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Huawei supplants Apple as the second largest smartphone seller
While Huawei was already a smartphone giant, analyst numbers released today show that in the last quarter it pumped out more smartphones than any company in the world other than Samsung. IDC and Strategy Analytics found that smartphone sales slowed overall, a trend that hit Samsung the hardest of the big companies with its numbers dropping off by more than 10 percent from last year. In its earnings report yesterday, Samsung said it's moved the Galaxy Note 9 launch up as a result of lackluster Galaxy S9 sales, and it's planning new devices based on foldable OLED technology. Meanwhile, for Huawei a healthy reception for the P20 Series (we called the Pro version "the best smartphone you'll never buy") and the popularity of its midrange Nova devices delivered shipments of 54.2 million units. That beat their projections for Apple by more than 10 million and snagged 15 percent of the worldwide market. Both analysts found that while Apple's smartphone shipments grew, they aren't growing as fast as Huawei and its fellow Chinese company Xiaomi. It could look to pick up the pace with the new iPhones it launches this fall, particularly if they have features coveted in international markets like support for dual SIM cards.
Destiny hotfixes out a loot cave, players uncover more DLC areas
Destiny has a bit of an issue with caves, particularly those that allow players to stand around and shoot until candy comes out. An upcoming fix will adjust auto-rifle damage, boost scout rifles, and also cut off another loot cave from the players. The development team is also working on fixes to under-performing Exotics and tweaking overall class balance. Meanwhile, the game's players have managed to uncover another DLC area in the video past the break, uncovering unpopulated regions on the Moon that tie into an unknown portion of the game's expansion content. Analyst Michael Pachter weighed in briefly on the game when he predicted that game sales for September 2014 would be in a slump compared to September 2013, stating that Destiny's ubiquitous media presence would provide an overall figure around 2.75 million, a bit below Bungie's stated 3.2 million daily logins.
Analysts estimate Blizzard's lost investment after Titan's cancellation
Titan's official cancellation notice yesterday didn't come as much of a surprise to MMO players; after all, the game had been backburnered more than a year ago, its staff transferring to Warlords of Draenor and other Blizzard projects. But the cancellation means Blizzard might never fully recoup its seven-year investment in the game, and that has some analysts worried. "Development costs for Titan may have amounted to tens of millions, perhaps $50 million or more," says one such analyst, Billy Pidgeon, as quoted in a GamesIndustry.biz piece yesterday. Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter upped that estimate: "My guess is 100 - 200 people at $100,000 per year, so $70 - 140 million sunk cost. It's pretty sad that it took so long to figure out how bad the game was. I expect them to go back to the drawing board." Still another industry observer, David Cole, argued that the current games market simply no longer tolerates seven-year development cycles and high overhead. Pidgeon stresses that it's not all doom and gloom, however: "Blizzard has cancelled several games in various stages of development in the past. Costs for unreleased games can be significant, but launching substandard games can harm the reputation of a successful publisher such as Blizzard. Expenses for development can be considered R&D, and benefits can include invaluable training, IP and technology that can be applied to other games."
Ranking Apple analysts
Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 keeps track of the how well Wall Street analysts -- and amateur Apple watchers -- predict the fortunes of the company. An overzealous estimate of earnings that isn't met by a correspondingly big figure by Apple always seems to result in a hit on share price, so Elmer-DeWitt has been ranking the analysts by accuracy. In the not-so-distant past, the amateur stock watchers were doing a much better job than the professionals, but that's changed. Now the professionals have taken eight of the top 10 positions on Elmer-DeWitt's list. He points out that this doesn't necessarily mean anything, since professionals also filled nine of the bottom 10 in his "Top 40." Based on the last nine quarters, the most accurate analyst on The Street appears to be Colin Gillis of BCG Partners. Some other familiar names from the Apple earnings calls don't fare as well. Gene "Apple TV" Munster of Piper Jaffray is about halfway down the list in the No. 19 spot, while perennial earnings call questioner Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley barely made the Top 40 by coming in at No. 39. During the second quarter earnings call sometime in April, we'll be sure to give participants in our live blog Elmer-DeWitt's ranking information for each analyst who asks a question so you know how much credence to give their opinions.
