY THE MARKETING (WITH BEST MEANING of the word) is not working in Microsoft.
The best what I’ve found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9g-0XMwqvs
This is not marketing [as it is from Microsoft Research]
And found also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XefFb8DbpCg
[comments other people put here I am not translating]
In addition Capossela is the leader of the Consumer Channel Group, and when he won this position in 2011, he won that of Chief Marketing Officer position as well … IMHO totally deserved. Since Tami Reller got the top marketeer position he has been ranked back so much that in connection with the purchase of Nokia Ballmer wrote about him as “Regarding the sales team, we plan to keep the Nokia field team, led by Chris Weber, intact and as the nexus of the devices sales effort, so that we can continue to build sales momentum. After the deal closes, Chris and his team will be placed under Kevin Turner. We will develop a single integrated team that is selling to operators, and there may be other integration opportunities that we can pursue. Kevin will work with Chris Weber and Chris Capossela to make those plans.” See: http://www.microsoft.com/…/2013/sep13/09-02email.aspx
despite of the fact that even from the interview made with him one could see his extraordinary stance [in marketing]: The New Windows Store Only at Best Buy (by Brandon LeBlanc)
[comments other people put here I am not translating]
The Facebook discussion in Hungarian:
Follow up:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vnext.hu/permalink/737178256301701
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vnext.hu/permalink/737178256301701/
Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 4 delivery and Dell as the first company to OEM it co-engineered on Dell infrastructure with Red Hat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform: Community-invented, Red Hat hardened [RedHatCloud YouTube channel, Aug 5, 2013]
From community to enterprise-ready: Red Hat’s momentum with OpenStack [RedHatCloud YouTube channel, Jan 21, 2014]
Cloud and virtualization in RHEL6 ~ Redhat Linux Video [Redhat Linux Video YouTube channel, Feb 17, 2014]
- For announcement see Red Hat Upgrades Cloud Infrastructure Offerings to Deliver on the Open Hybrid Cloud Vision [press release, Jan 22, 2014]
- For all technical details see Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 4 [based on RHEL 6.5 and OpenStack Havana release] Release Notes [Jan 22, 2014]
Dell and Red Hat Creating Open, Innovative Solutions ~ Redhat Linux Video [Redhat Linux Video YouTube channel, Feb 18, 2014]
Dell and Red Hat to Co-Engineer Enterprise-Grade, OpenStack Private Cloud Solutions [joint press release, Dec 12, 2013]
Dell and Red Hat to Co-Engineer Enterprise-Grade, OpenStack Private Cloud Solutions
- Dell and Red Hat collaboration to enable customers worldwide to build and use highly-scalable, open, private cloud solutions based on OpenStack
- Dell becomes first company to OEM Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform
- Dell joins the Red Hat OpenStack Cloud Infrastructure Partner Network as an Alliance Partner
- Dell to deliver Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform through a dedicated practice within Dell Cloud Services
Dell and Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the companies will jointly engineer enterprise-grade, private cloud solutions based on OpenStack to help customers move to and deploy highly-scalable cloud computing models. As part of the expanded relationship, Dell becomes the first company to OEM Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform. The co-engineered solution will be built on Dell infrastructure and Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform. The solution will be delivered by a Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform practice within Dell Cloud Services.
Dell and Red Hat have partnered for more than 14 years to bring global customers value by collaborating on Red Hat solutions across Dell’s enterprise offerings. Just as Dell and Red Hat collaborated in the early days of Linux, Dell is showing its vision by becoming the first to OEM Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform. With today’s announcement, Dell and Red Hat are strengthening their longstanding collaboration and commitment to help businesses confidently embrace open source-based cloud computing models. With this development, customers worldwide will not only benefit from the co-engineered solutions, but the companies combined cloud expertise, enterprise innovation, and dedicated support and portfolio of services.
Dell and Red Hat will also jointly contribute code to the OpenStack community and collaborate on Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 4, currently in beta, which integrates OpenStack Havana, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5. In addition, Dell plans to work closely with Red Hat on several future-state projects including:
- OpenStack Networking (Neutron) to enable Software-Defined Networking and Networking-as-a-Service between interface devices such as virtual network interface cards, and
- OpenStack Telemetry (Ceilometer) to provide OpenStack resource instrumentation, which can help support service monitoring and customer billing systems.
