Francisco Jeronimo, research director of European mobile devices for IDC said: “Price is key in the low-end market, but consumers prefer to buy from a known brand than from unknown Chinese manufacturers. Amazon’s brand coupled with the selling power of having the world’s largest online channel gives it a big advantage.

“At the same time, while some things costing £50 are considered disposable, gadgets such as tablets are not, and so Amazon providing pretty good customer service makes them ideal for what many people want to do with a tablet.”

"A Huawei é atualmente a estrela do mercado português. Está a beneficiar do facto de ter conseguido melhorar nos últimos anos a sua imagem junto dos consumidores e por ter apostado numa competitiva relação qualidade/preço", observa Francisco Jerónimo, admitindo que a marca chinese está bem lançada para se tornar líder de vendas no mercado português, tal como já acontece noutros países."

Os testes, projectos-pilotos e até alguns projectos estão em curso, diz o analista da IDC, Francisco Jerónimo. As empresas estão a identificar oportunidades, possíveis ganhos de eficiência ou de aumento de segurança.

"A totally recycled smartphone will help Apple to increase loyalty among eco-friendly consumers and eventually reduce their production costs by using some of the components from older phones," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by email.

"A totally recycled smartphone will help Apple to increase loyalty among eco-friendly consumers and eventually reduce their production costs by using some of the components from older phones," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, first told CNBC.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo was given a "controlled demo" of Bixby on Tuesday. According to Samsung, he said, British English would be "available later this year," but could only recognise American English and Korean for now. "All those details aren't clear, and whether you can activate Bixby by calling it isn't totally clear," he said.

"Voice is the easiest way to interact with the phone, you can just ask, and you don't need to go through apps. Those who are able to provide the best experience will win this game," Francisco Jeronimo, research director of mobile devices for Europe at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

"If you are engaged, and used to use something like Siri and it gives you a good experience, you will buy an iPhone. If Bixby is better than Siri there is more chance for Samsung to sell more phones."

Jeronimo also called Bixby the "most important announcement" in Samsung's history.

They are in a much better position than Apple, as Apple does not manufacture appliances. When it comes to connecting to other products, Samsung can start developing the roadmap of this category in line with the phone and Bixby," Francisco Jeronimo, research director of mobile devices for Europe at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

"That is an ecosystem no other company in the world is as well-positioned as Samsung to lead."

"If what Samsung demoed works well in practice, Bixby will be interesting because it offers features absent from Siri and Google Assistant," commented Francisco Jeronimo from IDC.

"The race is on to have the best digital assistant, since that will drive hardware sales.

"But in the past, some of Samsung's features have looked great in presentations, but when you use them on a daily basis they have not been as good."

"If Swatch was able to offer people something unique it might be able to break into the market, Francisco Jeronimo at IDC said, adding that this was "a gigantic task".

However, users had not yet locked in to a specific interface in what is a still new segment, therefore offering an opportunity for Swatch, Jeronimo said."

(Video)
MWC preview at minute 2 and minute 6

(Spanish)

Es un producto que, aunque haya cautivado en Barcelona a los asistentes al Mobile World Congress (MWC) y a la prensa especializada, está destinado a los mercados en desarrollo, donde detalles como el color de la carcasa pueden marcar la diferencia. "Son colores muy llamativos y populares en los países en vías de desarrollo", dice Francisco Jerónimo, director de investigación del mercado móvil europeo en la International Data Corporation (IDC).

"Además, históricamente, Nokia siempre ha gozado de un gran éxito con esta estrategia, ofreciendo infinidad de diseños y colores que no se podían encontrar en otras marcas”.

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at research firm IDC, said: “We’ve got to a point where improving phones by creating megapixel increases in the camera or improvements in the screen is a lot harder than it was five years ago.”

Jeronimo explains: “We’ve got to such quality in the devices that we’ve started hitting the physical limits, which means most of the innovation going forwards is likely to be in software, voice, your interaction with the phone and its services, to make the smartphone much smarter than it is today.”

"The biggest problem is that everyone had high expectations for wearables, they thought smartphones are declining and wearables were the next big thing. But the lack of a very strong value proposition has been the biggest hindrance for wearables," Francisco Jeronimo, research director of European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone on Monday.

"Despite this being one of the best devices at MWC, I don't see it changing Sony's fortunes," commented Francisco Jeronimo, from the market research firm IDC.

"If you go through Sony's financial statements you can see it now makes more money from selling phone cameras to its competitors than selling its own smartphones, which is quite remarkable

"So, its phones are a way to show off its capabilities, and the new camera is outstanding - not just the slow-mo but also the picture quality."

Sony shipped about half as many smartphones in 2016 as the previous year and has about 1% share of the market, according to IDC, putting it in 17th place.

“It was remarkable,” says IDC researcher ­Francisco Jeronimo, who flew from London this winter to see for himself. “Their devices were everywhere.

”That’s where Huawei’s breadth gives it a major edge in the smartphone market today, says Jero­nimo, the IDC research director, who previously worked at Korean conglomerate LG selling its smartphones to Vodafone. Huawei offers carriers vouchers worth a percentage of their spending on network equipment, which they can use either for network services or smartphones from Huawei, Jeronimo has confirmed with at least one European wireless operator.

 “If you don’t buy the Huawei network, you pay a certain price,” Jeronimo says. “If you do buy a Huawei network, then you get a better price.” If a carrier uses the discount on Huawei phones, the savings can be several percentage points of the total cost, or millions of dollars. “In the end it’s a very strong incentive for carriers to buy Huawei devices,” Jeronimo says. Since they make a bigger profit when they sell or lease them to consumers, and since Huawei’s phone quality has improved, those phones get better marketing placement.

(Video)

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, talks about the broad range of products Samsung offers, with comment on results and the Galaxy...

"Even if this is one of the best devices at MWC, I don't see it changing the fortunes for LG," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

"What's been difficult for LG is growing the brand awareness that drives the demand from consumers."

"The growth of the Chinese vendors has been very challenging for HTC," said IDC's Francisco Jeronimo.

"But without having their own branded phones it would be more difficult for them to go to Google and other firms and say, 'This is what we can do.'

So, for the moment they will keep the business running.

But it's another question as to whether it will still be in operation by this time next year. That depends on it increasing sales and making a profit, because at the moment it isn't."

Francisco Jeronimo, a research director at IDC, told the BBC: "Chinese phone makers are all facing the same problems.

"The overall smartphone market globally is very tough and not growing, so what they need to do is attract clients away from other brands.

"But they are not that well known, especially outside China, which makes it hard to compete against the likes of Apple and Samsung."

(in Spanish)

“Revolucionó la manera en la que interactuamos con la información, en la que internet funciona en un teléfono móvil. Eso fue lo que consiguió el iPhone: llevar un pequeño ordenador personal a todo el mundo, un terminal que permitía estar siempre conectado a distintos servicios y a todo tipo de información en línea”, cuenta a Efe el analista de la consultora IDC Francisco Jerónimo

"The touch screen, despite not being the first phone to have one, completely changed the way we interact with devices," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC in a phone interview

“The reason why [Pebble] didn’t manage to succeed was because of smartwatches in general,” Francisco Jeronimo, research director at European Mobile Devices IDC EMEA, told WIRED. “In general, devices that run high-level operating systems to allow smart applications to be installed are not very successful.

“Look at what’s happening; even with Apple, which fell and declined and has been declining over the past two-quarters. It’s the same with other vendors like Samsung.”

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Francisco Jeronimo, research director of European mobile devices at technology analysts IDC, says: “There is a shift in the way we interact with information. We used to interact with information via the keyboard and mouse, and then via touchscreen, but now we are starting to do so with voice.”

(in Portuguese)

As estrelas tecnológicas da cimeira "presentes nos showrooms das empresas e nas conferências são a realidade virtual e a realidade aumentada. A inteligência artificial pode vir a aumentar o PIB mundial em cerca de 40%", conta Francisco Jerónimo, da IDC em Londres, uma empresa de análise de mercado, que está habituado a grandes encontros tecnológicos. O analista garante que vai haver "um Portugal depois de este evento, porque muitos investidores vão olhar para Lisboa como uma plataforma empresarial na Europa, em vez de cidades mais caras e com climas menos atraentes". A realização da Web Summit em Lisboa é "uma das maiores conquistas dos últimos anos por trazer para cá a nata mundial das startups fazendo com que a capital possa vir a ser o próximo ‘Silicon Valley’ da Europa", conclui o especialista aludindo ao centro de inovação americano, onde estão a Google, o Facebook e a Apple.

While Huawei is still perceived primarily as a value-for-money option rather than a premium brand, European consumers are increasingly being drawn to Huawei’s improved handsets, and the region’s telecom carriers are more eager to work with the Chinese company, said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

(in Portuguese)

“Isto tem sempre danos. Era um dos principais produtos da marca na Europa e nos EUA e quem compra este tipo de produto é um cliente fiel à Samsung”, observa Francisco Jerónimo, analista da consultora IDC em Londres.

Francisco Jeronimo, market research firm IDC’s research director for European mobile devices, says: “Many people care about updates. They recognise that getting the latest update is about getting something better, unless they’ve got an old phone. But it’s about how easy it is to do. Going online and finding and updating is something most will not do. If you present it as a notification, as Apple does, then most will jump on board.”

Francisco Jeronimo, IDC’s research director for European mobile devices, says: “No one gets as excited about the latest phone any more as they used to get in the past three to four years. It’s more of the same. They all look the same, they have similar screen sizes, cameras, etc etc.”

Smartwatch shipments are poised to increase at a slower pace than anticipated as consumers are more attracted to cheaper fitness trackers, according to Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC.

(in Spanish)

"La innovación de los fabricantes no es tan fuerte como en el pasado, no es suficiente como para convencer a los usuarios de quem cambien de teléfon tan frequentemente. (...) Los ciclos extendidos de renovación son el mayor desafio para Apple", explica a Efe el responsable de análisis la consultora IDC, Francisco Jerónimo

(Portuguese)

O problema que afetou as baterias do Note 7 não tem poupado a Samsung de alguns dissabores de “curto prazo” como os que estão neste momento a suceder, mas na opinião de Francisco Jerónimo, da IDC, não vai ter impacto a mais distância. A prontidão na resposta à situação é um dos argumentos a favor da fabricante sul-coreana. “A atitude de responsabilização assumida beneficia a marca”, referiu o analista há uns dias, quando foi contactado pelo TeK para comentar o lançamento do novo iPhone.

“De momento o problema pode influenciar a escolha de quem esteja indeciso entre o telefone da Samsung e o telefone da Apple, mas é uma questão pontual. A própria Apple teve no passado problemas com as antenas do iPhone”.

Now, so that handsets can become truly smart, combining data from the devices to make it easy to, say, book a restaurant with just a few words.

The need to invest will fuel consolidation, reckons Francisco Jeronimo of IDC. The likely candidates to rule the industry are Apple, China’s Huawei and South Korea’s Samsung. (The recall by Samsung of 2.5m phones after battery fires shouldn’t linger long in customers’ minds.) Most other brands will disappear or serve small niches

A year ago, Huawei was not even in the top five, and since then they have managed to become number three. It shows how fast Huawei has grown in such a short time,” said Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC.

Jeronimo pointed out that much of Huawei’s success in the Europe is the result of an increased local marketing spend and the establishment of operations in more European countries.

“Apple’s biggest challenge is how to manage its large install base – the biggest in the industry – and convince them to replace their smartphones and spend more on services and in the company’s ecosystem,” said Francisco Jeronimo IDC’s research director for European mobile devices. “As we approach 80-85% smartphone penetration, it’s no longer about people buying their first smartphone but attracting customers from rivals.”

"Apple changed the charger port a few years ago and people got upset," said Francisco Jeronimo from the research firm IDC.

"But it didn't stop people from buying the iPhone. Removing the headphone jack won't either.

"What's more important is whether a consumer likes Apple's ecosystem or Android's, because at this point Windows and Blackberry phones have an extremely low market share."

IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo says: “The biggest challenge facing Apple is the decline in the smartphone market we’re going to see as device penetration hits 80-85%.” At that point, he says, it’s not about attracting buyers who are purchasing their first smartphone – “it’s about convincing existing users to upgrade and attracting buyers from other brands”.

"(They were) very good numbers. However, they show that Apple needs to do something else," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at analysis firm IDC, told CNBC Wednesday.

"The price point shows that they need to do something else in terms of the entire (iPhone) portfolio because the market is not growing anymore. And if it's not growing, or even if it's only growing in emerging markets where most consumers cannot afford the top of the range, they need to move towards lower price ranges and that's basically what the iPhone SE did this quarter to Apple," he added.

"They sold more iPhones SE than iPhone 6 or 6s which is a very strong indicator that they need to do something in that space."

(Video)

Francisco Jeronimo, research director of European mobile devices at IDC, discusses Apple’s impression in China and the challenges in light of its recent earnings.

(Portuguese)

“No Natal, quem oferece telefones não oferece de qualquer marca. É um trimestre forte em marcas tradicionais”, explica ao Dinheiro Vivo Francisco Jerónimo, diretor de pesquisa da consultora IDC para dispositivos móveis na Europa. “Ver aqui a Huawei em segundo lugar no quarto trimestre e a manter essa posição no primeiro trimestre revela mesmo que há uma forte aposta por parte dos canais, e também que os consumidores estão a reconhecer a marca como boa”, sublinha. “A campanha com o P9 tem tido uma forte recetividade e demonstra um crescimento do brand awareness.”

The 13 million subscriber number for Apple Music is just a fraction of Apple's installed user base of one billion indicating huge growth potential, Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC in a phone interview last week.

"Focusing on services is the best strategy and the increase is quite remarkable. They are starting to fully explore the 1 billion users in its customer base and it is one of the best customer bases a company can have," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC in a phone interview.

