Posts Tagged ‘Sales’

LGPradaWatch: Naming of the phone, sales and miscellaneous musings

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Several notable points came to light in the press briefing. The first of which was the handset will also be known as the LG Prada phone, the exact same moniker the first phone went under.

Not LG Prada II, or LG Prada: The Next Generation. In fact nothing to separate it from the first phone which is confusing in itself. Not to mention screwing with people searching on info for the new mobile, which a CNET journo actually brought up and then added somewhat of awkward air to the conference.

How they’re getting around this issue is simple, they’re discontinuing the first phone. It’s as easy as that. The original LG Prada mobile has obviously out served its usefulness and it’s time to put it out to pasture, or put it out of its misery and out of their minds.

Initially they began selling the first phone in 4 countries and on the back of that success they expanded it to 44 more. This obviously proved to be a winner for them and not a bad strategy either.

They shifted over a million of the first generation mobiles, but oddly enough never touched down in America for any sales. This is a route they are duplicating with the new phone, and once again staying far far away from that market.

55% of the original LG Prada phone sales were in Europe alone, with the UK playing a key role within that success. Although we’re unsure what the figures were before the iPhone came out, or how many just bought the phone solely for the Prada name. Both of those stats would be of interest to see. If only to gauge if the phone really had an impact on early touch screen mobile sales and if a fashion name carries weight in Electronics.

This time around, they’re starting with 7 countries and are hitting up Asia in January. From all accounts that was a last minute play with the first LG Prada, from last year. So it’s good to know companies do learn from their success, beside from their failures.

Another point that came out that took us by surprise was the number of handsets LG launch in a year. They release 125 different mobiles on average, globally. Out of that figure, we were told typically only 25 of these phones will make it to the UK. Either proving that carriers are very choosey, we’re very picky as customers or a perhaps a bit of both. We suspect the latter is the case, which leads nicely into the first.

The original phone could be seen as being ahead of the game, which is a feeling jointly shared by both companies who are not shy in airing it either. In a previous piece we touched on the phone came out a good four months ahead of the initial Apple iPhone. Making it the first fully touch screen handset around, which could have led the way or even aided in Apples sales by making its play first.

With the new phone, they are aiming at attracting users who previously bought the first handset and are now looking for the latest and greatest. Although they didn’t actually say ‘repeat business is key to us’ but we could tell they wanted to.

They’re also going after the SMS or email driven users with the new addition of a keyboard. It doesn’t fully fall into the Smartphone category as do the likes of the HTC Touch Pro or Sony Ericsson X1, as it lacks decent business tools and associated features. It could however be seen as a stylish substitute or a fashionable alternative though.

Another point that came up during the briefing is that they’re selling the phone at the very same price as the first, 600 Euros SIM free. This can be seen several ways: either they’re addressing the market economy as it is today, or perhaps realising continuity is key in keeping the customer happy or just the times have moved on in technology on and what they’re included today is a fair and respectful price for what’s onboard.

Either way, we’ll just have to wait and see. With the competition for physical keyboard based phones being rather high at the moment. Especially with those current models already mentioned above are all baying for the same market share. LG are definitely hoping the Prada name will prove to be the deciding factor in sales. Time will tell.

Condom sales soar in India because of ringtone

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

Back in August we told you about this.

Now the results are in:

NEW DELHI (AFP) - A media campaign featuring a mobile phone ringtone that sings “condom condom” has pushed up sale of the contraceptive by 85 million in six months, India’s AIDS control body said Friday.
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The campaign, which included television and radio advertisements, reached 150 million men, especially migrant workers who frequent sex workers.

Excellent!

6.9 million iPhones sold in Q4 2008

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Apple’s Q4 Conference Call announcement brought us some astonishing iPhone news today. While the company posted a profit of $1.14 billion on revenues of $7.9 billion for the quarter, their sales figures for their devices were off the roofs. In the Q4 of 2008, Apple managed to sell 6,892,000 iPhone 3Gs compared to the 1,119,000 iPhones in Q4 of 2007. With this, the company has already surpassed its goal of 10 million iPhones in 2008, with a good 3 months in advance.

These sales figures have now ranked Apple as the world’s third largest mobile phone supplier in terms of revenue. In fact, Apple sold more iPhone 3Gs than RIM’s entire BlackBerry lineup taken together. The only obvious companies holding the first two places are Nokia and Samsung respectively.

So how well a decision was the introduction of the iPhone for Apple? Even though Apple had ventured into unknown territory, the iPhone being their first mobile handset, it now contributes about 39% of the company’s total business.

If there was one thing you could change, what would it be?

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

A thought I’ve pondered over a lot. If I had my way I would change a lot (not only in Mobile), but in the rest of the world. But let’s forget about that; let’s think purely Mobile, purely communications, and sales. What would you change?

What has to annoy me the most with mobiles, especially here in the UK, is the locking, and branding of mobiles on certain operators.

I absolutely loathe this.

Yes, mobiles are subsidised by the networks we buy them from, and hooray for that, but loading horrible, cheap, and ugly firmware onto a device I have just paid for is at the very least; highly annoying. And then plastering your network brand all over my shiny new device? No thank you!

