Smartphone story

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India’s Smartphone Wars Whether it is local Indian brands such as Micromax or Karbonn or global majors such as Samsung, Blackberry or Apple’s iPhone, Smartphone are a hot segment today and all the brands are logged in a war to capture maximum market share

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he smartphones sales in India grew over 100% (year-on-year) in 2012 to reach 20 to 22 million units. For the first time, monthly sales crossed 2 million units in Q4 and smartphones breached the USD 75 price in the same quarter. Currently in India, almost all the mobile devices available over USD 150 are smartphones.

While both Nokia and Blackberry lost significant market share (faster than expected), Samsung continued its momentum from late 2011 into all of 2012 to 2013 and today it leads the market (both in terms of volume and value). Indian handset OEMs started showing early signs of replicating their feature phones success (between 2009-11) in the smartphone space beginning Q3 & Q4 2012.

According to industry estimates, the share of Indian players grew from sub 2% in Jan to close to 30% by Dec, 2012 (in volume).

And, these players duly supported by chipset (System-on-Chip, SoC) vendors and ODMs are driving down the smartphone prices in India.

Among operating systems, Android dominated the Indian smartphone market in 2012, primarily led by Samsung and the growth of Indian players in the latter half of the year. While Symbian’s (S60) deceleration was relatively slow in the first two quarters, it lost www.mobilityindia.com

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Cover Story significant share in the second half of the year primarily due to the lack of competitive device models and Nokia’s increased focus on ‘Asha’ series (primarily based on Symbian Series 40 OS).

To the most part of the year, Windows Phone based devices were only available in the high end, and although more affordable Nokia Lumia 610 & 510 were launched in the second half, they failed to garner significant share for the OS. Apple has increased its focus on Indian market in the last quarter of 2012, with increased distribution, marketing spends, team augmentation and this has reflected in increased sales of iPhones.

In 2013, Convergence Catalyst estimates the smartphone sales to grow approximately by 120% to range between 44 million and 48 million, forming 30% to 32% of total mobile handset sales in the country. This growth is expected to be primarily driven by wider acceptance of smartphones by Indian consumers and the devices coming down the price curve.

Experts also estimate that the sub USD 200 segment to contribute over 60% of total smartphone sales in 2013. Although, currently the user experience on the low-end smartphones (in the sub USD 75 segment) is not optimum, we expect this to be corrected towards the end of first half of the year, and the share of smartphones in the sub USD 75 segment to grow significantly in 2013.

Additionally as per the experts in the industry, Apple and Samusng are set to be the leading players in the over USD 450 segment with over 80% (volume) share between them. Samsung is expected to face stringent competition from local Indian players (in the low and mid tiers) and Apple (in the high end), and the company will have to work on strengthening its leadership position in the Indian smartphone space in 2013.

In 2013, Android’s dominance is expected to continue in India, primarily due to multiple devices being launched by both domestic and global OEMs, especially in the mass-market segment. Samsung’s consolidation of leadership position, growth of Indian OEMs and entry of other global players (such as Lenovo, Huawei, etc) in the smartphones space is expected to aid Android’s growth. We expect Apple’s iPhone devices sales to grow by almost 5x in 2013 (as compared to 2012) as the company leveraging its aspirational brand caters to significant pent-up demand through increased distribution, extensive marketing and innovative sales schemes. In 2013, we also expect Windows Phone share to grow over 7%, with the availability of affordable devices and Microsoft and Nokia marketing them extensively.

new iconic models by various brands (such as Samsung Galaxy S IV, Nokia EOS, iPhone 5S, etc) are expected to be launched as flagship devices in this segment. The availability of multiple devices offering differentiation and catering to the aspirational consumers is expected to increase the market size.

Smartphone Chipsets (SoCs) to Drive the Next Level of Growth – Convergence Catalyst expects 2013 to be the year of smartphone chipsets and the competition among chipset players to drive the growth of smartphones in the emerging markets. We expect smartphones in India to be available on chipsets of at least ten different players in 2013. Qualcomm, the current smartphone chipset leader, is expected to face stringent competition from Mediatek, Broadcom and Marvell in the USD 76 to USD 180 segment, and in the high-end lose share to Samsung and Apple (whose high-end iconic devices are built on indigenous Exynos and Ax series chipsets). As the LTE ecosystem starts to take off in India (in the second half of 2013), we expect other players such Altair, Renesas, etc to enter the Indian market providing solutions for a wide range of devices.

Entry of Multiple Global and Indian Smartphone OEMs – Global players such as Lenovo, Huawei, etc., are expected to make fullfledged foray into the Indian smartphone market with wide range of devices across the portfolio and strong marketing push. Indian brands to expand their footprint and consolidate their position in the low & mid tier segments.