"If they continue through normal sales of iPhone there is not much they can do in terms of hardware and bringing something new. The next iPhone will be an incremental upgrade, not a revolution. So services are the only way they can keep momentum or revenues."

(in Portuguese)

Acabado de chegar às lojas na Europa, o iPhone SE não está a ter grande adesão. Francisco Jerónimo, analista da IDC EMEA, acredita que a estratégia da Apple para este segmento está errada. E explica porquê.

"Leica is one of the strongest brands in photography, so having an association with them should make users believe that the quality of the pictures should be good," said Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC.

"Of course, the quality of the image won't be the same as is possible from one of Leica's own cameras, but it does tell people that a company that really understands photography has been involved in engineering the device."

(in Spanish)

"Tenía todo lo necesario para tener éxito en esta industria: una marca fuerte, contenido de música y cine, PlayStation,… pero tardó mucho a la hora de integrarlo todo en un único dispositivo. Y no hay que olvidar que su estrategia como fabricante de móviles es muy reciente porque hasta hace pocos años era parte de una sociedad de riesgo compartido con Ericsson”, explica el analista de la consultora IDC Francisco Jerónimo."

(Portuguese)

No global, o mercado de telefones [‘smartphones’ e telemóveis tradicionais] decresceu 3%, em 2015, face ao ano anterior, tendo sido expedidos para Portugal 3,8 milhões de telemóveis, referem os dados da consultora IDC.

“Esta diminuição deve-se essencialmente à continuação da queda dos ‘feature phones’ (telemóveis intermediários entre ‘smartphones’ e telemóveis comuns) que caíram 32%, e à desaceleração dos ‘smartphones’”, explica ao Económico Francisco Jerónimo, director da área de terminais móveis da IDC EMEA.

(Spanish)

Según Francisco Jeronimo, director de investigación de dispositivos móviles europeos del grupo de investigación IDC, los celulares clásicos - teléfonos móviles con algunas funciones básicas como la reproducción de música y acceso al Internet - están siendo gradualmente reemplazados por teléfonos inteligentes de bajo coste. Pero todavía existe una demanda significativa de teléfonos de estilos más 'anticuados'.

"Feature phones — handsets with some basic functions such as playing music and accessing the internet — are gradually being replaced by low cost smartphones, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, the research group.

Mr Jeronimo says that such products are becoming a niche opportunity for companies. Doro has grown to become the third-largest feature phonemaker in western Europe after Microsoft and Samsung, he adds.

“Using a smartphone in some countries in Africa, for instance, is not an option for many users, as it would require to charge it on a daily basis,” says Mr Jeronimo.

“On the other hand using a smartphone means little for users who cannot connect to a 3G network, either because they are not available or because the connectivity is extremely expensive.”

[dual pixel autofocus] "It's not easy to explain or even show off at the point of sale, and that's something Samsung will struggle with," commented IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

"But I believe those users who start using it will quickly realise it does make a difference and will help them get better pictures."

"We will see a lot of stuff around 360-degree cameras and virtual reality headsets with a smartphone," said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with research firm IDC.

(Portuguese)

“O mercado dos wearables em Portugal é pequeno”

A afirmação pertence ao diretor de pesquisa para a área europeia de dispositivos móveis da IDC, Francisco Jerónimo. Um exemplo: no último ano venderam-se apenas 29 mil relógios inteligentes em Portugal, apesar de todo o 'entusiasmo' que existe à volta desta categoria de gadgets.

Francisco Jerónimo explicou que enquanto se venderam, em média, 321 wearables por dia, as vendas de smartphones em Portugal foram de 8.000 unidades diárias.

(in Portuguese)

“Há sempre mercado em qualquer país para qualquer produto”. O analista da IDC, Francisco Jerónimo, não podia ter sido mais esclarecedor na sua resposta. E pouco depois adiantou: até ao final do ano devem ser vendidos 11 mil Apple Watch em Portugal, de acordo com as estimativas da empresa.

Mas Francisco Jerónimo partilhou com o TeK dados e estimativas globais: em 2015, sabendo que falta fechar os dados do último trimestre, a IDC adianta que a Apple vendeu 13 milhões de unidades do Watch. Este ano o valor deverá subir para 21,6 milhões de unidades, com as estimativas a serem “muito próximos das reais” explicou o analista.

(Portuguese)

Francisco Jerónimo, responsável pelas Pesquisas na Área de Terminais Móveis da IDC Europa, admite que as vendas de telemóveis vão continuar a desacelerar «nos próximos dois ou três anos».

«A larga maioria das pessoas já trocou o telemóvel básico por um smartphone – e tão depresssa não vai sentir necessidade de trocar esse smartphone», comenta Francisco Jerónimo, quando questionado pela Exame Informática, apontando para outro fator que tem bloqueado as vendas de smartphones: «A única forma de levar as pessoas a comprarem mais frequentemente smartphones é lançar inovações atrativas. Mas nos últimos tempos não tem havido nada de revolucionário; apenas assistimos a pequenos upgrades de câmaras, memórias ou ecrãs».

(in Portuguese)

"O TeK falou com Francisco Jerónimo, Research Director de Research da IDC para a área de equipamentos móveis na Europa, Médio Oriente e África, para antecipar as tecnologias que vão ser dominantes no mundo dos telemóveis, mas também nos tablets e nos portáteis e híbridos."

The reason for Apple's success is down to a failure by other smartwatch makers. "The others haven't done enough to promote what users can do with their smartwatches," Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst for IDC, told CNBC.

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone that Apple's promotional push meant that it was hardly surprising that it was dominating.

"The others haven't done enough to promote what users can do with their smartwatches," he said.

Jeronimo, like other analysts, is still unsure on a sector that he says is yet to define what its real value proposition is. However, over the longer term he believes services like Apple Pay could garner more interest for the devices and offer a genuine reason to buy a smartwatch.

(video)

Why Apple is only firm making ‘real money’

(Video)

2015 was the year for China's mobile makers

(in French)

"Le Priv ne va pas changer grand chose pour BlackBerry. Si leurs ventes continuent à décliner à cette vitesse, leur production de mobiles est certainement proche de la fin", a commenté pour le Financial Times Francisco Jeronimo, directeur de recherche au cabinet IDC, estimant que l'appareil "arrive trop trad pour changer le sort" de cette branche.

(in Spanish)

“Sus clientes [Apple] quieren disfrutar de una experiencia diferente y obtener la máxima satisfacción. Pretenden lo mejor y por ello no tienen inconveniente en desembolsar más”, explica Francisco Jeronimo, jefe de análisis de la consultora IDC.

(in Portuguese)

O analista da IDC Francisco Jerónimo defende que é preciso tempo para uma nova categoria de produto atingir grandes volumes de venda. E dá como exemplo a história do iPhone, cujo primeiro modelo surgiu em 2007: “Temos de dar tempo. Quando lançou o iPhone, a Apple também demorou anos a vender milhões de telemóveis por trimestre”.

Francisco Jerónimo nota ainda que estes produtos estão a chegar numa altura em que o mercado de smartphones já está maduro e o crescimento de vendas não é explosivo como há uns anos: “Quando o negócio dos smartphones chega a um ponto em que o crescimento vai ser à custa da diminuição das margens, os fabricantes começam à procura de alternativas para compensar essa queda. Estão a procura de aumentar as receitas, nem que seja de forma marginal”.

The consensus among analysts is that BlackBerry's hardware ambitions are dead. The Priv is technically impressive but the $700 price point makes it inaccessible to the majority of users and, most importantly, businesses. Some organisations, such as banks, will still use BlackBerry handsets but "the majority will not," said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst for IDC

"Coming with a device that tries to address security on Android is a good idea, but may have been better three years ago," said Francisco Jeronimo, research director for industry analysts IDC.

"It will be difficult to regain clients who have already moved to other handsets, and it's quite an expensive device."

“This device comes too late to change their fortunes in the handset business,” said Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC. “The Priv is not going to do much for BlackBerry. If their sales continue to decline at the current rates, their handset business is definitely over soon.”

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC via telephone that it was "already too late" for the company, despite the device itself being "pretty good."

"If it was released two years ago it would have been a very interesting proposition," he said, explaining that the likes of Samsung and Apple had improved the security on their devices, which was once a unique selling point for BlackBerry.

“My opinion is that it won’t make any difference [to the overall business],” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst for IDC. “It’s already too late.” The company’s handset market share, according to IDC data, sits at 0.3% with sales of under one million units during Q3 2015. “Had [the Priv] been launched 3-4 years ago it would have made a difference,” says Jeronimo.

"They [Huawei] have been implementing a very steady and consistent strategy in terms of improving the portfolio where they can start looking at higher price points and moving away from the view that Chinese phones need to be cheap and low-end," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

"Huawei are showing they can manufacture and offer a device that looks good in terms of design and is very competitive in comparison to the top-end from the likes of Apple and Samsung."

So could feature phones be the future of Microsoft's mobile ambitions? Not according to IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo, who says the feature phone business is declining at up to 40 percent per year and will disappear almost completely in the next couple of years, in developed markets at least.

"The feature phone segment will continue to exist, even if it represents a very small percentage of the market, but it will only be an opportunity for very small companies focusing on niche segments."

“It’s too little, too late for BlackBerry to release a handset on Android,” IDC research director for European mobile devices Francisco Jeronimo told Mobile News. “Its future in handsets is now definitely over. With less than one million shipments per quarter, it’s not profitable and it won’t be in the long term.”

"There's no way a consumer will prefer a ZTE premium device compared to a well-known brand," Francisco Jeronimo, head of European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by email.

"They are still perceived as a Chinese cheap brand. They only got rid of the Chinese characters in the logo last year! If their strategy is to compete directly in the high end of the market, meaning the likes of Apple, Samsung, Sony, HTC, et cetera, then I'm afraid to say but that's a dead on arrival strategy," he later added.

"This makes total sense in terms of strategy. Most people think that Xiaomi is a hardware company trying to sell cheap handsets. Xiaomi is not just a hardware company, but phones provide a way into the services they will be developing in the future," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

Video

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, says Apple’s product launch is about building the foundations for the company’s future in TV, tablets and smartphones

"In developed markets Apple has a huge potential to sell to existing iPhone users who were not able to upgrade when the iPhone 6 launched because they were tied to contracts and then decided to wait until now," commented Francisco Jeronimo from the research firm IDC.

"But in markets like China it's about attracting new users.

"Those who were not attracted by the iPhone before will probably continue not to be interested.

"For the others, the new features themselves will not make a significant difference - it's more important for Apple to grow awareness of its products."

The iPhone Upgrade Program aims to increase the replacement of older iPhones. This is key for Apple as the market reaches plateau

"The most important is not whether the device runs Android or not, but it's about what kind of Google services will run on the device, and what kind of security Blackberry will bring on to it to make Android more secure," Francisco Jeronimo, a research director at IDC, told CNBC.

"How will they secure Android like no other vendor can do? If they manage to secure Android they will address the need from enterprises and end users."

"The Note would have been a good fit for Europe's enterprise market, and if Samsung expects the S6 Edge+ to attract the same business users I don't believe it will succeed," commented Francisco Jeronimo from market research firm IDC.

“The Note would have been a good fit for Europe’s enterprise market, and if Samsung expects the S6 Edge+ to attract the same business users I don’t believe it will succeed,” IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo said about Samsung’s 2015 phablet strategy for the year.

"The Note would have been a good fit for Europe's enterprise market, and if Samsung expects the S6 Edge+ to attract the same business users I don't believe it will succeed," commented Francisco Jeronimo from market research firm IDC.

"The Note would have been a good fit for Europe's enterprise market, and if Samsung expects the S6 Edge+ to attract the same business users I don't believe it will succeed," commented Francisco Jeronimo from market research firm IDC.

Video

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, discusses smartphone rivals Apple and Samsung ahead of the South Korean company's launch of new products

Francisco Jeronimo from research firm IDC said: “In one year, after Apple puts several million devices out there on peoples’ wrists, we will have much more detailed information on what people like, what they do with smartwatches, and what people want; it will completely change the shape of the category.”

Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst for IDC, put the performance into context, tweeting: "Whatever estimates you have for the Apple Watch, one thing is for sure: Apple sold more watches in 2Q15 than all other smartwatch vendors combined."

IDC research director for European mobile devices Francisco Jeronimo agreed, claiming that if HTC continues as it is, the manufacturer could soon disappear from the smartphone space.

Francisco Jeronimo, analyst at IDC testing out Apple Pay on Tuesday, said: “I had to explain to a Starbucks barista that I can now pay with Apple Pay. They had no clue. It worked perfectly.”

"This is basically a niche product," said Francisco Jeronimo, from research company IDC.

"But EE's goal is not to dominate the action-cameras segment, it's to make users aware they can share moments straight away with friends if they have a connection.

The competition for cheap smartphones is cut-throat and some of the smaller regional brands will not survive, predicts Francisco Jeronimo of IDC, a market-research firm. Xiaomi, a fast-growing Chinese firm, is one of the big brands, but problems with intellectual-property rights might prevent it from moving as quickly as it would like into markets outside China.

"This is only a story because it made fun of Apple when it launched the iPhone," said Francisco Jeronimo, research director at the consultancy IDC.

"You'd need to put a lot of pressure in a very specific way to break it.

"But it demonstrates that every vendor needs to be very careful when they compare their devices because it can backfire on them.

"I think that's the biggest lesson for Samsung: next time if it sees a competitor having a problem, it needs to be a lot more careful unless it is 100% sure it would not face the same criticism."

"The sales and results have been declining and it is important for them to show the latest device can really attract consumers back to their portfolio," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

Francisco Jeronimo from IDC echoed this point, saying that Apple did not provide a convincing argument for why the Apple Watch is a ‘must have’ product.

