Photo: courosa / Flickr

Christmas has just past, and a look at many wish lists, recommended gifts lists, and Twitter revealed which were the hottest Christmas gifts in 2011. Our list is paired down to consumer gadgets and electronics.

Amazon Kindle Fire

Unsurprisingly, the Amazon Kindle Fire was one of the hottest Christmas gifts this year, proving a massive hit in North America. While Amazon has yet to – and may never actually – reveal sales numbers, it’s thought that the company may have sold 3-5 million Kindle Fire tablet PCs in the fourth quarter, with sales spike around Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s suspected that the Kindle e-readers are also selling very well, too.

iPhone and iPad

Apple’s mobile devices have sold incredibly well, and, at various points throughout Christmas, the iPhone was a trending topic. The iPhone 4S is on course to be the highest selling smartphone (if not mobile phone) of all time, and the iPad is still leading the pace for tablet devices, even though the Kindle has made it slightly less comfortable. Not to be outdone, though, sales of Android smartphones were also incredibly strong throughout the holiday season, with Android chief Andy Rubin reporting that activations of Android devices had crossed 700,000 units daily.

Video games

Video game consoles are traditionally strong sellers over this period, but it’s been a mixed bag in Christmas 2011. In Japan, the Playstation Vita got off to a so-so start, selling 321,000 units, with the device being marred by usage problems, too.

The Nintendo 3DS, on the other hand, also did well in Japan and other parts of the world, with the console crossing the 4 million units sold mark, off the back of a record high of 510,629 units in a week. While the sales are still not at a level Nintendo would want they are indicative that handheld consoles have life in them still. It appears reports of smartphones killing handhelds are exaggerated, but it is undeniable that they have eaten into their market share.

In addition to strong sales of handheld consoles over Christmas 2011, it would be unsurprising to see consoles post strong sales figures, too, for this period when the NPD Group reports sales figures for the period.

Photo: Gabriele B / Flickr

Apple has the most loyal mobile device users in the world, a report by Gfk Research found. The research company said that iPhone loyalty was one of the biggest competitive advantages Apple has, but that competitors still had a chance to change market share if they moved fast.

Loyalty is almost everything

GfK analyst Ryan Garner says that, on average, 63 per cent of mobile phone users stick to the brand of handset they currently have. Unpacking this sentiment, he explained that building customer loyalty was as crucial as building market position, because as users become more acclimatised to their platform over time, the less likely a dramatic change in market share is.

Apple lead

The research firm surveyed 4,500 people in Brazil, Britain, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United States. Based on finding in that research, where 70 per cent of those surveyed said they would stick to their platforms due to how content and media is seamlessly integrated, GfK Research analyst Ryan Garner said [via Reuters]: ‘Apple is clearly ahead of the game, but developments next year will challenge that.’

Still room for competition

He said that the rapid growth of Google’s Android platform and the mere presence of Windows Phone 7 was enough reason to believe the door on competition is not closed just yet, though, even if iPhone loyalty levels are higher than those of other platforms.

GfK added that: ‘The scope for brands to lure customers from rivals has diminished and the richest rewards will go to those providers that can create the most harmonious user experience and develop this brand loyalty.’

What’s next?

GfK Research’s findings on iPhone loyalty echoes that of similar studies conducted throughout the year. Moreover, at an intuitive level, the general findings ring true for most smartphone users, especially on a platform basis. If you drop £100+ on applications for Android, WP7 or iOS, it’s highly unlikely you’re going to switch platforms at whim.

Photo: Dan_H / Flickr

One of the foremost rumours for the iPhone 5 was that it would have a larger edge-to-edge display. While that handset has yet to be, instead giving way to the iPhone 4S, reports of an iPhone with a larger display coming to market continue nevertheless. Apparently it will have a 4-inch screen, and Apple has already engaged LG to have them build it.

