Manufacturing News South Africa

Manufacturers love the smartphone. Well, some of them do.

What is not to love about the smartphone, asks Times Live's Toby Shapshak, except the abysmal battery life? Consumers love it for its additional features and richer browsing experience; the networks love it because it uses more data and therefore generates more revenue.

Manufacturers love the smartphone because it is much more profitable. Samsung and Apple sold 55% of smartphones globally in the first three months of the year, according to ABI Research statistics released last week. The two new superpowers raked up 90% of the profit in this lucrative segment.

But not all manufacturers celebrate smartphones - Nokia and BlackBerry were the high-riding giants who were the biggest sellers of smartphones. But both were slow to adapt to market changes and arrogant enough to believe they didn't have to. They are now paying the price. Last week, Shapshak says, Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop announced it would shed 10000 jobs and miss earnings forecasts for the second time this year.

Read the full article on www.timeslive.co.za.

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