Yellowfin set to capitalize on Japan?s shift to Android
Japanese technology manufacturer, Onkyo, has announced that it will preload its Android-based TA117 Tablet computer with Yellowfin’s Business Intelligence (BI) Android application.
Yellowfin, a Melbourne-based international BI software vendor and market leader in Mobile BI, officially released its application for Google’s Android platform in January this year. The native android application is 100 percent Web-based and gives enterprises access to all their business data on the go.
“Yellowfin’s native Android application gives users total device independence,” said Yellowfin Product Architect, Peter Damen. “Users can run and access all of Yellowfin’s world-class reporting and analytics features from their android device, anywhere, anytime.”
Onkyo began aggressively expanding into the rapidly growing enterprise tablet market with the release of its enterprise-focused TA series in December 2010, which has received strong interest from the healthcare and finance industries.
“We’re obviously delighted with Onkyo’s decision and the opportunity to further expand our presence in the Japanese marketplace,” said Yellowfin CEO, Glen Rabie. “Japan, as a leader in mobile phone usage and technology, has significant growth potential regarding enterprise mobile devices and applications. Importantly, the Android platform is set to explode.”
The Android operating system (OS) has gained considerable ground on Apple’s iPhone OS over the last 12 months, with growth expected to continue throughout 2011.
Growth is predicted to be particularly strong in the Japanese marketplace due to fierce rivalry amongst Japan’s three major mobile phone carriers.
Softbank Mobile, Japan’s number three mobile carrier, holds the exclusive rights to Apple’s iPhone platform for the Japanese market.
To combat the popularity of the iPhone, and regain presence within the lucrative Japanese smartphone market, Japan’s two largest mobile providers, NTT DoCoMo and au by KDDI, are aggressively pushing Google’s Android platform.
And the push is working, as Softbank begins to lose its initial hold on the Japanese smartphone market.
Japanese mobile phone traffic data released by Trend Research in the last quarter of 2010 showed that the iPhone’s dominance was being eroded. NTT DoCoMo received the most pageviews by operator, regardless of device, with au narrowly leading Softbank.
Again, NTT DoCoMo led the number of pageviews by devices classified as smartphones, with au and Softbank battling it out for second spot. Both DoCoMo and au gained significant ground on Softbank in the pageviews by device (smartphone) category towards the end of 2010, coinciding with the release of au’s first Android phone and the Samsung Galaxy on the Android OS by DoCoMo.
Android shipments to Japan have taken off over the past year, with nearly 1.4 million units shipping from local as well as international vendors, such as HTC, according to the latest research from technology analyst firm Canalys.
More Japanese vendors have also announced plans to launch Android devices in 2011, such as NEC Casio and Panasonic.
“It’s clear that the Android platform is mounting a serious challenge in Japan, backed by the two largest telco’s in NTT DoCoMo and KDDI,” said Rabie. “Yellowfin is well placed to capitalize on Japan’s shift to the Android OS.”
Sales of Google Android phones have been climbing worldwide, with Android surpassing Nokia’s Symbian platform as the world’s best-selling smartphone platform in the last quarter of 2010, according to Canalys’ latest smartphone sales figures. 32.9 million Android handsets were sold in the last quarter of 2010, up from 20.3 million in Q3 2010, beating previous leader Symbian, which sold 31 million units. Canalys predicts that Android sales will continue to grow at more than twice the rate of its major smartphone competitors throughout 2011.
Market research firm ComScore confirmed this trend, reporting that the Android overtook Apple in the US smartphone market for the first time in November 2010, with 26 percent of the market, compared to Apple’s 25 percent.
IDC senior research analyst, Ramon Llamas, also attributes much of the 87.2 percent rise in year over-year worldwide smartphone shipments (Q4 2010 compared to Q4 2009), reported in the IDC’s latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker market research study, to the rising popularity of the Android platform.
“Android continues to gain by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market,” said Llamas. “It has become the cornerstone of multiple vendors’ smartphone strategies, and has quickly become a challenger to market leader Symbian. Although Symbian has the backing of market leader Nokia, Android has multiple vendors, including HTC, LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung and a growing list of companies deploying Android on their devices.”
Yellowfin was first launched in Japan in 2007 and is distributed by Kyocera Maruzen Systems Integration（Co. Ltd.）
What is Business Intelligence software?
BI refers to a broad range of computer software applications and tools used to report, analyze and present data in a range of formats, to help businesses identify trends and opportunities, and support fundamental decision-making.
About Yellowfin
Yellowfin is a global Business Intelligence (BI) software vendor headquartered and developed in Melbourne, Australia. Yellowfin is a highly intuitive 100 percent Web-based reporting and analytics solution.
For further media information, interviews, images or product demonstration, please contact:
Lachlan James, Communications Coordinator on +61 03 9090 0454, 0431 835 658 or lachlan.james@yellowfin.bi
For regular updates and news follow Yellowfin on Twitter (@YellowfinBI) or subscribe to our free e-newsletter. www.yellowfinbi.com