INDIA: Bharti Airtel has launched 4G mobile broadband services in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.
"This launch is another first by Airtel that further enhances the footprint of mobile broadband in India. We are optimistic about the potential of Airtel 4G services and invite our data savvy customers in Punjab to enjoy this world class data experience," said Jagbir Singh, Bharti Airtel CTO and director for Network Services Group.
In 2010, Airtel had successfully bid for BWA license spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) circles. Additionally, earlier last year, Bharti Airtel acquired 49 percent interest in Qualcomm AP’s India entities that hold BWA licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.
The company has launched its 4G LTE services in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune and now Chandigarh, and is currently working toward rolling out state-of-the-art networks in the remaining license circles
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Entropic brings highest performance Ethernet-over-coax (EoC) broadband access solution to China
CHINA: Entropic has announced the EN3681 Network Controller (NC) and the EN3690 Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) -- the company's newest generation of c.LINK 1.1+ Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC) Broadband Access solutions.
Entropic's latest c.LINK 1.1+ offering is the first multiple-channel EoC solution that can deliver up to 800 Mbps of aggregated throughput, ensuring the bandwidth and flexibility needed to meet China's Next Generation Broadcasting (NGB) requirements. Entropic is demonstrating its new EoC solution at the China Content Broadcasting Network(CCBN) exhibition -- Hall 3, Booth #3403 -- which takes place this week in Beijing.
To satisfy consumer demand for high definition (HD) video content across a variety of connected devices, and to meet requirements set forth by the NGB initiative, China MSOs are looking for high throughput broadband access solutions to reliably drive more entertainment services and applications to their subscribers.
Entropic's EN3681 NC and EN3690 CPE solution delivers the industry's highest performance, highest density EoC solution in the smallest form factor. The technology employs the first-ever multiple-channel solution, which raises the performance bar -- bringing 800 Mbps of aggregated throughput to MSOs' networks, and operates across a wide frequency range, making it easy to co-exist with Low RF and other High RF solutions.
This flexibility allows MSOs to easily augment their capacity needs if more bandwidth is desired. This new generation of EoC solution is backward compatible with Entropic's c.LINK 1.1 install base, protecting MSOs investments and provides an upgrade path over their existing services.
Entropic's latest c.LINK 1.1+ offering is the first multiple-channel EoC solution that can deliver up to 800 Mbps of aggregated throughput, ensuring the bandwidth and flexibility needed to meet China's Next Generation Broadcasting (NGB) requirements. Entropic is demonstrating its new EoC solution at the China Content Broadcasting Network(CCBN) exhibition -- Hall 3, Booth #3403 -- which takes place this week in Beijing.
To satisfy consumer demand for high definition (HD) video content across a variety of connected devices, and to meet requirements set forth by the NGB initiative, China MSOs are looking for high throughput broadband access solutions to reliably drive more entertainment services and applications to their subscribers.
Entropic's EN3681 NC and EN3690 CPE solution delivers the industry's highest performance, highest density EoC solution in the smallest form factor. The technology employs the first-ever multiple-channel solution, which raises the performance bar -- bringing 800 Mbps of aggregated throughput to MSOs' networks, and operates across a wide frequency range, making it easy to co-exist with Low RF and other High RF solutions.
This flexibility allows MSOs to easily augment their capacity needs if more bandwidth is desired. This new generation of EoC solution is backward compatible with Entropic's c.LINK 1.1 install base, protecting MSOs investments and provides an upgrade path over their existing services.
Sumitomo Electric to demo industry's first 25G EDR technology using Anritsu MP1800A BERT
OFC/NFOEC 2013, USA: Anritsu Co. (booth #2519) will be part of a demonstration of the world's first 25G EDR technology that will be conducted in the Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) booth (#2318) during OFC/NFOEC 2013, beginning in Anaheim, CA.
The Anritsu MP1800A BERT will be used in the SEI booth to showcase key component technology used in an EDR active optical cable.
The MP1800A was selected, in part, because it supports wideband bit rates from 0.1G to 32.1G for versatile signal integrity analysis applications. It features a built-in Pulse Pattern Generator (PPG) to support output of high-quality, high-amplitude signals, and an Error Detector (ED) with high input sensitivity for signal analysis, such as Bathtub Jitter and Eye Diagram Measurements.
