The Gionee Elife E7 series is not exactly a new device, as the mid-sized flagship E7 mini was announced by the Chinese manufacturer in late 2013 and launched in Asia in mid 2014. However, the E7 mini is still on the company’s current lineup, along with the Elife S5.1 — the “world’s thinnest smartphone” — which perhaps signifies the firm’s approach to its product cycles. Even the aging Elife E7 is undergoing some sort of renaissance with a significant price drop, retailing at around $180, which is around 37% of its original price.

The E7 mini is supposedly a smaller version of the Elife E7, which had been Gionee’s flagship smartphone until it was supplanted by the waif-thin S5.5 and S5.1 handsets. However, a unique — or at least uncommon — characteristic is its swivelling camera, which gives some flexibility in terms of photo capturing angles and selfie-photography.

Gionee’s PR sent us a unit to review late 2014, and while this writer had been mostly exposed to, and preoccupied with, reviewing Windows Phones, I started appreciating some of Android’s benefits and nuances with this review.

Specifications

The Gionee Elife E7 mini is not exactly a specs monster, especially given its age, although it’s still a formidable smartphone that can handle Android capably.

• Chipset: Mediatek MT6592 Octa-core 1.7GHz Cortex A7
• GPU: Mali 450MP4
• RAM: 1GB
• Storage: 16GB, no microSD support
• Display: 4.7-inch 720×1080 px at ~312 ppi, IGZO capacitive touchscreen
• Camera: 13-megapixel rotating lens with LED flash
• Battery: Non-removable 2,200 mAh
• Network technology: GSM, HSPA

The Elife E7 mini’s main handicap is its use of an older Android version. The device ships with 4.2.2 Jelly Bean — customized with its own Amigo UI 2.0 — which means users will miss out on the performance and UI advantages latter versions offer.

The E7 mini, by the way, comes in a dual-SIM setup, meaning you can simultaneously run on two different networks or mobile accounts. I find this very useful when roaming abroad — I can simply purchase a cheap prepaid SIM for cheaper local data, calls and SMS.

Hardware Design and Build Quality

Build quality is one of the Elife E7 mini’s strong suits. The device has a unibody design, with the entire casing molded out of a single piece of polycarbonate. This comes with advantages and disadvantages: the battery is not user replaceable, and the only way to open up the device is to pry out the screen. However, it also means the phone is sturdier, and will not tend to creak under pressure or break apart when dropped. Even the micro-SIM slot, which holds both SIM1 and SIM2, is only accessible through a tray, which requires a pin to eject.

The only point of wear and tear is the swivelling camera. Now, there are advantages and disadvantages to this. First, a moving camera means you can take both regular shots and selfies using the same resolution lens. This is a big plus, compared to most other devices that have smaller-resolution fixed-focus front cameras. It also enables taking photos more discreetly (if the lens were swivelled into a position that does not make it obvious you’re taking pictures).

As for buttons and port placement, I appreciate how both the power/suspend and volume rockers are all on the right side. I know it can confuse most users coming from Samsung or Apple devices, but from someone used to Windows Phones, it seems more natural. Given the space the swivelling camera requires at the top, both micro-USB and 3.5mm audio ports are located at the bottom of the device.

What I don’t like here is how Gionee uses a sticker for the device’s certification labels. Yes, the unibody design precludes opening up the case, but these labels could have been incorporated more discreetly (the Lumia 930 has its labels engraved at the bottom of the metal frame, for example).

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MediaTek (TPE: 2454) will enjoy a bigger share this year of the high-end smartphone chip market because of a better product mix, a European brokerage said on Feb. 10.

The brokerage cannot be identified due to Financial Supervisory Commission’s regulations, now that the information and forecast it shared may have impacted local bourse.

The brokerage said that MediaTek is planning to finish its designs for three generations of high-end smartphone integrated circuit products in 2015 by using 28-nm, 20-nm and 16-nm process technologies. It may end up with higher operating expenses but it will also end up with higher gross margin, the brokerage said.

“Overall, we expect MediaTek to enjoy its high-end and mid-end smartphone IC share gain. In addition, MediaTek is improving its position among China’s 4G smartphone makers in the mid-end to high-end market,” the brokerage said.

MediaTek remains the leading chip supplier to Chinese smartphone vendors. On Feb. 9, the company reported lower-than-expected earnings of US$0.21 per share for the fourth quarter last year. The company forecast a 10% to 18% sequential decline in its revenue for the first quarter this year, with an estimated profit margin of 12% to 18%, which is below market expectation of 21% because of rising research and development expanses.

On Feb. 9, an anonymous Japanese brokerage kept its “reduce” rating on MediaTek shares and cut its price target from US$14.5 to US$12.9. It said that MediaTek might have been struggling with a “learning curve” for 4G chips as it has been trying to catch up with bigger rival Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM).

