Europe

European Palm Pre launch damned by faint praise

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:13:39 -0400

No queues formed when the Palm Pre went on sale in Europe, with retail staff being less than enthusiastic about the sales volumes, commenting that it had only sold ‘quite well'. Despite high-profile advertising by O2--the exclusive distributor of the new Palm Pre handset--sales have been reported as slow with complaints from retail outlets that potential buyers were unaware of the device and it certainly lacked the iPhone's popularity.

O2, which launched the device in Germany and the UK last week, maintains that the Pre is selling well. "We've sold more Palm Pre alone today (launch day) than we normally sell total devices on a Friday," said an O2 spokesman. "And one in two customers is buying a Touchstone charger, with the majority buying two."

However, O2 has declined to release any shipment numbers and there have been no reports of shortages--unlike with the launch of new iPhone models. One analyst claimed the iPhone 3GS would continue to outsell Pre in Europe by a ratio of over five-to-one.

Interestingly, O2 and Carphone Warehouse retail staff are not being offered any different rates of commission to sell the Pre over the iPhone or any other handset. Meanwhile, HTC's Hero handset continues to gain glowing reviews and upbeat consumer comment as the most likely contender to the iPhone.

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European femtocell market set for growth

Ian Channing — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:39:42 -0400

Within five years European femtocell vendors will be enjoying revenues in excess of 400 million euros, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan. The majority of European 3G mobile operators are already trialling femtocells with commercial launches planned for 2010. By 2014 the European femtocell market with grow to 11.8 million subscribers.

However, the report warns that this growth cannot be achieved if the issue of femtocell costs is not addressed. Femtocell manufacturers estimate the cost of a single femtocell to be 150 euros, a figure which could increase to around 250 euros if features such as seamless mobility and interference management are included. With the reduced range offered by femtocells, more base stations will be required to provide the necessary coverage and capacity so the cost of individual femtocells will need to fall to around 100 euros if the market is to grow as forecast.

A key factor in achieving this reduction in costs will be a drop in chipset prices. Currently the cost of femtocell chipsets is around 50 euros and in order to reach the 100 euro femtocell target chipset prices will need to be around 8-10 euros.

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Industry and EU partner on emergency service

Ian Channing — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:11:10 -0400

The GSM Association has joined forces with the European Union to push the deployment of a Europe-wide in-vehicle emergency service known as eCall.

European Information Commissioner Viviane Reding and GSMA CEO Rob Conway have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will encourage cooperation between vehicle manufacturers, mobile operators and the EU as well as interested parties such as insurance companies.

eCall is an emergency call generated either manually by vehicle occupants or automatically via in-vehicle sensors in an emergency situation. When activated, the eCall system establishes a voice connection with emergency services. The service sends data including time, location, direction of travel and vehicle identification, to speed response times by the emergency services. The European Commission believes that eCall, which will be a free service, could potentially save up to 2,500 lives every year.

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Europe to lead LTE user growth with 52% CAGR

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:34:52 -0400

A new study forecasts that European users will lead the charge into LTE with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 50 per cent. This latest report from Coda Research states that, by 2013, North America will have seven million LTE users, Asia/Pacific 13 million and Europe 15 million. However, Europe will be overtaken by Asia/Pacific in 2016, with the Chinese becoming dominant users in the region.

Of particular note, according to Coda Research, is the type of data traffic that will drive this growth in Europe between 2012 and 2017:

Video will lead with a CAGR of 93 per cent
Audio traffic will see a CAGR of 79 per cent
Data (internet access, etc.) will experience a CAGR of 78 per cent
P2P will see a CAGR of 77 per cent

In contrast with all mobile broadband revenues, Coda maintains that LTE revenues will greatest in Europe. LTE revenues in Europe will rise by a CAGR of 47% over 2012, and will form 83 per cent of all mobile broadband revenue in this region, while LTE revenues from North America will form 72 per cent of all mobile broadband revenues for this region.

