News

Chinese brands dominate Q2 2020 smartphone sales in Southeast Asia

vivo, realme, OPPO, Huawei, and Xiaomi takes the top spots

Published

on

According to the latest data by Canalys, Chinese brands dominated the Q2 2020 smartphone sales in Southeast Asia. Both vivo and realme also demonstrated positive year-on-year growth for the quarter.

Chinese brands that dominated smartphone sales include OPPO, vivo, realme and Xiaomi. All in all, these brands captured the top 5 spots in the overall smartphone sales for the whole quarter.

The only non-Chinese smartphone brand that made it to the top 5 is Samsung, capturing 21% of the total sales. The latest figures also affirm that Samsung is still the leader of the pack when it comes to smartphone sales.

OPPO came close to Samsung on overall smartphone sales. It captured 20% of the overall sales shares. vivo, realme, and Xiaomi follow next with 18%, 12%, and 11% shares, respectively.

Year-on-year growth is also down for most brands during the second quarter when most countries started implementing quarantine measures. However, the pandemic didn’t stop vivo and realme from registering a positive growth — they garnered 20% and 102 growth, respectively.

Canalys also saw a 13% quarter-on-quarter increase on smartphone sales, which is good news for these brands. It’s also a sign of recovery for the smartphone market in the region as most countries start to ease their stringent quarantine measures.

The Philippines’ top five smartphone vendors

The situation is more or less the same in the Philippines. Chinese brands dominate the smartphone market in the country. Samsung, however, managed only to snag the second place as vivo takes the crown with a 21% unit share for Q2 2020. It also registered a positive 18% growth during the quarter, which is impressive given the situation the country faced at that time.

realme managed the third spot, registering 18% of the total smartphone shipment. What’s more impressive about the brand is its 254% year-on-year growth, which is a hundred percent more than the regional growth numbers. The aggressive marketing and pricing of its products really helped realme register a healthy growth despite the challenges posed by Q2 2020.

Coming in at the fourth and fifth spots is OPPO and Huawei. However, both brands took a toll this quarter, with year-on-year growth on the decline.  Xiaomi, which is fifth on the regional top smartphone vendors, is nowhere to be seen this time around.

The recent smartphone sales figure just shows how Chinese brands have overtaken the smartphone market in Southeast Asia. It also showed another thing: most brands are having a hard time during these uncertain times. Perhaps, there could be improvements in smartphone sales as the world enters into the third quarter of 2020.

Accessories

Logitech introduces a dedicated shortcut for ChatGPT

Compatible with most keyboards and mice

Published

on

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

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

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