Industry News

Qualcomm has fired back at Apple after it sued the company on Friday, 20 January, over allegations of monopoly abuse. Some analysts suspect Apple is taking advantage of the monopoly abuse lawsuit filed against Qualcomm by the US Federal Trade Commission, to pave the way for other mobile chipset makers, in order to forge more deals. Analyst Patrick Moorhead said he believes Apple “is not comfortable in feeling that they have only one [chipset] source and are taking this opportunity to go after Qualcomm.”

The Chinese government is set to open the telecoms industry to private investment as part of its efforts to improve the country's internet service '“ which it has identified as a key driver of economic growth. A notice from the Central Committee and the State Council stated that the government would be given a free rein to telecoms companies in the development of the internet.

Samsung have announced that they will not be unveiling the highly anticipated launch of their Galaxy S8 at the Mobile World Congress expo in Barcelona next month.

Bitcoin, the decentralized cryptocurrency and a payment system, saw its prices drop recently after China's Central Bank announced it was investigating exchange platforms trading in the online currency. Confidence in Bitcoin dropped because of fears that Beijing could be leading a crackdown on the digital currency as part of its increasing battle against money flowing overseas.

Thuraya Telecommunications Company, a leading mobile satellite services operator, and Indosat Ooredoo, leading mobile operator in Indonesia, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a new range of services by combining Indosat products with Thuraya Satellite technology and devices for business customers in Indonesia. 

Competition in India's telco sector has intensified since Reliance Jio was launched into the market in September 2016, adding 52 million subscribers in its first three months of operation. A report by a UK newspaper indicated that Vodafone India and Idea Cellular were seeking a merging with Reliance Jio. But the story has been denied by sources in a report by the Hindustan Times.

Vodafone India have announced that they will provide customers with another free increase in 4G data allowances in an attempt to defend its customer base as a '˜price war' ensues in the country.

In early January 2017, Apple announced plans to invest $1 billion in Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank's $100 billion technology venture capital fund. Apple will reportedly join a list of other expected investors which include Foxconn Technology Group and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison. Other companies like Qualcomm have already committed to the fund.

Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) revealed its expected 2016 annual performance figures indicating a 42 percent increase when compared to 2015. With anticipated sales revenue of US$26 billion, Huawei CBG is showing steady growth for the fifth consecutive year. Additionally, smartphone shipments reached 139 million units presenting a year-on-year growth of 29 percent.

Indonesia has seen a flood of fake news spread across social media lately. The Southeast Asian nation officially announced on January 5 its intention to set up an agency that will combat the spread of fake news. One of the fake news stories recently spread through Indonesia, was a claim that China was waging biological warfare against the nation using contaminated chili seeds. Indonesia's new cyber agency will seek to protect state institutions from hackers as well, according to presidential spokesman, Johan Budi.