As the world champion New York Giants fought to hold New England scoreless in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVI, another battle was raging off the field — Samsung’s string of anti-Apple commercials culminated with a 90-second TV advertisement that cost the South Korea-based vendor more than $10 million for the airtime alone. Following a series of ads that depict Samsung smartphones as the cool alternative to Apple’s iPhone, Samsung’s new commercial showcases the vendor’s new supersized Galaxy Note, due to launch later this month on AT&T. In this latest spot, a dreary scene of iPhone fans waiting in line for the launch of Apple’s latest handset erupts into a massive block party when Samsung Galaxy Notes begin falling from the sky to the tune of The Darkness’s 2003 single, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” The full 90-second commercial can be viewed below.

Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the United States last quarter according to new data released on Monday. A new report from market research firm The NPD Group suggests that the three best-selling smartphones in America last quarter were all iPhones. Apple’s new iPhone 4S was deemed the top-selling smartphone this past holiday quarter, followed by the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS, which is now free on contract from AT&T. Two versions of Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone rounded out the top-5. Read on for more.

“Attracted by a faster processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making it the top-selling handset in Q4,” NPD analyst Ross Rubin said in a statement. “The iPhone 4S outsold the iPhone 4 by 75 percent, and outsold the iPhone 3GS, available for free on AT&T, five to one.” Apple reported last month that it sold more than 37 million iPhones into channels last quarter.

While Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the U.S. last quarter, Android maintained its operating system share lead according to NPD’s data. 48% of smartphone buyers opted for an Android device during the holiday quarter, while 43% chose iOS. The discrepancy was even greater among first-time smartphone buyers — 57% chose an Android device compared to an estimated 34% who chose an iPhone.

“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” Rubin noted. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.” The NPD Group’s full press release follows below.

The NPD Group: Apple Leads Mobile Handsets in Q4 2011, But Android Attracts More First-Time Smartphone Buyers

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, February 6, 2012 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, Apple leaped past Samsung and LG to become the best-selling U.S. handset brand in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011. In a quarter that featured the launch of the iPhone 4S and the addition of Sprint, Apple’s three available models combined to capture 43 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in Q4.

“Attracted by a faster processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making it the top-selling handset in Q4,” said Ross Rubin, executive director, Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group. “The iPhone 4S outsold the iPhone 4 by 75 percent, and outsold the iPhone 3GS, available for free on AT&T, five to one.”

Together, Android and iPhone accounted for over 90 percent of smartphone sales, with Android holding on to 48 percent of the smartphone market during the quarter; however, Android devices performed better among first-time smartphone buyers.  Based on the latest data from The NPD Group’s monthly Smartphone Track service, among the first-time smartphone buyers in Q4, 57 percent purchased Android phones compared to just 34 percent who purchased iPhones.

“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” Rubin said. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”

The overall share of mobile phone sales that are smartphones continued to climb in Q4 2011, reaching 68 percent of the total mobile phone market, which is an increase of 18 percentage points since Q4 2010. Based on the latest data from NPD’s monthly Mobile Phone Track service, average selling prices for smartphones increased eight dollars over the prior quarter, reaching $143 in Q4 2011, which is still below average price of $149 in Q4 2010. Led by continued steady sales for Apple’s iPhones, the top five best-selling mobile phone handsets in Q4 were as follows:

1. Apple iPhone 4S

2. Apple iPhone 4

3. Apple iPhone 3GS

4. Samsung GALAXY S II

5. Samsung GALAXY S 4G

Information this press release is from Mobile Phone Track and Smartphone Track, both of which report on the activities of U.S. consumers, age 18 and older, who reported purchasing a mobile phone or smartphone. NPD does not track corporate/enterprise mobile phone purchases.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of January 30th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany: week of January 30th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Industry watchers agree that smartphone sales will continue to balloon in 2012, but much of the projected growth will seemingly be enjoyed by just two companies. In a report to clients earlier this week, UBS analyst Maynard Um lowered his full-year unit sales projections for cell phones to 1.69 billion from his earlier estimate of 1.7 billion units. At the same time, however, he raised his industry revenue estimates to $242.8 billion from $238.8 billion thanks in large part to a huge year projected for both Apple and Samsung. Read on for more.

Um believes Apple and Samsung will combine to account for more than half of smartphone industry revenues in 2012. Each firm recently reported a moster holiday quarter — Samsung managed a company record in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011 while Apple posted the most profitable quarter in history among technology companies — and momentum is not expected to slow.

More telling than Um’s revenue predictions, however, are his profit estimates. The analyst believes Samsung and Apple will combine to record 90% of the smartphone industry’s pre-tax profits in 2012.