4-inch iPhone

The report of a 4-inch iPhone 5 comes courtesy of the Korea Times [via IDG], who cited ‘industry sources’ for the news. An unnamed executive reportedly told the publication that ‘Next year’s iPhone to feature a 4-inch display by LG Display, half an inch larger than the 3.5-inch display and retina display resolution will remain unchanged because LCD is currently being regarded as the right solution to offer value with better cost-cuts.’

A meeting between Apple and LG is reportedly scheduled to take place over the next few days, presumably to iron out the details and to put an agreement in place.

Pinch of salt?

What’s interesting about the latest iPhone display size rumour is its timing. We’re only a month into the lifecycle of the iPhone 4S and the rumour mill for the iPhone 5S has already kicked into gear. It’s far too early to put money on a 4-inch iPhone being released, especially given how off the mark the last rounds of reports about what was eventually the iPhone 4S were. The closer to the time, and the more evidence that surfaces, the more excited we’ll become about the prospect.

For now, Apple seems set on its 3.5-inch display size, which has featured on every single iPhone model ever released. This approach has been interesting, especially as competitors’ handsets have been running on ever-larger displays. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, for example, has an enormous 4.65-inch display. More screen real estate is not necessarily a good thing, but when implemented correctly, it’s not a bad thing either.

Photo: Ramiii / Flickr

The man behind the UK version of the iPhone 4S Siri voice assistant has gone public, even though Apple attempted to prevent it from happening. In an interview with The Telegraph, Jon Briggs, who voices ‘Daniel’, the voice assistant you get if you change your system settings to English (United Kingdom), broke down the process behind recording voice samples for the application.

Five thousand sentences recorded

‘Five thousand sentences over three weeks, spoken in a very particular way and only reading flat and even,’ Briggs explained to the publication. ‘Then they go away and take all the phonics apart, because I have to be able to read anything you want, even if I’ve never actually recorded all those words.’ He explained that he felt they did a pretty good job of recreating human speech, and that the service ‘gets everything right, more or less, apart from the inflection.’ More or less is still pretty darn impressive.

Apple attempted to block Briggs

Interestingly – and perhaps unsurprisingly – Apple tried to prevent Jon Briggs from going public as the face behind Daniel. He says that Apple PR contacted him, explaining that Apple employees were prohibited from discussing any of the company’s products. He explained that he had never signed a contract with Apple, and had recorded the snippets some six years ago with a text-to-speech company called ScanSoft. As such, he never even had a contract with Apple.

How then did Jon Briggs become the UK voice for the British version of the iPhone 4S Siri App? Well, ScanSoft was acquired by Nuance, who began working on the software under the Siri moniker. Nuance was later acquired by Apple and, well, the rest is history.

Even with the interaction with Apple, Briggs told The Telegraph that he loves Apple products and that he thinks the iPhone 4S Siri voice assistant is a game-changer. The early sales performance of Apple’s new smartphone seems to suggest that customers are very interested in the software, at the very least.

Photo: Brett Jordan / Flickr

When the iPhone 4S debuted it promptly broke global records for fastest-selling smartphone in the world. The handset sold a remarkable 4 million units in just three days, demolishing the previous internal record the iPhone 4 set for the company. Now, a Deutsche Bank report says that the company’s handset continues to sell at breakneck speeds, and advises investors ‘buy’ stock in the company, setting its share price a $530 target.

Hot demand

Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote a report, saying that supply was ‘still a gating factor’ for the iPhone 4S, meaning demand is so high, if Apple had more handsets available, sales would soar further still. He writes [via Barron’s]: ‘Our retail checks reveal Apple is experiencing daily stock outs at ~85-90% of the ~30 retail stores we called. Apple employees are directing customers to make an online appointment (first come first serve) for next day pick up at nearby Apple retail stores as stocks appear to be refreshed daily at most locations.’

28 million unit quarterly target

Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore says that lead times for the handset are two weeks in North America, while they span one to two weeks in the 22 other countries where the device was available from 28 October onwards.

He’s particularly bullish that strong iPhone 4S sales will result in Apple posting a bumper quarter wherein they will sell 28 million units of their handsets. This is remarkable, in that it’s more than 8 million units in excess of Apple’s current record, and well above the 17 million iPhones Apple sold this last quarter.

