Media
Publications:
Documents:
Audio:
Biography
Steve Yang analyzes the Canadian communications market, specifically focusing on mobility. He provides insights to Canadian wireless players around mobile phones and tablets, along with related communications from a unique Canadian perspective.
Prior to joining IDC, Steve Yang worked as a Research Analyst at a UK wireless consulting company in Beijing, China. His research covered the Chinese wireless telecommunications value chain, including key industry performance tracking, consumer behavior, equipment and handset vendor product development, mobile operators' market strategies, and international mobile industry best practices.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Wireless
Consumer Telecom Services
Smartphone Pricing
Mobile Phones
Slate Tablets
Spotlight
Associated IDC Services (2)
- Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker - Canada Region
- Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker - Canada Region
Education (1)
Anglia Ruskin University: B.A., Business Administration (Marketing) 1999
Languages (2)
- English
- Mandarin
Links (3)
Media Appearances (5)
If Ottawa wants to lower wireless bills, it should tackle smartphone prices
Globe and Mail
2020-01-24
Telecom executives have long complained that Apple, in particular, offers them no flexibility in pricing based on volume and controls carrier marketing and advertising.

Carriers’ new financing plans offered as way to ease the cost of smartphones
The Star online
2019-12-15
The overall price of smartphones on the market has risen dramatically. “Definitely more than inflation,” says Steve Yang, who analyzes the Canadian communications equipment market for IDC Canada. Two years ago, Apple’s iPhone X was notable for bursting through the $1,000 price point. Now, Yang says, about 70 per cent of the phones on the market cost more than $1,000.

U.S. rules cast doubt on Huawei handset launches
The Star
2019-05-24
Huawei phone sales have surged in Canada over the past two years thanks to competitive pricing, a popular camera and other high-end features, said IDC Canada mobility senior analyst Steve Yang, adding that Huawei’s market share jumped to about 6 per cent from less than 3 per cent over the period. He said Huawei has leap-frogged brands including BlackBerry to become the country’s third most popular smartphone after Apple and Samsung. Read more...

Hot Product Trends in 2018 and What's Ahead
Wifi Hifi Magazine
2018-12-23
MOBILE: The Rise of Huawei The two-horse smartphone race between Apple and Samsung became a three-horse one this year. In the second quarter of the year, Huawei snuck past Apple to snag the second spot in the global smartphone space, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. That’s a major accomplishment, as it was the first quarter since Q2 2010 that Apple was not number-one or two in market share. “Apple, Samsung, and LG hold almost 90 percent of total Canadian smartphone market,” Steve Yang, Senior Analyst, Communication & Mobility, IDC Canada tells WiFi HiFi, “but Huawei has shown strong momentum.”

How Huawei built its brand in Canada
The Globe and Mail
2018-12-11
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. still lags far behind other major mobile phone manufacturers in market share in Canada, but when it comes to marketing, the brand’s presence here has been growing significantly.

