BlackBerry top management steps down

BlackBerry chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief managing officer are stepping down, following the recently announced departure of chief executive officer Thorsten Heins and completion of the smartphone maker's strategic review, according to the agencies.

The company did not announce replacements for chief operating officer Kristian Tear or chief managing officer Frank Boulben.

BlackBerry's new chief executive officer John Chen said he will work more directly with the engineering and sales and marketing teams, suggesting the top marketing and operating positions will be eliminated.

James Yersh, previously senior vice president, controller and head of compliance at BlackBerry, will replace Brian Bidulka as chief financial officer.

Bidulka will stay on as a special advisor to the chief executive officer for the remainder of the fiscal year to assist with the transition.

BlackBerry also announced that Roger Martin, a board member since 2007, has resigned. The company said it will provide more details when it reports quarterly results on December 20.

Android grows smartphone market share to 81 per cent

Google's Android operating system grew its share of the smartphone market to 81 per cent in the third quarter, equal to 211.6 million phones shipped, according to estimates from International Data Corporation (IDC) – an American market research, analysis and advisory firm specialising in information technology and telecommunications.

Samsung accounted for just under half the Android shipments, it said, adding that Android increased its share from 74.9 per cent a year earlier, while Apple's iOS fell to 12.9 per cent from 14.4 over the same period. "Microsoft's Windows showed the strongest growth, increasing its share from two per cent in third quarter of 2012 to 3.6 per cent this year, whereas BlackBerry fell over the same period to 1.7 per cent from 4.1 per cent."

The IDC attributed the growth in Android and Microsoft to the companies' pricing strategies, offering a full range of devices for the low end of the mass market.
The market researcher estimated that the average selling price for a smartphone was down by 12.5 per cent in the third quarter to $317. "It comes despite the growing number of large-screen phones, which sell for a notably higher average price of $443," the IDC said, estimating that phablets of at least five inches already accounted for 21 per cent of the smartphone market in the third quarter. "Apple's lack of a large screen device may result in a further erosion of its market share in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Global mobile phone market to grow by 7.3 per cent

The worldwide mobile phone market is forecast to grow by 7.3 per cent year over year in 2013, marking a sharp rebound from the nearly flat (1.2 per cent) growth experienced in 2012.

Strong demand for smartphones across all geographies will drive much of this growth as worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to surpass one billion units for the first time in a single year, according to a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC).

The overall mobile phone market is growing faster than previously forecast due to a stronger-than-expected first half of the year driven by gains in emerging markets and the sub $200 smartphone segment.
IDC previously projected 5.8 per cent growth for the year. Vendors are now forecast to ship more than 1.8 billion mobile phones in 2013, growing to over 2.3 billion mobile phones in 2017. “Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to grow by 40 per cent year over year to more than one billion units in 2013 and total smartphone shipments are forecast to reach 1.7 billion units in 2017.”
Android remains the dominant smartphone operating system, a status that is not expected to change although its share will decline somewhat as the market matures and competition solidifies.

Samsung remains the world's top seller of Android-based smartphones, while the resurgence of LG and Sony have also contributed to its success in recent quarters, it reported, adding that iOS will remain the clear number two operating system as the expected launch of a lower-cost iPhone will open up a wider addressable market. “Windows Phone will solidify its position as the number three operating system with incremental share gains over the course of the forecast.”
Likewise, BlackBerry operating system share will decline markedly over the forecast period due to tepid BlackBerry 10 reception and increased competition, it added.

Smartphone sales exceed feature phones for first time in second quarter

Unit sales of smartphones surpassed feature phone sales for the first time in the second quarter of 2013, according to Gartner.

It estimates the smartphone market grew 46.5 per cent from a year earlier to 225 million units or 51.8 per cent of the total handset market. Feature phone sales were down by 21 per cent year-on-year to 210 million units. The regions Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe exhibited the highest smartphone growth rates of 74.1 per cent, 55.7 per cent and 31.6 per cent respectively.

Gartner maintained its forecast for total mobile phone sales of 1.82 billion units this year, supported by new product launches around year-end and the continued fall in smartphone prices. 

Samsung maintained its No 1 position in the global smartphone market in second quarter, and its share increased to 31.7 per cent from 29.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2012. Apple's share fell over the same period to 14.2 per cent from 18.8 per cent, whereas Number-three LG rose to 5.1 per cent from 3.8 per cent a year ago, Lenovo grew to 4.7 per cent from 2.8 per cent, and ZTE had 4.3 per cent of the smartphone market.

In terms of mobile operating systems, Google's Android strengthened its lead, accounting for 79 per cent of all smartphones shipped in the quarter, it said, adding that Apple's iOS was in second place with 14.2 per cent, and Microsoft's Windows moved into third place, growing its share to 3.3 per cent from 2.6 per cent a year ago. “BlackBerry fell to fourth place with 2.7 per cent of the market, half its share of a year earlier.”

Android, iOS account for 92pc of all smartphone shipments

Android and iOS, the number one and number two ranked smartphone operating systems (OS) worldwide, combined for 92.3 per cent of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013 as Windows Phone crept past BlackBerry for third place.

Android smartphone vendors and Apple shipped a total of 199.5 million units worldwide during the quarter, up 59.1 per cent year-over-year from 125.4 million units, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

Android remains the leader in the smartphone operating system market, increasing its market share despite the seasonality working against the entire smartphone market in the quarter. Samsung was once again the clear leader among all Android smartphone vendors, commanding 41.1 per cent market share.

Apple iOS marked its largest ever first quarter volume on the strength of its iPhone shipment volumes, yet the operating system posted a year-over-year decline in market share and lower year-over-year shipment growth than the overall market.

Although demand remains strong worldwide, the iOS experience has remained largely the same since the first iPhone debuted in 2007. That appears ready to change as online rumours and speculation predict a massive overhaul of the user interface when iOS 7 debuts.

Windows Phone posted the largest year-over-year gain among the leading operating systems, more than doubling its size from a year ago. Nokia was largely responsible for driving these volumes higher, accounting for 79 per cent of all Windows Phone shipments during the quarter.

BlackBerry realised double-digit declines from a year ago, but this masks the progress that the company had made since then. In its first quarter of availability, BlackBerry formally introduced and shipped more than a million units running on its new BB10 platform, a significant breakthrough for the company.

Linux saw continued decline in shipment volumes to start off the year,

reaching levels not seen since the first quarter of 2010. The lower volumes were not completely unexpected, as most vendors have switched to Android and Samsung.

Symbian recorded the largest year-over-year decline compared to any other operating system. The decline for Symbian-powered smartphones was expected as its primary OEM supporter Nokia has transitioned to Windows Phone and Japanese vendors have moved to Android. Although shipments continue to decline, IDC believes that Symbian shipments could continue into 2014, but in drastically lower volumes.