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Blizzard's Frank Pearce predicts renewed subscriber growth with Cataclysm, China
If you've been following World of Warcraft's published subscriber numbers for a while now, you know that we haven't seen a rise in WoW subscribers since late 2008. Blizzard's been holding steady on a figure of 11.5 million subscribers. But, according to Frank Pearce, Blizzard's Executive Vice President of Product Development, that's going to change. When asked if by VG247's Adam Hartley if he thought WoW's subscribers had permanently peaked, Pearce had this to say: "I mean, you can look at that number and if you look at some of the details around it ... In China, for example, we haven't even launched Wrath of the Lich King yet, and that expansion is already 18-plus months old. They're still playing The Burning Crusade there, because we're waiting for approval for Wrath from the appropriate agencies. And once we get that approval and launch Wrath in China then I think we will see growth." Pearce also noted that "win-back" of subscribers who had left the game after previous expansions is particularly high for WoW, and that subscriber counts should grow when Cataclysm is released. "Hopefully we will get some people back from Cataclysm as well. I don't think 11.5 million is a peak, necessarily, but there are certain things that we need to do and need to do well in order to see it go further." Like refining the 1-60 game, an area many players have never gotten past, no doubt. You can read the full interview with Frank Pearce at VG247. [via Massively]
Samsung's AMOLED division is now profitable, expects major smartphone growth in 2010
If you want the dish on what's happening with mobile displays, Lee Woo-Jong, VP for marketing at Samsung Mobile Display, is as good a person to ask as any. The chap has been telling the Reuters Global Technology Summit that his company has finally gone into the black with its AMOLED production line, and that its research projects a 50 percent jump in smartphone shipments in 2010 relative to 2009. This is expected to boost demand, which is already exceeding supply, for high-quality displays. Samsung says shortages might be experienced all the way until next year, but has reiterated its belief that AMOLED is the future with a $2.15 billion investment into expanding its production lines, while also predicting a 30-fold growth in shipments of such displays by 2015. Every handset out there looking like the Wave? We could learn to live with that.
Apple moves past Motorola, up to 3% global cell phone market share
Android may be moving ahead of Apple in the smartphone OS market, but Apple is steadily moving up the handset chart. It's just overtaken Motorola, shipping 8.75 million handsets in the first three months of this year, according to iSuppli. That many phones sets Apple up for three percent of the entire global market; that's a pretty amazing achievement for just the few years it's been in the business. Motorola sold 8.5 million handsets in the same time period, dropping it to number eight on the list while Apple moved up to number six. Who's still above Apple? RIM is the next target with their BlackBerry devices selling 10.4 million units. Sony, LG, Samsung, and then Nokia fill out the top five. The year-over-year growth tells the real story, though: while most of the top five, with the exception of Sony Ericsson, are showing positive growth from last year, Apple leads the pack with a whopping 130.7% growth. When you compare that to Motorola's -42.2% drop-off, it's clear why the two smartphone manufacturers are heading in different directions. Farther down on the list, you can see why China is such an important market for Apple in the next few years; China's TCL Alcatel is also making its way up in the rankings, and it's claiming 160.7% year-over-year growth. If Apple is going to continue the kind of growth it's had over the last year, growing foreign markets like that will be more and more important.
