Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, the next smartwatch in the South Korean tech giant’ smartwatch range, has been rumoured to come with a thermometer feature that can be used to track skin temperature, which is useful to detect early signs of infection and track ovulation cycles. However, it seems like Samsung might not be able to add this feature to its upcoming smartwatch. Apple is also trying to bring this feature to its next-gen smartwatch, but hasn’t had any success yet, according to noted analyst Ming-chi Kuo. Therefore, he believes that that if Apple could not do the same with their smartwatch, Samsung too can’t do it.
Reportedly, Samsung is facing difficulties coding the temperature-reading algorithm for the Galaxy Watch 5, almost similar to what Apple had gone through while adding this feature to Apple Watch 7 Series. However, this process is said to be necessary to enable the hardware sensors to deliver accurate readings. Previous reports, once again by TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, have hinted at Apple working to include the same feature to measure body temperature in the Apple Watch Series 8. Kuo said due to lack of a qualifying algorithm, Apple didn’t add the body temperature feature to Apple Watch Series 7.
Kuo, through a tweet, claims that “Apple has already given up on implementing body temperature readings for this year’s 7th-gen Apple Watch (it looks like a “better luck next year” scenario) and speculates that Samsung won’t be able to do the same for the Watch 5.”
(3/3) Samsung is facing this challenge as well. Unlike previous media reports, I think Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 in 2H22 might not support the body temperature measurement due to algorithm limitations.
The challenge both Samsung and Apple are facing somehow relates to the fact that surface skin temperature can vary depending on external factors. Meanwhile, both the companies are trying to work on hardware that is capable of reading surface temperatures in order to allow their smartwatches to take accurate readings.
Moreover, Apple might win by solving this puzzle with the Apple Watch 8 Series before Samsung and can bring this feature to the market. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 may offer other new features and design, but if recent claims are to go by, then the smartwatch may not come with a body temperature sensor.
A recent report claimed that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 may launch with slightly larger batteries for the 40mm and 44mm models compared to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series. The report said the Galaxy Watch 5 40mm (EB-BR900ABY) will have a 276mAh battery, up from 247mAh (+29mAh). The larger Watch 5 44mm (EB-BR910ABY) will have a 397mAh battery, up from 361mAh (+36mAh). The Galaxy Watch 5 generation won’t be unveiled until the second half of this year, the report added.
Tablet and Chromebook shipments reportedly saw an annual decline in Q1 2022. This data comes from a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC). As per the report, the overall shipments continue to be above pre-pandemic levels, however, the overall growth has slowed down. This trend might indicate that the tablet and Chromebook markets are reverting to normality after experiencing a boom due to the pandemic. People worldwide supposedly made aggressive purchases in 2020 and 2021, which might have led to a more conservative approach in 2022.
As per the IDC report, the tablet shipments reached 38.4 million units during Q1 2022, which is a 3.9 percent year-over-year decline. Reportedly, despite the downward trend, several smartphone vendors like Realme, Oppo, Xiaomi, and more have entered the tablet segment. The high demand for tablets in new markets is expected to be the key propellant for this move by smartphone vendors. Apple remains the global leader in the tablet segment with a hold of 31.5 percent of the market share despite recording a decline of 4.6 percent. Samsung is in second place after experiencing year-on-year growth of 3.5 percent and holding 21.1 percent of the market share. Lenovo and Huawei rounded off the top 5.