“Smartphones continue to grow strongly, now accounting for over 30% of total volumes and over 75% of total industry revenues,” the analyst wrote. “However, the performance disparity between the stronger players – Apple and Samsung – vs. the others remains stark and these two now account for over 55% of industry revenues and over 90% of total EBIT.”

Samsung has a number of exciting launches planned for the first half including a new Galaxy tablet with a high-resolution display and the quad-core Galaxy S III, Samsung’s sequel to the smartphone that drove much of its mobile profit in 2011. Apple is then expected to launch its next-generation iPhone over the summer or this coming fall.

Continue reading Canalys: More smartphones than PCs shipped in 2011

Canalys: More smartphones than PCs shipped in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Though Hewlett-Packard was unable to produce webOS devices that consumers were interested in buying — at a positive margin, at least — CEO Meg Whitman still thinks the beleaguered platform has legs. After unsuccessfully trying to sell or license webOS, HP decided late last year to donate its $1.2 billion platform to the open source community. The firm still plans to launch new webOS devices in the future, however, and Meg Whitman explained HP’s position while speaking with CRN. Read on for more.

“There is a clear vision of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Whitman said in an interview. “There will be some people who will not love that vision, and then there are people who are very excited about this vision, and what it can mean for an alternative, open-source operating system that has some real strengths to it.”

Despite the overwhelming failure of the TouchPad — HP discontinued the slate a mere two months after it launched — the CEO stressed the fact that HP is not done with tablets. WebOS is seemingly no longer a part of HP’s core tablet strategy, however, having been replaced by Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 platform.

“We have to have a tablet offering,” Whitman said. “We will be back in that business. We’re coming back into the market with a Windows 8 tablet, first on an x86 chip and then maybe on an ARM chip.” She also stated that security would be HP’s “sweet spot,” noting that security on tablets is a big concern for small, medium-sized and large businesses. WebOS will still play a role at HP it seems, though it remains unclear what exactly that role will be.

When asked if Whitman was concerned that a number of high-level executives formerly on the webOS team were fleeing, the executive was optimistic. “We’re going to build a new business together,” she told CRN. ”We’re going to build another operating system that has huge advantages, in my view, over iOS, which is a closed system, [and] Android, which is incredibly fragmented and may ultimately be more closed with [Google's] acquisition of Motorola Mobility.”

Whether or not being more open than iOS and less fragmented than Android will translate into webOS device sales remains to be seen.

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Sales of Apple’s iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G resumed on Friday after a permanent injunction had gone into effect early Friday morning. ”All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly” an Apple spokesperson told SlashGear in a statement. “Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.” Apple’s iOS devices with embedded 3G were deemed to being infringing on a Motorola patent this past December. A judge ordered an injunction at that time that went into effect on Friday, forcing Apple to remove the infringing devices from its German website. Motorola filed a separate complaint against Apple’s new iPhone 4S last month.

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Apple’s aggressive litigation strategy against Android vendors over the past year has seen precious little return considering the huge investment it reportedly requires, and on Friday things took another turn south for the Cupertino, California-based technology giant. A court in Germany has issued a permanent injunction against the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G, upholding a ruling issued in December. Online sales of the phones have been banned in the country, and Apple has removed the devices from its German website. All iPhone models and iPad 2 models are still available for sale at local retailers, FOSS Patents reports. The ban is the result of a patent complaint filed against Apple by Motorola Mobility in Germany, claiming Apple’s iOS devices with embedded 3G connectivity infringe a Motorola patent related to UMTS technology. Late last month, Motorola filed a new complaint in Germany targeting Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S.

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Future versions of Apple’s iOS operating system may incorporate new fitness sharing technology, according to a patent uncovered by AppleInsider. The new technology will encourage users to be more competitive by allowing them to share and compare their performance in real-time with other users around the world. The patent, which was filed only three months ago, builds upon the functionality of the Nike+ iPod system, which allows a user to complete his or her workout and then upload and share the results with others. Apple’s solution, however, would allow users to share live data with other iOS users. Read on for more.

Apple described the technology with an example of two runners who are working out on treadmills that feed real-time stats to their iOS devices. The two runners are then able to view one another’s current pace, distance, calories burned, heart rate, blood pressure and even blood oxygen levels.

“These treadmills may be located in the same building, or they may be located in different buildings, in different cities, or even in different continents,” Apple said in the filing. “In this example, media on one media player can be shared between the two treadmills. Also, data from both treadmills can be displayed on each treadmill, thus showing the users their respective standings in the competition.”

Interestingly enough, the patent does not reference the existing Nike+ technology, which may suggest that the company is planning to distance itself from the Oregon-based sportswear giant.

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