Pssst ... if you're looking for that elusive quarry-mobile handset consumers-you'll find them in abundance online. They're not only researching purchases in cyberspace, but increasingly making them over the Internet as well. Carriers take note: your brick-and-mortar stores may serve that now-rare bird, the...
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Disney Mobile is trying to lure customers to sign up for its service during the holiday season by lowering the cost of its handsets and offering a month of service for free, according to promotions on the mobile virtual network operator’s Web...
SUNNYVALE, Calif.—What do LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic), NEC Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., SiBeam Inc., Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have in common? Obviously they are all electronics giants, but they are also collaborating to push for the...
The fourth quarter-a seasonally hot quarter for handset sales-is well underway. Time for the crystal ball and a word from a couple of gazers. The outlook remains positive for fourth-quarter shipment volumes, based largely on historical trends and the remarkable volumes of handsets shipped...
Over the Razr's unprecedented two-year run, the retail price of the device has plummeted from $500 to $50, drawing new volumes of consumers at each price point along the way. In the process, this game-changing handset has sold more than 50 million units, spawned...
Flash Lite is finally here. Verizon Wireless last week became the first U.S. carrier to offer Adobe Systems Inc.'s wireless platform, introducing a stripped-down version of its popular Flash Player for computers. The technology, which will initially be supported by four high-end handset models,...
MUNICH, Germany—The insolvency of BenQ-Siemens’ German handset business has begun to reverberate throughout the industry, as German chip-maker Infineon Technologies—Europe’s second-largest chip maker—announced it will take a charge of about $101 million against earnings for 2006 due to the firm’s problems. BenQ’s business accounted...
Style and innovation matter. So does brand and, of course, size. Carrier relationships help too, though three of the strongest brands continue to exert a gravity of their own. The industry's two behemoths-need we mention names?-continued to distance themselves from their three lesser rivals...
SEOUL, South Korea—As promised, the world’s two tier-one Korean handset vendors rebounded from their second-quarter doldrums. Based on handset shipment volumes—and despite a strong showing in North American markets—LG Electronics Co. Ltd. slipped to fifth place in global rankings behind a surging Sony Ericsson...
Having helped triple his company's year-on-year profits in the third quarter, Najmi Jarwala, Sony Ericsson's chief executive officer for North America, can afford to wax philosophical about his company's future. "Innovation is our differentiator," he said last week. "If we continue to innovate-and execute...
NEW YORK—Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. increased its shipment volume in the third quarter to 30.7 million, a 17-percent increase from the previous, disappointing quarter, according to CIBC World Markets. The South Korean vendor’s shipments beat its own guidance and CIBC’s earlier estimates of 28.8...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P., at five years old, is pursuing two trends in the rapidly changing mobile handset market—a worldwide thirst for music and imaging—and is profiting handsomely in its chosen markets. The partnership between the Japanese consumer electronics whiz and the...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Qualcomm Inc.'s highly anticipated MediaFLO mobile TV service is gaining momentum as Sprint Nextel Corp. confirmed it is conducting trials using the network technology and could soon join initial launch carrier Verizon Wireless in offering the service to consumers. The additional support...
Qualcomm Inc.'s highly anticipated MediaFLO mobile TV service is gaining momentum as Sprint Nextel Corp. confirmed it was conducting trials using the network technology and could soon join initial launch carrier Verizon Wireless in offering the service to consumers. The additional support could be...
Whether it's goofy pet photos, front row at a rock concert or eyewitness to disaster, the spread of camera-equipped phones has enabled up-to-the-minute photos for social networks and citizen journalism of the most compelling sort. In fact, as camera-equipped mobile phones have penetrated the...
It may have been a blip on the radar screen of the global handset industry, but the screams were heard around the world. When BenQ Corp. announced recently that it would no longer inject money into its BenQ-Siemens handset business, headquartered in Munich, Germany—a...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. announced it will soon begin selling three of Motorola Inc.’s popular slim phones, a move those in the industry had long expected. The announcement boosts Motorola’s position in the United States and gives Sprint Nextel a potential shot in...
One of the worst-kept secrets in the wireless industry today is T-Mobile USA Inc.'s much-discussed-by everyone but them, that is-plan to launch services that allow subscribers with dual-mode handsets to move seamlessly between cellular and Wi-Fi networks. U.S. trials of the technology by T-Mobile...
Revised earnings guidance by two firms that have traditionally served Nokia Corp.-delivered within four days of each other-may reflect a softening in Nokia's Western European sales due to an invasion of light, slim phones by competitors, according to a market analyst who specializes in...
LEXINGTON, Mass.—Digit Wireless Inc. said LG Electronics Co Ltd. released its second phone model that incorporates Digit’s Fastap keypad technology.Fastap is a unique keypad technology that includes both number and letter buttons on a standard keypad layout.The new LG 490 will be available through...
Nokia Corp.'s strategy to regain a dominant market share in the United States will be driven by forthcoming product launches that will strengthen its hand against its arch-rival Motorola Inc., according to Tim Eckersley, senior vice president for Nokia Americas. Those product launches—"there are...
NEW YORK—In a note to investors this week, CIBC World Markets analyst Ittai Kidron wrote that LG Electronics Co. Ltd.’s Chocolate phone has "challenged" the dominance of Motorola Inc.’s Razr, though actual sales of LG’s much-touted handset have been "somewhat disappointing." Ultimately, according to...
Greenpeace International has weighed in on mobile handset vendors' friendliness to the environment, based on their use of toxic chemicals in manufacturing and their e-waste policies such as take backs and recycling. Overall, Greenpeace doesn't like what it sees, but pledges to complete such...
While Motorola Inc. grabbed the spotlight after posting strong, second-quarter results last month, the American vendor's success obscured a remarkable surge in shipments by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. Sony Ericsson shipped nearly 19-percent more handsets from the previous quarter, propelling it to fourth...