IDC: Samsung and Apple still kings of the smartphone market, Nokia loses top five spot to RIM
IDC's third quarter figures are in, complete with a few unexpected shake-ups. The entire cellphone market grew 2.4% over the same time last year, but smartphones drove the majority of that, showing growth of 45.3% and beating the analysts' expectations. Of the 179.7 million smartphones shipped, Samsung and Apple devices accounted for almost half of them, with the companies retaining their number one and two positions in the market, respectively. IDC notes that iPhone shipments didn't increase, but this is somewhat expected given the latest iteration was released only a short time before the end of the quarter. What we find particularly interesting is that Nokia was ousted from the top five smartphone players and replaced by RIM. Whether Nokia's upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices will put it back in contention remains to be seen, as does the effect BB10 and RIM's new handsets will have on the market. ZTE finished fourth in the list thanks to increased sales in North America, with HTC rounding up the top five vendors with continued uptake of its power devices. With a bunch of new handsets coming to the table and the holiday season fast approaching, look out for even more surprises in the fourth quarter numbers, due early next year.
Gartner and IDC: PC shipments tumbled over 8 percent in Q3, only ASUS and Lenovo escaped unhurt
We don't often summarize market share in one word, but: ouch. Both Gartner and IDC have trotted out their preliminary estimates for PC market share in the third quarter, and the two agree that this summer was a dire one for the traditional computer. Outside of ASUS and Lenovo, whose price-focused strategies and key acquisitions kept them ahead of rivals, virtually every major vendor saw its PC shipments collapse versus a year ago, often by more than 10 percent. Total worldwide shipments declined by more than 8 percent in either estimate -- enough to make a flat second quarter seem rosy by comparison. Lenovo took the top spot in Gartner's study, although IDC is counting workstations and kept HP in its usual lead. As for the US, it's almost better that we don't look. Gartner and IDC believe that the American market sank by respective 13.8 or 12.4 percent amounts, and the steep global declines repeated themselves in the one country for everyone but Lenovo. Even a market share gain for Apple came only because its shipments dropped at a gentler rate than most of its peers. Whether it's the US or worldwide, don't assume that inventory clearances ahead of Windows 8 were the only factors at work, though. Both research teams point to continuing world economic troubles as influences, and IDC contends that buyers are still skipping PCs in favor of smartphones and mobile tablets. There's often a jump in computer sales between the summer and the fall, especially with a new OS on the way, but we wouldn't count on a return to the halcyon days.
Gartner reports Western Europe desktop shipments down, portable PCs up in Q2 2012
When it comes to technology and the end of a financial quarter, you can bet your wage there'll be an analyst report or two letting you what's what. And according to Gartner's latest estimates for Western Europe, PCs didn't fare too well in Q2 of this year, with a 2.4 percent decrease in shipments compared with the same period in 2011. Consignments of mobile PCs (read: not tablets) grew by 4 percent, while desktops floundered, dropping 12.8 percent. Of this, a minor growth of 0.4 percent was recorded in consumer PCs, while the professional market decreased by 5.3 percent. Among the big hitters, HP remained at the top of the pile despite losing some market share, and Acer remained in second position with a mild increase in the same. ASUS put in a healthy performance, moving the company up to bronze medal position, while Dell dropped off the podium to fourth. The vendor statistics for the whole region were echoed in France in Germany, but during the quarter Apple managed to break into the top five in the UK market. Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner, attributes the overall performance to economic uncertainty in the region, as well as lackluster demand in the wait for Windows 8 machines. We don't want to spoil all the fun, so a comprehensive breakdown of the numbers awaits you at the source link.
