Banned Peta Super Bowl Ad

Mobile device sales to continue growing in China in 2009

iSuppli 's new research predicts 7.7 per cent growth in units this year in China, bucking the global trend. iSuppli says sales of mobile handsets will reach 239.1 million units in 2009, up 7.7 percent from 2008 and defying an expected 10.7 per cent global decline.

Despite the recent awarding of 3G licenses, the research predicts that low-cost multimedia GSM and ultra-low-cost CDMA handsets should be among the best-selling devices in China this year. Smartphones and handsets supporting 3G and the China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) standard will represent high-growth segments.

In terms of total unit shipments, iSuppli says Huawei and ZTE are likely to be the leaders in China’s 3G handset market. Both shipped more than 30 million units in 2008.

Foreign handset OEMs accounted for 56 per cent of China’s handset market last year.

Q4 2008 - Top five mobile device vendors

Nokia continues to be at the top  having dropped off 1% market share. Of the five top-tier handset vendors, only Samsung and LG shipped more handsets in the fourth quarter than in the preceding quarter, bucking the industry trend of a 5% market contraction.

Strategy Analytics revised its forecast for 2009 to negative 9% growth roughly in line with Nokia’s forecast of negative 10% delivered and said that the year would be the weakest for handsets since the modern mobile phone industry emerged in 1983, a quarter-century ago.

Apple's sales and profits beat Wall Street's expectations

Apple has defied the economic gloom by reporting better-than-expected quarterly results, despite a slowdown in iPhone shipments. For its fiscal 2009 first quarter (ended 27 December 2008), traditionally the company's strongest, Apple reported record revenue of US$10.17 billion and record net profit of US$1.61 billion. This compared to revenue of US$9.6 billion and net profit of US$1.58 billion in the year-ago quarter. 

Sales were driven by the Mac as Apple sold 2.5 million Macs during the quarter, a rise of 9 percent year-on-year and the iPod, which saw annual quarterly sales rise 3 percent to 22.7 million units.

Apple sold 4.4 million iPhone units in the quarter, an 88 percent rise from a year earlier, a period when the first generation iPhone was available in only a handful of markets. However, iPhone sales slumped significantly from the previous quarter, which had seen the launch of iPhone 3G and unit sales of 6.9 million. 

If Apple wants to boost iPhone sales, Apple would need to further cut iPhone 3G prices or probably come up with an iPhone Nano at $199 model as soon as possible. Apple should also consider convincing its carrier partners to offer cheaper service plans as not everyone will spend $80-$100 per month on AT&T services. 

LG overtakes Motorola for third place in 2008

According to a report in DigiTime, LG Electronics edged out Motorola as the third biggest handset maker in 2008 in terms of the number of units shipped. The handset division of LG posted $3.3 billion in sales for the quarter, up 34.6% and shipped 25.7 million units, up from 23 million from the third quarter and up 8% over the fourth quarter of 2007.

The report said LG shipped 100 million units in 2008, barely beating out Motorola's 99.9 million shipments worldwide. Sony Ericsson was in fifth place with 96.6 million units shipped.

Nokia retained its post as the world's largest handset maker, shipping 470 million units, and Samsung was in second, shipping 200 million units, according to the figures.

If the numbers hold after all of the handset makers report their full-year figures, it would confirm Motorola's decline. The company has faced weakening financial prospects and sales, and its market share position remains uncertain.

In the third quarter, Samsung passed Motorola as the third biggest handset maker in the United States.

Happy Chinese New Year

Today is Chinese new year or Spring Festival as its usually refered to here in China. No matter where you are, Happy New Year or Happy Niu (牛) Year!

Nokia profit dives as it expects a 10% decline in device sales this year

Nokia warned of a further weakening in the mobile phone market as it posted a 69% slump in quarterly profit Thursday. Its fourth quarter earnings fell to $746.3 million on 19% lower sales of $16.45 billion.

The handset leader once more revised downward its 2009 outlook. It now expects a 10% decline in device sales industry-wide. Last month it only predicted a 5% decline.

Handset shipments were down 15% year-on-year to 113.1 million. It shipped 468.4 million devices over the full year, up 7.2%, but said market share was 37%, down from 40% in 2007 and 38% in Q3.