IDC and Gartner award smartphone growth prizes to Apple and Google
Get ready to rumble, the latest Gartner and IDC smartphone numbers are out to give us a pretty good idea of how things shape up globally. Remember, IDC measures vendor shipments while Gartner measures actual handset sales to end users. So what does the data tell us? Well, to start with, in terms of smartphone devices, Gartner claims a 48.7% increase in smartphone sales of 54.3 million units in Q1 2010 compared to Q1 2009 -- IDC pegs growth at 56.7% on 54.7 million units for the same period. Both estimates easily outpace the 17% or 21.7% growth in worldwide units of mobile phones moved according to Gartner and IDC, respectively. IDC's list of top 5 smartphone device makers (pictured after the break) has Nokia at the number one spot repeating its 39.3% share as it did in Q1 of 2009 while RIM is down slightly from 20.9% in 2009 to a 19.4% market share in 2010. Apple (up from 10.9% to 16.1%) more than doubled its device shipments in the last year as HTC (up from 4.3% to 4.8%) and Motorola (up from 3.4% to 4.2%) all managed to increase their shares on higher volumes. Regarding smartphone OS market share, Android's global numbers echo its success in the US jumping from a 1.6% market share to 9.6% in just one year. Gartner claims that sales of Android-based phones increased 707% year-on-year to displace Windows Mobile in the top 5 for the first time. Apple's iPhone OS also saw growth from 10.5% in 1Q09 to 15.4% in 1Q10 as both RIM (down from 20.1% to 19.4%) and Symbian (down from 48.8% to 44.3%) dropped. See the OS numbers broken down into a no-nonsense table after the break.
iDevices making up more and more of Apple's revenue
Apple held their latest earnings call this past week, which means we're right in the middle of a flood of analysts' charts and graphs about how well they're doing. This one's extra interesting, though -- we've talked before on this site about Apple's interesting position between its past of PCs and OS X and its apparent future as the "largest mobile device company in the world," but here it is, in bright colorful stripes put together by Silicon Alley Insider: the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes make up the majority of this company's business, and have for quite a while. This chart only goes back to June of 2007, but notice how the whole thing trends upwards -- at some point here that I'd imagine is sooner than you might think, we'll reach a spot where the iPhone and various Apple iProducts will have made more money than the Mac ever did. Not that Apple is abandoning the Mac at all, and neither are we -- we're still an unofficial Apple weblog, and we're still committed to covering the whole company. But I even noticed this back at Macworld earlier this year -- there's definitely two factions in the Apple audience, one that hearkens back to the old school pre-OS X Mac identity, and another that can't get enough of the iPhone and the iPad (which, you'll notice, is still missing from the chart above) and apps and so on. As time goes on, that iFaction is growing bigger and bigger, both inside of Apple and out.
Netflix's Q1 results show record subscriber growth, little resistance to new release delays
Another quarter, another 1,699,000 more Netflix subscribers. The company's Q1 results also showed a jump in the percentage of subscribers using Watch Instantly streaming, now up to 55 percent. The Q&A session that followed provided a few other interesting details, including that company is considering introducing a "family plan" to account for more streaming devices, along with simultaneous access at home and on mobile devices like the iPad and iPhone. As far as how 28 day delays on new releases are affecting its business, execs pointed simply to the low churn rate of subscribers (we're not surprised) as evidence that the tradeoffs were a net benefit. As far as competition for its services, they're focused on the VOD offerings from satellite / cable companies, but apparently not worried by the prospect of a streaming-only service from Redbox undercutting the cheapest all you can eat Netflix plans. All in all, this adds up to possibly the best quarter we've seen from the red envelope people, but feel free to dig through all the numbers beyond the read link.
HTC says its growth in the US is 'faster than others'
This one's fairly light on specifics, but HTC CEO Peter Chou has given an interview to The Wall Street Journal where he dropped a few interesting tidbits, the most notable being that HTC's growth in the US is apparently "faster than others." Exactly what that translates to in actual numbers is unclear, but Chou did say that HTC expects to ship more than the 5.5 million to 6 million smartphones it shipped in the US last year. That growth is apparently due in large part to support from Verizon and T-Mobile, which Chou says "started treating us as their first-tier suppliers last year" and gave the company some "strong momentum." Chou also went on to confirm that HTC will be introducing six new models for China in partnership with China Mobile this year, and that it's aiming to ship four to five million units to China annually by 2011.
