Briefly: Simon & Schuster settles; 9M Galaxy S III preorders; 10.1" Kindle Fire
Publisher Simon & Schuster has settled an e-book antitrust lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 29 states in the U.S., while a new report claims Samsung achieved nine million preorders for its Galaxy S III smartphone. Also, a rumor claims Amazon is suspending plans for an 8.9-inch Kindle Fire in favor of a 10.1-inch model due out later this year.
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster became the third of five major publishers to reach a settlement with an antitrust lawsuit that now counts 29 states as its plaintiffs, CNet reported on Thursday.
The complaint had accused the publishers of colluding with Apple on an e-book price fixing scheme. According to the report, attorneys general from Texas and 15 other states filed the complaint and were later joined by several other states.
Apple and some of the publishers also face an antitrust complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice and a class-action lawsuit from consumers. The iPad maker has said it is looking to go to trial in the DoJ case because it wants to validate that the suit is "not an appropriate case against" it. Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins have each reached settlement agreements with the Justice Department.
The price fixing allegations arise from talks that Apple and the publishers held to decide to switch e-books from the wholesale model that Amazon was using for its Kindle to an agency model for iBooks that would let publishers set their own prices. Shortly after the launch of the iBookstore, e-book prices rose from Amazon's subsidized price of $9.99.
Galaxy S III
A Samsung official reportedly told the Korea Economic Daily off the record that customers had placed roughly nine million preorders of the company's Galaxy S III handset across over 100 carriers globally, as noted by Reuters.
The South Korean electronics maker first unveiled the Galaxy S III earlier this month. The smartphone has a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen.
According to one recent analysis, the device's predecessor, the Galaxy S II, is the most popular Android phone. Among nearly 681,900 devices tracked by OpenSignalMaps, the Galaxy S II made up 9 percent of the total. Overall, Samsung represented roughly 40 percent of Android devices monitored by the app maker.
Apple and Samsung have been in close competition for the top spot among global smartphone makers. Though Samsung has stopped providing specific figures on smartphone sales, market research estimates proclaimed the company as the leader in the first quarter of 2012.
In comparison to the alleged Galaxy S III preorder numbers, the iPhone 4S, Apple's most-recent smartphone, had record first-day preorders of one million units last October. Apple declined to say exactly how many advance orders it took overall, but it did announce that the first weekend of iPhone 4S sales set a record with four million units.
10.1-inch Kindle Fire
DigiTimes cited "the latest market rumors" on Friday as saying that Amazon will likely release a 10.1-inch Kindle Fire in the third-quarter of 2012. The company also was believed to be "tentatively suspending" the launch of a rumored 8.9-inch model.
Amazon is reportedly making the move to "focus its competition against Apple's iPad," the publication cited industry sources as saying. The insiders also said that the 8.9-inch model had been meant to challenge Samsung's Galaxy Note tablets.
Sources went on to estimate that Amazon could attain 30-40 million tablet PC orders this year. It should be noted, however, that DigiTimes' sources have a spotty track record.
Though the Kindle Fire got off to an impressive start late last year, sales may have slowed going into 2012. Data released by IDC earlier this month showed that Kindle Fire sales dropped to just 4 percent of sales in the first quarter of this year, down from 16.8 percent in the holiday quarter of 2011. Apple's share of global tablet sales was estimated to be at 68 percent in the March quarter.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told AppleInsider last year that Amazon was working on a 10.1-inch Kindle tablet codenamed "Coyote" alongside development of an 8.9-inch tablet. However, suppliers were believed to have experienced difficulty with Amazon's requirements for the 8.9-inch device.
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster became the third of five major publishers to reach a settlement with an antitrust lawsuit that now counts 29 states as its plaintiffs, CNet reported on Thursday.
The complaint had accused the publishers of colluding with Apple on an e-book price fixing scheme. According to the report, attorneys general from Texas and 15 other states filed the complaint and were later joined by several other states.
Apple and some of the publishers also face an antitrust complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice and a class-action lawsuit from consumers. The iPad maker has said it is looking to go to trial in the DoJ case because it wants to validate that the suit is "not an appropriate case against" it. Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins have each reached settlement agreements with the Justice Department.
The price fixing allegations arise from talks that Apple and the publishers held to decide to switch e-books from the wholesale model that Amazon was using for its Kindle to an agency model for iBooks that would let publishers set their own prices. Shortly after the launch of the iBookstore, e-book prices rose from Amazon's subsidized price of $9.99.