“The operating expenses hike in 2015 showed MediaTek’s strong ambition in catching up with Qualcomm, but also implied that narrowing the technology gap is not easy, which reinforced our view that MediaTek remains in a transition period,” the Japanese brokerage said.

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HTC (TPE: 2498) and Samsung (KRX: 005930) both introduced its new low-cost mid-tier smartphones to Taiwan on Feb. 9.

HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker, introduced the Desire 626, which is equipped with a 5-inch HD 720p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage capacity, a 13-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and 4G LTE connectivity.

HTC North Asia President Jack Tong (董俊良) described Desire 626 as a feature-rich model at a low price. Without revealing the deal date for its debut, Tong said that the new mid-tier smartphone will be available later this month at US$190 each, and it will target budget-conscious and young consumers.

“We hope that our total sale volume and market share will see significant growth this year,” Tong said.

Tong said that HTC had the highest share in each of the US$483-US$645, US$322-US$483 and US$161-US$322 phone segments in Taiwan last year, and that the company is planning to extend its success to the lower price band this year. He said that HTC is targeting a 25% share of the sub-US$161 phone segment in 2015, which will translate into an estimated 375,000 units of phone sales for HTC and boost the company’s overall market share in Taiwan by 5%.

Samsung Galaxy E7 (Photo Courtesy of Samsung)

For Samsung, HTC’s Korean rival, the new Galaxy E7 is the weapon to compete with HTC’s Desire 626.

The Galaxy E7 is Samsung’s first mid-range smartphone which comes along with a 5.5-inch display and a price tag of US$317.

The E7 also marks Samsung’s latest foray into the sub-US$322 price band, as Taiwanese smartphones priced between US$161 and US$322 accounted for about 33% of total sales last year, up from 24%.

“Samsung is a pioneer of 5.5-inch smartphones,” said Andy Tu (杜偉昱), general manager for Samsung Taiwan’s mobile communication team. “We are aiming to provide a full range of products before the Lunar New Year holiday.”

In addition to the Galaxy E7, Samsung also introduced the Galaxy E5 and the Galaxy Grand Max. The 5.25-inch Grand Max will go on sale later this month at US$257, while the price of the 5-inch E5 will be announced at a later date.

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Inventec Corp (TPE: 2356), a mobile device maker and the major supplier for China’s Xiaomi, said that it will begin mass production at a new factory in India during the second half of 2015 as part of its overseas expansion.

Huang Kuo-chun (黃國鈞), Inventec’s general manager, said that the company’s new plant is located in Chennai, a southern city of India. The plan has been approved by the company’s board of directors on Jan. 26. Initial production is expected to start in the late second quarter or early third quarter before entering mass production in the second half of the year, Huang said.

Huang said that the new plant in India, where is the world’s third-biggest smartphone market, will be used to assemble smartphones as well as other electronic devices, while components will be purchased from local Indian suppliers.

“In addition to China, India will mark our first step toward expanding capacity,” Huang said.

In the meantime, Huang also said that it remains unclear how much the Indian factory will account for Inventec’s total capacity in the next two years.

“Inventec’s major customers are ‘optimistic’ about its investment in the Indian plant but noted that there are still some challenges for the company to enter the Indian market, including the diverse Indian languages and cultural differences,” Huang said.

For now, he said, Inventec has a smartphone assembly factory in Nanjing, China, where monthly production capacity has increased from six million units last year to eight million units currently and is estimated to reach 10 million by the end of this year.

During a press conference last month, Inventec Chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) said that the company’s shipments of mobile devices were estimated to increase from 30 million units in 2014 to 50 million in 2015, helped largely by the increasing orders from major customers like Xiaomi and growth in tablet computers.

Xiaomi, the leading Chinese smartphone maker, sold a total of 61.1 million smartphones in 2014, tripled from 18.7 million units in 2013. The “Chinese Apple” aimed to ship 100 million smartphones this year, of which Inventec is expected to receive 50% of the orders.

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The brand name Motorola was reintroduced in China again on Jan. 26, while the latest smartphone Moto X and four other devices were also introduced to regain market share lost to Xiaomi.

The Moto X is retailing online for US$412 each, while the Moto G phone will cost US$162 each when it was scheduled to be released on Feb. 10. Lenovo (HKG: 0992), Motorola’s mother company and the world’s largest maker of personal computers, is re-establishing the Motorola brand in the biggest smartphone market after a two-year absence.

Rick Osterloh, president and chief operating officer for Motorola, said that Motorola also planned the Moto X Pro phone, Moto 360 smartwatch and Moto Hint wireless headphones.

