Apple sees 98% iPhone growth as Microsoft, Google prepare for battle

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Worldwide smartphone shipments stormed back last quarter with 37.2 percent in growth, and Apple's iPhone led the way with a 97.9 percent year-over-year surge in shipments. But the real coming battle in the mobile market, according to one analyst, lies between Microsoft and Google.



Analyst Charlie Wolf with Needham & Company provided a breakdown of the expanding smartphone market, which in the holiday quarter rebounded from just 5.6 percent growth over the previous four quarters. While Apple saw the greatest success, Nokia's shipments also jumped 37.3 percent and Research in Motion saw a spike of 41.2 percent.



While the recession has softened and the smartphone market is recovering, Wolf is now looking to the future and the fiercely competitive handset business.



"Events since the beginning of 2010 have turned the market into a land grab not dissimilar to the California gold rush in the 1800s," Wolf wrote. "Everyone is chasing the iPhone which has taken on an aura that far exceeds the phone's market share. The aura stems from the disruptive design and functionality of the first iPhone, and it has been reinforced by the remarkable success of the iPhone App Store."



The analyst said he believes the smartphone market has turned into a "land grab" that is "virtually certain" to lead to a brutal battle between Microsoft and Google. He said Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series won't kill the iPhone, which exists in a class by itself, but it will be a potential "Android killer." Windows Phone 7 Series, Wolf said, is evidence that Microsoft "finally gets it."







"Microsoft has delivered on the necessary condition for success -- a smartphone operating system that should enable it to play in the same sandbox with Apple, Google and BlackBerry," he wrote. "We've frequently criticized Microsoft's inept efforts in delivering a user-friendly smartphone operating system. Such criticisms are now in the past."



The real coming smartphone battle, he said, lies between Google's Android mobile operating system and Windows Phone 7. Android has a few advantages, in that it licensees do not have to pay any fees, and it allows manufacturers to differentiate their phones from other Android devices with custom interfaces. But Android also has no presence on the enterprise market, where Microsoft and its entrenched position with Windows will play to the Redmond, Wash., company's advantage.



"A major battle between Microsoft and Google to win the hearts and minds of the smartphone vendors who are building devices for both platforms appears inevitable."







Microsoft is also expected to extend its new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system to non-phone devices such as the rumored Zune HD2 portable media player. The first phones running Windows Phone 7 Series are expected to arrive by this holiday.



Wolf also spoke of the success BlackBerry has found "out of the limelight," and the struggles faced by Palm despite the company's "superior platform."



"We have little confidence in a material acceleration in Pre sales because Palm simply does not have the financial resources to market its devices at a level comparable to its competitors," he wrote. "But miracles do occur occasionally."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 87
    asianbobasianbob Posts: 797member
    Is there...more article? It just ends mid-sentence.
  • Reply 2 of 87
    All they did was copy the iPhone for the most part.
  • Reply 3 of 87
    asianbobasianbob Posts: 797member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore View Post


    All they did was copy the iPhone for the most part.



    Show me where WP7 is a copy of the iPhone. From all the videos I've seen, the WP7 OS looks and operates completely differently than the iPhone OS.
  • Reply 4 of 87
    bartfatbartfat Posts: 434member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AsianBob View Post


    Show me where WP7 is a copy of the iPhone. From all the videos I've seen, the WP7 OS looks and operates completely differently than the iPhone OS.



    They may have copied the idea, but then they modified the idea of the home screen and made it into a mess of icons within an icon. What's the point of that? It's information overload. I predict Windows Mobile 7 will fall like a lead balloon, despite what these "analysts" say. Just because they're Windows enthusiasts doesn't mean that the rest of us that aren't paid to say good stuff about Microsoft will suddenly decide that Windows Mobile 7 is better than iPhone or even Android.



    On a side note, let's face it... Palm is being a bit childish here. They do NOT have a superior platform compared to the iPhone. They designed their phone not around general use, but rather social networking. And to be honest, I think I'd prefer general use than specifically tailored interfaces to social networking and media. Having notifications of up to the minute info is great and all, but it's not necessary. And it just clutters up my life. I might just want a simple phone that's easy to use and powerful, not one that constantly says a friend did this on Facebook or Twitter. And it's not like Palm had a PR disaster with the iTunes sync thing... and then there's their lousy commercials. Whoever hired these clowns for those terrible commercials? They look (and sound) slightly worse than Blackberry commercials, because I can only assume they intended to copy the Blackberry commercials.
  • Reply 5 of 87
    stagnant sales? Where's igenius?
  • Reply 6 of 87
    "Microsoft has delivered on the necessary condition for success -- a smartphone operating system that should enable it to play in the same sandbox with Apple, Google and BlackBerry,"



    No they haven't and they won't until the fall at least.
  • Reply 7 of 87
    slapppyslapppy Posts: 331member
    All this growth without doing a buy one get one or two free. Unlike the competitors. Those guys are really pushing that buy one POS get one free POS like crazy.
  • Reply 8 of 87
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by swtchdtomak View Post


    "Microsoft has delivered on the necessary condition for success -- a smartphone operating system that should enable it to play in the same sandbox with Apple, Google and BlackBerry,"



    No they haven't and they won't until the fall at least.



    good point. another 9 months behind. it's strategy of course.
  • Reply 9 of 87
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    98% growth! GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY.



