Apple now inhaling 94 percent of global smartphone profits, selling just 14.5 percent of total volumes

http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/15/11/16/apple-inc-now-inhaling-94-percent-of-global-smartphone-profits-selling-just-145-percent-of-total-volumes

By: Daniel Eran Dilger

Monday, November 16, 2015 4:14 PM

Apple’s share of total smartphone industry profits grew to 94 percent during the September quarter, up from 85 percent one year ago.

The iPhone maker’s overwhelming share of all smartphone income comes despite Apple being second in smartphone volume shipments to all vendors collectively selling devices running some form of Android software.

<img src=”http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/gallery/14965-10909-CanaccordGenuitySmartphoneprofitshare-l.jpg“>

Source: Canaccord Genuity

According to Canaccord Genuity research, Samsung, the largest Android licensee by far, took a distant 11 percent share of total operating income. Those numbers exceed 100 percent because most other phone makers reported negative operating income.

Canaccord analysts Mike Walkley blamed some of the losses suffered by HTC, BlackBerry, Sony and Lenovo (which now owns Google’s former Motorola subsidiary) on their inability to compete in the market for higher end phones priced at more than $400.

Apple earned its overwhelming share of profits despite producing just 14.5 percent (48 million) of the smartphones sold in the quarter. Samsung shipped an estimated 81 million units in the same quarter, accounting for 24.5 percent of the total.

The average selling price of iPhones in the quarter was $670 driving 37 percent operating margins, while Samsung’s ASP was just $180.

While some analysts are predicting that Apple has nowhere to go but down, Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook noted it the company’s September earnings report that “momentum for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus remained very strong across the quarter, and we established a new launch record for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus near the end of the quarter.” “We recorded the highest rate on record for Android switchers last quarter at 30 percent” – Tim Cook

He added, “we exited the quarter with demand for our new iPhones exceeding supply, but we’ve made good progress with our manufacturing ramp in the initial weeks of October.”

In response to a question on future guidance from analyst Katie Huberty of Morgan Stanley, Cook answered, “We believe that iPhone will grow in Q1, and we base that on what we’re seeing from a switcher point of view. We recorded the highest rate on record for Android switchers last quarter at 30 percent. We also look at the number of people that have upgraded, that were in the install base prior to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and that number is in the low 30 percentages, so we feel like we have a very open field in front of us.”

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Apple has the highest share of 4G devices in India, says Nokia Networks study | Latest Tech News, Video & Photo Reviews at BGR India

http://www.bgr.in/news/apple-has-the-highest-share-of-4g-devices-in-india-says-nokia-networks-study/

Apple has the highest share of 4G devices in India, says Nokia Networks study

Google acquires Fly Labs, developer…

Flipkart brings mobile website back…

Monday November 9, 2015, 8:02 PM

American tech giant Apple has the biggest share of the total 14.8 million 4G-enabled devices active across all important frequencies in the country, says a study by Nokia Networks.

Among the top 15 4G models, Apple devices – iPhone and iPad – occupy the top two slots. iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 devices, which support 4G services in 1800 Mhz band, are top models with 10.46% and 8.9% shares respectively, as per the study. In India, Airtel is providing 4G service in 1800 Mhz band frequency while other companies are yet to roll out their services.

At present, telecom companies hold spectrum in 1800 Mhz band, 850 Mhz band, 2300 Mhz band that can be used for 4G services in India. As per the study, Nokia Networks sees potential for providing using 2100 Mhz band for 4G services which is at present being used for 3G services. ”LTE (4G) device penetration is still low at 1.61%. 1800 Mhz enabled LTE devices leads with 1.45% (13.3 million) followed by 2100 Mhz enabled devices at 1.2%,” the report said.

Airtel has highest number of circles with 3G spectrum. The study shows that the number of 4G enabled devices in 2100 Mhz or 3G band connected to network is more compared to number of devices available for 4G service in 2300 Mhz band — the band opted by Reliance Jio Infocomm to foray into the telecom business. iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 models have highest share of 18.12% and 15.42% respectively among connected devices that can support 4G services 850 Mhz band, says the study.

Reliance Communications and RJIL are planning to jointly roll out 4G services using 850 Mhz band spectrum. Though Apple leads the segment of active 4G devices, the study also found that six out of top 10 devices in 1800 Mhz are priced below Rs 8,000. Lenovo A6000 follows iPhones among connected devices in 1800 Mhz band with 7.5% share. It is again followed by Apple’s iPhone 5 which has 5.78% share. Xiaomi‘s RedmiNote 3 and Micromax Yu Yureka are at 5th and 6th spot among devices in 1800 Mhz band, as per the study.

