News

Huawei loses its dominance in the smartphone market

It’s not even in the top five

Published

April 21, 2021

Shivam Vahia

In the first half of 2020, Huawei was the world’s largest smartphone maker. It shipped more units than Apple and Samsung. Fast forward one year, the Chinese giant isn’t even in the top five spots, and its future looks grim.

According to Strategy Analytics Q1 2021 quarterly report, smartphone shipments increased by a whopping 24 percent YoY. More than 340 million units were shipped, and the top five vendors captured 76 percent of the market.

Samsung is the numero uno now and holds a 23 percent share, followed by Apple at 17 percent and Xiaomi at 15 percent. OPPO and vivo also made it to the top five due to their well-oiled supply chains and market reach. Three out of five top phone makers in the world are now Chinese.

But we’re missing Huawei. It was added to a blacklist by the US government, barring it from transacting with American counterparts. This meant that it couldn’t use Google Mobile Services (an integral package of Android that makes Play Services possible), ARM-powered processors, and other essential components.

The ban derailed its global expansion plans, and all dealt a massive blow to its 5G investment. Due to the ban, it sold off the Honor brand that looked after the affordable smartphone segment. It’s now an independent company that has no ties with Huawei or its group companies.

Honor played a pivotal role in raking in numbers for Huawei. Being a budget-friendly brand, it had massive distribution channels in the developing markets of India, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and more. With the sub-brand now gone, Huawei relies completely on its in-house portfolio.

Huawei still makes phones but is severely hit due to the sanctions. The company has kickstarted the development of its own Android alternative, but bridging the semiconductor gap will be difficult in the short term. Although, it’s worth noting that Huawei’s yearly revenue for 2020 still grew by a measly 3.8 percent thanks to local Chinese demand and stop-gap measures like AppGallery.

News

Xiaomi is making it easier for customers in the PH to shop

Xiaomi launches Mi.com online store

Published

May 16, 2026

GadgetMatch

Xiaomi has officially launched its Mi.com online store in the Philippines. This standalone website offers a more direct and centralized shopping experience, as Xiaomi has shifted away from third-party marketplaces.

The dedicated platform serves as a one-stop destination for the entire Xiaomi ecosystem. This includes the brand’s smartphones, smart home devices, and even the POCO lineup.

For instance, there’s the REDMI Note 15 Pro 5G, Xiaomi Smart Band 10, and Xiaomi Sound Party, among others.

The move marks a significant transition for Xiaomi’s consumers in the market. The brand mentioned wanting to deliver a smarter, more rewarding digital shopping experience tailored for Filipino consumers.

Moreover, customers do not have to worry about the presence of discount vouchers or a reward system, as the Mi.com website has these integrated. That way, customers will still find a great value for direct purchases.

Here’s a quick rundown of Xiaomi’s exclusive offers to celebrate the announcement of a standalone site:

Launch-Exclusive Vouchers: 10% off coupons on selected inventory, tiered discounts based on total purchase value
Daily Flash Sales: Two high-traffic windows are scheduled daily from 10:00 AM to 12:00 NN and 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Enhanced Loyalty Rewards: new Xiaomi Account sign-ups receive 50 Mi Points (1 Mi Point = PhP 1); during launch window, all purchases earn double points, which can be redeemed for future cashbacks

Apps

Netflix expands its cheaper ad-supported tier to Southeast Asia

This also includes more countries in Europe and South America.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

If you don’t care about seeing a deluge of ads on your platforms, you’re an incredibly rare breed these days. That same skill will come in handy for those nicely priced subscription tiers that comes with ads. Netflix, for one, has one of those tiers, and it’s now coming out in more countries.

As is prevalent in other platforms today, an ad-supported subscription tier lowers the price you have to pay every month. The catch, however, is that there will be an occasional sprinkling of ads here and there.

Netflix offers this service, which allows subscribers to get the service for cheap at the expense of their time. Currently, it is limited to only a few major markets in the world. However, the platform is expanding the tier’s reach to more countries in Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Starting in 2027, Netflix’s ad-supported tier will expand to 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.

Netflix says that the ad-supported tier is a popular option for subscribers. Currently, the tier has around 250 million subscribers worldwide. Since some of the new countries have a more budget-conscious attitude when it comes to purchasing services, this number will likely go up after the expansion in 2027.

Apps

Google might limit free storage to only 5GB

The change will affect new users.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Google One is a monthly subscription that gives you at least 200GB of cloud storage for your files and photos. For most people, a Google One subscription starts when Google inevitably tells them that their free storage space is running out and will soon stop backing up files. Starting today, new users might get that warning sooner rather than later as Google tests a lower limit to free storage.

Historically, Google offers users 15GB of free storage as a start. However, especially these days, 15GB can run out rapidly, prompting a Google One upgrade. Still, despite how “little” it is, Google’s free storage is generous compared to its contemporaries.

Now, Google is reportedly going to be more at par with the rest. As spotted on Reddit (via 9to5Google), new users will receive only 5GB of free storage. Based on Wayback Machine, the company changed its policy sometime between February to March.

Notably, 15GB is still available as an option, but users have to link their phone numbers to their accounts first.

According to Google, the policy change is meant to encourage users to upgrade their security. However, critics will point out that it just enables the company to collect more data about their users. Of note, the platform is already pushy about linking phone numbers before the change, but this adds another layer to entice people.

Also, Google confirms that the new policy is only a regional test for now. They have not announced when (or if) the change comes out for real.