Operating profit declined 37.8% for the full year to $6.43 billion. Group-wide sales decreased 1% to $65.6 billion.

The company expects its profit margins to decline slightly in the first half of the year, but is predicting it will maintain its current market share.

Nokia Siemens Networks continues to run at a loss. It recorded sales of $5.57 billion - a 5% year-on-year decline, but a 24% increase over its Q3 results. It posted operating losses of $231.8 million for the quarter and $391 million for the year. It lost $1.7 billion in 2007.

Steve Jobs giving his 1st demo on Mac 25 years ago

Twenty five years ago today, on January 24, 1984, the young Steve Jobs gave the first on-stage demonstration of the Macintosh computer. The technology was nothing in comparison to what its today, but it was the same Steve Jobs, the master at work.

Evolution of Dance

This is the most watched video on Youtube. It had just surpassed 110 million!

QQ IM in English version

QQ Instant Messaging is the most popular IM software in China with more than 45 million concurrent users. Most of the users are mainly Chinese as the IM software is all in Chinese. This had made it almost impossible for foreigners until now. 

Tencent had recently just launched an English version website ImQQ.com which will allow any english speaking user to download an English version of QQ and registed a QQ id. Go check it out.

Queen of Text Messaging

Text messaging is most popular for teen girls aged 13 to 17. The average number of text messages sent by girls in this category is 1,742 according to a Nielsen study of cellphone usage.

However, one young girl from California quickly became the queen of text messaging. She sent 14,528 text messages in a month! That will work out to 484 text messages/day, 1 text message every 2 min of every hour in the month.

Her excuse was feeling bored. Unlike most people who receive unreasonable phone charges, this father knew of his daughter’s habits and got an unlimited plan. Otherwise, one of the images would have been him forking over $3,000 to the Operator. 

Via: NYpost

Virtual test drive for Toyota IQ

Toyota Europe has recently launched a virtual test drive for its IQ model. The website, created by the flash gurus at North Kingdom and Illianced allows users to drive the car through a futuristic landscape while discovering the main car features.

The website is very nicely developed with a clean and simple design however, in my opinion, the experience isnt all that great as nothing could compare to the actual test drive. The concept is brilliant though. 

New Palm OS

Palm finally introduced its long-awaited next-generation mobile operating system, officially named webOS. According to Palm, the platform unveiled at this year's CES event in conjunction with the first webOS-powered device, a Sprint-exclusive touchscreen smartphone dubbed Pre was developed expressly for mobile use, promising users a constant connection to the web.

Jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon, Palm webOS allows consumers to pull their contact, calendars and personal information down from the internet on any device, wirelessly.

A bit like what Apple, Nokia, Google and to some degree RIM, are already offering.

A key feature of the Palm platform is synchronisation of information between multiple services, so if the same contact is listed in the user's phonebook and on their social networking sites, both contact details are pulled into the same interface. Likewise with multiple conversation platforms such as text message and email.

The first device to support the webOS platform is the Pre, which will be available exclusively from Sprint in the first half of 2009.

Packing a slide out keyboard and touch screen interface, the Pre will be available with either HSDPA or EVDO connectivity, wifi and GPS. It boasts 8GB of storage and a 3 megapixel camera and probably a handset first in the shape of an inductive charging unit.

Palm hasn't yet announced pricing but with such features touted, it will surely bump the cost up significantly.

Video courtesy of Phone Arena below though it may be a little too long. 

LG Introduces Watch Phone

LG has announced their 3G HSDPA, video conferencing watch phone today, model number LG-GD910, which is due for Europe this year. The Watch Phone will go into production with a 1.43-inch touchscreen, where you can type messages, make phone calls and also play MP3s, it's packed into just 13.9mm thickness. The phone is expected to roll out in Europe in the later half of this year.

A short history of Marketing

"A short history of marketing", a little video done by Michael Reissinger for Scholz & Friends. This is the reality and truth of brands these days. Sometimes we are so overloaded with brands advertising that we dont even know where to start. I guess its time to go back to basic and start asking for friends for recommendations.

Heineken Commercial - Who has a better Fridge?

