Dreaming is not harmful they say and dreaming can become a sole remedy when the reality desired is too far away. This is exactly the way I want to characterize Samsung’s recent announcements they will surely overrun Nokia in the mobile competition race this year.

Samsung CEO Choi Gee-Sung told journalists in Las Vegas that they got more revenue in the last quarter of 2011 than Nokia and will overrun the Fins as to the unit shipment amount this year too. No doubt Nokia lost its dominance in the mobile market with the appearance and success of Apple’s i-devices. And Nokia’s market shares and profits also went down significantly as compared to 2007 (before Apple’s re-appearance). But does this mean it is losing to Samsung too? While theoretically it is possible of course, in reality it is way too far to think so. Nokia has very good standing in emerging markets and with the anticipated slowing down of smartphone markets this year, it is hardly that Samsung will overtake the place where Nokia is firm enough.

Reuters says Nokia can sell 388 million mobile phones this year, while Samsung — 359 million. Samsung puts its hopes in Android, Bada and Tizen, when Nokia is happy to cooperate with Microsoft on WP not forgetting also to think about its original Symbian OS. Whatever, in my personal opinion, Samsung is very far away of coming close to overtaking Nokia, but dreaming they say is not harmful.

Several days ago I tried to compare the upcoming Nokia 500 with the HTC Wildfire S, and it came out that in many aspects Nokia’s entry-level smartphone is even better than HTC’s mid-range device. Now I want to compare the Nokia 500 with the Samsung Galaxy Ace, and I have personal interest in this comparison, since I’m an owner of a Galaxy Ace.

So, let’s see which phone is better – the Nokia 500 or the Samsung Galaxy Ace.

Design

As I said in my previous post, the Nokia 500’s design is at least original and recognizable. The Samsung Galaxy Ace, on the other hand, looks like a typical Android smartphone, but a very stylish one for sure (I bought it only because I likes its design, and only later I found out it that has good specs, too). Both smartphones have interchangeable battery covers, the only difference is that the Nokia 500 offers a wider range of color choices, while the Galaxy Ace comes in two colors only – black and white. Besides, the Nokia 500 is 1mm shorter, 6mm slimmer and 20g lighter than Samsung’s device.

So those who prefer more original smartphones with different colors will most likely choose the Nokia 500. And those who like the sleek shapes of Android phones will give preference to the Samsung Galaxy Ace. Design is a matter of taste anyway, I personally like the Galaxy Ace more.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy Ace is larger, so it offers a larger screen size – 3.5-inch (the Nokia 500’s screen is 3.2-inch), but at the same time its resolution is lower — 320 x 480 against the Nokia 500’s 360 x 640. On the other hand, the Nokia 500 is an upcoming device yet, so we can’t be sure it will really appear with such a display (and will it really have a high quality?), but I can touch and see Samsung’s display, and I say its quality is good.

Processors

The Nokia 500 is going to have a 1GHz processor, while the processor of the Samsung Galaxy Ace is only 800MHz. However, I think Nokia’s CPU has yet to be tested, while as an owner of a Galaxy Ace I can say its processor is rather good, and I’ve never experienced any problem with it.

Platform

The Samsung Galaxy Ace runs Android, while the Nokia 500 runs Symbian Anna. Of course, Symbian Anna is much better than the previous Symbian^3, but still it’s Symbian… Android is the most popular platform now, and almost half of all smartphones work on Android; this means it has many useful apps and a huge community… I don’t know, maybe there are people who will prefer Symbian, but I prefer Android anyway.

Camera

Both smartphones have 5MP cameras, but Samsung offers auto-focus and LED flash with its device. Nokia always makes very good cameras for its smartphones, and I’m sure the one for the Nokia 500 will be good, too. As for Samsung, maybe this company isn’t known for its cameras, but the Samsung Galaxy Ace’s camera is already tested – at least by me – and takes quality pics, really quality ones.

Other features

The Samsung Galaxy Ace has only 158MB of storage, and it’s a big shortcoming – even I have to admit this. And 2GB of internal storage is the big plus of the upcoming Nokia 500. However, a microSD card can even the odds. On the other hand, the Galaxy Ace comes with some features the Nokia 500 lacks (DLNA support, Wi-Fi hotspot and others).

So…

Both smartphones have their stronger and weaker sides. The Nokia 500’s display has a higher resolution, its processor is stronger and it has a bigger amount of internal storage. The Samsung Galaxy Ace runs Android, the most popular OS, has a camera with LED flash and auto-focus, it also has some features the Nokia 500 doesn’t and is more beautiful (IMHO). I think those who love testing new devices will surely buy a Nokia 500, and those who love older but tested devices will prefer the Galaxy Ace after all.

So it’s up to you to decide which one is better for you. But I would like to add that the Nokia 500 is yet to come (some of its features can still change before it’s released), and the Galaxy Ace is real, it can be touched, felt and bought right now. I have always thought that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And the rest is up to you

Yesterday when I wrote about the rumors that Nokia will be sold to Samsung, I wasn’t sure whether I should believe those rumors or not. Fortunately, yesterday Nokia CEO Stephen Elop spoke at the Open Mobile Summit in London announcing that Nokia is not for sale.

I definitely like such statements! And there is no need to think what the spokesperson meant or whether there was something under the line. Moreover, Stephen Elop said people are tired of seeing iOS- and Android-powered smartphones everywhere, and Nokia’s future Microsoft-based devices will be a good alternative for all those who wish something new.