    Very impressive.
  • Reply 10 of 87
    jpmukjpmuk Posts: 19member
    I'm always amazed at the credit Microsoft gets. We're still at the start of the year and WM7 debuts near the end, an age in the smartphone world and almost 4 years after the iPhone debut. And it could still be delayed even further.



    What evidence is there that this will be in the same league as the fast maturing Android nevermind iPhone 4.0? All we've seen so far is some computer generated demos, not even a proper working prototype if I'm not mistaken (same with Courier, real artists ship and all that...).
  • Reply 11 of 87
    Apple is doomed!?
  • Reply 12 of 87
    jpmukjpmuk Posts: 19member
    iPhone built on OSX

    Android built on Linux.



    What is Windows Mobile 7 based on and how does it compare to the 2 above regarding efficiency, speed, reliability, ease of app development and future OS development technologies?



    Thanks,

    John
  • Reply 13 of 87
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jpmuk View Post


    ...and how does it compare to the...



    It doesn't.
  • Reply 14 of 87
    roos24roos24 Posts: 170member
    One word: ecosystem
  • Reply 15 of 87
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Apple is doomed!?



    I was about to say that. Now wait for this thread to make a 180 degrees turn and talk about the lack of multitasking
  • Reply 16 of 87
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spliff monkey View Post


    stagnant sales? Where's igenius?



    Post this twice more, while looking in a mirror, and he will come.
  • Reply 17 of 87
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jpmuk View Post


    iPhone built on OSX

    Android built on Linux.



    What is Windows Mobile 7 based on and how does it compare to the 2 above regarding efficiency, speed, reliability, ease of app development and future OS development technologies?



    Thanks,

    John



    From what I've seen, it resembles the Zune HD OS, with a smattering of Facebook-colored widget things tacked on.
  • Reply 18 of 87
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Microsoft isn't preparing for anything. The "Windows Phone 7 Series" announcement has practically halted all Windows Mobile 6.x sales except for corporations with IT departments (like mine) that mandate the so called Microsoft smart phones.



    Which is hilarious now that the new Windows 7 phones will have all this baked in Facebook integration that corporate cell phone policies tend to frown on.







    And RIM just needs to figure out how to deploy a browser that doesn't suck on it's Blackberry phones...
  • Reply 19 of 87
    asianbobasianbob Posts: 797member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bartfat View Post


    They may have copied the idea, but then they modified the idea of the home screen and made it into a mess of icons within an icon. What's the point of that? It's information overload. I predict Windows Mobile 7 will fall like a lead balloon, despite what these "analysts" say. Just because they're Windows enthusiasts doesn't mean that the rest of us that aren't paid to say good stuff about Microsoft will suddenly decide that Windows Mobile 7 is better than iPhone or even Android.



    I think we are on two levels regarding the "information overload". I don't think it's displaying too much information at all. Instead of a sea of icons that don't really do anything, the Home screen is pretty much widgets.



    I like the whole "scrolling ribbon" idea behind each of the nodes for WP7. The whole ribbon is information being updated and your screen is essentially a slider going across it to see easily sectioned chunks. It's essentially a fluid way of organizing all the icons into folders, something I've read iPhone users wishing to be able to do without jailbreaking. You have to agree that it's an innovative way at looking to present the mass of information out there.



    Why do you have a problem with analysts saying something good about a product? Especially if it's one that's not an Apple product. If he was talking good things about the latest iPhone to be released this year, would you claim he's being paid-off to say good things about Apple? Seems to me that you're holding onto the past days of WinMo...
  • Reply 20 of 87
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by John.B View Post


    Microsoft isn't preparing for anything. The "Windows Phone 7 Series" announcement has practically halted all Windows Mobile 6.x sales except for corporations with IT departments (like mine) that mandate the so called Microsoft smart phones.



    Which is hilarious now that the new Windows 7 phones will have all this baked in Facebook integration that corporate cell phone policies tend to frown on.







    And RIM just needs to figure out how to deploy a browser that doesn't suck on it's Blackberry phones...



    The other funny thing is those on Windows Mobile 6.5 cannot upgrade to Windows Phone 7 ?Because we have very specific requirements for Windows Phone 7 Series the current phones we have right now will not be upgradable.?... aka Bing button!!
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