Emerging Markets

Big wireless firms eye emerging markets

Sue Marek — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:05:54 -0500

As growth slows in mature wireless markets, many of the big wireless firms are making acquisitions in emerging markets where wireless phone usage is soaring. U.K.-based Vodafone recently gained control of South African operator Vodacom. In addition, Japan's NTT DoCoMo, Norway's Telenor and United Arab Emirates-based Etisalat, all recently acquired assets in India. Article

Cell phones, PCs boost global chip growth 5.5%

Phil Goldstein — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:06:23 -0400

Cell phones and PCs boosted global chip growth 5.5 percent over last year, according to the trade group Semiconductor Industry Association.

The association, citing a recent Credit Suisse report, said that cell phone growth will rise 10 percent this year, boosted by demand in emerging markets. Overall, global chips sales totalled $22.7 billion in August, up 2.3 percent from July, and sales in the Asia-Pacific region grew 12 percent, while they fell 7.3 percent in the Americas region.

For more:
- see this article (sub. req.)

Related Articles:
Report: Chip sales strong despite rumored cell phone slowdown

Sony Ericsson may not turnaround until 2010

Sue Marek — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:09:58 -0400

Analysts are painting a grim short-term outlook for Sony Ericsson. Neil Mawston, handset analyst with Strategy Analytics, says that the handset maker may see a bump in sales over Christmas, however, with mobile device sales in Europe being flat, he predicts that it will be another year or two before Sony Ericsson bounces back. The company is suffering from a poor product portfolio and minimal presence in emerging markets such as India, where millions of new phone users are added every month.

Sony Ericsson has finally starting ramping up its presence in booming markets in Asia--the company created a new division in India--but many fear it may be too late.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
Recession to hit Nokia and Sony Ericsson sales - iPhone unaffected
Sony Ericsson's 2Q profits sink, 2,000 workers cut

Intel sees growth potential for cheap, mobile devices

Sue Marek — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:53:02 -0400

In an interview with Forbes.com, Intel's head of Europe Christian Morales talks about the strong demand in emerging markets for inexpensive mobile Internet devices and how his firm has developed several chips that are energy efficient, high performing and cost effective. He also says that Intel is "neutral" on Symbian but thinks Linux is going to play a major role in cell phones in the near future. Article

Mobile phone sales will reach 1.28B in 2008

Sue Marek — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:07:08 -0400

Research firm Gartner says that worldwide mobile phone sales will top 1.28 billion units in 2008, an 11 percent increase over last year. Handset sales reached 294.3 million in first quarter 2008 and the analyst firm expects sales in the second quarter to be between 300 million and 305 million. For the third quarter, Gartner expects a slight increase in sales over second quarter but only slight because both Motorola and LG issued warnings about a sequential drop in sales.

Gartner predicts handset makers will rely more on emerging markets to reach their growth projections. The firm expects Asia-Pacific to have a 17.9 percent increase in mobile phone sales in 2008 reaching 472.5 million. Meanwhile, Western Europe will experience a 1.5 percent decline from last year to reach 188 million in sales. North America will have a decline of 5.3 percent to reach 185.7 million in sales.

Avian Securities analyst Matt Thornton concurs with Gartner. He believes that mobile phone sales will reach nearly 1.3 billion units in 2008 and average selling prices (ASP) for phones will decline 8 percent year-over-year as sales shift to higher growth emerging markets.

For more:
- see this press release

Related articles:
Handset sales slowing in U.S. amid worsening economy
Handset sales sluggish thanks to weak economy

Report: Handset shipments topped 287M in Q2

Sue Marek — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:09:25 -0400

Strategy Analytics says that global mobile handset shipments grew 15 percent year-over-year to reach 297 million in second quarter 2008. Analyst Bonny Joy says that despite the economic gloom, handset sales remain robust in emerging markets. In addition, the research firm found that Apple's global handset shipments fell in the second quarter to 0.7 million from 1.7 million units in first quarter. Release

LG posts good quarter, warns about current quarter

Lynnette Luna — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:00:53 -0400

LG Electronics is forecasting a tough third quarter despite posting positive results for the second quarter. The handset vendor said it is facing slowing shipments to emerging markets and higher competition in developed markets.

The handset maker, which ranks fourth in the handset market in terms of global shipments, said revenues grew 39 percent from the year-ago quarter to $3.7 billion, which was more than one-third of the parent company's revenue in the second quarter. The division reported an operating profit of $531 million, up nearly 12 percent over the year-ago quarter.

LG shipped 27.7 million handsets, with North America accounting for 34 percent of its global markets, up 45 percent over the year-ago quarter and a 14 percent increase sequentially. The question is: Has LG overtaken Motorola's market share?

For more:
- see RCR Wireless News

Related story:
LG to overtake Motorola's market share soon. LG story

Vodafone reports jump in revenue, lowers outlook for year

Lynnette Luna — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:25:46 -0400

Vodafone Group, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, posted a 19.1 percent increase in sales for the first quarter, but warned that full-year sales will be on the low end of its previous guidance as it deals with economic weakness and lower-than-anticipated revenue from equipment. As a result, the mobile phone giant's stock opened 9.7 percent lower when the market opened in London today.

