Android still king of the US smartphone hill, Motorola facing a market nosedive

The NPD Group: As Android Solidifies Lead, Google Acquisition Has Potential to Revitalize Flagging Motorola
Patent-rich handset pioneer's second quarter share fell to gains by Apple, Samsung and LG.

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, August 22, 2011 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, Google's Android operating system (OS) continued to dominate U.S. smartphone market share, accounting for 52 percent of units sold in the second quarter (Q2) of 2011. Like Android, Apple's iPhone OS (iOS) experienced slight quarterly gain rising to 29 percent in Q2; however, BlackBerry OS share fell to 11 percent, as Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, and webOS held steady at less than five percent of the market each.

"Google's acquisition of Motorola shifts the balance of power in the handset-patent conflict between Google and its operating system competitors," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "Android's momentum has made for a large pie that is attractive to Motorola's Android rivals, even if they must compete with their operating system developer."

Motorola's overall mobile phone market share declined 3 percentage points, from 12 percent in Q2 2010 to 9 percent in Q2 2011. The company's share of the smartphone market also declined from 15 percent to 12 percent. Motorola's year-over-year unit share of Android OS sales halved from 44 percent in Q2 of last year to 22 percent in Q2 of 2011, as Samsung and LG both experienced substantial gains.

"Much as it did in the feature phone market in the RAZR era, Motorola is experiencing increased competition from Samsung and LG in the smartphone market," Rubin said. "Closer ties to the heart of Android can help inspire new paths to differentiation."

Growing opportunity in prepaid smartphones

Beyond the four largest national carriers, Motorola can also make up ground in the rapidly growing pre-paid smartphone market. Based on the latest information from NPD's "Mobile Phone Track," one in five new handsets acquired in Q2 was on a prepaid plan, and carriers offering prepaid mobile phones continued to grow their smartphone portfolios. In Q2 2010 just 8 percent of prepaid phones were smartphones, but in Q2 2011 that number jumped to 22 percent.

"Android is also leading the charge in the rapidly growing prepaid smartphone market," Rubin said. "This was once a key segment for Motorola that the company has an opportunity to reclaim as prepaid carriers build their smartphone portfolios."

Data Note: The information in this press release is from "Mobile Phone Track" – NPD's consumer tracking of U.S. consumers, aged 18 and older, who reported purchasing a mobile phone. NPD does not track corporate/enterprise mobile phone purchases.

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Verzo teases its first Android smartphone, aims for a late-September launch

VERZO Kinzo: new smartphone with new approach
It seems to be a general rule these days that anytime there is a new mobile device introduced to the market (it does not matter whether it is introduced by a new or well established com- pany), their press releases are presenting it as if the device would bring some great change to the field and forever change the current state of affairs. This is not the case of VERZO.
We are new, we are here, we want to be heard and seen, but we are not going to claim that we are going to change everything what are the owners of smartphones used to. We are definitely not going to scare off Apple and Samsung by our entry to the market, so they would have to call board meetings and hold press conferences. On the contrary – the VERZO brand is letting you know right from the start that we are not the slimmest, fastest or the best. For now.

VERZO and Community

At the same time we want to let you know that we are going to be different and that we have a clear vision and we know exactly where we are going. The VERZO brand is officially letting you know that it exists and in the next 6 weeks we are going to offer all smartphone-lovers our first model named Kinzo. VERZO Kinzo combines our desire to produce original and novel products with functional design, plus we hope to make our products user-friendly, reliable and open to suggestions.

Saying that we are open to suggestions could mean anything. What we really mean is that the VERZO brand will actively listen to its customers. Here at VERZO we represent the generation used to online forums and social networks or communities, so we know what a strong and well organized community can achieve. For this reason, every product leaving VERZO factory will have a very close link between the brand and the user. Our products are designed to listen to their users.

If the users do not like something, we will know. If they demand something, we will know. If they have some dream or suggestion towards the VERZO brand or the model Kinzo, we will know. VERZO Kinzo is, however, not only counting on the original design from Novague studio and the community connection, but it is also bringing its own graphic solution for the popular Android OS.

VERZO GUI

Our personalized VERZO interface was not developed just to be different from the rest of the world, but mainly because we wanted to get the most from the Android system. We believe that we were successful now and we want to be even better in the future. Kinzo is therefore offering you Android with VERZO face.

How to buy Kinzo?

The sale of Kinzo will begin at the end of September. Complete information about our first smartphone with full technical specifications, photographs, 3D model, videos, all features and the price will be released during the second half of September 2011.

The sale itself will be launched online on our official VERZO e-shop which will be accessible at www.verzo.com. From there we will be shipping the Kinzo to all the countries of the European Union and also the USA. Other countries will be added later this year or in the beginning of the next year. For now we are planning to add China, Russian Federation, countries of South America and the Middle east. One of the advantages of getting a VERZO smartphone is our dedication to provide easy and responsive customer service.

Other details

Smartphone VERZO Kinzo was designed and developed in Europe, and the production takes place in designated factory in Taiwan. The official web is going to be launched in its first phase (containing basic information about the product and first pictures) during the night from 29th to 30th of August.

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Oppo's Android-based X903 smartphone gets previewed

By Donald Melanson posted Aug 22nd 2011 6:33PM We didn't exactly get the most extensive look at Oppo's new Android-based X903 smartphone when the company announced it with Leonardo DiCaprio's help earlier this month, but our pals from Engadget Chinese thankfully managed to come through on that front in a big way. As you can see, the phone's brushed metal exterior certainly makes this one an eye catcher, although that apparently also contributes to a weight that's a tad on the heavy side (there's also a full QWERTY keyboard tucked underneath, albeit one that apparently suffers a bit from some short key travel). Those trade-offs also extend to some of the phones specs; you'll get a high-end 4-inch IPS display, for instance, but you'll have to make do without a front-facing camera. Hit the source link below for the full preview.

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