200k apps (IV)

The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 200,000 apps on Apple’s App Store proves that Flash isn’t necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games.

via Thoughts on Flash.

How about that! On February 2nd from your correspondent: 200k Apps by May 1.

Including apps that have been removed, the total apps approved is about a quarter million. 200k available apps crossed over on March 23.

RIM now ranked 4th, Apple 6th in phone market shares

First quarter market share ranking of top mobile phone vendors according to Strategy Analytics:

1. Nokia, 107.8 million
2. Samsung, 64.3
3. LG, 27.1
4. RIM, 10.6
5. Sony Ericsson, 10.5
6. Apple 8.75
7. Motorola, 8.5

These numbers are shipments or sell-in, which may differ from sell-through or end-user purchases.

RIM breaks into top 5 in surging phone market | Reuters.

HP on Windows Mobile/Phone

Will webOS replace Windows on all of your smartphones?

Microsoft will continue and will always be a huge strategic partner for Hewlett-Packard. Our focus is to create choice for customers around those products and services that will allow them to connect to the information they need as quickly and as safely as they can.

via HP Gets Its Hands on Palm – BusinessWeek.

Sounds like a definite non-answer.  My bet is that they have not decided but that when they will decide it will be to show Microsoft the door.

Smartphone shipments grow 50 percent in Q1

Strategy Analytics said 54 million smartphones were shipped in the quarter, comprising 18 percent of the total handset market.

• Apple’s share reached 16.4%, up from 10.6% a year ago while maintaining an ASP of €445.
• Nokia raised its share to 40% from 38.2% on an ASP of €155.
• RIM slipped to 19.7% from 20.3%.

via Smartphone Q1 shipments up 50 pct y/y -survey | Reuters.

Apple overtakes Motorola in phone market share

However, it has lost its position as the largest U.S. maker of phones to Apple Inc. Motorola sold a total of 8.5 million phones in the quarter, while Apple sold 8.8 million iPhones. Four years ago, when the Razr was still popular, Motorola sold 46.1 million phones in the first quarter.

via Motorola posts profit, strong sales; stock jumps – Yahoo! Finance.

A year ago, Motorola sold 14.7 million phones in the fourth quarter (a y/y drop in unit volume of 42%). The drop in phone revenue in the same period was 9 percent.

41 million BlackBerry users

“Officials at the WES 2010 keynote said that RIM has redesigned all of the core applications within the BlackBerry operating system. It also revealed that there are 41 million BlackBerry users, and 90 million BlackBerrys have been sold to date.”

Apple already announced that they see 100 million iPhone OS devices sold by this summer. The installed base for iPhone OS devices is likely to be much greater than 40 million since most of the 85 million devices sold as of today were purchased less than 2 years ago. With the iPad and the iPod broadening the portfolio, the Apple mobile platform will grow more rapidly than RIM’s leading to increasing network effects.

HP WebOS tablets, netbooks

“During a conference call about HP’s acquisition of Palm Wednesday, Todd Bradley, executive VP of HP’s Personal Systems Group, said that there are “a lot of opportunities” with the purchase. Namely, he said, HP could use the WebOS mobile operating system as a touchscreen interface for new hardware such as a tablet or netbook.

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein and Brian Humphries, HP’s senior VP of Strategy and Corporate Development revealed that HP plans to “double down on WebOS,” which is considered the “prized asset” of the acquisition. The two reportedly mentioned the scalability of WebOS, implying that HP plans to bring the platform to multiple hardware form factors. HP even said it has already tested WebOS for its scalability.”

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/28/hps_purchase_of_palm_could_lead_to_webos_tablets_netbooks.html

Oh, and someone from HP also said they will still do business with Microsoft.

Let’s see…HP is adding its own mobile OS, HTC was hunting for its own mobile OS but is living on skinning, Palm made its own mobile OS and managed to escape oblivion, Samsung launched its own mobile OS, Apple has its own mobile OS, RIM has its own mobile OS and bought the kernel of another, Microsoft has its own mobile OS–really more than one, Nokia has its own mobile OS(s), and Google has its own mobile OS (plus Chrome). Chances are that Amazon is building its own OS as well.

