Smartphone and Cellphone Wars

[Monseratto]

Has the IPhone reached saturation point?

Apple shares drifted below $500 on Monday, following reports the company had cut orders for certain iPhone parts due to weaker-than-expected demand for the latest version of the popular smartphone.

The selling continued Tuesday after analysts at Nomura Securities lowered their earnings estimates for Apple and warned that profit margins on the iPhone "are unsustainably high and will fall."

"We are cutting our Apple estimates this morning to reflect weaker-than-expected sales of the iPhone 5 as indicated by our checks," Nomura analysts wrote in a report.

Shares in the iPhone maker ended the day at $485.92, down just over 3 percent for the day after having closed yesterday at $501.75. In trading today, Apple's stock never rose above the $500 mark.

On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal cited sources who said that Apple had cut component orders for its iPhone 5 due to slumping demand for the handset. That bad news pushed Apple's shares lower yesterday as investors became concerned with the company's ability to compete as effectively in the mobile market.

[ghosthunter]

Has the IPhone reached saturation point?

Could be. Many with iPhone 4 or 4S will not find enough reason to upgrade to the iPhone 5. Also the iPhone has no major upgrade, only tiny improvements which does not really surpass the previous model.

[Retz]

Could be. Many with iPhone 4 or 4S will not find enough reason to upgrade to the iPhone 5. Also the iPhone has no major upgrade, only tiny improvements which does not really surpass the previous model.

Apple should do something drastic coming up with the iPhone 6. It should be different.

[Monseratto]

Big Screens are in...expensive small screens are passe...

Expect More Powerful, Bigger Screen Galaxy Smartphones from Samsung
By Erik Pineda | January 14, 2013 12:37 PM EST

Smartphones will only get bigger in the next few years because consumers are embracing the trend, Samsung said, hinting too that its current success rides high on the level of satisfaction the company delivers to global gadget users.

Testament to the South Korean tech giant's incredible achievement is the ..3 billion operating profit it realised in Q4 2012, based on the firm's preliminary reporting, which was backed by indications from Daewoo Securities that Galaxy smartphones were snapped up by at least 62 million consumers worldwide.

For the past six quarters, Samsung undoubtedly is the boss among the giant device maker, besting even the company that started all this excitement, Apple.

The company also recently celebrated strong sales of its Galaxy Note 2 phablet, which hit more than 5 million unit sales just two months after its release.

So what is the secret of Samsung's success and how far is the company willing to go in stretching the mobile phone's screen size and entrance the world?

Samsung is now an Asian tech juggernaut, according to Farhad Manjoo writing for Slate.com, because it was willing to challenge the seemingly unstoppable rise of Apple a few years ago, when iPod, iPhone and iPad were practically waylaying the competition.

Samsung braved the global Apple hurricane by figuring out that global consumers outside of the iPhone and iPad sphere are willing to pay for, Mr Manjoo said.

"By giving people what they wanted - even if it meant copying Apple - Samsung had become a global gadget powerhouse," he added.

And the company was willing to gamble and face ridicule. When it launched the Galaxy Note, critics were like: "What Samsung was thinking?" The Note was outrightly dismissed to head for oblivion. Yet the smartphone, now called phablet, generated phenomenal reaction and racked up more than 10 million of global sales and counting.

It was also refreshed via the Galaxy Note 2, which found more success, which convinced the firm to further push the envelope, indicating too that its future offerings will only be limited by buyers' reception.

There will be more giant screen phones to roll out from Samsung's production lines, according to Nick DiCarlo, who heads the company's product planning division, adding that "we know, and we've proven very effectively, that consumers like big-screen phones."

In an interview with PC Magazine, Mr DiCarlo acknowledged that rival manufacturers are noticing the rise of Samsung's phablet initiative and are issuing Note challengers. He maintained, however, that the Note's unique flavour will keep it on top of the food chain.

"Ours has the S-Pen ecosystem: the pen, the digitizer, the SDK and the apps ... We have more work to do to make that ecosystem as good as it can be," the Samsung executive told PC Magazine.

For the next two years, Samsung is not only gunning to improve on its devices' hardware and software specs but also to deliver the best experience possible that users can draw from the gadget of their choice.

Putting into perspective the prevailing trend in the mobile device industry, Mr DiCarlo pointed to Samsung's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3, deemed as too much of a widescreen when its 4.8-inch screen debuted to tussle with the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and other Android handsets.

