AT&T is increasing the fee charged when subscribers upgrade to new handsets on contract beginning this Sunday. BGR has been informed by multiple readers via email that AT&T has sent them notices regarding the increased fee, which had previously been $18. ”Because the overall costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased, effective Sunday, February 12, 2012, AT&T will change its upgrade fee from $18 to $36,” AT&T said in a note to dealers obtained by BGR. An AT&T spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A portion of the memo follows below.

UPDATE: AT&T has confirmed the change. “Wireless devices today are more sophisticated than ever before. And because of that, the costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased and is reflected in our new upgrade fee,” an AT&T spokesperson told BGR via email. “This fee isn’t unique to AT&T and this is the first time we’re changing it in nearly 10 years.”

Global tablet sales reached 67 million units in 2011 and are expected to grow 38.8% annually to 248.6 million by the end of 2015, according to a new market report from Transparency Market Research. Led by Apple’s iPad, tablet sales increased 275.5% in 2011 from 17.8 million units sold in 2010. Smartphone sales in 2011 hit 468.9 million units, a 66.7% increase over 2010 sales of 282 million units, and sales are expected to reach 1.05 billion in 2015 with Asia accounting for 39.5% of the market. Smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2011 beat the combined sales from the full year of 2008, the report notes. The leap in sales was largely driven by consumer and enterprise adoption of the iPhone 4S, which shipped more than 36 million units in the quarter. Read on for Transparency Market Research’s press release.

Tablet Sales to End Users is Expected to Reach 248.6 Million Units by 2015, Smartphones Sales to End Users Will Reach 1,048.0 Million Units by 2015: Transparency Market Research

ALBANY, New York, February 8, 2012/PRNewswire/ –

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research (http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com) “Tablet Market and Smartphones Market: Global Database & Forecast (2010 – 2015) [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ]“, Global Tablet sales to end users reached 67.0 million units in 2011 and is expected to reach 248.6 million units by the end of 2015, growing at a CAGR of 38.8% from 2011 to 2015. Asia – Pacific (including Japan) is expected to enjoy the highest share of overall global shipments and end user sales of Tablets at 36.1% and 35.3% respectively in 2015.

In 2011, Smartphone sales to end users reached 469.9 million units, registering a growth of 66.7% over 2010 sales of 282.0 million units. The Smartphone sales to end user are expected to reach 1,048.0 million units by 2015 with Asia – Pacific accounting for the largest market share at 39.5%. Asia Pacific is also expected to enjoy the highest growth rate at a CAGR of 36.3% from 2010 to 2015.

Browse the database at http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html

The Tablet sales to end user increased by 276.5% in 2011 from 17.8 million units sold to end users in 2010. Globally, the installed base of Tablet devices have reached 81.2 million units in 2011 and expected to reach 388.8 million units by the end of 2015. This represents approximately 45% replacement/loss rate by the same year.

Form factor plays crucial role in adoption of Tablet devices. Our research indicates that consumer purchased the largest number of Tablet devices with screen size ranging 8 Inch and 10 Inch; whereas devices weighed between 450g and 900g (1 lb – 2 lbs) had the highest share of overall sales of tablet devices. Consumer segment is the largest adopter of media Tablet devices, while business users prefer communicators. Media Tablets is expected to remain the largest Tablet device segment with over 60% sales share in 2015, while hybrid segment will account for more than one-fourth of the sales in the same year. Continue reading here [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ].

Smartphones are becoming more ubiquitous communication devices among all user segments with almost 75% of smartphone consumer (individual) subscriber use their smartphones for personal as well as business purposes. Moreover, 65% of global SMBs now allow employee owned smartphone for official use. This acted as the strong booster for Smartphone market growth. The smartphones market [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ] grew by 66.7% during last year and sales reached to 469.9 million units in 2011. Smartphone sale in 4Q2011 alone crossed the combined sales of all the four quarters of 2008. This leap in sales came on account of consumer as well as enterprise adoption of iPhone 4S, which posted 36.1 million units sales to end user in Q42011 alone. Continue reading here [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ].