Increased Reverse Bundling with Wireless Carriers – As the wireless carriers focus on increasing the adoption and usage of data-based services in India, we expect them to partner with various smartphone players offering bundled data plans with devices, especially in the sub USD 200 segment New Smartphone OSs to Have Little Impact in 2013 – India is primarily a follower market and is rarely a market of choice for players to launch devices on new platforms, considering the amount of resources needed for marketing and building ecosystem. So, although the world would witness smartphones on new platforms such as Sailfish (targeted at China), Firefox OS (targeted at carrier markets), Tizen (expected to be launched in late 2013) and Ubuntu in 2013, we expect only a few models of these devices to enter Indian market and have little or no impact (in terms of overall smartphone sales in 2013).

India’s Top 5 Smartphones We at Mobility are presenting our list of five best of the line Smartphones with a right mix of performance and features.

Other Smartphones trends for 2013 in India Increase in the Total Addressable Market of >USD 450 Segment HTC One – As per our research, there exist about 24 device models in the HTC One is a fantastic high-end smartphone that almost manages high-end (>USD 450) smartphones space currently. In 2013, many to do everything very well. The two places it falters is in terms of

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Cover Story camera performance and limited customization options within the interface. For `42,900, we would advise you to wait until the Samsung Galaxy S4 becomes widely available.

You’ve got to feel for HTC. The Taiwanese phone maker has been churning out quality devices for years now but every single time, no matter how good the phones are, they always tend to be overshadowed by the likes of Samsung.

HTC One is a phone that exudes class and polish and manages to impress the hell out of us with its performance and features.

But does it do enough to help HTC withstand the upcoming juggernaut that is Samsung Galaxy S4?

On account of being a top of the line smartphone, HTC has packed in almost every single feature you can think of into the One. As has become standard on most high-end Android smartphones, the One wields a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, giving it a pixel density of 469 ppi, which makes it richer than the iPhone 5 (326 ppi) and the Samsung Galaxy S4 (441 ppi). The One’s display is of the Super LCD 3 variety and, as a result, is on par with the other smartphones in its segment.

The HTC One is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, 2 GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU. The One doesn’t support microSD cards but does offer 32GB of internal storage, which should be sufficient for all your needs. Buying the HTC One also gives you an additional 23 GB of free cloud storage on Dropbox, so if you ever run out of space on the phone, you can always use the cloud.

Connectivity-wise also , the One is packed to the brim with features. The HTC One supports 3G, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi Hotspot), DLNA and Bluetooth 4.0. Outside India, the One comes with 4G LTE support and you’ll also be able to make use of its NFC chip.

The One uses a 4MP shooter as its primary camera but don’t let that relatively tiny number turn you off. Images shot with the HTC One have larger pixels than those shot with cameras (a feature the marketing mavens at HTC call ‘UltraPixel’) with bigger megapixel camera counts. As a result, at least theoretically speaking, every single pixel in an image captured by the HTC will have more visual information packed in. We will see if the UltraPixel technology actually lives up to its name later in this review.

Apple Iphone 5 This is the best iPhone in the market, but that really isn’t a surprise, is it? But then again, for a phone that costs `45,500, it 6

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better justify the expense. The iPhone 5 is an incremental update over the 4S, but the best phone incrementally improved is equal to a huge improvement. Yes, the nano-SIM is a pain to get, and the Maps are pretty much ruined. But what you get is exquisite build quality, blazing fast performance, very good battery life, one of the best cameras in a phone and a display that just makes using the iPhone a lot more fun.

When the iPhone 5 actually released, it was like the worst kept secret. The critics found that a point to pounce on.

But that doesn’t take away from the simple fact – the iPhone 5 is an excellent evolution of what was already a very good product, the iPhone 4S. For all the hype about the bigger display and the taller form factor, the iPhone 5 feels brilliant in the hand. The basic design remains pretty much like the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S, with the slightly elongated form factor. We really mean it when we say that photographs don’t do it justice, and you need to hold it in all its real glory to understand all the excitement about it. The shape is exactly the same, just slimmer, with the four rounded edges and the metal strip running around the sides as a frame.

There are those exact same “cuts” at the top and the bottom of the sides, right and left. As we show in the video, the front and the back now sit more flush with the sides, unlike the iPhone 4S where the front and the back sat considerably above the metal band strip.

The volume rocker has been given the same treatment as the previous generation, and we like the continuity. The finish on the back panel is quite different from the 4S. The glass-ish look is now replaced with a brushed look. The flipside is, that it’ll get scratched rather easily.

Immediately, the weight difference does make you sit up and notice that the iPhone 5 is considerably lighter than the 4S. The 4S tipped the scales at 140 grams, while the iPhone 5 does that at 112 grams.

