Microsoft has lost its spot as the world's third-largest mobile phone vendor to a rival from China, according to a new report by market researcher Strategy Analytics.
During the second quarter, Microsoft's share of the global mobile phone market sunk to 6.4 percent from 11.9 percent for the same quarter last year. In terms of mobile phone shipments, Microsoft's plummeted to 27.8 million from 50.3 million a year earlier, Strategy Analytics said Wednesday.
On the flip side, Chinese mobile phone vendor Huawei saw its market share rise to 7 percent last quarter from 4.8 percent in 2014's second quarter. Shipments of Huawei's mobile phones jumped to 30.6 million from 20.6 million over the same period, according to Strategy Analytics.
Prior to last quarter, Microsoft was hanging onto the No. 3 spot, though far behind Apple and Samsung. The latest results pushed Huawei past Microsoft for the first time.
Microsoft has been feeling pain in the mobile phone market. The software giant, which paid more than $7.2 billion to acquire Nokia's smartphone business last year, has failed to make any dent among consumers since then. With lackluster demand for its Lumia phones, Microsoft continues to lose share to the competition. Its 6.4 percent slice of the global mobile phone market is near an all-time low. Microsoft will roll out Windows 10 to its mobile phones sometime later this year, hoping the new OS may revive sales. But at this point the competition is continually getting stronger.
"Huawei is rising fast in all regions of the world, particularly China where its 4G models, such as the Mate7, are proving wildly popular," Strategy Analytics director Ken Hyers said in a statement.
Fellow Chinese vendor Xiaomi saw its second-quarter market share rise to 4.6 percent from 3.5 percent in the same quarter a year ago, as shipments rose to 19.8 million from 15.1 million. Xiaomi continues to be a major player in the Chinese mobile phone arena, though it's facing stronger competition from Huawei and other vendors both locally and abroad.
And what about the top two players?
Samsung held onto its lead, though its global mobile phone market share dropped to 20.5 percent in the quarter from 22.3 percent a year ago -- with shipments slipping to 89 million from 95.3 million -- as the company struggles with weak demand for its latest smartphones. On Wednesday, Samsung reported its seventh straight drop in quarterly earnings and announced that it would cut the price of its three-month-old Galaxy S6 to try to lure in more buyers.
In second place, Apple watched its market share last quarter rise to 10.9 percent from 8.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. Mobile phone shipments increased to 47.5 million from 35.2 million over the same time thanks to demand for the big-screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China and other countries.
But overall, mobile phone shipments failed to grow much last quarter.
"Global mobile phone shipments grew a lackluster 2 percent annually from 428 million units in [2014's second quarter] to 434.6 million in [2015's second quarter]," Strategy Analytics director Woody Oh said. "Smartphones accounted for 8 in 10 of total mobile phone shipments during the quarter. The 2 percent growth rate of the overall mobile phone market is the industry's weakest performance for two years, due to slowing demand for handsets in China, Europe and the US."
iPhone 6, its 4.7-inch, 326 pixel-per-inch Retina display is big enough to be beautiful but small enough to still fit in a pocket. A new processor melds high performance with motion detection, perfect for workout apps. And an 8-megapixel camera able to snap everything from action shots to 43 megapixel panoramas makes its various camera apps shoot beautifully. In addition, a bigger overall body made room for a longer-lasting battery, which is necessary for all the apps you’ll be enjoying. The one downside is the 16 gigabyte base model — who can squeeze all their favorite games and programs into something that small? Starting at $649, or $199 with a 2-year contract.
If you used Samsung Galaxy phones, such as Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or other Samsung galaxy smartphones and now want to purchase the new iPhone 6, what you can do to transfer all from the old Samsung Galaxy to iPhone 6 without complex operation? Or how to transfer from Samsung Galaxy phones to iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5/5S or iPhone 6 Plus? If you have any problem about how to transfer contacts from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone. How to transfer photos from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone. And, yes, how to transfer music from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone. Or basically, how to move from Android to iPhone? Here is step-by-step guide you should need.
The good news is that transferring data from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone really couldn't be more simple with the Samsung Galaxy to iPhone Transfer Tool. Moving all contacts, videos, music, eBooks, notes from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone with a few clicks!
But, first, download and install it by clicking the buttons below.
The best way to Transfer Samsung Galaxy to iPhone 6
Step 1: Launch Samsung Galaxy to iPhone Transfer tool, connect your devices to PC
After installing, run the Samsung Galaxy to iPhone 6 Transfer tool meanwhile connect your Samsung galaxy smartphones and iPhone 6 to computer. Click Start button to make Samsung galaxy data to iPhone 6 transfer.