This extensive database report covers quarterly sales to end users, installed base, revenue, ASP from 2009 to 2011 and forecast till 2015 for Tablets and Smartphones based on following segmentation.

Tablet Market Segmentation

- By Operating System

- iOS

- Android

- Windows

- Blackberry Tablet OS (QNX)

- By Vendors

- Apple

- Samsung

- HTC

- Dell

- RIM

- Amazon

- Motorola

- By Form Factors

- Weight

- Width

- Length

- Display Screen Size

- Thickness (depth)

- Users

- Business liable

- Consumer liable

- Personal Only

- Personal and Business

- Usability

- Media Tab

- Communicators

- Hybrid

- Geography

- North America

- Europe

- Asia – Pacific (including Japan)

- ROW

Smartphones Market Segmentation

- By Operating System

- Symbian

- iOS

- Android

- Windows Mobile

- Blackberry OS

- Bada

- By Vendors

- Nokia

- Apple

- Samsung

- HTC

- RIM

- By Form Factors

- Weight

- Width

- Length

- Display Screen Size

- Thickness (depth)

- Users

- Business liable

- Consumer liable

- Personal Only

- Personal and Business

- Usability

- Media Tab

- Communicators

- Hybrid

- Geography

- North America

- Europe

- Asia – Pacific (including Japan)

- ROW

- Input Type

- Touchscreen

- Keyboard

- Keypad

Google is preparing to launch a new cloud storage service that will compete directly with popular start up Dropbox and similar services. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday evening reported that Google is almost ready to announce the new service, which will be called Google Drive. Similar to Dropbox, which creates a virtual drive containing files that are mirrored on a user’s local hard drive and on cloud servers, Google Drive will allow users to store photos, videos, documents and other files in the cloud, and it will be accessible from computers as well as Android tablets and smartphones. The service will launch in the coming weeks according to the report, and it will be free to most users, though the report does not elaborate on the amount of free storage Google will provide or which customers might be charged.

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When new CEO Thorsten Henis took the reins at Research In Motion, he immediately pointed to the smartphone vendor’s marketing strategy as an area the company needed to focus on if it hoped to regain share in key markets like the United States. The wheels on RIM’s recent marketing efforts had already been set in motion, however, and early reports suggest that the increased volume of familiar BlackBerry ads aren’t having the impact RIM was hoping for. Read on for more.

RIM ramped up its marketing efforts in January, but the move does not appear to have paid off. “Our January checks indicated weak sell-through trends for the new BlackBerry 7 smartphones despite increased marketing efforts,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley wrote in a research note to investors late Wednesday night. “With very strong share gains for the iPhone 4S, increasingly price competitive Android smartphones, improving Windows smartphones, and strong sales of the affordable 7 inch Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, we anticipate increasing competition across all tiers of RIM’s products in C2012.”

As a result of weakening device sales and RIM’s poor outlook for the current quarter, the analyst lowered his estimates for RIM’s February quarter as well as the vendor’s full fiscal year. And despite a new round of marketing that kicked off in February with RIM’s “Be Bold” campaign, Walkley doesn’t see much changing for the Waterloo, Ontario-based until late in 2012.

“Given the strong share gains for Apple post the launch of the iPhone 4S and increasing Android and Windows competition in all price tiers, we believe BlackBerry 7 products will continue to struggle until BB10 products launch in late C2012,” the analyst noted. RIM expected to launch its first QNX-powered BlackBerry 10 smartphone — code-named the BlackBerry London — toward the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter.

Walkley reiterated his Hold rating on RIM’s stock and maintained his $15 price target.

Apple and Samsung are in the midst of a patent-fueled war with no end in site, but the pair has also inadvertently joined forces to make it increasingly difficult for other vendors to continue making smartphones. New estimates suggest Apple and Samsung combined to take in a staggering 95% of smartphone industry profits in the fourth quarter of 2011. The figures paint an even bleaker picture for the rest of the players in the smartphone business than earlier estimates; UBS analyst Maynard Um said last week that Apple and Samsung’s combined take amounted to 90% of smartphone industry profits. Read on for more.