Lastly, Dell is joining the Red Hat OpenStack Cloud Infrastructure Partner Network as an Alliance Partner, the highest tier of program membership. The Red Hat OpenStack Cloud Infrastructure Partner Network connects both business and technical resources to third-party technology companies who are aligning with Red Hat’s OpenStack product offerings.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform combines the power of Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Red Hat’s OpenStack cloud platform to deliver an enterprise-grade, scalable and secure foundation for building a private cloud. The alliance with Red Hat complements Dell’s cloud strategy of offering customers open, flexible and scalable technology to build, use and control cloud infrastructures.
Additionally, Dell now offers Dell Cloud Consulting and Application Services to provide expert guidance in helping assess, build, operate and run cloud environments and enable and accelerate enterprise OpenStack adoption. Dell’s expertise spans the hybrid cloud spectrum, with service options ranging from cloud readiness assessment, infrastructure design and operations, and application design and modernization. As a result, Dell customers can achieve increased efficiency and greater realization of the business benefits of cloud computing.
Supporting Quotes
Paul Cormier, President, Products and Technologies, Red Hat
“Our collaboration with Dell keeps getting better and today’s announcement to co-engineer OpenStack solutions marks a significant milestone for both companies and customers. Just as we successfully collaborated with Dell to establish Red Hat Enterprise Linux as an enterprise industry standard, we’re now extending our collaboration to help establish Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform as the standard for open private cloud in the enterprise. Dell and Red Hat are committed to jointly developing and delivering enterprise-grade OpenStack offerings to help customers pursue private cloud today, and advanced computing models in the future.”
Marius Haas, Chief Commercial Officer and President, Enterprise Solutions, Dell
“Dell has been a long-time advocate and participant in the open source and OpenStack communities, pushing the charter of an open alternative to proprietary, enterprise computing systems. Our agreement to co-engineer OpenStack solutions with Red Hat takes our commitment a step further in helping customers obtain and deploy OpenStack solutions for an enterprise-grade, private cloud infrastructure to meet their evolving business needs. We will extend our work with Red Hat to apply our combined experience in commercializing open source for the benefit of our mutual customers as well as the open-source community on its development of networking, storage and compute capabilities.”
Availability
The joint Dell-Red Hat solution is scheduled to be available in 2014.
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Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) is the world’s leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.
Dell and Red Hat – Enabling the Enterprise with OpenStack [Dell4Enterprise Blog, Dec 17, 2013] by Joseph George, Executive Director, Cloud and Big Data Solutions, Dell Inc.
In 1999, Dell became the first OEM vendor to deliver factory-installed Linux workstations and PowerEdge servers with Red Hat, to enable enterprise customers with Linux. Since those early days, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has become the world’s most deployed enterprise Linux platform, and in 2012, Red Hat became the industry’s first billion dollar open source company.
Now in 2013, Dell and Red Hat are joining forces again to enable enterprises.
And this time, it’s to enable the enterprise with OpenStack.
Our enterprise customers have complex business needs and scalability requirements. In the case of cloud, customers rarely say “We want a cloud.” Rather, many of them say things like “We need to create a content delivery network that scales and is cost effective,” or “We need a test/dev environment to develop our applications.”
And many times the design tenets that are pervasive in large scale distributed cloud environments, such as continuous deployment and devops, are still being translated into how the enterprise does IT.
Dell has been committed to enabling our customers with open source solution options to enable emerging technology areas like cloud – solutions that are open, flexible, scalable and secure. OpenStack provides the foundation for driving multi-tenancy and elasticity, giving our customers a fully open platform with the ability to scale very quickly.
Dell has had a rich and valuable history with Red Hat, with a longstanding joint commitment to our customers, to understand their need for flexibility and choice in the marketplace in a number of technology areas. And OpenStack has been a passion for both companies individually for some time.
With this announcement, Dell is now the first company to OEM RHEL OpenStack Platform, and we will co-engineer enterprise-grade OpenStack private cloud solutions with Red Hat, bringing together the best that both companies have to offer. It’s great news for enterprise customers seeking the products, services, and best practices to bring OpenStack into their IT environments.
Together, we are providing a fast onramp to enable our enterprise customers to get to the cloud, and to capture value from cloud by solving real business problems as quickly as possible. Dell and Red Hat will also jointly contribute code to the OpenStack community, specifically on projects like OpenStack Networking (Neutron) and OpenStack Telemetry (Celiometer).
Needless to say, after being a part of Dell’s very first steps into OpenStack, I am excited about this next step Dell and Red Hat are taking together, and see the strong innovation that will come out of it benefit both our customers and the OpenStack community.
