Apple's iPad is Selling Faster than iPhone and DVD Player!!!

Sales of Apple iPads are outpacing sales of both iPhones and DVD players, according to an analyst note, and tablet computers are likely to become the country's fourth-largest consumer electronics category, after televisions, smartphones and notebooks. That raises the question of whether competing manufacturers' upcoming tablet offerings will be able to make a dent in Apple's lead.

"The iPad did not seem destined to be a runaway product success straight out of the box," Bernstein Research analyst Colin McGranahan wrote, according to CNBC. "By any account, the iPad is a runaway success of unprecedented proportion." The iPad's current sales rate is 4.5 million units per quarter, McGranahan added, predicting that sales of the device will be about $9 billion in 2011.

The question now is whether Apple will be able to maintain that sales momentum with new tablet competitors on the market. The Android-running Samsung Galaxy Tab is scheduled to debut in fall 2010 on four carriers, and both Hewlett-Packard and Research In Motion are developing tablets that run proprietary operating systems. In addition, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has promised that Windows-powered tablets will arrive by Christmas.

Those manufacturers may be concerned about the iPad's possible cannibalization of the traditional PC market. That idea gained widespread attention in September, after Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn was paraphrased in The Wall Street Journal as saying the iPad had cannibalized more than 50 percent of the company's laptop sales; Dunn later disclaimed that view, but nonetheless the "cannibal" meme spread across the Web.

While some analysts—notably NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker—have suggested that reports of iPad cannibalization are greatly exaggerated, others assert that the devices are forcing the traditional notebook market in a new direction.

"We expect tablets to continue to pressure PCs as more vendors launch products (e.g., Dell Streak and Samsung Tab) and Apple expands its iPad distribution," Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty wrote in a research note, as quoted by Fortune Magazine Sept. 17. "Tablet cannibalization," she reportedly wrote, is a significant factor in U.S. notebook sales' 4 percent year-over-year decline in 2010. That sales data came from the NPD Group, although Baker suggested a decline in low-end notebook shipments was natural after "atmospheric" sales in 2009.

Whether or not cannibalization is actually occurring, other tablet manufacturers have a potentially long road ahead with regard to matching the iPad's total sales. In order to preserve something of a first-mover advantage, Apple is rumored to be developing a second-generation iPad, perhaps with a dual-camera configuration for video conferencing. As far back as August, sources such as Digitimes Research have also predicted a 7-inch iPad due to hit the market either later in 2010 or the first quarter of 2011.

Microsoft to Launch Windows 7 Smartphone!!!

Just days before tech giant Microsoft is set to launch its first Windows 7-enabled smartphone, the company has been rocked by a scathing report from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs which says the company's fortunes are unlikely to improve until it builds a foothold in the booming tablet and smartphone markets.
The report, by analyst Sarah Friar, pushed Microsoft shares down 2% in overnight trade to $US23.83, and have now fallen 23% since April. By contrast, Microsoft's great rival Apple has seen its stock rise 6% in the same period. Friar sighted a number of concerns about Microsoft's future, and warned these were "not just a this-year issue".

Top of the list are concerns that the PC refresh cycle – that is, the cycle during which consumers trade up to new computers – has become more elongated, with evidence also suggesting that many consumers are now turning to tablets rather than notebooks and laptops.

And unfortunately for Microsoft, it simply doesn't have a competitor in the tablet space. "We believe that top-line momentum and hence investor sentiment on Microsoft's core Windows and Office franchises is unlikely to improve until the company gains a firmer foothold in the growing migration to mobile devices – both smartphones and tablets," Friar wrote. "We don't see this happening this year, as Apple's iPad and iPhone plus Google's Android operating system are well established."

While Friar acknowledged the company was set to launch a Windows 7 smartphone (an event in conjunction with carrier AT&T will be held on October 11), Friar argues the entrenched positions of Apple, Google and Blackberry mean that for "Microsoft to gain credibility in mobile, we believe the company will need to see immediate success". On rumours that Microsoft is preparing to launch a Windows 7-powered tablet computer, Friar was dismissive. "We do not believe a Windows 7 tablet built on an Intel processor is currently able to compete."