“They haven’t shown why this category will disrupt our lives, and why it is important, apart from being an extension to our phones (or iPhones in this case),” he said.

Jeronimo explained that this will be fundamental to the success of the Apple Watch.

“What was very clear is that disruption [of the wearable market] will not come from specific features that Apple will bring to the watch, but by enabling developers to add value through their apps,” he said.

“In the end, similar to a smartphone or a tablet, what will make smartwatches relevant are the apps. And what will make them appealing is the design and the quality of the hardware that runs those apps.”

(in Spanish)

“Estamos viendo un crecimiento de los actores que básicamente no tienen marca”, dijo Francisco Jerónimo, analista de IDC en Londres. “Estas compañías son organizaciones muy magras”.

Video at Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona

Video (in Portuguese)

http://www.rtp.pt/play/p1657/e187505/sabia-que

“We’re seeing a surge in players with basically no brand,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC in London. “These companies are very lean operations.”

"It looks a premium device at a much lower price point and that is the type of deice that Sony needs to show," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

(Video)

The BBC's Dave Lee was at HTC's announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and got early reaction from Francisco Jeronimo, research director at the tech consultancy IDC.

Analysts have suggested Samsung needs to come out with a product that feels premium and be able to fight back against Samsung.

"They haven't been able to lead the low-end against Xiaomi or high-end against Apple. I'm keen to see how the S6 can change that. It could bring Samsung back if it is really revolutionary," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European Mobile Devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

"We will see phones with much better specs at much lower prices. But the question is how much cheaper can a smartphone with the latest technology go?" Jeronimo said.

"Seven out of ten people in Western Europe now have a smartphone. The success of the new iPhones 6 and 6 Plus, the increasing popularity of phablets and the explosion of devices priced under $150, were the biggest contributors to this growth," said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research director at IDC.

“Although the total market was impacted by higher penetration rates, the smartphone segment hit a record high in 2014 in terms of units shipped and market value,” said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research director at IDC.

Video

"It will take several years before battery life improves," Jeronimo said.

Some vendors are also tripping up themselves and users with their design choices. For example, users of Samsung's smartwatches need a cradle to fill an empty battery, instead of plugging a charger directly into the device. That just adds an extra level of complexity for users, according to Jeronimo.

However, the biggest obstacle isn't these technical constraints, but that Google, vendors and application developers haven't come up with a reason why consumers should invest in an Android Wear smartwatch, Jeronimo said

“The problem with Yota is that it looks like an interesting concept," IDC mobile analyst Francisco Jeronimo said of the dual-screen. "But when we started playing around with the latest model, we asked ourselves whether we really needed two screens.”

"The problem with Samsung is first the price point - they are trying to beat competitors in the lower end," Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European Mobile Devices at IDC, told CNBC by phone.

"Their local competitors are much more competitive in the same price range with better specs. That is why they are challenging not just the low end but the high end where Samsung was doing well in the past."

Video

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, says the fact that Samsung is not in control of the Android operating system makes it harder for it to...

Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC, said six out of 10 people in Western Europe now have a smartphone.

“It’s a great idea. In theory, to be able to select the components of the phone regardless of the brand is a great idea, but at the end of the day it won’t work,” said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research director for IDC. “it’s not economically viable for any vendor to manufacture a phone and to provide software that will allow users to select components.”

Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC, said it was “dead on arrival” given the absence of apps for the operating system.

He also questioned why Samsung had opted to release its first Tizen smartphone in a market such as India, where 96% of such devices ran on Android. “Even if it’s cheap it will be very difficult to compete with offerings from local competitors - it’s a huge challenge,” Jeronimo said.

Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC, an analysis company, agrees that the biggest revolution in the next 10 years “will be in the way we interact with the phone, or to be more precise, the way the phone interacts with us”.

He predicts “intelligent” sensors, aware of our surroundings and personal preferences, and devices that can bring data together to help us manage our lives.

“Flexible screens, more sensors, augmented reality, you name it, will only have one purpose – to contribute to our phone becoming our personal assistant,” he says.

Video

Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC, examines second-quarter results from Sony as demand for PlayStation 4 consoles helped to offset a writedown of the Xperia smartphone business. He speaks on “The Pulse.”

So, the firm’s [Samsung] best chance is to stick with gadgets, and to try to create ones that consumers love so much that they fly off the shelves, argues Francisco Jeronimo of IDC. But it has to act fast. The fates of Nokia and BlackBerry (which made another attempt at a comeback on September 24th by launching a new smartphone, the Passport) show how quickly fortunes can reverse. And Apple sold 10m of its new iPhones, including an updated smaller model, in three days—a number that the Galaxy 5S only reached after 25 days.

Video

IDC Research Director, European Mobile Devices Francisco Jeronimo discusses BlackBerry’s newest smartphone, the Passport, and the future of the company with Bloomberg’s Anna Edwards on “Countdown.”

Francisco Jeronimo, analyst at IDC, predicted that it could be the start of the BlackBerry turnround in the enterprise market, although he did not expect the device to grow the group’s market share.

Analysts questioned the wisdom of pressing ahead with the Android-based devices, given the pending acquisition by Microsoft, with IDC's Francisco Jeronimo saying that the move could potentially weaken Microsoft's position in the phone market.

"How long will Nadella support a strategy that uses their main competitor's operating system to leverage its own business?" he asked. It turns out the answer was five months.

(Video in Portuguese)

"FireFly no va cambiar radicalmente la manera en que compramos cuando nos encontramos fuera de casa. Actualmente, los usuarios que prefieren comprar con Amazon ya pueden escanear códigos de barras o hacer búsquedas en las apps de la compañía en Android, iOS o Windows Phone", explica Francisco Jeronimo, director de investigación de dispositivos móviles de la consultora IDC en Europa.

“I don’t believe the Fire phone will be enough for users to buy the phone at the kind of premium price they are asking,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with IDC.

June 19 (Bloomberg) – IDC U.K.’s Francisco Jeronimo discusses the introduction of Amazon’s smartphone and possible impact on retailers. He speaks with Mark Barton on Bloomberg Television’s “On The Move.” (Source: Bloomberg)

"We've seen similar gesture controls on Samsung's Galaxy range, and not many people use them," said Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile devices analyst at market research firm IDC.

 "Unless the experience is extraordinary it can come across as a gimmick. I'd be surprised if Amazon has succeeded when Samsung hasn't, but I'll need to try it.

(in Portuguese)
O analista da IDC Francisco Jerónimo, director de pesquisa para o mercado de telemóveis na Europa, diz estar “desapontado” com o aparelho. “A Amazon foi a empresa que revolucionou as compras online. Se eles realmente quisessem revolucionar [nos telemóveis], tinham feito uma série de funcionalidades ligadas ao site. Este telefone não traz benefício absolutamente nenhum”, critica.

Francisco Jerónimo aponta um preço “demasiado elevado”, as características técnicas semelhantes ao que já existe no mercado e o facto de a ligação aos serviços da empresa poder também ser feita através equipamentos que já estão no mercado. “Perderam uma oportunidade única”, considera.

“The device brings nothing disruptive or particularly innovative to end-users to justify such pricing,” said IDC Research director Francisco Jeronimo. “The only way Amazon has to succeed in the premium segment is by providing a disruptive shopping mobile experience, a disruptive price, or additional value to users. None of these were announced today, which is disappointing.”

“Conforme aumenta la penetración, las ventas de smartphones siguen mostrando un crecimiento más lento y pronto incluso caerán. Algunos países europeos ya han registrado caídas de las ventas”, asegura Francisco Jeronimo, responsable de investigación de IDC.

Sales of smartphones have already peaked this year in Korea and Japan, according to IDC, the analyst group, while growth is slowing in western Europe as well as the US.

“As penetration grows, smartphone shipments continue to experience slower growth and will even decline soon. Some European countries have already experienced declines in shipments,” said Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC.

“This will become a challenge for most top vendors as revenues will drop rapidly, and a problem for those vendors making no money. Their market shares will not allow them to compensate lower revenues and lower operating margins with higher volumes.”

(in Portuguese)
"A Samsung lança o seu primeiro dispositivo Tizen. O que é que isto significa para os consumidores? Nada. Nenhum valor adicional para fazer valer a pena mudar do Android", escreveu, no Twitter, o director de pesquisa da IDC para o mercado europeu de telemóveis, Francisco Jerónimo.

“What does it mean to consumers? Nothing. No additional value to make the switch from Android worth it,” said Francisco Jeronimo, research director at firm IDC.

"This is the summer of wearables," said Francisco Jeronimo, IDC research director. "And this Christmas will be the first time consumers start looking at this category as interesting enough to give it a go."

The Moto G was Motorola's first smartphone launched in India for two years, but was a “very strong competitor in the midrange at a very attractive price”, according to Francisco Jeronimo, a research director for IDC.

“It’s about sharing the data and the same performance across multiple platforms, whether it’s a laptop, Xbox, or tablet device,” says Francisco Jeronimo, research director for IDC. “What’s important for me as a user is bringing everything along the way in a very easy way, and having the content available in different places. Having the same experience at my desk or on a tablet or in the car when I’m driving … that’s really powerful and extremely valuable for users.”

Francisco Jeronimo, analyst at technology research group IDC, said Tesco was likely to price the phone between £100 and £150, although he speculated that it could eventually provide the phone for free if bundled with other arrangements such as a minimum grocery spend.

For mobile operators, new top-line phones that launch from both Samsung and HTC this month should mean a welcome boost to sales, but price competition is eroding their advantages. This will increase as Chinese handset vendors such as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo – which is buying Motorola from Google – start competing on price, according to Francisco Jeronimo of researcher IDC. "Prices are going down very quickly," he said. "The Chinese are coming in with no brand recognition, but a strong price proposition."

While modular smartphones are interesting in theory, in the real world, they stand little chance of success, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC.

“It is a very long shot, because most vendors want to differentiate by designing and deciding what components to have in their handsets,” Jeronimo said.

Also, letting users choose between different combinations of components would make the testing vendors do to ensure they all work well together much more difficult, he said.

(Video)

IDC Research Director of European Mobile Devices Francisco Jeronimo discusses the saturated smartphone market, Samsung earnings and how companies are trying to attract new customers with Mark Barton on Bloomberg Television’s “Countdown.”

Last year, says Francisco Jeronimo of IDC, another research firm, shipments of smartphones priced below $80 more than quintupled. Devices at under $100 made up one-sixth of the total.

The South Korean company suffered a decline in profits late last year. Granted, it makes cheaper devices as well as dearer ones, and it can afford some slimming of its margins. People in poor countries also covet global brands: it has taken share from locals in India. But its problem, Mr Jeronimo says, is that it carries lots of costs, in research and development and in marketing, that cheaper rivals do not. “They are able to provide much better devices, in terms of specs, for a much lower price,” he says. “And this is particularly worrying in developed markets.”

"Cortana is truly a differentiator. Voice recognition isn't only about activating commands but about becoming a truly personal assistant," commented Francisco Jeronimo of the researchers IDC.

IDC believes the US firm will only make significant headway if it gets better at attracting consumers' interest.

"If you ask most users what they think, they have no idea what applications are available," said mobile devices analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

"Microsoft's biggest challenge now is marketing.

"Windows Phone is very competitive in terms of features when compared to iOS and Android. The firm just has to show that to end-users."

If there’s a phone that can pull this off, the new HTC One may be it, says Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC. The first version was the best Android phone on the market, he says, and this one has surpassed it. “I was quite concerned, because when companies develop impressive devices, it’s difficult to improve,” Jeronimo adds. “It was above my expectations.”

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo added: "Nobody will pay $1,500 for this type of device."

He estimates Glass will fall to between £300 ($495) and £500 and come with additional features.

"HTC is being squeezed at the high-end by Apple and Samsung and a market that isn't growing, and in the expanding mid-to-low end by Chinese vendors such as Huawei," said analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

"Without large financial resources it will find it hard to promote its portfolio. But the one thing it has in its favour is very good hardware and industrial design."

(in Portuguese)
Francisco Jerónimo, analista da IDC, diz que a reviravolta estratégica da Nokia, que lançou telemóveis com Android, pode ajudar esta empresa, mas deixa a Microsoft numa situação delicada.
Prestes a ser integrada na Microsoft, a Nokia apresentou no final do mês passado os telemóveis X, os primeiros da marca equipados com Android. É uma estratégia surpreendente, afirma ao PÙBLICO, Francisco Jerónimo, director de pesquisa da IDC, numa entrevista realizada à margem do Mobile World Congress, no final do mês passado, em Barcelona: “Não conheço nenhuma empresa que tenha usado o sistema do principal concorrente para alavancar os seus próprios produtos”.

Francisco Jeronimo, a research director for IDC, told CNBC the HTC's selfie phone was a risky move once more, highlighting the difficulty of monetizing a trend.

"They (HTC) are using something that is popular at the moment and trying to promote a phone," he said. "At the end of the day, a selfie application is not giving any original value to users. Users can take selfies with any phone."

He added: "The selfie became popular last year. It's popular now but I don't see it being popular next year. I don't see a strong value proposition. It can easily not trend in the future."

“South Korea is the ninth biggest smartphone market in the world and it is the fifth biggest market for Samsung,” said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research director for IDC. “Last year it represented 4.5% of Samsung’s total smartphone shipments, so this will definitely have an impact.”

Video (in Portuguese)

According Francisco Jeronimo, research director, European mobile devices, at intelligence firm IDC, "The valuable position is quite high, but the experience and visibility is not that great. How many people know that they need to download an application to use the QR code?" he told CNBC in a phone interview.

He argued that users would still rather type in the URL anyway. "If I want to find out about a brand, I pick up my phone and type in the URL and that's it. I don't need to point my phone at something and get the same information. That's the problem. What's the additional value that the technology gives me?"

