IF / News

Samsung and Apple has allegedly shown interest in acquiring Intel. Acquiring Intel would not only give them access to the company’s intellectual property but also its factories and related know-how. This would be especially useful for Samsung, which is struggling to get high yields of 3nm wafers from its Foundry division. Apple would also benefit from both Intel’s intellectual property and its factories. Apple currently relies on TSMC to produce the chips for its iPhones, iPads, and Macs. In addition, the company will launch its first in-house modem in the iPhone SE 4. Buying Intel’s factories would be an investment in lower production costs for its Apple Bionic chips and modems in the long term. (Android Headlines, NotebookCheck, Phone Arena, Youtube)

Samsung will allegedly launch a Galaxy Z Flip FE model in 2025. It will be launched alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Samsung is “considering ways to lower entry barriers” for its foldable models. The company is also “preparing new form factors”. (Android Authority, Android Headlines, Naver)

Apple will be reportedly applying low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) panels to all models of the iPhone 17 series to be released in 2025. Samsung Display and LG Display are currently supplying panels to Apple. iPhone will be released in four models: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Slim (or Air), iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. It is reported that Samsung Display will produce the panels for all models of the iPhone 17, while LG Display will produce the panels for both the Slim and Pro models. The presence of LTPO technology in the non-Pro iPhone 17 variants implies that they will get 120Hz ProMotion displays. (Android Headlines, ET News)

Apple is taking a 20% stake in its iPhone satellite connectivity partner Globalstar, a stake worth USD400M, as part of an expansion of its deal with the company. Globalstar will also receive a prepayment of USD1.1B from Apple that is intended to improve satellite infrastructure. Apple relies on Globalstar’s satellites to enable to send emergency text messages, iMessage reactions, and more through the skies in areas with no cell signal. (GSM Arena, Street Insider, The Verge, Reuters, Globalstar)

Apple will not be allowed to sell its iPhone 16 in Indonesia because they have not met the country’s rules on the use of locally made components. Indonesia requires certain smartphones sold domestically to contain at least 40% of parts manufactured locally and the iPhone 16 has not met the requirement, according to the ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arief. To meet the level required for TKDN certification in the past, Apple relied on making investments through the innovation development scheme, which involved the creation of Apple Academies. As of 11 Oct 2024, this had involved IND1.48T (USD94.5M) in investment, below the IND1.71T (USD109.6M) Apple had previously committed to. (Apple Insider, Reuters, CN Beta)

Samsung and Cell Phone Repair TM by Assurant (“CPR”) are expanding their partnership to give customers even more options for trusted device care, even when their warranty has expired. For over three years, CPR has been an integral Independent Service Provider (ISP) within Samsung’s extensive and robust repair network. From approximately 100 locations at the start of 2024, Samsung will add over 300 CPR locations  to its repair network by years end. This brings the total number of CPR stores to over 400 and the overall Assurant Repair Network to over 900 locations. (Android Central, Samsung, Android Authority)

According to Canalys research, global smartphone shipments grew 5% year on year in 3Q24, reaching 309.9M units, the strongest Q3 performance since 2021. This surge was fuelled by aggressive launches from smartphone brands offering refreshed portfolios with strong value propositions, encouraging upgrade numbers amid a favourable refresh cycle and robust consumer sentiment. Samsung led with 57.5M shipments, bolstered by a streamlined entry-level lineup. Apple retained second place with a record 54.5M units, driven by the iPhone 16 series’ strong debut in emerging markets from narrower hardware gaps between base and Pro models. Xiaomi held third with 42.8M units and a 14% market share, benefiting from strategic inventory positioning for new launches in core markets.  (Android Headlines, Canalys)

