Forecast -- Engadget Mobile

forecast posts

HTC expects to move over one million G1 handsets in 2008, party hard in 2009

by Darren Murph posted Dec 23rd 2008 @ 10:27AM

Given just how awesome HTC's most previous quarterly results were, we don't blame it for being a tad optimistic about overall G1 sales. CEO Peter Chou was quoted as saying that the G1 should sell just over a million units this year, with the second Android-powered handset coming in Q1 2009 at the "earliest." Interestingly, the report also stated that HTC was hard at work on its third Google-infused mobile, which isn't at all mind-blowing considering that we're talking about a phone company that has to make new phones in order to stay afloat.

[Via mocoNews]

Research finds mobile TV as unseductive as ever, though VOD seems interesting

by Darren Murph posted Nov 15th 2008 @ 4:10PM

News flash: mobile TV is not enticing. Like, at all. The viability of watching TV on one's handset has been questioned for years, and now we've got the numbers to prove that interest is waning. Recent research has found that mobile TV adoption sits at just 1% now, and interest in all types of mobile TV is just over 50% of what it was in 2006. The report places the blame on "patchy network coverage, limited channel lineup, poor video quality, excessive prices and a penchant among high-end phone users for business handsets rather than video phones," and we'd certainly have a tough time disagreeing. That being the case, it was still found that 15% of those surveyed on the topic would actually enjoy watching recorded TV shows later on their phone, suggesting that a little bit of choice when it comes to content may not be a bad idea. Rest assured, players in this space are already looking at ways to make it happen, and for those with SlingPlayer, you know all too well what we're getting at.

HTC CEO expects to move 600,000 G1s this year, more in 2009

by Darren Murph posted Oct 26th 2008 @ 9:06AM

With all sorts of outlandish figures being bandied about regarding sales / expectations for the T-Mobile G1, someone intimately close to the situation has finally chimed in with his take. Peter Chou, chief executive and co-founder of HTC, stated in a recent interview that it expects to ship over 600,000 G1s this year, and while he wouldn't come clean on an exact figure for 2009, he did proclaim that "in general, we think we can do more next year." We aren't betting the farm that his prediction will come true or anything, but it certainly falls within the realm of feasibility. Oh, and if you were wondering how Mr. Chou planned on convincing potential iPhone buyers to opt for the G1 instead, he reckons that the full QWERTY keypad will handle that for him -- after all, "Americans are very keyboard-oriented."

[Via mocoNews]

Study expects 32 million LTE subscribers in three years after launch

by Darren Murph posted Jun 20th 2008 @ 12:39AM

With Planet Earth's wireless juggernauts jumping on the LTE train while there's still room, we suppose the latest report from ABI Research isn't all that shocking. According to it, there will be some 32 million LTE network subscribers by 2013, and with the commercial launch not expected to go down before 2010, our abacus suggests that we're talking about 32 million over just 3 years. The firm asserts that the Asia-Pacific region will account for most of those folks (around 12 million), while the rest get split 60% / 40% between Western Europe and North America. You think we're just going to let you make this outlandish claim and then fuhgetaboutit, don't you ABI? Nah, we're creating a Google Calendar reminder for this day in 2013 right now to check back and see just how accurate you really were.

[Via SlashPhone]

Motorola's profit forecast goes from bad to worse

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 12th 2007 @ 3:06AM

Maybe the Sidekick Slide is Moto's savior -- then again, maybe it's not -- but either way, the company seems to need a huge hit (or three) in the wings to turn its luck around. In the wake of two hefty rounds of job cuts, Motorola has now announced that it'll lose money in the second quarter and no longer expects its mobile devices unit to turn a profit at all this year, thanks largely to underperforming sales in Europe and Asia. In other news, Garriques' shoes have now been filled by a man going by the name of Stu Reed, apparently some "supply chain executive" who has been tapped to ~~play the next fall guy~~ get this sinking ship back on track. We've said it before and we'll say it again: where's the US version of the Z8, Moto?