Sound familiar? Ultra-cheap unlimited plans are doing well (in some cases, too well) for everyone that's offering them these days, and it seems that Virgin is no exception to the rule. Following the April 15 launch of its $49.99 unlimited plan, the company announced during its earnings call this week that it's seen a five-times-over boost in unlimited plan adds (yeah, bargain pricing will do that), which dovetails nicely with the MVNO's claim earlier in the year that the crappy economy really set it up for big wins in '09. Notably, the quarter saw income rise 301 percent year-over-year to $19.1 million while operating revenues rose 2 percent to $337.3 million, so things are looking up for these guys just months after financials were looking weak -- so strong, in fact, that they've revised their full year cash flow and earnings upwards. Does this mean we get new Helio gear soon?

[Via mocoNews]

ZTE is mirroring fellow Chinese manufacturer Huawei's surprising success in the face a crappy economy, posting an impressive 35 percent growth in revenue for the last quarter over the same period a year prior -- and profit wasn't far behind at 29 percent growth. Much of that success can be credited to major wins in the company's 3G infrastructure business, but that may not be the most interesting story to come out of the quarterly report; instead, we're curious to find out more about a new business unit ZTE's throwing together to cater specifically to the needs of "high-end" markets like the US and Europe. Historically, ZTE's bread and butter has been in the low end, but this could mean that the company's looking to move beyond its dwellings on the basic side of regional carriers' lineups -- and seeing how competition is always good, we say bring it on.

"Loss" is a buzzword in the last couple quarters' worth of earnings reports from virtually every major manufacturer, but Huawei has somehow managed to operate in some bizarro La-La Land seemingly immune from the economic disaster unfolding around it. In 2008, the private Shenzhen-based firm posted an annual net profit of $1.15 billion, up some 20 percent from the year prior; it lost $776 million in the process due to the yuan's gains against the dollar, but that's still extraordinarily impressive. Interestingly, a majority of Huawei's business comes from outside China, suggesting that carriers around the world are looking outside traditional infrastructure suppliers like Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nokia Siemens to save a few bucks -- notably including Cox for its upcoming 700MHz buildout. 2009 might be a bit weaker thanks to soft demand in Europe, but still, they're predicting a whopping 29 percent growth in contract wins. Good to see some serious success in a down market, isn't it?

[Via mocoNews]

It's a tough operating environment for even the healthiest manufacturers right now, and LG's no more immune than anyone else -- or is it? Despite a dismal global economy, the Korean electronics giant and world's number three phone maker reported that it actually took in some 23 percent more revenue on phone sales over the same quarter last year -- a total of 3.92 trillion won (about $2.9 billion) -- though profit fell some 41 percent. Overall, phone shipments declined 7 percent to 22.6 million in the quarter, blamed in part on the perennial post-holiday decline, but saw strength through its midrange with models like the Cookie and KS360 (we're not sold on lumping those two in the same market segment, but whatevs). Perhaps the best news to come out of the quarterly report is that it expects 10 percent growth going into the current quarter thanks to a new concentration on upper-tier devices like the Arena, Viewty Smart, and GD900 along with message-centric phones like the Neon and Xenon. You know what'd really spur sales for ya, LG? A US release of the Viewty Smart... yeah, that's it.

[Via mocoNews]

Truthfully, we wouldn't put too much stock in that headline considering that Samsung Mobile Display, a company that makes its ends off of selling active-matrix OLEDs, is the source. But on the other hand, we can definitely see it coming to fruition. According to a new report, said outfit has stated that OLED screens of some sort will be on over half of all mobile phones (not just smartphones, mind you) within the next five years, and that these same power-sipping displays will be on 20 percent of digital cameras and 30 percent of portable game players (PSP2, anyone?) within the same window of time. While it may seem a bit far-fetched now, we actually have good reason to believe that OLED adoption will indeed skyrocket on the small scale; it's those big screen TVs that we're worried only our grandchildren will truly enjoy.

[Via OLED-Info]

Some good news, please, Sony Ericsson? Anything? Perhaps a surprise Idou ship date? You desperately need something to counter this dismal quarterly report you just dropped on a bad news-saturated public, showing a net loss of €293 million (about $382 million) in the three-month period ending March 31 -- more than €100 million more than the amount you shed in the quarter prior. Despite reassurances to the contrary, we suspect that neither Sony nor Ericsson are prepared to tolerate red ink out of their joint venture forever, and it doesn't help that you've put Android on the back burner indefinitely. What's more, we thought your staff might be able to exhale now that the "cost saving program" to curtail spending by €300 million by cutting 2,000 jobs is complete, but you've coupled the bleak report with the announcement of an additional 2,000 cuts. Your shipped units are off a staggering 35 percent year over year, to boot; maybe the "good" news -- and we're really reaching here -- is that your European rivals are sharing in your pain right about now. Chins up, guys, and get some quality product out of the labs.