Lenovo, meanwhile, is expanding into mobile devices to fend off competition from Chinese rivals Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies (SHE: 002502) , foreign and domestic. The US$2.9 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility from Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) from last October gave Lenovo an established global brand and a technology licensing agreement with Google to help boost sales.

“The market is so competitive that it’s hard to think about only one competitor,” Osterloh said. “If you focus on competitors, you’re going to go astray. The focus is squarely on consumers.”

In addition to launching new products, Osterloh said, China will also be the first country in Asia to get the Moto Maker Service that lets users buy select custom materials for their phones.

IDC’s latest research and report said that Xiaomi has become the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor for the first time in the third quarter of 2014, with a share of 5.3%. Samsung (KRX: 005930) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) continued to be the top and second smartphone makers industry, while Lenovo was in the fourth place with 5.2%.

“Lenovo expects to replace Xiaomi in the No. 3 spot with the inclusion of Motorola and sell more than 100 million units,” said Liu Jun (劉軍), Mobile Business Group president and Motorola unit chairman.

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HTC (TPE: 2498) announced its new sponsorship with three professional online gaming teams while the company is moving into the home entertainment sector in addition to its smartphone business.

“Team Liquid, Cloud9 ad Team SoloMid will carry the HTC banner in professional leagues for games like ‘League of Legends,’” HTC said on its official Twitter account.

The renowned smartphone maker also named Walter Wang and Thomas Chen, two e-sports project managers, to launch a top-notch video series with players from the three teams and will offer them the chance to try out some “amazing new HTC devices” in the future.

“E-sports has seen significant growth in the past few years and we see synergy between those who are dedicated to this sport and HTC’s own customer base: people who set their own path and passionately pursue their own brilliance,” HTC said.

HTC, however, did not reveal any details of the amount spent on the sponsorship as of press time.

On Jan. 26, HTC shares gained 1.92% to US$5.09 in Taipei’s stock exchange.

On Jan. 7, an anonymous HTC executive told the U.S. technology website Re/Code that the Taiwanese smartphone maker was planning to expand into connected devices and entertainment in 2015, after diversifying its product line last year with the RE action camera.

By developing new categories of both hardware and software, HTC is hoping to transform itself from just a smartphone manufacturer into a “personal tech company,” the Re/Code report said.

The plan was revealed after HTC announced on Jan. 6 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, that it had formed a strategic partnership with Under Armour (NYSE: UA), an American sports clothing and accessories supplier, to add a newly launched health and fitness app — UA Record — to HTC’s product line.

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HTC (TPE: 2498) said on Jan. 21 that that company is planning to expand its distribution network and improve its brand image this year.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker said that the domestic market will be its priority in 2015.

“The 2015 is crucial to HTC because the company is set to offer a full range of products from entry-level to mid-tier and top-of-the-line phones,” said Jack Tong (董俊良), president of HTC North Asia. “HTC everywhere is our slogan for this year.”

Tong said that HTC is working on the expansion plans of its Taiwanese distribution partners to increase the total number of HTC stores in 2015. The expansion plans were expected to boost HTC’s brand image and promote the company’s products to more local consumers.

“Our new vision for brand is to expand HTC’s reach to everywhere,” he said.

As of now, Tong said, HTC has teamed up with 19 local distributors to run a total of 72 direct stores that only sell HTC products. He said that the number of HTC direct stores in Taiwan will reach 100 in 2015, with sales from the stores expected to double from last year.

In the meantime, Tong also said that the expansion plan is based on his estimate that retail stores will account for up to 40% of Taiwan’s overall smartphone sales this year from 20% last year, fueled by a shorter replacement cycle and more offerings of feature-rich phones at low prices.

As of 2011, HTC primarily released and marketed its smartphones under the HTC brand, and was ranked as the 98^th top brand on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2011 report. In September 2013, HTC was stated that its share of the global smartphone market was less than 3% and its stock price has fallen by 90% since 2011.

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Global smartphone shipments continued to grow in 2014 while more and more Chinese brand names have shared a large portion of occupation in the global market.

A latest research report by TrendForce said that global smartphone shipments for 2014 totaled 1.167 billion units, a year-on-year increase of 25.9%, while 453.4 million units of them belonged to Chinese brands.

“ The year of 2014 was definitely an impressive year for Chinese brands as they gained more share of the global market,” said Avril Wu (吳雅婷), global smartphone analyst for TrendForce.

TrendForce’s research stated that Chinese vendors managed to encompass almost 40% of the global shipments and represent six of the top ten smartphone brands worldwide. The pooled shipments of numerous Chinese brands, however, still could not threatened global brand leaders – Samsung (KRX: 005930) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). TrendForce said that the total shipments for Samsung and Apple accounted for 518 million units.

“This shows that the fierce competition among the brands relatively and severely narrowed their profit margins,” Wu said.