Dell and Red Hat cloud solutions powered by OpenStack [RedHatCloud YouTube channel, Dec 17, 2013]
Red Hat’s 7 bold OpenStack predictions for 2014 [Dell Software News Blog, Feb 10, 2014]
Directors and managers from all over Red Hat’s OpenStack team share their visions for 2014, including OpenStack in 2014: Ready for enterprise adoption. A select few enterprise OpenStack distributions – and providers – will rise to the top. Hybrid cloud management – including OpenStack – will be in-demand. Telco companies, banks, and government agencies will embrace OpenStack.
Dell and Red Hat will be collaborating on OpenStack – read the blog.
OpenStack in 2014: Ready for enterprise adoption. “OpenStack is in 2013 what Amazon was in 2008/2009 – people are very interested but they are not spending money to use OpenStack in enterprise IT environments yet. 2014 should change that as the solution has matured and people are readier to embrace it. OpenStack is now enterprise-ready with stable, reliable versions, and that, combined with the support available from the OpenStack ecosystem, will lead to further adoption of OpenStack in the enterprise.” – Krishnan Subramaniam, director, OpenShift strategy, Red Hat
2014: The Year of the OpenStack Ecosystem. “2014 will be the year of the enterprise OpenStack ecosystem. Hardware and software providers will have more products in the market backed by certifications for a peace of mind value proposition. Given the focus on “as-a-service” solutions there will be a new range of offerings that will be created with OpenStack as a fabric for the datacenter. Finally, I expect that large system integrators will add OpenStack to their service offerings in 2014.” – Radhesh Balakrishnan, general manager, Virtualization and OpenStack, Red Hat
A select few enterprise OpenStack distributions – and providers – will rise to the top. “In 2013 we saw the proliferation of OpenStack distributions, to the point where it feels very similar to the early days of Linux – everyone seems to have a Linux distribution. In 2014, we’re going to see OpenStack distributions collapse. That’s because it’s not enough to just repackage bits; providers need really broad and deep knowledge of both OpenStack and Linux. Customers will look toward the organizations that have this deep knowledge as they seek credible solutions that combine OpenStack and Linux. The few companies that have the ability to offer tight integration between the two will be the last ones left standing.” – Chuck Dubuque, director, Product Marketing, Virtualization and OpenStack, Red Hat
Telco companies, Banks, and Government Agencies will embrace OpenStack. “In the coming year, the public sector and other highly regulated industries, such as financial, will reach the stage of production deployments of enterprise-grade OpenStack. Security will continue to be an aspect that these industries need to address as they move to the cloud. Driven by security, privacy and compliance needs, the public sector and financial industries will turn to OpenStack to keep their most confidential data with them.” – Radhesh Balakrishnan, general manager, Virtualization and OpenStack, Red Hat
“In 2014, OpenStack will make its way into the infrastructure of many large stakeholders. I’ll be bold and predict that within the next year, we’ll see OpenStack in five out of the top ten banks and eight out of the top ten telcos.” – Bryan Che, general manager, Red Hat CloudForms
“2014 will be the year where telecommunications-specific OpenStack offerings will enter in the marketplace and be adopted.” -Radhesh Balakrishnan, general manager, Virtualization and OpenStack, Red Hat
Hybrid cloud management – including OpenStack – will be in-demand. “As enterprises move OpenStack deployments out of a testing environment into a realtime, enterprise deployment environment, they need to be able to manage it. This year, Red Hat debuted CloudForms 3.0 with OpenStack management capabilities, and we are looking forward to developing those capabilities further in 2014. Looking at current data and analyst reports, cloud management is cited as the number one problem enterprises face when they are looking to mobilize their cloud computing resources. 2014 will be the year where large-scale cloud deployments are managed with enterprise-class cloud management solutions, such as Red Hat CloudForms.” – Bryan Che, general manager, Red Hat CloudForms
Continued reinforcement of PaaS and OpenStack interoperability. “In 2014, interoperability between Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offerings and OpenStack will continue to be reinforced. Many people believe OpenStack will replace PaaS. In reality, the two are complementary – PaaS generates workloads, while OpenStack offers a place to store them. We’re going to continue to work toward tighter integration and better operability between PaaS and OpenStack.” – Chuck Dubuque, director, Product Marketing, Virtualization and OpenStack, Red Hat
Building the Industry’s Broadest OpenStack Ecosystem: A Decade in the Making [Red Hat press release, Feb 18, 2014]
Red Hat OpenStack Cloud Infrastructure Partner Network team
For those of us in the technology industry, it is sometimes difficult to take a moment to think about the impact and scale of the work that we accomplish on a day-to-day basis. While we are all lucky to be in an amazingly innovative and fast paced industry, it is important to spend a reflective moment or two to gain some perspective on the projects that we work on at our respective companies and in our open communities.
