iPhone for Spain; PA Semi; Mac share; mobile phone sales fall
iPhone for Spain
Speaking at the Professional Communications Congress at the University of Zaragoza this month, Telefonica Movistar's Francisco José Santos Esteras said his firm has ">reached an agreement
Movistar, which serves over 22 million customers in Spain and parts of Latin America, will have a temporary exclusive on sales of the next-generation Apple handset in country lasting between three and six months, Esteras said.
On PA Semi
Apple will reportedly maintain support for PA Semi's line of PowerPC-based processors following pressure from the chipmaker's government customers.
"PA Semi's staff has started notifying a limited set of customers that the company's existing dual-core processor will enjoy long-term support," the Register is reporting. "Apple will employ a number of old PA Semi staffers just for this task, which is good news for folks making missiles, mine-sweeping gear and storage boxes."
Prior to its $278 million acquisition by Apple last month, PA Semi's primary business was in the supply of microchips for customers such as the US Department of Defense. In particular, its PWRficient processor was said to have been employed at various levels across every branch of the US armed forces.
Given that Apple's motivation behind the purchase was to obtain the chipmaker's general expertise rather than its portfolio, it was speculated that the DoD would eventually step in to assure that the deal would not disrupt the flow of parts for its defense systems.
Apple's 66 percent premium retail share
Apple's overall share of the US PC retail market during the first three months of 2008 was about 14 percent, according to recent NPD data cited by Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox. However, when filtering that data based on computers costing more than $1,000, Apple's share skyrockets to 66 percent.
"iMacs are growing and the Windows desktop ain't. No matter how you look at it, Apple is outperforming Windows," a representative for NPD told the analyst.
Mobile phone sales fall in Q1
Meanwhile, the latest Mobile Phone Track data released by NPD indicates that mobile phone handset sales to consumers in the U.S. reached nearly 31 million units in the first quarter of 2008, which is a 22 percent decline since the same period a year ago.
"For the first time since NPD has tracked handset sales, we've noted a decline in sales during the first quarter after the holidays," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis. Cellular phone service has become a practical necessity in modern life; however, with looming economic concerns on the horizon, many consumers may be holding back on new handset purchases, especially those tied to new pre-paid plans."
Among handset manufacturers, Motorola maintained its lead in the U.S. market during the first quarter; however, its share of unit-sales declined from 35 percent in Q1 2007 to 27 percent this year. In addition, RIM Blackberry improved its ranking, edging out Sanyo as the fifth largest mobile phone manufacturer with a 5 percent share based on the number of handsets sold in the U.S. in Q1 2008.
Apple does not yet rank in the top five US handset vendors.
62 Comments
good news iphone coming to spain !!! bad news i have a contract with vodafone
"iMacs are growing and the Windows desktop ain't. No matter how you look at it, Apple is outperforming Windows," a representative for NPD told the analyst.
You know, this sounds great... but what does it mean, really? How many more quarters, years, decades or centuries does Apple need to outperform Windows to finally catch up with the gazillion Windows operated computers on earth?
You know, this sounds great... but what does it mean, really? How many more quarters, years, decades or centuries does Apple need to outperform Windows to finally catch up with the gazillion Windows operated computers on earth?
And why do they need to catch up to anybody, do you expect Apple to one day sell more computers than all those companies who sell Windows machines, it's damn near impossible and I think even Apple themselves know this. There is a reason companies like Apple exist so that we have a choice and can move when we get sick of what everybody else is using and the problems overwhelm us too much. I'm glad Apple is here to offer me a choice.
Perhaps this is the subtle MacMini statistic people have been looking for...
If total Mac market share in the $1000 PC + market is so high yet the total market is still only at 14%, it shows that A) there is huge demand for sub-$1000 PCs and B) Apple's MacMini isn't meeting those demands. I realize it may mean tighter margins, but Apple should compete a little tougher with the Mac Mini to capture more of the market.
If they cared about the MacMini as much as the iPod Mini/Nano, it too would be the most popular unit in its class. Unfortunately, they leave it to suffer in technological abandoment. The current MacMini should be in a computer museum... not the shelves of - supposedly - the most technologically advanced technology company in the world.
-Clive
You know, this sounds great... but what does it mean, really? How many more quarters, years, decades or centuries does Apple need to outperform Windows to finally catch up with the gazillion Windows operated computers on earth?
I don't understand why the focus is always on the OS and not the HW. Even if Apple took Dell's marketshare as the #1 US PC vendor it still wouldn't have a majority share of the OS market over Windows. We should be looking at the HW sales compared to other HW vendors.
Perhaps this is the MacMini statistics people have been looking for...
If total Mac market share in the $1000 PC + market is so high yet the total market is still only at 14%, it shows that there is huge demand for sub-$1000 PCs. Perhaps Apple should compete a little tougher with the Mac Mini to capture more of the market.
If they cared about the MacMini as much as the iPod Mini/Nano, it too would be the most popular unit in its class. Unfortunately, they leave it to suffer in technological abandoment. The current MacMini should be in a computer museum... not the shelves of - supposedly - the most technologically advanced technology company in the world.
I'm not following, Clive. If Apple lead is more than 4x higher with $1000 plus machines that would mean that the Mac Mini isn't a great seller compared to other similarly priced machines or the rest of the Mac line.