How many countries are cell phones made now?

[dannyf]

Cell phones are primarily made (including design) in the US, South Korea, China. Japan (Sony) is a niche player. Europe is gone: Nokia (Microsoft now), Ericsson (Sony now), Alcatel (Lenovo now), ... Motorola is Lenovo now.

Looking at those losers will teach all of us a lot of lessons. Looking at why those three countries dominate the smart phone mkt is also quite educational.

[ataradov]

Looking at those losers will teach all of us a lot of lessons.

For instance?

Looking at why those three countries dominate the smart phone mkt is also quite educational.

Cheap labor and parts?

Cell phones are commodity now, there is no innovation to be had, so manufacturing moved to places where commodity goods are cheap to make.

Ericsson still makes base stations hardware and it is more profitable and less competitive than headset market, plus you don't have to follow fashion trends and argue about headphone jacks.

[coppice]

Cell phones are primarily made (including design) in the US, South Korea, China. Japan (Sony) is a niche player. Europe is gone: Nokia (Microsoft now), Ericsson (Sony now), Alcatel (Lenovo now), ... Motorola is Lenovo now.

Looking at those losers will teach all of us a lot of lessons. Looking at why those three countries dominate the smart phone mkt is also quite educational.

You seem to be behind the times. Cell phone manufacture is rapidly moving to Vietnam, following printer manufacture (Brother, Epson and others) which went to Vietnam a couple of years ago.

[chickenHeadKnob]

You missed blackberry - Canada, which is now just another android. Blackberry's loss in the business  market and in developing economy countries where they had strong product differentiation makes for an interesting  cautionary case study all on its own.

The title of this thread is grammatically incorrect, perhaps change to "which countries now make cell phones?"

[ataradov]

You missed blackberry - Canada, which is now just another android.

Nope, they stopped making phones. Now they are just services company.

Blackberry's loss in the business  market and in developing economy countries where they had strong product differentiation makes for an interesting  cautionary case study all on its own.

Not really. The whole Blackberry pitch was about security all around. And then they started giving away keys to governments left and right. After that, they are just another maker of mediocre proprietary phones with no apps.

[chickenHeadKnob]

You missed blackberry - Canada, which is now just another android.

Nope, they stopped making phones. Now they are just services company.

Which is what I intended to say  , they no longer make phones.

Blackberry's loss in the business  market and in developing economy countries where they had strong product differentiation makes for an interesting  cautionary case study all on its own.

Not really. The whole Blackberry pitch was about security all around. And then they started giving away keys to governments left and right. After that, they are just another maker of mediocre proprietary phones with no apps.

Their market share was based on more than just security, although that was a strong element of the sales pitch. The physical keyboard and the orientation to easy texting was attractive to the old business fogey  in the west who wants an email gateway, and to young people in emerging markets where texting is much cheaper and preferred over voice.

[dannyf]

I think blackberry lost due to its very strength: email and business orientation.

Young wanted more than just email: they wanted web access, they wanted a multimedia experience, they wanted something fashionable, and they definitely wanted something different from what their parents were using.

smartphones existed before iphone came out: Microsoft used to dominate that market. Jobs had the foresight of combining functionality with a great user experience, in a stylish way.

Apple then meant something different. They are still benefiting from that today, albeit in a diminishing way.

[dannyf]

the Xperia is a nice line of premium phones. under appreciated. I think it is a matter of time to them to leave that market.

The last Sony product I bought was the XBR - it must be like 20 years ago. I thought they tried too hard to go mainstream when they tried to compete with the chinese for the mass market. The audio line is crap, the video line is crap.

The three bright spots for those guys now are the playstations, camera sensors and the cameras - they truly took Konica / Minolta where those companies couldn't have dream of going.

The PS4 is a step down from PS3, in terms of workmanship. I wouldn't mind paying more if the quality is there.

[zapta]

I now use a Sony smartphone, a Sony headphone, a Sony DAC, a Vaio laptop, a Sony recorder and a Sony mirrorless camera.

You are the only one. which reminds me to Sony's "like no other" slogan.

;-)