Analysts: iMac to take over 25% of PC sales, Mac to see 31% growth
We're only days away from the release of the iPad, and that means analysts are doing crazy business -- they're laying out as many predictions as they can before theory becomes actual numbers. Our friend Gene Munster is first -- he says that despite the introduction of a brand new category, Mac sales will be even better than investors expect this quarter, with a whopping 26% to 31% year-over-year growth. Apparently retail data suggests that Macs are flying off of the shelves, and that Apple should end up with almost 3 million Macs sold in the March quarter. PC sales in general are also expected to increase, with the iMac carrying a whole quarter of all desktop growth this year. Desktop sales are finally headed upwards for the first time in a few years, and along with bigger sales numbers in terms of netbooks and notebooks, Apple's iMac platform is leading the charge. International sales are also expected to drive the PC market -- if the numbers are right, this will be the first time ever that sales internationally take up 50% of the desktop PC market. Interesting predictions, all. There's no question, I think, that Apple will make plenty of money this quarter. The question going forward will be whether the iPad steals sales that would have gone to the iPhone or to a MacBook. But if the past numbers with the iPhone are any indication, big interest in the portable devices actually drives Apple's desktop sales as well.
Apple, record labels working to spur album sales with interactive goodies, tablet due this September?
Let's face it, folks -- the CD insert is no longer "the new hotness." And besides, those wacky PDFs included with iTunes album purchases never did much more than take up valuable hard drive space anyway, right?. In an effort to get consumers to stop buying single tracks and start buying more filler entire albums, Apple has reportedly joined forces with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group in a project that's being codenamed "Cocktail." Financial Times is reporting that said initiative is considering adding "interactive booklets, sleeve notes and other interactive features with music downloads," with one executive familiar with the situation saying that "it's not just a bunch of PDFs; there's real engagement with the ancillary stuff." Of course, all of this should still be taken with a pinch of salt for now, as even the music companies mentioned above refused to comment. And given the tremendous indifference consumers have shown with that other interactive tech that's being pushed so hard right now, we're not even sure it'll have the desired effect.In related news, another sect of folks "briefed on the project" have stated that these new content deals could be launched alongside a new, full-featured "tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution." Adding fuel to the already raging fire, the report asserts that the "touch-sensitive device... will have a screen that may be up to ten inches diagonally," and while it will "connect to the internet like the iPod touch, it'll probably [do so] without phone capabilities." You do know that Apple has been good for a music / iPod-related event right around September the past few years, right?[Via AppleInsider]
Blogatelle signs off
One more major WoW-related blog has closed its doors. Too Many Annas, among others, notes that Blogatelle has called it quits, saying that Sean and Jess over there both feel they've come to the point where they've run out of things to say. While the blog itself is definitely a nice achievement -- it was an excellent blog centered on roleplaying (we've mentioned it before here on the site as an excellent resource for RPers) -- they will unfortunately leave a number of series behind, including the Katafray project, which followed a roleplaying Paladin up through the levels in Azeroth. As Anna says, they definitely deserve a hat tip, both for giving the RP community a solid and steady blogging voice, and for being accessible enough to bring in new RPers.This closing follows the shuttering of a few other WoW blogs lately, most famously those of BRK and Resto4Life. You might say three is a trend, sure, but on the other hand, we've seen a lot of blogs and podcasts grow as well lately. Four years in, there are going to be all kinds of people in the community, in all kinds of places regarding their interest to the game. Anyone who sees a few bloggers step away to do other things and cites it as a sign that the game is on its last legs needs to keep looking. We're sorry to lose some popular bloggers, but it sure looks from here like the community is stronger than ever.