Company
1Q22 Unit Shipments
1Q22 Market Share
1Q21 Unit Shipments
1Q21 Market Share
Year-Over-Year Growth
Apple
12.1
31.5%
12.7
31.7%
-4.6%
Samsung
8.1
21.1%
7.8
19.6%
3.5%
Amazon.com
3.7
9.6%
3.5
8.7%
6.3%
Lenovo
3.0
7.8%
4.1
10.1%
-25.9%
Huawei
2.2
5.8%
2.7
6.8%
-17.2%
Others
9.2
24.1%
9.2
23.0%
0.6%
Total
38.4
100.0%
39.9
100.0%
-3.9%
The Chromebook market continues to plummet with a 61.9 percent YoY decline in Q1 2022. Contrary to the global trend, this market supposedly experienced growth in Asia/ Pacific regions (excluding Japan and China). This growth is purportedly credited to the large-scale investments made in the education sector. However, the overall growth might be caused due to the buildup of inventory and low demand. This inventory buildup is expected to clear out in the coming months, which might give a boost to this market segment. The top three Chromebook vendors for Q1 2022 were Lenovo, Dell, and Acer with 23.2 percent, 22.9 percent, and 22 percent market share, respectively. HP and Samsung rounded off the top 5.
Company
1Q22 Shipments
1Q22 Market Share
1Q21 Shipments
1Q21 Market Share
Year-Over Year Growth
Lenovo
1.2
23.2%
3.4
25.7%
-65.6%
Dell Technologies
1.2
22.9%
1.5
11.1%
-21.1%
Acer Group
1.1
22.0%
1.9
14.1%
-40.8%
HP Inc.
0.8
15.3%
4.4
32.8%
-82.2%
Samsung
0.3
6.5%
1.3
9.4%
-73.5%
Others
0.5
10.1%
0.9
7.0%
-45.0%
Total
5.1
100.0%
13.3
100.0%
-61.9%
This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we discuss iPhone 13, new iPad and iPad mini, and Apple Watch Series 7 — and what they mean to the Indian market. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Former US president Donald Trump posted a brief message on Truth Social late Thursday for the first time since the app he founded launched two months ago, saying “I’M BACK!”
Trump broke his silence as Elon Musk sealed a $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,37,244 crore) deal to buy Twitter, which last year permanently banned Trump citing a risk of further violence following January 6, 2021 siege by a pro-Trump mob on the US Capitol.
Republicans cheered Musk’s buyout of the social media platform in the hope that the Tesla Chief Executive, who has vowed to relax content moderation practices to restore free speech, will invite Trump back to the site.
Since the deal was announced this week, Trump has said he would not return to Twitter.
In Thursday’s message, called a “truth” on the app, Trump wrote, “I’M BACK! #COVFEFE”, referencing a typo on a Twitter message he sent while president that complained about the press and was widely memed.
Trump’s silence on his own app since the launch of Truth Social on Apple’s app store on February 21 has raised questions about its long term viability.
Ahead of its launch, his son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a screenshot of his father’s Truth Social account with one “truth” that he posted on February 14, verified at the account of @reaDonaldTrump, with the message: “Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!”
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), Truth Social’s parent company, is planning to go public through a merger with blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition, shares of which were up 7.7 percent pre-market Friday.
The deal is under scrutiny by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and is likely months away from being finalised.
Smartphone shipments globally dipped as much as 11 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, according to reports. This is the third consecutive quarter of annual decline by smartphone volumes in a row — amid component shortages that are impacting supplies in global regions. However, despite the dip in the shipments, Samsung has continued to be the market leader, followed by Apple and Xiaomi. The South Korean giant has even managed to hit its highest global smartphone market share in five years in the last quarter.
According to strategy consulting firm Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments dropped 11 percent year-on-year to 314 million units in the first quarter. Ongoing challenges including supply constraints are believed to be the reason impacting smartphone supplies.
“Meanwhile, unfavourable economic conditions, geopolitical issues, as well as COVID-19 disruption (China rolling lockdown etc.) continued to weaken consumers’ demand on smartphones and other non-essential products,” said Linda Sui, Senior Director at Strategy Analytics, in a prepared statement.
Similar to Strategy Analytics, analyst firm Counterpoint has reported that the global smartphone market declined by seven percent year-on-year, with total shipments of 328 million units in the first quarter. Counterpoint analysts are considering the same reasons for the dip that have been noted by researchers at Strategy Analytics.
