In the third quarter of 2009, the smartphone mobile market soared like an eagle. About 290.5 million smartphones were sold in the quarter which is an increase of 5.6% from the year before. Between the five major telecommunications companies, all of them sold more phones in this quarter than the previous quarter. However Motorola slipped into 5th place behind Sony Ericsson this quarter. Samsung and LG broke new sales records this quarter too.
Samsung shipped over 60 million phones this quarter which is the highest they have ever done. Below is the break-down of the numbers provided by our friends over at UnwiredView:
* Nokia – 108.5 million units, 37.3% market share
* Samsung – 60.2 million units, 20.7% market share
* LG – 31.6 million units, 10.9% market share
* Sony Ericsson – 14.1 million units, 4.9% market share
* Motorola – 13.6 million units, 4.7% market share
* Others – 60.1 million units, 21.5% market share
Samsung Electronics is working on a new phone called the i5700 Galaxy Lite and it has just been spotted in the wild. The Galaxy Lite photo was received and spread by Cellularmania. The Galaxy Lite has a 3″ AMOLED touchscreen, HSDPA connection, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera. Other features include GPS, FM Radio, and microSD slot.
Given that Wally World is the biggest retail company in the world, it is inevitable for them to offer a phone service that one-ups what other telecommunications companies have to offer.
Walmart is beta testing a program called Straight Talk. Straight Talk is a wireless service that will not require a contract and costs only $45 per month for an unlimited minutes, messages, and data plan. There will also be a $30 plan that offers 1,000 minutes, 1,000 SMS and text messages, and 30MB data.
However the phones that will work with the plan retails for $100. These phones include the LG Slider 290 and the “Samsung 451.” The Samsung 451 is expected to have a QWERTY kayboard. The LG Slider 290 does not have that many features.
“It has been very encouraging to see the excitement and response to the Straight Talk pilot in 234 stores that began last summer at Walmart,” stated Walmart U.S. VP of Media Services Greg Hall in a press release. “In light of the savings customers continue to need, we have worked very quickly to extend this offering to all of our Walmart customers nationwide, and just before the holidays.”
Samsung announced earlier this week that they are launching the Intreprid on Sprint. The Intrepid has a QWERTY keyboard. The Intrepid uses the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system and has a customizable Today screen. The Intrepid has a 2.5-inch touchscreen display and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Other features include Bluetooth, social networking capabilities, WiFi and a 32GB microSD card expansion slot. The Intrepid will also have Sprint services Sprint NFL Mobile and Music Store applications built into the phone. The Intrepid will sell for $149.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and 2 year contract.
Sprint has just sent out a press release along with a pre-registration page about the launch of the Samsung Moment. The Moment is the brand name Samsung is going with for a phone that has been previously been called the InstinctQ in earlier reports. The Moment features include 800MHz processor, 3.2″ AMOLED screen, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and an optional trackpad. The price of the phone will be $179 with a 2 year contract, $50 instant savings, and $100 mail-in rebate. Availability of the phone starts November 1st.
The Samsung Behold II has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash, video recording, 3.2″ AMOLED display, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and 16GB microSD expansion. The phone appears to be powered by Google Android and has a TouchWiz user interface. The phone has a 3D cube menu for rotating between different applications. Prices and availability is currently not known, but we are nearly certain that it will be here in time for the holidays.
Vodafone wants you to connect your contacts to social networks and offer consumers another app store and mobile music downloading service. The new service is called Vodafone 360. The Vodafone 360 web service will be available on the Samsung H1 and the Samsung M1.
Both the Samsung M1 and the Samsung H1 run on the LiMo operating system. Some Symbian handsets will also have the Vodafone 360 mobile service installed. Vodafone has about 315 million customers in 31 different markets.
Samsung Electronics has launched a new 3G phone called the t659. The t659 is a slider with a 2 megapixel camera. The phone also has Bluetooth capabilities, a 16GB microSD slot, AGPS, integrated RSS reader, and HSDPA. The t659 can be bought for $70 on contract after discounts and rebates.
