TheNewsGuru

Tag: Huawei

  • Samsung, Apple maintain top spots in smartphone market

    Samsung and Apple maintained their leadership in the smartphone market in early 2017 while Chinese-based Huawei’s strong growth cemented its number three position, a market tracker said Thursday.

    Research firm IDC said overall smartphone shipments grew 4.3 percent in the first quarter, slightly better than its prior forecast, to 347 million units.

    “The first quarter smartphone results further prove that the smartphone industry is not dead and that growth still exists,” said IDC analyst Ryan Reith.

    “There is no question that 2016 was a pivotal year for the industry as growth dipped to low single digits for the first time. However, we believe the industry will show some rebound in 2017, and the strong first quarter results certainly support this argument,” Reith added.

    Reith said the 2017 market will feel the impact of the new Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship handset, and a widely expected announcement from Apple for its new iPhone later this year.

    According to the survey, Samsung led the market in the first quarter with a 22.8 percent share to 14.9 percent for Apple, with little growth for the top two vendors.

    But Huawei’s sales jumped 21.7 percent to give it a 9.8 percent share, and fellow Chinese makers Oppo and Vivo, the number four and five vendors, respectively, also boosted their sales.

    IDC said the bulk of smartphone growth is likely to come from low-cost handset makers.

    “Although we have seen an abundance of premium redesigned flagships that just entered the market, moving forward, we still expect most of the growth to come from more affordable models in a variety of markets,” said IDC’s Anthony Scarsella.

    “Despite all the popularity and media hype around premium devices, we continue to witness a shift in many companies’ portfolios geared towards affordable devices with premium-type styling compared to flagship models,” he added.

    He further stated that smartphones makers “have started to implement a single premium design language that ultimately blurs the lines between the high-end and the low-end, allowing the average consumer to jump on the brand without a hefty upfront investment.”

    The report is based on preliminary quarterly estimates, with Apple due to report sales figures next week.

     

     

    AFP

  • EKO Disco to install 138 transformers

    EKO Disco to install 138 transformers

    The Management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc (EKEDC) has said that over 138 transformers worth N700 million had been acquired for replacement of faulty ones to boost supply during the festive period.

    Mr Oladele Amoda, the EKEDC’s managing director made the disclosed during an inspection of newly acquired equipment at EKEDC Ijora main store in Lagos on Wednesday.

    Amoda said that the company’s directors source for fund to acquire equipment that would improve the electricity supply within its network to teeming customers during the yuletide season.

    According to him, the company is always thinking of how to satisfy its customers.

    “The purchase of the new transformers is to ensure that our customers enjoy the yuletide season with quality supply.

    “We have embarked on massive replacement of faulty transformers within the network, we expected customers to reciprocate this gesture by paying their bills.

    “We also expect communities who will benefit from the transformers not to see them as public property but as their own so that they can help us safeguard the transformers against vandalism by unscrupulous elements,” Amoda said.

    The EKEDC boss said that the company had lost over N1 billion to various forms of energy theft and equipment vandalism in the last three years.

    He said that the issue of by-passing of meter by customers who wants to avoid payment was rampant within the network.

    He said that EKEDC cannot continue to invest huge sums of money into network improvement and some people will be allowed to vandalize such equipment.

    Amoda warned customers who are in the habit of by-passing meter or involved in any act of energy thefts to desist, adding that the company will not hesitate to prosecute and publish names of culprits in the dailies.

    He advised customers with wrong connection leading to energy theft to report to the company before they are discovered and penalized.

    He said that the company had invested over N13 billion on meters, adding that the company has also commenced installation of over 200,000 free pre-paid meters to customers within its network.

    According to him, “we have just signed a partnership agreement with a global brand, Huawei of China and Mojec International meter manufacturer and this, we believe, will impact our service”.

    “We have commenced a bill reconciliation and verification exercise tagged “Eko Customer Account Reconciliation Exercise” this is a way of repackaging energy audit to give it a caring face,” he added.

    Amoda urged customers who had paid for meter under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) scheme and yet to be metered to bring their documents for immediate meter installation.

    He said that gas had been a serious challenge to generating companies, adding that the EKEDC only received 200 megawatts from the national grid instead of 1,300 megawatts due to gas constraints.

    He assured customers that issues associated with gas constraint would be address shortly, adding that government has tackled some of the bottle neck confronting the Transmission Company of Nigeria.