Hasta La Gadget!

Look at the chart above and you’ll see two things happening. First, Apple has overtaken Symbian to become the top smartphone platform in the UK (with a 27 percent market share). And secondly, Android has grown 634 percent year-over-year to shoot into second place, with less than half a percentage point keeping it from the top spot (other reports already place it ahead). As you might expect, much of that growth isn’t coming from folks switching from one smartphone to the other, but from new smartphone users — Comscore found that 42 percent of all mobile users in the UK used a smartphone in May of this year, compared to just 27 percent a year ago. Of course, that also means that 58 percent of UK cellphone users are still potential smartphone users (to say nothing of those that still don’t have a cellphone at all), so there’s certainly still plenty up for grabs for all involved.

Comscore: Android’s UK market share explodes as Apple overtakes Symbian originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether you believe we’re living in a post-PC world or not, there’s no denying the overwhelming growth of tablets in the past few years. Just this March, IDC put out figures saying 2010 saw the sale of 18 million tablets, but despite the recent boom, the outfit’s now reporting a 28 percent drop in tablet shipments in Q1 2011, bringing first quarter worldwide shipments to 7.2 million. IDC’s latest report points to “slower consumer demand, overall economic conditions, and supply-chain constraint,” but nonetheless estimates that total tablet sales will reach 53.5 million by year’s end, up from IDC’s original estimate of 50.4 million. Once again, Apple’s come out on top of the slate game, with the iPad 2 leading the market, despite its own dip in shipments. E-readers have apparently also seen a decline in the first quarter, with shipments dipping to 3.3 million units. Despite a slow start to the year, however, IDC’s optimistic about future sales, but you don’t have to take our word for it — full PR awaits you after the break.

Continue reading IDC: tablet shipments drop 28 percent in Q1 2011

IDC: tablet shipments drop 28 percent in Q1 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer lowers forecast for tablet, notebook shipments, blames limping European economy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like you can expect to see a lot more of Lenovo in Deutschland. The company is buying German consumer electronics maker Medion — a deal worth up to €629.4 million ($907 million), according to The Wall Street Journal. That makes it the company’s biggest acquisition since it bought IBM’s PC business back in 2004. Lenovo’s end game: to boost its market share in Germany, which happens to be Europe’s largest PC market. All told, it hopes to own 14 percent of the PC category there — roughly double what it commands now — and expects its share of the Western European computer market to hit 7.5 percent. Lenovo’s announcement comes at a time when it seems to have some strong upward momentum — just last week, the company reported that its fourth-quarter profit more than tripled year over year (much to Wall Street’s surprise) and that it generated $21 billion in revenue thanks to growth in every product line and every region where it does business. PR chock full ‘o numbers after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo buying Medion for up to $907 million, expects to double its German PC market share

Lenovo buying Medion for up to $907 million, expects to double its German PC market share originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Direct sales figures for Windows Phone 7 handsets have been remarkably difficult to come by since Microsoft’s OS reboot at the end of last year, but here come the stat gurus at Gartner to provide us with their best estimate. 3.6 million of the world’s smartphone sales in the past quarter were counted under the Microsoft mobile OS umbrella, of which 1.6 million featured the very latest WP7 software. That means Redmond partners sold more Windows Mobile devices in the first three months of 2011 than ones bearing the sparkling new operating system. Guess now we know what LG meant when it said the Windows Phone launch didn’t meet expectations. Gartner sees these numbers as evidencing a failure “to grow in consumer preference” by WP7’s launch devices, though it predicts better things ahead, with Nokia’s participation helping to accelerate the platform’s momentum. For more (much more!) stats relating to the global cellphone market in Q1 2011, click on the source link for Gartner’s full disclosure.

Gartner: 1.6 million Windows Phone 7 devices sold in Q1, consumer interest remains tepid originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 06:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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