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April 4, 2006

19 Min Read
Who Makes What: Mobile Devices

Welcome to Unstrung's Who Makes What report on Mobile Devices. Like previous Who Makes What reports, on both Unstrung and our sister publication, Light Reading, this report is designed to become a key reference document for IT and telecommunications managers, giving them a detailed map of a critical industry segment and a snapshot of emerging (and waning) trends, as well as a comprehensive list of mobile device vendors.

As more and more applications move beyond the office walls to mobile devices – including everything from email to salesforce automation tools and billable-hours tracking systems – the choice of which mobile devices to deploy has become one of the most critical decisions for today's IT managers. That choice is being complicated by the release of feature-packed devices from many vendors, including mobile phone providers like Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), scanning-device makers like Symbol Technologies Inc. (NYSE: SBL), and PDA manufacturers like BlackBerry and Palm Inc. This proliferation makes it essential for IT managers to have a single, simple source for keeping track of the evolution of the mobile device market, and the major and emerging players in each market segment

A few years ago it would have been possible to categorize these devices under only a couple of headings: mobile phones and PDAs, essentially. More recently, the mobile device sector has grown from modest beginnings to an expanding industry that offers a wide range of wireless and portable devices, which offer everything from basic text messaging capabilites to computing power almost on a par with notebook PCs. The types and functions of mobile devices have multiplied to the point where we have grouped the companies that manufacture them under six categories:



The logic behind this breakdown can be found on Page 2: Taxonomy & Definitions of the mobile device market. A table displaying an overview of all categories of mobile device vendors may be found on Page 3.

With the recent release of Windows Mobile 5.0, which includes a "push" email system integrated with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)'s Exchange server, the mobile device market has entered a new phase of intense competition, with vendors from different industry segments working toward a common goal: a single mobile device for unified messaging, comprising "one-number" voice-call forwarding, mobile email, and enterprise data applications.

While it remains true that "No one ever got fired for choosing BlackBerry," it's clear that different companies, and different types of industries, have widely varying needs. Indeed, some enterprise IT departments have abandoned the single-device rollout altogether, preferring to let users make their own choices, using security and mobile applications that can, at least in theory, be centrally controlled.

In keeping with Unstrung's focus on enterprise users of wireless technology, this report is intended primarily to compile and describe makers of devices being used by, or finding their way into, the enterprise. Inevitably, the companies making devices for the enterprise are also consumer-focused. (RIM, for example, which has built a powerful market through carrier-based enterprise deployments, has recently come out with devices for the consumer market, while Motorola is essentially attempting to cross over in the other direction.)

As with other initial Who Makes What reports in specific coverage areas, this report is intended in part as a marker and a starting point for discussion and amplification. We’ve done our best to identify all vendors, but we're bound to have overlooked some. So please feel free to point out omissions – either by posting a note on the message board for this article (our preferred method) or by sending us an email. Please include "Who Makes What" and your company name in the subject field to help us find messages. We will update the report as necessary, adding product categories and names, as we receive comments from readers.

Related Webinars:

  • BT Extends Hotspot Network

  • Too Hot to Handle

— Richard Martin, Senior Editor, and Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung

The device types and software covered in this report are smartphones and cellular handsets; enterprise handhelds; WiFi handsets; fixed/mobile convergence (FMC) devices; tablet PCs; and mobile operating systems.

Obviously these categories overlap (see diagram, below). When does a device stop being a wireless PDA and start being a smartphone, for instance? For the purposes of this report, we have taken the approach that if a device is primarily intended as a voice communications gadget, then it is a phone; if it is mainly used for data applications, such as email or information management, then it's a handheld.

In this age of convergence it is clear that this voice/data distinction is somewhat arbitary and becoming finer, and so as we update this report over time gadgets may shift between categories.

Indeed it's quite possible that categories such as WiFi handsets may disappear altogether. At the moment, there are a number of vendors making 802.11-only mobile handsets for business use. But as more dualmode celluar and WiFi handsets become available, the market may move en masse to those types of devices.

