Second tier player, Alcatel One Touch, ZTE Open, try Mozilla, Firefox OS

https://www.google.com.hk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=firefox+os+demo+youtube&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpUgYjWfYwcM&ei=pTDSUeTRNa2Tigfd4YHgBg&usg=AFQjCNGin7wI1mkhdcLBV19I8mQDHLDq1Q

Mozilla is beginning regional rollouts of the Alcatel One Touch and ZTE Open, the first commercially released smartphones running the open-source software development initiative's new Firefox OS.

Telefónica will begin selling the ZTE Open to Spanish subscribers this week for $90 (€69), while Deutsche Telekom will introduce the smartphones in Poland in the near future. In all, Mozilla has signed more than 20 hardware and operator partners worldwide, including Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), Etisalat, Smart and Telecom Italia: Telenor will launch its first Firefox OS phones in Central and Eastern Europe this year, with devices slated to roll out in additional markets in the months ahead.

Firefox OS (formerly Boot to Gecko) promises a new phone architecture that relies entirely on the Web to enable HTML5 applications with complete access to core device APIs. According to Mozilla, developers can create Firefox OS apps from existing websites by adding an app manifest--a JSON file that describes the app, including its name, its icons and a human-readable description.

In addition to core services like voice calling, text messaging, email, Web browsing and a camera, Firefox OS includes built-in social features like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter integration, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Here maps and Firefox Marketplace, which offers HTML5-based apps across a range of categories including games, entertainment, news, business and productivity. Mozilla also will tailor app availability for each regional market.

In late April, Mozilla and OEM partner Geeksphone released the first Firefox developer preview phones. The Keon, priced at $119, boasts a 1GHz Snapdragon S1 processor, 4 GB ROM, 512 MB RAM, a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 3-megapixel camera, MicroSD storage and support for 2G and 3G networks. The more powerful Peak, offered at $194, includes a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 4.3-inch qHD IPS display, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera (2-megapixel front), 4 GB ROM and 512 MB RAM.

Android rules the worldwide smartphone market when it comes to market share

Android rules the worldwide smartphone market when it comes to market share, and its dominance in China could have a lot to do with that. At the end of the first quarter of 2013, Google’s platform claimed a whopping 51.4% share of all smartphones owned in China.

That’s according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, which shows that Android’s share has grown 2.8% since the fourth quarter of 2012. And I’m sure you already know which smartphone manufacturer is driving Android adoption.

That’s right — it’s Samsung. The Korean company is the fastest-growing smartphone maker, with 15.2% of the market share. In comparison, local brands including ZTE, Lenovo, and Xiamomi hold a 20% share combined.

”Local manufacturer brands have been able to drive strong growth through bundling their handsets with carriers tariff offers, seeking out new sales channels & combining innovative product design with value to capture many first time Smartphone buyers,” said Craig Yu, Consumer Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

iOS remained “resilient” during the first quarter,” Kantar reports, with a 19.9% market share, while the dying Symbian platform — which is powering older Nokia smartphones — saw its market share decline 2% to 23%. It is believed that iOS will overtake Symbian to secure second place over the next two quarters.

Read more at http://www.cultofandroid.com/28677/more-than-half-of-all-smartphones-in-china-are-running-android/#UCYPb5jAx3VcBazV.99 

17/2.1G AWS LTE devices from Samsung, Nokia

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone and Nokia’s Lumia 928 are the first of seven upcoming devices that are set to work on Verizon Wireless’ LTE network running its 1.7/2.1 GHz spectrum holdings, also known as the advanced wireless services band. Verizon Wireless has just started selling the Galaxy S4 within the last week; Nokia’s new flagship arrived at the carrier in mid-May. A software upgrade will enable users to access LTE service on the AWS spectrum, which is set to roll out in major cities during the second half of this year.

Source

http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20130530/devices/galaxy-s4-lumia-928-first-aws-ready-devices-verizon-wireless/?elq=e82a2abff1544279a63f50d13cb9b5f4&elqCampaignId=1944

