Samsung sees stronger start for Note 2

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) expects sales of its new Galaxy Note 2 smartphone to get off to a stronger start than its predecessor even after Apple Inc. (AAPL)
sold a record number of the latest iPhone in its debut weekend.

The model will probably sell three times faster than the previous Note did in the first three months, as more carriers are set to offer the product, J.K. Shin, head of the mobile business, said at a briefing in Seoul, without giving a projection. The device goes on sale in 128 markets through 260 operators, starting with South Korea today, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a statement.

Samsung, the world’s largest mobile-phone seller, is offering a variety of Galaxy devices running
Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android operating system to cement leadership in the global smartphone market. More than 5 million iPhone 5 handsets were sold in the first three days, surpassing a record set last year by the previous model, Apple said on Sept. 24.

Samsung is marketing the pen-equipped Note devices alongside its best-selling Galaxy S smartphones after the first model sold more than 10 million units and helped Samsung regain the lead in global smartphone sales from Apple this year.

Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy Note 2 at the IFA consumer-electronics fair in Berlin last month. The model has a 5.5-inch screen, larger than its predecessor, and runs the latest version of Android. The device is loaded with software that recognizes handwriting from a digital pen.

Digital Pen

The updated digital pen will allow consumers to hover over the screen to preview content and will be available for third- party applications.

In the second quarter, Samsung controlled about 35 percent of the global smartphone market, followed by Apple with about 18 percent, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics.

Samsung is introducing new devices as a patent dispute with Apple deepens.

Facebook Inc Pages Are More Effective Than Company Websites – Claims Lab42

A Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) page can cover the needs of a website. A recent survey by Lab42, a market-research company found that 50% of the 1000 social media users, who were involved in a poll, believe that Facebook pages are more useful than company websites. 82% people feel that pages are ideal places to interact with brands.

Brands must, however, be sensible about their posts. 48% respondents have ‘unliked’ pages that posts too frequently.

Lab42 has also found out that the top three ways in which people interact with Facebook pages are -   Printing/ redeeming discounts and coupons, Liking/ commenting and Learning about new products and services.

Apart from posting too frequently, other reasons for people opting out of pages include bad customer experiences and stopping to like a brand. It is no secret that people are always trying to save money. However, 77% respondents have done so as a result of liking brand names on Facebook. 66% have saved $20 and more in the last 12 months while 17% have saved over $100. 35% respondents believe that brands were more responsive to their queries on Facebook than anywhere else.

CEO of Lab42, Gauri Sharma said that a common social media goal for firms is to increase their number of Facebook ‘likes’. The study has revealed that firms have devoted ample time, marketing resources and money in order to answer the most important question of all time. What is the worth of a Facebook ‘like’? instead of guessing, Lab42 decided to dive in straight to the source and ask customers about their habits and opinions regarding ‘liking’ pages on Facebook.

A Facebook page is a customizable space for an organization, public personality or a product. Through a Facebook page, one can join the conversation with people, who are active on Facebook.

Why Amazon didn't make profit on its Tablet devices

Chief Executive Officer at Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Jeff Bezos said during the launching ceremony of Kindle Fire HD, that the Amazon (AMZN) does not earn profit when it sale its devices, in fact these devices help its customers to purchase different products and services offered by Amazon which help the company to boost its revenue.

There is no doubt about the quality of e-book readers and tablets sold by Amazon but the actual thing is that theses devices play a key role in attracting its user towards services and products offered by Amazon.

Due to high competition, there is very little profit margin left for the companies in the market. The only reason why the companies like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) are successful in the market is because what Apple Inc (AAPL) brings in the market, no other competitor is able to bring because it makes best of the best and that is the reason it is getting more than 27 percent margin on all the devices it sells. On the other hand Amazon is successful because it earns profit through its products and services that it is offering through its devices.

Microsoft Corporation to rebrand its ad-center in order to ‘Bing it On’

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is going in for a renovation, with respect to its ad-center. And this does not just apply to the name, which will be changed to Bing Ads, but also with respect to the improved features. The shiny, new Bing Ads will have a new web interface, it will have tools to empower agencies and enable them to manage multiple clients with efficiency and it will also have new and improved controls.

Through these changes, Microsoft is trying to cash in on the success and popularity of the ‘Bing it On’ advertisement, and it seems that the company might just prove to be right. Bing Ads has seen a noticeable growth in terms of market shares, which will help the company attract advertisers, and therefore, advertisements. The revenue per search will also increase accordingly.

Google has always had a lead in the search market, getting the biggest of shares. It was estimated to be getting 66% of the shares when checked in August of this year. However, Microsoft and Yahoo wish to catch up with the new changes which have been made recently. And anyway, while the number of unique visitors for Google has decreased, the number of unique visitors in Microsoft has seen an increase.

