Enterprise

These are the new top vendors in the world’s biggest smartphone market

Published

on

Despite a booming Indian market dripping with potential and promise, China remains the world’s biggest buyer of smartphones. And according to a new study, it has two new vendors that reign at the top of the smartphone pack.

The most recent data from analyst firm Counterpoint Research show that OPPO and Vivo have pulled ahead of the rest of the competition in their native China after recording a sales growth of 0.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively, over the previous quarter.

From July to September of this year, OPPO accounted for 16.6 percent of smartphones sold in the Far East, good enough for the top spot overall. Vivo, meanwhile, ranked a close second with 16.2 percent of market share. Huawei and Xiaomi claimed the third and fourth spots, following a slight dip in the third quarter. Apple came in at number five.

[irp posts=”7067″ name=”OPPO R9s, R9s Plus with 16MP rear and front cameras break cover in China”]

Counterpoint Research noted that OPPO’s R9 midrange smartphone dominated sales in China from July through September, eclipsing the iPhone, while Vivo owed its impressive quarter to the X7 and X7 Plus. The firm also said that:

‘The focus on traditional offline retail and wider distribution network which still constitutes three-fourth of smartphone demand has been key to OPPO and Vivo success.’

None of the devices are particularly compelling from a technical aspect; they’re upper-midrange offerings at best. It’s also worth mentioning that OPPO and Vivo (and OnePlus) are subsidiaries of BBK Electronics, which somewhat explains why some of their devices look so much alike.

china-sp-q3-2016-4

Smartphone shipments in China by OEMs in Q3 2016

china-sp-growth-brands-q3-2016-768x566

Shipment growth for brands in China

Xiaomi’s sluggish performance in familiar territory has been pinned on its online-centric business model, which has “hit a ceiling.” Still, Xiaomi and Huawei have the rest of the year to regain some lost ground, especially as both brands are slated to launch their respective flagships in China sometime in November or December. We hear the Mi Mix is looking to be a “must have.”

[irp posts=”5061″ name=”Vivo Y55L budget smartphone gets announced in India”]

Source: Counterpoint Research via Android Authority

Enterprise

NVIDIA briefly becomes a US$ 1 trillion company

Right in the middle of Computex 2023

Published

on

Arguably, NVIDIA is one of the top contenders for MVP during this year’s Computex 2023. Though the brand didn’t exactly add anything new to its iconic GeForce RTX lineup, it made a lot of significant strides in the technical and entrepreneurial aspects of technology. It’s a strategic lineup of announcements. For a brief moment, NVIDIA has briefly breached US$ 1 billion in valuation in the middle of Computex 2023.

Right as the annual trade show started, NVIDIA wasted no time in announcing a new partnership with MediaTek for an upcoming slate of automotive processors. Then, days later, the company unveiled a bombastic set of announcements during its own keynote presentation. One such example is an advanced AI engine which can generate fluid conversations as an NPC in a video game.

It went beyond artificial intelligence, too. The keynote saw the introduction of the NVIDIA GH200, a “superchip” that the company calls “Grace Hopper.” The unbelievable processor comes with 72 cores, 96GB of HBM3 memory, and 576GB of GPU memory.

Supercomputers and artificial intelligence are on page one of NVIDIA’s playbook this year. It looks like the strategy is working. On Tuesday, the company’s share price peaked at US$ 419.38 per share. As a result, the company’s value bumped up to US$ 1 trillion, placing it in an esteemed club with others like Apple.

It was a short-lived victory, though. The day ended with the share price settling back down to US$ 401.11. The valuation closed at around US$ 992 billion.

Besides the Computex keynote, NVIDIA has been on a roll over the past few years. The company’s GPUs skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic, helping profits today.

SEE ALSO: NVIDIA develops an AI for NPCs

Continue Reading

Enterprise

Meta faces record-breaking US$ 1.3 billion fine

Over cybersecurity concerns

Published

on

Lately, Chinese companies, such as TikTok, found themselves in a tizzy over alleged cybersecurity issues in the United States. Cybersecurity isn’t a localized concern, though. All over the world, tech companies are finding themselves under the microscope for the same issue. Recently, Meta was on the receiving end of such a policy in Europe.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has announced a record-breaking US$ 1.3 billion fine against Meta, via The Verge. The fine, which has been in the making for ten years, is in response to the company’s transferring of European data to its servers in the United States. Lawmakers are adamant that the handling of data opens up cybersecurity concerns in the European Union.

Meta alleges that its current method of handling data is within the legal framework agreed upon by both the European Union and United States. The former claims that the current framework does not handle the privacy of European citizens with care. Of note, the claims only affect Facebook, not Meta’s other companies.

As a result, the European Union is ordering Meta to stop the transfer of data and to delete data currently stored in the United States. This is, of course, in addition to the hefty fine, which is currently the largest one of its kind. Though the fine is record-breaking, it’s still an unknown whether it will lead to a change for Meta, which bags multiple billions on a regular basis.

To prevent future incidents, the European Union and the United States are working on a new framework for data transfers between the territories.

SEE ALSO: Facebook, Instagram verification badge launches in the US

Continue Reading

Enterprise

TikTok sues US over ‘unconstitutional’ ban

Allegedly against right to free speech

Published

on

Last week, the state of Montana executed the first official ban against TikTok in the United States. Of course, no one expected the popular app to just stay down. Today, the company is suing the state over the attempts to ban the app.

The already signed bill tackles the issues put forth by the government years prior. According to the bill, TikTok is too risky as a security threat to allow into the country’s digital space. Should the bill go unopposed, TikTok will be effectively forbidden in the state starting next year, taking it away from app stores.

Now, the opposition is pretty clear. Via CNN, TikTok’s case alleges that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the right to free speech. Likewise, the company claims that the state of Montana should not have the right to ban the app. Since the issue is about national security, only the federal government should have that right.

Notably, TikTok’s own case isn’t the only opposition against the ban. A few days after the ban was announced, creators on the platform also sued the state. Their specific case tackles the issue of free speech especially among those who use the app in the state.

Even without the state’s localized ban, TikTok is already busy fighting off a statewide ban from the federal government. The company’s CEO even issued a call to arms, asking users to tell the government how much the app is valued in the United States. In Montana, the company now has another battle to wage. And, as mentioned before, a lot of parties are certainly looking at the results of the legal battle.

SEE ALSO: TikTok enlists users’ help to fight against ban

Continue Reading

Trending