Market research firm predicts population explosion for virtual worlds
We all sort of knew that virtual worlds usage would continue to grow over the years, but a new report put out by Strategy Anayltics has given us some numbers to think about -- and they're pretty darn big. They've predicted that by 2015, the overall population of virtual worlds will go from what it is now at 186 million people all the way up to 640 million, or more than triple today's userbase. Here's the firm's breakdown of the populations today and in the future: "Kids" in this case refers to those aged 5 to 9, and as can be seen in the above table, this group is predicted to grow the most over the years. As for how companies will cash in on all this growth, subscriptions are still listed as one of the key drivers of revenue, but 86% of revenue in 2015 will come from microtransactions -- this equates to a growth from 2008's microtransaction figure of roughly $1 billion, to $17.3 billion in six years time.[Via Virtual Worlds News]
Nintendo moves 15 million Wii Fit units in a year, 4 remain in use
Oh c'mon, just admit it -- you rationalized that Wii Fit purchase like so: "Oh, I can't afford this, but it's totally something to make me exercise! So, I'll buy it!" Fast forward two months later, and you're struggling to find space to hide the case. All kidding aside (sort of...), you can't deny the facts, and the facts are that the Big N managed to ship 15 million Wii Fits units in just 13 months. For comparison, it took right around 2.5 years to move 50 million Wii units, so it seems this here title is well on its way to hitting the same milestone in around the same amount of time. Unfortunately, you can't lose weight by simply handing over wads of cash to Satoru Iwata -- feel free to try, though.
Sluggish iPhone sales could lead to stiff fines for Russian operators
See folks, this is the kind of mess you end up with after you gleefully do a deal with the devil. According to a roundup of reports over at Unwired View, three of Russia's major mobile operators could be looking at massive (we're talking hundreds of millions of bucks) fines if they can't sell through their iPhone allotments, and unless a significant market shift happens within the next few months, that situation seems remarkably unlikely. We're told that Vimpelcom pledged to sell 1.5 million iPhones within two years, while Megafon committed to 1 million and MTS the same. Today, just 900,000 iPhones have been imported to Russia, with over half entering the country via grey market channels; we'll let you figure out the math there, but it ain't pretty for Russia's carriers. Of course, we're not shocked in the least -- after getting burnt by a bootable-but-not-usable iPhone over there, are you seriously going to give Apple another chance to win you over?[Thanks, Staska]
Mac shipments lowest they've been in 1.5 years
Apple reported amazing earnings in its conference call last week, but SwitchtoaMac.com says not so fast -- while it's true that there was a lot of sun shining in Apple's report, there is one small shadow that they obviously didn't mention: their shipments of new Macs have started to drop off for the first time in 5.5 years. And they're the lowest they've been in a year and a half.A problem? Not a terrible one, but as you can see from the chart over there, there is a definite downturn in new Mac shipments. That might actually be good news for Apple, though -- with the economy doing a nice downturn lately, less inventory might shore up sales a bit, and keep their budgets in line with estimations. Of course it would also mean fewer Mac sales (and despite the recent popularity of the iPhone and the iPod, Macs still make up the majority of Apple's revenue), but if customers aren't there, that's better than having warehouses full of computers paid for but not actually sold.It's definitely not a sign that the company is going down in flames (in fact, all evidence says exactly the opposite), but it may be a sign that Apple's amazing growth is slowing down a bit.Thanks, Larry T!