Samsung Galaxy A5 follows iPhones at 4th spot among top 15 devices capable of supporting 4G services. Nokia Networks spokesperson clarified that the data is not about shipment or sale of devices but only about devices that are active on networks and the kind of service that they can support.

Google acquires Fly Labs, developer…

Flipkart brings mobile website back…

Here’s how Apple uses your skin to make the Apple Watch secure | Latest Tech News, Video & Photo Rev iews at BGR India

http://www.bgr.in/news/heres-how-apple-uses-your-skin-to-make-the-apple-watch-secure/

Here’s how Apple uses your skin to make the Apple Watch secure

Sunday March 15, 2015, 6:20 PM

One of the interesting features on the Apple Watch is how it utilizes Apple Pay to make payments simpler. But what if your Watch is stolen? What’s stopping the thieves from using the wearable to clear your bank account? Turns out, Apple has a clever trick up its sleeves to prevent this from happening.

In a chat with CNET, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue reveals some of the security features of the Watch. Using the sensors located at the back of the wearable, the Watch knows when you are wearing it, and when you’ve taken it off.

The first time you wear the Watch, and pair it with an iPhone, you will need to either enter a passcode on the Watch, or touch the TouchID sensor on your iPhone to unlock it. From that moment on, the Watch will stay unlocked till the moment it is on your wrist. The moment you take it off though, the Watch automatically locks itself.

“Your watch has to be unlocked, and your phone can unlock your watch,” Cue told the publication. “If I took my watch off and gave it to you, it would know and no longer work.”

The Watch will only unlock itself when you strap it to your wrist and enter the passcode or unlock it by touching the fingerprint sensor on your iPhone. This is a simple, yet clever trick to keep your Watch from being misused by someone with ulterior motives.

At its Spring Forward event last week, Apple launched the Watch in as many as 34 variants. The wearable goes on sale in select markets from next month onwards with a price tag starting at $349 and going well above $10,000. As for India, reports claim that it will arrive sometime around June, with a base price above Rs 30,000.

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Apple No.1 4G smartphone, tablet vendor in India: CMR – The Times of India on Mobile

http://m.timesofindia.com/tech/tech-news/Apple-No-1-4G-smartphone-tablet-vendor-in-India-CMR/articleshow/46456705.cms

Apple No.1 4G smartphone, tablet vendor in India: CMR

NEW DELHI: iPhone maker Apple has emerged as the largest 4G LTE device vendor in the country with a market share of 45% in October-December period, CyberMedia Research (CMR) today said.

According to the research firm, over one million LTE devices, including smartphones, tablets and data cards were shipped to the Indian market in the fourth quarter of 2014, marking the ‘coming of age’ of the 4G devices.

“Within smartphones, the major type of LTE devices shipped into the India market, Apple leads with a 45% market share during Q4 CY2014, followed by HTC at 19% and Samsung at 16%,” CMR said.

It added that the Cupertino-based firm dominated the tablet segment with 70.6% market share, followed by Lenovo 28.7% and Hewlett-Packard with a relatively insignificant presence during the period.

“Till a few months ago, we had Apple iPhone and a couple of other global brands offering 4G phones in the India market, but sales started to pick up with competitively priced devices being made available by brands like Xiaomi, Oneplus and Lenovo starting to ship LTE phones towards the end of CY2014,” CMR telecoms practice lead analyst Faisal Kawoosa said.

Though LTE services are currently restricted to few cities in India, sales of devices with such services are picking up as consumers are looking to replace their smartphones, he added.

“Apple enjoyed the early mover advantage and thus led the space during the fourth quarter… Micromax was the only Indian brand that shipped LTE devices during the fourth quarter, albeit with a marginal share of 0.1%,” CMR telecoms practice analyst Vikrant Singh said.

The uptick in 4G-enabled device shipments in India, especially smartphones, shows that it makes the right business proposition for other home-grown brands like Lava, Karbonn and Intex to foray into the LTE devices market, he added.

The LTE datacard market, which accounted for 1% of the 4G devices market, saw Alcatel leading the market with 83% share and Huawei (17%).

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Apple’s Q3 performance from an Indian perspective – The Times of India on Mobile

Interesting “Less than half of Apple’s cash reserves can wipe out India’s fiscal deficit of Rs 5,31,177 crore”

http://m.timesofindia.com/tech/tech-news/Apples-Q3-performance-from-an-Indian-perspective/articleshow/46094051.cms

Apple’s Q3 performance from an Indian perspective

Apple has declared a record net profit for the quarter ended December 2014. Here’s an Indian perspective of this spectacular performance.

Apple’s quarterly profit is more than four times the annual profit of the Indian company with highest profits. The net profit of ONGC for 2013-14 was Rs 26,506 crore.

