The smartphone market continued to grow in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan in Q3, albeit at a modest six percent quarter on quarter, according to IDC.
During this period, India led with 23 million units shipped, and added around five million units to the market over Q2.
Emerging markets in the region also surged ahead with 23 million units shipped, accounting for 22 percent growth as tier-1 Chinese vendors extended their reach outside China.
Data and value-added services have driven mobile growth in Malaysia to reach 42.9 million subscribers and rake in revenues of US$7.45 billion in 2014.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the Malaysian mobile market is currently growing with a mobile penetration rate of 140.7 percent.
Non-voice ARPU is expected to grow by two percent to US$5.9 billion but it will not be able to compensate for the 2.4 percent decline in voice ARPU.
Q3 is a stunnin
g quarter for smartphones as global shipment broke the 300 million unit barrier for the first time. This represented year-on-year growth of 23 percent, according to Canalys.
While Samsung and Apple remain the market leaders, the tussle for the third spot is heating up with was Xiaomi (six percent) followed closely by Lenovo and Huawei at five percent each.
“The global market is becoming more competitive, with vendors beyond Samsung and Apple enjoying growing success. A year ago, in Q3 2013, Samsung and Apple together accounted for 48 percent of worldwide smart phone shipments. While still impressive, in Q3 2014 this had slipped to 38 percent. This trend is likely to continue. It is down to the strong value proposition and increasing quality of products offered across all price points by competing vendors, most notably Chinese companies. In fact, six of the top 10 global vendors in Q3 are based in China,” said Chris Jones, Vice President and Principal Analyst of Canalys.
Algebra can be a bane to students and while some turn to their teachers for help, others request for assistance from parents, siblings and tutors. With PhotoMath, they now have another source of help. Best of all, it’s free!
PhotoMath, which is now available on iOS and Windows smartphones, leverage the devices’ cameras to scan a printed math problem and provide an answer in an instant — complete with the steps to solving the problem.
All the student needs to do is to install the app, scan the equation within a red frame and the app does the rest.
India, China, Pakistan, and Vietnam are among the top five emerging markets that will drive tech devices sale in 2015, according to GfK.
The resarch firm has forecasted that the global technology device market will remain at US$1 trillion next year, just as it has been since 2011.
| Top 10 tech device growth markets in 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 2014 (U$b) | 2015 (U$b) | Percentage YoY | Growth (U$b) |
| India | 30.0 | 34.8 | 16% | 4.8 |
| China | 199.0 | 200.8 | 1% | 1.8 |
| Nigeria | 5.1 | 5.7 | 13% | 0.7 |
| Pakistan | 4.2 | 4.8 | 15% | 0.6 |
| Vietnam | 5.5 | 6.1 | 11% | 0.6 |
| Bangladesh | 3.3 | 3.8 | 13% | 0.4 |
| Brazil | 39.0 | 39.3 | 1% | 0.4 |
| Egypt | 4.6 | 5.0 | 8% | 0.3 |
| Indonesia | 12.4 | 12.7 | 3% | 0.3 |
| Philippines | 3.8 | 4.1 | 6% | 0.2 |
| TOTAL | 306.9 | 317.1 | 3% | 10.1 |
Source: GfK
Enterprise employees are downloading mobile applications from app stores and use these applications to access enterprise assets or perform business functions. What’s scary is that many of these applications have little or no security assurances.
According to Gartner, more than 75 percent of mobile applications will fail basic security tests in 2015. These applications are exposed to attacks and violations of enterprise security policies.
“Enterprises that embrace mobile computing and bring your own device (BYOD) strategies are vulnerable to security breaches unless they adopt methods and technologies for mobile application security testing and risk assurance. Most enterprises are inexperienced in mobile application security. Even when application security testing is undertaken, it is often done casually by developers who are mostly concerned with the functionality of applications, not their security,” said Dionisio Zumerle, Principal Research Analyst of Gartner.
Smartphones will grow from one in three today to two out of every three mobile connections globally by 2020, according to GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA.
It forecasts that the number of smartphone connections will grow three-fold over the next six years, reaching six billion by 2020. Basic phones, feature phones and data terminals such as tablets, dongles and routers will account for the remaining connections. The study excludes M2M from the connections totals.
“The smartphone has sparked a wave of global innovation that has brought new services to millions and efficiencies to businesses of every type. In the hands of consumers, these devices are improving living standards and changing lives, especially in developing markets, while contributing to growing economies by stimulating entrepreneurship.,” said Hyunmi Yang, Chief Strategy Officer of GSMA.
Just a day after Tim Cook announced the much-awaited Apple Watch to a thrilled gathering of journalists, Canalys is predicting that the device will be the biggest driver behind wearable band shipment in 2015.
The global wearable market is expected to grow 129 percent year on year to reach 43.2 million units in 2015, of which 28.2 million will be smart bands and 15.0 million will be basic bands, according Canalys.
Canalys defines smart bands as those capable of running third-party applications, and basic bands, as those which are not.
Demand for smartphones are on the rise with more 301.3 million units shipped worldwide in Q2, up 25.3 percent from the 240.5 million units shipped in the corresponding quarter last year, according to IDC.
The dominant smartphone operating systems (OS), Android and iOS, saw their combined market share swell to 96.4 percent for the quarter, leaving little space for competitors.
Android was the primary driver with its vendor partners shipping a total of 255.3 million Android-based smartphones in Q2, up 33.3 percent year over year. Meanwhile, iOS saw its market share decline despite posting 12.7 percent year-over-year shipment growth. While Android and iOS both realised gains from a year ago, the rest of the market recorded losses.
Apple and Samsung, beware! Chinese smartphone vendors are hot on your heels. According to IDC, a wide range of Chinese OEMs more than outpaced the market in Q2, with Huawei nearly doubling its shipment from a year ago, followed by Lenovo.
Huawei’s growth is spurred by 4G LTE pick up, particularly in China, as all three national carriers subsidised 4G handsets to encourage consumers to upgrade from 3G. Outside of China, large volumes of its lower-cost Y series fueled growth across most regions. The company continues to focus on broadening its global reach and the Q2 results show that the momentum is undoubtedly there.
Lenovo had a record quarter in China despite tremendous pressure from local brands. During the quarter, Lenovo saw increased success from the A788T and the 3G A388T. While its Motorola acquisition is undergoing approval, Lenovo continued to gain traction in international markets. Though less than five percent of Lenovo’s shipments were registered outside of China in Q2 2013, this share nearly tripled this Q2, with emerging markets, particularly BRIC countries, picking up the largest volumes.
Beautiful scenery, spectacular views and natural landscape make New Zealand a wonderful place to delight in outdoor activities. It’s no wonder then that New Zealanders are known to spend lots of time enjoying outdoor activities.
However, technology seems to be changing the way New Zealanders live. According to IDC, New Zealand consumers are choosing to go out less often for shopping and leisure activities, as they prefer to do these activities in the comfort of their own home, thanks to advances in technology.
The new data reveals that 47 percent of respondents would prefer to do personal shopping online, rather than in a physical store.
Entelechy Asia 