Industry News

Apple appears to be facing a setback in China after a Financial Times survey revealed that smartphone buyers in the country are choosing domestic brands over California-based Apple iPhone products, with Huawei being their first choice. Huawei has the top spot, according to the survey, with 31.4 percent of respondents opting for the brand.

The report said, “The proportion of people saying they would buy an iPhone as their next phone dropped to 24.2 percent in September, compared with 25.8 percent at the time of the iPhone 7 launch in 2016 and 31.4 percent in 2015.”

Huawei surpassed Apple in global smartphone sales consistently for June and July this year, according to research from Counterpoint’s Market Pulse. But with the release of Apple’s latest iPhone X, there’s a chance Huawei could be pushed back into third place. Samsung holds the number one spot globally.

“This is a significant milestone for Huawei, the largest Chinese smartphone brand with a growing global presence,” said Counterpoint’s Research Director, Peter Richardson. “It speaks volumes for this primarily network infrastructure vendor on how far it has grown in the consumer mobile handset space in the last three to four years.” 

Huawei’s global growth, Richardson says, can be attributed to its consistent investment in R&D and manufacturing, coupled with aggressive marketing and sales channel expansion. While this success streak could be temporary considering Apple’s annual iPhone refresh, Richardson adds, it nevertheless underscores the rate at which Huawei has been growing. 

New Zealand-based Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP and TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd company, announced that the 14,000 km of undersea fiber-optic cable that comprise the Hawaiki transpacific cable system are in the final stages of being loaded aboard TE SubCom’s cable laying vessels ‘CS Global Sentinel’and‘CS Responder’. Installation of the system will commence in early October 2017.

Singtel and Ericsson will jointly establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) to facilitate 5G development and deployment in Singapore. 5G, the next-generation mobile network technology, is expected to roll out globally from 2020 and will deliver massive connectivity, ultra-low latency, gigabit speeds, and enable advanced applications such as smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality, and autonomous vehicles.

Ooredoo was recognized for its commitment to reduce digital inequality in the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s ‘The State of Broadband 2017: Broadband Catalyzing Sustainable Development’ report. Ooredoo’s commitment to reduce digital inequality stems from its core mission to make the internet accessible and enjoyable for everyone, the company said in a release.

Q2 growth for tablets and business smartphones was up slightly this year, as the market shows signs of a rebound, according to research by Strategy Analytics. Business smartphone shipments grew 14.8 percent year-on-year to reach 107.1 million units in Q2, up 6.1 percent sequentially from Q1. Tablets reached 17.3 million units in Q2, up 7.5 percent from Q1.  

Alphabet-owned Google announced a definitive agreement with HTC on Sept. 21 under which HTC employees – many of whom are already working with Google to develop Pixel smartphones – will join Google. HTC will receive US$1.1 billion in cash from Google as part of the transaction. Separately, Google will receive a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property.

China Mobile is reportedly in talks with Brazil’s telecom regulator to purchase Brazilian telecom provider Oi SA’s mobile phone division. According to Exame magazine, China’s largest telecom company is interested in taking over the Brazilin telecom company, which is currently under bankruptcy protection.

Ericsson claims that Indian telecoms and media company Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiaries owe it over INR11.56 billion ($180 million) and has subsequently filed a petition with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against the company, the Swedish vendor said in a statement.

Singapore-based telecom provider Singtel announced that it will accelerate fibre-based service adoption for its business and residential customers. Currently, fibre-based networks deliver speeds of up to 100Gbps and provide the connectivity needed for Smart Nation envisioned by Singapore.

Go Ignite, an alliance of the world’s leading telcos including Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Singtel and Telefonica, announced the winners on Sept. 11 of the second global search for startups that offer the most innovative solutions for three key technologies including Consumer Experience Artificial Intelligence, Connected Homes, and Internet of Things (IoT) Cyber Security.