LATAM Telecom

IDC predicts worldwide mobile phone shipments will fall 8.3% in 2009 ( Cellular News ). Q4 08 shipments fell 11.6%, marking the first time the holiday quarter has not recorded double digit growth in seven years. IDC also scaled back the outlook for smartphones as a result of the industry's changing dynamics, reducing from previously stated 8.7% to 3.4% growth. It is expected, however, that in the coming years the industry will migrate toward the converged device segment and this segment will maintain positive growth in 2009. The explosive success of Apple's iPhone and the App Store have significantly affected demand for smartphones and are defining new industry trends, with other companies including Nokia, Verizon, RIM, Microsoft launching their own mobile application stores this year. A March ChangeWave survey of 4,292 cell phone owners confirmed a shift to smartphones, with Apple and RIM in a close race for market leadership while their competitors continue to suffer the eff...

"This is the exact time to invest - if you can - because not only is there opportunity, but there are lots of resources out there." - Mike Lazaridis Picture: Research In Motion co-CEOs Jim Balsillie (left) and Mike Lazaridis THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan We are one quarter into 2009, a year that is turning out to be one of the most challenging to navigate in recent history. As this first quarter comes to an end I want to share my thoughts on what to expect for the rest of the year. Like other sectors of the economy, the Telecom industry faces huge economic challenges as the United States and other nations slip into a global recession: The Telecom Industry will face a slowdown in 2009; IDATE reports that the telecom equipment market will suffer a downturn with an expected growth rate of 1% compared to the year before. This will affect infrastructure and mobile phones; IDC predicts worldwide mobile phone shipments to fall 8.3% in 2009 . Companies will face the downturn by limitin...

Pinky: Gee, Brain, what are we going to do tonight? Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world! Last week Google announced that GrandCentral, acquired by Google in 2007, is now Google Voice, with new features including voicemail to text and archive and search of SMS text messages. Analysts and bloggers are divided on how this will impact voice revenues from local and international calls, but the ability to offer free Internet calls will surely be seen as a threat. When Nokia announced last month that Skype came preloaded on the N97, it incurred the displeasure of mobile operators. According to Mobiletoday.co.uk , UK operators Orange and O2 may end up refusing to stock the N97 unless Nokia eliminated the application. The incursion of Skype and Google into telecommunications adds to the mounting pressure mobile operators are facing from new players. Last year, when Apple announced it was opening up its platform to developers, they redefined the power bal...

Rob Pegoraro, blogger and author of Fast Forward, the Washington's Post Personal Technology column, wrote yesterday about the new BlackBerry models (see BlackBerrys Again Get Sleeker but Can't Challenge iPhone ). I like Pegoraro's analysis on the new devices, it is very detailed and comprehensive, however his comparison to the iPhone, misses the point entirely. I have written extensively about how the iPhone is breaking new ground and challenging traditional handset vendors and operators to rethink their strategy. A quick look at how big players have responded since the iPhone was shown to the world at MacWorld 2007 is proof enough: Nokia recently unveiled its flagship phone for 2009, the N97, a few days ago and of course, RIM's new devices include touch screen devices that do mimic the iPhone user interface. Experience however, has shown that the BlackBerry VS iPhone challenge exists mostly in the minds of analysts, not in the marketplace. BlackBerry has positioned it...

Last week Apple released the much expected SDK for the iPhone, allowing thrid party applications to run on the handset. This move (from John O'Brien's Technology Blog MacChat ) will reposition the iPhone in the corporate segment, which up until now has been dominated by RIM's BlackBerry. The iPhone is already the second most popular smartphone after the BlackBerry but up until now it was not a serious contender in the corporate segment. It should be interesting to see how things evolve in Latin America, where just a couple of years ago the BlackBerry was introduced with much hype. Despite being a small niche (in some countries in LA, subscribers are only in the thousands), it has proven to be one of the highest revenue generating handsets for operators worldwide. In Latin America, however, the segment for smartphones is much smaller than in North America or Europe, and targeting this segment with special handsets can be tricky. Such is the case of the BlackBerry. This means...

From Cellular News today: "At the Macworld conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the company had sold 4 million units of its iPhone handset since it was launched exactly 200 days ago. He noted that was 20,000 phones sold per day, on average." Jobs claims that the market share for the iPhone in the USA has reached 19.5%, placing them second behind RIM within the smartphone market. Jobs announced several upgrades related to SMS functionality, an update on the SDK but no news regarding MMS. Jobs also failed to announce any new operator agreements and any update on the much expected 3G phone. Many analysts and industry experts expected Apple to introduce the 3G phone at this event.