Tag archive: Ross Rubin

Sure, sure: all the media buzz in the mobile industry might be about the Apple iPhone and how other companies are trying to respond to its popularity, but only RIM seems to be having any actual success going up against the iPhone. According to new market numbers from research firm NPD, the BlackBerry Curve 83xx models were the top-selling smartphone in the United States during the first quarter of 2009. In fact, RIM smartphones accounted… Read More

As retailers anxiously await Black Friday to get a feel for how the current state of the economy will affect consumer spending this season, the major research group NPD has predicted the crunch will be especially hard on tech companies. A new study released by the company on Tuesday shows consumers planning to cut back on high-end gadgetry due to fears of hard times ahead. In a sample of 800 consumers interviewed in late… Read More

A new report from The NPD Group finds that 30 percent of U.S. consumers who bought an iPhone 3G from June through August switched to AT&T from another wireless carrier. Of those “switchers,” nearly half came to AT&T from Verizon Wireless, with 24 percent switching from T-Mobile and 19 percent switching from Sprint. “The launch of the lower-priced iPhone 3G was a boon to overall consumer smartphone sales,”… Read More

Smartphones aren’t just for suits anymore. According to the NPD Group, the popularity of formerly exclusive multitasking phones like BlackBerrys has picked up significantly in the last year, with smartphones now accounting for 19 percent of total mobile phone sales. By contrast, smartphones represented just 9 percent in the same measurement period (January through July) of last year.  Why the sudden shift? According to… Read More

It might seem that American culture is currently obsessed with everything mobile: mobile phones, mobile media, mobile advertising, and mobile connectivity. But that obsession might not be as strong as some people think: according to the NPD Group, sales of cell phone handsets during the second quarter of 2008 actually declined 13 percent, considered year-on-year. “Quarterly unit-sales of handsets fell to their lowest level,… Read More

New figures from the market research for the NPD Group found that plasma televisions registered their first year-on-year decline on sales, with revenues generated from sales dropping 16 percent in February 2006 compared to a year earlier. Theconsumer electronics market in general slumped in February, bringing in $900 million for the month, representing a 13 percent decline from a year ago. "Unlike LCD TVs, plasma TVs have not beenable to… Read More

New data released today by the NPD Group found that during its product launch, Microsoft's Zune handheld media player debut at the number two sport among portable media players, based on sales. According to the stats, the Zune grabbed 9 percent of sales for the week ending November 18; to that point, the Zune would have been on the market four days: it's official launch was November 14, 2006. A 9 percent sales share still puts… Read More

The report, the first in a series of annual studies to measure ownership and attitudes underlying the growth of the mobile phone market, is intended to aid manufacturers, marketers and sellers of cellular phones in their planning and marketing to meet the needs of consumers. According to the report, music, games, photos, e-mail and Internet have all found their way onto cell phones, and as more consumers look for ways to integrate… Read More