"..... 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.

Addendum:
We have a long history of verifying manufacturers’ claims and we know from experience that it’s certainly a fun game for marketeers to play.

Firstly, thank you to @NetMage for making a good point about the real thickness of the Motorola RAZR.   While I expect that the Motorola marketeers will claim it’s the part you hold in your hand which they have measured, I agree with @NetMage that any sensible person would use the slot test to determine a device’s thickness all the way down to determine its widest point.  The RAZR would certainly be thicker than the iPhone 5 in such a test.

Secondly, the often-cited example of the Oppo Finder phone is hiding a significant camera bump which probably makes it thicker than 7.6mm.

HOWEVER, the iPhone5 still isn’t the thinnest; we just have to look further afield to Korea and Japan to see the following devices:

•           Huawei Ascend P1 S (6.68mm) – Not yet showing on the 300 channels we track
•           Fujitsu ARROWS ES IS12F  (6.70mm) – Available in Japan on AU
•           Pantech Vega S5 (6.89mm) – Available in Korea from both KT and SK Telecom

Caveat; I have not measured these above devices to verify the manufacturers’ claims, but viewing online images suggests that they do not have significant additional chins, bumps or protrusions.

Conclusion: the iPhone 5 is certainly the thinnest iPhone ever, but NOT the thinnest smartphone.

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Various bloggers reporting from the iPhone launch mentioned the new iPhone 5 as "the thinnest smartphone". A quick Advanced Search of our SpecTRAX database clearly demostrates that various device vendors have launched thinner smartphones to date.

For devices which are thinner than 7.6mm then Motorola has at least 3 devices which are claimed to be 7.1mm thick; Motorola RAZR XT909, Motorola DROID RAZR CDMA, Motorola RAZR XT910

Below is the list of smartphones which are less than 8mm thick.

To try our SpecTRAX database which tracks global specs and availability of mobiles, smartphones, tablets and dongles click HERE

Steve Entwistle

We've recently completed a 'market insight' entitled:  

In their choice of smartphones, consumers look closely at the specifications of certain key components while bearing in mind their likely pricing.  So what are those particular components, their specifications and their pricing? 

Getting to the bottom of this, we analysed close on 100 smartphones using the massed data from our SpecTRAX and PriceTRAX databases which revealed strong linear trends between handset specification and smartphone tariffs.  If the relationship is linear, there is the basis for reliably predicting smartphone pricing - and with this knowledge, there will be opportunities such as targeting gaps in the market with new products.

Understanding product pricing is therefore powerful knowledge and you can read how we reached our conclusions by clicking here.

If you would like to learn more about SpecTRAX or PriceTRAX, just click their names.

Ref: E62

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

With all eyes on smartphones, the latest SpecTRAX insight report reveals the impact of miniaturisation of components. Out of the 70 new handsets launched in September internationally, an increasing number of new models are thinner yet heavier as OEMs cram more hardware into thinner cases.  This makes smartphones denser :-)

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

Out of these 70 new handsets, ten were 10mm or thinner with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S at 8.7mm and the Samsung Focus S at 8.5mm in both 16GB and 32GB versions.  Despite the presence of the bulkier handsets for rugged environments from Sonim and Huawei, the average thickness of models announced in September throughout 30 countries was down to 12.9mm.

Meanwhile September’s average new handset weight rose somewhat affected by the LG Esteem MS910 at 172g and the Motorola 3 at 184g.

What other trends 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.

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.

Despite market share trends, network operators are still backing Nokia.  The simple fact is that Mobile Network Operators need week-by-week to stock their shelves with the most popular handsets, and when it comes to smartphones, the majority are voting for Nokia with Apple a very close second.

How do we know this?…. because we closely track the portfolios of 140 mobile network operators in 30 countries worldwide using SpecTRAX*, Strategy Analytics' mobile handset tracking tool.

The detail of the shelf-share tussle between Nokia's N8 handset and Apple's iPhone 4 (plus which other handsets are chasing those leaders) is contained in Stuart Robinson's in-depth analysis in his latest 'Insight'.  Read this in full by clicking HERE.

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

When it comes to screen sizes, Apple's lead at the top of the smartphone market is under challenge as other suppliers catch up and exceed that of the iPhone.

But has that natural limit to handset screen size already been reached by the market, dictated by convenience, ergonomics and portability?

You can read Stuart Robinson's* opinion on the above question together with comprehensive data of smartphone screen sizes by clicking on the title of his 9-page report: 'Size Matters: HTC and NEC Knock Apple Off Top Spot as Display Sizes Grow 8 percent year-on-year in Q1 2011'

This highly focused report with detailed conclusions and implications is supported by heavily-researched data from the smartphone portfolios of 130 network operators in 30 countries. That comprehensive data was supplied by Strategy Analytics' SpecTRAX mobile phone market analysis tool.

If you would like to investigate SpecTRAX further just click HERE

*Stuart Robinson is Director of Strategy Analytics' Handset Technology Component Service including SpecTRAX.

Example charts from this report:

Steve Entwistle

The rise of the iPhone since 2007 has been nothing short of breathtaking.  And now, for the first time in Q1 2011, Apple's iPhone 4 won the top spot from RIM's Blackberry Bold 2 9700 in the SpecTRAX global shelf share* chart.

In the turbulent mobile handset market, standing still is not an option!  The Blackberry, since Q2 2010, universally the most widely available handset, had plummeted to sixth place in the chart behind strong competition from European suppliers and Samsung.

Click here to read this full and exciting report and update your appreciation of the strength of the competitive forces at play in the mobile handset market.

* SpecTRAX global shelf share = most frequently appearing models in 130 carriers' portfolios.

Steve Entwistle