First quarter 2013 - ABI's report data on mobile market share and analysis

First quarter 2013 market share by OEM

OEM shipments from first quarter 2010 to the first quarter 2013

Overall smartphone shipments vs. non smartphones

Analysis from ABI's Michael Morgan

Vendor	Q1 2013 shipments (millions of units)	Analysis
Samsung	112.8	Samsung was one of two top OEMs that was able to increase its smartphone shipments from Q4. Continued strength from it's Galaxy line of smartphones and the increasing strength of the Note line kept smartphone shipments growing. It appears that Samsung was one of the few OEMs to capitalize on China's Q1 buying season. While it was Samsung's strength in the premium smartphone segment that built its market leadership, it can be expected that Samsung's strategy for mid-to-low-cost smartphones will be the engine that keeps Samsung at the top over the mid-term.
Nokia	61.9	Nokia shipped 61.9 mllion handsets in Q1 and 6.1 million smartphones. Of the 6.1 miillion smartphones 5.6 million were Windows Phone devices with the remainder made of Symbian devices. With the lowest penetration of smartphones in the global top ten, Nokia is increasingly dependent upon its line of feature phones that are exemplified by its Asha line of devices. In regard to feature phones, the Asha line of devices boasts industry leading functionality, but it is uncertain is these "smartphone-like" feature phones will be able to compete with the growing sub-$100 Android smartphones over time.
Apple	37.4	Q1  2013 results exemplified Apple's key problem: "Anyone who wants an iPhone, already has one." Apple's year-over-year growth dropped from 88% in Q1 2012 to 6.6% in Q1 2013.  The slowed growth of iPhone shipments was accompanied by a massive drop in its stock price as investors worry about the potential for future revenue growth. With strong demand for the iPhone 4S in China, ABI Research is concerned that the iPhone 5 has not done enough to keep Apple's upgrade cycle intact.
ZTE	16.9	Despite a drop in handset and smartphone shipments in Q1, ZTE was able to keep its penetration of smartphone shipments at 54%. Like other Chinese OEMs, ZTE felt the pressure of Samsung in its key home market of China. ZTE is expected to continue to push itself up the value chain from low-cost handsets into premium smartphones and furthur develop its brand strength and recognition. While upmarket movement is a classic strategy, ABI Research beleives that ZTE should not move up stream at the expense of its core strength in delivering low cost products.
LG	16.2	With yet another sequential quarter of profitablility and shipment growth, LG appears to be one the select few handset OEMs to legitimately turn its business around from the smartphone market disruption that occurred in 2011 and 2012. LG made the right bets on LTE, Android and premium smartphones two years ago, and these bets are officially bearing fruit. ABI Research beleives that if LG can comfortably shift to success in the mid-tier smartphone space, it may be able to move up the top ten ladder over the next two years.
Huawei	14.2	Huawei saw a nice sales boost in Q1 from its key APAC market despite Samsung's increasing presence in the region. While Huawei does have increasing presence in international markets and in particular emerging smartphone markets, it will be increasing important that it defends its position in China. ABI Research beleives that if Huawei's inherent advantages in China cannot hold against Samsung's marketing budget, there will be little to stop Samsung from pushing Huawei back in other developed markets such as Western Europe and North America.
TCL (Alcatel)	8.5	TCL (Alcatel) shipments showed heavy seasonality in Q1 with a 37% sequential drop in shipments. Comparitively, TCL has low brand recognition for a top ten handset OEM, and ABI Research believes that this will prevent TCL (Alcatel) from fending off lower ranked handset OEMs on the rise.
Sony Mobile	8.1	With the launch of the iPhone 5 and the continued dominance of the Samsung Galaxy line of smartphones, Sony's smartphone efforts may have been lost in the fanfare of others success. Sony remains in the top ten list at No. 8, while other perenials such as HTC and Motorola have lost their ranking for the forseeable future. ABI Research belives that Sony's sequential shipment decline in Q1 signals a need for Sony to throw some strong marketing muscle behind its latest Xperia Z smartphone, and raise its awareness and presence in the North American market.
Lenovo	7.6	Like most China-based handset OEMs, Lenovo shipments decreased in Q1 due to pressure from Samsung in its home market of China. Although the Chinese market offers amazing potential for growth, Chinese OEMs such as Lenovo will need to build global strength in their brands if they want to capture more of their home markets.
BlackBerry (RIM)	6.0	ABI Research would classify BlackBerry's launch of its new BB10 platform a soft launch. With only select markets receiving the Z10 device in the quarter, BlackBerry was only able to move 1M of the new devices in Q1. However, with the Q10 and the Q5 devices coming to play in Q2, BlackBerry will be firing on all cylinders for the rest of 2013. WIth heavy demand build up from consumers waiting for a quality Qwerty smartphone to hit the market, BlackBerry may yet squeeze another golden egg from its old strengths.
HTC	4.5	Despite HTC's well designed One smartphone, initial sales were not enough to stem HTC's shipments decline. ABI Research has done considerable research on this device and found it to be one of the best designed handsets on the market. This goes to show that it is not always the best technology that wins in the mobile market. However, HTC's commitment to increase its marketing spend on the device may be the missing ingredient needed to stem HTC's decline.
Motorola	3.9	With little news about Motorola's X phone, the shipments of its now stale line of smartphones continues to decline. ABI Research believes that Motorola may be shifting away from developing unique branded handsets and moving more towards the development of Android reference designs that other handset OEMs can leverage. While this may help the Android ecosystem at large, the loss of Motorola's brand presence will only cause the sinking division of Google to loose relevance in the smartphone market.

