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KenC's Comments Stream Stats
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RIM's Storm is a Washout
And, to the fellow who thinks having a 3.2Mp camera is a big woop, well, I can assure you that camera doesn't hold a candle to my $100 Fuji F20. Good images require a large chip, just like film used to. The bigger the film, the better the underlying image quality.
A large imaging sensor, aka chip, requires depth between the sensor and the lens, so that the light from the lens can cover the whole sensor. Because the cellphone has a limited depth, (you don't want a superfat cellphone do you), there's a physical limitation on how big that chip can be, and ultimately a limit on actual image quality. As pixels get smaller, in the same size chip, they get hotter. Heat creates noise in an image and blurs pixels. The fact is more pixels IS NOT necessarily better for your image. That's a physical truth.
The ideal pixel size for a minimum of noise is about 6 microns. That's what you'll find in DSLRs. Given the typical chip size in a cellphone, the optimum chip is for the best pixel quality is 1 megapixel. Got that? The optimum chip size based upon optimum pixel size of 6 microns is 1 megapixel for a cellphone.
Nokia Introduces the N97 Smartphone
Is iPhone Leading the Way in Smartphone Evolution?
Buy, Sell or Hold: Apple's Cohesive Strategy to Survive and Thrive
Question, your Chart 1, is that the installed base market share figure or is it the one year sales figures? Cause you state that Apple sold more than Rimm, and yet, Rimm is at 12% and Apple at 7%. A little disconnect between the chart and what you are talking about.
Data security - unless Apple is doing something different than what they announced in March at their press conference, I'm quite sure there is a "remote wipe" feature for IT departments. And, Apple announced a special program for corporations to allow custom app solutions. How is the cost, "lower"? You don't say. Is it because Apple's email server is more expensive than Blackberries? Oops, Apple doesn't sell a email server.
WalMart? You do know that WalMart has tried to sell music before, at 88 cents, and failed. What makes you think they'll succeed now?
Nokia's Ovi? It only comes on a couple of their handsets.
Google's G1 comes thru T-Mobile. They are #4 in a 3 carrier market. They have 3G service in how many cities? 20? AT&T has 3G in something like 280 cities. No matter how good the G1 is, the sellable market is virtually nil. How is the G1, "revolutionary&qu... Because it mimics the iPhone? You do realize that Android is built around a browser that uses WebKit. Who developed WebKit? Apple. As for "location services", you do realize that the iPhone has it, and many more apps that use it.
Open source means nothing to the consumer. If it did, Linux would sell better. It is just as easy for anyone to develop for the iPhone and the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The iPhone has over 5500 apps already. The G1? 50? More?
You mention the Tube, Bold and Instinct. The Tube is a joke, it doesn't use a capacitance touchscreen. The Bold's screen is too small. Did you see Sprint's latest numbers? I don't think people are buying the Instinct.
The Nuvifone was "launched" where? In a vacuum? I love Garmin, but the last I heard the Nuvifone was delayed until next year. And, turn-by-turn directions, apparently, TomTom and Garmin have developed apps for the iPhone, but are waiting for Apple to lift their restrictions on it.
In other words, you don't really know your products very well, otherwise, you wouldn't have cited a whole slew of criticisms that just don't hold very much water.
For an analysis that recommends buying, your conclusion is rather negative. Read some of Andy Zaky's analysis on SA for comparison. Also, read Roughlydrafted.com for some insight into the actual product side.
Initial Thoughts on Android and the G1 Smartphone
Revisiting the iPhone’s Browsing Market Share (Part II)
Apple Takes a Bite of Research In Motion
The fact is, regardless of whether Apple outsold or caught up, or was even behind Blackberry sales, it's STILL REMARKABLE, after only 15 months in the market. Yes, we know you're a RIM shareholder. It's obvious. Just because people are justifiably proud of how Apple has done with the iPhone should not threaten your manhood.
Google Phone: "Dream Phone" Might Be a Little Strong
I like the idea of Android, but as long as the cell carriers act as gatekeepers, then Android is hamstrung. It's great if a developer writes a tethering app or a Voip app, but if the cell carrier does not allow tethering or Voip, what good does that do you?
There are 3 players involved here. The hardware manufacturer, the OS, and the cell carrier. For the most part, the cell carrier dictated to the manufacturer what features would be allowed, I don't see how Android will change that.