China Mobile to encourage the uptake of TD-SCDMA by investing in $1.5 billion in subsidies

China Mobile will provide 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in handsets subsidies for homegrown TD-SCDMA technology. According to China Mobile, they are also considering other possibilities, such as applying a subsidy to the cost of manufacturing the handsets, or offering cheaper voice usage fees in an attempt to boost sales.

China Mobile already has signed 330,000 customers to its “trial” TD network and is expected to launch a nationwide service in the middle of the year. The carrier would also launch a "TD Special Incentive Fund" to subsidize domestic chipset and terminal manufacturers in order to speed TD-SCDMA development.
 
China Mobile will be bundling mobile TV service based on locally-developed CMMB technology directly into TD-SCDMA handsets. Last year alone, China Mobile spent around $1.17 billion on handset subsidies.

Beyond the investments on the subsidies, China Mobile had confirmed plans to invest 58.8 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) to build 60,000 3G network base stations in 2009. Upon completion, the total number of China Mobile's 3G network base stations will top 80,000, covering 70 percent of the cities under provincial level across the country.

China's internet users up 41.9% in 2008

According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China's internet population became the world's largest in 2008 growing by 41.9% to 298 million users with 270 million broadband users, up from 163 million in 2007. 

Mobile internet users grew 133% to 117.6 million and expected to grow even more this year with the introduction of 3G mobile services.

China overtook the US in the middle of 2008 to take the crown as the biggest internet market by user numbers. Its internet penetration rate of 22.6% compares with 73.3% for Japan, the world leader, and 72.5% and 70.7% respectively for the US and Korea.

33% of China's online users are students, 15% office workers, and 10.3% government employees.

World's First Camera You Can Surf the Web

With the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-G3, uploading images to the Web has never been easier. This bad boy features an integrated Internet browser so that you can transfer your photos and videos to Shutterfly, Picasa and YouTube without heading home and plugging in first.

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-G3 has a 10 megapixel sensor with a 4x optical zoom, according to Gizmodo, and has free access to any AT&T;hotspot until 2012. The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-G3 is the first digital camera with an embedded Internet browser in the world.

Check out the video below. 

Wireless In-Car Chargers

The intersecting wires that charge your phone, iPod and GPS might soon be a thing of the past thanks to the eCoupled wireless charging system that was demoed at CES 2009.

This sleek system charges anything that's placed on it that requires electricity, and does so in the most inobtrusive manner possible. The eCoupled system also allows for wireless data transfers, which means you can play music or access your phone without plugging it into the car.

The eCoupled system is the innovative result of a collaboration between Fulton Innovation and Leggett & Platt.

iTunes can be downloaded via 3G and drops DRM

If you have an iPhone 3G, you are all set to be able to download iTunes directly to your phone over the air. Apple has recently announced at this week's MacWorld show in San Francisco that it is now allowing iPhone 3G users to download music tracks directly to their devices 'over the air' using 3G networks. 

iPhone users were previously restricted to downloading from Apple's iTunes music store using a Wi-Fi connection. Music downloads made via the mobile networks will be at the same price, file quality and format as a Wi-Fi or PC download. Songs purchased on an iPhone will automatically sync to a user's computer when the device is synched.

Phil Schiller, Apple's head of marketing who delivered Apple's keynote in place of CEO Steve Jobs said that all 10 million songs in the iTunes library would be DRM-free by April this year. In addition, Apple said that individual songs on iTunes will soon be available at one of three price points - US$0.69, US$0.99 or US$1.29 - rather than the current US$0.99 flat fee.

Imagine having to work as the crane operator

This is the BurjDubai tower that is still under construction. Its already recognised as the world's tallest building and just look at how it dwarfed the other buildings around it. And imagine if you have to work at the peak operating the crane?

Image courtesy of Robert Foo, my dad

Charles Schultz Philosophy

This was emailed to me and I thought it was worth sharing with you all. Charles's philosophy is so true and makes alot of sense. The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read the e-mail straight through,and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America Contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. They are not second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are NOT the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones who care. So make the best of this year and use every opportunity to get in touch with those who really care about you. 

