Apple confirms WWDC 2013 will take place June 10th to 14th, tickets go on sale tomorrow

This is one Apple event that's fairly constant, but the company has confirmed today that the 2013 edition of its Worldwide Developers Conference -- otherwise known as WWDC -- will take place from June 10th to 14th at Moscone West in San Francisco. In a statement, Apple's Phil Schiller says that its "developers have had the most prolific and profitable year ever, and we're excited to show them the latest advances in software technologies and developer tools to help them create innovative new apps," adding, "we can't wait to get new versions of iOS and OS X into their hands at WWDC." Not exactly a huge surprise there, but you can rest assured we'll be there to cover that and anything else the company might have up its sleeve. Tickets are set to go on sale tomorrow.

Via: The Next Web

Source: Apple WWDC

Source

By: Unknown On 9:48 PM

Continue Reading

Canalys: Apple hits 20 percent of PCs through iPad sales, HP up to second place

Canalys is still staking its market share estimates on the view that mobile tablets are as relevant to PC market share as desktops and laptops. If we accept that interpretation, Apple was easily on top of the heap during the fourth quarter. Combining iPads and Macs would give it 27 million computer shipments in the fall, or 20.1 percent of the 134 million computers that left factories -- the first time it would have had more than a fifth of the market. Not that Apple was the only one having a good time, however. HP reportedly took back second place from Lenovo by shipping 15 million PCs and claiming 11 percent of the market, while Samsung stepped into the top five for the first time at 11.7 million PCs and 9 percent share.

The upswings may have masked deeper problems. Apple and Samsung benefited from the iPad mini and Galaxy Tab lines, but they, Amazon and other tablet makers were reportedly propping up the market. Canalys doesn't believe Windows 8 or RT moved the needle for demand, noting that laptop shipments were flat year-over-year where tablets surged 75 percent. It was a tough market for most conventional PC builders -- just ask Dell -- and there's no immediate signs that it will be any easier for them in 2013.

Source: Canalys

Source

By: Unknown On 10:28 PM

Continue Reading

NPD: Apple tops Q4 US smartphone sales, Samsung a strong second place

According to NPD's Mobile Phone Track, Samsung's Q4 2012 U.S. Unit-Sales Volume Grew 117 Percent, But Apple Still Tops Overall Consumer Smartphone Sales
According to The NPD Group, a global information company, although Samsung's sales grew dramatically in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2012, Apple continued to lead overall smartphone sales with 39 percent of the market compared to Samsung's 30 percent market share. Apple and Samsung continued to run away from all the other smartphone makers accounting for nearly 70 percent of all sales during Q4 2012. Following is NPD's year-over-year comparison of market share and growth for the top-five smartphone manufacturers:
Q4 2011 Q4 2012
Apple 41% 39%
Samsung 21% 30%
Motorola 8% 7%
HTC 14% 6%
LG 5% 6%
"Even taking into account the tremendous sales growth of the Galaxy III and other Samsung smartphones, the iPhone is still king of the U.S.-market hill," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at The NPD Group. "In addition to strong U.S. sales of iPhone 5, Apple has been bolstered by strong and continued demand for older, less-expensive iPhone models."
Based on information from NPD's monthly Mobile Phone Track service, when comparing Q3 2012 with Q4 2012, U.S. iPhone 4 sales increased 79 percent and iPhone 4S sales grew 43 percent. Sales of the iPhone 5 made up 43 percent of all iPhone sales in Q4 2012 and accounted for almost two thirds of all post-paid smartphone sales above $199
Based on the latest information from NPD, the top-selling mobile phones in the U.S. were as follows:
Rank Brand
1 iPhone 5
2 Samsung Galaxy S III
3 iPhone 4S
4 iPhone 4
5 Samsung Galaxy S II
Total mobile phone unit sales increased 24 percent in Q4 2012, compared to the previous year with smartphones increasing by 52 percent and feature phones declining by 31 percent. Smartphones represented a record eight in 10 (81 percent) mobile phones sold, compared to just 66 percent in Q4 2011. Continuing the upward trend of pre-paid phones, in Q4 2012 pre-paid phone unit sales increased 139 percent over the previous year.
"While smartphone sales continued on their torrid pace in the fourth quarter, the seeds of change are evident in the sales numbers," Baker said. "With of the vast majority of all phone sales now smartphones, and with the largest unit-sales growth within smartphones occurring in the pre-paid segment, today's product pricing and channel models will need to adapt to accommodate this new reality."

View the original article here

By: Unknown On 8:19 PM

Continue Reading