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www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk Michel expects major impact from HTC this year


Brightstar 20:20 believes newly-signed manufacturer partner HTC is now well equipped for a UK market assault. Brightstar 20:20 managing director Jim Michel, who signed up the Taiwanese firm last month, hailed the company’s portfolio – in particular the recent HTC One (M8), which also went on sale last month. “We have just signed up HTC,” said


Michel. “We believe they are going to make huge inroads this year. They have a better set up and a fantastic product in the M8. They are an important partner.” Michel, who also praised partner Huawei as doing a “great job”, Brightstar


20:20 with Motorola. is seeking a


hinted deal


Motorola account


director Damien Haralambos and account manager James Turner were


in attendance at the event. At present, Motorola is understood to only distribute devices through Brightstar 20:20 rival Tech Data Mobile. Handsets currently include the Moto G and Moto X. However, the manufacturer’s former vice president and general manager Andrew Morley has left the door open for additional partners, telling Mobile News in January that as its portfolio increases, adding distribution


partnerships is something that will be considered.


Michel said manufacturers are now taking the challenge to market leaders Apple and Samsung. “The market changes all the time,” said Michel. “In October last year 85 per cent of the market was Samsung and Apple. Now it’s around 70 per cent, so it shows the other guys are changing things.”


Michel: Claure’s ambition convinced me to join


Jim Michel claims it took him less than an hour to join Brightstar 20:20 as man- aging director, following a meeting with founder and chief executive Mar- celo Claure. Michel, who has held MD positions


at Motorola and LG, rejoined Brightstar as MD in December, prior to the deal for 20:20 being completed. He had a previ- ous spell as Brightstar MD in 2011, hav- ing headed Brightstar Europe, a posi- tion he retained following Tech Data’s


HTC One (M8): ‘Fantastic product’ Wearables: hope or hype?


Launch event included presentation from CCS Insight chief of research Ben Wood and chief executive Shaun Collins, both discussing current and future trends in the UK market


Wearable technology has been a buzzword for the mobile industry in the past six to 12 months, with an array of Smartwatch and fitness products such as UP and Fitbit being launched to the market. However, CCS Insight chief of research


Ben Wood remains unconvinced they have a long-term future – suggesting many of their functions will move back to the smartphone.


Next big thing? “The space that seems to be the hottest right now is wearables.


I’ve been


astounded by the amount of interest in wearables this year. But I have to say I’m not absolutely convinced by wearables right now. It’s the next big thing and everyone is certainly placing a lot of hope in this space, however my fear is that we could be embarking on a journey of hype.” Wood revealed results from a survey


CCS Insight: Collins (left) has faith in 4G uptake. Wood is unconvinced about the long-term prospects for wearable technology


carried out last year that questioned 1,000 people in the UK and 1,000 in the US, asking about their awareness of the wearables space. The results showed awareness was


“very high” – particularly in the US. In the UK, 62 per cent of those questioned had heard of a smartwatch, compared with 64 per cent in the US. But only 47 per cent of UK customers had heard of a fitness tracker, compared with 60 per cent in the US; 33 per cent in the UK had heard of Google Glass, compared with 44 per cent in the US.


“Forgetting to wear it, that’s not something I’m too concerned about. Change happens. It’s like remembering to wear instinct.


your seatbelt, it becomes “But the reason, ‘I got bored with


it’, is a concern. In an industry that thrives on replacement sales, which is basically what the UK is for the


“The reason ‘I got bored with it’ is a concern in an industry that thrives on replacement sales”


“I was blown away that 33 per cent of


people in the UK had heard of Google Glass,” said Wood. “Google Glass isn’t commercially available here or in the US. It’s just a product, a concept which is out there.”


Time for a change However, the same survey also looked into customers who had purchased a smartwatch – but subsequently stopped using it.


Wearables in vogue: Clockwise, Moves app, Fitbit, Samsung Gear 2 Neo, Jawbone’s Up


It found the biggest reason (around 45 per cent), had simply forgotten to wear it, whilst other reasons included boredom (around 24 per cent), a dislike to wearing it (around 18 per cent) and a lack of benefit (10 per cent). Wood said he is concerned the results, particularly the high percentage of those “getting bored”, will prevent the market from growing, as people that have bought into it will think twice about upgrading.


mobile phone industry, that’s worrying. Because when the next big thing comes out in the next 12 to 18 months, you won’t be rushing out to replace the one you spent £250 on which is still sitting in the draw.” Wood added he can see a number of the functionalities – once associated to the wearable space returning to smartphones – deeming them unnecessary.


He noted the inclusion of Fitbit, a health and fitness monitoring wristband, on the HTC One (M8), and functionality such as heart monitoring used on the Samsung Galaxy S5 as well as a variety of apps already on the market offering comparable service. “All is not lost in the smartphone


space,” said Wood. “A lot of the functions we see in wearables today will be rolled back into smartphones as well. Anyone with an iPhone or Android Phone can download them.”


£106 million JV buyout of Brightstar in September 2012, but resigned in April last year for personal reasons. “I’ve been with a couple of operators


and the thing that brought me here was the CEO. He is very entrepreneurial and wakes up and goes to sleep thinking of ways to rule the world. He’s very ambi- tious, and it was his drive and energy which made me decide this was the place to be. It took less than an hour to make my decision.”


Claure: Drive and energy


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