Smartphone industry growing insanely fast

iPhone 4S sales are certainly buoying Apple’s prospects, but they are also testament to the accelerating adoption of smartphones in general. I think it’s safe to say that feature phones are living on borrowed time.

Photo: Photo Giddy / Flickr

The initial excitement of getting the iPhone 4S and talking up Siri was very quickly tapered by poor battery life, as reported by some users. Apple has publically acknowledged the problem, saying that an incoming software update would fix the problem.

On Speaking to The Loop, an Apple spokesperson said: ‘A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices.’ The spokesperson continued, saying: ‘We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.’

This is the first time Apple has officially admitted that the iPhone 4S had battery life issues – about a week after prominent tech sites first began reporting on it.

Temporary fix

Apple was not specific about what the problem is, but there’ve been several theories bandied about the web, that range from how the handset handles setting time zones to location services.

Various tips for at least alleviating some of the iPhone 4S battery drain have hit the web. These include turning off your WiFi completely, as well as location services. We wrote about a solution Oliver Haslam of iDownloadBlog suggested, where he claims: ‘It appears that iOS 5′s GM release introduced a bug that causes the Setting Time Zone function to keep the location tracking circuitry running constantly, draining battery power considerably. Switching it off may mean that your iPhone will no longer set its own time zone when you travel, but that’s a small price to pay for having your iPhone last more than 12 hours on a full charge.’

A few weeks wait then, for those who’ve experienced the iPhone 4S battery drain issues. Not ideal at all, but you’ll have to make do.

Photo: adafruit / Flickr

Apple’s iPhone 4S has gotten off to a scorcher of a start, selling 4 million units in its opening weekend, and piling on sales in several countries around the world. The launch has not been without its problems, though, with widespread reports of serious battery drain issues that Apple is reportedly contacting some users directly to find out more about. Recent suspicions suggest that the battery issues are attributable to location services.

Atrocious battery life

The iPhone 4S battery problem first got high profile attention when Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch wrote a blog post about it. He reported that his handset died in a far shorter time period than Apple claims the iPhones last for – reportedly 200 hours on standby mode. He writes: ‘Today, my iPhone died after about 8 hours—not even enough to get me through a full day without recharging (and this is typical). This was not 8 hours of constant use.’

Problem discovered?

The iPhone 4S battery problem reports quickly gathered momentum thereafter, with reports that Apple engineers had begun contacting some affected users to tackle the problem at the source. While firm reports on what is causing the battery issues have yet to emerge, some think it may do with the handsets location services, and that a solution in the interim may have been found.

Oliver Haslam of iDownloadBlog, writes: ‘It appears that iOS 5′s GM release introduced a bug that causes the Setting Time Zone function to keep the location tracking circuitry running constantly, draining battery power considerably. Switching it off may mean that your iPhone will no longer set its own time zone when you travel, but that’s a small price to pay for having your iPhone last more than 12 hours on a full charge.’

Solution works across several iPhone models

Haslam says that his team ‘tested this method on 4 different iPhone 4s handsets, including an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 3GS. All have reported drastically improved battery life after switching “Setting Time Zone” off.’

Given how rarely people actually time zone hop, it might be a good idea to test the method out.

Photo: LGEPR / Flickr

A Swedish telecommunications executive has come forward and said that if Apple’s next smartphone, presumably the iPhone 5, does not have 4G connectivity, Apple’s competitors would overtake the company in innovation and overrun the iPhone in the process.

The innovation dilemma

Tommy Ljunggren, who is SVP and head of system development for mobility services for Sweden’s TeliaSonera in an interview with Dawinderpal Sahota of Telecoms.com said that: ‘If you asked me two years ago I would have said Apple would be very important. But now it will be a bad mistake not to include LTE in the iPhone 5 as otherwise they will really be run over by the others.’

His big issue, of which the potential absence of an iPhone 5 LTE version is just a part, is what he considers Apple slowing down in innovation. He feels the company’s new smartphone does not stand out, saying: ‘[Apple] are not unique enough and there is disappointment over the 4S – it was too small [a] step for them.’

