News
Huawei loses its dominance in the smartphone market
It’s not even in the top five
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.
Read Also: Huawei ban could persist under Biden administration
Automotive
Tesla involved in recalling over 4 million electric cars
China is banning a feature found on most Teslas.
Electric vehicles have been simmering in some hot water for a while now, but it’s not because of a reason you might be thinking of. Instead of its performance or even its reliability, the world’s modern vehicle is fretting over its door handles. Over the feature’s potential risks in a life-or-death situations, carmakers in China, including Tesla, are recalling around 4.3 million vehicles in the country.
When it comes to door handles, electric vehicles today are known for creating hidden ones that sit flush on a car door. These handles appear only when needed and automatically retract into the door when not in use.
For a while now, governments have been worried about them, citing concerns that they don’t offer easy exits during threatening scenarios. There have been incidents when the handles don’t pop up while a car is on fire, preventing both the car’s occupants and rescuers from opening the door.
Today, via Reuters, nine carmakers, including Tesla, are recalling 4.3 million vehicles from the country over these same door handles. Moreso than domestic brands, Tesla finds itself leading this pack with almost 3 million units. The other eight brands include Xiaomi and Geely.
This recall is responding to China’s latest regulation to ban hidden door handles starting 2027. Other measures include installing mechanical releases. Some brands are also rolling out software updates which automatically lower the car’s windows in case of an emergency, offering another exit for trapped occupants.
SEE ALSO: BYD Atto 2 launches with EV, plug-in hybrid options
News
HUAWEI Pura X View is 2026’s first WIDE slab-type smartphone
2026’s first non-foldable WIDE smartphone makes its surprising debut
It seems like the WIDE smartphone craze is getting out of hand.
Surprise, surprise! Out of nowhere, HUAWEI reveals the Pura X View — 2026’s first WIDE smartphone that does not fold at all.
Tied to WIDE
With the massive success of HUAWEI’s Pura X Max as well as the newly-released Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, it’s hard to ignore the sudden trend behind WIDE smartphones. Let alone, Apple’s much-awaited iPhone foldable (dubbed the “iPhone Ultra”) will be announced in less than a month.
Opposed to the usual tall and narrow form factor, the Pura X View comes in a wider body with a 16:9.5 aspect ratio. Display bezels are extremely narrow too at just 1.09mm and StB (Screen-to-Body) ratio reaches a whopping 96.1%.
This wider than usual body means better ergonomics with better content consumption — from images, books, documents, all the way to movies and shows, as well as games.
While it has a smaller 6.39-inch display, the Chinese electronics giant says it has greater content area compared to 6.9-inch flagship smartphones.
Other display feats include a 2160Hz PWM Dimming, resolution of 2232 × 1320, and max brightness of up to 6500 nits.
Despite all these, HUAWEI still managed to put a monstrous 7000mAh battery capacity inside its super slender 6.68mm chassis — which also happens to be lightweight at only 201 grams.
Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, HUAWEI did not reveal every bit of spec on their website.
Pricing and Availability
The HUAWEI Pura X View comes in four colorways: Illusion Dark Night, Zero-degree White, Leap Shadow Red, and Linen Ash.
It’s currently open for pre-orders in China alongside three configurations:
- 12+256GB
- 12+512GB
- 12+1TB
Just like its unrevealed specifications, HUAWEI did not reveal the exact pricing of the Pura X View.
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News
Samsung might launch the Galaxy S26 FE next week
A new event is hinting at the smartphone’s debut.
It wasn’t too long ago when Samsung launched the new Galaxy Fold and Flip series. Historically, the brand is done for the year after two major Galaxy Unpacked events. However, if you’re still hankering for a few more morsels of Galaxy devices, Samsung is hosting another event next week, which might mean the debut of the Galaxy S26 FE.
This week, Samsung has just released an official invite for a Galaxy Event on August 27. The invite itself looks like a tray with two glasses of matcha and a coaster in between them. It’s visually similar to a modest camera setup, hinting at a new smartphone coming during the event.
Because Samsung has already filled its usual quota of flagships and foldables, it’s highly likely that the event is meant for the Galaxy S26 FE. The Galaxy FE series is Samsung’s way of extending the life cycle of the current generation of Galaxy phones, while also catering to another segment of the market.
As for what the Galaxy S26 FE might hold, it looks like AI might be a prime focus. Samsung confirms that the invite graphic has AI-generated images. The text accompanying the graphic also indicates that AI will be a part of the event.
It’s only a week left before the August 27 event, so we’ll get to know more about everything soon.
SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Review
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