However, Coda warns that, in the short term, operators will face the key challenge of pricing LTE at a rate that is profitable but which does not hinder take up.

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Coda Research

Europe's smartphone growth is at risk

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:05:15 -0400

Although smartphone sales in Europe are still growing, market participants must act now to minimize the recession's impact on smartphone sales and position smartphones for post-recession growth, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.

While Pyramid expects total handset sales to decline 21 per cent in Europe in 2009, smartphone sales, driven mostly by market developments in Western Europe, will continue to grow robustly--about 22 per cent year on year, notes Stela Bokun, analyst at Pyramid. In CEE, however, Pyramid believes smartphone sales will fall 8 per cent in 2009. "Even when the region's economy is doing well, device vendors and operators typically report much lower smartphone handset sales in CEE countries," she says. "Recently this situation has worsened significantly: Many CEE countries are seeing staggering GDP declines, significant currency devaluations and skyrocketing unemployment." Article

Japanese comics on your mobile phone

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:47:25 -0400

Mobile phone users in Europe are about to get a new service which will enable them to download Japanese comic books on to their mobile phones. Japanese mobile giant NTT DoCoMo has announced its subsidiary DoCoMo Netherlands will be offering this service with immediate effect.

The comics, which are known as manga, are highly popular in Japan and are expected to be received with enthusiasm by European consumers. The new service, known as Manga Mode, will initially be available to customers of French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom and will be rolled out in other markets as opportunities arise.

Customers will be able to sign up for the Manga Mode service via the Bouygues Telecom website.

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Mobile broadband adoption to grow relentlessly across Europe

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:41:47 -0400

In spite of the economic slowdown, mobile broadband adoption will continue to grow relentlessly across Europe, boosted by the introduction of 3G+ and 4G, expanding device selection and usability, and the gains mobile networks are making in affordability and pricing, according to a new report from Pyramid Research. Bakhyt Weeks, an analyst with the firm, said that thanks to the right conditions existing in Europe - including the wide availability and high quality of mobile broadband, attractive pricing, and user-friendly devices - the number of European mobile broadband users will reach 116.6 million in 2014, up from 24.3 million in 2008. "It has been a while since we saw an opportunity this big in European mobile communications," she said. Article

100m Europeans to sign-up for mobile banking by 2014

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:34:38 -0400

Mobile banking users could be set to top 100 million in Europe, research has predicted. Analysts Berg Insight forecast that by 2014, there will be 110 million mobile banking users on the European continent and a further 80 million in North America as banks extend their online efforts to the mobile sphere. Worldwide, users will top 900 million, according to the report, with 65 per cent of them coming from the Asia Pacific region. Article

High-speed Internet access needed to revitalise Europe's rural regions

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:08:41 -0500

Connecting the 30 per cent of the EU's rural population that has no high speed Internet access should be a priority for achieving "broadband for all" by 2010, the European Commission said today. Improved Internet connectivity is a powerful tool to stimulate swift economic recovery. The Commission has now outlined how it would use its own support programmes to boost Internet networks and services in rural areas, and called on EU Member States to do the same. Article

EC tax threatens success of mobile TV uptake

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:59:45 -0500

Despite having recently called for the EU countries to work together to support the DVB-H mobile TV standard, the European Commission has announced proposals to introduce a 14 per cent customs tax on the import of mobile TV-enabled handsets.

This move has been is strongly criticised by the Broadcast Mobile Convergence Forum (BCMF) as putting at risk the development of mobile TV into a mass-market service. BMCF chairman, Franklin Selgert said: "The BMCF members are surprised by the non-harmonised approach of the EC regarding the development of mobile TV - fostering it on the one hand and setting barriers to its adoption on the other."

The tax would be levied on high-end mobile TV cellphones not built within the EU, as well as components produced outside the EU and then used to manufacturer mobile TV-enabled handsets in the EU. The apparent reason for this new tax, according to the EC, is driven by its intention to reclassify certain mobile handsets as 'multi-functional devices', which would incur additional taxes on phones with TV receivers.

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