“With the strong iPhone market share gains during Q4/11 combined with Samsung’s strong share gains within the Android ecosystem, we estimate Apple and Samsung captured roughly 95% of industry profits,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley wrote in a note to investors on Thursday.

Walkley continued, “Apple generated a remarkable 80% share of estimated Q4/11 handset industry operating profits (vs. 56% in Q3/11 and 48% in Q4/10) with only 8.1% global handset market share. Demonstrating the strength of the iPhone’s profit share gains during Q4/11, Samsung’s share of industry profits declined from roughly 26% in Q3/11 to 15% in Q4/11, even though Samsung’s share of Android smartphones increased from 35% in Q3/11 to 39% in Q4/11.”

As Apple and Samsung each reported blowout quarters last month — Apple’s $13 billion holiday quarter was the most profitable quarter ever recorded by a technology company — other smartphone vendors are on the ropes. Nokia posted a €1 billion loss in the fourth quarter, Sony Ericsson reported a €247 million loss, LG posted its second consecutive loss last quarter, HTC continued to slump, Motorola recorded an $80 million loss and RIM continued to slide as well.

And for these struggling smartphone companies, Walkley doesn’t see things getting better in the immediate future. “With RIM, Nokia, HTC, and Sony Ericsson all in the midst of product transitions and Motorola Mobility merging with Google, we believe Apple and Samsung will maintain dominant share positions during H1/12,” the analyst wrote. ”Our January checks indicate Apple and Samsung trends remain strong versus competitors.”

Samsung is expected to launch its quad-core Galaxy S III smartphone this coming May, and Apple will then reportedly launch a completely redesigned next-generation iPhone later this year.

Google’s bid to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion is set to gain regulatory approval as soon as next week, multiple reports claim. Google announced last summer that it intended to purchase the struggling smartphone and set-top box maker for $40 per share, and CEO Larry Page explained that Motorola’s patent portfolio was a key draw for the company. Google’s Android partners had fallen under attack from patent predators such as Apple and Microsoft, and the ability to spread Motorola’s patents around as needed could be the only way to save Android. As recent events in Germany have shown, Motorola’s patents could indeed be Android’s best bet. While some regulators apparently remain unconvinced that Google intends to license Motorola’s patents on fair terms, The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal is still on track to gain approval from the Justice Department as early as next week.

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Sprint announced on Wednesday that it expects to activate its upcoming 4G LTE network in Baltimore and in Kansas City. The carrier has already said that it will flip the switch on its first 4G LTE networks in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio by mid-2012. The carrier’s first LTE devices will include Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, the LG Viper 4G LTE and the Sierra Wireless Tri-Network mobile hotspot. Sprint said it also expects to improve the 3G coverage in each of the aforementioned markets. Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse also said Wednesday that 86% of the phones his company sold during the fourth quarter were smartphones and that 66% of Sprint’s subscriber base now use smartphones, and the carrier’s 4G LTE network will certainly benefit any smartphone user that may be looking for faster download and upload data speeds. Sprint’s full press release follows after the break.

Baltimore and Kansas City Sprint Customers to Benefit from 4G LTE and 3G Enhancements in 2012

Nokia plans to eliminate 4,000 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting effort that will see much of its manufacturing shift to Asia. The cuts will be made across three Nokia plants — 2,300 workers will be shed in Komarom, Hungary, 700 will lose their jobs in Reynosa, Mexico and 1,000 more in Salo, Finland will be laid off. Each of the three plants will continue to operate at reduced capacities, and the move is part of a larger effort to cut costs following the €1 billion loss Nokia reported last quarter. ”Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” Nokia EVP of Markets Niklas Savander said in a statement. “We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during the transition.” Nokia’s full press release follows below.

Nokia plans changes to its manufacturing operations to increase efficiency in smartphone production

Nokia Corporation
Stock exchange release
February 8, 2012 at 10:00 (CET +1)

Espoo, Finland – Nokia has today announced planned changes at its factories in Komarom, Hungary, Reynosa, Mexico and Salo, Finland. The measures follow a review of smartphone manufacturing operations that Nokia announced last September and aim to increase the company’s competitiveness in the diverse global mobile device market.