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said smartphone sales in the sub-$100 category alone more than tripled to hit 159 million last year from 45.4 million in 2012. Sub-$50 smartphones grew even faster, up from just 900,000 in 2012 to 19.5 million last year.

“This is a very rational move, and Nokia, unlike other struggling vendors, is taking whatever it takes to survive, even when it means to take a 180-degree turn on its strategy,” says Francisco Jeronimo, Research Director of European Mobile Devices for market analysts IDC.

"Three years ago this would have been the perfect move, but not anymore," said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with International Data Corp. "What if these Androids are a hit, and Nokia starts to ship tens of millions of them? What message will that give developers, consumers and investors about the viability of the Windows Phone platform?"

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Nokia had a made a "rational move" that allowed it to address a much bigger market, but it should have been made three years ago. "It would have given Nokia a complete different position from where it stands today, under Microsoft's control," he said.

(in Portuguese)
Por quanto mais tempo os responsáveis da Microsoft vão permitir que a Nokia recorra a um sistema operativo da Google para potenciar os negócios no segmento dos smartphones? Francisco Jerónimo, Diretor de Pesquisas da IDC para o Mercado Móvel Europeu, faz a análise.

Page 3

But hitting a price point to gain customers can be undone in the longer term if they get a poor experience. That means striking a careful balance, explained Francisco Jeronimo, research director of European mobile devices for IDC.

“Vendors need to be very careful with the user experience, the quality of materials and the durability of the device because if they have devices that aren’t very good, consumers will move and look at other manufacturers,” he says.

Later this month the world’s biggest mobile event opens its doors again in Barcelona. In this special video feature Mobile World Live previews the event, as expert journalists and analysts predict the likely talking points of the show. Plus the GSMA’s Chief Marketing Officer Michael O’Hara offers his insight into the week’s activities.

IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo disagrees with this sentiment, however, insisting that the sale represents a change of heart from Google. "I don't think that was the case," he said when asked whether this sale was always the end goal. "The market was a lot more difficult than they thought it would be."

Jeronimo believes that the initial buyout was a defence mechanism in case phone makers decided to take their toys elsewhere and use another mobile operating system.

(In French)

Certes, le premier trimestre de l'exercice décalé d'Apple est traditionnellement son plus gros volume d'affaires de l'année, avec le Black Friday, qui lance les fêtes de fin d'année pour les familles américaines. Mais la performance reste de taille. « C'est la seconde entreprise à dépasser la barre des 50 millions de smartphones vendus en trois mois, après Samsung au printemps 2012 », remarque, sur Twitter, Francisco Jeronimo, analyste chez le cabinet IDC.

IDC figures suggest that it shipped fewer than 3.4m tablets, the figure of fifth-placed Lenovo - and IDC smartphones and tablets analyst Francisco Jeronimo told The Guardian that fewer than a million were shipped to resellers - although it may have sold more than that due to stocks already in stores. Microsoft "had good performance in some channels," he noted.

According to IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo, LG is likely to have improved its smartphone market share to 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 3.8 per cent a year ago, something he believes is ”quite impressive considering the high ASPs.”

(in French)

Selon Francisco Jeronimo, analyste chez IDC, sur les trois derniers mois de 2013, Nokia aurait vendu 8,2 millions de Lumia - sa marque phare -, soit 600.000 de moins qu'au trimestre précédent. Sa part de marché mondiale dans les smartphones retomberait ainsi à 2,8 % d'après IDC. Pas sûr que ces chiffres enchantent Microsoft. Même si l'activité mobiles a réussi à diviser ses pertes par trois, à 780 millions d'euros.

The fourth quarter is traditionally a strong one for phone vendors, because of the holiday shopping season, so the smartphone sales drop is disappointing and bad news for Nokia and Microsoft, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC. Before the fourth quarter, Lumia volumes had continually increased last year.

(in Portuguese)
“No curto prazo, os resultados são decepcionantes. Vender no quarto trimestre abaixo do terceiro é bastante negativo”, considera Francisco Jerónimo, analista da IDC em Londres, notando que isto acontece apesar de a empresa “ter investido muito mais [em promoção], de os operadores estarem a apoiar muito mais o Windows Phone e de um portefólio que assenta bem no mercado”. A IDC estimava vendas de dez a 11 milhões de Lumia para aquele período.

(in Finish)

Esimerkiksi tutkimusyhtiö IDC:n analyytikko Francisco Jeronimo kertoi Twitterissä, että Nokia myi loka–joulukuussa yhteensä 8,245 miljoonaa älypuhelinta.

"You can get the Nexus 5 for £299 and the specs don't justify then £80 difference," said Francisco Jeronimo, director of European consumer wireless and mobile communications for research firm IDC.

"The very low end tablet market saw very strong sales this year, which is something we're expecting to continue into next year and beyond – especially for Christmas," said IDC research director, the awesomely-named Francisco Jeronimo.

"2013 was definitely the year of the tablet," said Francisco Jeronimo, research director for the analysts IDC. In the first three quarters of the year, 7.6m tablets were shipped to the UK, a year-on-year growth of 192% for the same period in 2012, according to IDC's data.

"Tablets under £100 have excellent gifting potential this Christmas," says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones and tablets analyst with the research firm IDC. "Parents looking to give gifts to children and teenagers are unlikely to spend £400-500 on a tablet, so tablets sub-£100 are less of an investment and more of an attractive disposable gift."

Both businesses are using the products to drive shoppers to their stores, said Francisco Jeronimo, analyst at technology research group IDC.

“This is not the sort of product that a consumer will think too much about before buying it,” said Mr Jeronimo. “It’s a kind of disposable technology.”

Customers opting to buy the cheaper tablets available from the supermarkets would be looking for something different than those who bought the more expensive versions on offer from the likes of Google and Apple, said IDC's research director for mobile devices, Francisco Jeronimo.

"The biggest selling point here is definitely the price," he said. "Tablets are becoming very popular."

"The larger screen size gives entertainment on the move to users, which is becoming very popular among commuters and children.

"However, most parents don't want to spend £300-£500 on a device that will mainly be used to play games, to watch movies and a few other educational applications," he added.

"Tablets under £100 have excellent gifting potential this Christmas," says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones and tablets analyst with the research firm IDC. "Parents looking to give gifts to children and teenagers are unlikely to spend £400-500 on a tablet, so tablets sub-£100 are less of an investment and more of an attractive disposable gift."

"The second wave of smartphone adopters is now starting," said Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile device analyst at the consultancy IDC.

"This wave is characterised by consumers looking to get their first smartphone at the cheapest price they find.

"They don't have the need nor the money to afford the most advanced smartphones, as the first wave of adopters had

"There are two markets for the phablet – the multimedia market, where the cheapest, largest screen wins, and the professional market, where the phablet with the most value-added features triumphs," said Francisco Jeronimo, research director of European mobile devices for research firm IDC, talking to the Guardian.

Samsung's Galaxy Note line of devices differentiate themselves from the phablet competition, including Nokia's new Lumia 1520, by employing a feature-packed stylus that allows both drawing on the screen and provides multiple multi-tasking modes such as Samsung's multi-window.

According to Jeronimo, it is these value-added features that attract the highly lucrative professional market

"The stylus tips the buyer in the Note's favour at the point of sale because, despite whether or not they will ever use the features, the more features available the more attractive the proposition when the price is equal," he said.

"Unlike Apple's use of the technology, HTC's use of the fingerprint of sensor is clunky, not ergonomic and runs the risk of not being used to its full extent - if it's not a smooth experience that genuinely adds value why would the general user actually use it?" said Francisco Jeronimo research director of European mobile devices for research firm IDC.

HTC meanwhile is reckoned to have seen its smartphone shipments dwindle to just 6m handsets during the quarter, according to a preliminary estimate by Francisco Jeronimo of the research company IDC. That would give it a market share of around 2.3% in a world market of 260m smartphones for the quarter. Its shipments are sliding: in the second quarter HTC shipped an estimated 6.6m units, and a year ago 8.6m units.

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, agreed.

"The consumer segment is getting saturated, so opportunities to grow will decline in the coming years," he said.

"If the price of the 5C was lower, pre-orders would be much higher," said Francisco Jerónimo, an analyst at IDC. But he still expects the cheaper phone to be Apple's best seller this year. "I believe the 5C will be larger than for the 5S. They can address new users who like colourful handsets, and also the current iPhone users. If people upgrade they don't want a device that looks exactly the same as their previous one."

"What's important here is they didn't compromise on experience," said Francisco Jeronimo, IDC Research Director of European Mobile Devices. Some companies have tried to go greener with their handsets, but Fairphone is the first initiative that tries to look at both the fair trade and green prospects throughout the entire supply chain, Jeronimo said.

(Video in Portuguese)

Francisco Jeronimo talks about the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C

Speaking after the Dell vote, Francisco Jeronimo, IDC's smartphones analyst, said the wider market shift will "kill many old companies and create new leaders".

«Apesar de o mercado de telemóveis português continuar em queda, o forte crescimento dos smartphones é um facto importante a destacar. Esta tendência continuará a acentuar-se nos próximos trimestres, uma vez que a aposta dos fabricantes continuará a ser em telefones a preços baixos, com o sistema operativo Android, mas com uma superior experiência de utilização», afirma Francisco Jerónimo, director europeu de research da área de telefones móveis da IDC.

“Although most consumers do not subscribe yet to an LTE data plan when renewing their smartphones, it is important for mobile operators to enable their users with LTE handsets while the expansion of their LTE networks continues,” commented Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research director at IDC. “When the networks are widely available geographically it will be faster to migrate users to an LTE data plan as they become cheaper.”

Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC, said the iPhone 5C would attract both a second wave of first-time smartphone buyers in developed markets and a fresh group of consumers in emerging markets, where price has been the main barrier to smartphone adoption.

Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile-device analyst with IDC, said in a research note that in addition to retaining its current base of customers, Apple needs the new products to succeed in order to “attract the second wave of smartphone adopters in developed markets, who are reluctant to adopt a smartphone,” as well as address the opportunity that emerging markets represent.

“They will become the biggest smartphone markets in the world, but [are markets] where price is a major barrier to smartphone adoption,” Jeronimo said.

(in Portuguese)
“Apesar de o mercado de telemóveis português continuar em queda, o forte crescimento dos smartphones é um facto importante a destacar. Pela primeira vez, as vendas de smartphones ultrapassaram as vendas de telefones tradicionais. Esta tendência continuará a acentuar-se nos próximos trimestres, uma vez que a aposta dos fabricantes continuará a ser em telefones a preços baixos, com o sistema operativo Android, mas com uma superior experiência de utilização”, disse, em comunicado, o director europeu de investigação da área de telefones móveis da IDC, Francisco Jerónimo.

“Esta tendência continuará a acentuar-se nos próximos trimestres, uma vez que a aposta dos fabricantes continuará a ser em telefones a preços baixos, com o sistema operativo Android, mas com uma superior experiência de utilização”, adinatou Francisco Jerónimo, Director Europeu de Research da Área de Telefones Móveis da IDC, citado em comunicado.

But outside the company it was broadly welcomed as the jump-start Nokia needed to change. "He [Elop] changed the way Nokia operated. And he did a very good job. He was fast at executing and changing the mind-set of the company," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

(in Portuguese)
Com a venda da unidade de telemóveis da Nokia à Microsoft, já há quem considere que ficou resolvida a questão da sucessão de Steve Ballmer. A corrida ainda está, obviamente, em aberto, mas hoje, muitos analistas citados pela Bloomberg apontavam o canadiano Stephen Elop, presidente executivo cessante da Nokia e ex-quadro da Microsoft, como bem posicionado para ser o sucessor que Ballmer procura desde 2010, tendo em conta a sua experiência adquirida dentro e fora da empresa. A mesma opinião é partilhada pelo analista da IDC, Francisco Jerónimo.

(Video)

Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC U.K. Ltd., discusses competition in the mobile handset market with Anna Edwards on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown.

“If Elop hadn’t made some of the drastic moves he did, such as switching operating systems, it would have ended up like Palm,” the pioneering handheld-device company that eventually got sold to Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at researcher IDC in London. “Moving to Windows was the right decision, but Elop probably wasn’t expecting the ecosystem to take so long to grow.”

“Microsoft realised that it wouldn’t be possible to succeed without controlling the entire value chain,” said Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at research firm IDC in London. “Nokia has realised that it needed a stronger ally with the financial muscle to continue driving its Lumia smartphones.”

“Microsoft realized that it wouldn’t be possible to succeed without controlling the entire value chain,” said Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at research firm IDC in London. “Nokia has realized that it needed a stronger ally with the financial muscle to continue driving its Lumia smartphones.”

"The concept is interesting, but when you think about using it, will users want to carry them around?" asked Francisco Jeronimo, mobile devices research manager at tech consultancy IDC.

"The problem is that for those wanting top-quality photographs, the experience of having a DSLR [digital single lens reflex] offers a better experience than a phone with an add-on camera.

"Meanwhile having the lens attached to a phone makes it feel quite bulky compared to a compact camera or stand-alone handset.

"If the lenses were priced under £100, then I could see photography geeks buying it, or operators bundling it with the phone, but these lenses will be quite expensive."

"He (Elop) changed the way Nokia operated. And he did a very good job, he was fast at executing and changing the mind-set of the company," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

While the markets may have been unimpressed with Microsoft's decision to buy Nokia's phone unit, IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said the firm was far better placed than Nokia to compete against Android and Apple.

"We will probably see more agreements like this one in the future. The time for pure-play vendors has ended and the remaining ones haven't understood that yet," he said.

Microsoft, "qui n'a jamais réussi dans le hardware", excepté la Xbox, se dote désormais d'un modèle intégré à la Apple. "Microsoft a compris qu'il ne pourrait pas réussir sans contrôler toute la chaîne de valeur", ajoute dans un communiqué Francisco Jeronimo, directeur de recherche pour IDC.