The software will show all your files in the window. Please note that the source phone is on the left and the target phone is on the right. So if you would like to transfer from iPhone to Samsung Galaxy Phones, such as from iPhone 5 to Samsung Galaxy S6, just simply click the Flip button to change positions of Android phone and iPhone.
Step 2: Select Contacts to Transfer
Check items you would like to transfer from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone 6. If you would like to sync contacts from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone 6 only, just check the Contact item.
Step 3: Start transfer files from Samsung Galaxy to iPhone 6 Transfer.
Hit the Start Copy button. A dialog comes out both showing the files’ names and a progress bar, please do not disconnect neither your iPhone nor Samsung Galaxy phones while transferring, or the transfer will stop.
Supported Samsung Galaxy to iPhone Transfer
Samsung
Galaxy S6/S6 Edge/S5/S4/S3/S2, Galaxy Note 1/2/3/4/Edge, Galxy S4/S3 mini, Galaxy S Duos, Galaxy Grand, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tap, Galaxy Rugby, Galaxy Fame, and more samsung smartphones.
Apple
iPhone 6/6 Plus, iPhone 5S/5C/5/4S/4/3GS, iPad, iPad Mini, iPad Air, iPod Touch etc. Support iOS 8.
As you can see, you can transfer your precious data with 3 simple steps. That is, connect, select and transfer. Clearly and easily operated, isn't it? Why not have a try, you can easily move your Samsung Galaxy to your iPhone. Download it and have it a try on your own.
“The Apple Watch is available on April 24,” Apple CEO Tim Cook declared on stage duringApple’s March media event, officially setting the launch date for Apple’s highly anticipated new product. And yet when you consider all the facts, it’s hard not to conclude that the Apple Watch truly arrives this fall, and its first six months have been merely a prologue.
I wear my Apple Watch every day, and I enjoy it. The fitness features have made me more active, and I enjoy being able seeing notifications from my iPhone and responding quickly when I feel the need. But as with so many new Apple products, the early users are on the shakedown cruise, before all the regular passengers come aboard. This was true with the iPod and the iPhone, and it feels true about the Apple Watch, too.
“Now, our objective for the quarter wasn’t primarily sales,” Cook said during his conference call with financial analysts last week. If not sales, then what?
First, consider that most entirely new Apple product suffer from shortages, and not just because of pent-up demand. Building a new piece of high technology in large numbers, especially with Apple’s specifications, can be fraught with difficulties. So part of the objective of the first few months of Apple Watch production was to increase manufacturing volume. First came fulfilling demand in the Apple Watch launch countries; then as the initial demand has been met, Apple has added in new countries with their own initial demand and rolled the watch out to Apple’s retail stores. The goal is to reach the holiday season with an ability to accept every Apple Watch order that’s made, and to have enough watches to sell at Apple Stores (and other retail establishments).
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Third-party complications in watchOS 2 will let users get info and launch apps without hunting for the right bubbles on the crowded home screen.
Then there’s watchOS itself. The version on the Apple Watch today is so new, it doesn’t really even have a name. It’s an impressive piece of work, but software–unlike hardware–is a constant work in progress. Apple needed the Apple Watch hardware to be rock solid on the launch date, because once that watch hardware is out in the world, it’s never going to get any better. But the software, that’s a continuing story.
Getting to version 2
With the announcement at WWDC 2015 of watchOS 2–finally, a name!–we can see how the Apple Watch will function beginning this fall, and how holiday watch buyers will experience it. The big story is support for standalone watch apps, but there will be plenty of other feature tweaks as well, exactly what you’d expect after six months of continued development of a brand-new product. (Not to mention, watchOS 2 will benefit from what Apple has learned from the first users of the Apple Watch outside Apple. The company tested the product extensively in house, but there’s nothing better than hearing from real customers about what they desire and what disappoints them.)
This fall’s Apple Watch will also benefit from six months more consideration and experimentation from third-party app developers. The first wave of Apple Watch apps were created largely on spec, without much idea of how the Apple Watch would really be used by regular people day to day. The second wave came when developers used their apps on real Apple Watches and realized that their initial approaches weren’t appropriate for the actual product. This fall we’ll see a third wave of apps: Some will take great advantage of the new features of native apps on watch OS 2, some will be improved versions of existing watch apps, and still others will be first releases from app developers who have been watching the mistakes and successes of other developers and waiting for the right moment.