Galaxy S III
A Samsung official reportedly told the Korea Economic Daily off the record that customers had placed roughly nine million preorders of the company's Galaxy S III handset across over 100 carriers globally, as noted by Reuters.
The South Korean electronics maker first unveiled the Galaxy S III earlier this month. The smartphone has a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen.
According to one recent analysis, the device's predecessor, the Galaxy S II, is the most popular Android phone. Among nearly 681,900 devices tracked by OpenSignalMaps, the Galaxy S II made up 9 percent of the total. Overall, Samsung represented roughly 40 percent of Android devices monitored by the app maker.
Apple and Samsung have been in close competition for the top spot among global smartphone makers. Though Samsung has stopped providing specific figures on smartphone sales, market research estimates proclaimed the company as the leader in the first quarter of 2012.
In comparison to the alleged Galaxy S III preorder numbers, the iPhone 4S, Apple's most-recent smartphone, had record first-day preorders of one million units last October. Apple declined to say exactly how many advance orders it took overall, but it did announce that the first weekend of iPhone 4S sales set a record with four million units.
10.1-inch Kindle Fire
DigiTimes cited "the latest market rumors" on Friday as saying that Amazon will likely release a 10.1-inch Kindle Fire in the third-quarter of 2012. The company also was believed to be "tentatively suspending" the launch of a rumored 8.9-inch model.
Amazon is reportedly making the move to "focus its competition against Apple's iPad," the publication cited industry sources as saying. The insiders also said that the 8.9-inch model had been meant to challenge Samsung's Galaxy Note tablets.
Sources went on to estimate that Amazon could attain 30-40 million tablet PC orders this year. It should be noted, however, that DigiTimes' sources have a spotty track record.
Though the Kindle Fire got off to an impressive start late last year, sales may have slowed going into 2012. Data released by IDC earlier this month showed that Kindle Fire sales dropped to just 4 percent of sales in the first quarter of this year, down from 16.8 percent in the holiday quarter of 2011. Apple's share of global tablet sales was estimated to be at 68 percent in the March quarter.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told AppleInsider last year that Amazon was working on a 10.1-inch Kindle tablet codenamed "Coyote" alongside development of an 8.9-inch tablet. However, suppliers were believed to have experienced difficulty with Amazon's requirements for the 8.9-inch device.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Look, she's having a hot flash!
Oops, no, it's just a lousy Sammy AMOLED display.
With publishers settling, I think Apple might get a better chance defending alone for reasons that Apple is only a middle man and they are selling other people's works i.e authors/publishers set the price.
In few days we will have a statement from Samsung saying "he meant really smooth" not "9 millions"!
Super AMOLED HD but just Pentile. :sigh: Is this a false advertising?
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Galaxy S III
A Samsung official reportedly told the Korea Economic Daily off the record that customers had placed roughly nine million preorders of the company's Galaxy S III handset across over 100 carriers globally, as noted by Reuters.
Since the various carriers are Samsung's customers and not the end user are the preorder numbers being reported from the various carrier's or from the end user? Sold to a carrier for inventory is very different from sold to the end user, End users represent an immediate sale yet carrier inventory could take months to get sold to an end user, if ever. That information would be important to truly gauge how well it is doing.
Updated: The Reuters article cited says the orders are from carriers but AI's article is worded to make it seem like the orders are from end users. Another poorly written AI article.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matrix07
Super AMOLED HD but just Pentile. :sigh: Is this a false advertising?
It follows their naming convention for these screens, so I don't see how it is.
FYI
Super prefix = bonded to glass layer
AMOLED = Organic LED based
+ Suffix = RGB stripe (not Pentile)
HD Suffix = 720p resolution
so a Super AMOLED HD screen tells us that its an OLED based screen that's optically bonded to the glass layer, with an 720p resolution. The lack of the + suffix indicates that it is Pentile.
And that is exactly the screen that the GS3 uses, so no false advertising found here
Attorneys General
4.8" = humongously huge
7.8" = nail-file-requiredly small
Dear Apple,
Please fight that DOJ antitrust suit to the end. It needs somebody with enough cash to stand up to the government and tell it to get the ***** out of the markets. there is nothing inherently better or worse about the agency model as opposed to Amazon's and nothing "conspiratorial" about persuading the publishers to use the agency model. These regulators are way over-reaching. Punch them in the face!