I must say that I am impressed by this deal. The Samsung M240 has very little features, but also has a very little price. The cost of the phone is $19.99 with a 2 year contract and an instant savings of $150. This phone is intended for people that just want a mobile phone for talking and texting. The phone has 6.5 hours of talk time, 500 contact storage, speakerphone, a wireless backup, and E911 Emergency Location. There is also a basic browser and several games available for purchase.
Samsung Electronics has launched a new point-and-shoot digital camera called the HZ25W with a Schneider-Kreuznach lens with 24x zoom. The HZ25W can also shoot 720p video in HD using H.264 compression. The HZ25W camera has electronic and optical image stabilization. The HZ25W has full manual controls and can shoot RAW (DNG 1.1) or JPG format.
“Serious shooters will gravitate toward the HZ25W’s aperture and shutter priority modes as well as full manual control and RAW support,” stated Samsung Electronics Senior VP for A/V and digital imaging marketing Reid Sullivan. “For the entry-level shooter, Samsung’s Smart Auto takes simplicity to a new level, ensuring a great shot every time without having to be concerned about camera settings.”
The HZ25W has an electronic viewfinder and 3″ LCD display. Other features include a Smart Auto mode with 11 optimized settings. There is also a Perfect Portrait system which includes face detection, blink detection, and a “beauty shot” feature. The HZ25W will be on sale for $399.99.
The Samsung Omnia 2 pre-order page has been set up on Amazon.com. The phone has quad-band GSM and HSDPA 900/1900/2100. The phone also has a 5 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile OS, GPS, and WiFi. Hard drive space is about 8GB and the display is AMOLED running TouchWiz 2.0 technology. The phone can be upgraded to WinMo 6.5 from 6.1.
Samsung Electronics has released a new personal music player (PMP) called the DJ. This PMP isn’t just any PMP, but it is the lightest and smallest in the PMP market. The Samsung DJ is 8.9mm thick and has a 2.6″ touchscreen.
There is also a Beat DJ feature that allows you to scratch records. Your voice and other sounds effects can also be added to the records. There is also a drag+drop feature that allows Samsung DJ owners to move audio and video files to the DJ PMP folders.
The DJ uses Samsung’s TouchWiz interface. And the DJ has a Digital Natural Sound feature to ensure “the highest possible sound quality.” The Samsung DJ will be available in 8GB and 16GB later this month. No word on price yet.
The phone was first launched in Europe and sold 1 million units within a month and a half. After that the phone was launched in Asia, Africa, China, and America.
“We’re very pleased by this success,” stated Young-hee Lee, VP of Marketing in the Mobile Communications Division at Samsung. “We see the demand for touch screen phones increasing and we will continue to offer consumers a diverse range of products, supported by unique marketing campaigns.”
The S5230 has a 11.9mm body and 3″ WQVGA screen. The phone also has Samsung DNSe sound technology and a SmileShot enabled camera. The phone also has Bluetooth v2.1 capabilities.
Check out this snazzy camera coming out by Samsung. This baby will be able to zoom 24x with a 12.5 megapixel resolution. Other features include face detection, manua controls, RAW image format support, and HD recording. No word on price of availability as of yet, but stay tuned kids.
Samsung Electronics will be launching an application store on September 14. The Samsung application store will be tailored initially towards Omnia smartphones. The application store will launch initially in the U.K., France, and Italy.
In the next few months, the Samsung application store will be launching in 30 other countries. The Samsung application store will have about 300 programs available for download initially which includes games and e-books. The number of apps will increase to about 2,000 by the end of the year.
In order to access the app store, Omnia phone owners have to upgrade the software using the download icon. The Samsung app store will be available for the Samsung Omnia II, Omnia Pro, Omnia Lite, and upcoming new devices.