“We’re more excited about how the [Apple Watch] is positioned for the long term,” Cook said in that analyst call. “We’re convinced that the watch is going to be one of the top gifts of the holiday season.”
I’m enjoying my time with the Apple Watch, but it seems clear to me that the real starting gun for this product will be fired this fall with the release of watchOS 2. Its success as a product won’t be measured this summer, but after all the tinsel and ornaments have been taken down and Apple’s reviewing its numbers from the holiday quarter, which is traditionally its best quarter by far.
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Not all apps are created equal. In fact, not all apps are available to you in the US. There are other-country-specific apps, as well as apps that are “soft launching” in smaller markets — but what if you want to download those apps?
You can change your country in the App Store, but going back and forth gets to be kind of a hassle, since you’ll have to input new payment information each time. Or you can create a second Apple ID for a different country, and just sign in and out of the store. Here’s how:
Step 1: Sign out of iCloud
To create a new iTunes account, you’ll first need to sign out of your current iTunes/iCloud account. Do this by opening Settings and tapping iCloud. Scroll to the bottom of the screen, where you’ll see a button that says Sign Out. Tap Sign Out to sign out of your iTunes/iCloud account — your iPhone will warn you that if you sign out of your account, all photo stream photos, documents, and data stored in iCloud will be removed from your iPhone.
Your iPhone will also prompt you to choose whether to keep iCloud data and contacts on your iPhone, and then asks you to enter in your iCloud password to turn off Find My iPhone.
Step 2: Create a new account
Once you’re all signed out of your iTunes/iCloud account, you can create a new account. Go to Settings > iCloud and tap Create a new Apple ID.
You’ll be asked to enter in a birthdate, name, and email address (you’ll need to enter in a different email address from your other iTunes/iCloud account). You will also be asked to choose a password, pick and answer three security questions, and input an optional rescue email address. Once you’ve filled everything out, tap continue (this may take a moment).
Step 3: Verify your account
Check your email to find Apple’s verification message. Click on the link in the email message to verify your email your address. Apple will ask you to sign into your new iCloud account to verify your address.
Step 4: Choose the country on your new iTunes/iCloud account
Before you can start grabbing apps from another country, you’ll need to pick the country on your new account. To do this, open the App Store and tapFeatured. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you’ll see a button that says Sign In. Tap this button and sign in using your new iTunes/iCloud credentials.
You should see a pop-up informing you that you haven’t used this Apple ID on the iTunes store. TapReview and wait a few seconds, and a list of countries will appear on the screen. Choose the country you want your new ID to be associated with, and then tap Next. Apple will ask you to agree to some terms and conditions, tap Agree.
Next, Apple will ask for your billing info. In order to move forward, you will need to input a billing address and phone number that matches the country you chose, but you do not need to add a credit card at this time. So you can use any address — a government building, a bank, a hotel. You won’t be able to download paid apps without a credit card, but this way you’ll at least get to download free apps from that country.
You can follow Syncios onTwitter,Facebookfor more tips and tricks.
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The Lumia 640 XL is one of many budget phones that Microsoft says it is still committed to offering.
Taking a look at Microsoft's mobile device strategy, it's a wonder the company hasn't just given up.
The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant was a pioneer of the smartphone industry, creating software that powered phones years before Apple's iOS or Google's Android. Microsoft has recast its plans numerous times, including with the release of Windows Phone in 2010, a highly regarded software that powered phones few people actually bought.
Then, in early 2014, the company bought the handset business of Nokia, its largest partner and at one time the largest phone maker in the world. If Microsoft couldn't get users to flock to Windows Phone on their own, the company hoped buying its biggest device partner might do the trick and help establish its place in the pantheon of phone makers. But in the end, it seems Microsoft has plowed billions of dollars into a business that just hasn't succeeded.
The list of failures is long: Microsoft's software is used by less than 3 percent of smartphone owners. The world's largest app developers continue to focus their efforts on iPhones and Android devices. Microsoft's Nokia assets have been written off to the tune of $8.4 billion, driving Microsoft's largest quarterly loss in its history last Tuesday. The company has also laid off a majority of the 25,000 employees that came from Nokia.
So why isn't Microsoft throwing in the towel? Even industry experts don't know.
"They've fallen flat on their faces with this thing," said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates. "If they make more mistakes and do it badly, there's no reason to believe they could recover from here."
A Microsoft spokesperson was not available for comment over the weekend.
