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They were neck and neck in 2011, spending 18.6 and 18.8 billion on semiconductors worldwide, but a new Gartner report out today finds that Samsung has pulled ahead of Apple as the world’s biggest chip buyer by a decent margin. According to the research group, Samsung’s chip purchases shot up nearly 29 percent to $23.9 billion in 2012, or 8 percent of the worldwide market, while Apple’s purchases rose 13.6 percent to $21.4 billion, or a share of 7.2 percent. Doing that math, that means the two companies account for over 15 percent of worldwide semiconductor purchases (or more than $45 billion), with each well ahead of runners-up HP, Dell and Sony, who stood at shares of 4.7, 2.9 and 2.7 percent for the year.

Despite the significant growth of those two leaders, though, overall semiconductor purchases actually dropped three percent in 2012 to a total of $297.6 billion. The biggest decline among the top ten companies? That would be Nokia, which fell from fifth to tenth place with chip purchases dropping a whopping 42.6 percent to five billion, compared to 8.6 billion in 2011.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Nokia, HP, Dell, Lenovo

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Via: Cult of Android, Bloomberg

Source: Gartner

Ever been tempted to rent a movie again, but thought the price was just a little too dear? Google may soon be willing to haggle a deal. One of its newly-granted patents could automatically lower the price of repurchase-friendly content, such as a Google Play Movies rental, depending on how likely you are to pull the trigger. Its algorithm weighs your personal tastes and repurchasing habits against those of your peers: if the code senses you’ll be relatively stingy, you’ll get a better discount. The analysis could even factor in the nature of the content itself. A thoughtful movie, ownership of the soundtrack or just a lot of related searches could lead to a repurchase at the usual price, while a simple action flick with no previous interest may bring the discount into effect. We don’t know if Google will offer these extra-personal discounts to the public at any point in the future, but if you suddenly notice a lot of follow-up bargains in Google Play, you’ll know how they came to be.

Filed under: Internet

Google patents buyer-specific price drops for follow-up sales, can tell if you’re a cheapskate originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 00:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Making a half dozen attempts to guess your login info or typing each digit of a credit card account certainly can get in the way of following through on impulse purchases, which is exactly how you’d categorize FarmVille cash or a featured flick that you know you may not have time to watch within the month. The solution is carrier billing, eliminating those precious seconds between impulse and reconsideration, and Telefonica has just signed on to offer the service to Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM account holders. The partnerships will enable O2 users in Germany or Movistar subscribers in Spain to charge purchases to their mobile phone accounts, for example — in total, 14 Telefonica subsidiaries should be up and running with carrier billing by the end of the year, though some services, such as Google Play and Facebook, have already begun to roll out. Click through to the PR after the break for the full breakdown.

Continue reading Telefonica partners with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM for global carrier billing

Telefonica partners with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM for global carrier billing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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