MobileChannels.eu - Smartphones. SmartDevices. SmartAccessories.

Global Q1 2012 mobile phone sales decline by 2% Y-o-Y to total 419.1m units, Gartner reports-- the first decline for the mobile market since Q2 2009. 

While all vendors feel the drop, white box vendors suffer the most due to being unable to adjust production, ending up with inventory build-up by the end of the quarter. 

“The lower results in the first quarter of 2012 have led us to be cautious about sales for the remainder of the year,” Gartner says. New Android- and Windows Phone-based devicese and the inevitable iPhone refresh should boost H2 2012 sales in mature markets like W. Europe-- but Gartner still adjusts 2012 sales predictions downwards to the 20m units range. 

Smartphones remain the mobile market driver, with sales reaching 144.4m units and 44.7% Y-o-Y growth. 

Nokia loses the top WW mobile handset vendor position (the first time since 1998) to Samsung, who now has 20.7% global market share. Samsung is also top smartphone vendor (beating Apple with sales reaching 38m units) and top Android market share holder (40%). 

Android accounts for 56.1% of Q1 2012 smartphone sales. Gartner remarks the smartphone market is becoming increasingly commoditised, with the result of differentiation becoming harder for vendors. Price is the main (if not only) differentiator, particularly within the mid- to low-end market segments. 

Go Gartner Mobile Market Q1 2012 Report

Cisco wants enterprises to embrace bring-your-own-device (BYOD) by using Smart Solutions-- pre-tested product and services bundles aiming to reduce the complexity of mobile enterprise. 

The packages do not carry new products, instead combining existing products dealing with devices, OS, apps, wifi, VPNs, authentication and security into a "Cisco Unified Workspace."

Cisco currently offers 3 such bundles-- BYOD Smart Solution (provides end-to-end BYOD lifecycle management), VXI Smart Solution (combines Cisco's Data Center, Borderless Networks and Collaboration architectures) and Remote Expert Smart Solution (integrated video/audio collaboration and presence). 

The launch of the 3 bundles are the result of Cisco's latest survey on BYOD practices. The company says 95% of survey respondent organisations permit employee-owned devices on the workplace, and 76% describe BYOD as "somewhat or extremely positive."

The survey also predicts the average number of connected devices per employee is set to grow from 2.8 in 2012 to 3.3 by 2014.

Go Cisco: IT Saying Yes to BYOD

Japanese researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology smash the record for wireless data transmission over the "T-ray" band, achieving 3Gbps transfer over a 542GHz wireless connection.

The data rate achieved is double the previous record from chip maker Rohm of 1.5Gbps transfers using a 300GHz connection. Such connections falls into the 300GHz-3THz band, known as the terahertz spectrum or simply "T-rays."

300GHz is 60x higher than the highest current wifi standard.

Tetraherz wifi has range limitations (around 10m) but supports data rates of up to 100Gb/s, nearly x15 higher than the next generation of 802.11ac wifi.

The Japanese researchers achieve such wifi speeds using a resonant tunneling diode (RTD), a 1mm-square device that "resonates" and transmits electro-magnetic signals at very high frequencies. Previous T-ray experiments required bulky, costly and power-hungry equipment with science fiction-esque names like "quantum cascade lasers."

Project leader Dr. Safumi Suzuki is confident tetraherz communications are ripe for consumerisation-- he believes "everybody will use products related to THz technology within the next decade."

Go Intense Resonance Paper (IET Electronics Letters)

Go Milestone for Wifi with T-Rays (BBC)

Are you looking for new sources of supply, or buyers for your excess inventory? The International Trade Conference (ITC) 2012 brings together some of Europe's most active brokers, traders and distributors of smartphones as well as other consumer electronics and game consoles.

The conference, organized by IPT, hosts key disties and traders for a huge range of mobile products, from iPhone/iPad accessories, to mobile phones and mobile devices, to tablets and more.

Delegates get to book 1-to-1 meetings with buyers and sellers, with use of private meeting rooms. After the daily conference, one gets time for networking, making it an ideal opportunity for relationship-building.

Channel Media Europe Editor-in-Chief Bob Snyder is guest speaker. A well known keynoter, Snyder has been heard at various conferences and events, including RetailVision, DISTREE, Gitex/InfoComm and IT Channel Vision.

The ITC 2012 takes place on 31 May - 2 June 2012, at the 5-star Corinthia Hotel St. Georg in Malta. You can check out more details through the link below.

Go International Trade Conference 2012