Smartphone shipments globally dipped 10.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter Photo Credit: Strategy Analytics
Counterpoint also said that the global smartphone market had a seasonal decline of 12 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter. COVID resurgence at the beginning of the quarter and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict are believed to be amongst the key reasons for the decline.
The report released by Strategy Analytics shows that Samsung has continued to lead the market, though its shipments declined 2.7 percent year-on-year to 74.5 million in the third quarter. The company grabbed a share of 23.8 percent, which was its highest first quarter performance by market share since 2017.
Counterpoint’s report also shows Samsung as the market leader, though its shipments are said to have dropped three percent year-on-year to 74 million units in the first quarter. The firm said that Samsung was one of only two top-five smartphone brands to come close to its pre-pandemic first quarter shipments.
The reason behind the success of Samsung is believed to be the well-received customer response for the Galaxy S22 models. Counterpoint said that the new flagships helped the company drive a seven percent quarter-on-quarter shipment growth.
After Samsung, Apple has retained its second position in the global smartphone market in the first quarter, with a share of 18.2 percent, Strategy Analytics reports. The company shipped 57 million iPhone units in the quarter and managed to mark a one percent year-on-year growth.
Strategy Analytics also said that Apple captured the highest first quarter market share since 2013.
Counterpoint shows that Apple’s shipments in the first quarter remained flat compared to the same quarter last year to 59 million units. The company faced a decline of one percent year-on-year, according to the firm. However, strong demand for the iPhone 13 series and the launch of its 5G-enabled iPhone SE (2022) helped Apple grow its market share to 18 percent in the last quarter from 17 percent in the first quarter of 2021.
Quarterly shipment of Apple also declined 28 percent — primarily due to seasonality — according to Counterpoint.
Unlike Samsung and Apple that both did not face much impact of the overall decline, Chinese brands including Xiaomi, Oppo (comprising both Oppo and OnePlus), and Vivo saw a significant hit — mainly due to the sluggish performance in their home market.
According to Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi shipped 39 million smartphone units in the first quarter that helped capture a share of 12 percent in the global market. However, the market share of the company dropped two percent from 14 percent a year ago.
“Xiaomi suffered from the geopolitical uncertainties in Europe. The China and India market also delivered a mixed bag for the Chinese brand,” said Yiwen Wu, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics.
The report by Counterpoint also shows that Xiaomi’s global smartphone shipments declined by 20 percent year-on-year to 39 million units in the first quarter. The firm also shows a two percent dip in the company’s share from 14 percent in the same quarter last year.
Counterpoint believes that the decline in Xiaomi’s market performance was caused by the relatively weak performance of the Redmi 9A and Redmi Note 10S smartphones, along with chip shortages. The latter are said to be hurting the Beijing-based company “more severely than other vendors” in the market.
Following Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo also faced a dip in their shipments. Strategy Analytics shows that Oppo (including OnePlus) captured 10 percent of the global market, while Vivo had eight percent in the first quarter.
Counterpoint’s report says that Oppo’s shipments declined by 19 percent year-on-year to 31 million units in the last quarter, while Vivo saw a decline of 19 percent year-on-year to 28.6 million units.
Smartphone shipments dipped in the first quarter, though Samsung and Apple continued to lead the market Photo Credit: Counterpoint
Alongside Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, Counterpoint said that Honor emerged as a strong contender from China. The company that separated from Huawei saw a 148 percent year-on-year growth to 16 million units in the first quarter. It also received a seven percent quarter-on-quarter growth.
Market share of Honor rose to five percent in the quarter, up from four percent in the last quarter and two percent in the same quarter last year, according to Counterpoint.
Realme also managed to grow its shipments by 13 percent year-on-year to 14.5 million units in the first quarter. The company, which is owned by BBK Electronics that also owns Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus, saw a massive expansion in the overseas market during the quarter, with a 163 percent year-on-year growth in its shipments specifically coming from Europe. However, global shipments of Realme dipped 30 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Realme also emerged as the only brand in the top-five players in India to experience a year-on-year growth of 40 percent in the first quarter, per the Counterpoint report.