LTE the future

While many 4G smartphones have been shipped in recent months, a consistent problem they have all been plagued with is the battery drain the technology has. It’s been thought that this factor coupled with the limited availability of LTE networks to date is the primary reason Apple has not introduced the technology to their phones. Ljunggren says that the next generation of LTE phones – due to arrive as soon as 2012 – would mitigate this problem, and it is at this point that the iPhone 5 LTE problem could rear its head.

Given that LTE technology and high-speed networks capable of supporting 4G smartphones are still limited, it’s difficult to conclude that he is right or wrong saying the technology will be a must-have feature in 2012. Moreover, there is legitimate argument that he is mistaken about a slowdown in innovation on Apple’s part – it all depends on your perspective.

Photo: Apple

After going several quarters in a row topping their own guidance, as well as blowing industry consensus out of the water, Apple’s Q4 2011 earnings report has fallen short of industry expectations on softer than expected iPhone sales.

Even then, the company posted record iPad and Mac sales, as well as the highest September quarter revenue and profit figures in its history.

The numbers

As has become customary with Apple’s earnings report, the important figures to look out for are revenue, profit, iPhone sales, iPad sales and Mac sales. Apple PR announced that: ‘The company posted quarterly revenue of $28.27 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.62 billion.’ By comparison, Apple Q4 2010 revenue totaled $20.34 billion, with net profit of $4.31 billion. Analysts were disappointed, however, with industry consensus pointing to revenue of $29.45 billion.

Product sales

The company sold 17.07 million iPhones in the quarter, up 21 per cent year-on-year but down on the 20.34 million iPhones the company sold last quarter. Sales of the iPad totaled 11.12 million units in the quarter, up an incredible 166 per cent from the same time last year, and in excess of the 9.25 million iPads the company sold last quarter. Mac sales totaled 4.89 million units in the quarter, up a meteoric 26 per cent year-on-year. Given overall growth in the PC industry slowed to just 3 per cent, according to Gartner, that’s certainly an impressive achievement.

The fast-declining iPod continued its downward spiral, with Apple selling 6.62 million iPods in the quarter – a 27 per cent year-on-year sales drop.

The takeaway

Outside of slowing iPhone sales – perhaps attributable to the imminent arrival of the iPhone 4S – Apple Q4 2011 sales suggest that all is well in Apple land. The company is already confident it will post record iPhone and iPad sales next quarter, and with the 4S selling three million units in its first three days of availability, there’s no reason for alarm bells to go off.

Photo: renatomitra / Flickr

Apple has confirmed that the Apple iPhone 4S did in fact, as we thought, sell a remarkable 4 million units in its first weekend of availability. The milestone is further proof that the fast-growing smartphone is not slowing in momentum, and that consumers don’t share the sentiment of those analysts who considered the handset a disappointment.

iPhone 4 opening sales more than doubled

Apple’s press statement confirmed that the iPhone 4S crossed 4 million units sold in the three days it had been on the market. This is a more than 200 per cent increase on opening weekend sales of the iPhone 4, which at the time were a record 1.7 million units.

The significant increase in sales is partly attributable to the iPhone’s still growing popularity. As difficult as it is to believe, the smartphone’s reputation is still in ascendancy. It’s also partly attributable to a much wider international rollout, with the phone being available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the US and the UK on day one.

Best iPhone ever?

In a statement accompanying the press release of the iPhone 4S’ sales momentum, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller said: ‘iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend – the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days.’ Schiller continued, saying: ‘iPhone 4S is a hit with customers around the world, and together with iOS 5 and iCloud, is the best iPhone ever.’

Outside of an updated camera and a new processor, the iPhone 4S hardware is mostly similar to the hardware of the iPhone 4 and it even retains the same design. The standout feature, however, is Siri, the new artificial intelligence voice control system integrated into Apple’s operating system. Early reports suggest that it’s a hit with customers, too.