At Red Hat, we have been working steadily to help bring OpenStack from a project to a product for nearly two years. As you would expect, our efforts span the spectrum from contributors and developers across every key OpenStack.org project to enabling our partners and customers with enterprise-grade OpenStack products designed to help them take their computing infrastructure to the cloud.
A key aspect of the inherent value proposition that Red Hat brings to the table is our co-investment with partners in making sure that our products work together as expected, and are supported in a collaborative and well understood manner to reduce customer complexity. This technology certification is an important element that has helped build Red Hat into one of the world’s most trusted brands.
Over the next few months, at Red Hat Summit and at the OpenStack Summit in Atlanta, you’ll hear more from Red Hat on our incredible momentum and progress as we bring OpenStack to global partners and customers around the globe. In the meantime, I’d like to take an opportunity to reflect on our ecosystem progress to date.
In April 2013, we announced the creation of the Red Hat OpenStack Cloud Infrastructure Partner Network at the OpenStack Summit in Portland, Oregon. Since that time, we’ve been impressed with the growth and energy with participants from all over the globe, representing all industries and covering all types of technologies.
In June 2013, we launched Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform, and along with it, our first set of certifications focused on Compute, Storage and Networking. Behind the scenes, our teams worked closely with hundreds of partners to develop testing and automation tools, exchanged ideas and feedback on the process, and created the entire infrastructure necessary to build collaborative support agreements for our customers.
Many of these relationships with our OEM, ISV, IHV and SI partners have been established over years of work together. My colleague Gordon Haff just published a great article reflecting on how OpenStack is paralleling the adoption of Linux in the enterprise. It’s true.
More than a decade’s experience in bringing customers true choice has taught us many things. It showed us that our ongoing commitment to maintaining several multifaceted customer benefits, including a long and stable product lifecycle; tested and secure enterprise-grade solutions; and robust integration through standard interfaces and APIs, helped make Linux enterprise-ready. We’re bringing that same know-how to OpenStack.
It also taught us that creating a tightly coupled and certified solution means more than a press release. It requires deep commitment to rolling up your sleeves and working with engineering teams on real technical issues and repeating that process build after build.
Our partners understand what it takes to make commercially viable solutions. A platform is only as good as the applications, solutions and technologies that work with it, and we are proud of how strong our ecosystem of partners has become.
Led by our Alliance Partners – Cisco, Dell, IBM, and Intel – we have seen hundreds of systems and thousands of applications moving towards certification on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform. Our commitment here does not waver as we work across competitive boundaries with many companies in building a broad range of enterprise solutions.
In November 2013 at the OpenStack Summit in Hong Kong we expanded our certification scope to include other OpenStack services, offered additional partner benefits for system integrators, MSPs and cloud providers, and enhanced Red Hat Marketplace. It was a proud moment when we were able to announce that in only seven months, we had built the industry’s largest OpenStack ecosystem in support of commercial deployments.
With all of the investments we made in 2013 in our OpenStack ecosystem and certification programs, it may seem as if we just started to build these Red Hat Cloud Infrastructure Partner Network efforts. It wasn’t. The truth is that the foundation for this momentum was laid out 12 years ago when Red Hat first launched Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Trust is the core for everything that we do; it is our model, and our open approach. While OpenStack as a set of technologies may be new, the relationships with our partners, the excitement of our customers, and the energy within our company to work together to build the next generation of trusted computing is well established and energized. We look forward to a 2014 filled with exciting product, program and partnership announcements.
I invite you to join us at Red Hat Summit in April, and the OpenStack Summit in May, to hear more about our vision and continued momentum.
“Cloud first”: the origins and the current meaning
With Satya Nadella, the newly appointed CEO of Microsoft now emphasizing “mobile first” together with the already emphasized “cloud first” one is becoming curious about the origins of the “cloud first” concept as well as the meanings attached to it since then:
1. Microsoft was the fast follower of the original federal computing idea interpreting it from a traditional software vendor point of view
From The Midweek Download: July 25th Edition–Graphics in Windows 8 & Getting Started with the New Office Preview [The Official Microsoft Blog, July 25, 2012]
Experiencing modern Office with SkyDrive: Cloud-first. No compromises. Last November, we shared our thoughts on the state of personal cloud storage and our vision for connecting file, app and device clouds to address key customer problems. For example, students start and finish projects in Microsoft Office, but that 75 percent of them use other tools in between, such as email, Google Docs, and Dropbox. Using these different tools can lead to formatting loss, extra steps and versions, or just confusion, since each tool has its own limitations. Announced earlier this week, the new Office puts an end to that. Check out this July 20 post on Inside SkyDrive, Hotmail and Messenger to find out how.