A jitter modulation source is also integrated into the MP1800A, for generating various jitters, such as SJ/RJ/BUJ/SSC, and supporting Jitter Tolerance tests.
The Anritsu MP1800A BERT will be used in the SEI booth to showcase key component technology used in an EDR active optical cable.
The MP1800A was selected, in part, because it supports wideband bit rates from 0.1G to 32.1G for versatile signal integrity analysis applications. It features a built-in Pulse Pattern Generator (PPG) to support output of high-quality, high-amplitude signals, and an Error Detector (ED) with high input sensitivity for signal analysis, such as Bathtub Jitter and Eye Diagram Measurements.
A jitter modulation source is also integrated into the MP1800A, for generating various jitters, such as SJ/RJ/BUJ/SSC, and supporting Jitter Tolerance tests.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sangoma releases high-density telephony board for digital span monitoring
CANADA: Sangoma Technologies Corp. announced the availability of its T116 16-Span Tapping Board.
The highest density board on the market, the T116 provides passive high-impedance tapping of digital telephony spans. The T116 board, which is available immediately from Sangoma partners around the world, provides telephony solution developers with a highly reliable and dense platform for building call monitoring, recording, logging, fraud detection and security applications.
"With its support for up to eight digital spans on a single board, the T116 has double the capacity of any other passive tapping solution on the market. It is built on Sangoma's highly regarded PCI Express interface board technology to ensure broad compatibility with commercial servers," said Simon Horton, Sangoma director of product management.
"Developers of call recording and logging solutions have been limited in scaling their products due to the lack of high-quality and affordable boards that are compatible with open source and proprietary operating systems. The T116 breaks down these barriers and provides a scalable and reliable product that enables innovation."
The T116 board employs high-impedance circuitry to ensure that there is no disruption or degradation of the communications signals on the digital spans. This passive monitoring approach eliminates the need to insert a device that terminates and regenerates every call.
Designed to monitor up to 240 individual calls, the T116 board is developed for global markets that require compliance with T1, E1 or J1 standards. In addition, Application Programing Interfaces (APIs) and source-code software development kits are available for open source projects such as FreeSWITCH and Asterisk, and for proprietary PBX, switch, IVR, and VoIP gateway applications.
The highest density board on the market, the T116 provides passive high-impedance tapping of digital telephony spans. The T116 board, which is available immediately from Sangoma partners around the world, provides telephony solution developers with a highly reliable and dense platform for building call monitoring, recording, logging, fraud detection and security applications.
"With its support for up to eight digital spans on a single board, the T116 has double the capacity of any other passive tapping solution on the market. It is built on Sangoma's highly regarded PCI Express interface board technology to ensure broad compatibility with commercial servers," said Simon Horton, Sangoma director of product management.
"Developers of call recording and logging solutions have been limited in scaling their products due to the lack of high-quality and affordable boards that are compatible with open source and proprietary operating systems. The T116 breaks down these barriers and provides a scalable and reliable product that enables innovation."
The T116 board employs high-impedance circuitry to ensure that there is no disruption or degradation of the communications signals on the digital spans. This passive monitoring approach eliminates the need to insert a device that terminates and regenerates every call.
Designed to monitor up to 240 individual calls, the T116 board is developed for global markets that require compliance with T1, E1 or J1 standards. In addition, Application Programing Interfaces (APIs) and source-code software development kits are available for open source projects such as FreeSWITCH and Asterisk, and for proprietary PBX, switch, IVR, and VoIP gateway applications.
Samsung Galaxy S4 carries $236 bill of materials
USA: The HSPA+ version of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S4 smartphone carries a $236 bill of materials (BOM), up significantly from last year’s model—the Galaxy S III—due to major upgrades in the display, sensors and application processor and supporting memory, according to a virtual teardown conducted by the IHS iSuppli Mobile Handset Cost Model Service.
The HSPA+ S4 with 16 gigabytes of NAND flash memory costs $244 when the $8.50 manufacturing cost is added in. The BOM of the HSPA+ version of the S4 is $30.40 higher than for the equivalent version of the Galaxy S III, a 15 percent increase. The Galaxy S III pricing analysis was performed by IHS in September 2012.