Nintendo moves 435,000 DSi handhelds during first week in US
We already heard that the Big N managed to lighten its DSi inventory by 300,000 during the handheld's first full weekend in America, and apparently another 135,000 procrastinators swooped in to grab one as the week finished up. Potentially more amazing, however, is the overall impact of Nintendo in the month of March. Last month, Nintendo systems accounted for just south of 60 percent (58.4 percent, if you must know) of all video game hardware sold in America. And yeah, that's even despite a shocking 17 percent drop in Wii sales during the same 30 day window. Have we mentioned lately that things seem to be going quite well in the Mushroom Kingdom? 'Cause they definitely do.[Via Joystiq]
Nokia's profits drop 90% in Q1 2009
So, there's good news and bad news here, and we're opting to go against tradition by dishing out the positive first. Nokia just pushed out its Q1 2009 results, and while many firms have been struggling to stay afloat, at least it managed to turn a profit of €122 million ($160 million). That said, it's still looking at a staggering 90 percent drop in profits compared to its first quarter of 2008, where it raked in a mind-boggling €1.222 billion ($1.6 billion). Not surprisingly, sales were also down 27 percent to €9.28 billion ($12.2 billion) from €12.7 billion ($16.7 billion). Of course, Nokia's far from being alone in having to showcase less-than-beautiful Q1 numbers, but in reality, the damage could've been much worse; in fact, shares of the company's stock inched up by 8 percent following the reveal, as many had feared an even more significant decline. All in all, Nokia's still holding strong to a 37 percent market share worldwide, and if CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has anything to do with it (hint: he does), things should be on the up and up here soon.[Via BBC]
Mobile data card growth slows dramatically in Q4 2008
Who woulda thunk it? A global recession leads to belt tightening, and belt tightening leads to fewer mobile data card sales. According to a new report from ComScore, that's exactly what happened at the tail end of last year, where WWAN card growth slowed to just 5 percent compared to 28 percent in Q4 2007. Still, carriers can't grumble too loudly -- after all, at least it grew. In fact, PC data card adoption rose 63 percent overall in 2008, and if any of these 4G services can see rollouts of significance, we suspect 2009 will show equally positive numbers. The reality is that mobile data is still priced far too high for the average Joe or Jane to stomach; most mobile broadband plans run upwards of $50 per month and require a two-year contract to get a free or cheap card, and unless one is planning to be on the road an awful lot, buying in just doesn't make sense when times are tough. In other words, cut us a break on these mobile data rates, operators -- it's what Uncle Sam would want.[Via mocoNews]
MetroPCS sees huge influx of customers, intros GroupLINE
We'd already heard that right about now was a great time to be in the prepaid cell business, and that's being proven quite definitively by MetroPCS' Q1 subscriber results. We're told that the firm saw a net addition of 684,000 customers in the first three months of 2009, representing an astounding 51 percent increase year-over-year. While celebrating mightily, the company also saw fit to introduce a "one-call communication solution targeted at families and friends who are trying to save money in today's economy by 'cutting the cord' and replacing their landline telephones with wireless phones." Said "landline replacer" is called GroupLINE, which enables up to five MetroPCS Family Plan subscribers to receive calls on a shared GroupLINE number while still maintaining their individual mobile numbers -- all for just $5 per month. So, anyone looking to tighten the belt by going prepaid? Your options are getting good.[Via GigaOM]Read - MetroPCS resultsRead - GroupLINE launch
Nintendo ships 50 million Wii consoles, which still isn't enough
Earlier this month, both AMD and IBM announced that they had shipped the 50 millionth Wii GPU and CPU, respectively, so it was only a matter of time before Nintendo came forward to say what everyone was already thinking: the Big N has shipped 50 million Wii consoles worldwide. Today at the outfit's Game Developers Conference keynote, Satoru Iwata confirmed that it had moved "more than 50 million" units, making it "the fastest selling video game hardware in history." Interestingly enough, the company also announced its 100 millionth DS shipment just under a fortnight ago, so it's pretty safe to say things are going well in the Mushroom Kingdom. Now, if only it could get through a Christmas without ruining the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids with procrastinating parents, we'd be able to hand over a "kudos" with a straight face.
Blu-ray and Freeview join UK consumption basket
Far be it from the personality of Blu-ray (or the BDA, we should say) to reach for notoriety in any way possible, but Blu-ray has just gained one more modicum of staying power over in the UK. For the first time, the existing high-def movie format has been placed gently between the likes of fruit and kitty litter in the theoretical consumer "basket," which supposedly looks to best reflect UK consumer spending habits. We're also told that Freeview set-top-boxes have joined the fray, right along with DVD rentals and portable media players. Maybe that 396 percent surge in UK-based BD sales had a little something to do with it?
