Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s next big growth market could be India – a country where it has failed to find significant purchase with consumers up until this point. The Economic Times (via @ScepticGeek) is reporting that sales of Apple devices, with iPhones leading the way, rose by between 300 and 400 percent in the past quarter. That growth, identified by research firm IDC, is likely being propelled by Apple’s distribution partnerships with Redington and Ingram Micro.

According to Convergence Catalyst founder Jayanth Kolla in conversation with the Economic Times, Apple’s strategy in India mirrors the route it took to success in China; the company spent time studying the market, learned what it needed to do to sell handsets in India and then got aggressive about executing its sales strategy. Apple’s India team grew by 500 percent in six months to help make that happen, going from 30 to 150 people, Kolla says.

Apple’s strategy in India hasn’t involved fielding a lower cost device, but it has included making its iPhone more attainable for cost-conscious buyers. That’s being done through installment-based payment schemes operated through its resale partners, including one with TheMobileStore, a national Indian retail chain, which that company’s CEO says has helped increase sales of Apple gadgets three-fold in the past year.

Three- or four-fold growth in a single quarter is definitely impressive, but Apple has to make up a considerable gulf in India. According to recent figures from IDC, Samsung had a 46 percent market share in India between July and September 2012, and Apple didn’t even show up in the top five, with HTC rounding out that crowd with a relatively small 6.6 percent. Browsing stats show that Apple has only a tiny percentage of current mobile web traffic in the country, and the most recent IDC numbers for mobile operating systems show a meager 1.4 percent share of sales in the July through September 2012 quarter.

Last year, during an Apple quarterly conference call, CEO Tim Cook said that while he “love[s]” India, he said they didn’t see much opportunity there in the short-term and would be focusing on other market where there was more growth potential for the time being. Part of the reason for his hesitation was the distribution system in that country, he said at the time. But a fresh injection of local Apple staff, and a distribution model that is beginning to find its legs could signal that Cook and Apple are finally willing to put in the time and effort to grow their presence in India, where there is reportedly currently less than 10 percent smartphone penetration.

With every second that ticks by, Samsung sells three TVs. Find that claim a bit dubious? You shouldn’t, especially when you consider the source: company prez BK Yoon. Speaking at a press conference in Monte Carlo focused on the multinational’s home appliance division, TechRadar reports that Yoon tossed out that figure in reference to the company’s living room dominance. Yoon also went on to highlight the $184 billion in sales Samsung raked in last year, though, according to its 2013 earnings report, TV sales were flat year-over-year. Still, that demand must be sufficient enough to have those sets selling like hotcakes. And with the growing popularity of Galaxy-branded phones, tablets and, yes, even cameras, it seems Samsung’s bottom line may continue to see even further padding.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung

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Source: TechRadar

Honda‘s executives have a reason to smile this evening, as it seems the 2013 Accord is a hit. The company has the Accord to thank for a 12.7% boost in sales from the month before, which is certainly something to get excited about if you happen to be one of the people in charge at Honda. Even more exciting is that Accord sales rose a whopping 75.2% over sales from the same month a year prior.

That’s not bad at all, and Honda seems to have struck gold with the 2013 Accord. Other cars, like the Pilot SUV and the Crosstour, saw sales grow too (a 38.2% increase over a year ago for the Crosstour), but none of them were able to top the growth of the Accord. Things were looking pretty good for Honda’s Acura division too, as the RDX set sales records once again last month, and the MDX retained its position as Acura’s top-selling model.

This isn’t the first time today we’ve been talking about the Accord. Honda announced earlier today that it will be offering Siri Eyes Free technology in the 2013 Accord along with the Acura RDX and ILX. Siri Eyes Free will obviously help drivers keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, which is important given the recent cut down on distracted driving coming from the government.

With the announcement of Siri Eyes Free and now the excellent sales report, it seems that Honda is off to a pretty good start in 2013. It’ll be interesting to see where 2013 Accord sales go from here now that Siri Eyes Free has been announced, if the feature has any sway on sales at all. Stay tuned.

[via USA Today]

Honda has 2013 Accord to thank for boost in sales is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Research firm Strategy Analytics has published its global phone shipments for 2012, and the results showing a total of 1.6 billion units shipped. Samsung dominated the list, followed closely by Nokia, with Apple coming in third with a fairly steep drop below its competition despite experiencing a record year. Chinese manufacturer ZTE came in fourth despite suffering a drop in sales.

According to the report, Samsung shipped 396.5 million phones last year, with Nokia coming in a tad lower at 335.6 million. Apple is third in the list, with total shipments coming in at 135.8 million, followed by ZTE at nearly half that with 71.7 million. Total shipments from other vendors totaled 635.4, for a grand total of 1.6 billion phones shipped globally in 2012.

This represents a slow but steady increase in mobile phone sales annually, with 2012 growing over 2011 by about 2-percent. Samsung nabbed 25-percent of the market share and experienced fairly substantial shipment increases, with 2011 coming in at 327.4 million units. Nokia, meanwhile, suffered a large drop in shipments, with 2011 coming in at 417.1 million units and 2012 falling to 335.6. ZTE also experienced a relatively large drop over 2011 from 78.1 to 71.7.

Nokia is said to have experienced its drop due to competition from Samsung, which dominated the mobile market, and Apple, which interfered with sales in several locations. Speaking of Apple, 2012 proved to be a record year for it, with the company experiencing 46-percent in growth, largely due to increased demand in Asia and the US/Canada.

[via Business Wire]

Research firm pegs 2012 global phone shipments at 1.6 billion is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has once again baffled the smartphone market with their announcement of having sold a massive 47.8 million iPhones (including the iPhone 5 this time around) in a single quarter. This week Apple is making their first report of the year with numbers surrounding their fiscal Q1 2013, this representing the quarter that ended for them on December 29th, 2012. The iPhone segment alone represented a massive jump for the company as last year this same quarter Apple sold 37 million iPhone units across the board.

This quarter also represents a lovely jump for the iPad with 22.9 million units sold compared to just 15.4 million one year ago this same quarter. This is largely due to the iPad mini we must expect, while the iPhone’s jump is certainly due to the launch of the iPhone 5 and its fully-active status in this quarter’s reading.

The full financial results of this quarter include a massive 61 percent of all revenue for international sales, while average weekly revenue for the company jumped nearly a full billion dollars compared to one year ago with $4.2 billion per week. This report includes 12.7 million iPods sold compared to a slightly larger number a year ago at 15.4 million, letting us know that Apple’s sales aren’t all going up – some are merely adjusting, so to speak.

You’ll be able to see the full results of this quarter’s announcements through our own massive Apple hub right this minute if you check the must-read and daily news sections, with Apple letting the world know once again that they remain dominant. Let us know if you feel this quarter’s iPhone sales numbers represent what you expected them to sell now that the iPhone 5 is on the market and iOS 5 is running strong!

Apple Q1 2013 iPhone sales launch to 47.8 million units sold is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.