Google's Nexus 4 to have Little Impact in Smartphone Sales

Google is choosing to release its new smartphone, the Nexus 4, exclusively in developed countries such as the US, UK, and Australia. The phone will be sold at cost, meaning revenue will come only through content sales such as music and video services. Content providers, however, have been reluctant to release digital content in developed countries due to piracy fears. Therefore, Nexus 4 sales are not expected to impact sales of major manufacturers such as Samsung and Nokia.

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Smartphones Become Major Conduit for Payments Evolution

A rapid uptake of new technology is quickly shifting the payment landscape. Advances in different technologies has given way to new consumer devices, such as smartphones and tablets, as well as new ways of sharing information such as NFC chips, QR codes, Bluetooth technology and cloud computing. All these factors, as well as new regulations, revamped business models and shifting payments habits will reshape the payments industry for years to come.

Across the world, mobile phones have become the necessary communications tool both in developed and emerging markets. In developed markets, PCs and laptops are taking a backseat as smartphone owners use this smaller, more convenient device to surf the internet everywhere they go. In emerging markets, the mobile phone has become a leapfrog technology. The lack of infrastructural development in fixed-line telephony, which is costly to set up in vast and remote areas have led to the faster uptake of mobile telephones in emerging markets compared to fixed-line telephones. Mobile phones are no longer a luxury item, but also a lifestyle aid in both developed and emerging markets.

Nokia Maps to Drive Windows Market Shares in Smartphones

Map navigation has become an integral part of a smartphone user's daily usage. Data from comScore Inc showed that more than one third of users from five Western European markets surveyed accessed maps via their smartphones.

Apple Inc replaced Google Map with its own Apple Maps on its iOS6, which is preloaded on the newly launched iPhone 5. Globally, there has been feedback of how poorly Apple Maps fared against Google Map and Nokia Map, which are from competing software platforms.

Nokia Inc has been quick to showcase its Nokia Map and Nokia Drive capabilities and carries a comparison of the map features found on the three competing platforms on its company's blog. Nokia's key advantages are mainly its broad coverage spanning more than 110 countries and offline navigation capabilities. With mobile subscriptions in emerging markets like Nigeria exploding and mobile data yet to gain substantial traction, offline navigation is a must-have in these markets.

Chinese Government’s Efforts to Spur Consumer Electronics Sales

Analyst Insight By Mykola Golovko, Consumer Electronics Analyst at Euromonitor International

As leading indicators point to a looming sharp slowdown in economic growth in China, attention is focused on the steps that the Chinese government may take to spur economic activity, like accelerating technology adoption and introduction of subsidy programs.

Stimulus measures are likely to be a combination of monetary easing and fiscal intervention, with the latter doing much of the heavy lifting. International pressures to raise the value of the Yuan, combined with historically high savings rates and prevalence of potentially bad loans in the market, is likely to severely limit the government’s monetary response options.

New Report - Android and Windows: Creating Differentiators

Manufacturers can save on development cost and faster time-to-market by using third party OS offered by Android and Windows. The downside is a lack of unique differentiators in the crowded, highly competitive smartphones and tablets markets. Major manufacturers like Samsung Corp have had to resort to costly software layers for differentiation. Euromonitor International explores and suggests selective features implementation and consumer engagements as differentiators.

Download a sample of the report, "Android and Windows: Creating Differentiators"

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Who will compete with Apple and Microsoft?

Since its loss to Apple in court, Samsung has been outspoken in its plan to lead in every category it competes in. Wee Teck Loo, Global Head of Consumer Electronics Research at Euromonitor, discusses Samsung's lead in smartphones and digital TVs. Loo also reviews the disappointing display of tablet computers at IFA, with the expectations of more innovation after the announcement of the Surface Tablet from Microsoft.

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Photokina 2012: Full-Frame Cameras Next on the Price Chopping Block

Photokina brings together the biggest names in imaging products in Cologne, Germany where the latest upcoming cameras and camcorders are showcased. The September 2012 event brought out an unusually large and variable array of full-frame censor cameras. Is this a one-off coincidence or part of a macro trend in digital imaging?

A real camera

Digital cameras have countless advantages over their 35mm predecessors in terms of convenience of use and shooting feature sets. One disadvantage shared by the vast majority of digital cameras in the market today compared to their analogue predecessors is that the sensor is smaller than the 35mm film frame. Lens and mirror designs (in DSLR models) have been changed over the years to minimise drawbacks of smaller sensors, but the laws of optics are unforgiving and the smaller-sensor cameras have reduced depth of field and angle of view among other optical limitations, hence professional-grade digital cameras were outfitted with full frame sensors. However, the cost of these sensors has been too high for consumer-grade cameras, and they were featured mostly in large-body, professional-grade DSLRs.

Riots at Foxconn Will Not Affect iPhone 5 Supply

While the full extent and damages of the riots that occurred at Foxconn’s Shanxi’s factory is not known, we do not expect the disruption to adversely affect iPhone’s supply. In the coming months, strong demand from consumers will ensure scarcity of supplies.

However, the riots could not come at a worse time. The contract manufacturer is ramping up production for the holiday season as it receives added scrutiny from the public, labour rights advocates and even the central Chinese government.

Apple Inc reported over 5 million iPhone 5 sold over the weekend. However, the early headstart by Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and other smartphone models will propel the Korean chaebol to overtake Apple as the market leadership in smartphones this year.

The New iPhone: Too Little, Too Late?

The tech world awaits the launch of Apple Inc’s iPhone 4S successor on Wednesday, Sept. 12. With Samsung Corp and HTC Corp’s flagship models (Galaxy S III and One X) already in the market, the new iPhone will have to sport a larger screen size (as compared to current 3.5” on iPhone 4S), quad-core processor and LTE (both of which are already on the current iPad) to be competitive.

While there is no denying the buying frenzy for the new iPhone when it is available, Euromonitor International expects Samsung to overtake Apple in 2012 as the market leader in smartphones. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III was launched a full quarter earlier and the unique stylus option for its Note I models, proving too much for Apple to overcome and catch up.

SoLoMo: Combining the Real and Virtual Worlds

SoLoMo is the latest buzzword from the virtual world. In real-world translation – SoLoMo is an amalgam for social, local and mobile allowing people to interact (social), find (local) and access (mobile) information easily bridging the gap between user and the web. In essence mobile devices allow users to connect to the Internet wherever they are and to interact with their social networks on the move and marketers can use this to target them with localised offers. Great examples of SoLoMo in action include Foursquare and Groupon – platforms that use social marketing and mobile check-ins as a way to drive business to locally based merchants.