Royals 5K set for Sept. 21

MATTERS OF FAITH

First Posted: 7/26/2013 Apple&#8217;s share of the global smartphone market fell during the second quarter to its lowest level in four years, according to data released Friday.
Apple took 13.1 percent of the worldwide market, according to ABI Research, down from 16.6 percent a year ago. That&#8217;s the lowest level since the third quarter of 2009, two years after the launch of the first iPhone.
Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., sold 31.2 million iPhones in the April-to-June period, up from 26 million in the same period a year ago, the report said. But the company&#8217;s sales growth isn&#8217;t keeping pace with the overall smartphone market, which grew 52 percent from last year.
The No. 3 and No. 4 smartphone makers, LG Electronics of Korea and Lenovo Corp. of China, doubled their sales in the quarter, according to ABI research.
Samsung, the world&#8217;s largest maker of smartphones, also saw a drop in market share.
In related cellular phone news, T-Mobile said Friday that it is temporarily eliminating upfront payments on new phones, but it is increasing the prices for some models through higher monthly payments.
Unlike rival carriers, T-Mobile charges the full retail price of phones, spread over two years, but reduces monthly service fees for voice, text and data. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and others typically charge $200 or so up front for high-end phones and make up for the rest of the phone&#8217;s cost through higher service fees over the life of a two-year contract.
Under a new payment plan introduced in March, T-Mobile charges a down payment for the phone and monthly installments until the device is paid off in two years. For instance, customers pay $146 up front for an iPhone 5 and $21 a month for two years for a total cost of $650. That&#8217;s about the same price Apple charges when someone buys the phone without a two-year contract for use at another carrier.
In eliminating the down payment, starting today, some phones will be cheaper. For instance, customers will be paying $600 overall for Samsung Electronics Co.&#8217;s Galaxy S4, compared with $630 currently. Apple&#8217;s iPhone 5 will be $2 cheaper, at $648 overall.
But HTC Corp.&#8217;s One will cost $600, up $40. Other higher-priced devices include Sony Corp.&#8217;s Xperia Z and BlackBerry Ltd.&#8217;s Q10. T-Mobile said it was revising prices to reflect demand and other factors.
&#8220;Every time we have a chance to change pricing, we always make adjustments,&#8221; said Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer at T-Mobile. &#8220;Some are going up. Some are going down. Each and every one is going to zero down.&#8221;

Smartphone rivals take bite from Apple’s market share