Back in November, Apple's iPhone 3G overtook the almighty RAZR as the best-selling handset on US soil, and merely a week later, analysts pinpointed Motorola (and Sony Ericsson, in fairness) as being handset makers that could have a tough time "weathering the storm." Now, a new piece of research from MultiMedia Intelligence has it that Motorola's market share dominance is about to end, and end quickly. If forecasts are accurate, rivals LG and Samsung will surpass Moto in 2009 (in America), and with RIM and Apple selling their fair share as well, it's doubtful Motorola will be able to simply swipe away users of other handsets without something revolutionary on the table. Hear that Moto? Revolutionary? We love to be surprised, you know.

[Via mocoNews, image courtesy of SynergyGroup]

No clue if you've been paying attention the past few months, but quite a bit of belt tightening has been going on. Granted, Apple's been making out just fine, but a fresh report from the doors of FBR Research asserts that it may be cutting its Q4 iPhone 3G production in the wake of a global spending slowdown. It should be noted that a 10% cut was already on the table, making this 30% larger than anticipated. According to the report, the firm's reported decision to scale back production "suggests that the global macroeconomic weakness is impacting even high-end consumers, those that are more likely to buy Apple's expensive gadgets." As we restrain ourselves from thanking Captain Obvious, we should also point out that this may not be nearly as big a deal as the numbers make it seem -- maybe it overshot Q3 production in order to guarantee 100% service levels in all markets, for instance. How's that for analysis?

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

With all sorts of outlandish figures being bandied about regarding sales / expectations for the T-Mobile G1, someone intimately close to the situation has finally chimed in with his take. Peter Chou, chief executive and co-founder of HTC, stated in a recent interview that it expects to ship over 600,000 G1s this year, and while he wouldn't come clean on an exact figure for 2009, he did proclaim that "in general, we think we can do more next year." We aren't betting the farm that his prediction will come true or anything, but it certainly falls within the realm of feasibility. Oh, and if you were wondering how Mr. Chou planned on convincing potential iPhone buyers to opt for the G1 instead, he reckons that the full QWERTY keypad will handle that for him -- after all, "Americans are very keyboard-oriented."

[Via mocoNews]

We already know that a solid chunk of Britons use mobile internet while in the throes of passion, and now Captain Obvious (today known as Nokia) has awkwardly landed to tell the world that Americans do too. A recent survey, which we can only imagine was absolutely thrilling to conduct, found that some 53% of working Americans "have been interrupted by a work-related phone call or e-mail while in the bathroom." Furthermore, some 23% have allowed a call / e-mail to interrupt them while on a date, but that's probably because 59% of those polled never, ever turn off their mobile. Just think -- the next time your buddy answers with a hint of stress in his / her voice, there's a statistically significant chance that you're barging in on some seriously personal business.

[Image courtesy of fletchy182]

There's a pretty substantial difference between "sales" and "popularity," as evidenced by the glaring dissimilarities between this here top 10 list and the one churned out earlier this month by NPD. AvianResearch got its data by polling 100 service representatives at retail stores to "gauge consumer interest in handsets available at the four major carriers in the United States." In September, RIM's BlackBerry Curve maintained the "lead," with Apple's iPhone securing a very distant second place. LG's Dare and the BlackBerry Pearl followed suit, while the LG Voyager, Samsung Instinct, LG Rumor, LG Shine, Palm Centro and Nokia 5310 closed out the rear. But seriously, since when has popularity trumped cold hard sales? Ah well, here's your cookie, Curve.

Shortly after seeing an all new Vertu hit the FCC, in flies word confirming that the handset maker may actually sell quite a few (by its standards). According to a new report from ABI Research, the annual global revenue for opulent cellphones will exceed $41 billion next year and surpass $43 billion by 2013. This year, just under 6 million "luxury handsets" are expected to be sold (what exactly defines "luxury?"), with Western Europe leading the way in demand, followed by North America and Asia. Of course, the writeup also asserts that sales of these kinds will remain extraordinarily low compared to all those free-on-contract sets, but don't be surprised to see a few new faces (and their accompanying mobiles) at this year's debutante ball.

Uh oh, Moto. Go 'head with your bad self. Just days after posting a meager profit (but a profit nonetheless) and maintaining your position in third in worldwide mobile market share, along comes a report claiming that you're still numero uno in the United States. While handset sales overall shot up 5.3% here in Q2, Motorola maintained a 26% share and managed to stare down at least a few naysayers. In related news, LG held tight to the silver with 22%, while RIM gained a double-digit market share increase thanks to sales of its oh-so-hot BlackBerry handset. Number nerds, feel free to tap the read link for even more fractions and decimals.

[Via RCRWireless]

It looks like it's a surprisingly good time to be a behemoth US carrier, with both AT&T and Verizon reporting some pretty aggressive profits in the first quarter of 2008 in the face of a flagging economy. Many of Verizon's results closely mirror AT&T's actually, with data revenue absolutely destroying the numbers from a year ago -- up 48.9 percent year over year, in Big Red's case. As we can see from Verizon's own documentation here, they're tooting their horn against their arch-nemesis with more net adds, a slightly better ARPU, lower churn, and lower cost per customer, with service revenue and total subs (of course) being AT&T's big wins. Whether the momentum can be kept up through a challenging '08 remains to be seen, but it's a solid start for the nation's number two. Hit the gallery below for a big shot of Verizon's message to employees regarding the results.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]