This is 55% more than the total net profit of Nifty companies. The 50 Nifty companies made Rs 72,125 crore during the July-Sept 2014 quarter.

This can buy the three largest Indian companies, TCS, ONGC and Reliance Industries. Their combined market capitalisation is Rs 10,86,500 crore.

All 50 Nifty companies put together made only Rs 32 crore per hour in the July-Sept 2014 quarter.

Less than half of Apple’s cash reserves can wipe out India’s fiscal deficit of Rs 5,31,177 crore.

If the gigantic cash pile was distributed among the estimated 1.25 billion Indians, each of us will get Rs 8,828.

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iPhone 6 vs. Android: Switch to iOS bigger than ever for iPhone 6 | BGR

http://bgr.com/2015/01/28/iphone-6-vs-android-switch/

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus stole more users from Android than any other iPhone

Wednesday January 28, 2015, 3:05 PM

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are tremendous successes for Apple and have driven iPhone sales to new records — the company sold 74.5 million iPhone units during the first quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, with the bulk of them being 2014 iPhones. Tim Cook praised the devices during Tuesday’s earnings conference call, MacRumors reports, revealing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus managed to bring more users to iOS from Android than any other iPhone before.

FROM EARLIER: Samsung’s iPhone 6 nightmare is unfolding before its eyes

Apple’s CEO said that only a “small fraction” of the installed iPhone base has upgraded to a new iPhone, and that the majority of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are new to iPhone, including Android users who have switched to iPhone.

“I would point out that only a small fraction of the installed base has upgraded, so there’s a lot more people within the installed base, but I would also point out that we had the highest number of customers new to iPhone last quarter than in any prior launch,” Cook said (via SixColors) when asked about Apple’s expectations for iPhone going forward. “And also that the current iPhone lineup experienced the highest Android switcher rate in any of the last three launches in any of the three previous years[iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S]. We didn’t look back to the other years, I don’t know about those.”

Cook also admitted the company does not have all the data, but the first estimates suggest more Android users got an iPhone last quarter than before.

“At this point, just shortly after the quarter, we don’t have all of our research in from all of the people that bought last quarter yet,” Cook said. “But in the aggregate, as I’ve mentioned before, we saw more new customers to iPhone than we’d ever seen before, and we had a higher rate of Android switchers than we had in the three previous launches, and it’s not that we had more in the fourth one, it’s that I don’t know what those numbers are. And so between the switchers and the people that are just new to smartphones and selected an iPhone, and our upgrades, which we’re very happy with but represent a small fraction of our installed base, we feel really great about what’s in front of us.”

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Apple topples Xiaomi, Samsung to become China’s top smartphone vendor | Latest Tech News, Video & Ph oto Reviews at BGR India

http://www.bgr.in/manufacturers/apple/apple-topples-xiaomi-samsung-to-become-chinas-top-smartphone-vendor/

Apple topples Xiaomi, Samsung to become China’s top smartphone vendor

Tuesday January 27, 2015, 10:57 PM

Later today, Apple will be announcing its quarterly earnings, revealing the number of iPhones the company managed to sell (among other things) in the Q4 which ended on December 31 last year. China will be playing a crucial role in the company’s earnings today. China was a huge market for Apple, with 22 percent of all iPhones shipped in late 2013, and if independent analyst company Canalys estimations are to be believed, the company will surpass all competitors including Samsung and Xiaomi to take the top spot as the largest smartphone shipper in the world’s most populous nation.

It’s an achievement of sorts for the Cupertino-based company to take the top position in China. Unlike in the United States and United Kingdom, in China, the company competes with the smartphone manufacturer like Xiaomi, Meizu and others that sell their flagship handsets at half to quarter of iPhones’ price point.

In late 2013, Apple made an agreement with nation’s largest carrier, China Mobile to bring LTE capable iPhones in the country, a feature that has since proved to be a crucial selling factor. The company has since partnered with all the three largest carriers in China that has evidently bolstered its sales figure in the country. The new iPhones, that sport larger screen sizes have also enabled the company to lure in more users.

According to Analysts at UBS, Apple could reveal today that it has sold more iPhones in China than in the United States. The analysts predict that the China has captured 36 percent of all iPhone shipments last quarter, compared with 24 percent in the United States.

Canalys estimates that the top four vendors in Q4 in China by units shipped are Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei.

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Apple earnings Q1 2015: iPhone sales price average keeps going up | BGR

http://bgr.com/2015/01/27/apple-earnings-q1-2015-iphone-sales/

The single most incredible thing about Apple’s world-beating quarter

Tuesday January 27, 2015, 5:02 PM

Yes, it seems that Apple has posted yet another record-smashing earnings report as it generated $74.6 billion in sales and an EPS of $3.06. But there’s one particular number that should really impress us when looking at Apple’s earnings: A huge rise in the average selling price (ASP) for iPhones.

