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Huawei and Vivo are fastest-growing smartphone brands in the Philippines

While Samsung and Apple take a hit

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Certain smartphone brands are doing incredibly well in the Philippines this year — at the expense of competing manufacturers, of course.

Counterpoint Research released its latest market share data for the Philippines, specifically for the second quarter of 2018. Smartphone shipments saw a growth of nine percent compared to the same period last year, and it’s thanks mostly to the surge of Chinese brands.

Tarun Pathak, Associate Director of Counterpoint, said, “The Philippines smartphone market increased primarily due to the aggressive approach by Chinese OEMs as well as seasonality factors.”

The numbers definitely speak for themselves:

Samsung still has the top spot with one-fifth of the smartphone market thanks to strong sales from its Galaxy J series, which contribute to over 68 percent of Samsung’s total shipments. Cherry Mobile, which is the only Philippine-based brand in the top five, is maintaining its second place quite well with a market share of 17 percent.

However, Vivo, OPPO, and Huawei are quickly gaining ground with a combined 42 percent. While OPPO experienced a one percent increase in market share, it’s Huawei and Vivo that truly shined during this quarter. They increased their market share by nine and eight percent, respectively, solidifying their spots in the top five.

This is the first time Huawei has appeared on this list rather than with the “others,” which consists of a mix of international and local brands. Apple, in particular, took a big dive with a two percent market share after its five percent showing from the same period last year. MyPhone and Cloudfone also experienced sinking sales.

Research Analyst Hanish Bhatia mentions that “The sub-US$ 200 price band captured nearly 75 percent of the smartphone market during Q2 2018. This is the sweet spot for the market and key focus of leading brands. Local players such as Cherry Mobile and MyPhone are now solely targeting the sub-US$ 99 price segment, primarily due to the aggressive approach of Chinese OEMs in the mid-tier price segments.”

Another statistic worth noting is the number of feature phones still being shipped in the Philippines. They account for 24 percent of all handset sales, meaning one out of every four phones isn’t an Android or iOS device.

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MediaTek launches the Dimensity 9600 Pro

Smartphones are scheduled to launch later this year.

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The stage is set for next year’s smartphones. Both MediaTek and Qualcomm have unleased their upcoming flagship chipsets for the coming generation. If you’re looking for the Qualcomm side of things, go here. But if you’re looking for MediaTek, then you’re in the right place.

The Dimensity 9600 Pro adopts the 2nm process mode, which makes MediaTek one of the first companies to use it. The chip itself features a 2+3+3 All Big Core CPU. Specifically, it has two C2-Ultra cores going up to 4.55GHz, three C2-Pro cores going up to 4.35GHz, and three C2-Pro ones going up to 3.1GHz. This configuration can reportedly achieve 17 percent better single-core performance and 15 percent higher multi-core performance.

Besides all that power inherently built in, the chipset also has the G2-Ultra NX GPU. This GPU can deliver 27 percent higher peak performance, 24 percent lower power consumption, 18 percent faster raytracing, and gaming at up to 185 frames per second.

Finally, the chipset has the Imagiq 1290 ISP. With this engine, the processor can handle 60fps motion capture and 4K240 direct-output ultra-slow-motion video.

Alongside the Dimensity 9600 Pro, MediaTek is also launching the Dimensity 9600M, a slightly more lightweight option of the Pro that deliver flagship level performance to more users outside of that price point.

Smartphones that will come with the Dimensity 9600 Pro and 9600M will launch sometime in the fourth quarter.

SEE ALSO: MediaTek unveils Dimensity 9500s, 8500 mobile processors

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Qualcomm unveils the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series

This time, there are two models.

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The end of the year always heralds the next step of processors for next year’s smartphones. Besides the oodles of phone rumors we’ll have before the year ends, these new processors give us a powerful hint of what the new machinery can do. Today, Qualcomm has unveiled that next generation, announcing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.

Yes, this time, the Snapdragon flagship chipset will come in two flavors. Let’s start with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.

The “base” model of the duo has an octa-core Oryon CPU with two prime cores going up to 5GHz. It also has an Adreno GPU that touts 35 percent faster performance compared to the previous generation. Additionally, the chipset has a 16MB Flex Cache which can supposedly leverage the cache better to deliver better single-threaded performance.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 will also have a new Spectra ISP. The engine can support single image capturing at 320 megapixels, or 64 megapixels with a triple rear camera combo. It also supports 8K video capturing at 30fps. Further, Intelligent Pixel Control features better contextualization skills so the camera can more accurately detect what you’re taking a photo or video of.

Finally, the X105 5G modem offers the usual array of 5G connectivity options but also goes up to supporting Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 8.

Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 offers much of the same as the duo’s regular model. However, it features 18MB of high performance memory, video recording that goes up to 60fps at 8K resolution, and new Matrix Cores that boost frame generation for gaming.

As expected, both models will appear in new smartphones from later this year to next year.

SEE ALSO: Qualcomm is raising its prices this year

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TECNO EllaClaw wants to make mobile AI feel more personal

What if your phone’s AI could actually learn how you work?

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Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

AI assistants are getting smarter, but TECNO wants them to become more useful, too.

The company recently showcased EllaClaw, its exploratory mobile AI agent, with a set of customized workflows built with Digital Trends specifically for journalists and content creators.

Instead of simply asking an AI chatbot a question, EllaClaw can handle entire workflows.

For instance, News Background Research can take a developing story, search selected news sources, and turn the findings into a structured brief. The results can also be saved to Notes or converted into audio for a quick listen.

There’s also Research-to-Script. This turns research findings into storyboards, script suggestions, and creative assets.

EllaClaw can also learn how you write. Its Personal Writing Style workflow analyzes writing samples and builds a reusable style profile that can evolve with more samples and feedback.

And before you hit publish, Social Media Risk-Word Check can review your content for platform-specific concerns.

The interesting part? TECNO isn’t positioning EllaClaw as something that takes over your work. It’s designed to be a digital co-pilot, not an autopilot. Users can still review and approve AI-generated content before publication.

For now, these workflows are built around content creators. But they offer a glimpse of where mobile AI could be heading: less generic assistance, more AI that actually fits the way you work.

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