MobileChannels.eu - Smartphones. SmartDevices. SmartAccessories.

Apple reports its first Y-o-Y decline since 2003-- Q2 2013 profits for the iPhone maker total $9.5 billion (from revenues of $43.6bn), down from Q2 2012 profits of $11.6bn and revenues worth $39.2bn.

Mind, it's still too early to start predicting doomsday scenarios for the company, not when it has a warchest worth $145bn... but as Wall Street starts gnashing its teeth, even CEO Tim Cook admits the juggernaut is slowing down after the “tremendous successes” of the past years.

The company also expects flat Q3 2013 revenues with a gross margin decrease of 36-37%, meaning another dip in profits.

However Apple device sales remain fairly brisk-- Q2 2013 iPhone sales reach 37.4 million (up from 35.1m in Q2 2012), iPads total 19.5m (with 65% Y-o-Y growth) and Macs remain flat at 4m units.

Microsoft announces European availability for the "Pro" version of the Surface-- by May 2012 the Windows 8 tablet should be available in most of our territories.

Countries include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

The tablet was previously available only the US, Canada and China.

Microsoft explains the reasoning behind the staggered rollout as "[making] sure we have the volume of devices in place and alignment with our retail partners to do each launch well."

Go Expanding Surface Pro Availability (Surface Blog)

ABI Research believes in the "strong potential" of the smartwatch-- according to the analyst changing consumer perceptions will lead to smartwatch shipments of over 1.2 million units for 2013 alone.

“The strong potential emergence of smartwatches can be attributed to several reasons,” ABI says. “Contributing factors include the high penetration of smartphones in many world markets, the wide availability and low cost of MEMS sensors, energy efficient connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth 4.0, and a flourishing app ecosystem.”

One can divide wearables in 4 categories-- notification types, voice operational smartwatches, hybrid smart watches and completely independent smartwatches.

Notification type devices include the MetaWatch and Cookoo smartwatches, providing alerts of the incoming call and message variety.

Archos launches its first Android smartphones with the 35 Carbon, 50 Platinum and 53 Platinum-- unlocked 3G+ handsets with slim designs, IPS displays, Qualcomm CPUs and a dual-SIM option.

“The smartphone market is shifting, as SIM-free sales versus subsidised sales are increasing. ARCHOS is prepared to respond to this change as we can offer retail channels affordable, unlocked and feature-rich smartphones without the heavy price tag,” Archos CEO Loïc Poirier says.

The 3 smartphones range from 3.5- (35 Carbon) to 5.3-inch (53 Platinum) in size. The flagship device is the 5-inch 50 Platinum, featuring a full black IPS display, quad-core 1.2GHz CPU, 4GB internal storage (expandable to 64GB via Micro SD) and 8MP camera, offering what the company claims is "an experience similar to a Samsung Galaxy S3 for half the price."

The OS of choice for all devices is unskinned Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), while Archos media centre apps provide music and video access.

Archos should start shipping the 3 smartphones from May 2013.

Go Archos Unveils Unlocked Anrdoid Smartphone Line