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

Smartphone Market Still Mobile

November 09, 2010 | Marco Attard | Mobile (Phones)

IDC reports Q3 10 worldwide smartphone shipments are up by 89.5%-- a total of 81.1 million units. Shipments for Q3 09 reached 42.8 million units.

smartphones

In total, 2010 vendor shipments reach 200.6 million units, up by 67.6% from 2009 (119.6 million units).

Users look to smartphones as their next device while carriers increase their selections, IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker says.

IDC expects more than 20% of all devices shipped by the end of 2010 to be converged mobile devices.

Nokia continues leading the smartphone market, with 32.7% market share (26.5 million units). Nokia's ASPs and market shrink down further as smartphone market competition ramps up.

Next in smartphones, Apple (17.4% market share) in Q3 10 (as expected, Apple's highest volume quarter).

Following are RIM (15.3%), Samsung (8.9%) and HTC (7.2%).

Go IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker

China to Host More Media Markt Stores

November 09, 2010 | Marco Attard | Retailer News

Metro AG expands towards Chinese territories as it plans to opens more than 10 CE stores in Shangai by end 2012. The first Chinese Media Markt (or "Wan De Cheng") will open on Nov. 17.

China It will also open more than 100 stores in China by 2015, benefiting from the populous country's demand for TV sets and laptops.

Media Markt/Saturn faces stagnating retail sales in its native Germany. The CE division's earnings (before interest and tax) are down by 1.3% in 2010-- due to costs to enter the Chinese market and the introduction of own-label products.

Revenue is up by 6.4%, thanks to this year's World Cup.

The group's Chinese entry faces competition from domestic chains (like Gome and Suning) as well as Best Buy's partnership with Jiangsu Five Star Appliance.

Go Metro Group China Plans

Acer's Liquid Goes Metal

November 09, 2010 | Marco Attard | Mobile (Phones)

After Acer's Liquid series comes its Liquid Metal mobilephone handset. The 3.6" touchscreen device runs Android 2.2 on a 800MHz Qualcomm 7230 processor.

Acer Liquid Metal

The company says Android 2.2 (Froyo) responds 5x faster than earlier versions. The new internet browser carries flash support and an optimised Javascript engine.

It includes 802.11n wifi and 14.4Mbps HSDPA support.

The 5MP camera carries LED flash, image stabiliser and records video at 720p (in Xvid format). The set also has Dolby Surround technology.

Go Acer Liquid Metal

AUO Takes the Glasses Off 3D

November 04, 2010 | Marco Attard | TV - Display - Projectors

At FPD International 2010 in Japan, AU Optronics will showcase for the first time these latest 3D display technologies:

AUO TV

the world's largest (71") 3D TV LCD panel in HD 21:9 Cinema Scope
a large 3D touch panel solution for video game applications
a 65" QFHD 4K2K lenticular lens no-glasses 3D LCD TV panel
and an array of 3D displays for various applications like smartphones and tablets

Many consumers resent wearing glasses to watch 3D content on TV. The AU Optronics naked eye 3D display solution (65" QFHD 4K2K lenticular lens, proprietary technology) resolves the problem of uneven brightness, that deadzone problem that occurs with most 3D displays. The 3D panel has brightness as high as 500 nits, with eight viewpoints.

Go AUO Exhibits Advanced 3D Display Technologies