The raw data

2013 Q1 Handset Shipment Market Share by OEM
Samsung	27.9%
Nokia	15.3%
Apple	9.2%
ZTE	4.2%
LG	4.0%
Blackberry (RIM)	1.5%
Huawei	3.5%
Motorola	1.0%
TCL (Alcatel)	2.1%
Sony Mobile	2.0%
HTC	1.1%
Lenovo	1.9%
Other	28.3%

 

Handset shipments by vendor
Vendor	1Q 2011	2Q 2011	3Q 2011	4Q 2011	1Q 2012	2Q 2012	3Q 2012	4Q 2012	1Q 2013
Nokia	108.5	88.5	106.5	113.5	82.7	83.7	82.9	86.3	61.9
Samsung	70.0	74.0	85.0	93.5	93.8	94.2	102.6	106.5	112.8
LG	24.5	24.8	21.1	20.0	13.7	13.1	14.4	15.4	16.2
Sony Mobile	8.1	7.6	9.5	9.0	7.3	7.4	8.8	8.7	8.1
Motorola	9.0	10.6	12.9	10.3	8.8	8.1	7.3	5.3	3.9
BlackBerry	14.9	13.2	11.8	14.1	11.1	7.8	7.4	6.9	6.0
Apple	18.7	20.3	17.1	37.0	35.1	26.0	26.9	47.8	37.4
HTC	9.7	12.1	13.2	10.1	6.7	8.3	7.1	6.1	4.5
Huawei	9.1	11.9	14.2	16.3	10.5	10.8	12.1	15.0	14.2
ZTE	15.2	19.6	18.9	20.0	18.9	19.7	17.6	20.8	16.9
TCL (Alcatel Mobile Phones)	7.7	8.9	9.4	8.1	7.8	10.8	10.5	13.4	8.5
Lenovo	0.8	0.9	0.9	1.1	2.3	6.8	6.9	9.5	7.6

 

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Nokia goes to "Mobile + Online Service + content"

Nokia goes to "Mobile + Online Service + content"

Report: Nokia Chief Says Large Acquisitions Over

HELSINKI (AP) — Nokia is done making major acquisitions to complement its business and will provide more online services, its CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said.
Kallasvuo was quoted in an interview published Friday as saying that the Finnish company has "collected all the basic building blocks" and now aims to push ahead with innovations, despite the challenging climate that saw Nokia lose market share last year.
"Now in 2009, consumers must be able to even better realize that the user experience provided by Nokia is exquisite," Kallasvuo told the Finnish Talouselama business weekly. "We no longer lack the pieces which would require large acquisitions."
Nokia has been the top global handset maker since 1998 and has gradually expanded to include online services, such as downloads of music, games, maps and the fast transfer of photos and video.
It has estimated the global online market will reach $130 billion by 2010.
"We are in a situation where we have to combine the old ... with the new," Kallasvuo told Talouselama. "We are no longer just the market leader which needs to defend its position. Now, we have the opportunity to attack in a new way."
Last year, Warner Music Group joined Nokia's music service, enabling customers to download and listen to thousands of tracks on Nokia handsets, following similar deals with Sony BMG and Universal Music Group.
It also acquired Canadian mobile messaging company Oz Communications to give users better access to instant messaging and e-mails, and joined forces with travel information company Lonely Planet to sell maps and city guides that can be accessed on mobile phones.
In 2007, Nokia spent $8 billion - its biggest deal to date - to acquire Chicago-based Navteq so that Nokia handset users can access digital maps and global positioning systems.
Its foray into Web services, spending more than $3.8 billion on research and development last year, is part of a strong push to challenge rivals, including Apple's iTunes and iPod.
Kallasvuo concedes Apple's iPhone served as a wake-up call.
"Of course, I've used Apple as an in-company alarm clock, several times," Kallasvuo said in the interview. "I've familiarized myself with it (iPhone), but naturally I don't use one."
The global economic downturn has not spared the company. Last month, it warned of imminent cost-cutting measures after fourth-quarter net profit crashed 69 percent to $744 million and its market share dropped to 37 percent, from 38 percent in the previous quarter and 40 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007.
On Wednesday, Nokia announced the closure of an R&D center in Finland with 320 job cuts and said it will temporarily lay off some 2,500 workers.
But Kallasvuo maintains the company is not in crisis, although he acknowledges the market is difficult.
"We are now in the toughest environment ever," Kallasvuo said. "Nokia is no way in a crisis, but the challenges are huge."

