Telecom

Smartphone Market Face Challenges Despite 5 Chinese Vendors Top Table

Published

8 years ago

May 2, 2016

Kindly share this post

According to the latest preliminary release from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 334.9 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16), up slightly from the 334.3 million units in 1Q15, marking the smallest year-over-year growth on record.

The minimal growth this quarter is primarily attributed to strong smartphone saturation in developed markets, as well as a year-over-year decline from both Apple and Samsung, the two market leaders.

The biggest change to the market, however, was the addition of lesser-known Chinese brands OPPO and vivo, which pushed out previous fourth and fifth place players Lenovo and Xiaomi, respectively.

As the China market matures, the appetite for smartphones has slowed dramatically as the explosion of uptake has passed its peak.

In 2013, China’s year-over-year shipment growth was 62.5%; by 2015, it had dropped to 2.5%. Conversely, the average selling price (ASP) for a smartphone in China rose from US$207 in 2013 to US$257 in 2015.

“Along China’s maturing smartphone adoption curve, the companies most aligned with growth are those with products serving increasingly sophisticated consumers. Lenovo benefited with ASPs below US$150 in 2013, and Xiaomi picked up the mantle with ASPs below US$200 in 2014 and 2015. Now Huawei, OPPO, and vivo, which play mainly in the sub-US$250 range, are positioned for a strong 2016,” said Melissa Chau, senior research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

“These new vendors would be well-advised not to rest on their laurels though, as this dynamic smartphone landscape has shown to even cult brands like Xiaomi that customer loyalty is difficult to consistently maintain.”

“Outside of China, many of these brands are virtually unknown and the ability of these rapidly growing Chinese vendors to gain entry into mature markets such as the United States and Western Europe will be essential if they have aspirations of catching Apple or Samsung at the top,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team. “Huawei has proven that it can sell increasingly premium devices.

In China, Huawei is already recognized as a premium brand, but it is now going toe-to-toe on build quality with premium devices like the Nexus 6P that are available worldwide.

While Huawei is furthest along in terms of international recognition, selling equally impressive volumes outside of China remains a challenge for many of these brands, whether it is Xiaomi, Lenovo, OPPO, or vivo. Their ability to drive local growth no longer applies when it comes to international expansion, where premium branding quickly turns to price competition.”

Smartphone Vendor Highlights:
Samsung remained the leader in the worldwide smartphone market despite a year-over-year decline of 0.6% in shipments. Despite the slight decline, the new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge sold vigorously in the month of March and was helped by numerous enticing carrier promotions to help push volume.

The S7 also brought the reintroduction of a microSD card slot in combination with waterproofing, which looks to have paid off for the Korean giant as early sales look healthy.

Within emerging markets, Samsung has performed well with its more affordable J-series as it looks to capture both budget conscious consumers and first-time buyers.

Apple’s saw its’ first-ever year-over-year decline in the first quarter as volumes slipped to 51.2 million units, down 16.3% from last year. Despite the plethora of new features found on the newer “S” models, current iPhone 6/6 Plus owners may feel that a 6S upgrade may not be warranted at the moment. Apple also announced the new iPhone SE, which looks to challenge similarly priced Android options in numerous emerging markets where Apple has traditionally been seen as too expensive.

The SE features all the power of the 6S in a compact form factor that looks to equally target those who desire smaller phones as well. However, at US$399, the SE still faces equally powerful lower-priced devices from competitors, particularly within India and China.

As Apple CEO Cook mentioned on the company’s earnings call, the SE will begin having an impact on iPhone shipments in the second quarter of 2016.

Huawei’s continued domestic dominance, combined with a growing presence outside of China, enabled it to capture the number 3 position worldwide in 1Q16.

Shipment volume for Huawei climbed from 17.4 million units in 1Q15 to 27.5 million this quarter for year-over-year growth of 58.4%. Huawei’s two-pronged approach with a focus on both premium and entry-level devices proved successful in China as well as in many developed European markets.

The recent launch of the P9 smartphone featuring Leica optics provided an additional weapon with which to combat Apple and Samsung. Premium devices like the P9, Mate Series, and Nexus 6, along with entry level devices from its Honor brand, should help Huawei gain further traction worldwide.

