Oz MobileNet

Data storage like processing power of PC and mobiles has progressed rapidly while cost per unit of capacity and power have increased massively. The photo shows the change for portable storage – if you count putting a massive core memory bank into a plane portable.

All this however pails into insignificance compared to the human brain. The brain is said to have the equivalent of 256 billion GB so you would need 4 billion of the 64 GB SanDisk micro SDXC  cards to equal the brain’s capacity.

MBB Services per Head of Population – Source ITU

People Having Access to the Internet – Source ITU

The ITU in their 2014 ICT Facts and Figures Report says that there will be almost 7 billion mobile subscriptions in the world at the end of 2014 with a global penetration rate then of 96%. The annual growth rate ITU says is the lowest it has ever been at 2.6% indicating saturation in particular in the developed world markets.

There are 2.3 Bn Mobile Broadband Services in the world according to ITU with an average of 32 services per head of population (84 in the developed world and 21 per 100 population in the developing world). MBB sevices continue to grow strongly especially in the developing word where 2013/14 YoY growth rate is 26% compared to 11.5% YoY growth in the developed world.

The corresponding figure for fixed internet is around 700M services or 10 services per 100 population (27 per 100 in the developed world and 6 per 100 in the developing world)

The ITU says that by the end of 2014 the number of people who have access to the internet will reach almost 3 Bn approaching 40% of the world population.

Satya Nadella (left) & Stephen Elop men with some big fish to fry

According to its new CEO Rajeev Suri Nokia, having shed its loss making mobile phone business,  is going to payback $2Bn in debt and resume paying dividends.

The sale on 25th April 2014 of the loss making Nokia Devices and Services business to Microsoft for €5.6Bn has left Nokia with three profitable units the Networks business, an R&D and Intellectual Property unit called Technologies and a location services business called Here. Between them they booked a $216M operating profit in 1Q 2014.

Nokia’s market value is now about 20 billion euros, down from 300 billion euros it was in 2000, when Nokia was the dominant global mobile phone supplier. Nokia started out in the 1860′s making rubber products including gumboots and is nothing if it is not a surviver.

The Nokia phone business lost €326 million in the last quarter it was in Nokia’s hands (1Q 2014) and it is not clear what Microsoft plans to do to turn this around. Former Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop, is now Executive Vice President of the Microsoft Devices Group reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Elop is now looking after Lumia smartphones and tablets, Nokia mobile phones, Xbox hardware, Surface, Perceptive Pixel (PPI) products, and accessories.

Elop said they are working on branding but that they won’t be using Nokia or Windows Phone. Microsoft’s communication on the arrangement is here.

Watch this space.

According to Strategy Analytics first quarter 2014 mobile shipments were up 9% YoY to 408 million. Samsung holds a commanding lead in market share with 28% more than the next three Nokia, Apple and Huawei combined. There is a very long tail in the market share distribution with 42% of the share shared amoung the around 112 “other” phone makers. 70% of the 408 million mobiles shipped were smartphones a percentage which is ever rising as the cost of low end smartphones continues to fall.

SA say that that 57.6 million tablets were shipped in 1Q 2014 with Android dominating the share with 66%. The rounded numbers are:

Apple may be losing share of units shipped but its position at the top of the price tier and a gross margin to die for of 39% saw it increase its profit for the quarter by 7% to just over $10 billion on revenue of $45.6 billion.