Nokia S40 6th Edition

Nokia S40 6th Edition.
Following on the previous Nokia 7210, 7310, 7510, and 7610 Supernova series, one of them (Nokia 7510 Supernova) features Series 40 6th Edition.

Nokia 7510 Supernova is a fold phone with iconic and fashionable design with changeable covers, supporting GSM 850/900/1800/1900.
The Nokia 7510 Supernova features Series 40 6th Edition,
WebKit Open Source Browser,
Nokia Maps 1.2,
push-to-open key,
FM RDS Radio,
Flash Lite 3.0,
Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR and
MIDP Java 2.1 with additional Java APIs

What’s New in Nokia S40 6th Edition?
Series 40 6th Edition represents a continuing commitment by Nokia to mobile application developers, with support for MIDP 2.1 and the subset of the Mobile Service Architecture (JSR-248). JSR-248 provides a common implementation of seven popular JSRs. These implementations are shared with S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2, and it is expected that other manufacturers of Java™ phones will implement JSR-248. This means that developers will be able to create applications for Nokia platforms that will also run on other manufacturers’ devices, with little or no change.
In addition, Series 40 6th Edition delivers exciting new opportunities for the creation of location-based applications, with the introduction of the Location API for J2ME™ (JSR-179). This API can utilize an external Bluetooth GPS unit to obtain location information.
Series 40 6th Edition also provides improved support to Adobe Flash developers with the inclusion of the Flash Lite 3 Player. In addition to playing stand-alone Flash Lite content and applications and offering animated screen savers, Flash Lite can also be used to create animated “organic” wallpaper for Series 40 devices.
For Web developers, Series 40 6th Edition brings new opportunities with a browser based on the WebKit open source components WebCore and JavaScriptCore. This new browser delivers support for HTML 4.01, CSS2, JavaScript™ 1.5, and Ajax. Series 40 users can now experience a desktop-like Web browsing experience, which opens up new possibilities for Web developers to deliver sophisticated Web-based services to the mobile marketplace.
The platform continues to support 240 x 320-pixel screens, meaning media developers continue to benefit from the improved viewing experience and realize continued growth in the consumption of content and media. The platform approach, with its uniform implementation of technologies and supporting tools, documentation, and examples, will continue to offer developers the easiest route to seize mass-market opportunities.

Texas Instruments tallies and cuts

by Angela Gunn
January 26, 2009, 8:23 PM
Texas Instruments on Monday delivered a quarterly report showing a drop in quarterly profits -- but it's not as bad as some were expecting. The nation's second-largest chipmaker also announced plans to cut 12% of its workforce over the next two quarters, and said that factory utilization is expected to dip to 35% during the current quarter.
The cuts are expected to include both layoffs (1800 people) and voluntary retirements (1600 people, or so the company hopes). The firm estimated on its earnings call that the effort will cost around $300 million in severance and related expenses.
TI is, among other things, saddled with winding down its once-lucrative merchant chipset business. (Those chipsets were once widely used by mobile-phone manufacturers, especially Nokia; these days, phone manufacturers generally use multiple supply sources for those basic chips, and TI would prefer to offer more sophisticated OMAP applications processors for smartphones.) During their last quarterly call TI said they were attempting to sell off that division of the company; they've given up and are now treating it as "end-of-life" technology.
And now? Company executives, who like the rest of us have been watching the plummeting sales reports from mobile-phone manufacturers such as Nokia (TI's biggest customer), aren't making any long-term predictions at this point. The earnings report states baldly that the company is "not counting on a near-term economic rebound for improvement."
For the quarter just ended, TI reported revenue of $2.49 billion and net income of $107 million, which works out to earnings per share of eight cents. That's lower than the company's previous prediction of 10 cents/share, but better than the market expected to see, so in after-hours trading the company's stock actually rose 75 cents, or a bit over 5 percent, in after-hours trading.