The Yahoo! Bing network hopes to take off soon, and there are hopes for these companies to land more shares in terms of revenue through advertisements. Yahoo! has been the singularly most important partner for Microsoft. The two companies operate within a ten year contract which is mutually beneficial for both the companies. The growth and popularity of as well as the RPS-increase for Bing Ads will also make sure of an increase in RPS for Yahoo.

This symbiotic relationship between the two big companies, along with Microsoft’s involvement with the Kindle Fire will hopefully help Bing Ads gain more popularity which will, in turn, draw more adverts, and more money for Microsoft. Indirectly, even Yahoo! will be able to reap the benefits of Bing’s success. Microsoft is surely ready to ‘Bing it On’.

Google said it would have been better if Apple Inc had kept Google Maps app

by Neale Cooper

Last week, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched its own mapping service, however a large number of people criticize the new service based on data from TomTom, citing that it lacks features and has many shortfalls such as geographical errors.

Executive chairman at Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Eric Schmidt, said that Apple should consider Google Maps application for iOS as majority of customers are disappointed by Apple’s new mapping service. He further said that it would have been good for Apple if it had kept Google’s mapping service. He added that the company’s want Apple to be its partner but it’s up to them that what they decide.

Few years back, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) were very close collaborators at the time of original iPhone launched by Apple in 2007, which incorporated Google Maps and YouTube. However, relationships between both the companies have been affected after the introduction of Google’s Android mobile operating system. Google’s Android mobile operating system has now become the leading platform for smartphones in the world

Google Wants To Replace Microsoft As Yahoo’s Search Partner: Schmidt

September 25, 2012
By Joshua C. Rarrick

Eric Schmidt made comments at a Tokyo launch for a new Nexus tablet, regarding the failure of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in launching their Maps application. However, he has also hinted at a desire for Google to reach out to Yahoo and become their new search engine partner.

According to Schmidt, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) would love to be Yahoo’s search partner and replace their current engine, which is Microsoft’s Bing. Kenneth Maxwell, a Dow Jones reporter, was cited by Forbes.com, as having been at the event. Maxwell did confirm that he was indeed there, and that Schmidt did say that Google has an interest in working with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO).

Maxwell’s statement to Forbes reads as follows:

“Yes, I can confirm, Eric Schmidt definitely said they’d be interested in working with Yahoo US. He also said nothing doing for the time being, but they would be interested. It was also mentioned to him that there is new management at Yahoo US with a Google connection. But he played it pretty straight…. He also said they had expressed this interest to Yahoo before on a number of occasions.”

Schmidt is an executive chairman of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and was involved in the talks of just such a partnership with Yahoo, back in 2008. This was following on the heels of the Microsoft buyout, which fell apart, but prior to Carol Bartz approaching Steve Ballmer, in the hopes of striking a deal. Google and Yahoo both wanted to reach an agreement, and both parties worked to make it happen, however, the government blocked the deal from going through.

The most interesting point to be taken in all of this, is that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s new CEO, Marissa Mayer, is a former top developer from Google. She left Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) earlier this year, and was named Yahoo’s CEO, effective immediately.

While Mayer has already told Yahoo to focus more on user experience, rather than achieving higher profits, she is yet to make her speech regarding Yahoo’s new direction. However, she was one of the driving factors in Google’s simple, yet effective search page, and no doubt, she sees the intrinsic value a good search engine could have at Yahoo. A deal between Mayer and Schmidt would only make sense, due to the fact that she knows how effective Google Search really is. After all, she built it.

HP to enter Smartphone market?

Meg Whitman, hired to turn around the fortunes of struggling Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) a year ago, has announced her latest idea for the company: a return to smartphones.

In an interview with Fox Business News last week, Whitman said that HP should add smartphones to its product line since it is a computing company.

"My view is we have to ultimately offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world, that is your first computing device. There will be countries around the world where people may never own a tablet or a PC or a desktop, they will do everything on a smartphone, we are a computing company; we have to take advantage of that form-factor," she said.

HP has, of course, previously ventured into the smartphone market with its acquisition of Palm, but failed spectacularly. This time, Whitman promises greater caution.

"We did take a detour into smartphones, and we've got to get it right this time. ... So we are working to make sure that, when we do this, it will be the right thing for HP and we will be successful," she said in the interview.

Whitman did not provide further details on the device, but it is likely that HP would select either Google Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android or Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 8 as the phone's operating system, especially since its native webOS has been aborted.

Analysts have mixed opinions on the idea of a HP smartphone, with GigaOm Pro analyst Colin Gibbs telling TechNewsWorld, "HP had a chance to really move the needle with webOS, which could have emerged as a threat to Android and iOS, but it completely dropped the ball because it failed to commit to smartphones. I think HP definitely needs a move towards mobile -- maybe by moving more aggressively into the tablet market, but building a successful smartphone is a long shot at this point."