These three factories are planned to focus on smartphone product customization, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas. Device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based.

“With the planned changes, our factories at Komarom, Reynosa and Salo will continue to play an important role serving our smartphone customers. They give us a unique ability to both provide customization and be more responsive to customer needs,” said Niklas Savander, Nokia executive vice president, Markets.

“Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” said Savander. “We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during the transition.”

As a consequence of the plans, the number of steps in manufacturing and the amount of work carried out at the sites in Komarom, Reynosa and Salo are expected to decrease substantially. The changes are anticipated to impact approximately 4,000 employees in total.

Personnel reductions are planned to be phased through the end of 2012. Nokia will offer a comprehensive locally-tailored support program, including financial support and assistance with local re-employment.

T-Mobile announced on Tuesday the company’s Valentine’s Day sale on all 4G smartphones and tablets. “T-Mobile has a commitment to make the 4G experience affordable and accessible to everyone, so this sweet deal on smartphones and tablets is our Valentine’s gift to consumers,” said T-Mobile’s senior vice president of marketing, John Clelland. “No matter where loved ones live, T-Mobile wants to bring them closer with unlimited talking, photo sharing, video chatting, texting, and more.” The carrier is offering the Samsung Galaxy S II, BlackBerry Bold 9900, HTC Amaze 4G, Lumia 710, SpringBoard tablet and other 4G devices for free with a new two-year agreement. This one-day sale is scheduled for this Saturday, February 11th. Read on for T-Mobile’s press release.

Cupid’s Arrow Hits Mark: T-Mobile Offers Free 4G Phones to Celebrate Valentine’s

For one day only, on Feb.11, all of T-Mobile’s 4G smartphones and select mobile broadband devices are free with the switch to a qualifying two-year plan

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Feb. 7, 2012 — In the spirit of the season, T-Mobile USA, Inc. will show consumers lots of love with another jaw-dropping promotion for its “Valentine’s Day Sale.” For one day only, Saturday, Feb. 11, T-Mobile will give customers the chance to get their hands on the latest 4G smartphones and select tablets for free, making a perfect gift for loved ones or themselves. The promotion includes T-Mobile’s fastest 4G smartphones and select tablets running on America’s Largest 4G Network® such as the Samsung Galaxy S™ II1 and the T-Mobile® SpringBoard™ with Google™.

New and existing eligible customers can take advantage of this deal receiving their device for free after a mail-in rebate card when they sign up for a new two-year contract on any qualifying Classic Plan™2 or for a $0.00 down payment after mail-in rebate card when signing up on a qualifying Unlimited Value™3 Plan.

“T-Mobile has a commitment to make the 4G experience affordable and accessible to everyone, so this sweet deal on smartphones and tablets is our Valentine’s gift to consumers,” said John Clelland, senior vice president of marketing, T-Mobile USA. “No matter where loved ones live, T-Mobile wants to bring them closer with unlimited talking, photo sharing, video chatting, texting, and more.”

A recent online Omnibus survey4 with Harris Interactive found that four-in-ten (44%) of first time smartphone buyers in 2012 say the cost of the data plan associated with the smartphone is the most influential reason they have not purchased a smartphone before. The value for customers extends beyond the “Valentine’s Day Sale” as T-Mobile offers the best rate plan pricing on America’s Largest 4G Network.

LG is preparing to unveil a mid-range Windows Phone code-named “Miracle” at this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show, according to PocketNow. The Mango-powered handset will feature a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 8GB of storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera capable of shooting 720p video and a VGA front-facing camera. Perhaps the most interesting detail is the smartphone’s purported NFC capabilities, although it is unclear how this feature will be implemented in a handset running Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango,” which doesn’t currently support NFC. The Miracle will reportedly be released sometime this spring.

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Impressive data points from Apple’s record-setting holiday quarter continue to trickle out, and new estimates suggest that the company accounted for a staggering share of mobile profits in the fourth quarter of 2011. Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt wrote in a research note on Tuesday that Apple took in approximately 50% of all mobile industry revenues last quarter. Even more impressive, the analyst says Apple’s high-margin iPhone lineup accounted for more than 80% of all mobile phone profits. Read on for more.

