On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

IDC reports WW mobile market growth reaches 6.1% Y-o-Y in Q4 2011, with shipments totalling 427.4M units-- up from earlier IDC forecasts of 4.4% growth, but still down from 9.3% Y-o-Y growth seen in Q3 2011.

In other words, the mobile market is still weak due to the current economic situation, resulting in its falling to its lowest point since Q3 2009. W. Europe in particular sees lower demand, with Nokia experiencing "another difficult quarter" and feature phone shipments reaching historical lows.

Meanwhile IDC says CEMA markets show "strong double-digit growth," with Samsung leading the market.

Nokia remains the global mobile phone leader after launching the 1st Nokia Windows Phone devices. IDC predicts Nokia will sell less Symbian devices in 2012, even if it will probaly still maintain market leadership.

Samsung comes second, with record 90M unit shipments for Q4 2011 and 2011 shipments reaching 300M in total (a first for the company). Smartphones lead Samsung shipments, with high-end (Galaxy S II, Note, Nexus), mass market (Galaxy Ace, Y) and Windows Phone (Focus Flash, S) devices boosting sales.

Apple is now 3rd global vendor (up from 5th in Q3 2011), with record-breaking Q4 shipments, while LG follows with shipments declining to Q2 2007 levels.

Go IDC WW Mobile Phone Tracker 2011

Times are hard for the TV business... we all know that, right? Further confirmation of that fact comes from major Japanese vendors, as Panasonic, Sony and Sharp report record losses for the 2011 period.

Panasonic expects 2011 losses will reach $10 billion-- the highest since 1918, the year the biggest plasma TV maker in the world was founded. It also slashed 2011 TV targets from 19M to 18M units, as it tries to compete against the likes of Samsung and LG. The company faced not only declining sales, but also flood damages as it halted operations at its 3 Thailand factories.

Meanwhile new Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai faces his biggest challenge yet-- a TV unit facing potential losses reaching $2.3BN. Hirai had previously established himself by turning around the Playstation unit after beating 3 other candidates for the job.

Sharp is another victim, with record declines of both Aquos TV demand and prices. The company already reduced TV panel production at its LCD plants last April, and will cut output at its largest panel factory by half.

What next for these Japanese companies, struggling against Samsung and LG? Sony and Panasonic are already focusing on other sectors such as medical devices, solar panels and rechargeable batteries (just as another CE giant facing huge losses, Philips, is doing), while more cost cutting and "recovery" measures will surely be in the works.

Go Sony, Panasonic Expect Worsening Losses as Samsung Dominates (Bloomberg)

Go Stringer Steps Aside at Sony

With the next few days (or weeks!) promising chillier temperatures over Europe, your customers will start hitting the ski slopes-- and Buhel offers the G33 Speakgoggle ski goggles with an integrated Bluetooth intercom system.

It carries a bone conduction microphone (integrated into the frame), together with a Class 1 Bluetooth 2.1 radio the company says provides a connection range of around 500m. A 3.7V 350mAh battery promises 10 hours of talk time, 9 hours of music (with the goggles paired to a phone) and 200 hours of standby power.

Being Bluetooth-based, there is no need for line of sight for users to talk to each other-- but they might find trouble inside buildings or dense tree cover.

Weighing 160g, the goggles also provide UV 400 protection with anti-fog and anti-scratch glass.

Go Buhel G33 Speakgoggle

While we might recall the late Steve Jobs' dislike towards Android (and related devices), the Taiwanese Action Pad begs to differ-- with a TV ad where Jobs comes back from the dead to praise an Android tablet.

Jobs himself not only used to describe Android as "shit," but is also quoted in his biography declaring he was ready to go on "thermonuclear war" against the Google OS.

The ad stars comedian and impersonator Ah-Ken clad in the typical Jobs look (black turtle neck and blue jeans), only with the addition of angel wings and a halo. He praises the virtues of the Android OS, before proceeding to show off the Action Pad's dictionary functions, wings flapping in delight.

"Thank God I finally play (with an) other pad," Fake Angel Steve Jobs says, sitting on a sofa.

Distasteful? Perhaps, with the advert getting some fairly angry comments on Youtube. Mind, this isn't even the first time Jobs' image was used to promote a product in Taiwan-- last year a drinks company had another Jobs-alike promoting a tea drink, of all things.

Watch Action Pad Commercial