Android Number One in China: 90% of Chinese Market Now Using Android Devices

Outside of North America and Europe, China represents the next frontier for profits where smartphones are concerned. The competition is fierce and just like here in the West, it seems to be an all-out slug fest.

The two biggest players are of course Android and Apple’s iOS but the clear winner so far—and by a wide margin—is Android. A new report into mobile OS composition in China has shed some light on just how fast Google has managed to embed Android into the smartphone-consciousness of the Chinese. In 2011 Google had just 58.2% of the Chinese smartphone market—by the 3^rd quarter of 2012 that figure had jumped to 83% of the market.

Now, according to data released by Analysys International, Android’s total share of the Chinese mobile market is now a staggering 90.1%–an almost complete lockout of anyone else.

Android winning the zero sum game

If Android has 90.1% of the market then it means companies like Apple are fighting over a meager 9.9% market share. The data showed that iOS saw a slight drop in its share from 6% to 4.2%. Nokia had the biggest decline, falling from 6% to a very paltry 2.4% of the overall market share. Analysts have lamented Nokia position especially given that just a few years ago, the Chinese mobile market was dominated by Nokia. But such is the changing tide and right now, companies like Nokia and Apple can only watch as the little green robot charms its way into the hearts and minds of people in China.

A lot of people might be wondering why Android is so dominant but the quick and easy answer is that its dominance is tied to its ubiquity on a broader range of devices. Anyone in China who wants to own an iOS powered device can only go to Apple; Android enthusiast can chose between HTC, Samsung—even knockoff phones, which by many accounts are all powered by Android. But it’s not just smartphones that give Android the edge, the OS is also present on tablet and this has largely helped to push use of Android devices in the last 6 months in China.

When Apple does get the iPhone 5 to go on sale over there, it might have some success in clawing back market share but it won’t be by much. If many people in the U.S. and Europe are struggling to buy the iPhone 5, then the struggle will be an even greater one in China.

For now Google is winning—even if its services are heavily filtered by the Chinese government, its hardware is still the platform upon which local mobile device sales are built. Could this a leverage point for Google in getting more access to China? Quite possibly, but so far the search giant has been reluctant to try its luck in this regard.

One thing is certain and that is the fact that at this rate of growth, Google’s Android will be the only player in the Chinese marketplace in the coming couple of years.

Source: http://www.sitetrail.com/2012/11/16/android-number-one-in-china-90-of-chinese-market-now-using-android-devices/

Apple iOS 6 Causing Massive Overages: Downloading Content Multiple Times

Oh boy, Apple is having problems again. Fresh off its recovery from iOS 6 failing terribly with its native maps application, there are reports surfacing that users are experiencing overages due to a glitch in iOS 6 and its management of downloads and content streaming.

The report which was released by Public Radio Exchange labs, cites the frequent re-firing of download and streaming sessions for a number of apps including iTunes Match, various podcasts and other apps that use some sort of streaming capability.

According to some users, each download develops a perpetual loop in which content is downloaded over and over again. This of course is terrible for people who are concerned about maxing their data limits. So far Apple hasn’t come forward to either confirm or deny the claims made by Public Radio Exchange but various patches to iOS 6 have been released—one of which was sent out just last week. But it’s not just iOS 6 users who are having problem; one report suggests that those running iOS 5 may also be affected.

Public Radio Exchange explained one instance in which an iOS 5 user experienced overages: “Because the ranges of these requests seem to overlap and the requests themselves each carry some overhead, this causes a single download of an MP3 to use significantly more bandwidth than in iOS 5. In one case, the playback of a single 30MB episode caused the transfer of over 100MB of data.”

Could this spell further stock troubles?

Apple’s stock fell to a 5-month low recently, and although that decline was based largely on sales of the iPad mini, this latest fiasco could send the stock tumbling folder. The bug seems to be eating way at iOS 6 and this of course is the latest operating system powering the iPhone 5. Considering that the iPhone 5 has been dogged with assembly and delivery problems, the last thing Apple can afford to happen is for customers to end up paying more than they should for data they use. To say that this needs to be fixed ASAP is perhaps an understatement.

In the meantime, Public Radio Exchange and some users in Apple forums have been reporting success by updating to the very latest version of iOS 6 which is 6.0.1. Not doing so with the continued streaming of podcasts could result in overages headaches.

Some users have also reported success with contacting their carriers and requesting adjustments to their data use; presumably if you can show that the overage is directly connected with the bug, carriers will honor such requests.

Apple’s silence on the matter is of course very conspicuous, not least because right now customers aren’t happy across a range of its products. The recent high profile dismal of one of its executives also does not augur well for the company growing forward. The Christmas shopping season has been taking shape in the last few weeks and Apple can ill-afford to not be ready for hungry buyers.

Do you think Apple is finally feeling the effects of losing Steve Jobs? Share your thoughts below.

Source: http://www.sitetrail.com/2012/11/16/apple-ios-6-causing-massive-overages-downloading-content-multiple-times/

Mozilla Made $163 Million Last Year – From Google!

Mozilla is doing pretty well for a non-profit; in fact, things have got better for Mozilla since 2010 and much of that has been tied largely to the fortunes of Google. This is hard to believe that one of Mozilla’s creations, Firefox, is a direct competitor for Google Chrome. But such are the strange relationships and symbioses in tech that it’s hardly surprising.

In terms of actual numbers, Mozilla saw revenues in 2011 of $163 million—a 33% increase on the $123 million it made in 2010. Google continues to power much of that revenue growth with a 85% contribution to overall earnings.

Search contracts are lucrative

Mozilla and Google have had their differences, but the one thing that Mozilla has kept sight of is Google’s importance to the non-profit. The lucrative deal that sees Google being the default search engine in Firefox has helped Mozilla stay afloat for years and renewal of that contract last year is only proof that without Google, Firefox, may not even exist.

Since Mozilla has no direct way of charging people to use its products, these partnerships are important. The non-profit has similar search deals with Microsoft’s Bing, but the largest chunks of its users prefer Google. Other areas of the Mozilla operation rely heavily on Google too; many of the Foundation’s products are tied heavily into search and the “powered by Google” tag is very much present.

Mozilla helping to shape the free web

The fact that the Mozilla Foundation makes money at all will be seen with scepticism but that would be unfair. The level of programming and development that goes into all of the free products pushed out by the company has to be funded in some way. What perhaps should be lauded is Mozilla’s commitment to the free and open web. The partnership with Google is perhaps necessary act on Mozilla’s part.

There are few products and services on the web that are as unfettered as Firefox and Thunderbird; throw in the fact that both compete with heavily commercialized products and you can see just how effective and productive Mozilla has been in promoting its philosophy.

Mozilla Chair, Mitchell Baker believed that the Foundation will continue to be a big part of the free web moving forward: “after 20 years of developing the Web, we can now see how the Web can make yet another leap in its usefulness, fun, business opportunities and social benefit.”

Mozilla detractors should focus on helping the foundation stay relevant. The last few years has seen a massive erosion of use of Mozilla’s products and Firefox now sits behind Internet Explorer and Google Chrome—both are built to make money and the more and more they erode Firefox’s market share, the less free the web will be. If Bakers’ vision is to hold fast, it is going to take a lot of effort from users and anyone who has a vested interest in keeping a place on the web for non-commercial endeavors.

Do you think it cynical that Mozilla make as profit each year from its non-profit work? Share your thoughts below.

Source: http://www.sitetrail.com/2012/11/16/mozilla-made-163-million-last-year-%E2%80%93-from-google/