Only Microsoft and Google are still betting that licensing is going to be the way forward but each is hedging its bets: Microsoft with Kin and Google with Nexus One.

Can anyone seriously suggest that the mobile computing industry is rapidly moving toward horizontal modularity or even consolidating like the Operators are hoping?

Before you answer, consider also other horizontal players that are no longer with us: PalmSource, Symbian (and, give it a year, Windows Mobile).

Music is a $17 billion business

IFPI said that global sales of music dropped 7.2% to $17 billion for all of 2009. Late last week, Apple reported $13.5 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the year.

Why does anybody still care about music as a business?

HTC to pay Microsoft for Android

While Apple’s patent lawsuit against HTC remains ongoing, the Taiwanese handset maker has reached a licensing agreement with Microsoft to avoid another lawsuit over its Android-powered handsets.

AppleInsider | Microsoft believes Android infringes on patents, HTC strikes deal

Who says Android is “free”?

Palm’s Warning prior to HP’s Acquisition

Buried in the news that HP is buying Palm is an updated lower guidance for the fourth quarter, otherwise known as a warning.

The Company expects revenues for its fourth fiscal quarter to be in the range of approximately $90 million to $100 million on a GAAP (1) and a non-GAAP basis. Revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter are being impacted by slow sales of the Company’s products, which has resulted in low order volumes from carriers. Palm also expects to close its fourth fiscal quarter with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance between $350 million and $400 million.

$90 million in revenues for an average ASP of $300 would put unit sales at 300,000 for the quarter. RIM just sold 10.4 million devices, Apple sold 8.75 million. 300k is just an astonishingly small number.

HP’s Palm play

This deal is not about keeping a smartphone brand alive but about keeping HP alive.

The days of standalone phone companies or standalone computer companies are coming to an end.

Elevation Partners Squeezes Tiny Profit From Palm Investment – Deal Journal -WSJ.

iPhone OS download rate 10X Blackberry

Today, Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie said his BlackBerry App World has 20 million registered users and nearly 1 million daily app downloads.

via Apple Doing 10-20X As Many App Downloads A Day As BlackBerry.

As previously stated, The App download rate increased to a record 10,753,000 per day during the last 90 days.  That makes the download rate for the iPhone platform 10x that of the Blackberry Platform.  The iPhone platform is nearing 100 million installed base.  Blackberry is citing 20 million registered users.  I think everyone is pretty clear on where this is going.

Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War – PowerPoint

Like an insurgency, PowerPoint has crept into the daily lives of military commanders and reached the level of near obsession. The amount of time expended on PowerPoint… has made it a running joke in the Pentagon and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

via Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War – PowerPoint – NYTimes.com.

Reminds me of PowerPoint Palace.  ”It’s dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control.”

But what’s the alternative?  Writing complete sentences?  Does anyone compose those anymore?  Does anyone read anymore?

Nexus One coming to Vodafone not Verizon

“We wont be selling a Nexus One with Verizon and this is a reflection of the amazing innovation happening across the open Android ecosystem,” Google said in an emailed statement.

via UPDATE 1-Google smartphone coming to stores, no Verizon| Reuters.

Come again?

The breakdown of the deal signals Verizon may view Google as a competitor rather than a partner when it comes to Nexus One sales, which are probably at less than half a million since the phone’s January debut, said BGC Partners’s Colin Gillis. ‘It’s really a flop for Google,’ said the New York-based analyst.”

See also: Bloomberg.

Android Market passes 50k apps

Android has already crossed the 50,000 app mark, new stats from AndroLib show. Just a week after Google officially confirmed the 38,000 app mark, a raw estimate now says the mobile app store has added 10,000 more apps within at least a few weeks.

via Android Market passes 50,000 apps | Electronista.

The AppShopper iTunes app store spider shows the following totals today:

• Total Apps Approved: 222431
• Total Available Apps: 191465
• Total Available iPhone Apps: 188005
• Total Available iPad Apps: 4902