Author: Horace Dediu

Nokia Tablet?

“Getting a strong Intel backing here could be an important advantage,” says MKM Partners analyst Tero Kuittinen, who sees the Nokia tablet as part of an array of mobile computers.

via Nokia Aims a Tablet at Apple: Exclusive | Technology | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com.

No doubt Nokia’s tablet plans preceded the launch of the iPad–product cycles being what they are.  And the relationship with Intel is certainly a big part of this push (vs. on the handset side where Intel has no cards to play).

However, the elephant in the room is what software will run on this Tablet.  Any discussion on competitive potential of iPad competitors must include a view on the software/platform and ecosystem that tablet will rest on.

This is not a hardware business.  In fact, the hardware is designed to get out of the way.

The hardware is so understated — it’s just a screen, really — and because you manipulate objects and interface elements so smoothly and directly on the screen, the fact that you’re using an iPad falls away. You’re using the app, whatever it may be, and while you’re doing so, the iPad is that app. Switch to another app and the iPad becomes that app. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.

source: http://db.tidbits.com/article/11152

The Mobile Web vs. the Objective-C Web

At one point in time, J2ME (now Java ME) and WAP were the starting points for a discussion on mobile strategy and the web. Then, for a brief period of time, you talked about HTML/CSS. Now, for a growing majority of mobile strategies that don’t require a global presence on widely varying devices, the discussion begins with iPhone. Smart client is now iPhone app, and in many cases, the app is primary to the experience, not secondary to the browser. And iPad app may soon replace iPhone app as the starting point.

Frankly, as the adoption rate of iPhone increases and if iPad follows suit, it will become increasingly difficult to argue in favor of a starting point other than iPhone OS. The NPR iPad app, for one, provides a much more pleasant user experience than NPR.org.

via Cameron Moll: Designer, Speaker, Author The Mobile Web vs. the Objective-C Web.

Google and Microsoft swap mobile share

according to a report published Monday. ComScore reported that Google’s share of smartphone subscribers rose to 9%, compared to 3.8% at the end of November. Meanwhile Apple’s share fell 0.1 points to 25.4%, while Microsoft’s share fell 4 points to 15.1%.

via Google’s share of mobile market grows: report – MarketWatch.

Seems Google’s gain is Microsoft’s loss.

BlackBerry, saw its share rise 1.3 points to 42.1%, according to the data. The number of owners of smartphones rose 21% in the U.S. in the three months ended in February compared to the prior period.

One million iPad apps in one day

Apple also revealed that more than a million applications were downloaded from the App Store for the iPad. Apple’s iBookstore saw over 250,000 books downloaded on the first day alone.

via AppleInsider | Apple sells more than 300,000 iPads on launch day.

Consider that with 300k devices sold, that amounts to 3 apps and nearly one book per device–in one day.  Or an attach rate of 4 content items per device (per day).

Ten weeks after public release, financial web sites show incorrect data on Apple

Closing in on ten weeks since Apple’s last report where they “cleared up” any confusion about accounting rules, most financial sites still show incorrect data on their profiles for Apple.

Out of the 14 major sites I looked at, just 5 have managed to update their historical financials with the retrospective amendments freely available from Apple’s Investor Relations site.

Deagol’s AAPL Model: Ten weeks later, AAPL numbers elude financial web sites.

Apple surpasses RIM in total smartphone revenues

What RIMM doesn’t say (and, as far as I can tell, no one else has noted) is that Apple has surpassed them in total smartphone revenues. This quarter RIMM reported sales of $4.1 billion in revenue for their whole company. Apple surpassed them, selling $4.6 billion worth of iPhones in Q4 2009 and, more recently, $5.6 billion in Q1 2010. Remember, the iPhone didn’t exist until mid 2007.i Phone sales have gone from zero to $5.6 billion in about 900 days. It’s very hard to compete against that explosive growth.

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