Sunday, January 3, 2010

Smartphone battles in Indonesia .... Showtime !




Smartphone War in Indonesia. Ever since 1992, when IBM released the first smartphone, the Simon, technology firms including Apple and Research In Motion have been engaged in a do-or-die struggle to create the most complete, technologically advanced handset.

Although there is no consensus on the precise meaning of the term smartphone, it is usually refers to mobile phones that offer PC-like capabilities, such as Internet connectivity, e-book reader functions and large data storage capacity.

Apple’s iPhone, with its advanced portable multimedia player functionality, is seen as fun and among the most advanced phones in the market. To date, there are more than 21 million iPhone users worldwide, according to Apple figures released at the end of the second quarter.

In comparison, RIM says that it had 28.5 million BlackBerry users signed up at the end of June.

Growing from a smaller user base than the iPhone, BlackBerry, with its trademark Messenger system that allows users to chat and interact, has profited from skyrocketing mobile Web usage over the past two years, according to InMobi, a global mobile ad network based in Palo Alto, Calfornia, which measures mobile web usage by ad requests.

Because both the iPhone and BlackBerry are web-enabled devices, InMobi’s surveys provide an insight into consumer preferences.

In Indonesia, even though BlackBerrys are primarily considered business devices, their Messenger system has played a part in attracting customers.

The country is experiencing rapid expansion in mobile web usage and currently has a total of nine million mobile web users, 53 percent of whom are between the ages of 18 and 27.

InMobi predicts that the number of users will grow by up to 30 percent yearly and that all will have Internet access via their handsets by 2015.

BlackBerry has been winning the battle against the iPhone here since the start of the year, maybe due to the propensity of Indonesians to chat. InMobi found that in the first nine months, BlackBerry’s local mobile web usage had grown by 4,704 percent, compared with iPhone’s 631 percent.

But according to Abhay Singhal, InMobi’s head of sales, the popularity of the iPhone in Indonesia is set to take off over the coming years.

“Given that Indonesians are now accustomed to using smartphones, an iPhone boom is just a matter of time and pricing,” Abhay said.

But until then, it appears that BlackBerry will continue to rule. There are roughly about 470,000 to 500,000 BlackBerry users in Indonesia, according to figures from the country’s cellular providers.

Meanwhile, PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), iPhone’s sole local service provider, says that the device has between 80,000 and 95,000 users.

Teguh Prasetya, cellular provider PT Indosat’s head of brand marketing, said that BlackBerry benefited from greater market coverage.

“With its wide range of products, BlackBerry covers more segments of the market compared with the iPhone, which has only released three models,” he said.

“The iPhone started with entertainment as the concept, not communication. It’s basically an iPod that can also be used as a phone. BlackBerry, on the other hand, is more suitable for the Indonesian market, due to it being better than the iPhone for social networking. This shows that Indonesians prefer communication to entertainment.”

Suryo Hadianto, Telkomsel’s corporate communications manager, said each brand had its own strengths.

“I always refer to BlackBerry Indonesia as the community gadget, and iPhone as the multimedia gadget, meaning that each brand is the leader in its own category. Some people I know even carry both phones so they can complement one another,” he says.

Such is the case with Sutra, a 32-year-old mother of three.

“I have both an iPhone 3G and a BlackBerry Javelin, and I bought each phone for different reasons,” she said.

With smuggled mobile phones flooding the market, “Eric”, who owns a cellular store in the Roxy Mas International Trade Center in West Jakarta, said that iPhone sales had been mediocre, regardless of whether the phones are legal or smuggled.

“For every iPhone I sell, I can sell up to 11 or 12 BlackBerrys, including both legal and illegal products,” he said.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about how iPhone is just too advanced and difficult to get to grips with. People say it’s also too expensive compared to the more compact BlackBerrys.” soure news from Jakarta Globe

Update : Indonesia's Telkomsel to launch iPhone 3GS on Jan 2010




One advantage of sightseeing in the mall, your eyes may tumble to one promotion you can't resist. Indonesia's Telkomsel is set to launch iPhone 3GS on late January 2010, at least that's what OKEshop officer said. Well, maybe better late than never as it is expected to see new version of iPhone coming next summer.

