App usage soars as smartphones take hold

Global app usage soared in 2015 as a growing base of smartphone users found new ways to use their devices, a study showed Tuesday.

PHOTO: AFP

JAN 5, 201610:23 PM

[SAN FRANCISCO] Global app usage soared in 2015 as a growing base of smartphone users found new ways to use their devices, a study showed Tuesday.

The survey by Yahoo-owned analytics firm Flurry found app usage on mobile devices jumped 58 per cent last year, cooling slightly from 76 per cent growth in 2014.

A big factor was growth in "personalization" which allow people to customize their devices or correspondence including lockscreens and emoji keyboards, including reality star Kim Kardashian's "Kimoji." These apps saw 344 per cent growth last year.

News and magazine apps grew 141 per cent meanwhile, signaling a shift in media consumption from television and PCs to smartphones and other mobile devices.

Productivity apps such as Google Docs and Slack were up 119 per cent, Flurry found, while lifestyle and shopping apps grew 80 per cent - another sign of ecommerce turning mobile.

Flurry vice president Simon Khalaf said one of the reasons for the growth was increased used of big-screen smartphones or "phablets," which offer a better view for video and other uses.

"Time spent on phablets grew 334 per cent year over year (2.9 times more than the average), compared to 117 per cent for all form factors," he said in a blog.

"With time spent on mobile surpassing that on television, and phablets posting astonishing growth in media consumption, it appears that the cable industry will find in the phablet and its apps its long awaited digital nemesis." A separate report this week by the App Association found 3.97 million apps available at the end of 2015, generating revenues of US$120 billion.

AFP

      

Apple expected to cut iPhone 6S, 6S Plus production

Apple Inc is expected to cut production of its latest iPhone models by about 30 per cent in the January-March quarter, compared with its original plans, the Nikkei reported. 

PHOTO: AFP

JAN 6, 20167:28 AM

[BENGALURU] Apple Inc is expected to cut production of its latest iPhone models by about 30 per cent in the January-March quarter, compared with its original plans, the Nikkei reported.

As inventories of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have piled up since its launch last September, production will be scaled back to let dealers go through their current stock, the business daily reported.

Production is expected to return to normal in the April-June quarter, but Apple's parts makers likely to be affected will include liquid crystal display panel manufacturers Japan Display Inc, Sharp Corp and LG Display Co Ltd, the Nikkei reported.

Other companies affected include image sensor supplier Sony Corp and electronic parts makers TDK Corp, Alps Electric Co Ltd and Kyocera Corp, the paper reported.

Apple and the Japanese and Korean parts suppliers were not immediately available for comment.

REUTERS

Huawei smartphone shipments soar 44% in 2015

Huawei Technologies Co has become the first Chinese handset vendor to ship more than 100 million smartphones annually, defying a market slowdown to challenge leaders such as Samsung Electronics Co and Apple Inc. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 6, 20161:14 PM

[HONG KONG] Huawei Technologies Co has become the first Chinese handset vendor to ship more than 100 million smartphones annually, defying a market slowdown to challenge leaders such as Samsung Electronics Co and Apple Inc.

The Shenzhen-based company said on Wednesday its smartphone shipments rose 44 per cent annually to 108 million in 2015, thanks to strong sales in China and Western Europe as it seeks to shed its budget supplier image to target higher-margin premium models.

Hauwei's upbeat performance comes at a time when industry leaders are facing a tough year ahead. Samsung said it expected a difficult business environment in 2016 due to weak global economy and heightened competition, while a Nikkei report said Apple was expected to cut production of its latest iPhone models by about 30 per cent in the January-March quarter due to mounting inventories.

Analysts said it was too early to say if Huawei could become a serious rival to Samsung and Apple, as smaller Chinese players such as Xiaomi Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd often swapped rank in price wars. "In China it's true that Huawei grew tremendously over the past six months, but it's a bit of a dog fight within the Android ecosystem," Kantar Worldpanel ComTech analyst Carolina Milanesi said.

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"Huawei's going after Xiaomi and all the other smaller Android players."

Huawei remains a distant third, with a smartphone market share of 7.5 per cent in the third quarter after Samsung's 23.8 per cent and Apple's 13.5 per cent, according to research firm IDC.

Huawei said revenue for its consumer business group, which sells products such as smartphones and tablets, jumped 70 per cent year-on-year to US$20 billion in 2015.

Worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to grow 10.4 per cent in 2015, down from 27.5 per cent in the previous year, according to IDC.

