2011: a wild year for mobile

In 2011 the U.S. mobile market continued to expand – especially the move by consumers to smartphones. But this growth also stimulated a feverish scramble by major manufacturers, who elbowed, clashed and sued each other and fought with government regulators.

The biggest story was undoubtedly AT&T’s thwarted bid to acquire failing number four carrier, T-Mobile. A merger would have brought more U.S. high-wage jobs and expanded access to unserved areas, but the federal government thought otherwise.

At year’s end, Verizon Wireless contracted with major cable operators to procure $3.6 billion worth of spectrum, and to cross market with the cable companies. And in seemingly every country, Apple brought court patent cases against Samsung and other manufacturers, all of whom were accused of copying the iPhone.

But other cases were in the news, recently well detailed by CNET.com. For instance:

•    Google said it would by Motorola's wireless division.
•    Nokia ditched Symbian for Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.
•    Sony took control of Sony Ericsson.
•    Samsung soared to the top of smartphone market, surpassing Apple as the No. 1 smartphone maker.
•    Sprint and Verizon each got the iPhone.
•    HP dumped WebOS.
•    And Blackberry marker Research In Motion stumbled developing a tablet, when its new smartphones were delayed, and when its network experienced major outages.

While all this market ferment is mirrored by frantic technological developments, it’s hard to say whether consumers or workers really benefit from such a volatile industry. Stay tuned till 2012.

Deal-making frenzy dominated mobile in 2011 (CNET, Dec. 19, 2011)