Opinion

(in Portuguese)
A Microsoft pode não se ficar pela compra da divisão de telemóveis da Nokia e investir a breve prazo num fabricante de tablets, defende Francisco Jerónimo, analista da IDC.

Francisco Jeronimo, Research Director for European Mobile Devices at IDC, notes that Blackberry and Nokia were facing similar challenges – the dwindling number of first-time smartphone buyers, leading to competition for “switchers” – a far more expensive proposition, and one in which price is a major feature, forcing mobile players to “dominate the entire value chain”, in order to be able to extract margin from lower costs. Nokia was not only the largest shipper of Windows Phones, it was also the only one that was realistically for sale, and which had Windows Phone at the center of its mobile strategy.

Nokia, meanwhile, will piece together a more modest, perhaps more sustainable future as a networking, mapping, and patent-licensing company. “They have the chance not to go bust and to continue investing in the businesses where they make money,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC

The deal between Microsoft and Nokia also highlights how competitive the smartphone market has become, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC.

“I think it’s very clear that Nokia was struggling. This is the kind of decision that isn’t taken lightly, and I am sure there was a lot of discussion within the company. But Nokia must have understood that it didn’t have enough financial resources to compete, particularly with Apple and Samsung,” Jeronimo said.

“A Microsoft estava a contar com a Nokia para tornar o Windows Phone um sucesso e a Nokia estava a contar com a Microsoft para aumentar as vendas. Agora é o tempo de a Microsoft tomar conta do seu próprio destino”, diz Francisco Jerónimo, estimando que mais negócios deste género venham a ocorrer no futuro, criando empresas com o controlo de toda a cadeia de valor neste negócio, como sempre fez a Apple.

Francisco Jeronimo, research director for analysis firm IDC, believes a niche product like this could sell in some markets for around $200 but pricing the device at the high end will give it little chance of success.

"It may sell a few thousand units in Eastern Europe but it would never get support from operators in the Western world," he told CNBC. The additional screen will still use up battery and will be too small for reading, he said, adding that applications for screen could be few and far between.

For consumers, biometric identification has yet to make mobile payment and other uses convenient enough to be compelling, says Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at market researcher IDC. “The only way this technology is going to become mainstream is if it truly brings additional value to users,” Jeronimo says. “It’s a risky bet.”

"This period is crucial for Tim Cook and the company in general," says IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. "If Apple launches a cheap iPhone, the second wave of adopters will probably buy one instead of any other brand. If they sell a cheaper phone to this second wave, they will be potential new buyers of the very expensive new iPhones in the future."

(in French)

"S'ils font une annonce publique, c'est qu'ils n'ont pas trouvé de partenaire jusqu'ici, estime Francisco Jeronimo, analyste chez IDC. C'est étonnant car BlackBerry possède de sérieux atouts : l'un des plus gros portefeuilles de brevets au monde et un réseau sécurisé très prisé dans les grands groupes mondiaux. Le prix demandé est peut-être trop élevé..."

Três meses depois, o anúncio de que a Blackberry quer um comprador, feito na segunda-feira com a notícia de que formou um comité para estudar opções estratégicas, só tem uma interpretação para Francisco Jerónimo, analista da IDC em Londres: “Claro que não há interessados. O que estão a dizer é ‘não conseguimos encontrar comprador, estamos disponíveis para ofertas’”.

A Microsoft poderia ser uma compradora, considera Francisco Jerónimo, sobretudo pela tecnologia da BlackBerry destinada ao mercado empresarial. “Os consumidores são um segmento morto para a BlackBerry, sem qualquer possibilidade de o conquistarem”, diz taxativamente.

O analista da IDC Francisco Jerónimo considera que a notícia desta segunda-feira torna "claro" que a BlackBerry esteve à procura de um comprador e não conseguiu encontrar interessados. "Nunca disseram publicamente que estavam à procura, agora estão a dizê-lo". Jerónimo classifica este anúncio como um "erro estratégico de relações públicas", porque retira confiança tanto a clientes do segmento de consumo, como aos do segmento empresarial, um mercado que é particularmente importante para a fabricante canadiana, agora que a generalidade dos consumidores está voltada para o iPhone e para os muitos Android.

BlackBerry says that it can’t guarantee it’ll find an acceptable buyer and that it won’t discuss the matter again until it does so or gives up on selling. So why come out and say anything?

“It’s probably another PR mistake,” says Francisco Jeronimo, who tracks the mobile market for IDC. “They’ve have some in the past.”

IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo paints a darker picture of BlackBerry's current situation.

"It is very clear that BlackBerry 10 isn't a success after all, and won't save the company. At least BlackBerry has recognized that before the company is completely out of cash, which gives it some time to explore its options. And I believe the only option it has is to sell the company, because I don't think there is anyone willing to license BlackBerry 10," Jeronimo said.

The future for the company looks bleak, said IDC Research Director Francisco Jeronimo, whether it's selling part of the business or moving to a software licensing model.

"The only option it has is to sell the company," Jeronimo said bluntly.

"I don't think there is anyone willing to license BlackBerry 10."

"It's quite surprising to see a statement like this made publically," said Francisco Jeronimo from the technology research firm IDC.

"Everyone knows that they've been struggling and looking at their options. It's clear that they haven't been able to find anyone who wants to buy or form a partnership.

"Blackberry has very strong assets and is one of the most recognised portfolios in the industry.

"The question now is how much they're asking and what's on offer."

"The small screen size means many of the suggestions didn't seem relevant," said Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile device expert at the company.

"We also found there was much more interest in smartglasses, with features such as recording a video or taking pictures of what you are looking at proving most popular. The reason for that is that this offers a new feature that consumers can't get from any other existing device."

(Video)

Francisco Jeronimo, Research Director, IDC talks on the kind of impact the Samsung-Apple patent dispute is going to have on the two tech giants.

"Users have large screens, they have voice control – so at the end of the day what may attract users to replace their current smartphone is a completely new experience," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. "In my opinion, it's one of the biggest trends of the next year."

Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile phones analyst at market intelligence firm IDC, said the company had targeted the basics - changing how a phone is controlled.

"The interaction with the phone, the way we speak, the way we activate the functions - it can be done in a different way," he said.

"They are definitely in trouble," said Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones analyst for the research company IDC. "For a company that was awarded 'best smartphone in the world' for its HTC One, which is meant to be its flagship, if they can't make a profit from it, that's quite concerning."

However, analysts threw lukewarm – rather than freezing cold – water on Nokia’s strategy. IDC research director for European mobile devices Francisco Jeronimo said the Lumia 1020 could become a niche product

Speaking to The Independent, the IDC's mobile Research Director for European Mobile Devices Francisco Jeronimo said "the larger screen gives the better experience - when you start using a larger screen it's very hard to go back."

(In French)

"Pourquoi continuer à acheter un téléphone basique quand une marque comme MediaTek ou Xiaomi fabrique des smartphones au même prix ?", s'interroge Francisco Jeronimo du cabinet IDC.

"Nokia continues to show no signs of recovery in the US market," observed Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones analyst for the research company IDC. "High investments, high expectations, low results."

"Despite the quality of the device, I have some serious doubts about whether it will change Nokia's fortunes, and it risks becoming a niche product," says IDC's Francisco Jeronimo.

'Despite the quality of the device, I have some serious doubts about whether it will change Nokia's fortunes, and it risks becoming a niche product,' added IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

"Most people just look at their photos on their smartphone or a social network on a computer - and for this the other vendors already provide very good quality," Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile phone analyst at the firm IDC, told the BBC.

"Nokia needs to convince consumers that this new handset outperforms others in low-light conditions, otherwise they would only really notice the difference if they zoomed in on the images on a large screen or printed out a poster.

The new handset allows owners to adjust focus, shutter speed and white balance via a new user interface

"It may be the best smartphone out there but I doubt it will be enough to convince many users to jump platform from Android or iOS which accounted for 92% of global shipments in the last quarter."

Though I haven’t tested the 1020 myself, IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo tried out the Lumia 1020 at an analyst event in Helsinki and said the photo quality was impressive. “For an amateur or professional photographer who needs a quality camera on the move, this is the best option available on the smartphone,” he said.

But therein lies a risk that a phone with monster-sized megapixels will have more niche, than mass, appeal. Jeronimo points to a survey IDC carried out last December which showed that out of the 23 most important features that consumers thought about when buying a smartphone, camera resolution ranked at 15. More important was audio quality, battery life, ease of use and operating system

"Despite the quality of the device, I have some serious doubts about whether it will change Nokia's fortunes, and it risks becoming a niche product," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

"What I'm expecting to see is a powerful device that will differentiate it from competitors' high-end handsets. But whether this will be enough to compete with Samsung and Apple? I doubt it," said Francisco Jeronimo, of research firm IDC.

(Video)

"Apple and Samsung have been dominating the high-end of the market and that's the part of the market that is getting saturated," Francisco Jeronimo, a research director for IDC, told CNBC.

"The new vendors like Huawei and ZTE, and other vendors, particularly from China, are challenging the main vendors because they are improving their experience on their devices at a lower price."

[...] the hire has resulted in analysts speculating, and wearable computing is on top of the list, according to [...] IDC's Francisco Jeronimo.

Jeronimo agreed: hiring someone with Deneve's background makes sense if Apple wants to enter the burgeoning sector, he said.

"This is an area that will explode in the next couple of years," Jeronimo said.

The smartphone market in many developed parts of the world is saturated, so device makers such as Apple have to come up with new products to ensure growth. Apple is good at putting out products that consumers don't know what to do with when they first see them, but still want to buy, according to Jeronimo

The BlackBerry results were sufficiently bleak that Francisco Jeronimo, director of European mobile device research for market researcher IDC, said on Twitter that the company should just abandon consumer sales altogether.

“BlackBerry needs to refocus on the enterprise segment. They are not a major phone player nor a consumer brand anymore and will never be,” Jeronimo wrote.

Shipments of 7.7 million phones would have been an “OK” result, according to IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo. The soft sales lead analysts to question the future of BlackBerry 10 and the company during a conference call on the results.

“It needs strong campaigns to drive awareness of the new platform and user experience; new devices at lower price points, and to refocus on the enterprise segment where they still have a chance. The consumer segment is lost and the only chance is on the enterprise segment, particularly the large enterprises,” Jeronimo said.

“ZTE has to change the brand awareness in the market if they’re going to expect any real smartphone growth outside of China,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC in London.

“ZTE has to change the brand awareness in the market if they’re going to expect any real smartphone growth outside of China,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC in London.

Smartphones accounted for a record 72 per cent of total sales but IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo said that smartphones grew at 12 per cent year-on-year – the slowest rate since the firm started tracking the market.

(in French)

«Le marché européen entre dans la seconde vague d'adoption des smartphones», explique Francisco Jeronimo, analyste à l'institut IDC

People who want high-end smartphones have probably already bought them, says Francisco Jeronimo, IDC’s director of European mobile device research. New buyers have less disposable income and are buying smartphones only because they have become cheap. “We are now entering the second wave of smartphone adoption, which will be driven by those users with no need for a smartphone,” he says.

"We are now entering the second wave of smartphone adoption in the region. The first wave was driven by those users looking for devices that would meet their mobility needs. They did look for the best devices in terms of performance and user experience, and more importantly, they were able to afford and pay a premium to get a premium experience. We are now entering the second wave of smartphone adoption, which will be driven by those users with no need for a smartphone," said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research director at IDC.

"Apesar de o mercado português ter ainda uma penetração deste tipo de terminais inferior à media Europeia - já nos 72% -, estamos a assistir ao início da segunda fase de adopção deste tipo de telefones. A primeira fase de adopção foi liderada pelos utilizadores com necessidade de acesso às funcionalidades dos ‘smartphones', esta segunda fase será liderada pelos utilizadores que não precisam de um ‘smartphone'", explica Francisco Jerónimo, Director Europeu de Research da Área de Telefones Móveis da IDC.

“Apesar do mercado português ter ainda uma penetração deste tipo de terminais (smartphones) inferior à media europeia - já nos 72% -, estamos a assistir ao início da segunda fase de adopção deste tipo de telefones”, afirmou Francisco Jerónimo, director europeu de Research da Área de Telefones Móveis da IDC, citado em comunicado.

(in POrtuguese)
Mas o que ficou a faltar foi um modelo Windows Phone 8, o que surpreendeu o analista Francisco Jerónimo. Mostra que eles não o reconhecem como sistema operativo capaz de chegar perto do Android ou de qualquer outro, indicou, referindo que o investimento está a ser direcionado para o su próprio sistema Tizen, que deverá sair no Verão.

«Première impressions sur l'iOS7 : impressionnant et prometteur» confie Francisco Jeronimo du cabinet IDC.

"People were getting a bit bored with the old design so Apple needed to make significant changes," said IDC's mobile device research director Francisco Jeronimo.

A research director at IDC told the WSJ that while Nokia's sales are split about evenly between smartphones and "more basic" phones, around 80 percent of units moved by Samsung are smartphones.

The IDC numbers were first reported by Finnish news website Digitoday.fi on Tuesday, and Francisco Jeronimo, IDC’s research director on European mobile devices, later disclosed the data in an interview.

The market for smartphone operating systems will get a lot more crowded this year, as the respective backers of Firefox OS, Ubuntu and Tizen are also expected to launch their first phones. The only thing Jolla has got going for it is its small size, which means it doesn't have to sell many devices to survive, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC.

"The mid and low end of the smartphone segment is where the most growth will be in the coming years," said Francisco Jeronimo, analyst at technology research firm IDC, adding that Apple and Samsung have already cornered the high-end market.

"The high end is a very tough segment to enter and to compete in. You have to have huge marketing budgets."

"Nokia is starting to see the first positive results," said Francisco Jeronimo, the IDC's research director for European mobile devices.