OPPO has been shipping smartphones since 2011 and while its primary focus is domestic, it has been shipping internationally since 2012.

Landing first in Thailand, then expanding throughout Southeast Asia and more recently to other countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, OPPO’s focus is on fostering channel partnerships, supplemented with large marketing budgets and entertainment sponsorships to increase visibility, culminating in almost 20% of shipments going outside of China in 2015. OPPO’s expansion in China itself has been via offline channels and a strong push to lower-tier cities. In 1Q16, OPPO’s 18.5 million shipments represented 153.2% year-over-year growth, the strongest among the top 5.

Vivo has also shipped smartphones since 2011, but unlike OPPO has been more focused on domestic markets. It first tested the global marketplace in Southeast Asia and India in 2014.

In 2015, less than 10% of its shipments were outside of China. Positioned as a relatively premium product in China, one of its best-selling flagship products, the X5Pro, is also among the most expensive, priced around US$300. Similar to OPPO, vivo’s retail presence and marketing in lower-tier markets is particularly strong and a key factor to its growth.

The vivo brand is also slightly differentiated by its focus on audio. With 14.3 million units shipped in 1Q16, and 123.8% year-over-year growth, vivo remains in tight competition with the other top 10 players.

Kindly share this post

Telecom

Airtel Hosts Interactive Knowledge Session for Secondary School Girls

Published

17 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Chike Onwuegbuchi

Kindly share this post

As part of its commitment to empowering and mentoring women to become global leaders while breaking stereotypes and closing gender gaps, the Airtel Women Network, a platform comprising female employees of Airtel Nigeria, welcomed girls from Airtel’s adopted school, Alaba Oro Comprehensive Senior High School, Ajegunle, to commemorate International Day of Girls in ICT on Monday.

Led by the telco’s IT Director, Kemi Ariyo, the session emphasized the need for the rise of influential female role models in driving progress within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. It also served as an avenue to inspire young girls about the vast opportunities within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field.

During the session, Ogo Ofomata, Director of Enterprise and Airtel Business and President of the Airtel Women Network, shared insights on the significance of the 2024 commemoration with the students.

“Leadership entails leading yourself to do the things you have to do. With regard to the theme of this year’s International Girls in ICT Day, which is Leadership, our goal is to empower young girls and women to become programmers, coders, designers and to pursue careers in the ICT sector, ultimately becoming leaders in the IT sector,” she said.

The highlight of the event was a thought-provoking session led by Kemi Ariyo, IT Director at Airtel Nigeria, emphasizing the importance of technological knowledge in addressing various global challenges.

In her words, “The world revolves around technology and everything we do today has to do with technology. You can get into that space by adopting hard work, smart work, and an active involvement in internship programs. In addition, just as technology can be used in music and other sectors, learning technology can help you achieve your goals of problem- solving in this digital age.”

Also speaking at the event, Phanindra Nichanametla, Chief Financial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, restated Airtel’s tagline ‘A Reason to Imagine’, reassuring the students of Airtel’s commitment to encouraging positive imagination. “A very important note to take home from this event is that Airtel is here to change your imagination and give you opportunities to imagine more,” he said.

Airtel remains committed to promoting initiatives that promote gender equality and diversity in the workplace. By investing in the education and empowerment of young girls in ICT, Airtel Nigeria continues to pave the way for a more inclusive and prosperous future in the world of technology.

Kindly share this post

Telecom

Mastercard Women SME Leaders Awards to celebrate success of women business leaders in EEMEA region

Published

17 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Ugo Onwuaso

Kindly share this post

Mastercard announces the return of Women SME Leaders Awards for its third edition, shining a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of women-owned and led businesses across Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA).

Black and white portraits of different people

Nominations are now open for the awards, inviting entries from women-owned and operated SMEs with a turnover of less than US$13.6 million (AED50 million) and a workforce of six to 50 employees. All women executives or business owners who have their headquarters or offices in EEMEA or offer their services to these markets can submit their nominations by 20 May 2024*.

