Firefox/Planning/2013-06-26

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Planning Meeting Details

• Wednesdays - 11:00am PT, 18:00 UTC
• Mountain View Offices: Warp Core Conference Room
• Toronto Offices: Finch Conference Room
• irc.mozilla.org #planning for backchannel
• (the developer meeting takes place on Tuesdays)

Video/Teleconference Details - NEW

• 650-903-0800 or 650-215-1282 x92 Conf# 99696 (US/INTL)
• 1-800-707-2533 (pin 369) Conf# 99696 (US)
• Vidyo Room: ProductCoordination
• Vidyo Guest URL

REMEMBER

These notes are read by people who weren't able to attend the meeting. Please make sure to include links and context so they can be understood.

Market Insights from the Product Marketing Strategy Team

Mobile

• The first phones and tablet running Tizen will be released in Japan by NTT Docomo in Q3 or Q4 of this year. There are 2 phones, both produced by Samsung, one code named Samurai and one with the nummber SGH - No55, as well as a 10 inch tablet, produced by Shisutena, that will run a 1.4 GHz quad - core processor with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, 2 MP rear camera and 0.3 MP front - facing camera.

• Worldwide devices (the combined shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones) are projected to reach 2.35 billion units in 2013, a 5.9 percent increase from 2012, according to Gartner. The market is being driven by sales in tablets, smartphones, and to a lesser extent, ultramobiles, as PC shipments are on the decline. The tablet and smartphone markets are facing some challenges as these devices gain longer life cycles. There has also been a shift as many consumers go from premium tablets to basic tablets. The share of basic tablets is expected to increase faster than anticipated, as sales of the iPad Mini already represented 60 percent of overall iOS tablet sales in the first quarter of 2013.

• The importance of Asia - Pacific in the mobile industry has been further evidenced by a report released by the GSMA. Around half of the world's mobile connections are in the region, with 1.6 billion unique subscribers. In 2012, mobile contributed to $1 trillion of GDP in the area, but in 2013 it will amount to 3.3 trillion. A significant shift in consumption is happening, as growth of voice traffic is only at 6%, while data sees a 142% increase. 3G penetration is significant in the more developed parts, like Australia, SouthKorea, Singapore and Malaysia, which are countries that are also introducing 4G. India, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Malaysia still have a majority of their their networks to shift over from 2G to 3G. South Korea is by far the most advanced in terms of technology adoption with only 3G and 4G networks. The whole report is worth a read.

• The Dolphin mobile browser has announced 80 million downloads and a version 10. With a new UI, a Web app store, increased number of available search engines (Amazon, Twitter, Wikipedia, eBay, YouTube, Facebook), 60+ speed dial slots and single swipe access to the browser menu, tab list or the gestures menu, Dolphin marks the 10th version. The 80 million downloads number does not represent active users; the Play Store puts them at between 10 and 50 million installs.

• Telefonica has announced a joint marketing campaign with Microsoft around Windows Phone in the UK, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Chile. The strategic incentive is the break down of the Android / iOS duopoly. The Verge: "Telefónica says it is “firmly committed” to encouraging new mobile operating platforms – it was one of the first to back newcomer Firefox OS – and will be working with leading Windows Phone 8 device manufacturers to ensure that their handsets are on store shelves during the renewed marketing campaign."

• The Nokia Asha 501, $99 device positioned to compete with the low - end of Android, is launching in Thailand and Pakistan this week and will continue to roll - out in subsequent weeks across the whole globe except for North America. This is the most advanced of the Asha series to resemble a smartphone. It comes with a low resolution 3 - inch touchscreen and a 3.2 MP QVGA camera.

• WhatsApp announced that it reached more than 250 million active users, which puts it in the same league as Twitter, Skype, Facebook Messenger.