REUTERS

    
 

Singapore business leaders raise concerns, issues in SBF position paper

By

Lee U-Wenleeuwen@sph.com.sg@LeeUwenBT

The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has issued a raft of proposals and recommendations that it hopes the government will consider in order to strengthen Singapore's global competitiveness. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 6, 20161:30 PM

THE Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has issued a raft of proposals and recommendations that it hopes the government will consider in order to strengthen Singapore's global competitiveness.

In a 32-page position paper released on Wednesday, SBF stressed the need to undertake a "deep review" of the country's existing strategies and to come up with new responses to tackle them.

"We envisage a Singapore plugged into the global economy and supporting many different kinds of businesses, utilising technology and leveraging our own intellectual property that make us uniquely competitive," the paper said.

The various recommendations, prepared by a group of 71 top business executives over a six-month period last year, are both for the immediate and the medium to long term.

Noting that Singapore is undergoing economic restructuring, the SBF paper wants as many businesses as possible to transit through this "difficult period". It urged the government to help businesses deal with rising costs and manpower issues to overcome near-term economic headwinds.

In the medium to longer term, the paper calls on the government to create an economy that isn't constrained by Singapore's geographical boundaries, and to develop the country as a hub for nerve centre, thought leadership, research and development, innovation and growth activities.

"We urge our government to consider our proposals, especially those that concern our rising costs and the need to expand our economy and grow an external wing," said SBF chairman Teo Siong Seng.

"The newly elected government now has a fresh and strong mandate. There is no better time than now to take bold and decisive moves that will strengthen Singapore's position now and in the long term."

    
 

White House vows response to any North Korea 'provocations'

      

The United States said it was too early to verify North Korea's claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb on Wednesday, but vowed to "respond appropriately" to "any and all provocations." 

PHOTO: AFP

JAN 6, 20161:54 PM

[WASHINGTON] The United States said it was too early to verify North Korea's claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb on Wednesday, but vowed to "respond appropriately" to "any and all provocations."

The White House has recently expressed skepticism about Pyongyang's announcement that it had perfected a device substantially more powerful than an atom bomb.

Officials said they were still investigating whether the hermit state's claim of a fourth nuclear test was true.

"We are aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula in the vicinity of a known North Korean nuclear test site and have seen Pyongyang's claims of a nuclear test," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price.

"We are monitoring and continuing to assess the situation in close coordination with our regional partners.

"While we cannot confirm these claims at this time, we condemn any violation of (United Nations Security Council) resolutions."

North Korea has previously launched three nuclear tests that brought international opprobrium and sanctions.

"We have consistently made clear that we will not accept it as a nuclear state," said Price.

"We will continue to protect and defend our allies in the region, including the Republic of Korea, and will respond appropriately to any and all North Korean provocations."

Bringing new punitive measures against Pyongyang may prove difficult, after years of extensive sanctions on North Korean entities and the need for coordination among regional actors with conflicting interests.

The White House has recently tried to focus on human rights record, rather than its military provocations.

In December, the White House poured cold water on Kim Jong Un's suggestion that North Korea has developed a hydrogen bomb.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House had concerns about the "destabilising actions" of the regime, though available information "calls into serious question" claims that Pyongyang has a thermonuclear device.

During an inspection tour of a historical military site, Kim reportedly mentioned that North Korea was already a "powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty," according to official media.

AFP

      

China to allow mainlanders to make transit stops in Taiwan

JAN 6, 20161:45 PM

[TAIPEI] China's move to allow transit stops in Taiwan for onward flights for the first time is a sign Beijing is trying to interfere with Taiwan's upcoming presidential elections, the opposition party favoured to win the polls said on Wednesday.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office said passengers flying from Nanchang, Kunming and Chongqing would be allowed to transit through Taiwan's main international airport before flying on to a third destination.

The news came just a few days before Taiwan is expected to elect a president from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Jan 16.

The ruling Kuomintang (KMT), which is China-friendly, is falling behind in opinion polls.

"China for sure is doing this to give the KMT a boost in the elections," said DPP lawmaker Chen Chi-mai. "It seems China is trying to dominate future Taiwan-China ties."

Both sides across the Taiwan Strait have been ruled separately since defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the Communists.

Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island of 23 million people back under its control, particularly if it were to make moves towards formal independence.

The two sides had been discussing the transit plan, which proponents said could prove a boon for Taiwan airlines, by giving them more business from mainland passengers.

In the final hour of trading, shares of Taiwan's two biggest airlines both jumped more than 2 per cent, outperforming a decline of 0.9 per cent in the benchmark index.

REUTERS