Transsion Holdings, which owns Infinix, Tecno, and Itel brands, also continued to grow in the market, with a 23 percent annual growth. This was primarily driven by Infinix, which grew 76 percent year-on-year and four percent quarter-on-quarter, with its shipments increasing in India as well as the rest of Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa, according to Counterpoint.
Tecno’s shipments also increased by 28 percent year-on-year, though Itel saw a three percent dip, the firm said.
According to a forecast made by Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments would contract up to two percent year-on-year in the full-year 2022.
“This year will be a tale of two halves. Geopolitical issues, component shortages, price inflation, exchange rate volatility, and COVID disruption will continue to weigh on the smartphone market during the first half of 2022, before the situation eases in the second half due to COVID vaccines, interest rate rises by central banks, and less supply disruption at factories,” said Linda Sui, Senior Director at Strategy Analytics.
iPhone 14 series has been in the rumour mill for quite some time now. The lineup is expected to include four models – iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Max, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Cupertino giant is yet to confirm the development of these models, but ahead of it, an image showing the front panels of the iPhone 14 series has surfaced online. The leaked render tip the size differences of upcoming iPhone models and suggests their front-facing and face ID layouts. Both iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are shown with a pill-shaped hole-punch display replacing the display notch of previous iPhone generations. They are said to have a 19.5:9 aspect ratio as well.
Tipster Saran (@SaranByte) tweeted a leaked photo from Weibo showing the front panels of the entire alleged iPhone 14 series. The image suggests a pill-shaped hole-punch cutout on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. If this turns out to be correct, this would be a design change from the display notch of previous iPhone generations. The display cutout will house the face ID sensor and selfie camera.
In the leaked render, the alleged iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max are seen with the same notch design we have seen in iPhone 13 series. As per the panel photo, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max could pack thinner bezels with a taller build. They are said to come with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio as well, slightly lower than the 20:9 aspect ratio of current iPhone models.
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro Max are expected to be powered by the next-generation Apple A16 Bionic chip. The regular iPhone 14 models are tipped to come with the current generation A15 Bionic chips that power the iPhone 13 series and the new iPhone SE (2022).
As per past leaks, iPhone 14 will come with a 6.06-inch flexible OLED screen while the iPhone 14 Pro will sport a 6.06-inch flexible OLED LTPO screen. The iPhone 14 Max is said to get a 6.68-inch flexible OLED screen and the iPhone 14 Pro Max could sport a 6.68-inch OLED LTPO screen.
Security flaws in an audio codec have been uncovered by security researchers, putting millions of Android phones and other Android devices powered by chipsets from MediaTek and Qualcomm at risk of being compromised by hackers. Stemming from an codec created by Apple several years ago, the vulnerabilities were left unpatched since the company open-sourced the codec 11 years ago, for inclusion on non-Apple devices. By leveraging the security flaws, an attacker could remotely get access to an Android phone’s media and audio conversations, according to the researchers.
According to a report by researchers at Check Point Research, a flaw in the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) from Apple allows an attacker to perform a remote code execution (RCE) attack on a target smartphone, after sending a malformed audio file. An RCE attack can allow the attacker to gain control of multimedia on the handset, including streaming video from the cameras, accessing media and user conversations.
The security flaws were discovered in Apple’s ALAC codec, which was open-sourced by the company in 2011 — allowing non-Apple devices to stream music in ‘lossless’ quality using Apple’s previously proprietary codec. However, while Apple patched the proprietary version of the ALAC codec, the open-source version remained unpatched, according to the researchers.
As a result, Qualcomm and MediaTek, chipset manufacturers who ported the vulnerable ALAC codec to their audio decoders, resulting in over two thirds of all smartphones sold in 2021 being vulnerable to the security flaws, dubbed “ALHACK”, according to the researchers. The vulnerabilities were responsibly disclosed to Qualcomm and MediaTek, who both acknowledged the issues and assigned Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) for the flaws. MediaTek assigned CVE-2021-0674 and CVE-2021-0675 (with ‘Medium’ and ‘High’ ratings, respectively), while Qualcomm assigned CVE-2021-30351 (with a ‘Critical’ rating of 9.8 out of 10) for the ALAC flaws, before patching them.