Friar also suggested the company should boost its dividend to try to get a bit of spark in the share price, and also floated the idea of spinning off the company's Xbox gaming business. The key, Friar argues, is that the tech giant must do something. "We believe the intrinsic value of shares cannot be unlocked if the status quo remains."

"Smartphones will outsell PCs in two years" said Google CEO

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that smartphones will outsell PCs in two years and the search giant has been adjusting its business accordingly.

Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Schmidt said that Android is picking up steam, as there are now more than 60 devices from more than 20 manufacturers. This momentum doesn’t appear to be dissipating, as multiple reports suggest that Google Android will become the second largest mobile operating in the world in a few years.

Schmidt said Google’s mobile business doubled in the last year and the traffic it is seeing from is growing at an astonishing rate. The Android search traffic tripled in the first half of 2010 and YouTube Mobile is seeing 160 million mobile views per day.

“What’s interesting about mobile is that the mobile opportunity is so large its breathtaking,” Schmidt said.

He also called cloud computing the “magic behind what phones can do” and he spoke of things like Google Voice Action or Bing Translator as things that would have been considered science fiction not too long ago.

Schmidt was also very excited about the roll out of Long-Term Evolution 4G networks. MetroPCS, Verizon and others around the globe are deploying LTE 4G networks and these will likely deliver 8 to 10 Mbps to your handset. That type of bandwidth at your fingertips will lead to multiple innovative services, Schmidt said.

Of course, Google wants Android to be a massive success but the company also benefits from most of the growth in the smartphone market because it comes preloaded on multiple devices, even the rival Apple iPhone. Microsoft is trying to counter this by showing up on smartphones like the Samsung Fascinate and the Bing search engine and Bing Maps (which is not as good as Google Maps, in my opinion) will be key parts of Windows Phone 7.

iPhone Tops in customer satisfaction!!!

Traditional wireless cell-phone owners are keeping their devices longer than ever before, and Apple's iPhone is the number-one smartphone in customer satisfaction. Those are some of the conclusions of new studies released Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates measuring customer satisfaction for both traditional mobile phones and smartphones.

Customers are keeping their mobile devices an average of 20.5 months, the longest period since the study began in 1999. The length depends on the brand, with the longest average period at 27.8 months, and the shortest at 17.5 months.

Service Costs Up

Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power, said one possible reason customers are postponing upgrading a device is simply due to the economic downturn. He added that the additional expense could include a new, more expensive service plan, and customers are thinking more carefully about whether the additional expense is worth the benefit.

The average monthly wireless service plan is now $78, including taxes and fees, compared to $69 three years ago. The increases are due to data services and additional usages, such as texting. But while service costs are increasing, device costs are dropping. The survey found the average price of a traditional wireless phone is now $76, down from an average of $81 at the beginning of last year. Nearly half of all respondents said they received a free mobile phone from their carrier as a result of subscribing to the service.

When measuring satisfaction, the survey found that the key factors for smartphones are ease of operation for 26 percent of customers, operating system for 24 percent, physical design for 23 percent, features for 19 percent, and battery function for eight percent.

On a 1,000-point scale for satisfaction, Apple's devices rank 800 and took first place for the fourth straight survey. Second place was taken by Motorola at 791, with HTC third at 781. BlackBerry, Samsung, Palm and Nokia were next, in that order.

LG Tops Among Traditionals

Among traditional handsets, LG is highest for the fourth straight survey with a score of 731. Sanyo ranks second at 712, and Samsung third at 709. Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Kyocera took fourth through seventh places.

Smartphones have become platforms for applications, and the Power study indicates that more than two-thirds of users have downloaded games by third-party developers. Fifty-four percent have downloaded travel software, and 36 percent have done so for business applications.

But a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, released earlier this month, found that only about 24 percent of adults actually use apps. "Having apps and using apps are not synonymous," the Pew report noted.

The Power studies, based on more than 11,000 traditional mobile-phone users and more than 6,800 smartphone users, found that the three best-received mobile operating systems were Apple's iOS, Google's open-source Android, and Palm's webOS.