McCourt reiterated his Outperform rating on shares of Apple stock, noting that industry revenue grew 34% in the fourth calendar quarter including Apple’s results, but it would have slid 0.4% excluding Apple.

“The broad handset industry appears to be heading into recession territory with overall handset shipment growth decelerating substantially to the lowest level since 2009,” the analyst wrote according to Barron’s blog Tech Trader Daily. “It appears likely Q1:12 could decline Y/Y in unit terms if normal seasonality occurs. Historically, this has only happened during meaningful global recessions […] Outside of Samsung, it’s getting increasingly hard to understand where the rest of the competitors will get the R&D dollars to compete longer term given their shrinking profitability. Perhaps Microsoft and Google have the answer.”

Morgan Keegan’s estimate that Apple took in more than 80% of all mobile profit last quarter exceeds earlier estimates that put the figure around 75%. Either estimate is telling of the current state of the industry, however, considering the Cupertino-based vendor was responsible for just 9% of all cell phones shipped between October and December last year. UBS analyst Maynard Um wrote recently that he expects Apple and Samsung to combine to account for 90% of global smartphone profits in 2012.

As high as the iPhone 4S sent Apple’s earnings last quarter, the firm’s next-generation smartphone could be an even bigger hit. Apple’s next iPhone is expected to feature a redesigned aluminum case, 4G LTE connectivity and a larger display that measures approximately 4 inches diagonally. BGR reported this past December that the new smartphone will likely launch this fall.

Apple has argued on multiple occasions that Samsung builds mobile products that ”blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple’s products to capitalize on Apple’s success.” Courts seem to disagree for the most part, with only a pair of injunctions having been issued despite dozens of complaints Apple has filed around the world. There are some areas where Samsung does seem to take pages out of Apple’s playbook, however — Samsung’s new anti-iPhone ad strategy is somewhat reminiscent of Apple’s famous “I’m a Mac” campaign, for example — and market research firm Allied Business Intelligence may have uncovered another one this week. Read on for more.

ABI recently performed a teardown on Samsung’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy Nexus, and the firm analyzed the components found within the handset. Among them was a new version of Samsung’s LTE chipset that is estimated to cost half as much as the chip it replaces.

“The Samsung Galaxy Nexus modem is constructed with the combination of a Via Telecom CDMA/EVDO Rev. A integrated circuit and a Samsung LTE baseband integrated circuit,” the firm wrote in its report. “This combination is now common for Samsung’s Verizon phones, but the Galaxy Nexus sports a new version of the LTE baseband chip. The new chip is estimated at nearly half the cost of the prior chip’s $23 price tag.”

One area where the competition has been unable to keep pace with Apple is profit, and the company’s record-setting holiday quarter was thanks largely in part to the huge margins it enjoys on iPhone sales. Asymco’s Horace Dediu estimates that Apple took in approximately 75% of mobile phone industry profits last quarter despite accounting for just 9% of global cell phone shipments, or an estimated 23.5% of all smartphone channel sales.

Whether or not Samsung’s mobile devices are “copycats” as Apple claims is up to the courts of the world to decide, but Samsung would be wise to follow Apple’s lead where margins are concerned. Samsung shipped about as many smartphones as Apple during the holiday quarter, but the $2.32 billion in operating profit it took in from its mobile business pales in comparison to Apple’s mobile profits.

Making significant cuts to component costs while still managing to sell 4G devices at premium prices could help the South Korea-based vendor hold its ground in the first quarter while the world awaits the launch of its next-generation flagship smartphone, the quad-core Galaxy S III.

The record sales managed by both Apple and Samsung during the holiday quarter last year sent smartphone market growth soaring in late 2011. Market research firm IDC on Monday released data from a new report that suggests smartphone shipments grew 54.7% in the fourth quarter last year. Driven by Apple’s iPhone 4S and Samsung’s Galaxy S II handsets, vendors shipped 157.8 million smartphones globally last quarter according to IDC. ”By the end of the quarter, one out of every three mobiles phones shipped worldwide was a smartphone,” IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said in a statement. “The launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S played a key role in smartphone growth to capture pent-up demand, and smartphone launches from other vendors also provided a broad selection to meet varying preferences and budgets.” The firm notes that full-year smartphone shipments totaled 491.4 million units in 2011, up 61.3% over the prior year. IDC’s full press release follows below.