Canalys: PC and tablet shipments hit new high in Q2 with Apple in the lead, HP next in line
Wondering how the industry fared in the second quarter of 2012? Shipments in the PC sector, which in Canalys' book includes tablets, were higher than ever, totaling 108,708,780 units globally. iPad sales put Apple in the lead, with more than 21 million devices shipped (this figure also includes desktops and notebooks) in Q2, compared to just over 13 million during the year-ago quarter, representing a massive 59.6-percent year-over-year growth. HP, which led the way in Q1, has fallen to the second-place spot, with nearly 13.6 million shipments during the quarter ending yesterday, followed by Lenovo with about 13.2 million, Acer with nearly 10.7 million and Dell with roughly 9.7 computers sold. Manufacturers like ASUS and Samsung are represented in the substantial "others" category, which totals about 40.6 million devices. There's no question that the iPad is behind Apple earning the number-1 slot, and with the upcoming Windows 8 launch, those figures could shift drastically the next time around. Click on through to the source link below for the full Canalys breakdown.
Analyst says no one is buying MMOs after SWTOR fizzled
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter has a dim view of MMO assets following the lukewarm performance of Star Wars: The Old Republic. "Nobody is buying MMOs after Star Wars fizzled," Pachter told Joystiq. The context surrounding the statement involves the valuation of 38 Studios in the wake of its Copernicus melt-down. "There is just no demand for game assets right now, as THQ proved when it tried to sell the Warhammer MMO. I think [Electronic Arts] could step in, since they are the publisher, so you might see some alternative way to get 38 some bridge financing," Pachter said.
Report: 64% of Chinese gamers spend money on online games
Gaming in China is serious business, especially once you consider that a strong majority of players dish out money to support their habit every month. Analyst group Niko Partners polled 500 Chinese gamers and found that 64% of them dropped money on online titles monthly, including many free-to-play and MMO games. Considering that China has 180 million players and a $5.8 billion gaming market, the country continues to be watched closely as a major economic force in the online realm. And while MMOs still account for a good portion of the income, they've lost some ground to other types of games, according to Niko Partners Managing Partner Lisa Cosmas Hanson. "Online games revenues are now more distributed among various platforms and genres than they have been in past years, when MMORPGs compiled the vast majority of domestic revenue," she said. Other interesting details from this report include the news that players are spending less time per week on games and that one in 10 players in the country is over 40 years of age.
Analyst claims that Star Wars: The Old Republic points to a healthy MMO market
The gaming industry is pretty morbid when you get right down to it. 2011 has seen several people predicting the death of the MMO market and the death of subscription games, often times in the same sentence. But according to analyst Colin Sebastian, the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic makes it clear that these reports of death have been greatly exaggerated. As Sebastian puts it, the unprecedented growth of SWTOR's player figures indicates that the market still possesses a demand for new games and still responds favorably. Sebastian goes on to predict that the game will likely move around three million units by March 2012, the end of the fiscal year, although he believes that staying power is a bit more questionable. He believes that predictions of up to two million paying users by the end of 2012 might be overly optimistic. That having been said, the game has certainly come out of the gate with real strength; it only remains to be seen if it can maintain that.
Mac sales climb after launch of OS X Lion and new MacBook Airs
Apple's current quarterly earnings should receive a nice boost from brisk sales of Mac hardware says analysts. This summer increase can be attributed to the July introduction of OS X Lion and new MacBook Air and Mac mini models. The latest NPD report suggests Mac sales may climb 26% year over year, which is six times the growth of the overall PC market. Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes is a bit more conservative with his estimate of 18% year-over-year growth for Mac sales. And, lastly, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is similarly optimistic about Mac sales. Munster believes enthusiasm for the new hardware and software will help Apple ship 4.5 million Macs this quarter. Based on these estimates, it'll be a good year for the Mac. Mac sales will continue to grow and Apple will gain market share in the PC industry. These glowing figures are a refreshing change from the rest of the PC industry which is slumping.
