The average time someone has their cell phone, be it a smart phone or feature phone, is about 18 months. Which is surprising as most cell phone plans end at 24 months, giving you the usual discounts that come with renewing your plans. More and more people are buying used and refurbished phones that others trade in to receive cutting edge smart phones as soon as they are released. For example, we saw a big increase of Droid Razr cell phones for trade in’s. And when I say “increase”, I mean from zero trade in’s to actually getting that phone in trade in’s. I mention that because that phone was only two months old when we started getting trade in requests, which is typically unheard of for any cell phone so early in it’s life. This was mostly blamed on the recent release of the Droid Razr MAXX which made many folks immediately trade in their two month old smart phone.
Looking to the future can be fun, especially when it seems that much more realistic when seeing how quickly technology advanced just this past decade! I remember watching Star Trek growing up and seeing those cool Data Pads that worked as a handheld computer. I thought that would be such a cool device to actually have, and here I am, sitting next to my Kindle Fire which is even better than the show portrayed (specifically it being in color). Sci-fi seems to be the natural predictor of the future lately which only makes it seem that much more exciting. But what real advances will we see in the next ten years? What should we expect and how soon?
This past holiday season it was quite evident that the Amazon Kindle Fire was incredibly successful, especially for Amazon. But what does that success mean for Google? It may not mean as much as you would think and you may know why if you own the Kindle Fire. Look though your Kindle Fires apps, what is missing that all Android phones have? That’s right, the Android Marketplace. Amazon essentially gutted out the Marketplace and put their own in its place. Which means one thing for Google, less profit.
The results are in, some later than others and to some surprised gasps Apple is not number 1 this 3rd quarter. Although that shouldn’t be that big of a surprise since their Apple 4 was beginning to age compared to how quickly they released newer editions in the past, which will change this 4th quarter. Anyway, it seems two companies have sprung ahead of the fruit logo giant, HTC and Samsung. HTC, though late to the survey party, has beaten both Samsung and Apple pretty badly, shipping upwards of 5.7 Million smart phones this quarter. Which is pretty impressive when you take a look at the second placer, Samsung, with 4.9 million and Apple trailing in third at 4.6 million. Engadget has some more interesting information on this very subject.
Does this mean anything significant? Yes and no. Yes, because HTC phones are of great quality, especially their incredible line and samsung’s phones are well known for their clear and crisp screens on their Galaxy lines. The numbers speak for themselves in what the customer wants. No, because the iPhone 4s will change up that number right quick, and now that Nokia has some major Windows phones coming out, they may come running up to one the top spots. Not to mention the holiday season is obviously a busy time for any and all electronics.
We here at TheBlueDot actually have plenty of HTC, Samsung and iPhones for sale at www.thebluedot.net or you can trade in your old and used phones at www.thebluedot.net/tradein