According to the researchers, both companies have issued patches for the flaws included in the December 2021 Android security bulletin, which means that users with smartphones that received the December security patches should be safe from the vulnerabilities. However, this leaves out millions of users running outdated software, or users who receive erratic security updates — putting them at risk of being compromised by attackers.
The Refurbished Global Smartphone market saw a surge in demand as well as supply in 2021, according to a report. Refurbished smartphone shipments have witnessed a 15 percent yearly growth, whereas new smartphone shipments grew 4.5 percent in the year. It could be seen that the larger consumer section has shown more inclination towards buying refurbished smartphone models of popular brands like Apple and Samsung in 2021.
According to the Counterpoint’s “Refurbished Smartphone Tracker”, Latin America and India lead with the highest growth rates, at 29 percent and 25 percent respectively. Apple remained the secondary refurbished market leader, whereas Samsung witnessed the most refurbished model shipments in 2021.
Consumers seem to get attracted towards choosing the pre-owned devices thanks to additional benefits and options for the same, as per the report.
Commenting on the growth, Senior Analyst Glen Cardoza said, “Refurbished smartphones are a part of overall pre-owned devices which re-enter the system through various routes. Trade-ins are the fastest-growing source for such pre-owned smartphones, the volume of which grew more than 10 percent globally in 2021. We are seeing a YoY increase in volumes among refurbished players in developing markets like China, India, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. These markets will grow more as they have many unorganised businesses and a large rural demographic yet to be captured. ASPs (average selling prices) of refurbished smartphones increased marginally as 4G devices still retained value.”
Moreover, there were supply shortages in the secondary market in 2020 due to Covid-19 lockdowns, but the market surged back in 2021.
iPhone 14 series design has been suggested through an image that has emerged online. The image appears to show the back aesthetics of the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and a new iPhone model that is rumoured as the iPhone 14 Max. All new iPhone models appear to have a camera bump at the back — similar to the iPhone 13 family. However, the iPhone 14 Pro versions seem to have a thicker bump over the one available on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
A tipster on Weibo has shared the image that apparently shows the aluminium moulds of the iPhone 14 models. These could be made specifically for use in producing third-party cases for the next-generation iPhone models.
One of the biggest changes that the image suggests in the iPhone 14 lineup is the lack of the 5.4-inch ‘mini’ model. Several reports in the past indicated that Apple is planning to not unveil the iPhone 14 mini as the successor to the iPhone 13 mini.
The lineup in the image, thus, shows four new iPhone models, where one of them is the 6.1-inch option that could debut as the iPhone 14 Max — the new, relatively affordable iPhone in the series.
Additionally, the image suggests that the camera bump on the new models is more prominent over the one we had on last year’s versions — especially in case of the purported iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Last month, tipster Max Weinbach showed alleged iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max design schematics. The tipster claimed that the iPhone 14 Pro would measure 147.46×71.45×7.85mm, suggesting a slightly thicker and taller variant over the iPhone 13 Pro, which is 146.70×71.50×7.65mm in dimensions.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max, on the other hand, was tipped to be 160.7×77.58×7.85mm. This suggests a shorter and narrower build but slightly thicker in size over the iPhone 13 Pro Max which measures 160.8×78.1×7.65mm.
Apple could be able to fit in an improved camera setup on the iPhone 14 Pro models by moderately increasing the camera bump.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a prominent Apple analyst who often predicts next-generation devices coming from the Cupertino company, recently suggested that there would be an upgraded 48-megapixel camera sensor on both iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The existing Pro models have a 12-megapixel camera system.
Exact details on the launch of the iPhone 14 series are yet to be revealed. However, Apple is suggested to schedule its announcement for some time in September.
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