Computers-Plus

Shares in the World’s number five handset maker, HTC, jumped by 4-percent on Monday after they posted record monthly sales in June. Yuanta Securities analyst Bonnie Chang says “Part of HTC’s correction last month was due to market rumors that its June sales might be down or flat month-on-month, so the result yesterday helped clear up some of the rumors.”    HTC say that its consolidated sales for June were up 87.8-percent compared to June of 2010, but this is actually slightly lower than the stellar month they had in May which saw a 116-percent jump. The sales announcement came four days earlier than it was scheduled, which analysts say could be due to HTC wanting to relieve pressure on its shares. H Read more…

Android continued its triumphant march forward during the third quarter of 2010 by capturing an impressive 44 percent of US consumer smartphone sales.

As expected, Android’s significant gains (11% since Q2) came at the expense of RIM and its corporate-oriented BlackBerry handset.

“Apple, Google and RIM have traded barbs over activations, apps, openness and other contentious topics; however, it’s all been more about positioning than prospering up to this point,” said senior NPD exec Ross Rubin.

“The reality in the US has been that all these companies have enjoyed the fruits of a booming smartphone market.

Read more…

According to a recent report by IDC, Apple has shipped 12.4% fewer computers than this time a year ago, dropping the company to 5th in US spring computer sales. While Apple’s market share will dip less than a percentage point to 7.6%, Toshiba has now climbed past the manufacturer to join Dell, HP and Acer at the top of the heap. Apple has been hit by the twin bullets of the recession and Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunter” ads, both of which make the fact that Macs are expensive, premium notebooks extremely evident.

Apple’s market share remained similar despite shipping so many fewer notebooks due to the overall shrinking of the market by 3%. Read more…