Smartphone Market Hits All-Time Quarterly High Due To Seasonal Strength and Wider Variety of Offerings, According to IDC 

06 Feb 2012

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. February 6, 2012 – The worldwide smartphone market grew 54.7% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2011 (4Q11), as Apple unleashed its iPhone 4S on an eager marketplace. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 157.8 million units in 4Q11 compared to 102.0 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010. The 54.7% year-over-year growth was higher than IDC’s forecast of 40.0% for the quarter, and higher than the 49.2% growth in 3Q11.

On a full-year basis, total smartphone shipment volumes reached 491.4 million units in 2011, up a strong 61.3% from the 304.7 million units in 2010. This was higher than IDC’s full year estimate of 54.7% for the year, but still below 2010′s year-over-year growth of 75.7%. Although this marks a slowdown from 2010, IDC still fully expects continued double-digit growth for the foreseeable future.

Smartphones continued to be one of the hottest consumer electronics products in the market, and was helped along by the launch of key devices. “By the end of the quarter, one out of every three mobiles phones shipped worldwide was a smartphone,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. “The launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S played a key role in smartphone growth to capture pent-up demand, and smartphone launches from other vendors also provided a broad selection to meet varying preferences and budgets.”

The variety of offerings have become more nuanced as smartphone makers try to grow their respective user bases in emerging and developed markets alike.

“So-called ‘hero’ devices, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and Apple’s iPhone 4S, garner the bulk of the attention heaped on the device type,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker program. “But a growing number of sub-$250 device offerings, based on the Android operating system, have allowed Google’s hardware partners to grow smartphone volumes and expand the market concurrently.”

Vendor Highlights

Apple climbed back into the market leadership position with the launch of its iPhone 4S worldwide, and in the process it reached a new shipment volume record for itself and for the entire industry for a single quarter. Although the iPhone 4S disappointed some detractors by lacking 4G LTE connectivity or a different size screen, demand was high for the device. In addition, the combination of holiday seasonality, the delay in product launch from 3Q to 4Q, and the addition of multiple mobile operators helped drive volumes higher.

Samsung marked a series of milestones for the quarter: breaking the 30 million units mark for the first time, posting the largest year-over-year increase among the top vendors, and finishing 2011 as the overall smartphone market leader. Its series of Galaxy smartphones continued to expand, with attention to both the high-end (Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus) and mass market (Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Y), while the company updated its Omnia and Focus smartphones with Windows Phone Mango.

Nokia posted the largest year-over-year decrease among the top vendors, but its smartphone strategy took another step forward with the release of its first Windows Phone smartphones, the Lumia 710 and the Lumia 800. Company CEO Steve Elop claims that the company shipped ‘well over a million units’ in its debut quarter, and is using early feedback to adjust its marketing and sales strategy. At the same time, demand for its Symbian-powered smartphones appears to have waned, and smaller volumes are expected in 2012.

Research In Motion finished the quarter with a mixed bag of results. Its new BB OS 7-powered BlackBerry smartphones reached additional markets, and total volumes for the quarter staved off a fourth consecutive quarter of sequential decline. Still, overshadowing these results was the global network outage in October, followed by announcements that its first BB 10-powered smartphones will not arrive to market until late 2012. Such a delay gives the competition opportunity to attack RIM’s strongholds. With new Chairperson and CEO Heins in place as of January, RIM assures that change is coming both internally and externally.