From Microsoft Releases Office 365 Home Premium [press release, Jan 29, 2013]
New consumer cloud service works across devices to help busy people simplify their lives and get more done.
…Microsoft also announced it will now deliver many new features and services to the cloud first, transforming the company’s traditional three-year release cycle. Now, new features and services stream to subscribers as soon as they are ready, keeping subscribers always up to date while eliminating the hassles of upgrading.
“This is a major leap forward,” said Kurt DelBene, president of the Microsoft Office Division. “People’s needs change rapidly, and Office 365 Home Premium will change with them.”
…
From Microsoft unveils what’s next for enterprise IT [press release, June 3, 2013]
New wave of 2013 products brings it all together for hybrid cloud, mobile employees and modern application development.
…With advances in virtualization, software-defined networking, data storage and recovery, in-memory transaction processing, and more, these solutions were engineered with Microsoft’s “cloud-first” focus, including a faster pace of development and release to market. They incorporate Microsoft’s experience running large-scale cloud services, connect to Windows Azure and work together to provide a consistent platform for powerful hybrid cloud scenarios. More information can be found at blog posts by Anderson about Windows Server and System Centerand by Quentin Clark about SQL Server.
…
From Partners in the enterprise cloud [The Official Microsoft Blog, June 24, 2013]
The following is a post from Satya Nadella, President of Microsoft’s Server & Tools Business.
…The cloud computing era – or, as I like to call it, the enterprise cloud era – calls for bold, new thinking. It requires companies to rethink what they build, to rethink how they operate and to rethink whom they partner with. We are doing that by being “cloud first” in everything we do. From our vision of a Cloud OS – a consistent platform spanning our customer’s private clouds, service provider clouds and Windows Azure – to the way we partner to ensure that the applications our customers use run, fully supported, in those clouds.
…
From: Leading the Enterprise Cloud Era [The Official Microsoft Blog, June 3, 2013]
The following is a post from Satya Nadella, President of the Server & Tools Business at Microsoft.
Today, I sent an internal mail to Microsoft employees to kick off a wave of product updates we are delivering to our customers and partners at TechEd North America 2013. The purpose of my mail was to share both the progress we have made and encourage all of our more than 90,000 employees to keep pushing in our efforts to revolutionize the enterprise cloud landscape.
I am sharing this email with you, our customers, partners and media, to provide context on the transformation we have made, and to highlight Microsoft’s deep focus and commitment on the cloud. I encourage you to tune into the TechEd keynote, read the press release and sign up to receive preview software as it becomes available over the upcoming weeks.
It’s an exciting time for Microsoft, our customers, and the industry. We are entering a new era, and I look forward to sharing more as we continue this journey together.
Satya
Leading the Enterprise Cloud Era
Today at TechEd North America we’ll unveil key developments that signal just how far we’ve come as a leader in the enterprise cloud. We are announcing a new wave of Windows Azure services, a significant update to our server line-up (Windows Server, System Center, SQL Server) and new tools (Visual Studio) all built for the cloud.
Two years ago we bet our future on the cloud and quietly refocused our 19 billion-dollar [enterprise] software business by completely transforming our products, culture and practices to be cloud-first. We knew the journey would be long and challenging with plenty of doubters. But we forged ahead knowing that the cloud transition would change the face of enterprise computing.
As it turns out we were right to take this risk. Because of the fundamental shifts the cloud brings, more than 2 trillion dollars of overall IT spend is now up for grabs. It starts with the rapidly exploding world of devices and a new generation of connected apps that are revolutionizing life and business. Software-driven datacenters are making access to computing resources infinite and elastic. Big Data is changing the way we gain insight and act in business, science and society. Cloud is the central architectural paradigm that makes all of this possible.
By applying this architectural approach to Microsoft’s own diverse set of internet-scale properties (Bing, Xbox Live, Office 365, SkyDrive, etc.) we’ve gained priceless insights into what it means to be truly enterprise-grade. By living this new paradigm first-hand, we have been able to build a cloud platform that spans IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. We also are unique in that we make our “secret sauce” of cloud infrastructure available to customers and partners to build and operate their own clouds. This is THE most encompassing vision in the industry and far exceeds what our competitors can say.
To enable this transformation we had to make deep changes to our organizational culture, overhauling how we build and deliver products. Every one of our division’s nearly 10,000 people now think and build for the cloud – first. Our engineers live a “live-site” first culture to better respond to our customers in real time. And we are laser-focused on building more complete end-to-end service scenarios, or modern workloads, to deliver more value to our customers and partners.