This virtual teardown and pricing estimation was derived from information and device specifications released by Samsung, combined with information regarding known components and suppliers. The information presented is preliminary and subject to change, pending IHS’s actual physical teardown of the device.
“Although its hardware is not radically different from the Galaxy S III introduced in April of 2012, the Samsung Galaxy S4 includes some critical component updates that enhance its functionality as well as its BOM cost,” said Vincent Leung, senior analyst for cost benchmarking at IHS.
“Among the upgrades are a larger, full high-definition (HD) display; a beefed-up Samsung processor; and a wealth of new sensors that set a record high for the number of such devices in a smartphone design. And despite the larger display and other changes, the Galaxy S4 has roughly the same width and the same ease of handling as the Galaxy S III.”
Display advance
The S4 employs a full-HD active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display from Samsung Display with a pixel format of 1,920 by 1,080. This compares to the 1,280 by 720 WXGA resolution display in the S III.
The S4’s HD display and touch-screen subsystem is estimated to carry a cost of $75.00, up from $65.00 for the S III. This represents the single largest area of cost increase for the S4 compared to the S III.
“While many brands have released smartphone models using full-HD LCD displays, the S4 represents the first with an AMOLED display at this resolution,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, director for small & medium displays at IHS. “Reaching a true pixel density greater than 300 ppi has been a challenge for AMOLED display makers. However, Samsung was able to enhance AMOLED display performance by implementing new technologies that also drove up the cost of the display.”
Apps processor beefs up its cores
For the apps processor in the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S4, Samsung is believed to be employing an Exynos 5 Octa solution, an eight-core chip using its own design, and manufactured with Samsung’s own 28-nanometer process. This compares to the quad-core Exynos apps processor in the Galaxy S III. The cost of the Galaxy S4’s processor is estimated at $30.00, compared to $17.50 for the chip in the Galaxy S III.
The Galaxy S4’s eight-core Exynos processor uses ARM’s big.LITTLE microprocessor architecture. The architecture employs a hybrid approach generally referred to as heterogeneous computing, whereby two central processing units (CPUs)—a quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU and a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU—are integrated into the same chip.
“With big.LITTLE, there is a computing and power consumption tradeoff, in which less computing-intensive tasks, such as phone calls and social media apps, can be handled by the more power-efficient but slower A7 cores,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. “This allows the bigger, more powerful and energy-draining A15 cores to remain idle when they are not needed, preserving battery life. The A15 cores go into action only for more computing-intensive applications, like video gaming or decoding video.”
This is a unique approach compared to Nvidia's 4+1 Tegra setup or even Qualcomm's asynchronous Krait-cores in the Snapdragon, where the processing cores are evenly matched.
The 4G LTE version of the Galaxy S4 employs a different apps processor and baseband, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, a quad-core apps processor and LTE radio solution. Samsung had a similar hardware differentiation with the LTE version of the Galaxy S III. Given the different apps processors between the Samsung Exynos-powered S4 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S4, some variances in the software capabilities and application performance for the two models are expected. However, that has yet to be verified by Samsung.
Sensuous sensors
With its emphasis on detecting and adapting to consumer lifestyles, the Galaxy S4 integrates an array of different sensors, including the accelerometer, RGB light, geomagnetic, proximity, gyroscope, barometer, IR gesture and even temperature and humidity varieties.
The humidity and temperature sensor as well as the IR gesture sensor are new in the Galaxy S4 compared to the Galaxy S III. Because of these new capabilities, the user interface and sensor subsystem of the Galaxy S4 carries an estimated cost of $16.00, up from $12.70 in the Galaxy S III.
LTE version keeps costs in check
Although the LTE version of the Galaxy S4 employs a more advanced mobile radio than the HSPA+ version, its total BOM cost is slightly lower, at $233.00.
The LTE Galaxy S4’s wireless section costs $25.00, higher than the $16.00 for the HSPA+, because it supports the new 4G LTE air interface standard as well as up to six global LTE bands.
However, the LTE version keeps expenditures down by using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 solution, which costs $20.00. An additional cost benefit of using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 solution comes from the use of a lower-cost wireless LAN/Bluetooth/FM/GPS subsystem.
