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Has iPhone 5 eroded Apple’s loyal customer base?

Has iPhone 5 eroded Apple's loyal customer base?Ever since Apple debuted its first iPhone in 2007, the number of iPhone loyalists, who say that they definitely or probably will buy the next iPhone, has plummeted. According to a recent Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Lab Report, only 75 per cent of iPhone owners in Western Europe say they are likely to buy their next phone from Apple, down from 88 per cent in 2011.

US repeat purchase intentions have also seen a slight decline, down from 93 per cent in 2011 to 88 per cent in 2012, said the report. The figures have come almost a month after Apple launched its latest iPhone 5.

“There is no doubt that Apple is continuing its success in retaining existing user base while attracting new customers,” commented Paul Brown, director at Strategy Analytics’ User Experience Practice, adding, “negative press prompted by a perceived lack of recent innovation by Apple has meant we are starting to see some growth in the number of previously highly loyal consumers who are now reconsidering whether or not they will purchase a new iPhone for their next device.”

iPhone 5 poised for 10 million sales debut

Apple is poised for a record iPhone 5 debut and may not be able to keep up with demand as customers lined up in Sydney, Tokyo, Paris and New York to pick up the latest model of its topselling product. Apple is poised for a record iphone5  debut and may not be able to keep up with demand as customers lined up in Sydney, Tokyo, Paris and New York to pick up the latest model of its topselling product. Global sales started at the Apple Store in Sydney’s George Street at 8 am, as about 500 people waited to buy the device.

Sales also began in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, France, Canada, the US and the UK. The crowds reinforce estimates from analysts that the iPhone 5 will be the largest consumerelectronics debut in history. Apple may sell as many as 10 million iPhones during the weekend sales rush, according to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos.

iPhone 5 goes on sale at Apple’s flagship UK store

Queues snaked around Covent Garden in London’s West End as Apple fans gathered in their thousands to get their hands on the newly unveiled iPhone 5, with many having camped outside in a bid to be among the first to own the device.
When the doors finally opened at 8am this morning, Apple staff and the crowds outside chanted and cheered as the first customer, 22-year-old Ryan Williams, was ushered into the shop.
Mr Williams had spent a week in a tent in front of the shop to make sure he was first in line – not because of an overwhelming desire to own an iPhone 5, but rather as part of a charity fundraising effort for Cancer Research – the phone he collected was passed on moments later for £1000, with the same amount having been raised by a friend who sold his place in the queue to an eager iPhone enthusiast.
Some reviews have noted some flaws with the phone, but The Telegraph’s Technology Reporter Lucy Kinder believes the momentum is firmly in Apple’s favour for the moment.
“There are some concerns about software issues, especially in the mapping service on iOS6, but the Apple hysteria shows no signs of dying down just yet”

HTC launches 8X, 8S smartphones

The companies said the HTC devices would be available from November through more than 150 carriers in at least 50 countries

“We’ve been inspired by Windows Phone 8 to create new smartphones that give the platform the iconic design and personality it deserves,” said Peter Chou, HTC’s chief executive.

“Windows Phone has clearly emerged as one of the top mobile ecosystems and is competitive against any other smartphone platform in the world.”

Among the carriers participating are US-based AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, Europe’s Orange, O2 Telefonica, MTS, Three UK, T-Mobile and Vodafone and Asia-Pacific carriers Chunghwa Telecom, Optus, Singapore Telecommunications, Smartone,Telstra and Vodafone Australia.wan’s HTC unveiled its first smartphones powered by Microsoft’s Windows on Wednesday, in a boost for the US software giant’s efforts to break into a market dominated by Apple and Google. HTC and Microsoft previewed the 8X and 8S handsets in New York, boasting that they feature “iconicsound and “inc

 

Apple takes orders for 2 million iPhone 5s; shares hit $700

Apple iPhone 5 customersobliterated its single-day sales record for iPhone pre-sales, announcing that it took orders for more than 2 million iPhone 5s last Friday. That was more than double its previous mark of 1 million iPhones ordered the first day of pre-sales in October for the iPhone 4S.

The massive iPhone 5 numbers pushed Apple’s stock past $700 a share for the first time in after-hours trading Monday. The shares closed at $699.78, up $8.50, or 1.2%. The world’s most valuable company is now worth nearly $656 billion — about six times its value in June 2007, when it released the first iPhone.

And with shoppers already beginning to line up at an Apple retail store in New York City, the device’s official release Friday could break even more records.

“The customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

The Cupertino, Calif., company said demand for the phone quickly exceeded the initial supply, so although the majority of pre-orders will be delivered Friday, many will be delayed for shipment until October.

The demand was so overwhelming that it intermittently crashed Apple’s website and sites of retail partners in the first few hours after the phone became available for pre-sale. In just one hour, Apple.com sold out its release-day stock. AT&T and Verizon also announced their own shipping delays.

The hoopla over the new phone — which features a 4-inch retina display screen, 4G LTE high-speed connectivity, better cameras, iOS 6 and a smaller dock connector — is unprecedented, analysts said.

“The challenge will be for folks to calibrate their expectations,” said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. He’s predicting that Apple will sell 58 million iPhones in the holiday quarter.

The iPhone is Apple’s premier product, with more than 244 million sold since its debut five years ago, not including pre-sales of the iPhone 5. Sales of iPhones and related products and services accounted for 46% of Apple’s revenue in the most recent quarter and 58% in the previous quarter; about 60% of Apple’s profits are estimated to come from the iPhone.