…
From TechEd Europe: Big bets and big opportunities [The Official Microsoft Blog, June 24, 2013]
The following is a post from Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President of Windows Server & System Center at Microsoft.
…Microsoft has made a big bet on what we call our cloud-first design principles, and many companies are already benefiting. Key examples in Europe include Telefónica and DDM CineTrailer – both of whom are already operating Microsoft hybrid cloud solutions.
Telefónica is the largest telecom company in Spain, and, as of July 2013, will deploy Windows Server Hyper-V and SQL Server, with the goal to virtualize more than 80 percent of its IT services and design for expansion into the Windows Azure platform as needed. The company expects this move to result in a 15 percent cost savings in the next three to five years while making their business more agile and productive.
DDM is a digital media company from Italy that developed its popular movie-viewing app CineTrailer on Windows Azure. DDM’s customers expect to consume content through a variety of device platforms, and the agency’s previous solution, Amazon Web Services (AWS), could not scale easily enough to ensure all the services across PCs, mobile devices and connected TVs could be maintained – especially with the application’s rapid growth rate.
These customer stories illustrate that our cloud-first approach is not dependent on something we’re promising out on the horizon – but it is possible with products that are ready right now.
…
2. The Vivek Kundra’s initiative of “cloud first” was the origin
:
Vivek Kundra in Picking the brain of ‘rock star CIO’ Vivek Kundra [ZDNet, April 24, 2013]
I instituted a cloud-first policy because I saw waste. The U.S. government had 2,090 data centers by 2009—at 27 percent utilization! So the government was building all this capacity that wasn’t being used. It’s very easy to say that you’ve got an IT project, you’re building infrastructure, providing compute and storage. But look at the average consumer’s experience with government: you’re on the phone.
U.S. Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, stated on December 9, 2010 in the IT reform plan:
The shift to “light technologies,” that is, cloud services, which can be deployed rapidly, and shared solutions will result in substantial cost savings, allowing agencies to optimize spending, and allowing agencies to reinvest in their most critical mission needs. Agencies must focus on consolidating existing data centers, reducing the need for infrastructure growth by implementing a “Cloud First” policy for services, and increasing their use of available cloud and shared services.
Government Saves $45 Million by Moving Email to the Cloud [DellLargeEnterprise YouTube channel, Oct 17, 2011]
Three years after US ‘Cloud First’ mandate, federal agencies struggle with implementation [Business Cloud News, Feb 10, 2014]
Three years after the US government implemented a ‘Cloud First’ mandate that would require federal agencies to consider cloud-based IT services for certain systems, the federal public service continues to struggle with cloud implementations according to recently published research from Accenture. Annette Rippert, managing director of technology solutions and Accenture’s lead on federal cloud work said a lack of critical skills is the leading factor at play here.
In early 2011 the then US chief information officer Vivek Kundra released the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy, which became known as ‘Cloud First’ because it required agencies to evaluate cloud-based IT solutions in many cases before making any new IT investments.
But according to Accenture, which polled and interviewed 286 US federal government technology leaders, most agencies continue to struggle to develop and implement cloud strategies three years on.
For instance, of the 20 cloud migration plans submitted to the Government Accountability Office for approval in 2012, only one has been completed. 11 of the projects failed to report performance metrics and seven did not include thorough enough cost estimates.
Less than half of managers (43 per cent) are familiar with their agency’s cloud strategy. And only 30 per cent of survey respondents claim to be implementing cloud strategies, with just 4 per cent of agencies building out new (mostly private) cloud platforms.
Rippert explained that while security and cost are still seen as key barriers, the central issue stems from these agencies not having the necessary skills in-house. More than two third of respondents (68 per cent) don’t believe their departments have the necessary skills to implement a cloud strategy.
At least 31 per cent of respondents believe they would need to hire at least one more person to implement a cloud strategy, and 45 per cent of respondents feel their agency would have to invest somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000.
At a time when the US is undergoing significant budget cutbacks, due in part to the 2013 budget sequestration, it’s difficult to get a sense of when these challenges will let up. Research and analysis firm IDC believes US federal government IT spending will remain flat well into 2015, which includes spending on training.
“While there are initial challenges in the adoption of cloud computing, it holds the potential to play a major role in increasing government efficiency and service delivery,” Rippert said, adding that when properly executed US federal government agencies have too much to gain not to shift their IT systems to the cloud.