Samsung inside
Samsung makes extensive use of its own internally manufactured parts in all of its phones, including the Galaxy S4, as presented in Table 2 attached. The company is believed to supply the display and touch-screen module, as well as the apps processor and power management integrated circuit, according to the preliminary IHS analysis. Samsung also is the primary supplier of the SDRAM and flash memory, although the company could employ alternative sources for these commodity parts.
All told, Samsung accounts for at least $149 worth of component content in the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S4, representing 63 percent of the total BOM, based on the results of the virtual teardown.
Intel and Broadcom too
Intel Corp. is believed to be the supplier of the baseband processor and RF transceiver in the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S4, just as it did for the Galaxy S III. Broadcom is the likely source for the Wireless LAN/Bluetooth/FM/GPS subsystem and the GPS/GLONASS section in the non-Qualcomm variant of the Galaxy S4.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
The HSPA+ S4 with 16 gigabytes of NAND flash memory costs $244 when the $8.50 manufacturing cost is added in. The BOM of the HSPA+ version of the S4 is $30.40 higher than for the equivalent version of the Galaxy S III, a 15 percent increase. The Galaxy S III pricing analysis was performed by IHS in September 2012.
This virtual teardown and pricing estimation was derived from information and device specifications released by Samsung, combined with information regarding known components and suppliers. The information presented is preliminary and subject to change, pending IHS’s actual physical teardown of the device.
“Although its hardware is not radically different from the Galaxy S III introduced in April of 2012, the Samsung Galaxy S4 includes some critical component updates that enhance its functionality as well as its BOM cost,” said Vincent Leung, senior analyst for cost benchmarking at IHS.
“Among the upgrades are a larger, full high-definition (HD) display; a beefed-up Samsung processor; and a wealth of new sensors that set a record high for the number of such devices in a smartphone design. And despite the larger display and other changes, the Galaxy S4 has roughly the same width and the same ease of handling as the Galaxy S III.”
Display advance
The S4 employs a full-HD active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display from Samsung Display with a pixel format of 1,920 by 1,080. This compares to the 1,280 by 720 WXGA resolution display in the S III.
The S4’s HD display and touch-screen subsystem is estimated to carry a cost of $75.00, up from $65.00 for the S III. This represents the single largest area of cost increase for the S4 compared to the S III.
“While many brands have released smartphone models using full-HD LCD displays, the S4 represents the first with an AMOLED display at this resolution,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, director for small & medium displays at IHS. “Reaching a true pixel density greater than 300 ppi has been a challenge for AMOLED display makers. However, Samsung was able to enhance AMOLED display performance by implementing new technologies that also drove up the cost of the display.”
Apps processor beefs up its cores
For the apps processor in the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S4, Samsung is believed to be employing an Exynos 5 Octa solution, an eight-core chip using its own design, and manufactured with Samsung’s own 28-nanometer process. This compares to the quad-core Exynos apps processor in the Galaxy S III. The cost of the Galaxy S4’s processor is estimated at $30.00, compared to $17.50 for the chip in the Galaxy S III.
The Galaxy S4’s eight-core Exynos processor uses ARM’s big.LITTLE microprocessor architecture. The architecture employs a hybrid approach generally referred to as heterogeneous computing, whereby two central processing units (CPUs)—a quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU and a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU—are integrated into the same chip.
“With big.LITTLE, there is a computing and power consumption tradeoff, in which less computing-intensive tasks, such as phone calls and social media apps, can be handled by the more power-efficient but slower A7 cores,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. “This allows the bigger, more powerful and energy-draining A15 cores to remain idle when they are not needed, preserving battery life. The A15 cores go into action only for more computing-intensive applications, like video gaming or decoding video.”
This is a unique approach compared to Nvidia's 4+1 Tegra setup or even Qualcomm's asynchronous Krait-cores in the Snapdragon, where the processing cores are evenly matched.
The 4G LTE version of the Galaxy S4 employs a different apps processor and baseband, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, a quad-core apps processor and LTE radio solution. Samsung had a similar hardware differentiation with the LTE version of the Galaxy S III. Given the different apps processors between the Samsung Exynos-powered S4 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S4, some variances in the software capabilities and application performance for the two models are expected. However, that has yet to be verified by Samsung.