I will use the example of my Sony W810i, it has Orange branding all over it (which I hate), and when I used to turn it on, and use the menu, It was all Orange branded. No I don’t use Orange, and I don’t want them infiltrating my phone. So I decided to get it debranded; now apart from the fact that none of the high street retailers knew of such a term, was irritating.

I ended up doing the procedure myself; which for about two hours nearly bricked my phone. I was panic stricken, and worried.

The point is one shouldn’t have to half scare themselves to death in order to use a mobile they paid for, in the way they like. And even if you don’t break your mobile yourself as my friend found out, Nokia’s which (can) come hard locked can cost around £25 to unlock.

My answer to this problem is now to ask the staff at mobile shops “What phones do you sell on PayG unlocked?” and from there, only the devices which are unlocked, unbranded and free for me to do whatever I wish, I will take into consideration. It’s a terrible truth, but I will not pay in excess of £200 or £300 for a network free phone, but nor will I pay £100/£110 for a mobile that is complete with horrible firmware.

So to you, another mobile consumer, if anything, if you had one thing to change, what would it be? Would it be something to do with the handsets, sales, operators, applications, or anything!

Orange says they didn’t pay actors, sales are strong

Friday, August 29th, 2008

This had to happen, didn’t it? If you thought Orange paid Polish actors to make fake queues outside their shops just so that it would seem that they were having a good sale, then you are wrong my friend. Or at least that’s what Orange wants us to believe!

After the furor that was caused caused all over the internet when the company publicly announced that it had paid actors to form fake queues “at front of 20 stores around the country to drum up interest in the iPhone“, the folks from AdAge tried to contact the company expecting some scoop. They received a response from an Orange official who denied that any actors were paid at all. She says:

As part of the excitement around the launch of the iPhone, some of our team have been joining customers outside our shops. Their aim is to welcome people to the Orange shop, share in their excitement and give information about Orange tariffs.

Not just that, the spokesperson goes on to mention that their “Sales are going strong“. So maybe it was just inaccurate coverage? I’d still go with the former news though. It’s not everyday that you come across such news.

Orange promises better network, more sales staff

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Orange has decided it’s time for a change and has announced a new strategy that it hopes will mean improvements in everything from its network to its sales staff.

Here’s the summary of what’s happening from Orange:

new customer service strategy implemented including 500 new customer- facing roles in UK customer centres & shops; launching new contact options including IM, web and in-store service; stopping off-shore customer service expansion
Retail expansion plans to reach 400 stores plus new on-line virtual shop
new investment in 2G and 3G network quality and coverage
new super-fast network to go live in 2009 offering speeds of up to 14.4mbps
new totally connected product line including laptops - to build on fixed & mobile broadband capabilities
focus on stopping duplication which is likely to result in reduction of up to 450 roles

Being a network nerd, I’m particularly happy to see UK operators aiming to get speeds up to some of their international rivals (although it’s worth noting that there’s still a lack of handsets available that can cope with 14.4Mbps). I suspect, however, others will be more excited by the promised improvement in customer service.

Apple iPhone sells out again after O2 price cut

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

After O2 cut the price of the iPhone, it seems like it’s provoked a surprising phenomenon: Mobile Today reports people are once again queuing to buy the device. So much so, it seems, that the device is once again selling out.

Mobile Today quotes one Carphone Warehouse staffer as saying “it’s like launch day again”.

One mobile watcher who I spoke to recently suggested that price cuts could actually be a bad thing for Apple, with the whiff of luxury brand that appeals to style freaks and early adopters deserting it if more and more people can actually afford to buy the device. It doesn’t look to be the case just yet: the brand is fairly bulletproof thanks to its hardcore fanbase and quieter-than-quiet press office and it looks a price cut has been just the shot in the arm the iPhone needed to recover its sales storm and fits in better with the European consumers’ familiarity with subsidised handsets.

Ofcom cracksdown on mobile misselling

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

After it warned the mobile industry last year that mandatory regulation could be on the way if it didn’t clean up its act, Ofcom is hoping to introduce new rules to clamp down on mobile misselling. The mobile watchdog said it was pressed to do so after “some mobile phone companies and third party sales agents are still engaging in unacceptable practices that are against the consumer interest” and receiving around 700 complaints a month.

The regulator is particularly riled about two practices: where customers are given false or inaccurate information when they want to buy a mobile contract; and some “cash back” promotions offered by sales agents where they fail to reimburse the consumer.

If the rules are adopted, it will mean mobile operators will be bound:
• not to engage in dishonest, misleading or deceptive conduct and to ensure that those selling their products and services similarly do not mis-sell;
• to make sure the customer intends and is authorised to enter into a contract;
• to make sure consumers get the information they need at the point of sale;
• to ensure that the terms and conditions of cash back deals offered by their retailers are fair; and
• to carry out due diligence and a number of checks in respect of their retailers.

Anything that adds to consumer protection and confidence in the mobile industry can only be a good thing. Applause for Ofcom.


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