Although its being listed as the top smartphone brand name with the most shipments, Samsung, however, has been through a difficult year in 2014 as its market share dropped to 28%, compared with 32.5% of the previous year. Wu said that Samsung’s large-size and high-end Galaxy Note series faced stiff challenges from Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus, while its midlevel and low-end smartphone shipments were undercut by inexpensive Chinese brands. Samsung’s overall shipment target had undergone downward revisions since the beginning of 2014, with annual growth in shipments only at 8.4%, which was about 326.4 million units.

In 2014, Apple maintained its high annual growth rate of 24.5%, which was about 191.3 million units shipped worldwide. With 16.4% market share, Apple was a solid number two in the worldwide smartphone rankings. Apple’s position was attributed to the success of its first large-size smartphone model, the iPhone 6 Plus. This new category addressed Apple’s lack of smartphones with above five-inch screens and thus significantly raised the fourth quarter shipping ratio.

For LG (KRX: 066570), TrendForce said that its strategy of “promoting high quality products at low prices” paid off with strong market reception to its flagship smartphone models, ranging from G2/G2 Pro to the newest G3.

“Right now G3 is the first smartphone outfitted with a 2K screen that gives users better viewing experience,” Wu said. “This showed LG’s advantage of having a display panel manufacturer as under its wings.”

For that reason, LG was the dark horse of 2014 with its ranking jumped up to number four and annual shipment growth at 75.4%, which was about 70 million units.

While Lenovo (HKG: 0992) officially completed its acquisition of Motorola from Google in the fourth quarter of 2014, the acquisition and reorganization process took almost a year since Lenovo’s announcement. Lenovo’s total shipments in 2014 exceeded 90 million units and its annual growth surpassed 100%. It ranked first place among Chinese smartphone vendors and third worldwide with its 7.9% global market share.

With the introduction of the Honor 6 model in 2014, Huawei (SHE: 002502) changed its strategy of using smartphone chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek for its high-end products. The Honor 6 is packed with Kirin 920, a 4G chipset developed by Huawei’s subsidiary HiSilicon. With approximately 70 million units shipped and an annual growth around 70%, Huawei was ranked number five in the 2014 worldwide smartphone shipments.

Xiaomi, meanwhile, was recognized as the “best cost-performance products.” Its flagship models cost between US$ 300 and US$ 350. Since Xiaomi was launched in China during the latter half of 2011, the “China’s Apple” has been able to more than double its growth each year, that its 2014 annual shipment growth exceeded 200% with 60 million units shipped, and at one point managed to edge out the leading vendors in China such as Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo.

Xiaomi was ranked as the sixth on the same chart for 2014.

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Barclays (LON: BARC) upgraded its stock rating for HTC (TPE: 2498) for the first time since November 2011.

“After about four years, HTC has shifted from its focus on the high-end market, which is now dominated by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL),” said Dale Gai, analyst for Barclays, in his latest research. “We believe that HTC’s strategy changes, including material cost structure improvement and a refocusing on the mid-level market, are finally likely to bear fruit as volume growth leads to a surprise earnings recovery for HTC.”

Gai also mentioned that HTC’s intrinsic values, including strong cash, strengthened intellectual property portfolio and solid partnership with telecom operators, have been overlooked in the past few years, while he also upgraded HTC’s stock rating from “underweight” to “overweight” and raised his price target for HTC shares from US$3.17 to US$6.34.

Gai said in the research that HTC is well placed to take the challenges in future tech trends, including wearable devices and Internet of Things, which is the trend of connecting more devices to each other and the Internet.

HTC, which is also known for one of the world’s major smartphone makers, dropped out of the top 10 ranking for global smartphone shipment last year, a decline that Gai attributed to poor management of its supply chain and inventory, and its underestimation of the growth in China smartphone brands. While the company has been experiencing shrinking shipment volumes and high operating expenses, HTC’s profits have disappointed investors in the past three years and it had only a 1.5% global share of smartphones shipped globally in 2014, Gai said.

“Our structural upgrade now is due mainly to the fact that we believe the company now fully recognizes the nature of the competitive landscape, and due to its strategy of product pricing and manufacturing that we believe is a good response to changes in the industry’s competition dynamics,” Gai said.

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Xiaomi said on Jan. 15 that the Mi Note, its brand smartphone with a 5.7-inch screen, will be available in Taiwan as soon as the second quarter.

In addition to Taiwan’s market, Mi Note is also facing direct competition from Apple’s iPhone 6 series as well as other phone-tablet hybrid handsets of similar size in both China and Taiwan. Despite the announcement of the plan to introduce Mi Note to Taiwan during the second quarter, Xiaomi, however, did not reveal more details of a specific date or even the price for the new handset.