"They recently forecast about 30% growth for their Lumia [Windows Phone] handsets for the second quarter - if they keep growing at the same rate they will be progressing well.

"At this point it's too early to invest in Android and start again from scratch, but in six months' time if shipments aren't growing they may need to rethink the strategy."

“The low-end, high-volume part of the mobile-phone market is a huge opportunity for Nokia (NOK1V) in developing countries,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC in London. “These users will be likely to upgrade to more expensive phones over time, so it’s a good strategy to keep a high market share in this segment.”

'I believe the Samsung Galaxy S4 could be an important milestone for the Korean company, as it could be the first smartphone to outsell an iPhone,' said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with IDC.

'The Samsung Galaxy S4 can be a game changer for Samsung, and I believe for the first time that this device has the potential to outsell the next generation of iPhone - assuming that Apple will incrementally improve the next version of the iPhone.'

FRANCISCO JERONIMO, RESEARCH MANAGER AT IDC

"6 million Lumias is quite promising."

"They are on a right track and we can see a much better year for Nokia smartphones. They are far from volumes of Samsung and Apple, but that is not where Nokia is trying to compete now. Nokia is trying to go for the mass market."

"They are trying to compete on the segment where consumers are moving from feature phones to smartphones, but they want cheap smartphones."

"I think when Nokia gets to over 10 million of Windows phone 8 ... (that is the) volume that will keep Nokia in the game."

"Six million Lumias is quite promising," said Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC, a tech research firm.

They are on a right track and we can see a much better year for Nokia smartphones. They are far from volumes of Samsung and Apple, but that is not where Nokia is trying to compete now. Nokia is trying to go for the mass market.

They are trying to compete on the segment where consumers are moving from feature phones to smartphones, but they want cheap smartphones."

“This is a trend that can’t be missed,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at researcher IDC in London. “People are using smartphones in different ways now, consuming media by streaming over faster mobile networks. A 5-inch screen for a smartphone just feels right in the hand.”

Sales of handsets 5 inches or bigger soared to 29.7 million units last year from 1.2 million a year earlier, Jeronimo said.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo says that big-screen devices are “a trend that can’t be missed” because “people are using smartphones in different ways now, consuming media by streaming over faster mobile networks.”

(in Fench)
Pour Francisco Jeronimo, du cabinet d'études IDC, « le Galaxy S IV pourrait changer le jeu et être le premier smartphone de Samsung a se vendre mieux qu'un iPhone ».

(in Portuguese)
“Nunca antes um smartphone da Samsung conseguiu tanto interesse”, observou o analista da IDC Francisco Jerónimo, numa nota enviada aos jornalistas. “Isto mostra como a marca se tem tornado forte nos últimos anos, mas também mostra que a Samsung é um dos fabricantes de telemóveis com mais inovação”.
“Ao lançar o Galaxy S4 no final de Abril, em vez de Junho ou Julho, a Samsung vai tirar partido de um período de vendas quase exclusivo de vários meses, em que a competição de topo é mínima”, observou Francisco Jerónimo. “Isto vai pôr pressão na Apple para inovar no lançamento do próximo iPhone”.

'I believe the Samsung Galaxy S4 could be an important milestone for the Korean company, as it could be the first smartphone to outsell an iPhone,' said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with IDC.

'The Samsung Galaxy S4 can be a game changer for Samsung, and I believe for the first time that this device has the potential to outsell the next generation of iPhone - assuming that Apple will incrementally improve the next version of the iPhone.'

After unprecedented weeks of speculation and rumours, Samsung finally announced the Galaxy S4 mobile phone last night in New York. Never before has a Samsung smartphone caught so much interest. This shows how strong the brand has become in recent years, but it also shows that Samsung is one of the most innovative phone makers.

"La qualité de ce que l'on peut avoir aujourd'hui pour ces prix-là n'a rien à voir avec ce qui était disponible ne serait-ce qu'il y a un an et demi ! remarque Francisco Jeronimo du cabinet IDC, nous assistons à l'émergence d'une vraie tendance de fond."

"Apple is not the one leading the market," said Francisco Jeronimo from analysis firm IDC. "I wouldn't be surprised if the new Samsung device sells more than the new Apple device over the next two years."

(Video)

Francisco Jeronimo, research director of European mobile devices at IDC, analyzes the smartphone market and the outlook for Apple and Samsung.

O analista da IDC Francisco Jerónimo acredita que “o Nokia 105 vai provavelmente ser o telemóvel mais barato de uma marca grande disponível no mundo”, a par do Nokia 301, que irá custar cerca de 65 euros. “O desafio está em como atingir o mercado da gama mais baixa, a preços bastante acessíveis e que dêem margem para lucro. O Nokia 105 é provavelmente a melhor resposta a esta questão”, refere uma nota do analista.

According to IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo, who also attended the Tizen launch, the first Tizen device will debut in France in August/September — with Orange and Samsung, followed by other markets in 2014.

“Nokia is targeting the right end of the market with new, inexpensive phones,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with IDC in London. “This is where the growth is.”

The new Lumias position Nokia “very well to compete against mid-range Android devices,” Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at research firm IDC, said in an e-mail. The phones are set to appeal to carriers seeking cheaper devices and alternatives to the dominant operating systems of Google Inc.’s Android and Apple’s iOS, he said.

IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo said it would probably be the cheapest phone available in the world from a major brand when it goes on sale later this quarter.

"The pressure is now on the Chinese vendors. Why will any consumer in the world buy a cheap Chinese phone when they can have the same price with better quality from a well known brand?" he said.

"Orange's strategy of selling its own branded devices at affordable prices sets a very good benchmark for all industry players,” said Francisco Jeronimo, Research Director, European Mobile Devices, IDC. “When consumers' needs are thoroughly understood, there is still room in the market to create value in all segments. These three new smartphones show Orange's strong commitment to innovation and will provide customers with a differentiated experience."

"Orange's strategy of selling its own branded devices at affordable prices sets a very good benchmark for all industry players," said Francisco Jeronimo, Research Director, European Mobile Devices, IDC. "When consumers' needs are thoroughly understood, there is still room in the market to create value in all segments. These three new smartphones show Orange's strong commitment to innovation and will provide customers with a differentiated experience."

Video. Comment @ 3:50

The rest of the year will be just as critical for Nokia as it is for HTC, and the Finnish company has only two options for 2013: either significantly increase sales or change its strategy radically, according to IDC's Francisco Jeronimo

A estratégia da fabricante dos BlackBerry parece ser mais a de estancar a sangria do que a de crescer. "Estimamos que venha a ter 4% a 6% do mercado nos próximos anos", disse ao PÚBLICO o analista da IDC para o mercado europeu, Francisco Jerónimo. Este é um intervalo onde se encaixa a quota de mercado actual.

Francisco Jerónimo tem uma opinião favorável do sistema, mas argumenta que os modelos apresentados destinam-se mais a reter o segmento empresarial do que a apelar aos consumidores finais, onde será difícil convencer os utilizadores a abandonar os iPhones e os Androids. Além disso, o mercado de consumo "assenta em telemóveis mais baratos" e o analista antecipa que a fabricante canadiana venha a apostar neste segmento ao longo do próximo ano.

El futuro dependería de una nueva estrategia corporativa, desde alianzas estratégicas o vender sus licencias. No hay plan B para BlackBerry porque el tiempo y la inversión en el nuevo sistema es demasiado grande", explica por correo electrónico Francisco Jeronimo, responsable europeo de investigación de mercado de dispositivos móviles de la consultora IDC.

"El segmento empresarial va a seguir siendo el principal nicho de la compañía. Aquellas empresas que utilizan los servidores BlackBerry y con miles de usuarios no van a abandonar toda la infraestructura de repente", cree Francisco Jeronimo, de IDC, que resalta que no va a ser tan fácil atraer a los usuarios domésticos.

The overriding reason, according to Francisco Jeronimo, Research Manager for European Mobile Devices at IDC, is that the UK is the biggest BlackBerry market in the world. Contrast his figures: in the third quarter of 2012, BlackBerry had a 12% market share in the UK, with Apple at 25%. In the US, BlackBerry accounted for just 2% to Apple's 25%.

Jeronimo argues that it's not just teenagers with BlackBerry phones: "Most companies have their corporate emails running on BlackBerry servers. To change the entire mobile infrastructure is not cheap or something that can be done overnight... when we ask if companies want to move to another platform, it is very clear that the majority don't".

One analyst, Francisco Jeronimo of IDC, aptly described the major product assault as “D-Day for Research in Motion.”

“The company has no other major options; if it doesn’t succeed with the new platform, there are no alternatives on the hardware or software sides,” Jeronimo wrote in a note.

Jeronimo of IDC is predicting that BlackBerry will mostly remain as a favorite by corporate computer users. Part of the new BlackBerry 10 software will divide the personal and corporate element of the phone, so that IT managers can control what they need to control and consumers can have freedom with personal email, apps and games.

“IDC estimates that BlackBerry will continue to be a major player in the enterprise segment, but a smaller player in the overall smartphone market with a market share of around 5%,” he wrote.

Opinion

“Este é o Dia D para a Research in Motion”, escreveu o analista da IDC para o mercado europeu, Francisco Jerónimo, numa nota depois do evento. “A empresa não tem mais grandes opções; se não for bem-sucedida com a nova plataforma, não há alternativas no lado do hardware ou do software. O futuro estará então dependente de uma nova estratégia corporativa, desde alianças estratégicas a licenciamentos”, observou, notando que a multinacional canadiana não tem, devido aos custos e ao tempo necessário, hipótese de adoptar um outro sistema operativo. “Não há plano B possível”.

Francisco Jerónimo elogia os novos modelos lançados – destacando o novo browser e a “jóia da coroa”, o novo teclado virtual do Z10 – e afirma que a nova interface de utilização está ao nível dos Android e do iPhone. Mas prevê mais sucesso junto do segmento empresarial, um mercado historicamente crucial para os BlackBerry, do que junto dos consumidores generalistas.

"The new keyboard is the jewel in the crown and Blackberry has mastered the experience," said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager at IDC.

"The browser, one of the weakest features on the old Blackberry devices, is now an enjoyable experience.

"This is not a new Blackberry device, this is a completely new Blackberry experience. For the first time the traditional keyboard Blackberry users will it find easier to type on a touchscreen."

Francisco Jeronimo, an IDC analyst, said: "There is no longer any conflict between personal and professional environments. This is extremely important for large businesses."

Mr Jeronimo said that the new system would shore up RIM's position in the corporate market, where it has ceded customers to Apple and Google.

The key to a BlackBerry revival, suggests Francisco Jeronimo, smartphone analyst at IDC, will be whether it can persuade those corporate customers – the segment where it first grew to fame as Wall Street financiers discovered they could get secure email while out of the office – to stay with it. "They could survive. You won't compare them to Apple and Samsung but they could be in the top five handset makers. If they can manage to regain trust from the companies who have been clients, they can survive, profitably, just by staying small and focused," he said.

Despite the excellent results last quarter, it’s clear Apple won’t be able to continue posting remarkable iPhone results in the long term without a portfolio strategy change. It is now time for Apple to increase the number of devices and to address different market segments. It is time for Apple to understand that with the same form factor, the same user interface, and the same price, only Samsung will benefit.

Nokia shares fell for a second day after the Espoo, Finland-based company said yesterday it sold about 700,000 handsets in North America in the holiday quarter, a fraction of the tens of millions of iPhones and Android handsets sold in the period. Francisco Jeronimo of research firm IDC in London was among analysts projecting a figure of at least 1 million Lumias.

Francisco Jeronimo of research firm IDC in London was among analysts projecting a figure of at least 1 million Lumias.

Nokia with Windows is trailing competitors in the number of applications available, making it more difficult to convince users to switch, Jeronimo said.

“Customers just don’t know what they can get,” Jeronimo said. “They’re not familiar with the apps, services or what the phone can do. This is something Nokia must change.”

 Video

Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with IDC, said the firm had to release a lower cost iPhone.

'Despite the excellent results last quarter, it is now clear that Apple will not be able to continue posting consistent remarkable iPhone results in the long term without a portfolio strategy change,' he said.

'It is now time for Apple to increase the number of devices and to address different market segments.'

O analista da IDC Francisco Jerónimo observou, no Twitter, que o aumento de vendas do iPhone está abaixo do crescimento do mercado de smartphones estimado pela IDC e que a líder Samsung é das poucas a ter um desempenho melhor do que o da média do sector. Mas, referindo-se aos números de vendas e às receitas, acrescentou: “Acho que a maioria dos vendedores de telemóveis sonhariam em ter um desempenho abaixo do mercado da forma que a Apple o faz”.

“This is really the time now for Nokia to put up results,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an I.D.C. analyst in London. “They are almost exclusively out there with Windows 8, and Microsoft is strongly promoting the operating system. There can be no more excuses now.”

In North America, Nokia increased its sale of phone handset sales by 40 percent in the fourth quarter to 700,000 units, up from 500,000 in the third quarter. Mr. Jeronimo said those results were weak considering the sizable marketing investment in the United States and Canada by Nokia and Microsoft on Windows 8.

"The fourth quarter 2012 was the bottom line for Nokia," said Francisco Jeronimo at market research firm IDC. "Significant results need to be delivered this year starting right from the first quarter. From 2013 Nokia has only two options: either significantly grow sales or change its strategy, radically."

Video
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) - Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC, talks about the outlook for Nokia Oyj's profitability. He talks with Francine Lacqua and Guy Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse." (Source: Bloomberg)

“The Lumia smartphones are night-and-day different from Nokia’s old Symbian handsets,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with the International Data Corporation in London. “I think what we are starting to see now is what will be a steady turnaround in Nokia’s fortunes.”