Indonesia has always been the late adopter of iPhone in the region. The current iPhone 3G was launched on March, about 9 months after the initial introduction in the US. The pre-order of iPhone 3GS has being available for a while, but there's no further information regarding the valid launching date. The price package of Telkomsel's iPhone 3GS is yet to be obtained.

Previously this month, the neighboring country Singapore slashed the iPhone monopoly (from SingTel only) and now all operators are eligible to offer their own package. Beside that, Apple Store Singapore also offer non-contract unit.

In Indonesia, the iPhone distribution is still monopolized by country's largest based on number of subscribers, often critized by not having good strategy on pushing iPhone sales. The sales of iPhone 3G is still below BlackBerry which skyrocketing during past 2 years.

The current "clearance price" of iPhone 3G 16GB is IDR7.5 million (US$750), that include 12-months 500MB data package (worth IDR125,000 or around US$12 per month). The question remains the same. Will the sales strategy of iPhone 3GS hit the target by offering competitive price scheme and data package?

iPhone 3GS is the latest series of Apple's popular iPhone. It bears faster processor, better camera, and digital compass -- compared to previous one -- thus allowing implementation of augmented reality app. source : gajeto

Blackberry Beating iPhone in Indonesia




According to Indonesia’s Largest Mobile Advertising Network, InMobi

PALO ALTO, Calif (September 30, 2009) It’s not all about the iPhone, at least within one of the world’s fastest growing mobile consumer markets, Indonesia. Today, InMobi, the largest mobile ad network in Asia, Africa and Indonesia, released data showing that RIM’s Blackberry device may be leading the handset race in Indonesia. From January 2009 to June 2009, mobile ad requests on Blackberry phones increased by 842%, compared to mobile ad requests on Indonesia iPhones, which increased only by 205%*.

RIM’s Blackberry device was released three months before the iPhone in the country in January of 2009. Although Blackberry and iPhone had similar growth patterns after the iPhone launch, the two handsets took dramatically different growth paths beginning in April 2009 per the graph below.

Indonesia is predicted to be the third largest mobile market after China and India by 2010 according to the ROA Group. Already, mobile users in Indonesia far outnumber active Internet users by 5 to 1, and the country boasts a 56.8% mobile penetration rate verses a 10.4% according to Internet World Stats.

Also according to data on the InMobi network, Indonesia’s mobile Internet user base has more than doubled within the last 12 months. InMobi estimates 9 million mobile Internet users currently in Indonesia, with 591 page views per user, exceeding the approximate global average of 250 page views per user (source: Opera, 2009). Handset manufacturers are taking notice, as 80% of handsets sold in Indonesia are web enabled. Costly ISP plans, unreliable fixed line infrastructure, and inexpensive mobile data plans with unlimited mobile web usage are also encouraging the adoption of mobile Internet browsing.

Specifically, 53% of mobile web users are between the ages of 18 and 27, and 82% of the total number of mobile web users are male.

The top mobile Internet operator in Indonesia is Indosat, which leads the market with 75% share, followed by Telekomsel with 18% and Excelcomindo with 3%. Fierce competition between mobile operators and a price war between vendors created an influx of affordable mobile phones this year.

The mobile user base in Indonesia is predicted to reach 146 million mobile users by 2010. And mobile advertising is increasing as consumer data charges and evolving handsets are leading to more mobile web usage.

“With an increased focus on measurability, mobile advertisers and publishers are recognizing the value of the Indonesia market,” said Mr. Abhay Singhal, Co-Founder and Head of Global Ad Sales at InMobi.

About InMobi

Founded in 2007, InMobi – formerly mKhoj – is a global mobile ad network that delivers the best results to its partners through its intelligent mobile web advertising solutions. InMobi allows advertisers to discover their target audience using its advanced targeting technology via mobile Internet sites and it enables publishers of such sites to earn advertising revenue. The mission of InMobi is to provide both the business model and technology to enable the growth of the mobile Internet ecosystem.

InMobi has offices in Palo Alto, California; Bangalore, India; Mumbai, India and Singapore , source : blackberryrocks