Android dethrones iPhone as most owned smartphone platform in Australia

by Marketing ON 27 July 2012

Google’s Android operating system has overtaken Apple’s iOS as the most owned smartphone platform in Australia for the first time, growing its share of the market by 7% in the past quarter and capturing the hearts of technology early adopters.

Over the past year, Marketing with the help of Kantar WorldPanel’s ComTech data has been tracking smartphone penetration in Australia and the battle between iPhone and Android for operating system supremacy in Australia. Data from the ongoing study of 10,000 Australian mobile phone owners shows that, as of the beginning of July, Android commanded 38% of smartphone market share compared to iOS’ 37%.

Kantar’s strategic insights director Tamsin Timpson says Android’s surge has been driven by the success of Samsung, the operating system’s range of offers for new smartphone converts and how female orientated and mainstream the iPhone has become.

“It was in contract [post-paid market] where Apple had its stronghold and it’s now lost that,” Timpson explains. “The share for the contract market is now pretty much level between Apple and Samsung.”

In an ironic twist, Timpson believes the iPhone’s popularity may now be working against it, as early adopters looking for less “mainstream” alternatives hone in on Android, just as Apple’s meteoric rise was built on its position as an edgier alternative to Microsoft. “The younger males who are typically the early adopters of new technology want something different now… I think they want to separate themselves from iPhone because it is so mainstream. Android, Samsung and HTC are showing much more strongly in that younger male demographic.”

With three in five (59%) Australians aged over 16 years now smartphone owners, the surge of Android will see developers and marketers begin to place an even heavier emphasis on Android devices. Android’s growth looks set to continue in the absence of a new iPhone release, with the operating system taking in 63.2% of smartphone sales in the four weeks to July 8, compared to iPhone’s 25.8%, (down from 29.9% in March).

During Apple’s third quarter earnings report on Wednesday morning, CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenhiemer blamed consumers holding out for the widely discussed next iPhone release for a global slow down in sales, while hinting at a Spring release for the launch of the handset’s sixth iteration.

“iPhone sales continued to be impacted by rumour and speculation about new products,” Oppenhiemer said. “We’re reading some rumours and speculation [about a] new iPhone and we think this has caused some pause in customers buying.”

True to form, Apple kept quiet about release dates, but Oppenheimer did mention that Apple “could not be more confident in our new product pipeline,” and also mentioned a Spring “transition”. This transition was brought up in the Q&A after the presentation, to which Oppenhiemer replied, “Not something that we’re going to talk about in any level of detail today”.

The “transition” could be the introduction of a smaller iPad or the launch of the next iPhone. MacRumours points out that it will need to take place before the end of September in order for the new release move the dial on next quarter’s figures. Apple also said that it expects a year-over-year increase in Mac, iPad and iPhone sales in September, fuelling speculation of a Spring launch.

According to Timpson partnerships with the carriers could also be impacting on iPhone’s fortunes in Australia, with around two-thirds of new phone buyers in the Australian market classified as ‘upgraders’ who buy new handsets with the same carrier. “Optus is very tied in with Samsung and Telstra with HTC,” Timpson says. “Handset manufacturers need to make sure they’ve got a really strong relationship with their carriers otherwise that carrier is going to push a different brand.”

While the surge in Android handsets represents the first time the operating system has toppled the iPhone for market share in Australia, iOS users continue to user their phone for more tasks than Android users, with 55% using 11 or more non-voice services a month compared to 22% for Android overall. This access to a greater range of content and apps is borne out at the advanced handset level also with only 33% of Samsung’s Galaxy S II owners and 35% of S III models being heavy users of non-voice services.

“iPhone owners are still the highest spenders and very much engaged with their phones,” Timpson concludes. “They over-index on everything compared to the average smartphone owner. Because Android is capturing a much higher proportion of new smartphone owners those people tend to be lighter users of non-voice services and aren’t as engaged with their smartphones.”

Timpson predicts that Apple will hit back, but much will depend on how the sixth-generation iPhone is received when launched later in the year.

Mobile brands buddy up at World Mobile Congress

by Marketing ON 29 February 2012

Mobile brands have used this week’s World Mobile Congress to unveil new flagship models and announce strategic partnerships, as the battle for mobile dominance heats up.

With Apple absent from the event, HTC, Sony, Samsung and Nokia have buddied up with a variety of content brands in a bid to grow their share of the hotly contested mobile market and chip away at Apple’s dominance of apps and content.