91012_7.gifHere's how the categories break down, with defining characteristics for each:

Smartphones & Cellular Handsets

  • Voice communication primarily

  • Color screen

  • Wireless Web and/or email, business applications

  • Multimedia messaging

Enterprise Handhelds

  • Data-centric devices

  • Multiple data input methods (keyboard, pen interface, handwriting recognition)

  • Email, personal information management, scaled-down database applications

  • Wired and, sometimes, wireless sync and connectivity options

Fixed/Mobile Convergence Handsets

  • Roam across 802.11 and cellular networks

  • First-generation devices typically use unlicensed mobile access (UMA) fixed/mobile convergence technology

  • Enable "presence-based," single-number, and "follow-me" business messaging options

WiFi Handsets

  • WiFi-only replacements for deskphones or mobiles in the office

  • Dedicated, ruggedized data entry or communicator devices for data entry (i.e, bar-code scanning, WiFi badges)

  • Often designed to conserve battery power by "sleeping" when not in use

Tablet PCs

  • Larger than a PDA, smaller than a laptop

  • Touch-screen interface with handwriting recognition and sometimes a foldaway keyboard

  • Latest generation has much upgraded multimedia capabilities

Mobile Operating Systems

  • Focus on user input methods and conveying information on smaller screen

  • Increasingly have to handle the "plumbing" for multiple connectivity methods and multi-task between running apps and handling calls

  • Memory conservation still an issue

91012.gif



Table 1: Mobile Device Vendors

Vendors

Smartphones/Handsets

Handhelds

FMC Handsets

WiFi Handsets

Tablet PCs

Mobile OS

Acer Corp.�����������

x

BenQ Corp.�

x

Cisco Systems Inc.

x

Curitel

x

Danger Inc.

x

E8�

x

Hewlett-Packard Co.

x

x

x

High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC)

x

x

x

x

Hitachi Corp.

x

x

x

Huawei

x

iMate

x

x

Intermec

x

IPWare

x

Kyocera Corp

x

LG Telecom

x

x

Linksys

x

Microsoft Corp.

x

Mio-Tech

x

Motorola Inc.

x

x

NEC Corp.

x

x

Ningbo Bird

x

Nokia Corp.

x

x

Palm Inc.

x

x

Panasonic

x

Pandora Networks

x

Pantech

x

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM)

x

x

Samsung Corp.

x

x

Sharp Corp.

x

x

SavaJe

x

SENAO

x

Siemens AG

x

x

Sony Corp.

x

Sony Ericsson Mobile

x

SpectraLink Corp.

x

Symbian Ltd

x

UNex Technology

x

UTStarcom Inc.

x

x

Zultys Technologies

x

ZTE

x

Zyxel

x





The typical smartphone feature set includes a color screen, access to email and other office applications, and calendar management software, as well the ability to take basic digital pictures, play MP3 audio files, and even video clips. The devices frequently sport small QWERTY keyboards or even touchscreen interfaces, rather than telephone dialpads. Vendors have also taken advantage of the larger form factor to pack in more connectivity options such as WiFi and USB ports.

Even basic cellular phones, however, now offer features such as Web access, text and picture messaging, an onboard digital camera, and Bluetooth short-range connectivity.

  • Research firm Canalys.com Ltd. says that Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is the leader in the smartphone market with over 50 percent marketshare and 7.1 million units shipped in the third quarter of 2005.

  • Security is a growing concern for smartphone users, particuarly protecting corporate data on the phone.

  • Some extremely mobile workforces are starting to use smartphones instead of laptops for business applications.

  • More connectivity options are arriving for these handsets in the form of WiFi and WiMax.

The Vendors:

Related Reports (Paid Content):

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91012_13.jpg91012_14.jpg91012_15.jpg Enterprise handhelds started life as humble personal digital assistants, with calendar and notepad functions, that docked for data synchronization between the device and office PCs. Sync options grew with the advent of Bluetooth (and more recently with "wireless USB" technology), and cellular and WiFi chips that can be used in the small battery-powered devices. Now the handhelds come in all shapes and sizes, from mobile email devices that allow users to stay connected out of the office, to ruggedized devices designed to be used in warehouse and heavy industrial environments.

  • BlackBerry is the market leader in the handheld market with a 21.4 percent market share at the end of 2005, according to Gartner Inc.

  • Mobile email devices, particularly the RIM BlackBerry, are the most popular handhelds on the market.

  • Long dominated by BlackBerry, the mobile email device sector is becoming increasingly crowded by formidable new entrants.

  • Corporate users now buy more than 50 percent of the handsets produced, according to Gartner.

  • New handhelds now reaching the market are equipped with 3G cellular and WiFi chips.

The Vendors:

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  • Microsoft's Push Comes to Shove

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  • RIM, King of the Handhelds

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91012_16.jpg91012_17.jpg91012_18.jpgThis new class of gadgets shares plenty of DNA with existing smartphones and PDAs. While they tend to look like smartphones, FMC devices are made specifically to allow a user to connect to a variety of networks – landline, cellular, WiFi – in the home, office, and on the road. Arguably all devices will become converged devices in the future – but that development is still three to five years away at least.