"Apple needs to come up with something to compete with the Note," Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC, said. "The biggest value [this year] will come from smartphones, but these kinds of devices are getting more important in terms of revenue."

(In French)
"Samsung et Sony ont compris que pour garder la main, ils doivent prendre les devants en terme de communication", estime Francisco Jeronimo, analyste chez IDC.

“Besides Apple and Samsung almost everyone else struggled to grow or increase market share,” says Francisco Jeronimo, analyst at IDC.

A popularidade dos smartphones e de aplicações como o Facebook e o Skype afecta o negócio dos operadores móveis de várias formas, explica por sua vez Francisco Jerónimo, analista da IDC em Londres para o mercado europeu.

Francisco Jeronimo, IDC's smartphone analyst, said: "Google and Amazon will bring the tablets to the mass market – not specifically because of the screen size, but the combination of brand, specifications, experience, content and price."

"I don't see many users wanting this device in the US or Western Europe," said Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at consultants IDC.

"China may be different - they like more gimmicky phones that can handle several Sim cards and feature unusual types of display - but none of those devices have done well elsewhere.

"Brand is quite a strong purchasing decision factor in western markets as well, so unless this were being promoted by a company like Samsung or being sold at a very low price I can't see much demand."

Francisco Jeronimo, an industry analyst at U.S.-based International Data Corp., said Wednesday's news from Nokia is encouraging. According to IDC's data, midtier smartphones are the fastest-growing phone segment in many markets such as Western Europe, and the new Lumia 620 will enable Nokia to compete head-on with affordable Android devices, Mr. Jeronimo said.

"Nokia used to be an exceptionally strong brand in China a couple of years ago, and Chinese consumers are familiar with the brand," Mr. Jeronimo said. "The deal with China Mobile is likely to boost Nokia's performance in China, but more importantly, it will help the Windows Phone platform by making a great number of Chinese aware of it."

Francisco Jeronimo, research manager for European mobile devices at IDC, and others contend the market is reacting positively because of the forthcoming new BlackBerry models, but it isn't nearly enough to compete with Apple, Samsung and others.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo commenting on the tribunal’s ruling: “This could have a significant financial impact, as all BlackBerry devices support WLAN, although the volumes are currently very low in these countries.”

"This could have a significant financial impact, as all BlackBerry devices support WLAN, although the volumes are currently very low in these countries," IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said.

"This could have a significant financial impact to RIM, as all BlackBerry devices support WLAN," IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said

Facebook introduced the Java-based Facebook for Every Phone app in July last year as way to allow more users to access the site and its messaging service using their mobile phones. It works just like the smartphone apps but has been implemented in a way that uses less data, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC.

Nokia isn't the first company to add a dedicated Facebook button. For example, last year HTC launched the Salsa and the ChaCha, two smartphones with dedicated Facebook buttons, but neither phone sold well.

Jeronimo doesn't expect Nokia's Facebook button to help attract more buyers either.

"It is not the Facebook button that will make a difference; it is the device itself and its overall feature set. The button is more of a marketing tool," said Jeronimo.

Facebook introduced the Java-based app in July last year so users could more quickly access the site and its messaging service from mobile devices. It works just like the smartphone apps but has been implemented in a way that uses less data, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC.

The dedicated Facebook button is a feature, but not unique, Jeronimo notes. "It is not the Facebook button that will make a difference; it is the device itself and its overall feature set. The button is more of a marketing tool," he said.

Já Francisco Jerónimo, diretor europeu de pesquisa de dispositivos móveis da consultora IDC, afirma que estes rumores são irrelevantes para as vendas e estratégia da Apple.

"O impacto é nulo", comenta. "A Apple tem consciência que o lançamento num prazo recente iria prejudicar as vendas, e portanto não se espera que venha a ser lançado qualquer telefone nos próximos meses." O analista lembra que todas as empresas começam a trabalhar nos produtos com muita antecedência, "mas na prática os consumidores sabem que se estiverem sempre à espera do último modelo nunca iriam comprar um telefone." Francisco Jerónimo afirma que o impacto dos rumores "só é real quando o lançamento do novo modelo estiver a semanas de distância."

"A força da marca Apple é sem dúvida um ponto forte, mas claro que tal só existe porque a qualidade do sistema operativo é superior à concorrência. A IDC estima que a Apple continue a dominar este mercado no próximo ano", diz ao Diário Económico Francisco Jerónimo, ‘research manager european mobile devices' da IDC.

"Windows Phone as a platform still has very low awareness among consumers, and that's the biggest challenge," Francisco Jeronimo, mobile devices research manager at the consultants IDC, told the BBC

"It is really hard for consumers as the portfolio of products will be huge this Christmas season," Francisco Jeronimo, mobile device researcher at consultants IDC, told the BBC.

"The popularity of the Kindle e-reader and the Android smartphones made consumers aware of Amazon content and Google services," said Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at consultants IDC.

"The low price points of the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire have been attracting consumers looking for more affordable devices that also come with the content and services they already use or want."

But he added: "This new product from Apple will disrupt the market again. The iPad Mini is now the new category killer."

Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones and tablets analyst, IDC, thinks it will "disrupt the market again".

"Apple created the tablet category and pushed other vendors to find niche segments, as they were not able to compete with the category killer, the 10-inch iPad. Although the likes of Google, Samsung or Amazon have found a market opportunity for their smaller and cheaper tablets, as consumers started to realise what a tablet could be used for, but wanted a more portable and cheaper device."

Francisco Jerónimo, um analista da IDC, disse em entrevista à Bloomberg que o lançamento este mês do Windows 8, o novo sistema da Microsoft para computadores e tablets e que é semelhante ao sistema Windows Phone, trará benefícios para a Nokia. Por outro lado, argumentou, o facto de outros fabricantes (como a líder Samsung e a HTC) estarem a usar a plataforma da Microsoft nos seus telemóveis vai ajudar os consumidores a familiarizarem-se com o sistema e a impulsionar as vendas da Nokia.

Jerónimo notou ainda que este é provavelmente o ponto mais baixo da Nokia. Se não for, afirmou, a estratégia de Stephen Elop será questionada.

(Video)

"Vanjoki is a veteran of this industry so clearly he is a good fit," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. "He will need to focus a lot more on differentiation and uniqueness of products."

"The quarter will probably become a milestone for those phone makers striving to survive," IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said.

"It will expose the weakness of their performances compared to the mammoths of this industry, Apple and Samsung, which are expected to publish stellar results following the launch of the iPhone 5 and the success of the Galaxy SIII."

"Samsung is the reason HTC is struggling," said Francisco Jeronimo at the research firm IDC. "HTC devices are good, the brand is strong and they keep on innovating, but Samsung invests significantly more at the point of sale compared with HTC."

By that time, it will face renewed pressure in the low-end markets from Finland's Nokia, as well as Chinese handset makers offering cheap Android phones, says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones analyst at researchers IDC.

"They're still relying on a very strong brand – that's what has been supporting them," says Jeronimo. "People in those markets can't afford high-end phones like the iPhone. But if BB10 isn't as good as they have been promising, then there will be problems. Let's see what happens in the next quarter."

He thinks that will put extra pressure on as RIM comes under fire from rivals. "Nokia's Asha portfolio in emerging markets is probably the cheapest device that can provide a similar smartphone experience," he says.

(in Portuguese)

Artigo de Opinião

"This outage could not happen at the worst quarter ... when all devices are coming out and the Christmas season is approaching. They are close to their last chance, if they miss it, they will not recover," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

"The reception from operators is quite good," said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager, told the BBC.

"The market wants another alternative to Android as vendors don't want to face the kind of problems that have arisen out of the lawsuits between Apple and Android device manufacturers - products being withdrawn or delayed.

"But HTC has to compete against Nokia and Samsung which also have Windows Phone 8 products.

(in Spanish)
“El iPhone 5 ha sido una mejora interesante sobre el 4S, pero realmente no han añadido absolutamente nada que le haga resaltar de la competencia. El 4S al menos vino con Siri. Los clientes, especialmente los de Apple, quieren algo único en hardware y servicios y es ahí donde Apple estará obligado a ofrecer novedades en el siguiente lanzamiento”, explica Francisco Jerónimo, director de análisis de IDC.

Opinion

"The company has changed," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. "It is a lot more focused on profits and management rather than product. Hopefully that won't bring Apple back to where it was in the past."

Francisco Jeronimo of research firm IDC

"What Apple has been doing over the last few years is to improve each hardware and software feature of the iPhone to offer the best experience possible, rather than packing the handset with features that consumers don't use or don't understand. The devices continue to offer a unique premium feeling due to the design and materials, so we foresee a strong Christmas season for Apple. But Apple still faces some challenges. The iPhone 5 does not come with any unique service or hardware features that are not available on the high-end Android devices."

Francisco Jeronimo Research manager, European mobile devices at IDC

The device comes with noticeable improvements to the previous iPhone 4S, the most important being the screen size.

What Apple has been doing over the last few years is to improve each hardware and software feature of the iPhone to offer the best experience possible, rather than packing the handset with features that consumers don't use or don't understand. [However] the iPhone 4S and previous versions were losing their "coolness" compared with their main competitors from Samsung, HTC, and the new Windows Phones from Nokia.

The improvements to the iPhone 5 give current iPhone users strong reasons to upgrade. For a new smartphone user it also closes the gap to the popular Android devices with bigger screens and high resolution displays. The devices continue to offer a unique premium feeling due to the design and materials, so we foresee a strong Christmas season for Apple.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said by email that Apple “does not need to launch disruptive devices every single year,” and knows it doesn’t have to pack “the handset with features that consumers don’t use or don’t understand.” Still, this iPhone “does not come with any unique service or hardware features that are not available on the high-end Android devices” and it “will not be able to surpass Android volumes.”

"Samsung has been very efficient pushing and promoting their devices offering the biggest commissions to sales people," Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC, told the BBC.

"The momentum they are gaining with consumers is very high and people see it as a very innovative brand - and customers are clearly looking for innovation rather than just refinements. Samsung will also be likely to make further gains by making price cuts before Christmas.

The availability of smartphones with LTE in Europe has been very limited compared to the U.S. But as the number of countries with commercial services grows, so will the number of smartphones with LTE consumers on the continent can choose between, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC.

"The second quarter was impacted by a weaker economic environment in Western Europe, which contributed to lower demand," said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager at IDC

Francisco Jerónimo, responsável europeu de research da Área de Telefones Móveis da IDC, revisita o princípio e as razões da disputa

"I wouldn't be surprised if they come up with some kind of service that differentiates them from the rest and which consumers value," says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones analyst for researchers IDC.

Jeronimo says: "Look at what Samsung is doing. It's trying to compete in every market segment, and they will lead in every market. But even Samsung is changing its strategy. It's sold 20m units of its [flagship] Galaxy S3 phone in 100 days, which is very impressive." You could think that Samsung only offers the one phone from its advertising, he suggests, rather than the scores it really does: "Having a strong message and advert around one device pays. Samsung is starting to do that."

Opinion

Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC added: "Amazon's tablet provides a richer user experience than the Google Nexus 7 or any other 10in Android tablet on the market - the content is embedded in the hardware in such a way that it seems a feature of it and not an application that comes with it for users to open when they need to access media."

"They were quite late on investing in smartphones and quite late in launching Android, but when they did it they grew very fast," IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said of Samsung. "If they are very serious about Windows Phone they will do the same as they did on Android, and that will be a problem and a challenge for Nokia."

"The Lumia 920 comes in even brighter colors than its predecessors, including red and yellow, which will help the phone stand out in stores, when placed next to the many black ones available today," said Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC.

“The launch is extremely significant because it comes at a really important time. Nokia has gone through a significant reorganization period and its market share has been declining over the past two years. It has laid off thousands of people and cut factories to adjust to the new reality of the market and its new strategy. Now, it is time to start delivering. This is the time for Nokia to grow themselves over the next couple of quarters, and to prove to shareholders and consumers that they are a good competitor to Samsung. The U.S. ruling against Samsung in favor of Apple will help Nokia because it stands as a strong alternative to Android platforms and avoids risking further lawsuits from Apple. Also, people are familiar with the Microsoft interface. If they can have a similar experience on their PC and smartphone, consumers will value this as something they already know. And there is good feedback from consumers on the existing Lumia phone. Nokia has the best maps platform in the world. Everything is in place. Now its time to sell, there are no more excuses.”

Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager at IDC, said: 'The second quarter was impacted by a weaker economic environment in wwesestern Europe, which contributed to lower demand. Moreover, there are rumors that a number of devices will be unveiled in the third quarter and mobile operators are focused on clearing stocks ahead of the new launches. The Samsung Galaxy S III was the only major product release in the second quarter, and therefore the biggest seller in the quarter, which contributed to Samsung's dominance in the market.

But Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC, warned that Nokia would not have the Windows Phone 8 market to itself.

"If Samsung is serious about Windows Phone 8, it will significantly increase its marketing budgets to sell higher volumes than Nokia in the coming quarters," he said.

"It is therefore important for Nokia to continue leading the Windows Phone volumes.

"For that it needs a global launch and not one in 'selected markets' only. When Nokia WP8 devices come out, Nokia will have to execute its best operational and sales skills ever."

(in Portuguese)
“O segundo trimestre continuou a ser afetado pela forte contração da procura em virtude da deterioração da economia portuguesa. Apesar da queda verificada, que afetou a maioria dos fabricantes, a quota de mercado da Samsung continua a crescer no segmento dos smartphones. A gama de produtos Galaxy continua a ser um caso de sucesso em toda a europa, ao qual os consumidores portugueses não têm sido indiferentes”, justifica Francisco Jerónimo, responsável europeu de research da Área de Telefones Móveis da IDC.

“With an ‘iPad mini’, the tablet becomes much more portable,” says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones and tablets analyst with the research firm IDC. “You can slip it in your pocket, take it on the train, wherever.”