Reports (13)
Apple 2020 Fall Launches (Smartphones and Smart Speakers) - A Canadian Take
IDC CanadaManish Nargas, Shahd ElAshri, Jean Philippe Bouchard, Steve Yang
2020-10-20
On October 13th, at the Apple "Hi, Speed" Event (the 2nd installment of Apple's fall 2020 product launches); Apple finally made its much-awaited Smartphone announcements bringing refresh design aesthetics and new product innovations, while managing to introduce 5G connectivity across its new lineup. Additionally, a long overdue breath of fresh air was injected into the Apple's smart speaker portfolio after a three-year hiatus with the introduction of the new HomePod Mini.
Google 2020 Fall Event - A Canadian Take
IDC CanadaManish Nargas, Shahd ElAshri, Jean Philippe Bouchard, Steve Yang
2020-10-05
On September 30th 2020, at their "Launch Night In" event - Google announced new smartphones and smart home devices that look to help the search giant drive market penetration – while the smart home devices look to solidify their market position, the new smartphones seem to be a Hail Mary pass to try to win over the Canadian market which is currently dominated by Apple and Samsung.
Canadian Consumer Devices Survey 2020 Results: Mobile Phones
IDC CanadaManish Nargas, Steve Yang
2020-08-14
This IDC Survey presents findings from IDC Canada's recent consumer surveys focusing on mature hardware — mobile phones. The showcased data highlights consumer interest, ownership, usage, preferences, and future potential for the purchase of these mature devices. Further, the document also outlines data on brands and purchase channels and the key top-of-mind features for Canadian consumers. Additional insight is provided through added demographic comparisons where relevant. Note that this year's consumer survey was in field during the peak of COVID-19 restrictions in Canada, namely, June 2020. The data presented in this survey is useful for market intelligence roles, product managers, and product marketers that seek to understand the buyer behaviour of Canadian consumers toward the mature hardware mobile phone market.
COVID-19 Impact: 2020 Canadian Smartphone Market
IDC CanadaSteve Yang, Shahd ElAshri, JP Bouchard
2020-06-30
This IDC Market Note presents the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Canadian smartphone market, discusses the outcome of launching new models in the current economic situation, and provides IDC's COVID-19 forecast of the market.
Rogers Next-Gen 5G Network Launched in Canada — What Now?
IDC CanadaJean Philippe Bouchard, Manish Nargas, Steve Yang
2020-02-28
This IDC Market Note provides IDC's point of view with regard to the recent Rogers 5G network launch announcement on January 15, 2020, and subsequent 5G-enabled smartphone hardware launch. This document discusses the implications of this milestone launch on the Canadian market in terms of competitive landscape, new device availability, and end-user benefits.
Microsoft Surface – Beyond Just Hardware: A Canadian Perspective
IDC CanadaManish Nargas, Jean Philippe Bouchard, Tim Brunt, Steve Yang
2019-10-10
At its October 2nd 2019 Surface Event, Microsoft announced a slew of new devices, running on silicon from multiple chipset providers and varying operating systems. From a Canadian market perspective, the new devices should help Microsoft grow its shares of the portables and detachables markets, but the value, and intent, of the event should be recognized beyond a pure hardware tour de force. The launches should be seen as a demonstration that Microsoft is definitely ready to deliver its own suite of product and services across a wider range of devices and (still) undefined uses cases.
Canadian Consumer Devices Survey 2019 Results: Mobile Phones
IDC CanadaManish Nargas, Steve Yang
2019-09-26
This IDC Survey document presents findings from IDC Canada's recent consumer surveys focusing on mature hardware — mobile phones. The showcased data highlights consumer interest, ownership, usage, preferences, and future potential for purchase of mature devices. Further, the document also outlines data on brands, purchase channels, and the key top of mind devices for Canadian consumers. Additional insight is provided through additional demographic comparisons where relevant. The data presented in this survey is useful for market intelligence roles, product managers, and product marketers that seek to understand the buyer behaviour of Canadian consumers for the mature hardware mobile phone market.
Canadian Consumer Devices 2019 Survey Results: PCs and Tablets
IDC CanadaManish Nargas, Jean Philippe Bouchard, Tim Brunt, Steve Yang
2019-09-26
This IDC Survey document presents findings from IDC Canada's recent consumer surveys focusing on mature hardware categories, specifically PCs (laptops and desktops) and tablets. The showcased data highlights consumer interest, ownership, usage, preferences, and future potential for purchase of mature devices. Further, the document also outlines data on brands, purchase channels, and the key top of mind devices for Canadian consumers. Additional insight is provided through additional demographic comparisons where relevant. The data presented in this survey is useful for market intelligence roles, product managers, and product marketers that seek to understand the buyer behaviour of Canadian consumers for mature hardware devices.
Apple Launches 2019 Portfolio of Products and Services – A Canadian Take
IDC CanadaJean Philippe Bouchard, Steve Yang, Manish Nargas
2019-09-23
On September 10th, Apple held its “by innovation only” event in Cupertino. Apple unveiled the latest iterations of their wearables, tablets and smartphone portfolio, as well as to give more details on its content subscription service.
IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker Taxonomy, 2019
IDCMelissa Chau, Ryan Reith, Sangeetika Srivastava, Jay Chou, Simon Baker, Francisco Jeronimo, Kiranjeet Kaur, Susana Santos, Natalia Milko, Steve Yang, Anthony Scarsella, Nabila Popal, Marta Pinto, Akira Sugawara, Ramazan Yavuz, Will Wong, Ahmed M. Ahmed, Paola Soriano, Ricardo Mendoza, Diego Beristain
2019-02-23
This IDC study provides a comprehensive overview of and definitions for the mobile phone market. The definitions provided in this document represent the scope of IDC's mobile phone research. This taxonomy outlines market segmentations and measurement methodologies for the mobile phone industry, including classification by technology, vendor, geography, and revenue metrics.
IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Mobility 2019 Predictions
IDCPhil Hochmuth, Bryan Bassett, Jean Philippe Bouchard, John Delaney, Jason Leigh, Denise Lund, Angela Salmeron, James Wester, Steve Yang
2018-10-31
This IDC study for the 2019 mobility market provides our global team's view on some of the key topics we expect to affect businesses over the next few years. Some of the topics we raise in this year's IDC FutureScape are: • Business-transforming services based on emerging 5G network features • Artificial intelligence (AI) seeping into all aspects of mobile device functions • Heightened mobile security awareness • Integration of mobility deeper into fabric of society: homes, personal finance, and identity • New as-a-service models for the delivery of mobile technology.
Canadian Consumer Devices Survey 2018 Results: Mobile Phones
IDC CanadaManish Nargas, Steve Yang
2018-10-09
This IDC Survey document presents findings from IDC Canada's recent consumer surveys focusing on mature hardware — mobile phones. The showcased data highlights consumer interest, ownership, usage, preferences, and future potential for purchase of mature devices. Further, the document also outlines data on brands, purchase channels, and the key top of mind devices for Canadian consumers. Additional insight is provided through additional demographic comparisons where relevant. The data presented in this survey is useful for market intelligence roles, product managers, and product marketers that seek to understand the buyer behaviour of Canadian consumers for the mature hardware mobile phone market.
IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker Taxonomy, 2018
IDC Canada2018-08-03
This IDC study provides a comprehensive overview of and definitions for mobile phones. The definitions provided in this document represent the scope of IDC's mobile phone research. This taxonomy outlines market segmentations and measurement methodologies for the mobile phone industry, including classification by technology, vendor, geography, and revenue metrics. "IDC's mobile phone taxonomy presents a standardized and detailed framework of the mobile phone market," said Ryan Reith, program vice president for IDC's Mobile Phone, Personal Computing Device, Wearable, and AR/VR Trackers. "The taxonomy document serves as a guideline for users to better understand and use IDC mobile phone research."
Social