Vodafone attributed the jump in sales in the first quarter to growth in its emerging markets. Sales in the three months ended June 30 came in at $19.65 billion from $13.1 billion a year earlier. The company said that while its Spanish operations struggled with a weak economy and strong competition, growth in emerging markets and data revenue made up for the shortfall. Revenues from emerging markets jumped 30.5 percent with 50 percent of the growth coming from India alone.

For the full year, Vodafone now expects full-year revenues at the lower range of $63.1 billion to $64.6 billion.

For more:
- read the WSJ (sub. req.)

Related stories:
Vodafone announces new chief executive. Vodafone story
India set to overtake U.S. as number 2. India story

Report: Emerging markets accounted for majority of WiMAX subs in 2007

Lynnette Luna — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:38:18 -0400

Pyramid Research says emerging markets accounted for more than 70 percent of the world's WiMAX subscribers in 2007. The firm recently conducted an audit of commercial WiMAX networks across the globe and found that WiMAX operators have been adding new subscribers at a rate of 500 to 1,000 per month. More than 70 percent of those subscribers are coming from the SME and SOHO markets. Article

Nokia's profit up 25% but outlook cautious

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Nokia posted a 25 percent rise in first quarter net income thanks to emerging markets, but claimed that the weaker U.S. dollar, general economic slowdown in the U.S. and possible economic slowdown in Europe could lead to a fall in value for the handset market this year. Nokia also announced that its global marketshare dropped by 1 percent during the first quarter: from 40 percent in the fourth quarter to 39 percent. Average selling prices for handsets also dropped from $132 in the fourth quarter to $125 in the most recent quarter. Nokia said ASPs will continue to sink throughout 2008 because of increased sales of cheaper phones in emerging markets.

For more on Nokia's first quarter:
- check out this press release
- read this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)

Forecast: Nokia's Q1 net profit up 42 percent

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

According to a poll of financial analysts conducted by Factset, Nokia's first quarter profit is expected to hit $2.19 billion, a 42 percent increase over the year-ago period in which the company posted $1.54 billion in profits. Analysts expect Nokia's sales to rise 28 percent to $19.9 billion as a result of strong growth in emerging markets. Nokia affirmed in late March that its global unit volume growth would rise 10 percent this year despite the economic downturn that has hurt some of its competitors.

"The focus on Nokia will be on the ASP (average selling price) as the market mix changes with stronger than expected BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries and weaker than expected mature markets," said Stockholm-based Kaupthing analyst Per Ekstrand. "We'll also be watching for the effects of the declining U.S. dollar."

The handset maker's ASP is expected to fall from its fourth quarter level of $131.

For more on analysts' forecast for Nokia:
- read this article from Dow Jones

SPOTLIGHT: Report: Top emerging markets

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:59:52 -0400

FierceWireless:Europe has put together a special report on the top emerging markets based on subscriber growth during the past year. Check it out here.

Jacobs defends Qualcomm patent position

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:59:58 -0500

During a keynote address yesterday at the University of Colorado Silicon Flatirons conference on intellectual property Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs told an audience consisting primarily of lawyers and law students that other wireless firms often get upset with Qualcomm for having to pay royalties. However, he says that the company is continually using those royalty payments to reinvest in research and development. "We apply a large part of our royalties to R&D," Jacobs said.

He added that there is no truth to the complaints in the European Union that Qualcomm slows innovation and keeps prices high. "We have a greater degree of competition in the market and handset prices are falling." He added that foe Nokia, which he called the "ringleader" of the companies that are coming after Qualcomm, has seen its market share increase. "In emerging markets, they [Nokia] control the distribution channels. And they say that we are dominant."

Regarding the commitment from operators to upgrade their networks to technologies such as WiMAX and LTE, Jacobs said that those technologies will just be another radio that they incorporate into their chip sets. However, he also said that LTE is not more efficient than HSPA+ but does offer broader bandwidth. -Sue

Related Article:
U.K. court gives Nokia another win against Qualcomm. Article

ALSO NOTED: AT&T's new marketing director; Mobile users outnumber non-users; and much more...

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> Carl Icahn prepares to debut his blog. Article

> AT&T hires new marketing director, Chris Schembri. Article

> ITU: mobile users outnumber non-users for the first time. Article

> ARM to show off Google's Android on a device next week at Mobile World Congress. Article

> Rumor Mill: Vodafone to brief vendors on LTE plans. Article

> Orange looks to expand into emerging markets. Article

> BT dumps FMC offering after poor consumer uptake. Article

And Finally... Why the blogs are excited for Intel's Silverthorne. Article

ALSO NOTED: Intel's Silverthorne processor; Lenovo embeds HSPA; and much more...

