Fun With Numbers

post from Daring Fireball on 23 November 2011 08:03:01 PM. © Daring Fireball

Yesterday the NPD Group issued a report on U.S. tablet sales in the U.S., from January through October of 2011. Worth noting up front is that the numbers in this report are about sales — actual tablets sold to actual customers — not “shipments” from the factory to stores and warehouses. Much-reported on is that second-place went to HP, after its fire sale on the discontinued TouchPad. What hasn’t gotten much commentary is the extraordinarily contorted way that NPD reported these numbers.

The report begins (emphasis mine):

U.S. tablet sales, excluding iPad sales, soared to more than1.2 million units sold from January through October and broughtin $415 million in revenue at retail, according to leadingmarket research company The NPD Group?s monthly ConnectedHandhelds Report.
?If you look at the tablet market without Apple there are anumber of high-profile brands vying for that number two spot,?said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.?According to NPD?s Consumer Tracking Service, 76 percent ofconsumers who purchased a non-Apple tablet didn?t even considerthe iPad, an indication that a large group of consumers arelooking for alternatives, and an opportunity for the rest of themarket to grow their business.?

“A large group of consumers”. Keep that in mind. They then report the results with the following table:

Top 5 U.S. Tablet Brands (excluding Apple)
Retail Sales Jan-Oct 2011
Manufacturer Unit Share (%) Hewlett Packard 17 Samsung 16 ASUS 10 Motorola 9 Acer 9

What makes this whole presentation so contorted is the notion of “non-Apple tablets” as a separate product category, without any context as to where these tablets stand when the iPad is included.

According to Apple’s financial results for the three quarters covered by NPD’s report (Q2, Q3, Q4 2011), 25 million iPads were sold during that period. Apple doesn’t break out sales by region in its quarterly results, alas, so that 25 million number is worldwide, whereas NPD’s report is about the U.S. market. Let’s guess that 10 million of those iPads were sold in the U.S. That gives us a table like this:

Manufacturer Quantity Unit Share (%) Apple 10,000,000 89.3 Hewlett Packard 204,000 1.8 Samsung 192,000 1.7 ASUS 120,000 1.1 Motorola 108,000 1.0 Acer 108,000 1.0

Again, that’s based on a guess that 40 percent of Apple’s worldwide iPad sales were in the U.S. I think that’s a conservative guess. That means Apple sold about 50 times more tablets than “second place” Hewlett Packard.

Including the iPad makes statements like this, from NPD, seem absurd:

PC manufacturers are dominant in the tablet space, as four ofthe top five tablet brands already have a strong U.S. consumerPC presence. Only two of the top five brands play in thesmartphone market.

NPD is trying to paint a picture that there’s a contest going on where there is none.

Also worth noting is that NPD’s numbers do not include the Barnes and Noble Nook. Barnes and Noble doesn’t release sales figures, but Digitimes, back in March, estimated sales of 3 million. That’s why I put “second place” in quotes as a description of Hewlett Packard. The iPad has competition that far outsold the TouchPad during the last nine months. And surely the new Kindle Fire will sell more units than all of the companies listed by NPD combined.

PC manufacturers are not dominant in the tablet space. Companies that provide a complete ecosystem — hardware, software, app stores, movies, TV shows, books and periodicals — are. PC manufacturers are utterly failing in the tablet market. The only thing you can learn from NPD’s report is that tablet market share numbers sure do look different when you don’t count any of the tablets that people are actually buying.

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http://daringfireball.net/2011/11/fun_with_numbers

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Apple Removed Subscription-Based Game App From
App Store

post from Daring Fireball on 23 November 2011 08:03:01 PM. © Daring Fireball

Follow-up report from Adam Satariano for Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. removed Big Fish Games Inc.?s subscriptionservice from its App Store, reversing a move that would have giveniPad users access to dozens of video games for a monthly fee.
?We were notified that the app was removed,? said Paul Thelen,founder of Big Fish, a game publisher in Seattle. The app had beenavailable since Nov. 18, he said. ?We?re trying to follow upwith Apple to try to figure out what happened.?

I suspect the headline on this report is incorrect: “Apple Removes Game Subscription Plan”, and that there was no such plan to allow for subscription games. The app was there earlier today, but I think whoever at Apple approved it did so incorrectly.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-23/apple-removes-big-fish-s-game-subscripti
on-plan-from-app-store.html

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Patent Office Highlights Steve Jobss Innovations

post from Daring Fireball on 23 November 2011 07:02:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

Brian X. Chen, whom I only just now noticed is reporting for the NYT Bits Blog:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va.,recently unveiled an exhibit of 30 giant iPhone-like modelshonoring the inventions of the late Steve Jobs.
Each iPhone model displays patents that list Mr. Jobs as inventoror co-inventor. Altogether about 300 patents are on display,giving exhibit attendees a visual tour through Apple?s historyof design and innovation.