Although not challenged by public sector budget cutbacks on the same scale, the UK government has seen similarly low levels of cloud uptake despite pushing its version of ‘Cloud First’, the G-Cloud framework. According to a survey released in December last year over 90 per cent of the wider UK public sector has yet to procure a service from G-Cloud, and 76 per cent of those surveyed claimed to have no idea what G-Cloud is.
From the Wikipedia article Vivek Kundra:
Vivek Kundra (Hindi: विवेक कुंद्रा; born October 9, 1974) is an Indian Americanadministrator who served as the first chief information officer of the United States from March, 2009 to August, 2011 under President Barack Obama.[1] He is currently the Executive Vice President of Emerging Markets for Salesforce[2] and a visiting Fellow atHarvard University.[3]
He previously served in D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty‘s cabinet as the District’s Chief Technology Officer and in Virginia Governor Tim Kaine‘s cabinet as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Technology.
…On December 9, 2010, Kundra published the “25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology Management”, which included Cloud First as one of its top priorities for achieving IT efficiency. Cloud First required each agency to identify three cloud initiatives.[48] He announced his decision to leave the federal government and join Harvard University within 7 months of this strategy, too short for any of cloud first initiatives to have demonstrated cost savings.[49] After a short 5 months at Harvard he left to join Salesforce, a cloud SaaS and PaaS provider.
The first major cloud project during his tenure was GSA’s migration of e-mail/Lotus Notes to the Gmail and Salesforce.com’s platform. GSA awarded a contract for e-mail in December 2010 and a five-year contract to
salesforceSalesforce.com in August 2011.[49] A September 2012 Inspector General report found the savings and cost analysis not verifiable and recommended GSA update its cost analysis. GSA office of CIO was unable to provide documentation supporting its analysis regarding the initial projected savings for government staffing and contractor support. The audit found that the agency could neither verify those savings nor clearly determine if the cloud migration is meeting agency expectations despite initial claims that indicated 50% [50] cost savings [51]
…Kundra’s efforts to use cloud-based web applications in the D.C. government have also been considered innovative.[16] Following the D.C. example driven by Kundra, the city of Los Angeles is now taking steps to adopt the cloud computing model for its IT needs.[17] A D.C. spokeswoman said that the District of Columbia paid $479,560 for the Enterprise Google Apps license, which is $3.5 million less than what it had planned to spend on an alternative plan.[17] Since its deployment in July 2008 Google Apps is available to 38,000 D.C. city employees, but only 1,000–2,000 are actively using Google Docs. Only 200 employees are actively using Gmail.[18] In late 2010, hoping to spur use of Gmail, the city ran a pilot program, selecting about 300 users and having them use the Google product for three months. Google participated closely in the project, but Gmail ultimately didn’t pass the “as good or better” test with the users, who preferred Exchange/Outlook. In July 2011, the General Services Administration (GSA) became the first federal agency to migrate its email services for 17,000 employees and contractors to the cloud-based Google Apps for Government, saving $15.2 million over 5 years.[19] In January 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) became the largest federal agency to migrate email and collaboration applications to the cloud, moving 25,000 employees to Google Apps for Government and saving 50% over the legacy Microsoft Exchange solution.[20] As of July 2011, government agencies in 42 states are leveraging cloud-based messaging and collaboration services.[21]
Kundra also moved the city’s geographic information systems department to a middle school.[22]
From Wikipedia article UK Government G-Cloud
The UK Government G-Cloud is an initiative targeted at easing procurement by public sector bodies in departments of the United Kingdom Government of commodity information technology services that use cloud computing.[1] The G-Cloud consists of:
- A series of framework agreements with suppliers, from which public sector organisations can call off services without needing to run a full tender or competition procurement process
- An online store – the “CloudStore” that allows public sector bodies to search for services that are covered by the G-Cloud frameworks
The service began in 2012, and had several calls for contracts.[2] By May 2013 there were over 700 suppliers – over 80% of which aresmall and medium enterprises.[3] £18.2 million (US$27.7 million) of sales were made by April 2013.[4]
…Cloud computing caused a step change in the way information systems can be delivered. Given this, the UK Government initiated the G-Cloud programme of work to deliver computing based capability (from fundamental resources such as storage and processing to full fledged applications) using cloud computing.[5]
G-Cloud established framework agreements with a large number of service providers; and lists those services on a publicly accessible portal known a the CloudStore. Public Sector organisations can call off the services listed on CloudStore without needing to go through a full tender process.