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> Lenovo embeds HSPA into its laptops using Ericsson's modules. Article

> Intel enters low-power chips competition with Silverthorne processor. Article

> Vodafone's U.S. strategy comes under the spotlight. Article

> Rumor Mill: Is Carphone Warehouse becoming a bid target? Article

> iPhone boosts T-Mobile Germany's data traffic by 33 percent. Article

> 3G Linux phone targets emerging markets. Article

And Finally... Forget publicists--do you have an online reputation manager? Article

Expect Qualcomm and Nokia to remain miles apart

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:59:59 -0500

Qualcomm and Nokia remain miles apart when it comes to hammering out a new licensing deal for WCDMA technology, and given both of the company's stellar results in the fourth quarter, it doesn't appear progress will be made anytime soon.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Qualcomm and Nokia have been in negotiations since before April, when the original 2001 licensing deal expired. Nokia wants to pay less. Qualcomm wants the same royalty rate it had been getting from Nokia the past six years.

But emerging markets have been the primary target market for Nokia. Its strong fourth quarter was primarily attributed to its market dominance in key emerging markets such as China, India, the Middle East and Africa, where customers are buying cheap GSM devices. Nokia sold a record 133.5 million phones during the quarter and saw the strongest growth in the Middle East and Africa, where shipments were up 52.3 percent, while sales grew in APAC and China as well. Sales in North America and other mature markets, however, slid during the quarter.

Meanwhile, despite the Nokia overhang and its continued patent dispute with Broadcom, Qualcomm posted an 18-percent increase in quarterly profit and gave a positive outlook as the company is riding high on the demand for CDMA products. Samsung, a major Qualcomm licensee, has surpassed Motorola as the second-largest handset vendor. And struggling Motorola, which announced in September that it was going to remove Qualcomm from its 3G chip roadmap in favor of Freescale Semiconductor and Texas Instruments, has now run back to Qualcomm. Last week, Motorola announced it is broadening its relationship with Qualcomm by incorporating the company's chipsets in certain WCDMA handsets starting at the end of this year.

As long as both companies are thriving without a new deal, I don't see any incentive for either side to compromise. -Lynnette

Emerging markets boost Nokia

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:59:55 -0500

Nokia's strong fourth quarter was partly thanks to its market dominance in key emerging markets like China, India, the Middle East and Africa. Nokia sold a record 133.5 million phones during the quarter, while Motorola's handset sales fell 38 percent during the same period. Nokia said it saw the strongest growth in the Middle East and Africa, where shipments were up 52.3 percent, while sales grew in APAC and China as well. Sales in North America and other mature markets, however, slid during the quarter. Nokia is beating its competitors because it's in a better position to scale its products, and Motorola took note of that:

"We need to be not so much a producer of volume to get scale," said Motorola CFO Tom Meredith. "We've got to produce the right design point with the right features and functionality at the right cost. And if we do that, scale will be less of an obstacle than it is perhaps today."

For more on Nokia's emerging market dominance:
- read this article from CNET

SPOTLIGHT: Nokia debuts two phones for emerging markets

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:59:52 -0500

Nokia has unveiled two new handsets for emerging markets: the Nokia 2600 classic and the Nokia 1209. The Nokia 2600 will retail for about $94 before applicable taxes and subsidies. The 2600 has begun shipping already. The Nokia 1209 will become globally available during the second quarter of the year and will retail for about $50 before applicable taxes and subsidies. See images of the phones here. Read this press release.

Cisco closes in on Navini acquisition

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

Cisco Systems, which announced in October its intent to acquire WiMAX technology developer Navini for $330 million, should complete the acquisition in a number of days, according to a report from ComputerWorld. Cisco originally aimed to leverage Navini's assets to bring wireless broadband to emerging markets. The deal will still help Cisco target those markets, but executives at the company recently said they may also market to the U.S. WiMAX service providers, like Sprint and Clearwire.

"We'll go where the business is," said Brett Galloway, general manager of wireless networking at Cisco.

For more on the deal:
- read this article from ComputerWorld

Nokia: ASPs will continue to fall

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:59:55 -0500

Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka told attendees of the company's annual investor event: "Nokia's goal is to be the world's number one in bringing the Internet to mobile devices. We estimate that in 2010, the total Internet services market will be approximately 100 billion euros." Nokia followed up on the keynote with a number of forecasted metrics:

Mobile device volumes next year will grow about 10 percent from the estimated 1.1 billion units shipped in 2007.
Mobile device volume growth next year will be above 15 percent in APAC, China and Middle East & Africa, and below 10 percent in North America, Europe and Latin America.
Industry Average Selling Prices (ASPs) for handsets will decline, because of the increasing impact of the emerging markets and competitive factors in general.
The goal of 4 billion mobile subscriptions will be reached in 2009, rather than in 2010 as previously forecasted.
Converged devices will total about 120 million units in 2007 and 180 million units in 2008.
Nokia will ship about 145 million music-enabled devices in 2007 and more than 180 million units in 2008.

For more on Nokia's investor summit:
- read this press release