"..... thinnest .... lightest .... slimmest ..... best display .... "

The eagled eyed among you may have already spotted the *s on Sony’s recent high profile Xperia Z advertising campaign which quote Strategy Analytics research to verify product claims.

The analysis we provided can be examined in detail on Sony’s website HERE

Verifying manufacturers' assertions for their products is something that Strategy Analytics is often asked to do, and which we are uniquely qualified to perform.  Our SpecTRAX cellular devices database of 300 item specifications for around 15,000 devices represents an extremely powerful magnifying glass with which to focus on product claims.  Further, where an existing device comes close to the test product we can increase the focus for a more detailed analysis.

Over the years, we have spotted a number of manufacturers' claims which we felt were invalid and while some of these may be seen as innocuous, it takes just one eagle-eyed blogger or journalist to spot the faux-pas and wreck an expensive marketing campaign.

To find out more about our proprietary research methodologies and how we may be able to help you, please feel free to contact me directly or CONTACT THE TEAM to arrange a SpecTRAX demo.

Steve Entwistle

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SpecTRAX, a comparison tool from Strategy Analytics, records the specifications of new cellphone handsets and tablets as they are announced; tracking availability through over 300 carrier and retail channels. 

Click here to try the SpecTRAX for yourself

We use our SpecTRAX online database to indicate popular smartphones. We found that in the first half of 2012 smartphones from Nokia and RIM joined those from Apple and Samsung as most widely available.

The complete top 20 list of global smartphones ranked according to their shelf-share are shown below.

Samsung pipped Apple to the top spot with the Galaxy S II i9100 (16GB), closely followed by Apple’s iPhone 4S 16 GB.  Impressively the Galaxy SII is available from every network operator and retail channel analyzed by the SpecTRAX team.

Our report also summarizes the key specifications of the top 20 smartphones including display size, camera resolution, processor speed and operating systems.

Over 50% of devices profiled were Android; however iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry OS and Symbian all held their ground in the top 20 smartphone list.

The key finds of the report include;

• Samsung’s Galaxy S II i9100 (16 GB) shows universal availability (only absent from the iStore shelves); the Apple iPhone 4S 16 GB comes in a close second.
• Nokia’s Lumia 800 gained traction early in its lifecycle being available through 77% of global channels just months after launch;  beating Samsung’s heavily publicised Galaxy S III i9300 16 GB launched in Q2 2012.
• HTC’s One X quad-core device (launched at MWC in February 2012) came in 12th place showing across 2/3 of shelves; an impressive positioning for this ultra-high-end product.
• The HTC Wildfire S and RIM Blackberry Curve 2 8520 entry level smartphones continue to be available from more than 60% of channels despite their age.

Samsung has the most devices in the ranking with five smartphones in the top 10 by shelf-share.  When the list is expanded to the top 20 widely available smartphones then devices from Sony, HTC and Motorola feature as popular in network operators product portfolios.

The data in the SpecTRAX online database is constantly updated and customers use it to track global and regional markets in terms of the popularity of handset and the associated specifications of those devices. This is particularly powerful information for product managers and development teams.
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SpecTRAX, a comparison tool from Strategy Analytics, records the specifications of new cellphone handsets and tablets as they are announced; tracking availability through over 300 carrier and retail channels. 

Click here to try the SpecTRAX for yourself
http://sa-link.cc/RS8Blog2

Alternatively CONTACT THE TEAM to arrange a SpecTRAX demo.

Steve Entwistle

Clients can access the full details in the report “Results Are In: Samsung’s Galaxy S II was the most widely-available device in 1H 2012” ranking.

SpecTRAX availability and shelf-share data revealed Nokia's Lumia 710 in poll position for smartphones launched in Europe during Q1 2012. This means that during its launch quarter, the Lumia 710 made its way onto 33% of European carriers. The Sony Xperia S (27%) and LG Prada K2 (22%) came in second and third place, with the Lumia 800 featuring on 17% of operator's shelves; meaning Nokia's new launches were in the top 4 smartphones by shelf-share at launch. Download SpecTRAX's latest complimentary extract: Most Widely Available NEW Smartphones in Europe Q1 2012 for the full story, summary spec details, and the methodology.

The analysis revealed European Carriers Top 20 newly released handsets were from Samsung (with 6 models) and HTC (5 models). Nokia, Sony, LG and RIM all featured 2 new smartphones a piece. The Apple iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy SIII and Nokia Lumia 900 did not feature in this report as they were launched either side of Q1 2012 in Europe.

SpecTRAX is a tactical database which tracks detailed handset specifications for smartphones, mobile phones, tablets and USB dongles. There are now over 14,000 unique models listed in the database. Click here to try the SpecTRAX database for yourself, or CONTACT THE TEAM to arrange a SpecTRAX demo.

42 new smartphones were announced at MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2012 and their specifications are examined in detail in this complimentary report HERE->

ZTE announced 13 models followed by Samsung and LG with 5 each.  The analysis was carried out using SpecTRAX.

The highlights of smartphones announced at MWC are:

• Android dominated with the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich and the continued presence of Gingerbread. Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS 7 and 7.5 (Tango and Mango) were on 2 handsets, and Symbian Belle was found on Nokia’s 808 Pureview – more on p.7 of the report.
• The average display size of these new smartphones was over 4 inches; larger displays are power hungry so battery power was increased in response.
• Huawei’s powerful and impressive Ascend portfolio is equipped with “retina displays” and quad core processors – full details are on p.3 of the report.  Quad core processors gave calculated effective clock speeds of up to 4.5GHz which surpasses even some newly announced tablets.
• Nokia’s 808 Pureview fitted with a 41MP camera revolutionised smartphone photography – more on p.5.

If you want to try the SpecTRAX databse for yourself, just click HERE.

Stephen Entwistle

Stuart Robinson's latest Insight confirms that Bluetooth for mobile phones is no longer considered an optional feature.  Out of the 70 new handsets launched in September internationally, 95% had Bluetooth connectivity emphasising that handsfree functionality has become a universally expected feature.

You can read Stuart's Insight in full by clicking here.

So, Bluetooth is a an important trend, but what others are highlighted by Stuart in the 70 new handsets? 

The following picture of tables and charts showing the latest trends is compiled directly from this Insight and of course include Stuart's analytical comments.  You can gain access to this data by clicking here.

Strategy Analytics maintains a finger on the pulse of mobile handset data by closely tracking the portfolios of 140 mobile network operators in 30 countries worldwide using SpecTRAX, Strategy Analytics' mobile handset tracking tool.

If you want to find out more about SpecTRAX, just click here.