Tag Archives: smarphone

Spreadtrum Soars On 4G, Camelot Clunks

By newsdoug on June 14, 2013

China 4G boosts Spreadtrum

The latest earnings and outlook are breathing new life into low-cost smarphone chip maker Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD), but also showing why the market remains difficult for homegrown IT services firms like Camelot Information Systems (NYSE: CIS). Spreadtrum’s newly announced upside surprise could bode well for the broader field of companies that specialize in low-cost smartphones and their components, as China prepares to launch 4G mobile services later this year. Meantime, Camelot’s weak earnings are likely to continue for the foreseeable future, though at least it won’t have to publicly discuss those embarrassing numbers if its current bid to privatize succeeds. Read Full Post…

Low-Cost Apple iPhone to Bite ZTE, Lenovo 苹果推低端iPhone 冲击中兴和联想

By newsdoug on August 25, 2011

Apple's low-end iPhone drive takes aim at ZTE, Lenovo The rest of the world may be buzzing about Steve Jobs’ announcement that he will retire as CEO of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), but my attention has been captured by a smaller piece of news that Apple may soon enter the low-cost smartphone business. Apple never discusses its future plans, and accordingly this latest piece of news is only gossip so far, citing two knowledgeable sources saying a low-cost version of the iPhone 4 is now being developed to go head-to-head with a segment of the market now dominated by phones running on Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) free Android operating system. (English article) If true, such a development could provide not only headaches for Google and Android, but also for the growing field of Chinese smartphone makers that have relied on the free operating system to develop low-cost models favored not only in developing markets like China, but also by cost-conscious consumers in developed markets like the US and Western Europe. Up-and-comer ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) would be most vulnerable to such a move by Apple, having staked its future on grabbing global market share with its low-cost Android based smartphones. Other companies that look vulnerable include Lenovo (HKEx: 992), whose young smartphone initiative is already sputtering just a year after its launch, and ZTE rival Huawei, which is also trying to make a splash with smartphones as growth for its older telecoms equipment business starts to slow. Such a move by Apple could also hit the prospects of TCL Communications (HKEx: 2618), whose cellphone business has posted a strong comeback in the last year after taking a serious hit after it acquired money-losing assets from Alcatel (Paris: ALUA) six years ago. I actually know the Reuters reporters who wrote the Apple low-cost iPhone story, and both are quite reliable so I’m fairly confident it’s only a matter of time before low-end iPhones hit the market. If and when that happens, look for the Chinese smartphone makers to suffer big headaches as a result.

Bottom line: Apple’s launch of a low-end iPhone could further cement its dominance in the global smartphone market, at the expense of Chinese players like ZTE, Lenovo and Huawei.

当人们热议乔布斯辞去苹果(AAPL.O)首席执行官（CEO）职务时，我关注的新闻是，苹果或即将打入低端智能手机市场。苹果从不讨论其未来计划，但两名消息人士透露，苹果正在研发低端版iPhone 4，将与谷歌(GOOG.O)Android操作系统手机占据的一部分市场进行正面交锋。尽管这还只是传闻，但如果消息属实，这一研发不仅让谷歌和Android业者头痛，也会让中国智能手机制造商苦不堪言。後者依赖免费的Android操作系统，研发低成本机型，这些低端机型不仅受到中国等发展中国家青睐，在美国和西欧等发达市场，也受到节俭消费者的欢迎。苹果此举或让中兴通讯(0763.HK)(000063.SZ)最“受伤”。中兴将公司未来押宝在利用低端Android智能手机掠夺全球市场的战略上。其它容易受创的公司包括联想(0992.HK)和华为。联想启动仅一年的智能手机项目已取得不俗成效，华为则因电信设备业务增长放缓，同样试图推智能手机业务提振业绩。苹果推低端版iPhone也会对TCL通讯(2618.HK)发展造成影响，TCL通讯六年前收购阿尔卡特-朗讯(ALUA.PA)亏损的手机资产後一度严重受创，但去年该部门业绩强势反弹。我认识报导苹果可能推低端版iPhone手机消息的两位路透记者，他们的消息都很可靠，所以我很有理由相信，该款手机上市只是时间问题。如果苹果发布低端版iPhone 4，我预计将让中国智能手机商极为头痛。