Crop of New Smartphones Will Compete With iPhone
AAPL's Time For Greatness Is Now
The Google Phone: Blockbuster or Bust?
You wrote, "Google is positioning itself against Apple, which has bet on the iPhone's "locked" handset model -- available only through AT&T (T). In contrast, Google has championed an "open" model, not only by basing Android on open-source technology, but also in its successful effort to open up the 700Mhz wireless spectrum auctioned off by the F.C.C."
This is so wrong. Google is aligning with Apple in a loose WebKit alliance supporting webstandards, against MS and proprietary ones. You do realize that Android and Chrome are built on WebKit. Adobe Air is also built on WebKit. Nokia's S60 is also built on WebKit. Safari is also built on WebKit. Guess who makes WebKit?
Yep, you guessed it, Apple. Apple makes the rendering engine, powering all of those browsers and browser-based Apps. Apple released WebKit back to the open-source community.
Don't Close the Line on Nokia Just Yet
Like write a piece on emerging smartphone trends, and then in 6 months when your points come true, then you can pat yourself on the back, and link to what you had written previously. Then you look smart.
Then you said, "The problem is that companies like Apple and RIM are selling their phones at break-even prices for the shear purpose of snatching market share from Nokia, which announced that it would not stoop to their level." Where is the evidence that Apple and RIM are selling their phones at "break-even prices"? Have you looked at their margins? Nokia didn't mention any companies by name, and the odd thing is that Nokia is the company that has been gaining market share by flooding developing markets with low prices. Besides, what I've heard is the Nokia comments were referring to Sony Ericcson, not Apple or RIM.
Then you said, "This aggressive approach from its competitors cannot last long and is purely a marketing scheme that will end." Please explain. How do you know that this is a marketing scheme that will not last long, if you don't even know who Nokia are talking about? We KNOW that Apple can't be the one, since they are making great margins on their product, so they can continue ad nauseum. I don't think anyone following RIM thinks their company is selling product at "break-even" so tell us, who is?
Then you said ,"Nokia’s new Symbian operating system is on par with the iPhone and Android, and will be able to compete with the best of them." How do you know Symbian is on par with OS X and Android? You do realize that Symbian is NOT "new". And, if Symbian were so great, why then, did they use Linux in their handheld device the N800 and N810? One would think that it would be an ideal platform for the power of Symbian if it were "on par" with OS X or Android.
Now, I can't say whether Nokia is a good buy or not, superficially it looks good to me, but your above reasoning for doing so, is sorely lacking in due diligence.
Are Global Smartphone Sales Poised For Takeoff?
Right now, we have a large category of phone called smartphones, but we need to start segmenting it. Just because a phone has a smart OS, does not mean people are actually using it much for anything beyond what a feature phone offers. I would say there are at least 2 segments: email phones and internet phones in the smartphone category. Email phones are the vast majority of Nokias and Blackberries. The sales of email phones may be slowing from the fast growth in the last couple of years. The other segment are true internet phones, like the iPhone and its copies, like Android. This is the hot segment where sales are growing quickly, and why everyone is trying to offer something in this segment.
The only way to truly measure share in this internet phone segment of the smartphone category is to look at internet usage. I mean, if you have a smartphone with web access but never use it for the web because it's so horrible, is it really an internet phone, or just an email phone? If you look at mobile internet usage, then the iPhone dominates already, and the rate of growth of mobile internet use is growing rapidly.
The bottom line, is that we need to segment the smartphone category because it makes sense, as there is a difference pre and post-iPhone.
As someone mentioned above, internet phones are replacements for a computer in many developing countries. I know, as I have a home in China. Everyone seems to have a cellphone, or at least half the 1.3Billion people do. Very few people have computers. DSL connections are lousy and slow. In fact, cell connections are more reliable. EDGE is fantastic, even in the countryside. 1/4 of the cellphone sales in China cost more than 500USD. They don't subsidize cells over there. Having an internet device that you can carry in your pocket is far more appealing in developing countries like China, than the idea of a laptop or desktop.
The Wireless Application Marketplace: Apple, Google, Microsoft and RIMM
I suppose a Google App Store will help sell Android-based phones, but still, a plethora of devices where some apps work on some phones, better than on other phones, is confusing to the customer. Look at MS and Nokia and Palm's efforts so far.
Nokia Gets No Respect Against Apple, RIM