News

Only Huawei sees growth as China’s smartphone shipment growth stalls

Everyone else got hit hard

Published

on

Canalys, an independent research company based in Singapore, published the list of smartphone brands that dominated the Chinese market during the fourth quarter of 2017.

Huawei, with its sub-brands Nova and Honor, had their best ever quarter in China with more than 24 million smartphones shipped. Huawei grew by 9 percent in a market that declined by more than 14 percent, effectively outperforming the overall market. Honor, especially, continued to establish its importance for Huawei by contributing more than half of the unit volume or 12 million shipped phones. Honor and Nova gained market share from smaller vendors like Gionee and Meizu.

OPPO shipped 19 million smartphones, a decline of 16 percent, and Vivo shipped 13 million smartphones, which also declined by 7 percent. Even though their shipment volume declined, OPPO and Vivo were able to hold on to their respective second and third spots. The flagship stores both vendors opened in China’s biggest cities allowed them to boost their brands and drive home an image of value for money that Chinese consumers bought into.

Apple was capable of delivering more than 7 million iPhone X into the Chinese market during the fourth quarter of 2017. This, together with the more reasonably priced iPhone SE, 6s, 7, and 8 models, was enough for Apple to secure the fourth spot, pushing Xiaomi to number five overall.

For the first time ever, China saw a decline in year-over-year unit volume shipments for smartphones — down to just 459 million. This was mainly due to a steep decline by 4 percent. Therefore, Canalys predicts a major market shake-up in China in 2018.

Things aren’t looking good for Gionee and Meizu should they not be able to pull off a turnaround, especially as other brands like Lenovo and ZTE refocus on the Chinese market. Lenovo, in particular, has had the advantage of owning Motorola’s smartphone technologies. Bringing all this know-how back to their home country could spell trouble for these smaller companies.

Let’s sit back and enjoy the benefits we as consumers will see from the battle of smartphone vendors in the Chinese market, shall we? Popcorn, anyone?

Related Topics:

Accessories

Logitech introduces a dedicated shortcut for ChatGPT

Compatible with most keyboards and mice

Published

on

April 19, 2024

By

Artificial intelligence is already meant to simplify a workflow. However, despite the ease, there are still a few ways to optimize the process. Today, Logitech has launched a new shortcut to launch ChatGPT straight from your mouse or keyboard.

Minus programmable hotkeys or buttons, there are hardly any built-in way to easily access an AI model. For a typical workflow, it still consists of manually opening the model on a separate window and keeping it within cursor’s reach throughout the day.

Logitech is simplifying the process by adding a dedicated shortcut for its devices. With a Logitech keyboard or mouse supported by the Logi Options+ app, users can program a keyboard or mouse button for the new Logi AI Prompt Builder.

Once activated, the AI Prompt Builder automatically accesses easy options for highlighted text. For example, users can easily rephrase or summarize the text. Likewise, they can input their own custom queries. By eliminating a few clicks and some typing throughout the day, the new tool hopes to save you time.

While most Logitech keyboards and mice are compatible with the new tool, it is also more easily accessible with the new Logitech Signature AI Edition Mouse. The new mouse has a dedicated button just for AI prompts. If you’re an AI power user, this one is perfect for you.

SEE ALSO: Logitech unveils G Pro X 60 gaming keyboard: Price, details

Continue Reading

News

X’s AI accused Klay Thompson of vandalizing houses with bricks

AI thought joke posts were real

Published

on

April 18, 2024

By

Image source: Keith Allison, Wikimedia

Despite the ease that the technology promises, artificial intelligence still isn’t the most reliable thing you can depend on. Today’s models can still flub answers. Now, the pitfalls of AI are abundantly clear with a few mishaps on X. Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson was just “accused” of a vandalism spree involving bricks.

Late Tuesday night, X presented an AI-generated news snippet. The article, posted soon after the Warriors’ play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings, reads: “Klay Thompson Accused in Bizarre Brick-Vandalism Spree.”

The snippet hilariously described an incident where Thompson supposedly vandalized houses in Sacramento with bricks. Thankfully, according to the snippet, no one was hurt. It even had a few sources for its claims below the news summary.

The sources, however, are just joke posts stemming from the recently concluded game. In that do-or-die game, Thompson put up a staggering 0 points on ten shot attempts, the most misses without a make by a Warrior since the ’68 season. Naturally, everyone joked that the Warriors guard just threw bricks all over Sacramento.

Now, X is currently experimenting with a new AI feature called Grok. The model collates trending topics and creates snippets of what’s happening for X users. However, it’s not exactly the smartest in determining real news from satiric ones. The feature notes as much, carrying a fine-print caveat warning users to “verify its outputs” because it’s an early feature and can make mistakes.

SEE ALSO: New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

Continue Reading

Apps

New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

Rolling out globally now

Published

on

April 16, 2024

By

New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.

Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.

As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.

The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.

Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.

SEE ALSO: X will no longer let you hide your blue checkmark

Continue Reading

Trending