Smartphones Finally Outsold Dumbphones
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Smartphone Sales Exceed Feature Phone Sales (Gartner)
New Data From Gartner shows smartphone sales grew 46% during the second quarter of 2013 to 225 million units. That was good enough for a 51.8% share of total mobile handset sales for the quarter, marking the first time that smartphones outsold feature phones and all other mobile handsets. Read >
Mobile Subscriber Growth In The U.S. Slows To A Standstill (Chetan Sharma)
Tech consulting firm Chetan Sharma just released a new report surveying the entire mobile market. One of the most interesting points was that U.S. mobile carriers only added 139,000 new subscribers last quarter, which amounts to their worst quarter is the history of the U.S. wireless industry. Read >
FitBit Just Received Another Round Of Funding (CNNMoney)
Popular wearable mobile device, FitBit, just received another round of venture capital funding which amounted to about $43 million. FitBit tracks physical activity and monitors other health-related vitals. It's a sign of the growing interest in the wearable computing industry, even as speculation of Apple and Google entering the space looms over existing device makers like FitBit. Read >
Defending iOS With Cheap Phones (Benedict Evans)
Benedict Evans comments on the ongoing iOS vs. Android smartphone battle by pinpointing how a high-volume, cheap iPhone model would be best suited to defend the iOS global installed-base of devices. Boosting sales through cheap models is a way to keep iOS's superior app experience, which Evans points to as the platform's saving grace. Read >
On The Future Of iOS And Android (Steve Cheney)
Steve Cheney offers up another think-piece on iOS vs. Android. He specifically highlights how the battle is moving beyond mobile, particularly to things like television and the Internet of things. Read >
Google Play Revenue Up 67% Over Last 6 Months (TechCrunch)
App analytics company Distimo released its monthly report on the top-grossing apps. In the report, it also commented on revenue growth between the top two app store ecosystems: Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play. The data showed rapid revenue growth from Google Play of 67% over the last six months, compared to just 15% for Apple's App Store. Distimo attributes a majority of this growth to emerging markets. Read >
Millennial Media Makes Power Move In Mobile Advertising Arena (TechCrunch)
Millennial Media just acquired well-known mobile advertising company JumpTap. Millienial already runs one of the largest third-party mobile advertising businesses, and is clearly gearing up for the future of mobile advertising. Read >