HTC maintained a strong pace of device releases during the quarter, with the launch of the Windows Phone-powered Titan and Radar models, the Beats-influenced Rezound, and the LTE-enabled Vivid in addition to multiple other Android-powered smartphones. As has been HTC’s approach all year long, these device launches kept the company’s product portfolio well attuned to both operator and end-user tastes. Despite the many high-profile launches during the quarter, however, the Taiwanese vendor still shipped lower volumes compared to the previous quarter.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q4 2011 (Units in Millions) 

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, February 6, 2012

Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

This chart is intended for public use in online news articles and social media. Instructions on how to embed this graphic are available by clicking here.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share Calendar Year 2011 (Units in Millions) 

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, February 6, 2012

Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the United States last quarter according to new data released on Monday. A new report from market research firm The NPD Group suggests that the three best-selling smartphones in America last quarter were all iPhones. Apple’s new iPhone 4S was deemed the top-selling smartphone this past holiday quarter, followed by the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS, which is now free on contract from AT&T. Two versions of Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone rounded out the top-5. Read on for more.

“Attracted by a faster processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making it the top-selling handset in Q4,” NPD analyst Ross Rubin said in a statement. “The iPhone 4S outsold the iPhone 4 by 75 percent, and outsold the iPhone 3GS, available for free on AT&T, five to one.” Apple reported last month that it sold more than 37 million iPhones into channels last quarter.

While Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the U.S. last quarter, Android maintained its operating system share lead according to NPD’s data. 48% of smartphone buyers opted for an Android device during the holiday quarter, while 43% chose iOS. The discrepancy was even greater among first-time smartphone buyers — 57% chose an Android device compared to an estimated 34% who chose an iPhone.

“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” Rubin noted. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.” The NPD Group’s full press release follows below.

The NPD Group: Apple Leads Mobile Handsets in Q4 2011, But Android Attracts More First-Time Smartphone Buyers

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, February 6, 2012 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, Apple leaped past Samsung and LG to become the best-selling U.S. handset brand in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011. In a quarter that featured the launch of the iPhone 4S and the addition of Sprint, Apple’s three available models combined to capture 43 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in Q4.

“Attracted by a faster processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making it the top-selling handset in Q4,” said Ross Rubin, executive director, Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group. “The iPhone 4S outsold the iPhone 4 by 75 percent, and outsold the iPhone 3GS, available for free on AT&T, five to one.”

Together, Android and iPhone accounted for over 90 percent of smartphone sales, with Android holding on to 48 percent of the smartphone market during the quarter; however, Android devices performed better among first-time smartphone buyers.  Based on the latest data from The NPD Group’s monthly Smartphone Track service, among the first-time smartphone buyers in Q4, 57 percent purchased Android phones compared to just 34 percent who purchased iPhones.

“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” Rubin said. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”

The overall share of mobile phone sales that are smartphones continued to climb in Q4 2011, reaching 68 percent of the total mobile phone market, which is an increase of 18 percentage points since Q4 2010. Based on the latest data from NPD’s monthly Mobile Phone Track service, average selling prices for smartphones increased eight dollars over the prior quarter, reaching $143 in Q4 2011, which is still below average price of $149 in Q4 2010. Led by continued steady sales for Apple’s iPhones, the top five best-selling mobile phone handsets in Q4 were as follows:

1. Apple iPhone 4S

2. Apple iPhone 4

3. Apple iPhone 3GS

4. Samsung GALAXY S II

5. Samsung GALAXY S 4G

Information this press release is from Mobile Phone Track and Smartphone Track, both of which report on the activities of U.S. consumers, age 18 and older, who reported purchasing a mobile phone or smartphone. NPD does not track corporate/enterprise mobile phone purchases.

Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy S III will reportedly be one of the thinnest smartphones in the world when it is unveiled in the coming months. South Korea’s Electronic Times News on Monday cited unnamed sources in claiming Samsung’s upcoming flagship superphone will pack impressive specs into a case that is just 7 millimeters thick; the thinnest version of Samsung’s current flagship, the Galaxy S II, features a case that is 8.49 millimeters thick. The site also states that the Galaxy S III will feature an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera, a Super AMOLED Plus display and the Android 4.0 operating system. An earlier report claimed the Galaxy S III could launch as soon as April, but Electronic Times News claims the handset will hit store shelves in May. Recent rumors suggest Samsung’s Galaxy S III will feature a quad-core processor, a Super AMOLED Plus HD display, 4G LTE connectivity, 2GB of RAM and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

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