一句话：苹果推出低端版iPhone，或进一步巩固其全球智能手机市场主导地位，代价则是中兴通讯、联想和华为等中国手机制造商受到冲击。

ZTE Gambles With Smartphone Share Grab 中兴通讯押注智能手机业务

By newsdoug on August 11, 2011

Telecoms firm ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) latest earnings show a sharp divergence in its top and bottom line growth, the result of a big new gamble on its small but fast-growing smartlphone business that it hopes will offset sluggish growth at its networking equipment unit. The company says its revenue grew around 30 percent in the second quarter, a strong improvement over the first quarter, but that its latest quarterly profit actually fell more than 20 percent, a sharp about-face from 16 percent growth in the previous quarter. (company announcement) It cites an aggressive gamble on its smartphone business behind the profit decline, as it sells its smartphones, mostly based on Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android operating system, at ultra-low prices in a bid to become one of the world’s top 5 vendors in the next 2 years. ZTE said its smartphone unit sales rose 400 percent to 5 million in the first six months of ZTE rolls the dice with aggressive smartphone bid the year, even as gross margins for all handsets fell sharply on its aggressive smartphone pricing. A company source previously told me ZTE hopes to sell $600 million worth of smartphones in the US this year alone (previous post), and based on reports I’ve seen saying many of those phones could retail for as little as $100, ZTE will need to sell more than 6 million of those phones in the US alone to meet that target. Such plays for rapid market share gains are a risky bet, with Taiwan’s Acer (Taipei: 2353) serving as a classic case of a company whose willingness to gain share at the expense of profits nearly drove it to bankruptcy a decade ago and are threatening to undermine it again. Still, I would give this ZTE initiative a 50-50 chance of success, provided it can really post the rapid market share gains it expects in the next 1-2 years and then use its new clout to slow raise prices to more sustainable levels. In this case execution will be key, which could work to ZTE’s disadvantage as this such strong execution isn’t typically a strong point for many Chinese firms.

Bottom line: ZTE’s decision to sacrifice short-term profits to rapidly expand its smartphone business is a risky but potentially profitable bet, with a 50-50 chance of success.

在中兴通讯最新财报上，公司营收与利润差异巨大，而原因主要在于其押注规模较小但增长快速的智能手机业务，公司希望利用这块业务来弥补其网络设备业务的缓慢增长。中兴通讯发布业绩快报称，第二季度公司营收增长大约30%，较一季度有很大改善，但是二季度利润下降超20%，而其一季度为16%的正增幅。公司解释称智能手机业务是利润下降原因，因公司为能够未来两年内位列全球五大手机厂商，其智能手机售价非常低。公司还表示，今年上半年其智能手机销量上升400%，达到500万部。一名公司消息人士此前曾向我透露，中兴通讯希望今年在美销售总额达6亿美元的智能手机。而据我所看到的报导，手机售价可能低至100美元，如果按此计算，中兴通讯仅在美国就需要卖出600多万部手机才能实现目标。这种为快速获得市场份额的举动可谓冒险，台湾宏基(2353.TW)就是一个经典案例。该公司通过牺牲利润来换取市场份额，几乎让它在十年前濒临破产。不过，我觉得中兴的这种策略依然有50%的成功机率，前提是中兴真的能在未来1-2年快速获得其预期的市场份额，然後利用其新的影响力逐渐将价格提高至更可持续的水平。在该案例中，执行将是关键，但可能不是中兴的强项，因这种执行力通常不是很多中国企业的强项。

一句话：中兴牺牲短期获利来换取智能手机业务快速发展的决定有风险，但可能也是有利可图的，其成功机率为50%

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