Plugging away
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the company has not given up on the phone business.
"I am committed to our first-party devices, including phones," Nadella said in a statement earlier this month. The company has plans to continue making low-cost handsets, phones for business users and so-called flagship devices -- gadgets that can go head to head with Apple's iPhone or Samsung's Galaxy phones -- under its Lumia line, the well-known brand name that Microsoft picked up from Nokia.
What Nadella really meant, though, is that the phone business is a critical part of Windows 10, its upcoming software for PCs, tablets, video game consoles and, yes, smartphones. Microsoft will release Windows 10 on July 29 and later this year will roll out mobile overhaul of Windows Phone, officially called Windows 10 Mobile.
"We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem that includes our first-party device family," he said. In that sense, phones for Microsoft are less a tool for competing against phone makers and more a necessary appendage, even if it keeps costing the company money.
Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's handset business gave the software maker a popular brand to help it gain a foothold in mobile, but those efforts have fallen flat.CNET
That's because Windows 10 -- scheduled for launch on Wednesday -- will be the star across all Microsoft businesses from PCs to Xbox One to, yes, mobile devices. The company has put a lot of effort into making Windows 10 attractive for users and software developers. One of its key features is that it looks similar, no matter what device you use. For software developers, it's easy to write an app once, and it will work on anything that runs Windows with just a few tweaks.
This approach is practical, said Gartner analyst Steve Kleynhans, and allows Microsoft to focus on the "areas where it is successful, and where it does have a footprint."
Apps won't simply look the same. Microsoft wants customers to feel like apps are capable of running on any device. That means if you plug your smartphone into a PC monitor, for example, it could be used as a desktop computer -- with apps that recognize the larger screen. The feature, called Continuum, is one of the few key areas that sets Windows 10 Mobile apart from competitors' offerings.
"If I really could have a phone that talks and becomes a full-blown PC with all the capabilities, that has an appeal to a certain class of users," Kleynhans said. This scenario offers a glimpse into how Microsoft could position its phone platform: as the powerhouse piece of software for handling tasks that competitors' products just cannot.
"Maybe there's something they can do with a phone to appeal to a certain type of user, rather than heading out into the broad market and getting crushed," Kleynhans said. "If they're going to see any success, they have to come up with similar unique capabilities."
Rethinking the approach
If phones are a sinking ship, Microsoft does have a few lifeboats.
Under Nadella, Microsoft has begun relying on alternative strategies to gain a foothold in mobile. Since introducing Office for iPad in February 2014, Microsoft has moved away from selling software with a price tag, to a point -- and is now initially giving its products away for free.
Microsoft offers Word, PowerPoint and Excel free for devices running Apple's iOS and Google's Android software. There's a method to Microsoft's madness.
If you're already using Word on your iPhone, the thinking goes, you're more likely to pay for Office 365, the company's subscription service that offers access to the desktop versions of the full Office suite. In effect, the approach is an extension of the "freemium" model, where software makers offer users a taste of what their products can do, in the hope that consumers will pay for more features later.
"Windows and Windows devices are an on-ramp to those Microsoft services," said Kleynhans. "But it's not the only way to get there. They'll make it available on the other platforms as well -- a Web browser, iOS, Android, even a Mac."
Microsoft last week said consumers last quarter signed up for 3 million new Office 365 subscriptions -- for a total of 15.2 million.
Should I stay or should I go?
But the question remains: Why would Microsoft stay in the phone business after such a costly blunder?
"What was the definition of insanity?" Kay asked. As the saying goes: It's doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Yet Kay said this is what Microsoft's phone group is doing: "Why keep beating a dead horse?"
One reason might be the fact that the hardware business isn't dead yet. Microsoft sold 8.4 million Lumia phones in its last quarter, and tens of millions of non-Lumia phones in the low-end device market. That means there are a not insignificant number of Windows Phone users out there who expect some kind of support from Microsoft.
The company has tried to keep up appearances by continuing to shine the spotlight on its mobile efforts at high-profile tech conferences like its Build developers confab. At the most recent Build in April, Microsoft promised developers the opportunity to move iOS and Android apps over to Windows Phone with easy-to-use software.
The hope is that the next wave of must-have apps that follow in the footsteps of messaging service Snapchat, which is still not available on Windows Phone, and ride-hailing software maker Uber don't skip over Microsoft's platform when they hit the scene.
That kind of inertia is exactly what has kept Microsoft in the phone market, despite a long string of failures. If there's just one or two valid reasons to stay at it, said Kay, then that's enough for Microsoft executives.
