HTC to focus on China as revenues fall February 4, 2013 SMARTPHONE manufacturer HTC said yesterday it planned to focus on emerging markets, having been squeezed out of the US and western Europe by Samsung and Apple. The Taiwanese firm has seen its market share plummet in the last two years. The Taiwanese firm’s chief Peter Chou (pictured) warned of a 17 per cent revenue fall [...]
Super Bowl advertisements hit record prices in age of YouTube February 3, 2013 ADVERTS at this year’s Super Bowl have hit record prices, with the price of a 30-second advertisement at the event reaching an average of $3.8m (£2.4m). Companies including Samsung, Budweiser and Coca-Cola have paid US television network CBS around nine per cent more than they did last year for the event, which was broadcast last [...]
Apple’s slice of the tablet pie shrinks in the fourth quarter January 31, 2013 APPLE’S share of the tablet market fell over the Christmas period, even as it sold record numbers of iPads, according to research. Figures from market analysts IDC claim that the iPad and iPad mini accounted for 43.6 per cent of worldwide sales in the fourth quarter of 2012. This was down from 51.7 per cent [...]
The Debate: After a rebrand and new product launch, can BlackBerry save itself from decline? January 31, 2013 YES Jeff Kagan BlackBerry can be saved, but it won’t reclaim its position as a market leader. The question is who is going to be the third player in the market behind Apple and Google: Microsoft, Nokia, or BlackBerry? BlackBerry still has a sizeable customer base – especially corporate users. Its brand was looking tired, [...]
BlackBerry unveils long-awaited facelift with revamped handsets January 30, 2013 THE NEXT generation of BlackBerry phones was finally revealed yesterday, kicking off a make-or-break period for Research in Motion. The Canadian firm revealed a radical overhaul of its ageing mobile software and two new smartphones, which it hopes will be able to compete with the dominant Samsung and Apple. The new operating system, BlackBerry 10, [...]
Apple loses attempt to triple Samsung’s $1bn patent charge January 30, 2013 APPLE has seen its request to increase its rival Samsung’s $1.05bn (£665m) copyright fine rejected in US courts. The Korean company was ordered to pay Apple the sum in August after it was found to have used patented iPhone designs in its Galaxy handsets. Apple had attempted to up the fine, claiming Samsung purposefully infringed [...]
Asian tech firms bring life to smartphone race January 30, 2013 THREE Asian companies injected fresh competition into the smartphone industry yesterday, boosting British chip firms Imagination Technologies and ARM Holdings. LG, ZTE and Lenovo all outlined a focus on competing with the likes of Apple and Samsung, and said they anticipate better sales of high-end devices this year. China’s Lenovo, which is likely to become [...]
Philips shuts off its once famous electronics arm January 29, 2013 PHILIPS, the Dutch firm that was once famous for its televisions, audio systems and DVD players, yesterday said it was selling its consumer electronics arm. Chief executive Frans van Houten said the company had sold its audio and video division – once the world’s biggest – for a paltry €150m (£128m) to Japan’s Funai Electric. [...]
Patent wars hit record high as tech firms fight January 27, 2013 THE GLOBAL technology patent wars hit a new high in 2012, with a record number of applications made for international computing patents. A flurry of costly court cases between smartphone and tablet companies such as Apple, Samsung and Nokia has upped the value of patents in the last 12 months, and this was responsible for [...]
Samsung posts record profits January 24, 2013 Samsung Electronics reported a record quarterly profit of $8.3bn (£5.3bn) and kept its 2013 investment plans at the previous year’s level, defying expectations that it may reduce spending amid weaker demand for computer chips. The South Korean firm said October to December operating profit increased 89 per cent from a year ago to 8.84 trillion [...]