Forrester: iPad may be (slightly) more vulnerable in Europe
Sometimes the market-research business can be tough. On the same day that a German court blocked sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in almost every EU country, a new report from Forrester Research arrives on the scene -- and it says that if Apple competitors want to take on the iPad, Europe might be the right market. Hope they've got a healthy supply of correction fluid! Forrester predicts that Apple will take over 80 percent of all tablet sales in North America this year. However, the odds are a little better for other manufacturers in Europe, where Apple will "only" claim 70 percent of the market. That seems kind of a minor distinction to make (Apple is still obviously dominating, at least for this year), but it's true -- other tablet makers will probably have to go for every advantage they can get. In Europe, says Forrester, Apple doesn't quite have the retail presence it enjoys in North America, and the culture (cult?) of Apple isn't quite as engrained as it is this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Combine that with the fact that, according to both customer surveys and past sales, Europe is willing to buy tablets, and other tablet manufacturers may find more fertile ground there. Who will sell tablets in Europe? Forrester isn't saying who might top the market just yet, but says that price will be a big selling point, meaning low cost producers from Asia and elsewhere have a good chance as well.
Apple jumps to no. 3 in US PC market, even without iPad
Gartner and the market intelligence firm IDC have made their quarterly proclamation about PC retail shipments, and things aren't too great for that market: Growth is much slower than expected, picking up only 2.3%, way off from the predictions of 6.7% or 12% growth made in the first quarter of this year. But even with the iPad and other tablets taking large bites out of the PC market, Apple's Mac sales are doing well, with shipments jumping up as high as 14.7%. Both of these numbers are shipments, not actual consumer sales, but still, the numbers have turned Apple into the third largest vendor of personal computers in the US, behind the lagging Dell and HP. In a press release, Gartner said that "the preliminary findings show Apple's performance far exceed the industry average, partly driven by an iMac refreshment that attracted both consumers and buyers in the education sector." Good news for Apple, then, all around. That's one of the wildest things about this company lately -- even as the folks in Cupertino prioritize mobile computing and emphasize the iPhone and the iPad, Macs continue to grow more popular than ever.
Former Apple supplier exec pleads guilty to leaking iPhone details
Former Flextronics employee Walter Shimoon pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and security fraud. Shimoon leaked information about upcoming Apple products to hedge fund traders in late 2009. He is one of 11 people who have admitted their guilt after the government's crackdown on insider trading. Mr Shimoon and the others were industry experts who worked with Wall Street analysts and managers. The government alleges this relationship got too cozy and the information shared between the two groups crossed the line from "permissible market research" to insider trading. Mr Shimoon was recorded talking about the unreleased iPad (K48 codename) and iPhone as well as confidential sales information. He told a government witness, "So, you can get, at Apple you can get fired for saying K48...outside of a, you know, outside of a meeting that doesn't have K48 people in it. That's how crazy they are about it." [Via AppleInsider]
Blizzard's Titan a 'casual' MMO
In case you were worried about a lack of new and accessible MMOs coming down the pike over the next couple of years, the king of casual is riding to the rescue. At least, that's what an analyst at Sterne Agee hinted at on Gamasutra recently. Arvind Bhatia is quoted on the game industry website as saying that Blizzard's product pipeline includes "expansion packs for StarCraft and World of Warcraft, a new Diablo game, [and] a new casual MMO." That casual MMO is of course Titan, the secretive WoW followup that has reportedly gobbled up Blizzard's most experienced designers. While no one outside of Blizzard has any inkling as to Titan's setting, mechanics, or target audience, Bhatia's prediction makes a certain amount of sense given the realities of the MMO marketplace and the costs inherent in developing and marketing AAA titles. Head to Gamasutra for the full report.