Economic of scale can help? Nokia

Nokia's scale helps it weather economic storm
By Nick Wood , Total Telecom
16 October 2008
Net profit down 30% on year but CEO says handset maker is "well positioned" in current climate.
Nokia on Thursday reported a 30% decline in net profit from 2007, citing aggressive pricing competition and a tougher economic environment, but said its scale and margins leave it in a strong position.
"We have our eyes wide open to what's happening out there," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia, during the company's quarterly analyst call."But Nokia is strong, we have the scale, [and] we have one of the best brands in the world," he commented.Third-quarter profit fell to €1.09 billion from €1.56 billion a year earlier and group revenue declined 5% from €12.99 billion in 2007 to €12.24 billion.Sales at Nokia's core devices and services business declined 7% year on year to €8.61 billion from €9.24 billion.One analyst shares Kallasvuo's confidence."In the current economic environment, out of all of the handset vendors, Nokia is best positioned to deal with it," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, who explained to Total Telecom that it has the size and distribution strategy to cope with tougher times."Economies of scale are going to matter more and more," she added.Indeed, Nokia shipped 117.8 million handsets during the third quarter, an increase of 5% from 2007, when it shipped 111.7 million.That said, on a sequential basis, the Finnish handset maker saw shipments to Latin America fall by 28.1%, while growth in its North American and European shipments was largely flat at 0% and 1.1% respectively.As such, Nokia's market share fell slightly to 38% from 40% in the second quarter, a decline it attributed to aggressive competition on pricing from its rivals."It sometimes happens in the market, we decided tactically not to participate…We will try to take market share in a sustainable manner," said Kallasvuo."But don't expect us to give our competitors a free ride," he said.Yet Gartner's Milanesi hinted at weakness in Nokia's handset portfolio.She said that Nokia's top-of-the-range N96 model, which launched in early September, is unlikely to drive ARPU."Operators are getting pretty smart when it comes to subsidising the handsets that are likely to drive ARPU, and there's a danger that the N96 will be seen as an upgrade to the N95, rather than a completely new handset," she said.She also explained that Nokia's 5800 is a late arrival to the fiercely competitive touch screen scene, which could explain why it lost some of its market share."Samsung with its Omnia device will have picked up some volumes, you also have the HTC Diamond, and the 3G iPhone of course – so there has been a lot of competition on the touch screen side that Nokia couldn't compete with," Milanesi explained.Still, Nokia maintained steady operating margins of 12.0% across the group, with its handset business showing a slight dip to 18.6% from 21.2% during the same period in 2007.Its infrastructure arm Nokia Siemens Networks meanwhile saw its margins improve from -3.3% in the third quarter of 2007 to 0% in the three months ending 30 September.Going forward Nokia said despite the financial crisis it expects mobile shipments across the sector to increase during the seasonally strong fourth quarter, and for full year industry volumes to reach 1.26 billion units, up from 1.14 billion in 2007.However, Milanesi has taken a more pessimistic view on the handset market for the fourth quarter."We don't expect the weakness in Q3 to be made up in the fourth quarter," she said.Nokia's CFO Rick Simonson also said the infrastructure market remains uncertain, as Nokia Siemens Networks reported a 4.7% decline in year-on-year sales, and a 13.9% drop sequentially from the second quarter."[Nokia Siemens Networks] saw a sharp net sales decline....The infrastructure market is still in a tough environment as we go into what is a seasonally weak quarter," he said.

Nokia Expects to Support China's TD-SCDMA Standard

11 Sept 2008

Nokia is planning to support all three of the proposed 3G standards in China by releasing handsets for each of the networks. It is anticipated that China Mobile will use the Chinese developed 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, while China Telecom will use CDMA2000 and China Unicom will use WCDMA.
Nokia's vice-president of Greater China sales, David Tang told the South China Morning Post that the company aims to retain its number one position in the market.

As China Mobile has a market share of around 70%, supporting the TD-SCDMA format is essential for any handset vendor seeking to retain their market position.

"Nokia supports the development of TD-SCDMA. We will have the handsets in the market when the service becomes active," said Mr Tang in an interview at Nokia's Green Campus headquarters in Beijing.

Although Nokia does not currently have any TD-SCDMA based handsets, the company is a 49% holder in a Chinese joint venture, Potevio(中国普天 www.potevio.com ) with China Putian to develop network infrastructure based on the 3G standard, so it has access to the necessary technical expertise. Potevio was set up in 2005 and has also been the major supplier of equipment to China Mobile's TD-SCDMA trial networks in Tianjin and Qinhuangdao.

Nokia sold just over 70 million mobile phones in China during 2007, giving it a 42% market share.

On the web: South China Morning Post

Posted to the site on 11th September 2008

Nokia Shows off Carbon Fibre Mobile Phone for High-End Market

Nokia has shown off a new "premium" mobile phone - the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, which the company says has been engineered from carbon fibre, titanium, polished glass and stainless steel.
The Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte also offers the unique tap-for-time feature - consumers can tap the steel surface below the display twice and a clock appears on the screen. Background images organically change during the day, giving a unique appearance to the display. The turn-to-mute silencing mechanism allows individuals to silence incoming calls in a discrete manner by turning the phone over, screen-side down.
In addition to the 3G capabilities and 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera and high quality audio, the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte boasts an OLED display and built-in memory that has been expanded from previous offerings in the range to 4 GB. Meanwhile, Nokia's anti-fingerprint coating reduces smudges on metal and glass and unsightly outer seams are hidden by a unique all-in-one microUSB connector.
The Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte will be available in the 3rd quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of EUR 1,100 (US$1,620) exclusive of subsidies and taxes.
Posted to the site on 19th August 2008