The Xcover and Tab Active series are Samsung’s main brands when it comes to rugged devices. Samsung is actively developing a phone with model number SM-G766B, which is most likely the company’s upcoming Galaxy Xcover Pro 8. Samsung’s previous rugged phones have almost similar model numbers – SM-G736B (Galaxy Xcover 6 Pro) and SM-G556B (Galaxy Xcover 7). Samsung also plans to launch another Galaxy Active Tab tablet. This is expected to be launched on the market as either Galaxy Tab Active 5 Pro or Galaxy Tab Active 6 Pro. (GalaxyClub, Phone Arena)

Samsung Electronics is said to be studying various ideas for changing or adding smartphone brands, as well as the pros and cons of launching new brands. Samsung Electronics has been using the “Galaxy” brand on all of its smartphones since 2009. It differentiates between foldable phones, premium phones, and mid- to low-priced phones by adding alphabets to the end of the Galaxy Z, S, A, M, and F. The problem is that since all smartphones priced from KRW100K to KRW200K to over KRW2M are called “Galaxy”, they are bound to lose out in brand competition with Apple iPhone, which only releases premium products. Samsung’s Global Marketing Head, Lee Young-hee, hinted at this potential rebranding. She acknowledged that the extensive Galaxy lineup, which includes everything from foldable phones to mid-range devices, might confuse consumers and weaken the premium allure of its flagship products. (Gizmo China, EToday)

Samsung has mentioned that an XR (eXtended Reality) device will arrive in 2025. Currently, it is only certain that it will use a Wualcomm Snapdragon chip for VR products and run a version of Android adapted to immersive experiences based on headsets.(Android Headlines, Samsung)

Apple is expected to launch a successor of Vision Pro sometime in 2025 with the upcoming Apple M5 chip, but that device is not expected to come with a lower price tag. TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests a more affordable Vision Pro device is still in development, but its production and launch have been postponed beyond 2027. Kuo has also reiterated that Apple will update its Vision Pro with the M5 chip in 2025. He also mentions that the M5 Vision Pro will hardly attract more users as it is still widely considered a niche product with limited use cases.(GSM Arena, Twitter)

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is weighing a push into smart glasses with an internal study of products currently available, in a move that follows Meta into an increasingly popular space. The initiative, known internally as Atlas, involves collecting feedback from Apple staff on smart glasses. The studies are being led by Apple’s Product Systems Quality team, part of the hardware engineering division. When Apple is considering whether to enter a new category, it often hosts secret focus groups to understand what people like about existing products. The company typically relies on employees — rather than customers — so it can avoid making its plans public. (Apple Insider, Bloomberg, Market’s Insider, Live Mint, SCMP)

Ford and Google are releasing a major upgrade to the Android Auto experience for Ford EVs. Ford’s Anthony Phillips has confirmed that updates are now rolling out that bring upgrades to the Android Auto experience on Ford EVs. He has confirmed updates are rolling out to the Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning. Drivers of the abovementioned Ford EVs will soon have access to smarter navigation tools for managing charging stops. Drivers will soon be able to track battery levels through Google Maps on Android Auto.(Android Headlines, 9to5Google, Linkedin)

Waymo is developing a new training model for its robotaxis built on Google’s multimodal large language model (MLLM) Gemini. The company has released a new research paper that introduces an “End-to-End Multimodal Model for Autonomous Driving” (EMMA). This new end-to-end training model processes sensor data to generate “future trajectories for autonomous vehicles”, helping Waymo’s driverless vehicles make decisions about where to go and how to avoid obstacles. Waymo developed EMMA as a tool to help its robotaxis navigate complex environments. The company identified several situations in which the model helped its driverless cars find the right route, including encountering various animals or construction in the road.(Android Headlines, Waymo, The Verge, AI Base)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has predicted there will be more than 10B humanoid robots by 2040. His company is helping to make that future a possibility. Musk said the price for a “robot that can do anything” would likely cost USD20,000-25,000 apiece. (Android Headlines, Quartz)

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Meta AI has now surpassed 500M users, hitting this milestone just about a year after the AI assistant first launched fall in 2023. Zuckerberg noted that Meta AI is still on track to become the world’s most-used assistant by the end of 2024. (Phone Arena, Engadget)