Hasta La Gadget!

Web traffic for a major new operating system typically grows at a consistently faster pace than its predecessor. That’s not true for Windows 8, however — NetApplications now estimates that Windows 7 outpaced its newer counterpart for the first time in September. While Windows 8 did grow to a symbolic 8 percent of web use last month, its ancestor grew slightly faster, hitting 46.4 percent. We wouldn’t necessarily say that Windows 8 is in trouble based on these figures, though. The rise in Windows 7 use corresponds to a drop for Windows XP (shown after the break), which suggests that corporate customers are in the midst of upgrades; they’re less likely to choose a young OS. Microsoft still faces long-term problems, but they’re more likely to stem from customers’ shift toward mobile devices and away from PCs.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Apple, Microsoft

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Net Applications

As smartphone sales stayed well ahead of feature phones with 225 million sold in Q2 2013, Android was by far the greatest beneficiary, according to stat analyst Gartner. That OS lept from a 74.4 percent share in Q1 2013 to 79 percent, while iOS declined sharply from 18.2 to 14.2 percent. Samsung helped that along by moving 6.4 million more smartphones this quarter than last, while Apple sold 6.6 million less over Q1 2013. Of course, Samsung has a wide range of inexpensive devices that still fall into the “smart” category, which may explain why Apple is rumored to be launching a more budget-oriented iPhone.

Meanwhile, there’s further evidence of a BlackBerry decline (as if more were needed), as Gartner‘s stats now have Microsoft’s Windows Phone well ahead. Last quarter, BlackBerry’s OS share was larger by a hair, but Redmond’s OSes gained significantly in Q2 with a 3.3 percent share compared to 2.7 percent for Waterloo. Another notable stat had Lenovo elbowing Huawei and ZTE down the chart for a fourth place finish in smartphone sales — quite a feat, considering that unlike its rivals, Lenovo sells almost all its handsets in China.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

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Source: Gartner

Fresh reports on the state of the cellphone market during Q2 2013 have blown through the barn door, and industry analysts are flaunting some fairly impressive figures. Smartphones have outsold their less-intelligent brethren for the second quarter in a row, and Strategy Analytics says shipments hit a record-breaking 237.9 million. According to IDC, Samsung managed to ship a total of 72.4 million smartphones during Q2 — a 43.9% boost year-over-year — with help of the Galaxy S 4 and price cuts to the GS3. To put that in perspective, that’s more than double the 31.2 million iPhones Apple managed to ship, and Strategy Analytics claims this marks a three-year low in Cook and Co.’s marketshare. While LG and ZTE each occupy third and fifth place, respectively, Lenovo pushed Huawei out of the number four slot by sending out 11.3 million handsets. If you’re craving for more stats, hit the break for a trio of press releases.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung

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Source: IDC, ABI Research

Now that it’s collecting cash from Nokia for WP8, Microsoft might want to considering buying it flowers, as the mobile OS has picked up market share considerably over last quarter in the US — apparently at the expense of Apple’s iOS. According to numbers from Kantar (which only tracked phone, not tablet OS’s), WP jumped from 4.1 percent the previous quarter to 5.6 percent in Q2 2013, a period in which Nokia released the Lumia 620 and began shipping its Lumia 820 and 920 in volume. BlackBerry held its tiny share of 0.7 percent stateside over Q1 despite the availability of the Z10, while Android saw a half-point bump to 51.7 percent — though if Samsung and HTC’s lofty sales estimates for the GS 4 and One hold, that might change considerably next time. Meanwhile, Apple fell from a 43.5 percent share last quarter to 41.4 percent, perhaps because its flagship iPhone 5 is due for a refresh — something we might see soon.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

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Source: kantar

Apple’s head honcho Tim Cook is chatting up Android’s growth explosion, and it turns out he’s not flustered. “Do I look at that? Of course, I don’t have my head stuck in the sand,” said Cook.” But for us, winning has never been about having the most.” Instead, he stands by the old Apple line of quality versus quantity. “Arguably, we make the best PC, but we don’t make the most,” he added. “We made the best music player, and we wound up making the most — but we didn’t initially.”

Rather than focus on install base, Cupertino’s chief turned to usage stats to illustrate their supremacy, noting that their slates are the most popular for browsing the web. “You can look at tablet web market share in North America,” Cook said. “Almost every study I see has the iPad in the 80s (percentage).” Before even broaching the subject of Google’s mobile OS, Cook cited NetApp figures that show 59 percent of worldwide web traffic from smartphones and tablets comes from iOS devices. We’re sure the folks in Mountain View are content with quantity, though we’d hazard a guess they enjoy quality as well.

Update: We’ve slotted in a video clip of Tim Cook responding to the ballooning Android market share after the break.

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Filed under: Mobile, Apple

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