"If you don't have a phone, you're behind the times," he said. "All the growth is in the phone."
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By virtually any measure, Apple posted solid financial results. But for the investors who follow the company, solid just isn't good enough.
Apple's third quarter is typically its slowest. It's sandwiched between the Dad-and-grad shopping season, and the back-to-school and iPhone launch. Yet Apple on Tuesday posted a quarter that most of its rivals would be ecstatic to report. Its revenue was a third higher than the same period last year. It sold 47.5 million iPhones, 35 percent more than a year ago. Sales in China more than doubled. And Apple said it would generate $49 billion to $51 billion in revenue in the current quarter.
Then Apple's shares dropped 6.9 percent to $121.80 in after-hours trading, wiping away roughly $52 billion in market value. Today, it's down 5 percent to $124.16.
So what happened? That third-quarter revenue was only just in line with expectations, not much higher. And iPhone sales were about 2 million short of what Wall Street anticipated. Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that China, while a huge market for Apple, could see some "speed bumps" because of economic woes. Its fourth-quarter forecast looked a little light too.
Welcome to the world of Wall Street, a.k.a. the game of heightened expectations. Apple, by far the world's most valuable company, plays by a different set of rules, one where investors aren't impressed unless they see a blow-out quarter -- every quarter. Instead of taking a victory lap, Apple CEO Tim Cook found himself on the defensive during the company's quarterly conference call with investors.
"We did exceptionally well in any way that you look at it," Cook said on the call. "From our point of view the iPhone is doing outstanding."
For Apple -- which also happens to have $203 billion in cash -- more success leads to more questions. Sure, Apple posted a record third quarter. What happens to iPhone demand in the long term? How many Apple Watches did people buy? Is China slowing down?
It also means more ways to disappoint, well, just about everyone.
"In a vacuum, Apple's results were good," Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um said. "However, relative to expectations, results and guidance were disappointing, particularly with respect to iPhone units."
In some ways, it's a victim of its predictability. Everyone knows it will release its next iPhone in September, even if Apple hasn't confirmed it. And everyone knows the next device won't feature drastic changes like those in the iPhone 6. Because of that predictability, consumers who need new smartphones know to hold out for a few months for the new model -- or at least for the older models to get cheaper.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was on the defensive on Tuesday.
In Apple's first quarter last year, its first full period of iPhone 6 sales, the company sold 74.5 million iPhones -- more than it has in a single quarter ever before. The question now becomes whether it can do it again with a device that incorporates mostly incremental changes, not something like bigger screens.
Earlier Tuesday, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo hinted at the next "iconic device" (his codename for the iPhone), and said he didn't expect volumes to be as dramatic as last year because of the lack of significant changes.
And if the Chinese economic speed bumps end up more like road blocks, Apple's smartphone sales are sure to suffer. The region became the company's biggest iPhone market in the March quarter.
"Following the China smartphone slowdown and PC weakness, iPhone was the only major bright spot driving tech demand this year," Jefferies analyst Ken Hui said. "With the last leg also getting shaky," he's feeling cautious about the Chinese tech market.
Cook tried to give other reasons to be bullish about the iPhone. He noted that only 27 percent of the iPhone base has upgraded to the latest model, giving it room to grow. And he noted that the rate of people switching from Android is at its highest level.
Then there's the Apple Watch. Even though Cook spent a lot of time talking up his happiness with Watch sales, he still didn't give any actual sales figures. Contrast that with 2010, when Apple touted early sales for the iPad -- its last new device in a new category -- four times within the tablet's first three months on the market. Apple says it's keeping Apple Watch sales figures a secret to protect it from rivals, but low sales levels likely also play a role.
Analysts commented that people likely didn't buy as many as they had anticipated. BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk and PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster both believe Apple sold 2.5 million Apple Watches in the quarter -- below average projection for 4 million. And they're also cutting their estimates for later periods.
"Tim Cook indicated on the call that sales ramped throughout the quarter, but we decided to cut our September estimate to 5 million watches sold from 8.9 million and our December quarter estimate to 10 million from 13.9 million," Piecyk said.
But for Apple, it still all goes back to the iPhone. If it had sold millions more than analysts expected, the stock would be moving in a much different direction.
Cook on Tuesday largely pooh-poohed the worries about iPhone sales. "We think the phone has a lot of legs to it," he said on the call with analysts. "Many, many, many years. There's ton of innovation left in the phone. I think we're in the early innings of it, not in the late innings."
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