Facebook was one of the most promiscuous players at the event, jumping into bed with Samsung, Microsoft and Orange to develop a mobile web app store as an alternative to Apple’s App Store.

The move was announced by the social network’s chief technology officer, Bret Taylor, who outlined the vision for a single mobile web standard and simpler payment system that will enable developers to create apps for the mobile web, rather than rely on third-party app stores.

Meanwhile, Nokia revealed plans to extend its Groupon tie-up to bolster its location-based offering, as well as relationships with Red Bull and Kraft Foods to broaden its mobile offer.

Sony, which bought out Ericcson to take full control of its mobile brand, announced an aggressive approach to relaunching its brand alongside its flagship Xperia S handset, with marketing spend set to triple in key markets this year.

Samsung, now the biggest smartphone seller, introduced two new Android models, Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Beam, while HTC unveiled three new Android phones, the One X, One V, and quad-core S “superphone”.

Nokia looks set to continue its revival announcing its first Windows Phone aimed at the mass market – the Lumia 610 – and the PureView 808, a Symbian-based smartphone targeted at extreme mobile photographers.

Core smartphone functionalities, such as camera and music playback, emerged as a strategy for brands struggling to compete with the big players’ content and value-added services.

Principal analyst at Ovum, Tony Cripps, says the decision to focus on these areas is a pragmatic one for brands who lack the resources to differentiate themselves from rivals such as Sony, Samsung, and Apple in terms of value-added services.

“HTC’s strategy to streamline its branding and to offer fewer, better-differentiated products is a reaction to both market forces and engineering necessity,” Cripps says.

“The company lacks the resources to easily differentiate itself from rivals such as Sony, Samsung, and Apple in terms of value-added services, so its decision to focus on perfecting core smartphone functionality around camera and music playback.”

Visa announced a new service that provides financial institutions and mobile network operators with a one-stop solution to securely download payment account information to smartphones enabled with near field communication (NFC) technology

The mobile market is forecast to be populated by 24 billion connected devices by 2020.

As Australia’s only LTE operator, Telstra announced the launch of two new LTE enabled devices, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 8.9 4G and a prepaid internet dongle.

Nokia feels the HTC heat

by Marketing ON 16 September 2010

In light of Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC launching its new products on the same day as the London-based Nokia World event, Nokia has retaliated with a few tactics of its own, reported The Age.

HTC has just launched its Desire HD, an update to the Desire launched earlier in 2010, and highly touted to be strong competition for the iPhone 4. HTC sent buses to the Nokia World event to take journalists to its Desire press event, to which Nokia responded by releasing a HTC press conference survival kit.

According to theage.com.au, the kit contained a HTC sandwich (“ham, tomato and cheese – not the most exciting sandwich”), an energy bar (“in case you need a boost”), a Nokia foam finger (“to use during the Q and A”), a pen and notepad (“for doodling”) and ear plugs and an eye mask (“in case you feel snoozy”).

Nokia sent their own supporters to the HTC event holding red Nokia balloons which said “I know where I’m going with Nokia’s Ovi Maps.”

Nokia responded to public criticism of its tactics on its Twitter page with the statement: “HTC drives buses up to our front door to hijack #nokiaworld – so we give out red balloons plus lunch…and u call us dirty!? LOL!”

HTC Australia’s managing director Anthony Petts told The Age that the stunt highlighted that Nokia saw HTC as a serious competitor. Thats in some ways an accolade that were being taken so seriously. The feedback that I saw was that it [the stunt] actually probably backfired.

The HD Desire will be on sale in Australia before the end of 2010, with prices still to be released.

At the aforementioned event Nokia unveiled three new handset models, the C6, C7 and E7.

Apple takes on HTC over stolen patents

by Marketing ON 3 March 2010

Apple has announced its intention to launch legal action against Taiwanese company HTC, accusing its mobile market rival of lifting its patented touchscreen technology.

Following the release of HTC’s Nexus One, G1 and myTouch touchscreen models – which all run off Google’s Android platform – Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs released a statement indicating that he’s had enough of what he sees as patent theft.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” Jobs said in a statement.

The action was filed with the US International Trade Commission and the District Court in Wilmington, Deleware, which can award damages and order HTC to stop sales.

Apple’s decision comes after it counter-sued phone giant Nokia, claiming that its lawsuit regarding manufacturing cost reduction and battery life is baseless.

“We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours,” concluded Jobs.