“Women-owned and led businesses are vital contributors to the global economy, fostering economic growth and stability. By empowering women entrepreneurs and business leaders, we unlock the boundless potential they have and drive inclusive prosperity. The Mastercard Women SME Leaders Awards aim to recognize and celebrate their remarkable contributions,” said Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development, EEMEA for Mastercard.

Winners will be announced on 6 June 2024, during an in-person event in Dubai, emphasizing Mastercard’s commitment to fostering connections and collaboration among women business leaders in the region.

The awards will feature 15 categories*, ranging from creative leadership to social impact and a lifetime achievement award. Shortlisted candidates will be evaluated by an esteemed judging committee of industry leaders dedicated to recognizing excellence and innovation in women-owned and led businesses.

Launched in 2022 to uplift female entrepreneurs and business leaders, these awards serve as a platform to honor and elevate women who are forging the path for future generations of business leaders in the region. Building upon the success of previous editions, this year’s event promises to extend its reach and recognition to even more exceptional women leaders.

Aligned with Mastercard’s global initiative to connect 25 million women entrepreneurs to the digital economy by 2025, these awards underscore the company’s dedication to building a more sustainable and inclusive world even though this global goal was achieved by Mastercard last year, two years before the target date.

With last year’s awards attracting over 4,500 nominations from across EEMEA, this year promises to be even more impactful, amplifying the voices and accomplishments of women leaders in business.

Kindly share this post

Telecom

Infobip, Nokia Partner to Enable Developers to Build Wider Array of Telco Network Powered Applications Faster

Published

17 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Ugo Onwuaso

Kindly share this post

Infobip, the global cloud communications platform, and Nokia today announced a partnering agreement that will enable the global developer community to leverage both companies’ Application Programmable Interface (API) platforms in order to build a wider array of telco network powered applications faster for consumer, enterprise, and industrial customers.

Matija Ražem, VP of Business Development, at Infobip

Infobip’s market-leading cloud Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provides developers with APIs for integrating real-time omnichannel communications features such as SMS, voice, video, chat apps, and network APIs into their applications. Nokia’s Network as Code platform with developer portal offers developers APIs for tapping into 5G network capabilities like quality of service (QoS) on demand, device location precision and network slicing, as well as 4G capabilities.

Developers will be able to utilize all of those capabilities more easily, giving them complete coverage of Network and CPaaS APIs in the development of new use cases and the capacity to enhance application performance.

Nokia’s Network as Code platform with developer portal brings together networks from around the world, along with systems integrators and software developers, into a unified ecosystem; using technical standards produced through industry initiatives such as the GSMA Open Gateway initiative and the Linux Foundation CAMARA. Nokia and Infobip contribute to both initiatives.

Infobip’s customer engagement use cases include CAMARA-compliant Number Verify and SIM Swap APIs, which are already live. The firm is also working to bring further use cases to market including Device Location and Quality on Demand APIs, having now signed 12 API collaboration agreements. The CPaaS platform was recently named a finalist in the inaugural Global Mobile Awards GSMA Open Gateway Challenge for its anti-fraud intelligence collaboration.

The joint work between Infobip and Nokia will offer a simplified developer experience without the burden of navigating the complex underlying network technologies, allowing developers to integrate capabilities into their applications faster, relative to working separately with the two companies’ platforms.

Nokia has signed collaboration agreements with 11 network operators and ecosystem partners to use the Network as Code platform with developer portal since its launch in September 2023.

Matija Ražem, VP of Business Development, at Infobip said: “This agreement with Nokia further demonstrates how Infobip is helping telcos deliver new services and gain new revenue. We will continue to build and offer additional CAMARA-compliant APIs worldwide, working closely with our telco partners to expose customer experience friendly APIs to developers It is testament to our global market-leading CPaaS position, strong developer relations and history of strategic telco collaborations. These are essential to increase the potential for a successful collaboration and faster time to revenue.”

Shkumbin Hamiti, Head of Network Monetization Platform, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, said: “This partnering agreement reflects our ongoing commitment to work closely with the developer community. It is about expanding choice and scale and giving developers a one-stop shop for extracting value from Infobip’s and Nokia’s platforms. We look forward to working with Infobip and maximizing our respective technologies.”

Kindly share this post