(in Portuguese)
A gama de produtos Galaxy continua a ser um caso de sucesso em toda a Europa, ao qual os consumidores portugueses não têm sido indiferentes”, afirma Francisco Jerónimo, Responsável Europeu de Research da Área de Telefones Móveis da IDC.

(in Portuguese)
Mesmo com uma contracção desta ordem, a fabricante sul-coreana “tem conseguido dominar a alta gama, na qual só encontra concorrência por parte do iPhone da Apple”, refere a IDC. Francisco Jerónimo, analista da consultora em Londres, observa no mesmo documento que “a gama de produtos Galaxy continua a ser um caso de sucesso em toda a Europa, ao qual os consumidores portugueses não têm sido indiferentes”.

But for Nokia to grow its Windows Phone sales, which it needs to do by many millions, it needs more than just new high-end devices, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC.

"It is very important to see a wider choice of smartphones based on Windows Phone at a lower price point. Nokia has started growing the portfolio and lowering the price with the Lumia 610 and 710, but much more is needed. Android only started to grow when a wider choice became available," said Jeronimo.

Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at International Data Corp. in London, said there were signs that Lumia devices were beginning to gain market share on Apple and the makers of Android phones, especially Samsung of South Korea, the industry leader.

In Finland, Windows’ share of the domestic operating system market rose to 32 percent in June, nearly overtaking Android, with 36 percent.

One year earlier, Windows had zero market share, according to I.D.C.

While some might attribute the gain to Nokia’s hometown advantage in Finland, Mr. Jeronimo said Finnish buyers had largely rejected the Symbian smartphones from Nokia.

“I think Windows 8 will make a big difference for Nokia,” Mr. Jeronimo said. “It is very clear that Microsoft and Nokia are in a marathon. They are not looking at short-term results. This is not about selling devices alone but about selling an ecosystem.”

Through June, Nokia had sold 7.2 million Lumia devices worldwide, which has helped increase Windows’ share of the global market for handset operating systems to 3 percent from 2 percent a year earlier, according to I.D.C. By the end of this year, Windows’ global market share will rise to 5 percent, and it will double to 10 percent by the end of 2013, I.D.C. forecasts.

"With an 'iPad mini', the tablet becomes much more portable," says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones and tablets analyst with the research firm IDC. "You can slip it in your pocket, take it on the train, wherever."

"It's another reason for operators and vendors to look at alternatives," says IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. "They don't want to invest in devices for the Christmas season that they will have to withdraw from the market. This will also speed up the product development for Windows phones for most manufacturers. It's cheaper paying a royalty to Microsoft than fighting against Apple, paying a huge fine and having their devices withdrawn from the market."

It also appears a virtual certainty that Apple will introduce a smaller tablet to build on the success its 10in iPad, which dominates the sector. "I was sceptical about it, but there are so many rumours from different sources – companies in China, colleagues in China – that it seems it's a reality," said Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones and tablets analyst for the research company IDC.

He said Apple had to compete with Amazon's 7in Kindle Fire, which launched in the US last October and is expected to get a revision and European release next week, and Google's Nexus 7, released in July.

Jeronimo said it would need to be priced close to its rivals, but the Apple brand would draw customers who either could not afford the larger iPad or considered it too unwieldy. "It makes sense to open the market to the biggest percentage of users, those who don't have or can't afford the bigger iPad," he told the Guardian.

A lot has happened since February, and to compete in the high-end space having a quad-core processor has become more important, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC. Also, the prices have come down and getting the extra performance makes sense on devices with bigger screens, he said.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Nokia has done well by adding new features like full-touch screens and keyboards to its latest Asha range of Series 40 phones.

"Apple needs to find a solution not to disappoint their current clients who want to upgrade to the new iPhone but are tied to an expensive accessory they have bought," said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at technology research firm IDC.

"I believe Apple will come up with some sort of adapter so the new iPhone can be used with previous connectors."

"Apple needs to find a solution not to disappoint their current clients who want to upgrade to the new iPhone but are tied to an expensive accessory that have bought," said Franciso Jeronimo, London-based analyst at technology research firm IDC.

"I believe Apple will come up with some sort of adaptor so the new iPhone can be used with previous connectors."

"Apple needs to find a solution not to disappoint their current clients who want to upgrade to the new iPhone but are tied to an expensive accessory that have bought," said Franciso Jeronimo, an analyst at technology research firm IDC.

"I believe Apple will come up with some sort of adaptor so the new iPhone can be used with previous connectors."

Its feature phones, which are a hit in emerging markets and represent 60% of total global shipments, also did better than expected according to IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

“Overall, despite the gloomy outlook and these results, we believe Nokia continues [to be] on the right track. The company took a long-term strategy, compromising short-term results. The clock is ticking, however, and if sales don’t wake up from the fourth quarter this year, Nokia and Stephen Elop will have to come up with a magical plan.”

“Despite the gloomy outlook and these results, we believe Nokia continues on the right track,” said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC. “The company took a long-term strategy, compromising short-term results. The clock is ticking, however, and if sales don't wake up, Nokia and Stephen Elop will have to come up with a magical plan.”

Francisco Jeronimo, the mobile analyst at the research company IDC, said Nokia faced a tough third quarter in the US: "Operators are not stocking up Lumia devices as the new handsets running on Windows Phone 8 are expected soon for the Christmas season. As the current Nokia handsets will only get light updates of the new platform and will not be fully compatible, operators don't see any reason to push the current Lumia devices this summer. Nokia will continue to suffer until their Windows Phones 8 are launched."

Jeronimo added: "Overall, despite the gloomy outlook and the results, we believe Nokia continues on the right track. They took a long-term strategy, compromising short-term results – although the clock is ticking, and if their sales don't wake up from the fourth quarter this year, Nokia and Stephen Elop will have to come up with a magical plan."

Analysts expect Apple to have sold 30.5 million iPhones in the second quarter; the company reports its earnings on June 24. In comparison, Samsung’s 50 million smartphone sales forecast makes it “the smartphone hero in the second quarter,” IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo told Reuters.

“Samsung is expected to be the smartphone hero in the second quarter,” said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. “We are also expecting to see the biggest smartphone volumes ever shipped from one single vendor in one quarter, driven by strong demand of the Galaxy portfolio, particularly the Galaxy S II and S III.”

"Samsung is expected to be the smartphone hero in the second quarter," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

"We are also expecting to see the biggest smartphone volumes ever shipped from one single vendor in one quarter, driven by strong demand of the Galaxy portfolio, particularly the Galaxy S II and S III," he said.

(in Portuguese)

Aproxima-se o momento de perceber se a revolução interna feita por Stephen Elop vai afi nal surtir efeito, avalia ao PÚBLICO o analista da IDC Francisco Jerónimo, que trabalha em Londres na divisão dedicada ao mercado europeu de telemóveis.

“O Stephen Elop ou foi a melhor coisa que aconteceu à Nokia ou a pior, não há meio termo. E está na altura em que algo acontece ou já não vai acontecer.”

“O Stephen Elop está a fazer um bom trabalho, a empresa estava demasiado gorda”, afi rma Jerónimo, que considera a aliança com a Microsoft uma estratégia com mais possibilidades de sucesso a longo prazo do que a aposta no Android.

“Está a ser um gestor puro e simples e está a fazer tudo de uma forma muito rápida. Em menos de um ano deu uma volta a uma empresa como a Nokia. Não sendo fi nlandês, não tem aquele sentimento pela empresa [dos anteriores gestores].”

"RIM and Nokia both missed the trends, they were late to understand what was happening," says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones analyst for the research company IDC. "Because they both had strong market positions, they made the same mistake of believing that they were doing the right thing."

The economic crunch in many eurozone countries is already showing that the 50% of consumers yet to buy a smartphone will be very different from those who queued up five years ago. "In some countries such as Portugal, most iPhones are sold without a data plan," says Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones analyst for the research company IDC. "They're used at home or offices, where people connect to the internet via wifi, because in most European countries and the US – though not the UK – people have to pay extra to get internet data on their phone plan. But if you pay €50 per month for an iPhone, you don't want to be paying another €20 for the data."

Even so, Jeronimo sees the market becoming 90% smartphone-based by 2016 (Mawston puts it at 2015): There's no price point where carriers can make any money with them," he explains.

Now, Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE have begun making smartphones for carriers using Google's Android for just £100 – an indication of how commoditised the business has become. "They'll just be used for voice and text," says Jeronimo.

Persuading consumers entails showing how the device and the new Windows 8 operating system work together to make a magical experience, says Francisco Jeronimo, mobile devices research manager at IDC, the market research firm. "The main focus has been on the hardware and specs only. I was expecting to hear from Microsoft about how the Surface delivers an integrated experience with the PC, what additional services or features are available and how the Microsoft ecosystem is growing to be a real alternative to the iPad and Android tablets."

“The physical keyboard and the focus on the MS Office environment shows that Microsoft is targeting the business segment,” writes Francisco Jeronimo of IDC Research, ”where it can differentiate and take some share from Apple.”

"Steve Ballmer repitió siempre el mismo mensaje en la presentación: la integración entre hardware y software es clave para facilitar una mejor experiencia a los usuarios. El hardware que ha diseñado trata de captar el interés por un aparato que combina la experiencia del PC y de la tableta, aunque está claramente enfocada a los profesionales", opina Francisco Jerónimo de IDC Research en The Guardian.

Francisco Jeronimo, IDC’s European Research Manager for Mobile Devices, has commented on the announcement of Microsoft‘s Surface tablet.

Jeronimo noted that the device’s killer app would be Office integration – or would need to be.

Jeronimo, however, is still waiting for the other shoe to drop on the software: Despite some interesting hardware features, very little was said about the software, the user interface, the user experience and the ecosystem. Some of these were discussed by Microsoft during earlier Windows 8 presentations, but it needs to start bringing together the different pieces of the Windows 8 story. What makes the iPad the most successful tablet on the market is the software, the applications and the added value that end users perceive from that.

Si le groupe se lance à nouveau, c'est, estime Francisco Jeronimo, analyste chez IDC, parce que "l'intégration entre le logiciel et le matériel est essentielle pour que l'expérience des utilisateurs soit bonne".

"A integração entre hardware e software passa a ser reconhecida pela Microsoft como essencial para poder dar aos consumidores um produto cuja experiência seja melhor e que possa competir com o popular iPad", explica ao PÚBLICO Francisco Jerónimo, analista da IDC.

"Há pontos fortes muito importantes e diferenciadores" no Surface, analisa Francisco Jerónimo, notando que um deles é o teclado físico da capa. "Por outro lado, é muito importante a integração do Office. Esta será a killer application para que este produto da Microsoft seja atractivo face aos Android e ao iPad".

O analista, porém, antevê um potencial problema: "Pelas indicações dadas, o preço não se perspectiva que seja baixo o suficiente para poder competir em mercados sensíveis a este factor, como é o português".

Francisco Jeronimo, IDC Research

"At the centre of CEO Steve Ballmer's presentation was a single message: the integration between the hardware and the software is key to deliver better experiences to end-users. The hardware designed by Microsoft tries to capture the interest from users for a device that combines a PC-like and a tablet experiences. Therefore, this tablet is clearly targeted to professional users in the first place."

"The physical keyboard, the lack of a camera and the focus on the MS Office environment shows that Microsoft is targeting the business segment, where it can differentiate and take some share from Apple. Microsoft's tablet will probably come with the best MS Office experience, the killer application of the device. The keyboard is also a very important accessory for a professional usage.

True, details of some features in Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT have already come out. But given that Windows president Steven Sinofsky said it was "important that we have the hardware fade to the background for this product", there could and should have been more bespoke features on display to get people on board — as IDC mobile device analyst Francisco Jeronimo noted.

"Despite some interesting hardware features, very little was said about the software, the user interface, the user experience and the ecosystem," Jeronimo told me.

"The main focus has been on the hardware and specs only. I was expecting to hear from Microsoft today about how the Surface delivers an integrated experience with the PC, what additional services or features are available and how the Microsoft ecosystem is growing to be a real alternative to the iPad and Android tablets," he added

The physical keyboard, the lack of a camera and the focus on the MS Office environment shows that Microsoft is targeting the business segment, where it can differentiate and take some share from Apple," wrote Francisco Jeronimo, of IDC Research in a June 19 note. "Microsoft's tablet will probably come with the best MS Office experience, the killer application of the device. The keyboard is also a very important accessory for professional usage."

“Apesar dos resultados negativos nas vendas de telefones móveis no primeiro trimestre deste ano, a descida foi menor do que o inicialmente previsto. Muitos consumidores não conseguiram concretizar a compra do telemóvel desejado na época do Natal devido a ruptura de stock, o que deslocou a intenção de compra para as primeiras semanas de Janeiro. E, por isso, o mercado apresentou uma queda inferior à esperada” explicou Francisco Jerónimo, responsável europeu de research da área de telefones móveis da IDC.

A consultora de tecnologias refere que “os pequenos fabricantes vão continuar a sentir dificuldades em sobreviver num mercado dominado pela baixa gama e cujas margens de lucro são reduzidas”

Francisco Jerónimo, um analista da IDC em Londres, notou que este modelo “marca o início de uma nova era para a Samsung: a era da liderança” e que o fabricante sul-coreano é “agora a única empresa a poder competir e desafiar a Apple no segmento dos smartphones”. Embora tenha classificado o Galaxy S III como “provavelmente o melhor Android no mercado”, o analista considerou que a Samsung “podia ter ido muito mais longe”, em termos de design e usabilidade, “onde todos falham na concorrência com a Apple”.

"Stephen Elop is running out of time," said Francisco Jeronimo at telecoms research firm IDC. "If Nokia doesn't grow by the end of this year they will be in a very dangerous position. Many people are saying Microsoft will acquire Nokia."