‘People want Android, not Windows Phone’ says Samsung’s Mobile Chief

Alex Allegro

tech_samsung_galaxy_s3_launch_23

Samsung’s Mobile Chief has some harsh words directed towards Microsoft. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, J.K. Shin said that Android devices such as phones and tablets are outselling Windows Phone devices and there is a clear demand for Android over Windows. 

The exact Q&A goes as follows:

WSJ: What about your relationship with Microsoft? Has it changed after Nokia began to work more closely with Microsoft on Windows devices?

Mr. Shin: Smartphones and tablets based on Microsoft’s Windows operating system aren’t selling very well. There is a preference in the market for Android. In Europe, we’re also seeing lackluster demand for Windows-based products.

While it’s clearly no surprise that Android devices are outselling Windows devices, the harsh words come just months after lackluster sales of the Microsoft Surface RT and Pro. According to a report this morning from Bloomberg, “people with knowledge about the companies sales” are saying that Microsoft has sold about 1.5 million Surface devices total. Also keep in mind that Samsung just announced the Galaxy S IV, the successor to the best-selling Android phone on the planet, which’ll be sure to gather up some massive sales for Samsung.

Analyst: Google to sell 2.9M Nexus 7s in Q3, 8M by the end of 2012

Jordan Kahn

Shortly after becoming available in the United States and Canada at various retailers and Google Play in mid-July, we reported Google suspended orders of the 16GB version while reports claimed the company had simply sold out of initial supplies. It would take Google weeks to restock the device, according to reports, but the 16GB model was again available on the store just a week later. Today, we get a look at just how many Nexus 7 tabs Google might have sold with analyst Sameer Singh estimating 6- to- 8 million units sold by the end of 2012 (via ComputerWorld):

Google could sell between six million and eight million of its $199 Nexus 7 tablets by year’s end, according to a new estimate… That’s more than double the three million Google expected to sell by the end of 2012, after putting the device on sale in July and seeing the 16GB version sell-out briefly… The estimate, based on projections using expected shipments of four million touch panels for the Nexus 7 in the third quarter 2012,

Google has not released any sales data related to the device and declined to comment on the estimates. Singh’s estimates definitely blow by the “1.5 million units in five weeks” estimated by Gartner. The estimate of 8 million units by year’s end is also significantly higher than Gartner’s estimates. According to Singh, “Google and Asus may have roughly doubled their [sales] estimates and cranked up the production volume.” Singh explained how he used panel orders to come up with his estimates: Read more

Samsung predicts Galaxy S III sales of over 10M units for July

Jordan Kahn

JK Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile division, told reporters today (via Reuters) that the company expects to sell over 10 million units of the recently launched Galaxy S III during July. Despite concerns of component shortages for the flagship device, the company is expecting higher earnings for its current quarter compared to the $3.6 billion profit generated from January to March:

Samsung kicked off global sales of its Galaxy S III on May 29, but shipments have been affected by the tight supply of parts such as the handset casing for the pebble-blue model… In the United States, where sales were launched last Thursday, major carriers including Sprint Nextel Corp, T-Mobile and AT&T have not been able to offer the Galaxy with 32 gigabytes of memory, partly due to tight supply… “Due to overwhelming demand for the Galaxy S III worldwide, Samsung has informed us they will not be able to deliver enough inventory of Galaxy S III for Sprint to begin selling the device on June 21.”

Shin assured reporters that the company is not worried about the shortages affecting second quarter results. Shin noted “supply simply can’t meet soaring demand,” but he claimed, “things will get better from next week”:

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Feature

Samsung has incredible March, tallies 3 million Galaxy Notes sold in 4 weeks

Seth Weintraub

In a land where SUVs rule the landscape in the face of growing fuel costs, it is little surprise that a well-made, huge Android Phablet would sell well in the U.S. Indeed, Samsung’s Galaxy Note got a supers-shot of sales adrenaline when it reached the United States shores.

The Note passed 2 million in sales earlier this month, but add its recent U.S. launch, and the smartphone maker now claims it has sold 5 million devices. Detractors will of course claim that 5 million sold “into inventory and not necessarily sales.”  Samsung clarifies that these are sales. It is pretty clear that there are not a million devices in inventory—these are selling well either way.

Samsung passed 1 million Notes at the end of last year. My Galaxy Note review.

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DigiTimes: Barnes & Noble to ship one million Nook Tablets

Jordan Kahn

When Barnes & Noble unveiled the new Android-powered Nook Tablet, it was clear it would be a Kindle Fire competitor and not necessarily compete in the broader tablet market. Well we already learned earlier this month that Amazon is set to ship around four million units by the end of 2011, but despite that the Nook Tablet is also posting strong numbers with DigiTimes reporting the company has shipped a million units since launch.

Barnes & Noble should have so far taken delivery of one million units of Nook Tablet PCs from OEM production partners… The market had originally expected Barnes & Noble to pull in orders for 800,000 Nook Tablet PCs before year-end 2011, indicated the sources, adding that the increased orders from Barnes & Noble has strengthened Inventec’s position in the OEM tablet PC segment.

At the beginning of December, research firm IHS iSuppli expected Amazon to take estimated 13.8 perfect share of the global tablet market. At that time, the report had Barnes & Noble at 4.7 percent of the market in comparison to Amazon’s 13.8%. These numbers were of course before we learned the Kindle Fire’s initial shipment numbers today. DigiTimes contributes the increased shipments due to strong sales of the Kindle Fire during the Thanksgiving shopping holiday and in anticipation of the upcoming Christmas holidays. Barnes & Noble could potentially begin to close the gap depending on how it performs against the Kindle Fire in the coming weeks.
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Flurry: iOS + Android destroy Nintendo + Sony in U.S. portable gaming revenues

Jordan Kahn

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata declared Apple and iOS as the “enemy of the future” back in 2010. Not only was he right, according to new estimates for the U.S. portable game software by revenue from Flurry Analytics, 2011 seen Nintendo’s grip on the market slide even further as iOS and Android games triple their marketshare from 20% in 2009 to 60% during 2011.

The graphic above shows U.S. revenue for Flurry’s portable gaming category- a category that now includes Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, iOS, and Android. As you can see, iOS and Android have together taken the lead from Nintendo with 58% of revenues in comparison to last year’s 34%. In comparison, Nintendo DS held 57% during 2010, while dropping to just 36% in 2011. Total US revenue jumped from $2.7 billion in 2009 to $3.3 billion in 2011.

When comparing combined game revenues of the two veterans– Sony and Nintendo– with the combined revenues of the two new guys– Apple and Google– 2011 will be the first year where the emerging platforms dominate with iOS and Android estimated to take in $1.9 billion in comparison to the DS and PSP’s $1.4 billion. That accounts for a $200 million drop for Sony and Nintendo and $1.1 billion increase for iOS and Android from 2010. Perhaps investors were right to urge Nintendo to begin developing iOS titles.

As for Nintendo, the company who captured approximately two-thirds of the market in 2009 has seen their “enemy of the future” demote them to just a third of the market. Sony clearly has some catching up to do, but is hard at work on highly anticipated new handheld devices for 2012.
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