As this tablet is to hit the market before other Win8 tablets are launched by the OEM licensees, it would suggest that Microsoft aims to showcase the full capabilities and benefits of Win8 on a tablet device (available as both ARM-based and Intel x86 processor technology versions) and has therefore decided to take responsibility for the hardware.
ZTE hopes to help pave the way to becoming third largest handset vendor by 2015 with an array of eight new devices launched at MWC 2012. Although a global aspiration, the new devices will mainly target users in Europe, Japan, the USA and China.
Whilst Sony Ericsson devices were still being ranged last month at CES in Las Vegas, the company has now gone it alone at MWC with its first Sony branded devices. Building on its XPERIA branded Android phones, the company has announced three smartphones, the XPERIA S, P and U, which help it segment across price and feature tiers.
Nokia’s set of recent results for 4Q11 show some of its worst results ever for a final quarter. While total volume shipments were down eight per cent year-on-year, probably in line with expectations, surprisingly volume sales for smart devices were down a massive 31 per cent – and this during a quarter when Nokia launched its eagerly-awaited Microsoft Windows Lumia smartphones.
Although not among the most super of smartphones currently available, Nokia’s new Windows Phone offerings, branded as Lumia, are sure to provide a much-needed boost to its fortunes in the smartphone market.
According to the latest forecasts from Informa Telecoms & Media, Android tablet sales will be neck and neck with the iPad in 2015 with 87 million and 90 million unit sales, respectively. Although Apple has dominated this space since the launch of the iPad in 2010, this is set to change with the introduction of low-cost Android tablets, the wider launch of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and the possibility of other major brands such as Amazon launching tablets on the OS.
Only two months after announcing a new smartphone strategy to phase out Symbian OS and focus on Microsoft’s Windows Phone, Nokia today announced plans for a strategic collaboration with Accenture in which Nokia would outsource its Symbian software activities and transition about 3,000 employees to Accenture. At the same time, Accenture would provide mobility software services to Nokia for future smartphones, including business and operational services around the Windows Phone platform, as well as to other ecosystem participants.
This is a “make-or-break” strategy by both Microsoft and Nokia. Yes, the two companies are the most known brands in the consumer electronics, yes they have complementary strengths and bringing these strengths together could help them create a strong ecosystem, yes both companies want to be friendly to mobile operators and seeking to use them as the main channel to consumers. Yes both companies have an incredible marketing budgets and resources and the combination of their efforts is likely to strengthen the image of both brands. All these assets could enable the two companies to change the landscape of mobile converged devices in the future.
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