Daily Insight: Day 2, Mobile World Congress 2012

Summary and Analysis of Announcements on Tuesday 28 February 2012

This post reproduces the Daily Insight sent to our clients on the second day of Mobile World Congress 2012.

The views below represent our initial analysis. Our view may change as more details come to light.

MOBILE PHONES

LG Launches Range of LTE-Enabled Smartphones
(http://www.lgnewsroom.com/newsroom/contents/62070)
Ben Wood: LG is focusing on LTE to re-establish itself in the mobile market. The strategy has been successful in its home market, but near-term success on a global basis will be challenging. Optimus Vu “phablet” is a perplexing device that has no obvious target market. L-series (non-LTE) lower-cost Android phones are interesting but will need to be extremely competitively priced.

Alcatel One Touch Strengthens Android Line-Up with 12 Models
Ben Wood: These are further keenly priced Android devices from Chinese manufacturers that threaten to overturn the established order in the handset market. They set the benchmark for branded entry-level Android devices. One Touch 908F Facebook phone is particularly interesting.

Acer Unveils CloudMobile Smartphone
(http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/press/2012/32891)
Ben Wood: Another Android smartphone in an already crowded market. Support for AcerCloud online storage service is unlikely to provide enough differentiation to make this phone stand out from rivals.

Acer Presents its Liquid Glow Android 4.0 Smartphone
(http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/press/2012/33742)
Ben Wood: Success is likely to depend on price alone. Acer’s poor track record in smartphones does not bode well.

BLU Products Announces Studio 5.3 Smartphone (http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/publicsiteContentFileAccess/736938/736938.html/?fileContentId=736938&fileName=736938.html&fromOtherPageToDisableHistory=Y)
Ben Wood: This is one of a multitude of “white box” Android devices, although its 5.3-inch screen is a notable feature. We find it difficult to see a place for this device in an already crowded segment.

 

TABLETS

Alcatel Debuts One Touch Tab 20 Tablet
Gavin Byrne: This seven-inch Wi-Fi-only tablet is a step into a new market for Alcatel. It will address the need for low-cost Wi-Fi-only devices in many markets; the route to market will be critical.

 

APPLICATIONS AND CONTENT

Mercedes-Benz Launches Digital DriveStyle app
(http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-658451-1-1464474-1-0-0-0-0-0-16694-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html)
Martin Garner: Using the Internet in a car requires a rethink of the user interface. This is a useful application from Mercedes-Benz, with a surprising level of integration with a single proprietary device — the iPhone.

Wildfire and Adaptly Introduce Social Marketing Solution
(http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/publicsiteContentFileAccess/736899/736899.html/?fileContentId=736899&fileName=736899.html&fromOtherPageToDisableHistory=Y
Paolo Pescatore: This move allows ads to be more relevant to users based upon their interests, which will make them more engaging.

Aylus Announces Live Video Sharing to Social Networks
(http://www.aylus.com/worlds-first-see-what-im-seeing-live-video-sharing-to-facebook-and-twitter-with-aylus-networks.html)
Martin Garner: Extending live video uploads to Facebook is a logical step and could create high demand. This would be a potential nightmare to support on operators’ networks.

Ittiam Announces First Full HD Video Calling Solution for Smartphones and Tablets
(http://www.ittiam.com/News/en/press-releases/2012/110-Ittiam-to-showcase-industrys-first-full-HD-video-calling-solution-for-Smartphones-and-Tablets-at-the-Mobile-World-Congress-2012.aspx)
Paolo Pescatore: Video calling is proving more and more popular among business users. This announcement shows that it is important to offer a seamless experience across all screens.

Huawei Device Launches New Era for the Smart Mobile Office
(http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/publicsiteContentFileAccess/736628/736628.html/?fileContentId=736628&fileName=736628.html&fromOtherPageToDisableHistory=Y)
Paolo Pescatore: This addresses an untapped opportunity in the Chinese market. Working with IBM gives the offering significant credibility among enterprises.

 

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Tizen Announces Availability of Beta Source Code and SDK
(https://www.tizen.org/blogs/tsg/2012/tizen-sdk-beta-and-source-code-updates)
Geoff Blaber: This means little in the absence of broader support and is unlikely to generate meaningful developer interest. Tizen was conspicuously absent from Intel’s press conference on Monday.

 

MOBILE MONEY

ISIS Partners with Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard
(http://news.paywithisis.com/2012/02/26/chase-capital-one-and-barclaycard-first-to-place-their-cards-in-the-isis%E2%84%A2-mobile-wallet/)
Digantam Gurung: The announcement of banking partners suggests this alliance is moving forward, but it will remain in test markets in the US for now.

Amdocs Launches Cloud-Based Mobile Payments Solution
(http://www.amdocs.com/News/Pages/cloud-based-mobile-payments-solution-launched-by-amdocs.aspx)
Digantam Gurung: Another mobile e-commerce service that uses direct-to-operator billing, this demonstrates just how competitive the mobile e-commerce market is.

Opera Software Announces Partnership with Yandex.Money
(http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2012/02/28_3/)
Digantam Gurung: Yandex.Money is the largest e-commerce payment service in Russia. The deal shows that Opera is open to integrating other mobile payment services to build up the number of users.

Opera Launches Opera Payment Exchange
(http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2012/02/28_2/)
Digantam Gurung: Opera hopes to exploit the 160 million users of Opera Mini browser and harness sales through its own content store and browser.

 

SEMICONDUCTORS

ST-Ericsson Announces LTE NovaThor Platform
(http://www.stericsson.com/press_releases/L8540-novathor.jsp)
John Jackson: This is the first true product from the joint venture and less significant than the low-end and high-performance variants that will follow.

ST-Ericsson Announces CG2905 Connectivity Platform
(http://www.stericsson.com/press_releases/cg2905.jsp)
John Jackson: The platform’s integration of GLONASS is consistent with our expectations for this sector in general. ST-Ericsson’s connectivity portfolio is a significant complementary asset that other well-capitalized players such as Renesas, Nvidia, Intel and Qualcomm lack.

Panasonic Selects ST-Ericsson Thor M5780 HSPA+ Modem
(http://www.stericsson.com/press_releases/Panasonic_M5780.jsp)
John Jackson: This is a purely tactical win with an established product. ST-Ericsson’s presence at Panasonic is only as significant as Panasonic will be in the marketplace, and there is little promise of high-volume sales in the near term.