In its last fiscal year, Apple reported revenue of $47.1 billion from iPhones and related products and services, up 87% from the previous fiscal year.

Now Nokia joins the anti-iPhone 5 party

First there was Samsung’s muscle-baring, fact-sharing anti-iPhone 5 ad, which ran yesterday. You know, the one that said the Galaxy S3 is full of features and the iPhone 5, well, isn’t.

And now Nokia is stiffening its fins in order to declare that its fine Lumia is happily better than Apple’s long-faced newcomer.

Just as news of Samsung’s ad came through on the hottest of wires, Nokia took to its Twitter account to declare: “Lumia 920: Wireless charging, amazing camera, screen you can use with gloves on and much more. No, it doesn’t take a genius. #switchtolumia.”

It is true that Helsinki is one place where using a screen with your gloves on is vital. It’s also extremely helpful when you’re performing abdominal surgery and your boyfriend texts you to ask whether you’d like pork or spaghetti Bolognese for dinner.

Still, I am a little concerned that Nokia has used the very same words with which Samsung headlined its own ululation: “It doesn’t take a genius.”

It surely doesn’t take a genius to realize that Samsung has just emerged from a rather brutal court case in which it was accused of flagrant copying. Yet here is Nokia apparently engaged in lifting word-for-word.

This is surely not what “the world’s most innovative smartphone” should be known for. I already smell a Samsung lawyer preparing his papers for the inspection of Judge Lucy Koh

A6 chip: More Apple, less ARM

Apple A6 may be a more unique Apple design than first believed. Apple’s chip investments may have borne native fruit with the A6.
The iPhone 5′s A6 may be more of an Apple creation than previous A series chips, according to an updated post by review site Anandtech.
Like Qualcomm, Apple is incorporating more of its in-house expertise into chips. And that means it’s getting further away from pure ARM designs. For example, the latest design from U.K.-based ARM is the Cortex A15, which Texas Instruments is using in future chips.
But Apple isn’t going that route, according to Anandtech. And that means that past Apple buyouts of chip design houses PA Semi and Intrinsity are bearing fruit.

Anandtech initially believed the A6 used the Cortex-A15 design.
But in a post on Saturday, Anandtech said that’s not the case.
“Based on a lot of digging over the past couple of days, and conversations with the right people, I’ve confirmed that Apple’s A6 [chip] is based on Apple’s own ARM based CPU core and not the Cortex A15,” wrote Anand Shimpi.
And this probably isn’t good news for Intel. If Apple is able to make increasingly powerful A series processors, they could theoretically be used for a MacBook Air-style product.
But only time will tell. Intel’s next chip, codenamed “Haswell,” will be its most power-efficient mainstream chip to date and also well suited for future MacBooks.

Smartphone race split three ways

With the launch of iPhone 5, the die has been cast for an intense competition among smartphones.

With Apple’s iPhone 5 trying to re-establish its supremacy over the Android devices such as Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X, it does look like Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 mobile phones will be the dark horse.

Though Research In Motion’s Blackberry has been aggressively marketing its smartphones in India in recent months, the global forecast for the company appears bleak in the wake of its fiscal forecast and falling market share.

Blackberry’s re-entry into the race for the best smartphone also depends on when it will launch its upgraded Blackberry OS 10. Read more →

Apple reveals prices for unlocked iPhone 5 in U.S., Canada

Apple reveals prices for unlocked iPhone 5 in U.S., Canada
But consumers hot for a carrier-unencumbered configuration will likely have to wait a few weeks for their new smartphone.If you’re in the market for an unlocked iPhone 5, Apple has posted a handy tool detailing how much you can expect to pay for each configuration.

The Apple Store’s comparison tool lists the 16GB iPhone 5 at $649, the 32GB at $749, and the top of the line model 64GB at $849. In Canada, where all models sold by Apple are unlocked, the same models are priced at — in Canadian dollars — $699, CAD $799, and CAD $899 , respectively.
However, those expecting to get their hands on Apple’s next-generation smartphone soon will have to put those hopes on hold. The iPhone maker hasn’t yet announced when consumers can expect availability, and users won’t be able to pre-order the carrier-unencumbered configuration tomorrow.

Apple Store representatives tell The Verge that the unlocked variant won’t be available at for purchase when Apple’s new flagship phone hits retailer shelves on September 21 and probably won’t be for several weeks.
A delay in sales of iPhones not linked to a wireless carrier’s two-year contract are not unheard of and may be a concession to carrier partners; an unlocked version of the iPhone 4S didn’t go on sale last year until November 11 — almost a full month after the carrier-subsidized versions.

Samsung Galaxy Note II may hit AT&T the same day as Nokia

If you were deciding between the Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Nokia Lumia 920 (and/or Lumia 820, for that matter), but didn’t know if they’d all be working on your favorite carrier AT&T, today’s you’re lucky day! A tip has been dropped today about the Galaxy Note II on how it not only appears to be hitting AT&T as its predecessor the original Note did, but will be appearing on October 21st, the same day as the new Nokia Lumia lineup.The Samsung Galaxy Note II is a massive 5.5-inch display-having phablet device that’s smaller than a tablet but bigger than a smartphone, complete with a Samsung-made S-Pen for writing on the display and taking notes. This S-Pen works with technology unique to Samsung and fits neatly inside the casing of the mobile device for easy transport. Have a peek at a hand-on video with some of the most recently revealed features in this next-generation device.

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