After plans were announced in March 2011, the government aimed to shift 50% of new government IT spending to cloud based services by 2015.[6] Furthermore the government established a “Cloud First” approach to IT, mandating that central government purchases IT services through the cloud unless it can be proven that an alternative is more cost effective.[3][7][8]
In June 2013 G-Cloud moved to become part of Government Digital Service (GDS) with the director Denise McDonagh moving to be CTO of the Home Office. Tony Singleton, COO of GDS, took over as director of G-Cloud.[9][10]
Public Sector Internal Identity Federation will offer authentication services for public-sector access to G-cloud services.
Cloud computing? No way, say half of SMEs [Computing (UK), Feb 7, 2014]
As a statement of reality, the oft-repeated mantra “Cloud computing is ideally suited to smaller businesses” is about as helpful as “Brown-eyed people like biscuits”.
First, like brown-eyed people, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are an extremely varied bunch. SMEs make up well over 90 per cent of all businesses in the UK. It is a sector that embraces everything from an app developer in London’s trendy Shoreditch to a family farm in the Scottish Highlands. And like biscuits, cloud services come in a variety of flavours, from simple storage space, to more complex software such as collaboration, mobility, CRM or office suites, to infrastructure or platform as a service, and even private cloud infrastructure. So, like many marketing mantras, this one is pretty meaningless.
That aside, one thing that most SMEs do have in common is a small IT department, and renting rather than buying IT services and software may be a sensible way of stretching limited resources further. But is this enough to make them particularly suitable candidates for cloud, above and beyond large firms?
Among the benefits of cloud most frequently cited by the industry are these: access to enterprise-grade technology; moving capital expenditure onto the operational budget; increased flexibility and agility as technicians are freed up to do more strategic work; and being able to expand and contract operations at will.
You can see why all these would appeal, but on the other hand, the needs of smaller businesses can be very specialised, and as such may be better served by dedicated staff in-house.
We surveyed a sample of 120 IT managers at UK firms with between five and 250 employees. Fifty-eight per cent operated from a single building, while at the other end of the scale five per cent had more than 10 premises. All sectors were represented, but as subscribers to Computing, the sample was slightly skewed towards the technical, so one might expect the respondents to be more receptive to the benefits proffered by cloud than average.
Nevertheless, one-half of the respondents said they run all their IT in-house. Equally the sample was split pretty much down the middle between those who perceived cloud to offer particular benefits to small businesses and those that did not (figure 1).
Among the enthusiasts were a few firms (five per cent) who were already in the process of shifting their IT wholesale to one of the big public cloud providers: “We run all our SaaS products from AWS,” said the CIO of a small technology company, explaining that all in-house servers were being decommissioned in favour of a “cloud-first” policy.
A further 11 per cent said they are undecided on further server investment and that ultimately their decision would depend on developments in the market.
Far more common, though, was a hybrid approach. As firms develop and markets change, many will find it expedient to offload certain applications or administrative functions (most frequently email and backup, respectively, according to the survey) while retaining core IT services in house.
“Our ticketing system needs to be highly available, highly resilient, and able to deal with huge peaks in demand. It’s not cost effective for us to serve this sort of system in-house or on-premise,” said the IT manager at an entertainments venue, an exponent of the hybrid approach who also confirmed that “local servers are and will remain the cornerstone of our IT infrastructure for the next three years.”
In settling broadly on a hybrid model, smaller firms are no different to their larger counterparts.
Overall levels of cloud adoption among UK SMEs seem little different to that by UK enterprises – if anything they are rather less. Half of those surveyed said they run everything in-house, while in a separate Computing survey conducted in November 2013 only 39 per cent of medium to large organisations said the same.
If cloud really is ideally suited to smaller firms it would seem they’ve yet to get the message.
Dropped connections
Connectivity is one area where there is a real differentiation between large and small. Larger organisations will generally have the wherewithal to overcome deficiencies in local broadband provision, perhaps drawing on high-bandwidth services from several different providers. However, SMEs may not be able to afford this, having to make do with a single ADSL line while they wait for fibre to reach their area.
Among the small organisations surveyed, only 76 per cent were fully satisfied with their broadband service in terms of available bandwidth, and 17 per cent said their connection is unreliable. This was sometimes due to a lack of fast broadband in their area. “We’re rural, so no fibre yet,” said one; “Desperate for FTTC, promised via the county council by December 2014” said another;
“Sometimes it hangs, other times it drops totally,” complained a third. However an urban location may be no guarantee of good service: “City centre location but still limited to standard DSL, no Infinity, cable or other,” lamented an IT services firm from the heart of Belfast.
For public-facing applications, the potential frustration and losses in productivity caused by unreliable connections to the internet makes on-premise systems the better choice. So, until connectivity issues are resolved, there will always be a proportion of SMEs that will not even consider the cloud option.
