Korean Wristwatch Fun, LG and Samsung

I certainly do not understand what the Koreans are up to now, with major mobile electronics manufacturers LG and Samsung going head to head for having the best wrist phone. Hardware wise, LG is going to the true gold, delivering 3G technology unto your wrist. Still Samsung wants a piece of the spotlight so they are going to go first and release the S9110, the world’s first 2G wrist phone. I say 2G because no government agency is announcing who really made the first spy phone slash wristwatch. The end result is that we are all going to see two wrist phones being released soon, for no direct target market.

Now that is a consideration to take. Who is going to wear these wrist phones? I can think of a few really geeky gadget-happy friends of mine who would wear this, but even these guys would think twice before shelling out so much cash for a GSM device that is worn around the wrist (and if rumors are correct, the LG 3G wrist phone will cost over twice as much as the Samsung 2G wrist phone). The bottom line is that these novelty phones will not be getting around much. With most phone being used for web browsing, and messaging, having to bring up your wrist will not give you the same freedom and versatility as a regular mobile phone.

The real consideration here is that LG and Samsung are currently, showing off. With other manufacturers focused on other products, it seems like these Korean based companies have other priorities in mind. Perhaps they stand to earn more through this display of technological prowess than they are letting us in on. Personally, Samsung needs to spend more time developing more phones similar to their eco-friendly Blue Earth model instead of these oddball gadgets.

Tags: LG-GD910, samsung-s9110

Nokia, Sony Ericsson cramming to recover losses

They used to be leaders in the mobile manufacturing industry. But with reports of losses quarter by quarter since last year, both Nokia and Sony Ericsson are just about running out of options to hit high margins. To salvage their losses, both companies are on the verge of releasing high-end mobile devices in time for the Christmas rush.

The seemingly continuing loss was brought about by the economic slump, affecting largely Nokia’s market shares as well as that of Sony Ericsson. Instead of purchasing new mobile devices, people are zipping their purses in favor of more important expenditures. With slow consumer spending, both the sales and margins of the two companies are undoubted most hurt in the industry.

On the other hand, the surge of high-end products from stiff competitors such as Apple and Samsung widened the gap even more. With the release of iPhone3GS from Apple and Samsung’s Jet Smart phone, the sales of both Sony Ericsson and Nokia nosedived steadily from one quarter to the next.

Finnish pride in mobile phone making Nokia Corporation reported earlier that it will upgrade its projections for the global network infrastructure market, cutting by half its prediction of 10% fall for this year.

As for Sony Ericsson, analysts are divided on its pursued ventures, particularly after the poor performance during the second quarter. Though no sharper drop has been witnessed, some analysts are considering the gaining Swedish currency and the regional market posing plenty of uncertainties still.

While it seems the factors weighing down recovery attempts of both Nokia and Sony Ericsson seem piling, there are fairly high expectations that their pursuits will go smooth. This, because both companies had their larger investments cut down for the first six months of 2009. This is seen a good sign of catching up.

For more information on this post, click here: wsj.com

Tags: Nokia, Sony Ericsson