Let's not be in denial about how well Samsung is doing with the sales of their smartphones. I see big screen Samsung phones all over Asia - including here in China where I'm traveling for business. Samsung is killing the likes of Nokia, Motorola, Sony/Ericsson, and LG that I used to see more of in the past. Apple's iPhone presence is notable but a distant number two to Samsung in terms of visibility. There's no doubt that the Galaxy SIII will sell in the tens of millions once it's released.
The world is big. It's way beyond your circle of friends and work colleagues in the town or city you live in. Consider that China alone has population of two United States and all of Europe combined. And it won't be long before the population of India surpasses that of China. The combined economy of China, Japan and Korea alone is larger than the entire Euro zone or the US. This region has become the epicenter of world economy and it will continue to grow at a much faster rate than that of the US and Europe.
Apple has to focus on this region in a big way if they're going to stay ahead of Samsung and other fast-rising electronics giants of China. I'm doing the best I can to spread the Apple gospel wherever I go over here. I just convinced a business associate from Taiwan to completely switch from his Windows/Android setup to all-Apple after I demoed my MBA/iPad/iPhone rig working seamlessly together with the iCloud. There's a lot of interest in Apple over here but many are very cautious about making the switch.
Apple has a lot of work to do here but I feel confident that Apple will make sustained inroads and gain market share for a long time to come. The growth potential for Apple here is just mind-boggling. Apple has barely scratched the surface here.
So what does this settlement mean for consumers? Will these three go back to the wholesale model, resulting in lower priced ebooks across all venues, or does it simply mean they'll pay a fine to the government, and keep pricing as they have been?
It may mean lower prices for those who want to buy from Amazon until they run everyone else out of business, again. This would mean, less reasons for writers to write and publishers to publish. The truly great artist would prefer to sell their creations by themselves than support a system where they make one company rich and not even have access to the rest of the market or even be able to sell their own product for a reasonable price themselves because Amazon wants to use it as a loss leader.
9 million would be an impressive number, regardless of whether it's to the carriers or individuals, or a combination. Carriers won't buy them unless they can sell them. The Galaxy SIII is a bit too big for me, but it does seem to be popular. Hopefully Apple is taking notice and has some nice plans for IOS 6 in store for us next month. It isn't really Android vs. IOS so much anymore as it is Samsung vs. Apple. Samsung is the only other company besides Apple who can sell premium smartphones at premium prices in large numbers.
[WTH] Want to write about Apple and get money for that?
Hello everybody. I've just opened my own newsboard www.mylovelymac.com and now I'm looking for talented writers!
So if you:
- Like Apple !
- Want to write fantastic articles about Apple !
- Want to get good money for that !
Then just write me at saprahan@gmail.com or visit our website and write about your desire in comments! If you have no experience in article writing it's not a problem, maybe it is the best time to start!
Thank you and good luck!
Yes, 9 M would be an impressive number either way. However, I'm very skeptical of the number. We have a rumored report from an unnamed official.
1. If Samsung really had 9 M preorders, it is extremely likely that there would be an official announcement.
2. Apple got a few million preorders for the iPhone 4s (I don't remember the exactly number, but it was less than half of the alleged 9 M for the Galaxy S3. Think back to the iPhone 4S launch, though. It was on every major news outlet world wide. EVERYONE was talking about it - extensively. The S3, OTOH, was briefly mentioned when it was announced and then largely disappeared form the media. Heck, in their radio ads, US Cellular is still advertising the S2 as the most advanced phone they offer with no mention of the S3. If Apple only got a few million with the massive media frenzy that surrounded the iPhone 4S, I can't see how Samsung got more than twice as many with a relatively silent media.
Let's wait until we have real numbers, not some fourth hand rumor.
1. During the unveiling, they already said that they had a record amount of preorders from carriers, although they didn't specify a number. Why are the carriers preording so many phones? Because they expect them to sell. In terms of sales, Galaxy S line is unmatched in Android world. 9M worldwide is not unrealistic at all.
2. Officially, there is no Galaxy S III for the US - yet, that's why there's no advertising. It'll be announced in late May/early June.
It doesn't matter. My points still apply.
1. If they had sold that many, this would be an official press release rather than a fourth hand report.
2. When the iPhone 4S was released it had less than half as many preorders in spite of worldwide hype. You couldn't open a newspaper or magazine without seeing something about the iPhone 4S. It is implausible that the G3 would have sold as well with essentially no mention in the media at all.