Slowing Demand For Pricey i9500 S4 1:1 Smartphones Clouds Outlook-Priceangels.com

Rising competition from other manufacturers such as Samsungalong with fears that the high-end i9500 S4 smartphone market is nearing saturation have weighed heavily on the company’s shares, magnified by the uncertainty that has always surrounded Apple AAPL -1.76%’s future product launches.
Specifically with the iPhone driving almost 50% of the company’s value, we will be interested in seeing what the demand for the iPhone 5 has been in two quarters after its launch in the face of competition from Samsung’s recently launched Galaxy S4. Smartphone upgrades have been a key driver of smartphone sales and are slowing down, according to a recent UBS report.

Last year, 68 million people in the U.S. upgraded their smartphones down by about 9% over 2011. The same seems to be taking a toll on Samsung as well whose earnings guidance for the June quarter came in below already modest analyst expectations. Considering that Q3 has traditionally been a slow quarter for Apple, iPhone sales are likely to see a sequential decline. But the y-o-y growth or decline will be key to understanding the resilience of iPhone demand in a high-end smartphone market that is nearing saturation.fd5aDJK6

The saturation being seen at the high-end of the market shows that Apple needs to tap the smartphone growth in emerging markets such as China better. Despite being only in the early stages of smartphone adoption, China has already pulled ahead of the U.S. as the world’s largest i9500 S4 1:1 smartphone market by volume. This is an incredible statistic given that 3G penetration in China is in the mid-20s currently. Considering the huge 2G subscriber base of more than 850 million that the Chinese carriers are looking to upgrade to 3G, the potential for Apple to ride the boom is huge.

The curved back is similar to that of the Lumia 720, and the screen is rounded at the edge, like the high-end Lumia 920 -- a nice touch that we wouldn't expect on a budget phone. Overall it reminds us of the bargain-tastic Lumia 620, although our first impression is that the screen isn't as sharp and bright as the 620's impressive display. And at 201 pixels per inch, it shows off half the detail of more expensive but similarly sized phones, like the Galaxy S4.

The 625 hits shop shelves in early September in the U.K., when it'll cost a very affordable 200 pounds, depending on who you buy it from. You can choose from Vodafone or O2; 4G network EE; or at retailers Phones 4U and Carphone Warehouse.The three phones introduced Tuesday are the $199 Droid Ultra, which executives touted as the world’s thinnest LTE smartphone; the $299 Droid Maxx, which boasts 48 hours of battery life; and the $99 Droid Mini, which has a 4.3-inch screen.