Plus, when he was asked whether some Nokia’s unique services will be used in other Windows Phone handsets, Elop answered that it is quite desirable. Truly, it will help both companies enlarge their market shares and become more popular. Generally, the question referred to the offline voice-guided navigation with Ovi Maps, and this anxiety is clear, because Google will offer Google Maps with free offline navigational capabilities soon, so Nokia must prepare something not to lag behind Google.

I think there will be some cooperation between Samsung and Microsoft app- and service-level, nothing more, and all these conversations made people think Microsoft and Samsung are hungry to ingest Nokia. However, Stephen Elop has come to Nokia not for this, right?

Source

Recently, Russian tech analyst Eldar Murtazin tried to sell Nokia to Microsoft for $19 billion, and now other rumors are buzzing over the net. According to them, Samsung is going to buy Nokia. If the spokespersons from both companies came up with comments, everything would be OK, but they remain silent.

The thing is that no matter how hard Nokia is working to solve its current problems, its financial indicators hint there are still black clouds conglomerated above the company. Some optimists will say cooperation with Microsoft will help Nokia regain its popularity, but its market cap has decreased to $24 billion, and probably even Stephen Elop doesn’t know what to do.

On the other hand, Samsung is competing with other big manufacturers successfully, and Nokia’s patents can help it strengthen its positions on the global mobile market. It is rather difficult to imagine Nokia to be sold to Samsung, but if it happens, most likely a fusion will be made with Nokia Siemens Networks.

Again, these are just rumors, and as usual the spokespersons of both companies are quite modest when they’re asked about such deals. So, everything can happen, we can just wait and see.

Source

International Data Corporation (IDC) has conducted research and found out that in the first quarter of 2011 the global smartphone market has shown a remarkable 79.7 percent growth. At the moment the market has 99.6 million smartphones, most of which were manufactured by HTC, Samsung and Apple. And we shouldn’t forget about Nokia, too.

HTC, Samsung, Apple and their smartphones are really very popular at the moment. For example, HTC’s market share has grown to 8.9 percent (it was only 4.9 percent last year); in 2010 the company manufactured about 30 million devices, and in the first quarter of 2011 it manufactured 8.9 million units (even if they continue like this and create 8.9 million devices each quarter, in 2011 they’ll sell 35.6 million devices, which is also good growth compared to the last year).

Samsung’s and iPhone’s results were also remarkable. Samsung showed even greater growth than HTC – from 4.3 percent to 10.8 percent, while iPhone’s results were more humble, but good anyway – from 15.7 percent to 18.7 percent.

As for Nokia, the company still remains the leader in the market despite of the continuous share loss – from 38.3 percent to 24.3 percent. Perhaps the reason of Nokia’s failure is hidden in the fact that most of Nokia’s products are feature phones, not smartphones that are becoming more and more popular now. And besides, Symbian^3, which is used in Nokia smartphones, isn’t that popular at the moment, and Android is beating it.

However, the things can change very soon – in the last quarter of this year, when Nokia introduces its first smartphones based on Microsoft’s OS. I guess Nokia hopes their agreement with Microsoft will bring success and fame to both companies, and they’ll start regaining their market shares again. We’ll see.

Gartner reports that Nokia continues to lose its market share. According to the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, Nokia’s share has fallen to 25.1 percent – it’s the lowest value since 1997.

If you remember, in the first quarter of 2010 Nokia’s market share was 30.6 percent, so a 5.5 percent drop is really significant.

Samsung held the second largest market share – 16.1 percent, and LG with its 5.6 percent was the third. Both companies lost a bit of their shares, while Apple, which was in the fourth place, continues to grow (from last year’s 2.3 percent to this year’s 3.9 percent).

As for cellphone sales in general, they were up by 19 percent if compared with the first quarter of 2010. Smartphones are also sold very well – 23.6 percent of all sold mobile devices were smartphones.

The situation with operating systems is also very interesting this year. In 2010 Nokia’s Symbian held 44.2 percent of the market, and Google’s Android had only 9.6 percent. In the first quarter of this year Android holds 36 percent of the market, while Symbian has only 27.4 percent. As for Microsoft’s OS, it was 6.8 percent last year, and it’s down to 3.6 percent now.

Not good news for Nokia and Microsoft, of course, but let’s hope their agreement and Nokia’s first WP7 devices that are already being tested will change everything.

Source 1, Source 2

Finnish giant which was long the undisputed leader in sales of mobile technology in Western Europe, recently began gradually losing its former supremacy. A well-known analyst firm IDC believes that it’s entirely possible that this year there will be a leader change in the European continent – instead of Nokia’s first spot, the South Korean company Samsung will take the lead.

In support of their assumption IDC cites the following facts:

• In the first quarter of this year, the overall supply of mobile technology Nokia have fallen by 9% compared to the same period last year;
• Compared with last year the share of Nokia in the mobile market has decreased from 39% share of 33%;
• The presence of Nokia in the smartphone market, compared with the year 2009 decreased by 16% – from 57% to 41%;
• Deliveries of mobile phones (smartphones without) Nokia compared to the year 2009 decreased by 18%, the presence in this market declined from 35% to 30%;
• Samsung currently supplies 40% of all mobile phones in Europe
• In the first quarter of this year, the share of Nokia in the mobile market in Europe amounted to 32,8%, while Samsung had 29.3%.

Both companies have a similar story. Nokia has begun with the production of paper, then moved to the cable, and after entered the market of mobile equipment. Samsung started as a distributor of vegetables, fish and noodles, then switched to the production of wool, and finally, in the 60′s with the support of the Government of South Korea took up electronics.