Taiwan market: Nokia launches high-end 8800 Sapphire Arte

14 March 2008
Nokia on March 13 launched its most expensive handset, the 8800 Sapphire Arte, in Taiwan with a price tag of NT$53,800 (US$1,758). The 3G-enabled device is decorated with leather, stainless steel and diamonds and features a 3.2-megapixel camera.
Nokia launched a total of 33 handsets in Taiwan last year and plans to offer a similar amount of new models in 2008, with over 50% of the new handsets supporting 3G technology, according to CK Cherng, general manager of Nokia Taiwan.
Sales of 3G handsets now account for about 40% of total handsets sold in the Taiwan market compared to 30% at the end of last year, stated Cherng, asserting that sales of 3G handsets will accelerate in the rest of the year.

Nokia expected to expand partnerships with Taiwan handset chip solution vendors

27 Feb 2008

Industry source said, that Nokia will grow its component procurement flexibility and proportion, expect that Taiwan-based IC design houses will benefit from the move.

Nokia to acquire Trolltech to accelerate software strategy

28 January - 2008

The company has offered 844m Norwegian kroner (£77.7m) to acquire Trolltech, the Norwegian developer of a widely used application framework in order to give its own software efforts a boost.

Espoo, Finland and Oslo, Norway , 28 January - 2008 - Nokia and Trolltech ASA today announced that they have entered into an agreement that Nokia will make a public voluntary tender offer to acquire Trolltech (www.trolltech.com), a company headquartered in Oslo, Norway and publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Trolltech is a recognized software provider with world-class software development platforms and frameworks. In addition to the key software assets, its talented team will play an important role in accelerating the implementation of Nokia’s software strategy.
Nokia will offer NOK 16 per share in cash. The board of directors of Trolltech has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept Nokia’s Offer. Holders of 35,024,830 shares, representing approximately 66,43 % of Trolltech’s issued shares and votes have as of January 27, 2008 irrevocably undertaken to accept the Offer. Haavard Nord, Vuonislahti Invest AS (controlled by Eirik Chambe-Eng), Teknoinvest and certain funds managed by Index Ventures are among the shareholders who have agreed to tender their shares to Nokia. The acquisition of Trolltech will enable Nokia to accelerate its cross-platform software strategy for mobile devices and desktop applications, and develop its Internet services business. With Trolltech, Nokia and third party developers will be able to develop applications that work in the Internet, across Nokia’s device portfolio and on PCs. Nokia’s software strategy for devices is based on cross-platform development environments, layers of software that run across operating systems, enabling the development of applications across the Nokia device range. Examples of current cross-platform layers are Web runtime, Flash, Java and Open C. “The technology landscape evolves and, for Nokia, software plays a major role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and the integration with the Internet. We continue to focus on areas where we can differentiate and add more value. Common cross-platform layers on top of our software platforms attract innovation and enable Web 2.0 technologies in the mobile space,” said Kai Öistämö, Executive Vice President, Devices, Nokia. “Trolltech’s deep understanding of open source software and its strong technology assets will enable both Nokia and others to innovate on our device platforms while reducing time-to-market. This acquisition will also further increase the competitiveness of S60 and Series 40.”Nokia aims to continue the development of Trolltech’s products and support of new and existing customers. Nokia strives for an open approach to technology that will encourage and support innovation in the industry, enable fast adoption of new technologies and advance healthy competition. Nokia embraces open source technology and will take further the open source development culture found in Trolltech. “Trolltech and Nokia share the goal of accelerating the adoption of Trolltech’s Qt based technology in the commercial market and in the open source community,” said Haavard Nord, CEO and founder of Trolltech. Eirik Chambe-Eng, Chief Troll and co-founder of Trolltech continues “We are thrilled to join forces with Nokia. The company’s innovative culture and resources will give our employees new and exciting possibilities and fulfill our vision of “Qt everywhere”.”Nokia intends to continue to enhance Trolltech products through active and ongoing development, for both desktop and mobile. To further stimulate industry innovation based on Trolltech’s products, Nokia plans to continue to license Trolltech technology under both commercial and open source licenses.The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including acceptance by shareholders representing more than 90 % of the fully diluted share capital, and the necessary regulatory approvals. The complete details of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be set forth in an offer document expected to be sent to Trolltech shareholders within two weeks. The offer is expected to be open for acceptance for a period of four weeks and to be completed in the second quarter of 2008. If the conditions to the offer are satisfied or waived, Nokia will have a legal duty to make a mandatory cash offer for or compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares.