Mi Note is regarded as a high-end device, that will come along with a 5.7-inch full-HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel real camera, a 4-megapixel front-facing camera, a 3,000mAh battery and dual-SIM 4G LTE connectivity. The brand new smartphone will be sold at US$287 each for the 16G model and US$362 each for the 64G model when it is introduced to China’s market this March, Xiaomi said.

Mi Note Pro, a higher-end smartphone, is also introduced at the same time, while it will be sold at US$412 each for the 64G model. It will feature hardware improvements such as a 64-bit Snapdragon 810 processor, a quad-HD display, 4GB of RAM and LTE download speeds of up to 450 mega-bits per second.

Xiaomi has been recognized as “China’s Apple” since it was founded in 2010, while most of its smartphones’ features are very similar to its iPhone counterparts. The Beijing-based phone maker sells low-cost feature-rich phones, including the flagship Mi series and low-end Redmi models, and has teamed up with many Taiwanese suppliers such as Foxconn Technology Group (TPE: 2354) and Inventec Corp (TPE: 2356).

Canalys, a market research firm, said that during the second quarter of 2014, Xiaomi overtook Samsung Electronics Co (KRX: 005930) as China’s top smartphone maker for the first time, holding a 14% share. Samsung and Apple, the only international vendors in the top 10, together accounted for a 18 percent share of the world’s largest smartphone market, Canalys said without disclosing individual market share for Samsung and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). IDC ranked Xiaomi as the world’s third-largest smartphone maker in the third quarter of 2014. Meanwhile, Xiaomi expects to ship 100 million smartphones this year, a leap from 61.1 million last year.

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Xiaomi’s Chief Executive Lei Jun (雷軍) said on Jan. 13 that his company will aim at becoming the leader in the global smartphone market within five to 10 years.

“Maybe our opponents will mock us for this, as we dream big. But a dream is not a dream if it does not sound impossible before we make it,” Lei said.

The founder for Xiaomi made his remarks when he attended the cross-Taiwan Strait Mobile Internet Conference in Taipei. Lei said that Taiwan’s former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) requested him to encourage Taiwan’s younger generation during their conversations. He believed that age does not matter when it comes to establish new business but attitude does, while “dreaming big” is an important issue for those who want to start business from nothing.

Lei quoted Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) founder Jack Ma’s (馬雲) remarks and said “a man like me failed college entrance exams for three times and, probably anybody can achieve something great if I can.”

“Xiaomi’s history is shorter than five years, while our smartphone has been introduced for only three years. But now, Xiaomi is the leader in the smartphone market in China and became the third brand name in the global market during the third quarter last year. We have accomplished something that we did not believe in the past,” Lei said.

In the meantime, Lei urged Taiwanese innovators to accelerate their development of intelligence-based home applications. He also laid out the directions he felt will be appropriate for Taiwanese start-up companies and young innovators for next five to 10 years – to create mobile apps that will go on sale globally through online stores like Google Play and App Store and to come up with more “smart home” applications.

“Mobile apps will expand the reach of Taiwanese firms from the domestic market to other regions around the world, and ‘smart home’ applications are ‘using mobile phones as a hub to connect with all intelligence-based equipment,’ including devices used at home and in the office,” Lei said.

Lei suggested that Taiwanese companies have been lagging behind their Chinese competitors in the development of smart home applications.

“I think many Taiwanese companies are capable for innovation like that but they must speed up to keep up with the competition,” he said.

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Taiwan’s leading integrated circuit designer MediaTek (TPE: 2454) said on Jan. 9 that it has reached its sales target for the fourth quarter of last year, which was also an achievement it attributed to solid global demand for smartphone chips.

MediaTek reported US$1.73 billion in consolidated sales for the period between October and December last year, down 3.51% from a quarter earlier in reflection of the year-end slow season, the company said in a statement. The fourth-quarter sales figure, however, was well within MediaTek’s forecast of the amount between US$1.6 billion and US$1.77 billion.

During last December, MediaTek said that its consolidated sales totaled US$517 million, up 1.8% from a month earlier and 30.46% year-on-year. The leading IC designer company of its kind said that strong demand for 4G smartphone chips helped offset the effects of the year-end slow season.

MediaTek said that during 2014, a 56.6% annual increase was posted in consolidated sales to US$6.45 billion, breaking the US$6 million mark for the first time. The significant annual growth was attributed not just to strong smartphone chip shipments but also to the company’s acquisition of a smaller competitor MStar Semiconductor (TPE: 3697) last February, MediaTek said.

For 2014, MediaTek said that its smartphone chip shipments have totaled 350 million for its global market, while 30 million of them were 4G ships. In the meantime, the company forecasted that its global 4G ship shipments will rise to at least 100 million units before the end of this year.

On Jan. 8, MediaTek President C.J. Hsieh (謝清江) said that the company will try hard to seek 4G smartphone chip orders from customers outside China. He also said that the company is confident in the competition against its major rival – the U.S.-based Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM).

