Apple Leads Cell Phone Industry with 32% of the Total Industry Profit
Question: How does a newcomer introduce just one cell phone, and absolutely obliterate their competition with respect to profit?
Answer: They build an iPhone.
Top Cell Phone Manufacturers' Estimated Revenues Compared to Apple's
In the cell phone game, the Apple iPhone only accounts for 8% of the total industry revenue, but 32% of the total industry profit. How they managed this feat is quite simple. They pull in a 40% operating margin, in an industry that averages only 7.5%. The next most profitable company in the industry, RIM, only takes in 20.7% operating margin.
[ iSmashPhone.com ]
AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Sprint respond to Verizon’s Unlimited Cell Phone Plans
- AT&T is offering unlimited voice for $99 and unlimited connectivity and messaging for $35. One year contract is required for new subscribers and data plans are unchanged, though.
- Analysts are expecting Sprint to, “offer flat-rate calling plans at up to 40 percent discount to it’s rivals” — bringing unlimited wireless minutes into the $60 range for sprint customers.
- $99 buys you unlimited voice and text (including text, picture and IM) at T-Mobile. Previously, the Deutsche Telekom owned mobile operator has been selling unlimited text messaging for $14.99 and 5,000 minutes of calls for $129.99.
Sources: IntoMobile, Reuters
Random Links for February 18, 2008
20+ Tools For Working With Colors
Sometimes all you need to get inspired to build a site is picking a color scheme, or even if you get stuck later in development you need some color help. Mashable.com has gathered 20+ tools for helping the “color challanged” designers.
Source: Mashable
The Analog Cellphone Timeline
Source: Gizmodo
Hide an Image in HTML — Reveal it by Highlighting Text with your Mouse
Source: BoingBoing
p.s. This is really cool.
14 Hidden Hotel Fees to Avoid
Source: Fodors
Hottest Google Search Terms for February 18:
1. patricide
2. ziggs
3. dancing with the stars
4. alex cambert
5. dan cortese
6. kit carson
7. my dad is better than your dad
8. ziggs.com
9. marlee matlin
10. juicy campus
Open Mouth, Insert Foot
Every once in a while—perhaps as often as the solar equinox or emergence of the breeding cicadas—I open my mouth and say something I later regret. And when I do so, I feel it is my duty to own up to my mistake. So, with my sneaker on my plate, I apologize to all of you about my July 5th rant, Why a True Apple Fan Would Never Buy an iPhone.
Why, you ask? Allow me to explain.
I decided that I needed a smart phone with true email capabilities about two months ago. Looking around at the options out there, I wasn’t particularly blown away by any of the smart phones I played around with at the Verizon store. On second look, the iPhone started to seem like a phone I could (*ahem) learn to live with.
Fast forward two months.
My iPhone and I are best friends, and in some countries, possibly married. I absolutely cannot live without it. The email software is incredible and syncs perfectly with my .Mac account and IMAP business account. The camera is beautiful and I find myself constantly taking pictures with my phone—something I’ve never done in the 11+ years I’ve been a cell phone user. I use the iPhone religiously for iPod purposes, and my video podcasts have never looked better. And the Safari browser has proven to be a mid-argument-dispute-resolution miracle on more than one occasion.
Sure, the iPhone has some problems. Edge isn’t too quick, and 8 gigs just isn’t enough memory. But the goods FAR outweigh the bad. Software updates have even fixed a number of the issues I once complained about. Reading through my previous post, I’ve had to ask myself: Am I so jaded that a technical marvel like the iPhone can elicit a complaint from me?
Mr. Jobs, if you’re reading this, please accept my apology. Please continue to deliver me gadgets like the iPhone. And please forgive us tech-geeks when we are overly critical. We don’t mean it.
*Sometimes.
Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s iPhone software development capabilities.
Are cell phone projectors on the Way?
Via Gizmodo
South Korea’s Iljin Display has been crowing about its coin-sized laser projector module for more than a year with no haps, but now the company says it’s inked a deal with South Korea Telecom (SK Telecom) to mass-produce the projector for use inside cellphones. Is Iljin’s so-called Nano Projector finally for real? [more]
Who Watches Mobile Video?
A recent article by Katie on NewTeeVee pointed out that according to data from Nielsen, middle-aged men with high incomes are the main demographic of Americans watching video on their cell phones. On the surface it may seem that this proves that the price point is still too high (which it is), but my theory is that the type of video programming also plays a part.
Nielsen is launching a mobile stat service called Nielsen Wireless, and has compiled some preliminary data. In the first quarter of 2007:
- Eight million persons 12 and older viewed video on their mobile phone (this excludes videos created with a phone’s camcorder function)
- The mobile video audience skewed somewhat older and male: 46 percent of the mobile video audience is 35 years or older and 54 percent of the audience is male.
- At least 7 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds viewed mobile video programming in the first quarter of 2007, while at least 25 percent used their mobile phone to connect to the Internet
- A total of 33 million people in the US used the mobile Web.
- As of May 31, more than half, 55 percent, of primary users of video-enabled mobile phones lived in households with total incomes of $75,000 or above
Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile video production capabilities.
I never write 2 posts about the same topic but Microsoft’s Milan is just amazing.
You can actually:
1. Take a photo on a digital camera
2. Place the camera on the table
3. Place you cell phone on the table
4. Drag the visual image of the photo from the camera to the phone
Via Popular Mechanics
Link sent from Phil
We have released our Mobile Ocean ™ Flash Lite screensaver/wallpaper to Handago.com today. Mobile Ocean is the perfect cell phone screensaver/wallpaper for any marine lover. This product features seven tropical fish, four underwater scenes, and a digital clock.
Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile screensaver design capabilities.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.punchkickinteractive.com/content/handango/MobileOcean_DEMO.swf" width="176" height="208"/]
Detailed Product Features:
- Built using Adobe Flash Lite 1.1 technology
- Seven tropical fish swimming across four unique underwater scenes
- An ideal mobile wallpaper or screensaver
- Includes an AM/PM digital clock
- For maximum Symbian phone compatibility, five different .swf file sizes are included: 96×65, 128×160, 176×208, 176×220, and 240×320
Purchase Mobile Ocean here for $1.99.
Mobile Ocean is the property of Punchkick Interactive Inc. Copyright © 2006-2007. All rights reserved.
SMS campaign demonstration. Feedback requested.
We are experimenting with sending phones SMS messages based on actions within a Flash Lite movie. To test this, we have implimented a way for our visitors to sample an SMS campaign—simply type your mobile number in the form located at the top right of our blog. Use the following format: 12165261544 (country code + area code + local number). Unfortunately, we have not been able to test this on all carriers or outside of the United States. If you do test this, please comment on the success or failure of the text message delivery by including your country and cell phone carrier.
Thanks for your help!
Sorry to have been away. I was visiting Vancouver, BC.
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days—I have been away on business in Vancouver, BC. Along with the opportunity to see haunting anti-smoking ads (p.s. I don’t smoke), I have been poking my head into a few cell phone shops. Nothing really has come up that I haven’t already seen online. The undiscovered Flash Lite gem that I was hoping to find never did appear. Oh well.
A few of the highlights were the views and the food. So far, I have eaten at Bin 941 twice. I would plan a vacation around this tapas restaurant. The food is unspeakably good. I have eaten at many restaurants, but this one was the best of my life in so many ways.
The scenic views around Vancouver have been amazing. This is one of the most beautiful cities I have every seen. When I was flying in, the mountains were absolutely breathtaking. I would rate this a must-visit place.