Handset shipments from Compal Communications and Arima Communications down sharply in 2007

7 January 2008
The two leading Taiwan OEM handset makers – Compal Communications and Arima Communications – both saw their handset shipments fall short of their respective targets in 2007 due to reduced orders from clients, according to market sources.
Compal shipped 10.9 million handsets in the fourth quarter of 2007, bringing the company's total shipments for all of 2007 to 47.8 million units, down 27% on year and also lower than its revised target of 50 million units, said sources at Compal.
Accordingly, Compal's revenues for 2007 were down 31.9% on year, to NT$48.74 billion (US$1.5 billion), according to company data.
However, market sources expect Compal's revenues to rebound strongly in the second half of 2008, buoyed by shipments of CDMA handsets to Nokia and shipments of smartphones to other clients.
Compal's handset shipments for the first quarter of this year are likely to grow marginally from the fourth quarter of 2007, with total shipments for 2008 expected to reach 53-58 million units, estimated the market sources.
In other news, Arima shipped 9.25 million handsets in 2007, compared to 13 million units shipped in 2006 and its target of 14-16 million units for 2007, according to company sources.
For all of 2007, Arima's consolidated revenues totaled NT$18.42 billion, down 25.7% from the previous year, according to company data.
Arima expects its handset shipments to again top 14-16 million units in 2008, according to estimates by sources at the company.

HTC revenues to decline over 38% sequentially in 1Q08 due to chipset shortages, says paper

24 Dec, 2007

High Tech Computer (HTC) revenues are expected to decline 38.5% sequentially to NT$24 billion (US$738.5 million) in the first quarter of 2008 from the NT$39 billion projected for the fourth quarter of this year due to an insufficient supply of chipset solutions from Qualcomm, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.
Despite a capacity ramp by Qualcomm, HTC is expected to receive up to only 70% of the CDMA and WCDMA solutions its needs for the first quarter of 2008. This will consequently affect HTC's shipments of CDMA handsets to the US and WCDMA handsets to Europe, the paper said.
In addition, handset shipments from Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) and Chi Mei Communication Systems (CMCS) to Nokia are also likely to be affected by Qualcomm's supply shortages, the paper added.
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Nokia to group its target markets into two mega distribution areas, say market sources

7 Dec, 2007
Nokia plans to initiate a shake-up of its corporate structure by grouping its market segments into two large areas – Distribution East and Distribution West – instead of the current six markets. The plans are to come into effect starting January 1, 2008, according to market sources familiar with the project.
Colin Giles, incumbent present for Greater China Nokia, will be assigned to head Distribution East, whereas Timo Toikkanen, current senior vice president for the Middle East and Africa, will become the head of Distribution West, the sources indicated.
Also including the shake-up Nokia will restructure its corporate branches into three major divisions – devices, software/services and markets – instead of current four branches covering mobile phones, multimedia, enterprise solutions and telecommunications, the source noted.
Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia executive vice president and general manager of multimedia, is expected to take up the reins of the new markets division, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Taiwan market: Nokia launches SNAP Mobile via cooperation with CHT and Gamania

6 Dec, 2007

Nokia, on December 6, formally launched SNAP (Scalable Network Applications Package) Mobile in Taiwan through partnership with Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) and Gamania Digital Entertainment.
Under the partnership CHT will provide access to its 3G mobile infrastructure while Gamania offers games developed for the platform, according to industry sources.
Nokia's SNAP Mobile is an open platform for the development of mobile connected multi-player games based on the Java MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) 2.0 standard. All handsets that support Java MIDP 2.0 should be able to play such games, the sources indicated.
In addition to Taiwan, Nokia has launched SNAP in the US, Europe, China, Singapore and Hong Kong, according to the company's SNAP Mobile and games global sales director, Antoine Doumenc.

Nokia Expects 4 Billion Mobile Phone Subscribers in 2009

4 Dec, 2007

At its annual investor event today, Nokia has presented key targets and forecasts for the next one to two years, while senior company executives described how Nokia's advantages as the leading device company underpin its strategic move into Internet services.
In his keynote address, Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said: "We have made great strides in strengthening Nokia's device portfolio over the past year. The improvements we've made have driven the profitable growth and market share gains Nokia has enjoyed in 2007, and we aim to continue the good momentum in our device portfolio next year."
Speaking about Nokia's opportunities in Internet services, Kallasvuo said: "Nokia's goal is to be the world #1 in bringing the Internet to mobile devices. We estimate that in 2010, the total Internet services market will be approximately 100 billion euros."
In brief:
Nokia financial targets (excluding special items, purchase price accounting, and the pending acquisition of NAVTEQ)
Nokia Group operating margin of 16-17% targeted within the next one to two years. This target is revised from the one to two year 15% operating margin target Nokia gave in November 2006.
Nokia Devices & Services operating margin targeted to be approximately 20% during the next one to two years.* (see reconciliation below).
Nokia Siemens Networks' target operating margin increasing to 10% by the end of 2009.
Nokia targets an improvement in the ratio of Nokia Group gross margin to R&D expenses and an improvement in the ratio of Nokia Group gross margin to sales and marketing expenses in 2008, compared to 2007.
Targets and forecasts for Nokia and the industry