Samsung galaxy S4 Battle Royale for 2013. We may not see a bigger battle between two flagship devices this year. Maybe we will, but at the moment, this seems like the issue undisputedly ruling the otherwise rather fickle minded industry. HTC made the first move with the One. That phone, without doubt, is gorgeous. But Samsung is taking that on by loading the Galaxy S4 with so many features that you might actually end up being confused! On the outside, it looks a lot like the predecessor, but the internals and the features are the completely refreshed and upgraded bit. The Galaxy S III was possibly the most popular smartphone in the Android ecosystem, to take on the Apple iPhone, and it is understandable that Samsung wanted to retain the familiarity aspect and what was till now a winning formula. That seems a fairly good idea in most circumstances. www.mobilityindia.com

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Cover Story Let us start this detailed review by looking at the build and design of the Samsung Galaxy S4 first.

At various points in the review, you will notice direct comparisons with the HTC One, for the sake of enabling you, the potential buyer, to understand all the nittygritties involved, and make an informed decision.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 does pretty much follow the same design pattern as the Galaxy S III. But, from all the feedback and queries we have received from our readers, the point that the Galaxy S4 is essentially held together by plastic, does seem to take primary attention. We believe that Samsung followed the logic that says “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”, because the Galaxy S III was doing very well. The fans will point out that the S III held its own, rather comfortably, against the much better built iPhone – at least in terms of materials used.

So, why assume that the S4 will not do the same against the HTC One and the Apple iPhone. But, they do forget one point – HTC One is now, undisputedly, the best-built Android smartphone in the market today. The Galaxy S III, at its time, was not working under the shadow of such an entity, at least in Google Nexus 4 Google has officially unveiled a bunch of eagerly awaited products, namely the Google Nexus 4 (made by LG), a premium Nexus 10 tablet (made by Samsung) and a refresh of the Nexus 7 tablets.

First up is the Nexus 4, made by LG and a rather poorly kept secret. After a series of leaked photos, some poor chum actually went ahead and lost the phone at a local bar. Not really sure if the story is true, or Google is just trying to poke some fun at Apple, but regardless, we now officially have the Nexus 4, which runs on Android 4.2 (still Jelly Bean). There’s not much we didn’t already know about the specs, but just to re-iterate, it runs off a Snapdragon S4 Pro processor (yup, 4 whole cores) along with 2GB RAM. There’s a True HD IPS Display panel with a 1280x768 resolution

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and an 8 megapixel rear camera. The phone is supposed to be available unlocked straight from the Google Play Store on November 13 with the 8GB variant costing $299 and the 16GB model $349.

Next we have the Nexus 10, Google’s premium slate that’s supposed to take on the iPad 4. Designed with curved edges, the slate definitely looks a lot easier to hold, but the real greatness lies on the inside. The Nexus 10 is powered by a Samsung Exynos 5250 dual-core 1.7 GHz processor along with a Mali T640 GPU. There is also 2 whole gigabytes of RAM, NFC and stereo speakers, but the real kicker lies in the display. The Nexus 10 has a native resolution of 2560x1600, pegging its pixel density at a whopping 300 ppi (the iPad 4’s display is 264 ppi). This gorgeous looking powerhorse can be all yours for modest price of $399 for the 16GB version and $499 for the 32GB version.

Last but not the least, we see a refresh in the Nexus 7 lineup.

The 32GB variant has already been leaked several times through store inventories, but now, its official and priced at $249 while the 16GB version drops to $199. The 7-inch tablet also gains HSPA+ (3G) ability, but is only available on the 32GB variant and will cost $299.

Nokia Lumia 920 Nokia’s latest flagship, and runs the spanking new Windows Phone 8 OS. There is a lot of hype around the PureView camera, but isn’t as exceptional as Nokia would have you believe. However, it is still quite amazing, besting the iPhone 5 in most situations, including low-light environments and video quality. The lack of apps for the Windows Phone 8 platform is honestly not a deal breaker. You do get a lot of WP8 and Nokia exclusive features anyway. If you’re in the market for a new high end smartphone, the Lumia 920 should be something you definitely consider.

The Nokia flagship has finally landed, with the Lumia 920 now adorning store shelves in all Nokia Priority stores across the country.

We’ve been really excited about this phone and the camera isn’t the only reason. When Nokia first unveiled the device, the Lumia 920 had impressed us with its high-resolution curved glass display (which is meant to works even with gloves on), its sturdy and gorgeous polycarbonate body, and wireless charging.

We spent a lot of time with this and we’ve got a lot of things to say about it and therefore, we’re going to approach this review a little differently. We’re going to break it down into three sections; Camera, Hardware, and Software, as everything about this phone can be covered under these three heads.

The imaging tech in the Lumia 920 carries the PureView branding, bringing Optical Image Stabilization, (a first in a cell phone camera), along with a fast aperture of f/2.0 which lets light onto an 8.7 megapixel BSI sensor. In a conventional OIS system, there is generally one floating lens element that moves to compensate for shake, but in the Lumia 920, the five lens elements that form the entire optical assembly of the camera move together. Nokia says that this allowed them to miniaturize the OIS system sufficiently.

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