Qualcomm’s share of the China market in 2014 was estimated at about 50%, while MediaTek’s was around 25%, according to Strategy Analytics.

Shares of MediaTek on the Taiex rose 0.62% to close at US$14.79 per share on Jan. 9, Taiwan time, outperforming the broader market, where the weighted index ended down 0.24% at 9,215.58 points.

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Tech research firm Gartner said on Jan. 7 that the global tablet market growth will continue to slow down this year.

“The collapse of the tablet market in 2014 was alarming,” said Ranjit Atwal, a research director for Gartner.

Atwal’s remarks were referred to the paltry 4.3% year-on-year increase to 207 units for 2014.

Gartner estimated that global tablet shipments will reach 233 million units in 2015, which will be an 8% increase from last year, when the tablet market saw a steep drop.

Atwal said that global sales for tablets during the past two years were growing in double-digits. The drop, however, can be referred to the lifetime of tablets is being extended, and the lack of innovation in hardware which refrains consumers from upgrading.

“Tablets are shared out amongst family members and software upgrades, especially for iOS devices, keep the tablets current,” Atwal said.

For the mobile phone segment, Gartner said that global mobile phone shipments will continue to grow 3.7% year-on-year to 1.91 billion units in 2015 and reach 1.97 billion units in 2016.

Annette Zimmermann, another research director for Gartner, said that the smartphone market is becoming polarized between the high- and low-end market price points. On one hand, she said, the premium phone with an average selling price at US$447 in 2014 saw growth dominated by iOS, and on the other end of the spectrum you have Android and other open OS phones’ growth area in the basic phone segment, where the average phone costs US$100.

“For the mid-range smartphones, the market opportunity is becoming increasingly limited,” she said.

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A small survey conducted on a certain tech news discussion group in Japan shows that a considerable fraction of user groups within the country may not be too inclined to use their tablets, opting instead to use smartphones for their day to day mobile device needs.

With a limited sample survey of 269 people, the survey team asked the group as to whether they use their tablets more than once during a single week. The combined answers revealed that at least 30.9% of the tech savvy user group do not actually use their tablets as often as they are perceived to be. The survey further narrowed the data down by pinpointing the biggest causing factor, which was their regular use of smartphones.

When asked why they do not use their tablets often, the general consensus is that smartphones already fulfill their mobile device needs. Common responses include “smartphones are handier”, “my smartphone is enough”, and “everything’s on my smartphone already”.

The results were not only reflected within the smartphone user group, but were also shown in the tablet user group as well. Some of the common reasons stated for using their tablets more than once a week often included activities which can already be done efficiently on a smartphone, such as checking email or observing weather forecasts.

Large smartphones and small tablets can usually blur the line between these two mobile devices. The convenience of having an adequately portable form factor and a sufficiently large screen can be a more attractive option, not to mention the relative cost efficiency or purchasing such a device. In Japan, this can perhaps be more evident, with the existence of other types of mobile devices that serve as a middle platform between the two.

Although the survey pointed out that smartphones can perhaps replace tablets in certain functions, the results still obviously showed that there are definitely more users who maintain using their tablets as often as needed. One interesting reason cited for this is that these tablet users are also often feature phone owners, a fact that was already pointed out in a previous survey by another group.

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The Institute for Information Industry said on Dec. 29 that 70% of those Taiwanese people who are older than 12 possess their own mobile devices.

The institute’s latest research said that approximately 14 million Taiwanese people are mobile device users and the total number will continue to increase until 2016.

The research said that the total amount of those Taiwanese people who are older than 12 and possess mobile devices increased 1.01 million people during the past six months. Among them, approximately 5.27 million people are smartphone and tablet computer users.

The research also discovered that the total amount of smartphone users for the first six months and the last six months increased 7%, while at least 65.4% of Taiwanese people are now using smartphones.

The research said that Samsung (KRX: 005930) remains Taiwanese people’s favorite brand name, when it comes to smartphones, but the total amount of the Korean brand name fans is dropping 2.2%, while the same figure for Sony (TYO: 6758), Xiaomi and Asus (TPE: 2357) continued to grow 1% to 2% in 2014.

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VAIO, in cooperation with mobile virtual network operator firm Japan Communications (TYO: 9424), had just confirmed its plans to release its own smartphone model. The upcoming model is slated for an early New Year launch this January 2015, and it will be introduced as a mid-range model within Japan’s local smartphone market.

The spun off company had already previously announced a few months ago its plans to release a high-end hybrid tablet/notebook model, with the intent of releasing it as a productivity unit. The decision to release its own smartphone model this time is yet again part of VAIO’s original plan to extend the brand beyond notebooks. The company’s expansion to the mobile device realm is expected to further re-establish its business model to cater to a wider consumer base, as well as promoting the brand as a separate competitive business entity.