FROM EARLIER: Apple posts record-smashing Q1 results as iPhone sales soar

Jan Dawson has posted the following chart on Twitter that compares the iPhone’s ASP with the iPad’s ASP. We can see that while the iPad has continued to decline from quarter to quarter, the iPhone has just hit a new high of $687.

In some ways, this shouldn’t surprise us because Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus costs $100 more than the iPhone 6, which means that Apple is now selling devices that are more expensive than any it’s ever released.

On the other hand, it’s still remarkable how Apple has been able to keep the iPhone’s ASP high in a brutally competitive market that has even forced companies as successful as Samsung to focus more on low-end and mid-range devices to compete with vendors such as Xiaomi. Other than the brief experiment with the iPhone 5c, Apple has never tried to play this game.

This is also significant because for a long time the iPhone has been Apple’s main “profit monster” and has delivered higher gross margins than any other Apple product around. With record quarterly sales and an ASP that’s still on the rise, Apple can practically print money with its iPhone business at this point.

CNBC points out that Apple’s iPhone business by itself is “bigger than Google and Microsoft combined,” which is again an absolutely stunning testament to the iPhone’s success.

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Surprise! Apple is a camera company! | Latest Tech News, Video & Photo Reviews at BGR India

http://www.bgr.in/news/surprise-apple-is-a-camera-company/

Surprise! Apple is a camera company!

Sunday January 11, 2015, 7:34 PM

Photo sharing service Flickr has released some stats showing which are the most popular cameras used in their social community. And surprisingly enough, Apple is the preferred choice for most users for taking their photographs. So much so, that it even trumps DSLRs by Cannon and Nikon. Apple’s iPhones held the top three spots in individual cameras owned on Flickr.

In 2014, the most popular mobile cameras owned on Flickr were made by Apple, Petapixel reports. Apple’s iPhones took the top four spots and such is Apple’s domination that out of the top 10 mobile cameras, seven were Apple devices. The iPhone 5 ruled the game, followed closely by the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 5C. On the fifth spot we see the Samsung Galaxy S3, followed by Galaxy S5, after which comes the iPhone 6, iPad, HTC One and iPad mini.

In the overall camera brands owned by Flickr users in 2014, Apple stands in the second position, just behind Cannon. It is also interesting to note that in 2013, Apple owned the third spot in this category. Apple trumped Sony and Nikon to take this spot.

Even in the 2014 top individual cameras owned on Flickr category, the first three spots are Apple devices. The iPhone 5 again sits on top, followed by iPhone 4S and iPhone 4.

The results don’t necessarily mean that Apple makes better cameras than professional DSLRs or mirrorless cameras. The data simply points out the shift of users from stand-alone cameras to smartphones and how smartphone cameras have evolved over the years. The data also points out that while Apple might not ship the most number of smartphones in the world, it does ship the most number of individual models, which explains why its iPhones dominate the charts. It won’t be surprising if by next year Apple surpasses even Canon to become the most owned camera brand on Flickr.

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iPhone 6 Apple Pay Commercial from Bank of America | BGR

http://bgr.com/2015/01/02/iphone-6-apple-pay-commercial/

The real brilliance of Apple Pay – the iPhone 6 gets free marketing from major banks

Friday January 2, 2015, 8:45 PM

Not only is Apple Pay the most popular mobile payments solution available in the U.S. even though it only launched a few months ago on just two devices, but it’s also a very powerful marketing instrument for those two devices. And it’s not only Apple’s own iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus ads, either — banks who want Apple Pay to succeed are heavily marketing Apple’s newest iPhones as well.

FROM EARLIER: iPhone 6: This might be Apple’s smartest marketing trick for selling even more units

Bank of America is one of the major financial institutions in the U.S. supporting Apple Pay, and the company in mid-December released a Christmas-related ad for Apple Pay. The commercial, based on the popular Get Smart show, says you can get smart by shopping with Apple Pay available only on the iPhone 6.

“Before she bought something for her husband, something for Buster, and a little something for herself, Nancy grabbed her iPhone 6 so she could pay with her Bank of America card using Apple Pay,” the narrator says. “The new, easy, secure, smart way to pay with a simple touch. That’s the convenience of innovative connections. That’s Bank of America.”

The free publicity Apple gets in such Apple Pay commercials is priceless — something competing smartphone makers, and competing mobile payments providers, can only dream for at this point — and might help it sell even more iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units, which have been selling tremendously well since their launch.

Bank of America’s full Get Smart ad follows below.

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