Now, save for the Apple smartphone, the rest are stretching their screens too and all of a sudden "the funny emotion for me now is how small the Galaxy S3 feels," noted Mr DiCarlo.

[roninblade]

Apple should do something drastic coming up with the iPhone 6. It should be different.

i think the problem is the iOS, not the hardware. they need to "innovate" the sh1t out of it. it looks boring and old compared to the current features of android (and maybe even the new Blackberry).

flagship android phones already had everything the iphone5 has to offer (except for Passbook, of course) months before the iphone5 came out. the small things the Galaxy Note II can do right now (PictureInPicture, opening two apps side by side) may not mean much for most users but it shows how much more flexible Android is compared to the dinosaur that is iOS. Samsung has also been making strides in curved/flexible display which i think they're planning to release by 2014.

Apple needs to get off their collective behind, stop patenting stupid sH17 and stop suing everybody left and right because they are getting left behind.

[shadow]

i think the problem is the iOS, not the hardware. they need to "innovate" the sh1t out of it. it looks boring and old compared to the current features of android (and maybe even the new Blackberry).

flagship android phones already had everything the iphone5 has to offer (except for Passbook, of course) months before the iphone5 came out. the small things the Galaxy Note II can do right now (PictureInPicture, opening two apps side by side) may not mean much for most users but it shows how much more flexible Android is compared to the dinosaur that is iOS. Samsung has also been making strides in curved/flexible display which i think they're planning to release by 2014.

Apple needs to get off their collective behind, stop patenting stupid sH17 and stop suing everybody left and right because they are getting left behind.

if only apple would adapt tweaks from cydia, they'll be ahead of android, the PIP before pa luamabas sa note yan meron na yan sa cydia tweak "quasar" open multiple windows like in PCs...

[roninblade]

if only apple would adapt tweaks from cydia, they'll be ahead of android, the PIP before pa luamabas sa note yan meron na yan sa cydia tweak "quasar" open multiple windows like in PCs...

problem kasi ng iOS din is the lack of proper multitasking. it is handicapped on purpose to make it more responsive. but, with the advent of multi-core mobile processors hindi na kelangan gawin yun. problem nalang talaga sa mobile tech ngayon is extending the battery life so we can enjoy our increasingly powerful gadgets longer on the road.

[Retz]

problem kasi ng iOS din is the lack of proper multitasking. it is handicapped on purpose to make it more responsive. but, with the advent of multi-core mobile processors hindi na kelangan gawin yun. problem nalang talaga sa mobile tech ngayon is extending the battery life so we can enjoy our increasingly powerful gadgets longer on the road.

correct. olats ang iphone 5 sa note II when it comes to battery life. pero may nabibili naman mga 'power banks' that is portable and handy.

[shadow]

problem kasi ng iOS din is the lack of proper multitasking. it is handicapped on purpose to make it more responsive. but, with the advent of multi-core mobile processors hindi na kelangan gawin yun. problem nalang talaga sa mobile tech ngayon is extending the battery life so we can enjoy our increasingly powerful gadgets longer on the road.

agree, quasar's the nearest real multitasking you'll get from IOS, IPAD nga nga lang available which make sense since maliit naman screen ng iphones.

[Retz]

i think the problem is the iOS, not the hardware. they need to "innovate" the sh1t out of it. it looks boring and old compared to the current features of android (and maybe even the new Blackberry).

flagship android phones already had everything the iphone5 has to offer (except for Passbook, of course) months before the iphone5 came out. the small things the Galaxy Note II can do right now (PictureInPicture, opening two apps side by side) may not mean much for most users but it shows how much more flexible Android is compared to the dinosaur that is iOS. Samsung has also been making strides in curved/flexible display which i think they're planning to release by 2014.

Apple needs to get off their collective behind, stop patenting stupid sH17 and stop suing everybody left and right because they are getting left behind.

Yes, of course including the IOS. They need a major 'facelift.'

[Boy Bastos]

Could be. Many with iPhone 4 or 4S will not find enough reason to upgrade to the iPhone 5. Also the iPhone has no major upgrade, only tiny improvements which does not really surpass the previous model.

Correct. Why replace your 4S with a longer version and has the same shit with 4S? Unless it's free. :D

[shadow]

Correct. Why replace your 4S with a longer version and has the same shit with 4S? Unless it's free. :D

exactly! free dapat