According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, NFC phones are reaching a tipping point this year and global volumes will more than double in 2013. Most new LTE handsets will launch with NFC in the future, led by key players such as Samsung, Blackberry, Android, Microsoft and Nokia. More analysis can be downloaded by clients here.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, Motorola's worldwide mobile phone shipments fell -52% annually in Q1 2013. Since Google acquired Motorola in Q3 2011, this grandfather of the cellphone industry has failed to post either a quarterly profit or a single quarterly increase in shipments, something only a fundamental overhaul of its handset development strategy can reverse. We recommend Motorola turn to the Nexus sub-brand to inject some magic back into its portfolio. More analysis can be downloaded by clients here.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, LG's worldwide mobile phone shipments, revenues, profits and pricing all rose faster than the industry averages during the first quarter of 2013. Due to an improved 4G handset portfolio, LG is on the comeback trail. Operators and consumers are re-warming to LG. However, there are challenges. The US and China -- the world’s two most important markets -- remain major problem-children for the South Korean vendor. More analysis can be downloaded by clients here.

Our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) team has been pleased to attend Huawei's 10th Global Analyst Summit in China between Tuesday 23rd to Thursday 25th April, 2013.

Huawei has been outlining over three days its worldwide strategy for mobile devices, services, enterprises and networks in 2013.

Our summarized findings from Day One (Tuesday) and Day Two (Wednesday) can be viewed here and here.

These are three of our top findings from Day Three (Wednesday), the final instalment:

1. Huawei remains the world's number one vendor of dongles. This gives it a good relationship with global carriers and enables cross-selling of phones and tablets.

2. Huawei's smartphone unit is market-ready to support TD-LTE technology when it launches in China in H2 2013 or H1 2014;

3. Huawei is focusing mostly on Android and Microsoft platforms for smartphones / tablets this year. Other emerging operating systems are a wait-and-see option.

Overall, the Huawei Summit has been very interesting. Huawei is not yet a "Samsung killer" or "Apple killer" in the cellphone world, but it is clear they are in its sights.

See you next year.

Our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) team is proud to attend Huawei's 10th Global Analyst Summit in China between Tuesday 23rd to Thursday 25th April, 2013.

Huawei is outlining over three days its worldwide strategy for mobile devices, services, enterprises and networks in 2013.

Our summarized findings from Day One (Tuesday) can be viewed here.

These are three of our top findings from Day Two (Wednesday):

1. Huawei was the world's third largest smartphone vendor in Q4 2012 and it aims to build on that success with upgraded smartphone models, like the Ascend P2, in 2013;

2. Huawei's tablet strategy has historically focused on global operator channels. There will be an expansion to more open-retail channels, including online, in 2013;

3. The Emotion UI -- Huawei's own user-interface sitting on top of Android -- will eventually be standardized and unified across small, mid and big screens, from the phone to the set-top-box. This is encouraging for the company, as it will control costs and improve the user-experience.

More analysis from Day Three to follow on Thursday.

Our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) team is proud to attend Huawei's 10th Global Analyst Summit between Tuesday 23rd to Thursday 25th April, 2013. Around 500 analysts and journalists are attending the event at a hotel in Shenzhen, China, near Hong Kong. Just 20 people attended the first Summit a decade ago.

Huawei has been outlining its strategy for mobile devices, enterprises and networks in 2013 / 2014. These are three of our top findings from Day One (Tuesday):

1. Brand is king for Huawei. The Make It Possible (MIP) campaign, which aims to make the brand more emotive, is being ramped up across 30+ countries (e.g. UK);

2. Huawei Ascend W1, the vendor's first WP8 smartphone, was demoed. Its pricing is competitive, at circa US$120 wholesale worldwide in H1 2013. Usability is typical of a mid-range device -- good, but not great (e.g. mixed touchscreen responsiveness);

3. NFC will play an important role in Huawei's smartphone and tablet strategy for the next two years.

More analysis from Day Two to follow on Wednesday.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, Nokia shipped 62 million mobile phones worldwide in Q1 2013, down to 2005 levels, in a seasonally weaker post-holiday quarter with consequent sluggish demand in feature phones globally. In contrast, Nokia saw demand for its line of WP8-based Lumia smartphones grow robustly as it expanded the reach to dozens of new markets. Additionally, tighter cost controls and lower operating expenses helped Nokia eke out some positive operating profits. However, Nokia has its work cut out for the rest of 2013 to ramp up Lumia smartphone shipments quickly to offset the Symbian and feature phone slowdowns. Improving its sub-par performance in China, US, UK, Japan and Korea should also be a priority for Nokia this year. More analysis can be viewed by clients in this published report: http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=8429.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, Nokia shipped 62 million mobile phones worldwide in Q1 2013, down to 2005 levels, in a seasonally weaker post-holiday quarter with consequent sluggish demand in feature phones globally. In contrast, Nokia saw demand for its line of WP8-based Lumia smartphones grow robustly as it expanded the reach to dozens of new markets. Additionally, tighter cost controls and lower operating expenses helped Nokia eke out some positive operating profits. However, Nokia has its work cut out for the rest of 2013 to ramp up Lumia smartphone shipments quickly to offset the Symbian and feature phone slowdowns. Improving its sub-par performance in China, US, UK, Japan and Korea should also be a priority for Nokia this year. More analysis can be viewed by clients in this published report: http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=8429.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, Nokia shipped 62 million mobile phones worldwide in Q1 2013, down to 2005 levels, in a seasonally weaker post-holiday quarter with consequent sluggish demand in feature phones globally. In contrast, Nokia saw demand for its line of WP8-based Lumia smartphones grow robustly as it expanded the reach to dozens of new markets. Additionally, tighter cost controls and lower operating expenses helped Nokia eke out some positive operating profits. However, Nokia has its work cut out for the rest of 2013 to ramp up Lumia smartphone shipments quickly to offset the Symbian and feature phone slowdowns. Improving its sub-par performance in China, US, UK, Japan and Korea should also be a priority for Nokia this year. More analysis can be viewed by clients in this published report: http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=8429.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, NFC phones have reached a tipping point this year and global volumes will surge an impressive 138% in 2013. Most new LTE phones will launch with NFC in the future, led by key players such as Samsung, Blackberry, Sony, Android, GSMA, G&D and Visa. Paying, pairing and sharing are among the main use-cases for NFC. This published report, available to clients, contains forecasts for global NFC phone sales in 6 major regions, including North America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe and Africa Middle East, from 2004 to 2017. The report also forecasts worldwide NFC handset sales by installed base and by device type, as well as analysis of the technology's drivers and adoption challenges.