Analysts consider dance genre 'bubble,' Ubisoft says more 'The Experience' games possible
Ubisoft's Just Dance and its successful clones like Michael Jackson: The Experience, along with Harmonix's Dance Central, have established the dance genre as a viable market for milking. Now the industry must play the delicate game of sucking the marrow dry without creating a zombie. Gamasutra hit up go-to industry analysts Michael Pachter and Jesse Divnich for their takes on the sustainability of the genre. Both analysts essentially characterized dance games as part of a bubble that is largely unaffected by critical reception (UK hit Zumba Fitness has a 43 on Metacritic). "In short, yes, the dance category is a bubble," said Divnich, "much like most things in entertainment." That doesn't mean that the bubble is about to burst -- or that the bottle of suds is close to empty. At least, Ubisoft is planning to keep on dipping in. The publisher's Tony Key teased that Michael Jackson: The Experience is "just the first 'The Experience' brand." He added that there's no reason why "another artist can't make a great dance game under 'The Experience brand,'" but didn't pitch any bright ideas. The Smurfs, anyone?
Wall Street cuts Apple estimates, iPhone 5 "delay" the reason
Analysts are responding to Apple's planned WWDC conference and the ensuing rumor that suggests Apple may delay the launch of iOS 5 and the iPhone 5 until the fall. Jim Dalrymple, of The Loop, confirmed that his report that the iPhone 5 would not be introduced at WWDC was not based on speculation, but came from reliable sources. A protracted development schedule would be a major shift for Apple, which has produced a new iPhone model and major iOS version each summer since the original iPhone launch on June 29, 2007. A shift in its annual summer launch schedule may cause Apple to lose its yearly summer boost in sales, an expectation that shaped the company's 2011 financial outlook. This move to a fall debut is prompting analysts to trim the company's revenue, EPS and iPhone shipment outlook for the remainder of 2011. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek cut Apple's revenue by 4 percent, its EPS by 5 percent and its iPhone shipments by 8 percent. Other analysts may follow suit, and Apple's stock could be affected by this diminished outlook. Thus far, Apple's stock remains strong and finished on a positive note at the end of Tuesday trading. Of course, this trend could be reversed if Apple uses this delay to put the finishing touches on an improved version of iOS and to fine tune those rumored cutting-edge cloud services.
IDC fails to learn from previous mistakes, issues 2015 smartphone predictions
The stat guardians at IDC are among the most reliable sources for keeping track of the latest developments in the smartphone market, but we've got to say their forecasts haven't always benefited from the same accuracy. It's with this disclaimer that we present you the world of 2015 as seen through the IDC prism. In just four years' time, says the data, Windows Phone 7 (or whatever version it reaches by then) will have ascended to occupy a fifth of the market and second spot overall behind Android, whose leading position is expected to stabilize somewhere around the 45 percent mark. Apple and RIM are projected to hold steady with shares close to where they are today. It has to be humbling for the IDC, which predicted Symbian would continue to dominate all the way into 2013, to now have to foretell of its almost complete extinction (a mere 0.2 percent) and total irrelevance in the smartphone market. Alas, while the new prediction sounds very reasonable today, four years of unknown unknowns is a mighty long time to try and forecast through, and we have a feeling we'll be looking back and chuckling at this within a few short months -- probably (hopefully!) in the midst of a massive webOS revival.
Analysts: Apple may have sold between 5-9 million iPads in Q2
The week after the iPad 2 went on sale, I kept expecting Apple to issue a press release announcing that it had sold a million iPad 2s within X number of days (Apple sold about 2 million of the first version in the first 60 days). However, the first week passed and now, more than two weeks later, Apple has yet to announce any iPad 2 sales. This leads me to believe that Apple won't be announcing any iPad 2 numbers until its next financial conference call later in April. Of course, lack of hard numbers from Apple doesn't keep analysts from guesstimating just how many iPads were sold in total during Apple's fiscal Q2. Philip Elmer-DeWitt at the Apple 2.0 blog has put together a nice list of analyst estimates. The lowest estimate is 5 million iPads. The highest estimate is a whopping 8.8 million iPads. The average of all estimates is 6.26 million. Those numbers include the 14 days of US iPad 2 sales in Apple's Q2 and two days of international sales. We'll have to wait until Apple's Q2 earnings call later in April to find out exact numbers, but some of the higher ones don't seem too outrageous considering the the long lines and high demand that still exist for those wanting iPad 2s.
