Almost two years ago, Apple launched the Ipad which has sold more than 55 million units. I have bought both the versions of the iPad and have been generally pleased. The one beef that I have with the iPad is that it is a cumbersome e-reader aka book. I find the original iPad and the iPad 2 heavy and awkward reading devices.

Compared to the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Amazon Kindle Fire and the smaller version of the Motorola Xyboard, the iPad is 25% heavier. Moreover, the devices with seven inch screens feel more like a book than the iPad. I found my reading experience on these smaller devices a lot more desirable than the iPad. These 7″ tablets are similar to the form factor of most books.

Steve Jobs maintained that the screen size of the iPad was optimal and would provide customers the best experience. However, like it does in iPod’s,  I believe that Apple should offer the Ipad in a smaller versions – at least one smaller iPad. Here are the benefits to Apple:

• Access to a different and a potentially larger  market segment
• Lower cost product should increase sales further
• Complete product portfolio in the tablet category

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Barring exceptional execution from Nokia, We believe Samsung will have the distinction of being the number one supplier of mobile devices (cell phone and smart phones). Ten years ago the company had a negligible market share compared to the likes of Nokia, Motorola and Sony. Building on its success from the Korean market, Samsung gradually penetrated other Asian markets, eventually developing a strong presence in Europe and the America’s. A couple of years ago Samsung became the number one supplier of mobile devices in the US ahead of Motorola and Nokia.

Samsung’s success can be attributed to:

• Short product cycles
• Excellent design
• Variety of products
• Lower cost products for emerging markets
• Strong branding

Moreover, its success in the smartphone segment started with the Blackjack (yes! it was windows based) series. In the last copleof years the Galaxy S has achieved the distinction of being called the best android smart phone. The company has taken significant share from HTC, Motorola and some share from Apple.

Given that Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola, I will not be surprised to see Samsung offer more handsets with Windows 7/8 and its own OS.

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I realize that AT&T had an exclusive on the iPhone as it helped with development of the first generation iPhone. However, Apple could have given some concessions to AT&T on the rebate and launched the iPhone on Verizon in 2008.

Apple has sold around 150 million phones since the launch of the iPhone. I believe the number could have been close to 200 million if Apple had started offering the iPhone on networks like Verizon that use the CDMA network.  I strongly believe that the following would have happened if Apple had launched a CDMA iPhone  in 2007 or early 2008:

• Limited Android’s market share to less than 25%. Remember, the first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1 did not launch till October 2008. More than fifteen months after the first iPhone went on sale and three months after the iPhone 3G went on sale.
• Apple’s cumulative revenues could have been $30 billion (50m X $600) higher. I am assuming the average selling price per phone of $600(conservative).
• Apple’s stock would be higher than $500 as the $30 billion in lost revenue would have generated additional earnings of $6-$7 billion at the minimum.

The biggest hurdle to offering the phone for GSM and CDMA could have been getting versions of both phones produced  have plagued virtually every release of the iPhone.

To be clear this post is not meant to be a rant against Apple which has executed exceptionally in the last decade. It is a simple – What if?

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IPhone – 37.04 million units. A 117% increase over the previous quarter and 128% increase over the year ago quarter.

IPad – 15.43 million units. A 39% increase over the previous quarter and 111% increase over the year ago quarter.

Here is the revenue breakdown by product:

Mac Desktop:$1.94b

Mac Portables:$4.66b

iPod:$2.53b

iTunes:$2.03b

iPhone:$24.42b

iPad:$9.15b

Peripherals:$0.77b

Software, Service and other:$0.84b

It is noteworthy that 75% of Apple’s revenues come from the iPhone and the iPad. iPhone accounts for 53% of revenues and the iPad accounted for approx. 20% of revenues. The iPhone did not start shipping till June 2007 and the iPad started shipping in April 2010. Both these products account for 72% of revenues. I am not aware of any other company that is able to generate almost three-quarter’s of its revenue from products that did not exist five years ago.

Unless there is a major disruption, I can envision Apple hitting $200 billion in revenues in a couple of years. Many have opined which company would achieve a $1 trillion market capitalization. My bet is on Apple. My thesis on Apple is rather simple. In the next 3-5 years, the company will:

• Achieve at least 10% market share in the mobile device (cell and smart phone) market. Currently, Apple’s share is about 5%.
• Achieve 15%-20% market share in desktop and portable computing. Currently, the share is around 10%.
• Maintain dominant share of over 75%  in tablets

It is truly impressive to note that a company that offers only five  product lines (MAC, iPhone, iPad, Ipod and Itunes) is able to generate over $46 billion in revenues. If the much rumored iTV is to be released do not be surprised if Apple’s revenues increase by another $1o-$15 billion in the first year of its launch.