No announcements yet about specifications, availability and price. However, as mentioned earlier, the company did announce that it will be a mid-level model, aimed at striking a wedge between some of the major players of the Japanese smartphone market. General costs are also estimated to be set between major telecom operators and current competitors within the low-cost market. In addition, the smartphones are to be optimized for design, keeping the original concept of the VAIO brand.

Earlier January 2014, before VAIO became a separate company, there have been speculations as to whether Sony (TYO: 6758) had any plans to release a Windows Phone smartphone. Despite the circulation of rumors across the web, there are still no confirmed reports of this for the moment. On the flip side though, while Sony’s Xperia line of smartphone models are obviously in no way related to VAIO’s upcoming smartphone, there is a considerable possibility that it will be Windows Phone-based, at least based on how the brand is currently marketed today.

The post VAIO Enters The Smartphone Realm With Upcoming Model appeared first on VR World.

A recent research survey conducted by Japanese non-profit organization e-Lunch, together with Kaspersky Japan and Sunloft, has revealed that on average, at least 65% of young smartphone users in Japan are aged two or less.

This was based from a sample data obtained from at least 1,158 people taking care of children aged six or less within the country. According to the survey, the largest share was held by two year-old users, taking at least 47.4% within the sample group, with one year-olds holding the next 18.3% and children aged three to six taking the rest. As for average use time, the data showed that the children within the sample group use smartphones and tablets for at least two days every single week.

The number one reason stated as to why children use smartphones and tablets was due to various visual media. All children within the sample, regardless of age primarily use smartphones for snapping pictures and recording video. Other reasons included in the survey are “purely watching videos”, “web surfing”, “playing game apps”, and the least popular “using educational apps”.

The issue of very young children using smartphones is no longer a surprise to most people. In fact, the results of the survey can even be considered as inferior, at least compared to the youngest children ever known to have already used a smartphone or tablet in other countries. Parents or guardians within the survey also understand very well the potential risks of letting young children use such mobile device. From the data given, at least 62% from the survey admitted to establishing a special or specific set of rules, before their children can be allowed to use smartphones and tablets. In addition, the survey also revealed that almost half of the sample also considered gearing their phones and tablets with proper file filtering and anti-virus options before handing them over to children.

On an added note, even though the largest share was held by two year olds, their daily usage frequency only held a share of about 5.3%. The highest usage frequency went to the six year olds, at a share of about 22.5%, though this might not really come as a surprise to anyone.

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Whether the company name was intentional or not, EHang paints a picture of what its product does. China-based EHang creates unmanned aerial vehicles that hang in the air taking video or photos of what’s below. Ghost, one of the company’s drones, is an Indiegogo crowd funding success story. The company has far surpassed its original goal of $100,000 by raising $596,702 with 26 days to go.

Ghost landing gear sets the drone down gently.

Ghost does not require a cumbersome RC controller. You guide it with your iOS or Android smartphone and a small G-Box with 2.4GHz 80mw standard Bluetooth communicator. Auto Mode points the drone head first towards its destination and allows you to concentrate on the visuals you want to capture instead of worrying about piloting. You’ll want to use the micro control mode to pinpoint a specific location by simply sliding it in the direction you want to drone to go. It can get there tail first if necessary.

A simple finger tap points your drone to its destination.

GoPro equipment is compatible with Ghost including the Hero 4 and is assisted by the 2D gimbal which keeps your shots stable. Flying at night is possible due to Night Mode with LED lights to visually keep track of its position. Ghost is wind resistant to 21 knots and waterproof so weather won’t ground the aerial vehicle. If anything goes awry, Ghost incorporates automatic return if the connection is lost.

You can still get in on the Indiegogo Ghost project. Support starts with a $5 fan club contribution and goes to $49,000 with a list of perks in between including a $355 DIY kit that includes parts for you to assembly the Ghost yourself. Cyber Monday offered the following:

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The campaign started November 10, 2014 and will close on January 9, 2015 at the end of CES. The company will be exhibiting in the Las Vegas Convention Center, LVCC South Hall 2. BSN* will be able to provide our readers with a hands-on opinion of this and other unmanned systems after the show. In the meantime, you can tell EHang what you want them to do to improve on their Ghost with the cash they have raised beyond their original goal. Vote at their survey site.  One option is to expand the white ghostly finish to other colors. Maybe one of these? Or ask for your favorite color – neon orange perhaps?

In addition to Ghost for recreational use, EHang also develops the larger Skyway for commercial use. The Chinese company also has offices in San Carlos, California.

