The most recent smartphone and tablet launches have targeted the top cream markets with their high-end devices. However, a new battle looms with the emerging markets being the target this time around. The likes of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which yetserday launched its iPhone 5 smartphone, will be battling it out with other companies in the field, including newcomers, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Surface tablets, and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Nexus tablet, and the newly acquired Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE:MSI), devices.
This time around, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has tried to harness its prices for the new device, in order to accommodate almost everyone that fancies owning a smartphone. We earlier covered the price range of its products, from as low as $99 for the iPhone 4s, while the new iPhone 5 ranges between $199 to $399 for the three variations.
However, the big question is, can Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK), which is rumored to be planning to launch a Windows 7.5 phone for the emerging markets, HTC Corporation, which has always struggled to gain traction in this critical market, and Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM)’s BlackBerry devices, as the company struggles to stand, compete against South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, which has stood above all since 2011?
At the beginning of 2010, it was all about Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) in the emerging markets, as it offered a comprehensive set of devices, to accommodate all budgets, thereby commanding a huge market share. However, as the saying goes, whatever goes up must come down, and sadly for Nokia, its has been the worst of slumps, contrary to Samsung’s trend.
According to Raymond James & Associates’ research, Nokia has completely lost its market share to Samsung Electronics, while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has had a fair trend. Nonetheless, the biggest challenge in the emerging markets has been Chinese phones, as a majority of the Chinese smart phones are sold at very cheap prices, as compared to the big industry players.
HTC has continually remained at the floor of the market, with less than 5 million units in sales, throughout the years, while RIM, which had picked up in 2011, to sell over 5 million units per quarter, seems to be dropping lower in sales, since the beginning of this year.
Raymond James & Associates, believes that Windows 8 hardware requirements of LTE functionality and a dual core processor is one of the major reasons the two companies have had to come up with a Windows 7.5 phone. This is because the required hardware raises the cost of production way too high for the company to be in a position to price its finished product competitively in the market.
This would have proved to be an uphill task against the low-priced devices running under the white-box android, the report notes, in reference to the cheaply available android devices. Nokia, which held 48.8% market at the tail end of quarter 4 of the year 2010, now commands only a mere 9.7% share, as of June 30th, 2012. According to the trend, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) could be holding a little less than 7% as of now; while the gap between Samsung (market share 27.7%) and Apple (14%) seems to be widening.
At the time of this writing, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s shares were up $8.64 per share, or approximately 1.3%, to trade at $678.43; Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KSE:05930.KS) shares were up o.54%, to trade at KRW 1,301,000, or approximately $1,146 per share, while Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK), was up $0.19 per share , or 6.89% to trade at $2.94.