Sensuous sensors
With its emphasis on detecting and adapting to consumer lifestyles, the Galaxy S4 integrates an array of different sensors, including the accelerometer, RGB light, geomagnetic, proximity, gyroscope, barometer, IR gesture and even temperature and humidity varieties.
The humidity and temperature sensor as well as the IR gesture sensor are new in the Galaxy S4 compared to the Galaxy S III. Because of these new capabilities, the user interface and sensor subsystem of the Galaxy S4 carries an estimated cost of $16.00, up from $12.70 in the Galaxy S III.
LTE version keeps costs in check
Although the LTE version of the Galaxy S4 employs a more advanced mobile radio than the HSPA+ version, its total BOM cost is slightly lower, at $233.00.
The LTE Galaxy S4’s wireless section costs $25.00, higher than the $16.00 for the HSPA+, because it supports the new 4G LTE air interface standard as well as up to six global LTE bands.
However, the LTE version keeps expenditures down by using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 solution, which costs $20.00. An additional cost benefit of using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 solution comes from the use of a lower-cost wireless LAN/Bluetooth/FM/GPS subsystem.
Samsung inside
Samsung makes extensive use of its own internally manufactured parts in all of its phones, including the Galaxy S4, as presented in Table 2 attached. The company is believed to supply the display and touch-screen module, as well as the apps processor and power management integrated circuit, according to the preliminary IHS analysis. Samsung also is the primary supplier of the SDRAM and flash memory, although the company could employ alternative sources for these commodity parts.
All told, Samsung accounts for at least $149 worth of component content in the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S4, representing 63 percent of the total BOM, based on the results of the virtual teardown.
Intel and Broadcom too
Intel Corp. is believed to be the supplier of the baseband processor and RF transceiver in the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S4, just as it did for the Galaxy S III. Broadcom is the likely source for the Wireless LAN/Bluetooth/FM/GPS subsystem and the GPS/GLONASS section in the non-Qualcomm variant of the Galaxy S4.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
BridgePoint announces strategic partnership with XCLUTEL
USA: BridgePoint Technologies, a full service information technology consulting firm, announced its business partnership with XCLUTEL Communications, a world-class provider of integrated managed telecom solutions.
The strategic alliance provides XCLUTEL customers with BridgePoint's proven Managed Services and IT solutions, while offering BridgePoint clientele direct access to XCLUTEL's integrated voice and data access solutions, as well as business telephone systems.
XCLUTEL's voice and data solutions enable seamless, scalable communication and collaboration capabilities across multi-site, small and mid-size businesses.
BridgePoint’s comprehensive and reliable IT business solutions and managed services, combined with XCLUTEL’s business telephone systems and voice and data access solutions, provide customers value-added service assurance and a comprehensive product suite that fulfills the critical telecom and IT needs of their customers.
The strategic alliance provides XCLUTEL customers with BridgePoint's proven Managed Services and IT solutions, while offering BridgePoint clientele direct access to XCLUTEL's integrated voice and data access solutions, as well as business telephone systems.
XCLUTEL's voice and data solutions enable seamless, scalable communication and collaboration capabilities across multi-site, small and mid-size businesses.
BridgePoint’s comprehensive and reliable IT business solutions and managed services, combined with XCLUTEL’s business telephone systems and voice and data access solutions, provide customers value-added service assurance and a comprehensive product suite that fulfills the critical telecom and IT needs of their customers.
Samsung replaces Nokia as top smartphone brand in China
TAIWAN: Samsung has surpassed Nokia as the most commonly used smartphone brand in China since the third quarter of 2012, according to a consumer research report on smartphone use in China conducted by Avanti, a division of global market research firm TrendForce.
While Apple comes in third, with strong scores in the “brand image” and “intent to purchase” categories, a more affordably priced iPhone could very well put the manufacturer back on top in China.
Samsung becomes dominant smartphone brand
In the category of brands used most often, Samsung surpassed leader Nokia in the third quarter of 2012. Apple came in third with 10 percent, and HTC was close behind.
Notably, Nokia’s percentage dropped rapidly after the third quarter; if this continues, the manufacturer may fall behind Apple this year. While China’s domestic brands Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. did not make it into the top three, all show steady growth.
