Hasta La Gadget!

The Galaxy S II has propelled Samsung to record handset shipments. Image: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Even though Apple and Samsung continue to duke it out in international courts, it looks like Samsung’s handset shipments haven’t been affected in the slightest.

Samsung is having a banner year for handset sales, passing the 300 million mark for the first time in company history. Samsung attributes the far-reaching success of the Galaxy S II smartphone as a major reason for the record-high sales numbers.

“Samsung has a real advantage versus other handset brands due to its very strong tries with the component supply chain,” NPD’s Ross Rubin told Wired.com. Samsung phones typically feature large, bright, high-contrast displays, a very thin form factor and Flash memory. All of these handset attributes are very popular with consumers, Rubin says, and are areas that Samsung has a production advantage with.

The fact that Samsung’s handsets (in the United States) are available on all of the major wireless carriers is another factor that’s contributed to the company’s stellar sales this year. Apple, by contrast, is on three of the four major U.S. wireless carriers (AT&T, Verizon and Sprint), with only T-Mobile’s nationwide network being left out of the loop.

Among Android handset makers, this year Samsung has taken the lead. In late October, Samsung overtook Apple and Nokia in the numbers, having shipped 27.8 million smartphones compared to Apple’s 17.1 million and Nokia’s 16.8 million in the third quarter of 2011. Of that number, over 10 million were Galaxy S IIs. Apple’s sales were somewhat slower around that period, as many people waited for the launch of the company’s handset (which ended up selling 4 million units in its first three days after launch).

Despite Samsung’s success with shipment numbers, Apple is still the one reaping the lion’s share of profits in the mobile phone market. As of Q2 of this year, Apple saw over 66 percent of handset profits, while Samsung only managed 15 percent.

As far as Apple and Samsung’s legal battles go, Samsung’s had a bit of luck lately. An Australian court overturned a ban on Galaxy Tab sales down under, allowing Samsung to sell its Android tablet to customers without fear of copyright infringement reprisal. Although the troubled tablet is still banned in Germany, Samsung is appealing the decision.

The quarterly earnings stats just keep rolling in today — this time, from Lenovo, which has just posted yet another stellar report. According to the company, profits for the second quarter of this year reached $145 million, marking an 89 percent increase over the same period last year. Consolidated sales, meanwhile, rose by 35.8 percent to a record $7.8 billion, giving Lenovo a worldwide quarterly market share of 13.5 percent, also its highest ever. Laptops, not surprisingly, were at the forefront of this surge, accounting for 57.5 percent of the company’s total revenue, with PC shipments rising 35.4 percent over the year. Lenovo also saw a 25.4 percent increase in shipments to China, as well as a 54.5 percent year-over-year increase in shipments to mature markets, including Western Europe and the US. For more statistical delights, check out the full PR, after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo posts Q2 earnings, sees increase in profits, shipments and market share

Lenovo posts Q2 earnings, sees increase in profits, shipments and market share originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For the first time in six years, Apple’s quarterly earnings missed analyst estimates. Apple’s explanation? iPhone sales slowed down as consumers entered a holding pattern in anticipation of Apple’s next smartphone release. In an earnings call Tuesday afternoon, Apple blamed rumors for the drop in sales, saying that product speculation “reached extreme highs.”

Apple reported profits of $6.62 billion this quarter, or $7.05 per share. Analysts predicted that Apple’s profit per share would reach $7.31, making this the first “disappointing” quarter in the company’s past 64. Apple sold 17.07 million iPhones during the quarter, notably short of predicted sales of about 20 million.

During the call, CEO Tim Cook said, “We can’t tell you with precision how many units we would have sold without the rumors, if people hadn’t been expecting a new iPhone. But I would say it’s substantial.”

When a new iPhone didn’t make an appearance at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in June, current and prospective iPhone customers became antsy. Rumors began flying about Apple’s upcoming device. Supposedly an iPhone prototype was lost at a San Francisco bar, but because it never made its way into the public eye, Apple’s next iPhone largely remained a mystery. The iPhone 4S finally made its press debut on Oct. 4, and has since shown record-breaking sales: one million sold in its first day available for pre-order, with four million sold during its opening weekend. Unfortunately (for Apple), iPhone 4S numbers didn’t make it into this quarter’s figures.

And the iPhone wasn’t the only Apple product to see less-than-stellar sales.

iPod sales continued on a downward slope, falling 27 percent from this time last year to 6.62 million sales. iPads fared well, but fell just below estimates at 11.12 million units. Mac computers, meanwhile, posted a record-breaking 4.89 million sales, likely bolstered by the popularity of the latest MacBook Air, which was released in July.

Michael Obuchowski, chief investment officer at First Empire Asset Management, wasn’t too perturbed by Apple’s quarterly earnings. Obuchowski told Bloomberg, “That the company can maintain the growth rate that some of the analysts envision is not very realistic.”

Apple expects to hit new company records for both the iPhone and the iPad as the holiday season begins. With a successful iPhone 4S launch under its belt, those expectations don’t seem far-fetched.

Image: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

UPDATED October 19 at 8:17 a.m. PST: Apple’s quarterly revenue was $28.27 billion, quarterly profit was $6.62 billion.

The pundits were right again. The iPhone 4S was clearly a big mistake for Apple. Wait…

You know the lame new iPhone 4S? The one that almost every tech writer called “disappointing,” or “not a real upgrade.” The iPhone that “only” added a great-seeming new camera, a way faster brain and a startlingly clever AI assistant? Well, Apple shifted four million of them in three days.

To put that in perspective, the iPhone 4 sold 1.7 million handsets in its launch weekend, and the original iPhone took 74 days to reach the one million mark.

In addition, Apple’s figures say that iOS 5 has already been installed by 25 million people, and that 20 million of them have signed up for iCloud. That last isn’t too surprising, given that the iOS 5 update prompts you to sign up for iCloud as part of the setup process.

20 million new iCloud users also explains the slowdowns to some of Apple’s online services at the end of last week. In fact, given the amount of data going through its servers as people made their fist iCloud backups and Photo Stream syncs, it’s amazing the service held up at all. I guess that the giant North Carolina data center works OK.

Apple doesn’t mention it — of course — but I have a feeling that the later-than-usual shipping date of the iPhone 4S had to do with stockpiling enough new handsets for launch. Even so, the Apple Store is currently showing a wait of 1-2 weeks for new orders. And that’s before the faster-than-usual international roll out starting on October 28th.

iPhone 4S First Weekend Sales Top Four Million [Apple PR]

See Also:

• Critics Be Damned! iPhone 4S Pre-Order Success Validates Apple …
• iPhone 4S Sells One Million in 24 Hours

Nintendo’s twin-screen wonder has seen almost as many reinventions as Lady Gaga, so it may not come as a huge shock to hear that the DS (in all its guises) has now sold over 50 million units in the US. The home entertainment maestros are still chasing similar success for its three-dimensional sibling, the 3DS, however. Nintendo has managed to sell almost half a million three dee units units after its weighty price cut, but there’s now some very potent competitors seeking their own slice of the (portable) gaming pie. Good luck, Nintendo, you’re probably going to need it.

Continue reading Nintendo sells over 50 million DS units, 3DS sales fall flat in comparison

Nintendo sells over 50 million DS units, 3DS sales fall flat in comparison originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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