Apple’s “obfuscating” the sales figures for the Apple Watch on its earnings call last week (see 1507220052) sent the wrong message, Juniper Research said in a note Friday, estimating Apple has sold between 2 and 2.5 million watches since the April launch. Apple gave the appearance of cloaking “disappointing sales, which is the message investors seemingly took away from the earnings call, with shares falling by 7 percent despite a 35 percent [year-over-year] increase in iPhone sales," Juniper said. The research firm based the 2 million to 2.5 million unit range on the variance in pricing of different Watch models and on comparisons with other product launches that Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri cited on the earnings call. How many more above 2 million were sold depends on how much revenue shifted from Apple TV, Beats Electronics, iPod and accessories to the Watch -- all part of the Other Products category. Other Products was on a $200 million year-on-year decline before the Watch launch, Maestri said. Sales of 2 million to 2.5 million would make the Apple Watch the most successful smartwatch launch, Juniper said, with the Moto360 coming closest.

Vendors shipped 337 million smartphones worldwide in Q2, up 12 percent from the year-ago quarter, a preliminary report from IDC said. Robust growth in emerging markets drove Q2 shipments past Q1, which IDC called an “above average first quarter." Mobile phone shipments, including smartphones, totaled 465 million, a 0.4 percent slip from the 466 million units shipped in the year-ago quarter, IDC said Thursday. Apple and Samsung continue to lead the smartphone market, but the segment is becoming increasingly competitive on new entrants, analyst Melissa Chau said. Samsung held the lead in the worldwide smartphone market with 22 percent share, but was the only company among the top five with a shipment decline year over year, IDC said. Second-place Apple, with 14.1 percent market share, saw iPhone shipments jump 34.9 percent to 47.5 million, IDC said. The iPhone again dominated in China in Q2, IDC said, with rapid expansion of 4G networks in China driving momentum for Apple in the Asia/Pacific region. Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is growing quickly in China, citing IDC estimates of a 1.9 billion smartphone unit market in 2019 (see 1507220052).

Protecting licensed users of 600 MHz spectrum from unlicensed devices and wireless mics is key to a successful TV incentive auction, CTIA said in a filing Thursday in FCC docket 14-165. Tests show that the FCC’s proposed technical rules “would result in harmful interference to licensed services in violation of the Spectrum Act,” CTIA said. “It is essential that the Commission provide a means for addressing harmful interference from unlicensed white space devices and wireless microphone operations in the event they cause harmful interference to licensed wireless services in the 600 MHz band,” the wireless association said. “In other proceedings where the Commission has used a predictive model to prevent interference, the Commission also has adopted rules requiring the termination of interfering operations.”

Sprint paid out $1.98 billion as part of the 800 MHz rebanding by the end of 2014, the 800 MHz Transition Administrator (TA) said in a report to the FCC. The total includes $1.1 billion in reconfiguration costs, $235 million in other costs incurred by Sprint and $310 million to pay for the TA. Sprint expenditures for 2014 were $242 million, the TA said. The 800 MHz rebanding has been underway for almost 11 years, since the FCC approved its 800 MHz rebanding order, aimed at addressing interference to public safety radios in the band. The order was approved in August 2004. The rebanding was initially slated to be completed in June 2008. “The FCC has granted and continues to grant certain 800 MHz Incumbent Licensees additional time to complete their reconfigurations,” the TA said.

