1 Local Studies

http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-philippines-continues-to-embrace-android/
By Joel D. Pinaroc for Pinoy Post | December 10, 2013 -- 00:55 GMT (08:55
GMT+08:00) | Topic: Mobility

For most Filipinos, the Android operating system (OS) is the mobile OS of choice when it
comes to smartphones.
In fact, about 91 percent (or nine out of 10) smartphones sold in the Philippines run on
Android, according to a survey by research firm GfK.
According to GfK, the Philippines has the highest Android penetration rate in the six
countries in the Southeast Asian region, the survey said.
The country's 91 percent rating is ahead of Malaysia, with a close to 83 percent rate, and
Singapore, which is third, at 81 percent.
On average, more than 70 percent of smartphones across the region are now powered by
Android.
The trend is region wide, with each country continuing to post growth when it comes to
Android. This in turn spurred brisk sales of gadgets powered by this OS.
As most users would know, the Android OS was developed by Android, which was later on
bought by search giant Google. One of the main selling points of Android is that it is flexible
and based on an open-source standard that allows software developers to create
applications.
For Filipinos, it seems that the ultra-competitive price points of smartphones that are locally
made is the top reason for the uptick trend, and that users seem to have developed an
affinity with the Android OS and the thousands of apps that are either for free or for sale at a
minimal fee.

Local gadget companies are having a field day selling smartphones that are priced lower
than 3,000 pesos (about $67) with the latest Android OS, and all the bells and whistles that
one could wish for in a smartphone.
This does not mean that the more established players in the smartphone industry (the likes
of Samsung, Apple, Sony, HTC, etc) are suffering when it comes to sales. It seems the
Filipino consumer is very well aware that there is a wide variety of gadgets to suit
everyone's personal preferences and individuals budgets.
It might be a bit of a stretch, but aside from being the texting capital of the world, it seems
the Philippines is on its way of becoming an Android country.

Local Books
(Newspaper & Magazine)
http://www.yugatech.com/gooooogle/google-calls-out-apple-we-already-did-these-5years-ago/

Google calls out Apple: We already did these 5 years

ago
KEVIN BRUCE FRANCISCO
JUNE 26, 2014

During the recently-concluded I/O conference, Google somehow retaliated back

at Apple after they insulted them earlier this month saying, Android dominates the
market in malware. To which Google said that what theyre doing now isnt new at all
and has already been done by Android years ago.

In addition to what Apple fired against Google they also quoted an article that
mentioned, Android fragmentation is turning devices into toxic hellstew of
vulnerabilities. As a comeback, Googles Sundar Pichai showed a slide that reports the
progress of Android over time and said, If you look at what other platforms are getting
now: Widgets, custom keyboards many of these things came to Android four, maybe
five years ago.
He didnt say that it was specifically Apple, but iOS was written on the slide referring to
widgets, custom keyboards, and text prediction that the Cupertino company has

announced last WWDC. For Google, this is nothing new and it just reminds them of their
old Android OS version 1.5.
The competition between these two has been going on for years, but we can only
expect more in the future as they try to outshine each other and fight for the top spot in
mobile technology.
{Source}

http://newsbytes.ph/2014/02/13/android-ios-account-for-95-7-of-smartphoneshipments-q4/

Android, iOS account for 95.7%

of smartphone shipments Q4
The smartphone market passed an important milestone in 2013 when worldwide shipments
surpassed the 1 billion mark for the first time, driven by continued momentum from Android and iOS.

According to research firm IDC, Android and iOS accounted for 95.7 percent of all smartphone
shipments in the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13), and for 93.8 percent of all smartphone shipments for
the year.
This marked a 4.5-point increase from the 91.2 percent share that the two platforms shared in 4Q12,
and a 6.1-point increase from the 87.7 percent share they had in 2012.
Clearly, there was strong end-user demand for both Android and iOS products during the quarter
and the year, said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDCs Mobile Phone team.
What stands out are the different routes Android and Apple took to meet this demand. Android relied
on its long list of OEM partners, a broad and deep collection of devices, and price points that
appealed to nearly every market segment.
Apples iOS, on the other hand, relied on nearly the opposite approach: a limited selection of Appleonly devices, whose prices trended higher than most. Despite these differences, both platforms
found a warm reception to their respective user experiences and selection of mobile applications.
While smartphone market growth remained strong in 2013, it should be noted that the era of doubledigit annual growth has only a few years remaining. In the meantime, handset vendors are doing all
they can to capture demand while it is still present.
Worldwide smartphone marketing campaigns continue to stay focused on flagship devices like the
iPhone 5S, Galaxy Note 3, and the HTC One, yet research shows that consumer buying is rapidly
shifting toward products with significantly lower price points.
In 2013 we saw the sub-$200 smartphone market grow to 42.6 percent of global volume, or 430
million units, said Ryan Reith, program director with IDCs Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone
Tracker.
While the market moves downstream to cheaper products it makes sense for Samsung and others
to continue their marketing investments geared toward high-end products. These efforts build crucial
brand perception while having less expensive alternatives that closely relate to these top products
helps to close the deal.
Samsung has done exactly this with the Galaxy line. The family name is associated with
Samsungs high-end products, yet there are Galaxy variants offered by Samsung at much lower
price points than the Note 3 and S4. This has been an important factor in how Samsung has
sustained its market lead.

OS highlights
Android finished the year where it began: as the clear leader in the smartphone operating system
race. Samsung led all Android vendors with a commanding 39.5 percent share of shipments for the
year. Worth watching is a crowded list of vendors jockeying for position in 2014, including Huawei,
LG, Lenovo, Coolpad, and Sony. Should Lenovos bid to acquire Motorola Mobility be realized, the
new company will leap ahead of Huawei, which was the number 2 Android vendor in 2013.
iOS posted the lowest positive growth for both the quarter (6.7 percent) and for the year (12.9
percent), underperforming the overall market in both instances. Although it remains wildly popular in
the smartphone market, Apple has been criticized for not offering a new low-cost iPhone nor a large
screen iPhone in 2013 to compete with other OEMs. IDC believes the company will release a largescreen version in 2014, but will not altogether abandon the smaller 4 screen version of previous
models.
Windows Phone posted the largest increase for both the quarter (46.7 percent) and the year (90.9
percent), with each nearly doubling the growth of the overall market. Nokia easily led all vendors with
89.3 percent market share, a testament to its expanding portfolio that addressed entry-level all the
way up to large-screen smartphones. What remains to be seen in 2014 is how Microsofts acquisition
of Nokias smart devices will propel volumes higher.
BlackBerry was the only operating system to realize negative year-over-year change both for the
quarter (-77.0 percent) and for the year (-40.9 percent). Moreover, its legacy BB7 outpaced BB10
towards the end of the year, definitely not the results that the company had hoped for when it
released BB10 in January. With new leadership, management, and a tighter focus on the enterprise
market, BlackBerry may in a better position, but still finds itself having to evangelize the new platform
to its user base.