HP certainly knows all-too well that the smartphone market is dominated by the big guys, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google. According to a new study from Global Equities Research, by the end of 2012, the two tech titans could combine for up to a staggering 98% of mobile device sales,

"There will not be any third spot left," Global analyst said in the repot "Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK), Microsoft and RIM [Research In Motion Limited (USA) (NASDAQ:RIMM)] will struggle in the remaining 2% of the market."

Similarly, Ben Bajarin, director and founder of Creative Strategies, opines to TechNewsWorld, "Everyone outside of Apple and Samsung is already killing themselves battling over the little profits that are left in the smartphone space. If HP believes that the core of this strategy is outside the US, then they are looking at a high volume, low margin strategy. This by itself is a very difficult and cutthroat strategy. I'm not exactly sure why a company would want to jump into a market like that with zero momentum."

One analyst who's more optimistic is Tim Brugger over at Motley Fool, who argues that Whitman, having dismissed the notion of buying RIM, could target the Canadian company's enterprise market stronghold, since HP's strength always lies there.

As Whitman plans for the eventual introduction of a HP smartphone, she has also been actively implementing cost-cutting measures. Last week, the world's largest PC maker increased its expected number of job cuts through FY 2014 to 29,000. Shares of the company have increased 4.51% since that announcement, although HP is still down 29% year-to-date.

Apple topped Aston Martin as UK top Brands

Wall Street extended gains across the board today as investors weighed a batch of strong economic reports. US consumer confidence rose to its best level in seven months in this month as U.S. citizens were more hopeful about the labor market and income prospects, according to a private sector report.

Tech giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has recently been voted the “coolest brand” in the UK. It exceeded Aston Martin, which has been ranked on top in six of the prior seven annual CoolBrands surveys. Online and technology brands outperformed as YouTube sent Aston Martin on third spot.

Twitter took fourth place, followed by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and the BBC’s iPlayer. The results were provided on the basis of responses from  3,000 consumers and a panel of 39 experts. Three including Twitter, Skype and Nikon gained place in the top 20 for the first time in the 11 years of the survey.

iPhone is the target of 14% crimes in NYC in 2012

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices have been stolen at a much more increasing rate than a year ago, and have accounted for nearly one of about every seven major crimes in the city in 2012, based on statistics released by NYPD through Sunday. The department announced that Apple devices were the target of nearly 40 percent more crimes in 2012 than in 2011 and about 14 percent of all crimes in the City during the year so far.

What is most interesting about this report is that the Apple device crimes rose 40 percent from a year ago (to more than 11,000), the amount of overall crimes rose just 4 percent over a year ago (to nearly 80,000). These numbers, however, do not include a BMW driving through the window of an Apple Store in order to steal iPhones. That might show up in a LAPD report.

In the wake of the crime numbers surrounding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices, NYPD had stationed officers and each of the 21 Apple Stores in the city to protect customers and help them register their phones in case of theft. The department reported earlier this year that it used technology to help track down stolen iPhones and catch the criminals. Department spokesman Paul Browne said in an e-mail, “Our emphasis on prevention and investigation of Apple thefts stems from the fact that they are a magnet for crime, including robberies, driving the spike we’ve experienced this year.”

A magnet for customers and a magnet for crime? Maybe that is something that Apple Inc.

iPhone 5′s New Thinner Display Causing Supply Issues

Apple’s supply of iPhone 5 units couldn’t hold up to the weekend demand, and what many analysts forecast as one of the reasons behind this demand, is the use of new thinner display.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is using a new display technology for the iPhone 5 that integrates the touchscreen into the display, making the device smaller, lighter, more responsive, and eventually cheaper.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is using three major suppliers for the displays: LG, Sharp, and Japan Display. LG has had good yields, while Sharp has struggled, but has more recently achieved suitable yields.

Analysts from Jefferies raise CQ3 from 23M to 26M, assuming 8-10M iPhone 5 sales. According to the report, their checks indicate that the addition of Sony to the list of in-cell display suppliers (Sharp, LG, and Toshiba) to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has alleviated what had been the main bottleneck, and helped offset bearish concerns that only

5M iPhone 5 handsets will be available in September. The 5M unit sales the first weekend were lower than their 8M estimate, which analysts believe was due to the reservation of 2-3M units for the second wave of international launches this Friday.

Supply Chain Bottlenecks Lessening

Toshiba, Sony, and Hitachi created Japan Display by merging their small and mid-sized display businesses. They have separate plants, but are under a common ownership structure. According to Jefferies, most sell-side checks have only looked at the ramp and yield at the Toshiba plant, and have underappreciated the ramp at the Sony plant.

Analysts from Jefferies believe the output from the Sony/Japan Display plant is a major reason why consensus is concerned about the number of iPhone 5 handsets available to ship in September.