As for brands consumers have used in the past, Nokia and Samsung are neck and neck. Currently, Samsung beats out Nokia as the most commonly used smartphone brand with 20.3 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively.
iPhone shows strongest brand image
When it comes to brand image, the ranking changes. The iPhone surpassed Samsung in the second quarter of 2012, while Nokia’s brand image has been slipping quarterly.
The decline in Nokia’s brand image slowed in the fourth quarter though, likely due to promotion of the new Windows Phone in China. HTC lost to Nokia by just a few percentage points in the fourth quarter, while Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo, and ZTE saw significant improvement over 2011.
iPhone nost desired next purchase, Samsung’s percentage increases
The iPhone also came out on top as the brand most consumers intend to choose for their next smartphone purchase. However, as the iPhone’s price tag is relatively high, not everyone that names the smartphone as their most desired next purchase will actually buy it; a lower-priced model would certainly boost the brand’s performance in China.
Samsung, on the other hand, has seen improvement in the category, and intent to purchase is more accurately reflected in use figures. Thus, the short-term outlook for Samsung’s growth in China is very optimistic. HTC and Xiaomi outperformed Nokia is the category; although Nokia managed to stay in the top five in the fourth quarter of 2012, the manufacturer’s score has been slipping in all categories.
Samsung, Apple remain in lead; China’s brands show steady growth
Generally speaking, Samsung and Apple are expected to continue improving, while Nokia will have to rely on the Windows Phone, which unfortunately has not seen impressive sales as of yet, to turn things around. HTC is more or less a leading smartphone brand in China, but still has plenty of room for improvement.
Of China’s domestic brands, Xiaomi has seen the strongest growth, showing stronger performance than the others in terms of both price-to-performance ratio and reputation. Huawei’s sales have been mediocre, but that could easily change if the manufacturer invested in high-end models.
As for Lenovo, entering the smartphone market with a strong background in PCs provides the manufacturer with an integrated sales model that should see strong growth in the future.
While Apple comes in third, with strong scores in the “brand image” and “intent to purchase” categories, a more affordably priced iPhone could very well put the manufacturer back on top in China.
Samsung becomes dominant smartphone brand
In the category of brands used most often, Samsung surpassed leader Nokia in the third quarter of 2012. Apple came in third with 10 percent, and HTC was close behind.
Notably, Nokia’s percentage dropped rapidly after the third quarter; if this continues, the manufacturer may fall behind Apple this year. While China’s domestic brands Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. did not make it into the top three, all show steady growth.
As for brands consumers have used in the past, Nokia and Samsung are neck and neck. Currently, Samsung beats out Nokia as the most commonly used smartphone brand with 20.3 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively.
When it comes to brand image, the ranking changes. The iPhone surpassed Samsung in the second quarter of 2012, while Nokia’s brand image has been slipping quarterly.
The decline in Nokia’s brand image slowed in the fourth quarter though, likely due to promotion of the new Windows Phone in China. HTC lost to Nokia by just a few percentage points in the fourth quarter, while Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo, and ZTE saw significant improvement over 2011.
The iPhone also came out on top as the brand most consumers intend to choose for their next smartphone purchase. However, as the iPhone’s price tag is relatively high, not everyone that names the smartphone as their most desired next purchase will actually buy it; a lower-priced model would certainly boost the brand’s performance in China.
Samsung, on the other hand, has seen improvement in the category, and intent to purchase is more accurately reflected in use figures. Thus, the short-term outlook for Samsung’s growth in China is very optimistic. HTC and Xiaomi outperformed Nokia is the category; although Nokia managed to stay in the top five in the fourth quarter of 2012, the manufacturer’s score has been slipping in all categories.
Generally speaking, Samsung and Apple are expected to continue improving, while Nokia will have to rely on the Windows Phone, which unfortunately has not seen impressive sales as of yet, to turn things around. HTC is more or less a leading smartphone brand in China, but still has plenty of room for improvement.
Of China’s domestic brands, Xiaomi has seen the strongest growth, showing stronger performance than the others in terms of both price-to-performance ratio and reputation. Huawei’s sales have been mediocre, but that could easily change if the manufacturer invested in high-end models.
As for Lenovo, entering the smartphone market with a strong background in PCs provides the manufacturer with an integrated sales model that should see strong growth in the future.
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