The race among smartphone manufacturers is not limited only on developing hardware, it is also happening in software development. The two ...
The race among smartphone manufacturers is not limited only on developing hardware, it is also happening in software development. The two biggest application stores for users are Google Play (for Android users) and App Store (for Ios users). Google Play (previously known as the Android Market) is an international online store where users can download all kind of applications which are developed by Google for any devices that run Android. It was introduced in October 2008. According to a survey conducted in 2014 has shown that approximately 1.3+ million apps have been made for this operating system, and 40 billion applications were said to be downloaded from Google Play (Steve 2014). The later, App Store is a digital distribution 10 platform for mobile apps on iOS, developed and maintained by Apple Inc. In June 2015, Apple announced there have been over 100 billion apps downloaded from the App Store. Users can download almost anything from these stores, from entertainment applications to health care apps.
People can check their blood pressures, track their phones, and monitor their houses from distance with just one click. “Your smartphone ought to be smarter,” Aparna Chennapragada - Google director said when he was trying to demonstrate one of many new features on-stage at the developer’s conference hosted in San Francisco. The popularity of mobile apps has continued to rise, since they are used by more and more people. A study reported conducted on May by comScore has proved that during the first quarter of 2012, more mobile users used apps (51.1%) than surfed websites on their devices (49.8%). According to market research firm Gartner, 102 billion apps will be downloaded by 2013. Even though 91% of them will be free but they will still generate US$26 billion, increase 44.4% from US$18 billion in 2012. Estimated by an analysist has shown that the app economy makes profit of more than €10 billion per year just in the European Union, fortunately 529,000 jobs will be created throughout all 28 states of European Union thanks to the growth of the app market. 3.2 Competition between smartphone brands There is no doubt that smartphone brands are forced to compete. As a matter of fact, the competition is much more fiercely than anyone could imagine. We are talking about a full scale running contest here. This chapter will mostly mention four most popular sections that brands are using: Price, Design, Operating System and Patents. 3.2.1 Price A year ago, the marketing departments of almost all the leading brands of Android smart phone is busy with making multicore processors, GB RAM and growing number of megapixel. In the race to get the specification sheet prices have easily crossed $600 - and even $750.
However, the game is now changing. The battle for the best specifications has become an all-out price war 11 while the manufacturers are trying to figure out the next “killer” feature, now, at relatively speaking, price under bargain. Smartphone brands of Micromax and Karbonn from India are the first brands to realize that competing on price is the key to success in the country (Parab 2014). Nearly two-thirds of the smartphone market are priced below $150 segment by IDC. International brands jump on the bandwagon of this, and the equipment of the most successful Nokia Windows Phone - Lumia 520 - launched just over $150. In the past 12 months, although Motorola still leading with Moto E and G smartphone thank to its affordable price, followed by Asus with ZenFone ZenFone 4 and 5 - but there is even cheaper one – which is the "Chinese Apple "Xiaomi has entered the war with Mi 3 smartphone, which has specifications comparable Flagships from Samsung, Sony, and HTC, but it is available in nearly a third of the price. Karan Thakkar, senior market analyst - Tablets, Enterprise Equipment Clients and computer screens of IDC, told NDTV Gadgets via email that the smartphone brand of India has forced global players consider their prices again. In 2015, the low end of the smartphone market worldwide is getting even more competitive. On 28 July 2015, Lenovo owns Motorola has announced three new devices: the Moto G, Moto X Moto X Play and Style. Moto G starting price is $ 179 without a contract. The Company will disclose the price of the two models Moto X in the coming weeks, according to The Associated Press. And yesterday, the phone manufacturer China Oneplus introduced its latest device, the Oneplus 2, with a price tag starting at $ 329 without a contract for two years. "Increased competition is something not to be missed", Dan Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, told CNBC. "That being said, it's going to be very difficult for these lower-end competitors to really move the needle for the likes Apple and Samsung," Ives added. "Their market share is iron clad in terms of their base." 12 It is clearly not safe for high-end brands for Samsung and Apple. Samsung is facing many threats in the high–end smartphone market. The company released its high-end Galaxy S5 smartphone in April last year. But the Galaxy S5 didn’t succeed as much as analysts had expected. In the UK, The Galaxy S5 ended up being the third-highest-selling, after iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C even those two were released in September the previous year. The situation wasn’t too different in the U.S, according to a report conducted by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Galaxy S5 was the second best-selling device. The leading smartphone in this area is still iPhone 5S.
No comments