Online and Mobile games are worth over $2 billion in 2008

According to Research & Markets, the revenue for mobile games in China will grow to $461m by 2010. Revenue from sales of Java and BREW-based mobile games in China reached $188.1 million in 2008, up 66 per cent from 2007.

Mobile game companies are likely to see another wave of investment between 2008 and 2010 as 3G takes off in the country.

Research & Markets has also detailed China's online games market, which it pegs at $1.86 billion in 2008 and $2.67 billion by 2010.

Online and mobile games are big business in China and will continue to draw alot of new players with well-funded financial backers.  At present, there are some 120 gaming operators running approximately 200 online games in China. Shanda, Giant Interactive, NetEase and The9 are China's top four online game operators in terms of revenues. 

Facebook surpasses 150 million users

It was only 3 weeks ago when Facebook had announced that they had just surpassed the 140 million mark and now its 150 million suggesting that the company is now growing at approximately 450,000 users per day! 

If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria.

If the pace continues the whole year, the company will surpass 300 million users. Imagine 300 million users on Facebook, its like being able to track and look up for almost anybody in the US. What an amazing phenomena!

via Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook

China Mobile will be issued with country's 1st 3G license today

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will issue China's first 3G license for China Mobile's TD-SCDMA today, marking China's formal entry into the 3G age. There is no mention when China Unicom and China Telecom will gain their coveted 3G licenses for their WCDMA and CDMA2000 businesses but i reckon it should be anytime soon as they are both ready to offer the service.

Latest updates :

AP News reports that China today confirmed the official allocation of 3G licenses to the country's three state-owned mobile operators. As expected, market-leader China Mobile - the world's largest mobile operator - has been granted a license to deploy commercial nationwide services based on China's homegrown 3G technology, TD-SCDMA, whilst China Unicom and China Telecom will launch 3G services based on global standards WCDMA and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, respectively. 

This will surely going to trigger investment levels of about US$41 billion over the next two years. No timeline for service launch has been announced.

Chen Jianqiao from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the country expects 500 million people to sign-up for 3G services in the next five years. China currently has over 600 million mobile users. This estimate could make the Chinese 3G market five times the size of Europe's. Pretty staggering figures!!

Chinese spend most time online

Chinese citizens spend the largest portion of their leisure time online, according to recent research. China beat out 15 other nations in the report, which was conducted by TNS. More than 27,000 people participated in the global online poll.

On average, Chinese citizens spend 44% of their downtime online, compared to 28% for Britons and just 15% in Denmark, where the internet is least popular.

UK housewives go online more often than any other social group in the world – spending 47% of their free time surfing the internet, compared with 39% for students around the world and 32% for the unemployed.

Its high time advertisers should funnel more of their ad budget to online and I m sure with the current economy condition, more will be heading that direction. 

China Mobile reduces GPRS charges substantially

Great news for mobile internet users in China as China Mobile had cut GPRS fees by as much as two-thirds in most domestic cities this month. Shanghai China Mobile users can now pay RMB 5 (US$0.73) per month for 30MB, rather than the RMB 5, 10 MB package available previously, while RMB 20 ($2.93) per month gets 150MB, three times more than before.

This is going to accelerate the mobile internet growth in China exponentially. Very soon China will have more people accessing internet from their mobile phone than PC. 

China approves long-awaited 3G licences

China's government had just approved the issuance of long-awaited licences for next generation (3G) mobile networks, opening the door to $41 billion in spending for equipment.

Licences will be issued for TD-SCDMA, a standard backed by Beijing, and two globally accepted standards, WCDMA and CDMA 2000. It did not specify which companies were awarded specific licences. However, the government had said earlier this month that China Mobile would get a licence for TD-SCDMA, China Unicom for a WCDMA network and China Telecom for CDMA 2000 technology.

Sex certainly sell

This is the latest bold online campaign from Denmark. It has dozens of topless women parachute jumping out of a plane to form a message in the sky. That message advertises a Siemens washing machine. As a result of the ad, their web traffic had increased tremendously, up from 2,000 to 40,000 visitors per day.

They probably would agree that for them, even if it doesn’t seem remotely relevant to their merchandise, sex certainly DOES indeed sell! Check it out yourself.