  • London-based research firm Disruptive Analysis Ltd. says that by 2009, there will be a market for 46.8 million voice-over-WLAN phones, of which 64 percent (29.8 million) will be "dualmode" devices.

  • The standards behind FMC devices have not yet solidified, but unlicensed mobile access (UMA) is probably the best known specification.

  • Early FMC services are being tested by carriers such as BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) and Cingular Wireless .

  • Price, battery life, and security when using WiFi connections are some of the key concerns for early FMC models.

The Vendors:

Related Reports:

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  • Dualmode Duds?

  • Nokia Intros WLAN Phones

  • Moto Unveils Handsets

  • Cut-Rate Convergence

  • UMA Steps Up

  • UMA: The Place for Me?

  • Insider: UMA's Narrow Window

  • ‘Switchers’ Drive Convergence

  • Convergence Contenders

  • Cingular's Got Big FMC Plans

  • The Third Way of Convergence

  • Convergence Specs Emerge

  • BT Talks Up FMCA

91012_19.jpg91012_20.jpgClose relatives of fixed/mobile convergence devices, these phones and specialized communications devices use WiFi networks for corporate VOIP applications. Designed for enterprises and vertical users that want to take advantage of already installed 802.11 networks to run VOIP and data services in the enterprise, WiFi handsets have taken two very distinct paths.

  • The first set includes devices intended to replace corporate deskphones and reduce cellphone use in the office.

  • Second are much more specialized devices, often in distinctive form factors such as communication "badges," intended for healthcare and other vertical applications.

  • Dualmode WiFi/cellular handsets are just beginning to reach the market.

  • As WiFi rolls out beyond buildings and public hotspots into wireless mesh networks that encompass campuses and entire cities, manufacturers will likely find new, untapped markets for these devices.

The Vendors:

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  • Analysts Doubt Ericsson/UTS

  • UTStarcom Stung by Softbank

  • Cisco & Intel Smarten Up

  • VOWLAN Gets a Kickstart

  • VOWLAN Service Launched

  • Hitachi Beats Samsung at KDDI

91012_11.jpg91012_8.jpgAlso known as Webpads or "ultramobile PCs," tablets represent an attempt to combine the computing power of a laptop with the portability of a PDA. Typically equipped with a color screen, a touch-sensitive interface, and a scaled-back version of a desktop operating system, these devices so far haven't seen as much enterprise uptake as Microsoft and other vendors would expect.

  • Intel and Microsoft are the main backers of the tablet PC concept.

  • Bowing to the lack of market demand for tablets, Microsoft is calling its new "Origami" device, unveiled at CeBIT in early March, an "ultramobile PC."

  • Gartner recently issued a report saying that such slimmed-down notebooks are not yet ready for enteprise applications and likely won't be for a couple of years.

The Vendors:

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  • Hitachi Beats Samsung at KDDI

91012_9.jpg91012_12.jpgSome mobile operating systems, like those from Symbian and RIM, are designed from the ground up for specialized mobile devices, while others – Microsoft Windows Mobile, for example – have been shrinkwrapped from existing desktop operating systems. All are designed to conform to the limited screen space and data-entry methods of mobile devices. In practice, this includes everything from text entry ("thumb drives") to pen-driven and touch-screen interfaces to voice recognition.

  • This category has been shaken up by two powerful market forces: the demand for specialized enterprise applications and the entry of powerful competitors into the mobile email arena, to compete with RIM's BlackBerry.

  • Many observers believe that RIM's end-to-end proprietary solution is being overtaken by OSes that run on multiple devices and support multiple applications.

  • The addition of push email to Windows Mobile 5.0 makes Microsoft a formidable competitor in this space.

  • The ease of writing specialized enterprise applications to these platforms will be a key differentiator.

The Vendors:

Related Articles:

  • Microsoft's Push Comes to Shove

  • RIM's Unified Theory

  • Gartner Nixes the UMPC

  • RIM in Voice 'Push'

  • Mobile Email Gets More Pushy

  • Microsoft Goes 'Ultra Mobile'

  • RIM, King of the Handhelds

  • Poised for Takeoff?

  • Mobile Email Monoculture Fades

  • New Palm Phone Coming Soon?

  • CES: The Microsoft Palm

  • Palm, Handspring: United at Last

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