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Delta spent US$530 million merging Eltek ASA

Delta Electronics (TPE: 2308) announced on Dec. 15 that it has merged Eltek ASA (OTCMKTS: EEKAF), a Norwegian global power conversion specialist that develops and markets energy systems for telecom and industrial applications, with US$530 million.

“We have closed the bid and the process of the merger will begin once the Oslo Stock Exchange approves the deal,” said Yancey Hai (海英俊), chairman for Delta.

Hai made his remarks during a press conference in Taipei on Dec. 15. He said that Delta will possess 100% shares of Eltek after the deal, which will be accomplished in mid-2015.

Hai said that Eltek’s expertise will fit in Delta’s future needs. While Eltek’s major markets are in the Europe and the U.S. and Delta’s in Asia, the merger will make the company invincible to occupy the global market, needless to say that Eltek and Delta were both established in 1971.

Smartphone prices continue to drop as South Asia, South America and Eastern Europe become major markets for the future: DisplaySearch

DisplaySearch said on Dec. 15 that the average price for smartphones will continue to go down, now that future major markets will be those regions with lower income.

DisplaySearch’s latest research said that the business growth in China will begin to slow down in 2016, while major markets will gradually transfer to South Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, where average income is lower than other regions.

For the time being, DisplaySearch said, the mainstream method for smartphone makers to make profits is to sell their high-end products with cheaper prices in China. Under the circumstance, major brand names such as Apple and Samsung have been constantly challenged by local Chinese brand names.

As of now, DisplaySearch estimated that an additional of 120 million smartphones were sold in 2014, but another 137 million smartphones will be sold before the end of 2015, which will be approximately 14% more than the previous year.

But, for the period between 2012 and 2013, the global smartphone business grew 40%. Between 2013 and 2014, it grew 23%.

China plans to establish free trade zones in Guangdong, Fujian and Tianjin

China’s State Council announced its plan to launch three new free trade zones in Guangdong, Fujian and Tianjin, as the nation is boosting its sluggish economy.

For Shanghai, the nation’s first free trade zone, despite being heralded as a laboratory for free market reforms, it has mostly disappointed foreign investors, as it provided almost no advantages for foreign or domestic companies operating there, although some reforms introduced in the zone have since been adopted nationwide.

China Construction Bank to issue preferred stock

China Construction Bank said that it is planning to raise up to US$11 billion by issuing preferred stock, to comply with strict capital requirements.

Among the amount, approximately US$8 billion will be sold in the domestic market while the rest of them will be sold in foreign counterparts. All proceeds will be used to replenish the bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio, which the China Banking Regulatory Commission is requiring systemically important lenders to be at a minimum of 9.5% by the end of 2018.

The post Cross-strait News Daily Round-up for Dec. 15 appeared first on VR World.

Most smartphones will be cheaper than US$100 each by 2020: Gartner

Gartner (NYSE: IT) said on Dec. 11 that 78% of smartphones will cost no more than US$100 by 2020.

Gartner’s latest research and analysis said that by 2018, 78% of the world’s smartphones will be available in developing countries.

The research said that most of smartphone users in these developing countries are attracted to those smartphone models with basic functions, while the development of luxury or top-of-the-line smartphone models has reached to a bottleneck.

Gartner said that the average price of basic smartphones will be between US$25 and US$78 each by 2018. China’s brand names, meanwhile, will grow fast and occupy most of the global market.

EBay to lay off some 1,000 employees

The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 10 that eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) may lay off some 1,000 employees sometime early next year.

The newspaper reported that approximately 3,000 eBay employees will be impacted by the shrinking plan, while the company is also planning to make PayPal an individual company. Wall Street Journal reported that most of those who will be laid off belong to eBay.com and StarHub.

EBay spokesman did not either confirm or deny the allegation as of press time.

CGN Power lights up Hong Kong bourse

CGN Power (HKG: 1816) shares leapt a fifth during the company’s Hong Kong debut, as investors bet that China’s attempts to cut its reliance on coal will benefit Chinese nuclear producers.

Despite of Japan’s nuclear disaster in 2011, the Chinese government continued the construction of its 28 nuclear power plants. Nomura analysts gave CGN stock a 12-month price target of HK$4.10 on Dec. 10, saying that its strong capacity growth, rising demand and government support should lift its performance.

Last month, the company stated that it wanted to double its number of plants within five years.

Wintek lays off 7,000 employees of its factory in China

Wintek (TPE: 2384), Taiwan’s touch screen maker, laid off more than 7,000 employees from its Dongguan factory on Dec. 10, as more than 200 Chinese suppliers spent the past week protesting unpaid debts of US$37.25 million as they claimed.

One of the suppliers said that Wintek had closed suddenly and that there was no way to contact the company, as all the Taiwanese mangers had run off.

Wintek reported a loss of US$320.5 million last year, and another US$100 million in the first six months of this year. The company was once a long-term supplier for Apple.

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