To help you understand the magnitude of the revenue. The $46.3 billion in Apple’s December 2011 quarter is:

• Higher than Google’s entire 2011 revenue of $37.9 billion
• More than double than Microsoft’s December 2011 quarterly revenues of $20.89 billion
• 20% more than GE’s December 2011 quarterly revenues of $37.97 billion

The formula for insanely great profits comes from insanely great products. I often wonder why other companies do not embrace Apple’s proven model of creating products that are elegant and simple.

Hat tip to the Apple team.

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• LTE – The fastest “True” 4G phone on the market
• Camera – 8 MP  and its video conferencing capabilities are truly amazing
• Processor – Faster than my iPhone 4G
• 4.3″ Display

I prefer the Samsung Charge to the HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon because of the form factor and the ease of use. The HTC phone may have a few more bells and whistles but the Charge is newer and I know that the Charge provides faster access to Verizon’s LTE network given the history that Samsung has with Qualcomm (chip supplier and 3G/4G technology developer).

Verizon and Samsung have priced the phone at $299 with a 2 year contract. Naturally, I expect the price of the phone to drop to $199 within 3-6 months.

For the customer that need the super fast Internet connectivity that LTE offers, I recommend the Samsung Charge.

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FlashLinq advances a concept known as proximal communications, whereby users can continuously connect, disconnect and communicate directly with other mobile users at broadband speeds based on their physical proximity. The technology is designed to complement traditional cellular-based services and serve as a scalable platform for new types of applications.

FlashLinq is a synchronous TDD OFDMA technology operating on dedicated licensed spectrum and is distinguished by its high discovery range (up to a kilometer), discovery capacity (thousands of nearby devices) and distributed interference management. By enabling the simultaneous discovery and communication of thousands of proximal devices, FlashLinq can effectively create a “neighborhood-area network,” where fixed and mobile peer applications can interact directly.

Qualcomm plans to collaborate with SK Telecom to trial FlashLinq in South Korea and explore potential commercial uses.

SOURCE: Qualcomm

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Apple iPad pricing

Wi-Fi only – 16 GB Rs 27,900; 32 GB Rs 32,900; 64 GB Rs 37,900

Wi-Fi+3G – 16 GB Rs 34,900; 32 Gb Rs 39,900; 64 GB Rs 44,900

iPad accessories

• Keyboard dock: Rs 3,700
• Case: Rs 2,500 (the home page suggests Rs 2,500 but the product page suggests Rs 2,600)
• iPad dock: Rs 1,600
• Camera connection kit: Rs 1,700
• 10W USB power adapter: Rs 1,900
• Dock connector to VGA adapter: Rs 1,700

SOURCE: Apple Store (India)

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SOURCE: Press Release

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The arc’s 4.2-inch 854×480 pixel display might sound pedestrian in the age of ‘Retina Displays’ but Sony Ericsson claims that Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine in the phone will make it one of the best displays out there.

And yes, it runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and Sony Ericsson tells us that it should hit stores around March this year. The lovechild of Sony and Ericsson doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to meeting deadlines it sets for itself but we will certainly keeping our eyes peeled for this one.

Sony Ericsson arc specs:

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The 7 Mozart has been launched with Tata DoCoMo for Rs 26,490. Tata DoCoMo subscribers will get some special data offer but the press release does not mention any details of this offer.

On the specs front, the Mozart 7 has a 3.7-inch WVGA display, an 8.0 MP camera with XENON flash that can shoot videos in 720p HD resolution, 8 GB of internal memory and a 1 GHz processor.

However, like the HD7, there is a catch. Microsoft has not launched Windows Phone 7 (the OS) in India yet so many features like XBOX Live support and Windows Marketplace are not available in India at the moment. Since HTC jumped the gun, in all likelihood, you’d end up using these Windows Phone 7 devices in India for calls, text messages, multimedia and browsing the Internet. Which is really a shame as the smartphone can do much more than that.

Having said that, many users might find the 7 Mozart as a great multimedia smartphone, especially considering the price point. Windows Phone 7 as an OS is much more usable than Symbian and the UI is more refined than Android. Yes, it does not multitask at the moment, but Microsoft is expected to launch an update soon (and we hear that all current Windows Phone 7 devices will be updated, unlike Android where the manufacturer decides which device gets an update and when). This update will bring both copy/paste and multitasking to the table.

However, if you still want Android (don’t get us wrong, we are die-hard Android users ourselves), HTC should be officially launching the Desire Z and the Desire HD in India any day now (we hear that these smartphones are already making their way to some retailers). So there is still some great gear coming up from the Taiwanese smartphone giant.

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