CTIA representatives explained its bottom-line desires on rules for the TV incentive auction, in a series of meetings with aides to FCC Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, said a filing by the association in docket 12-268. The FCC should “clarify the scope of the requirements affecting 600 MHz licensees that would trigger additional inter-service interference analyses and fully disclose any potential impairment associated with this process,” CTIA said. “For example, 600 MHz licensees should not be required to conduct extensive analyses of interference effects if proposed mobile network modifications would not increase the interference potential to a broadcast station.” CTIA also said the FCC should engage with carriers and others who may buy spectrum “in an iterative, collaborative process to make sure that these affected stakeholders will be able to analyze and understand the complicated data to be provided to them during the incentive auction.” CTIA also reported on a series of meetings President Meredith Baker had at the FCC with Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, plus other agency officials. Baker is a former FCC commissioner. "CTIA believes that with the right framework in place, a successful incentive auction will be a win-win-win for broadcasters, the wireless industry, and -- most importantly -- consumers," said a filing on the meetings. "However, in order [to] have a successful auction, wireless companies need certainty in the auction process in order to make billion-dollar investments in newly available 600 MHz band spectrum."

T-Mobile supported placing TV stations in the duplex gap after the broadcast incentive auction, in a letter to the FCC. “An FCC decision not to use the duplex gap to allow for broadcast spectrum relocation could materially impair the FCC’s ability to increase the amount of spectrum available for wireless broadband services to consumers in the United States while providing little, if any, benefits for unlicensed spectrum availability,” T-Mobile said. The filing was in docket 12-268.

The July 29 launch of Windows 10 is the “first step” in Microsoft’s ambitions to build a base of a billion Windows 10 “active devices” by 2018, CEO Satya Nadella said on an earnings call Tuesday. Based on feedback from more than 5 million people who have been using Windows 10, “we believe people will love the familiarity of Windows 10 and the innovation,” Nadella said. Microsoft will field “great flagship” premium smartphones for Windows 10, he said in Q&A, conceding that’s a market “segment” in which “we don't today have good devices, and we hope to change that with Windows 10.” Nadella’s long-term view is for Microsoft smartphones to “spark innovation, create new categories and generate opportunity for the Windows ecosystem more broadly,” he said July 8 in announcing the decision to cut up to 7,800 jobs in the restructuring of Microsoft’s smartphone business (see 1507080024). In “value” smartphones, “that's the place where I want us to be much more efficient,” he said on the Tuesday call. Microsoft needs to be “smart” about how many stock-keeping units in that segment “we want to generate” and at what price points, he said. “That's where you will see the most significant operational changes.”

It's “in the national interest” for “policymakers to execute a new spectrum plan to maintain the United States’ global wireless leadership position,” CTIA officials said in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. CTIA wants the agency to “take up this mantle and identify and repurpose over 350 MHz for licensed mobile broadband services by 2019,” CTIA said in the filing Wednesday in docket 15-125. The TV incentive auction is critical to meeting growing spectrum needs, the association said. Final auction procedures and rules “can have a significant impact on wireless industry participation and the ultimate success of the auction,” the group told O’Rielly. “It is essential that the Commission adopt an auction framework -- including auction procedures, rules to protect licensed services, rules to govern licensees’ access to newly-purchased spectrum, and protections for remaining broadcasters -- that minimizes complexity and provides potential forward auction participants with the certainty needed to make the substantial capital investments that will be required for the auction to succeed.”

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler believes wireless bills sent to consumers should be simplified, said Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Wednesday in an appearance on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show. “You should always look at the bill,” Cordray said. “But if the bill is confusing, you can look at it carefully and still not understand it.” Wheeler “and I have talked about this,” Cordray said. “We’ve agreed that it would be a good thing to try to simplify and streamline those bills.” Cordray said CFPB has pushed a “know before you owe” concept for credit card bills, mortgages and prepaid cards. “That would be an improvement,” he said. Cordray also cited as a success story Sprint and Verizon agreements in May to pay a combined $158 million in penalties and redress for wireless cramming violations (see 1505120047). The charges looked “fairly innocent” but added up and were “actually a total fraud,” Cordray said. The four major carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon -- had agreed more than a year earlier to stop billing for commercial premium SMS programs (see 1407020108). The FCC and CTIA had no comment.

The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet Aug. 26, 1-4 p.m., NTIA said Tuesday in a Federal Register notice. The meeting is at Boeing Regional Headquarters, 929 Long Bridge Dr., Arlington, Virginia.