Nokia expects:
Industry mobile device volumes in 2008 to grow approximately 10% from the approximately 1.1 billion units Nokia estimates for 2007.
Industry mobile device volume growth in 2008 to be above 15% in Asia-Pacific, China and Middle East & Africa, and below 10% in North America, Europe and Latin America.
Nokia expects the device industry to experience value growth in 2008, but expects some decline in industry Average Selling Prices (ASPs) primarily reflecting the increasing impact of the emerging markets and competitive factors in general.
The four billion mobile subscriptions mark to be reached in 2009, rather than in 2010 as previously forecasted.
The converged device market to reach approximately 120 million units in 2007 and 180 million units in 2008.
To ship approximately 200 million Nokia devices with an integrated digital camera in 2007 and more than 250 million units in 2008.
To ship approximately 145 million Nokia music-enabled devices in 2007 and more than 180 million units in 2008.
Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks forecasts and targets for the infrastructure market and Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia expects very slight growth for the mobile and fixed infrastructure and related services market in euro terms in 2008.
Nokia Siemens Networks aims to grow faster than the market in 2008.
* Devices & Services is not comparable to the current definition of "Devices", consisting of Mobile Phones and Multimedia combined, but is based on what will be the reportable business segment under our new organizational structure starting January 1, 2008. Devices & Services will be comprised of the totality of the existing Mobile Phones, Multimedia and Enterprise Solutions business groups - and will also include expenses previously reported under "Common Group Functions". A comparable figure for Devices & Services operating margin for the period Q1-Q3 2007 was approximately 19%.

FIH takes over Nokia San Diego CDMA team, say sources

30 Nov, 2007
Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) has taken over the CDMA team of Nokia located in San Diego, USA, in attempts to further strengthen its partnership with the handset vendor, according to market sources.
FIH is facing strong competition from rivals such as Compal Communications, BYD and TechFaith. These companies are expected to begin shipping low-end CDMA handsets to Nokia in the first half of 2008. TechFaith is expected to ship GSM/CDMA dual-mode handset to Nokia, noted the sources.
To deepen its relationship with Nokia, FIH has taken over the company's CDMA team in San Diego. In the future, FIH will not only team up with Nokia on low-end products, but the company will also pursue orders for mid-range and high-end handsets too, added the sources.
Nokia has not solved its royalty disagreements with Qualcomm and the company's joint venture CDMA business with Sanjo has not worked out. Therefore, since the second half of 2006, the company has seen its market share falling sharply in North America.
In order to strengthen its position in the CDMA sector, Nokia has decided to outsource orders to reinforce certain CDMA markets during 2008. In addition to the low-end, Nokia will also target mid-range and high-end markets, the sources noted.

Qualcomm wins a round in patent battles with Nokia

WASHINGTON — Qualcomm Inc. won a round in its patent battles with wireless phone maker Nokia on Wednesday (Nov. 21) as a U.S. trade court tossed out a lawsuit asking for Qualcomm's chips to be barred from the United States.
The U.S. International Trade Commission dropped the Nokia lawsuit due to pending arbitration, the commission said.
"The case is finished at the ITC," said ITC staffer John Greer.
Nokia had alleged infringement of patents on technology that made its telephones smaller and more efficient.
An ITC administrative law judge granted Qualcomm's motion to dismiss the suit on Oct. 18. Nokia protested, requesting a review of the decision, but the commission upheld it.
Qualcomm General Counsel Alex Rogers said Nokia had been barred from filing patent lawsuits against Qualcomm because of arbitration underway in Los Angeles.
The arbitration petition was filed in April, Rogers said in a telephone interview, while ITC documents show the trade court opened its investigation into the Nokia suit in September.
"From our point of view, Nokia is not entitled to sue Qualcomm for patent infringement," Rogers said.
Nokia was not immediately available for comment.
There are more than a dozen lawsuits pending between Nokia and Qualcomm on three continents.
In the suit dismissed by the ITC, Nokia had requested the ITC bar the importation of certain Qualcomm chips used in cell phones.