Nice.

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Read The Full Article:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/patent-office-highlights-jobss-innovatio
ns/

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Microsoft Says Windows Phones Have Had Siri-Like
Functionality for Over a Year

post from Daring Fireball on 23 November 2011 07:02:26 PM. © Daring Fireball

Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider:

In an interview last week with Forbes, Microsoft ChiefResearch and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie said that Siri’scapabilities are not Apple-specific, and notes that WindowsPhone’s similar “Tellme” technology has been functional forover a year.
“The Tellme facility’s been in the Windows 7 phone for more than ayear,” Mundie said. “So I mean I just think people are infatuatedwith Apple announcing [Siri].”

That’s a curious thing to say. As Jean-Louis Gassée notes on Twitter:

If true: We’re imbeciles
If false: We’re imbeciles.

I’ve played with Tellme on Windows Phone 7 and I’d say it’s a lot like Voice Control on iOS. Similar in scope, and at least as accurate, if not better. Not bad at all — but not Siri.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/11/23/microsoft_says_windows_phones_have_
had_siri_like_functionality_for_over_a_year.html

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Magnetz for iPhone has been recharged and given a
face lift

post from prMac on 23 November 2011 06:47:00 PM. © prMac

Alpium Entertainment introduces Magnetz 1.0 and Magnetz Lite 2.0, for iOS devices. A large update, that includes graphical enhancements and new game-play features for Alpium Entertainment's puzzle game Magnetz, is now available for iPhone devices. The game comes with 3 themes already in place, The Bedroom, Kitchen and Garage with more rooms and seasonal themes on the way. Learning what each of the magnets do is imperative in your ability to succeed.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-34143.htm

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Claymore Games release their first in-house iOS
game - Plum Crazy

post from prMac on 23 November 2011 05:50:00 PM. © prMac

Claymore Games introduces Plum Crazy 1.3.6, their first in-house iOS game. Plum Crazy brings a unique style of game to the App Store. Behind the cute, colourful and playfully violent graphics you will find a fun, maze based game, but with a twist that will test the players' reaction and planning skills. The objective is to guide our 'Plum Crazy' hero around the jelly maze filled with slicers, rotten tomatoes, gobby blueberries, nasty acid smoothies and all manner of fruity things.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-34142.htm

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About Those Subscription Games in the App Store

post from Daring Fireball on 23 November 2011 05:02:43 PM. © Daring Fireball

I’ve been thinking about this since that Bloomberg story broke yesterday. Does anyone else find it unusual that Apple hasn’t issued a statement about this? Haven’t all previous changes to App Store policy been announced by Apple? Not a single report on this story has a statement from Apple, and as far as I can tell, the subscription-based app from Big Fish isn’t yet available in the App Store.

?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.techmeme.com/111122/p47#a111122p47

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Future Alarm Clock - A Powerful Multi-Tool for
iPhone and iPad

25dev recently released Future Alarm Clock 1.0.0 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users. The Future Alarm application is a new product that is not only an alarm but also a powerful multi-reminder tool. Users are able to set multiple alarms at once; set daily, weekly, or monthly reminders; wake using fade-in mode, music, vibration or a users own MP3 music. The app allows for the customization of settings and includes the unique ability to set watch times by passing the clock digits with a finger.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-34334.htm

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Elegant Alarm Clock for iPhone and iPad Offers
Powerful Awakenings

25dev recently released Elegant Alarm Clock 1.0.0 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users. The Elegant Alarm application is a new product that is not only an alarm but also a powerful multi-reminder tool. Users are able to set multiple alarms at once; set daily, weekly, or monthly reminders; wake using fade-in mode, music, vibration or a user's own MP3 music. The app allows for the customization of settings and includes the unique ability to set watch times by rotating the hands with a finger.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-34333.htm

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9magnets creates digital magazine for university
engineering department

9magnets LLC today introduces Valparaiso University College of Engineering Magazine for iPad. Developed in coordination with Valparaiso University's College of Engineering, the application was created with mobility in mind and is an attractive way to inform current students, faculty, alumni, and friends of the university about current happenings in the engineering department. With beautiful graphical design and a intuitive interface, the app is a must have.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-34332.htm

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