An online tipster, posting on the Chinese blog site Weibo, has let slip that Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chipset is touted to pack some hefty graphical capabilities. The suggested Adreno "750" smartphone and tablet GPU is touted to offer a 50% increase over the present generation Adreno 740 - as featured on the recently released and cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. The current generation top-of-the-range Snapdragon is no slouch when it comes to graphics benchmarks, where it outperforms Apple's prime contender - the Bionic A16 SoC.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC is expected to launch in the last quarter of 2023, but details of the flagship devices that it will power are non-existent at the time of writing. The tipster suggests that Qualcomm has decided to remain on TSMC's 4 nm process for its next generation mobile chipset - perhaps an all too safe decision when you consider that Apple has upped the stakes with the approach of its Bionic A17 SoC. It has been reported that the Cupertino, California-based company has chosen to fabricate via TSMC's 3 nm process, although the Taiwanese foundry is said to be struggling with its N3 production line. The engineers at Qualcomm's San Diego headquarters are alleged to be experimenting with increased clock speeds running on the next gen Adreno GPU - as high as 1.0 GHz - in order to eke out as much performance as possible, in anticipation of besting the Bionic A17 in graphics benchmarks. The tipster theorizes that Qualcomm will still have a hard time matching Apple in terms of pure CPU throughput, so the consolation prize will lie with a superior GPU getting rigged onto the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Smartphone specialists Oppo and OnePlus have responded to the rumors of both companies exiting several European markets, as well as the UK. In a joint statement provided to Android Authority the message was a promise to stay put in 2023: "OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all the existing European markets. We had a great start in 2023 with the successful launches of several products in Europe and have a line-up of upcoming products for the rest of the year. As always, OPPO and OnePlus will continue to provide more innovative products and the best-in-class service for users moving forward."

Starting yesterday, industry tipsters issued posts about Oppo and OnePlus withdrawing from markets in Europe, with more immediate exits from key territories - France, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The cited reasons for exiting the aforementioned markets include a massive slowdown in regional sales and legal cases levied by competitors in regard to patent infringements on Oppo's part. The lawsuits that were levied by Nokia have resulted in a number of Oppo and OnePlus devices being banned from sale in Germany.

Kernel information for a chipset code-named 'Quadra' has been leaked by Home IT. It appears that this SoC is under development at Samsung Electronics, and could be featured in the company's next generation flagship smartphone range. The recently released Galaxy S23 smartphone series is powered by Qualcomm's cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which ended up being a fine choice for the end user. This was not an ideal partnership for the semiconductor giant, considering its constant push to promote internally developed hardware.

Industry experts have praised Samsung for not integrating an Exynos processor into this generation of devices, including regional model variations, but that has not stopped the company's persistent development cycle of proprietary mobile CPUs. Rumors point to a collaboration with Google, and the Exynos 2300 SoC looks to form the basis of the latter's next generation Tensor G3 chipset. The leak reveals that the standard 2300 has been designed as a 1+4+4 core configuration, comprised of four performance cores, four efficiency cores, and one super core.

Smartphone brands hoped that the promotional activities related to the year-end holiday season or initiated by e-commerce companies would lead to a significant reduction in channel inventory near the end of 2022. However, the recent downturn of the global economy continued to impact consumer confidence in 4Q22, so smartphone sales were lower than expected and thereby dragged down the speed of inventory consumption. Moreover, the labor shortage problem at Foxconn's electronics assembly base in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou affected Apple's efforts to raise iPhone production in 4Q22. According to TrendForce's latest research, quarterly global smartphone production totaled around 301 million for 4Q22, reflecting a QoQ growth of 4% and a YoY decline of 15.5%.

Earlier in 1H22, China's enforcement of its zero-COVID policy and the Russia-Ukraine military conflict caused the demand for consumer electronics to plunge. Later in 2H22, the global economy experienced a decline that was worse than expected as factors such as high inflation, food shortages, and rising energy prices came into play. As a result, consumer demand was further weakened. Besides these negative factors, the high level of channel inventory was also a major reason as to why smartphone brands suffered a drop in annual device production. Based on TrendForce's calculation, annual global smartphone production fell by 10.6% YoY to 1.192 billion units for 2022. This YoY decline was larger than one recorded for the year when the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged.

Since 2022, DRAM suppliers have been adjusting their product mixes so as to assign more wafer input to server DRAM products while scaling back the wafer input for mobile DRAM products. This trend is driven by two reasons. First, the demand outlook is bright for the server DRAM segment. Second, the mobile DRAM segment was in significant oversupply during 2022. Moving into 2023, the projections on the growth of smartphone shipments and the increase in the average DRAM content of smartphones remain quite conservative. Therefore, DRAM suppliers intend to keep expanding the share of server DRAM in their product mixes. According to TrendForce's analysis on the distribution of the DRAM industry's total bit output for 2023, server DRAM is estimated to comprise around 37.6%, whereas mobile DRAM is estimated to comprise around 36.8%. Hence, server DRAM will formally surpass mobile DRAM in terms of the portion of the overall supply within this year.

MediaTek today announced the Dimensity 7200, its inaugural chipset in the new Dimensity 7000 series. The Dimensity 7200 boasts cutting-edge AI imaging features, powerful gaming optimizations, and impressive 5G speeds, all with deeply engrained power savings for extended battery life.

The Dimensity 7200 delivers the same TSMC 4 nm second-generation process found in the Dimensity 9200, and is ideal for ultra-slim designs in a variety of form factors. The octa-core CPU integrates two Arm Cortex-A715 cores, featuring operating speeds of up to 2.8 GHz, with six Cortex-A510 cores, so users can effortlessly multitask and take advantage of peak performance in every app. To further optimize power and performance, MediaTek's built-in AI Processing Unit (APU) maximizes the efficiency of AI tasks and AI-fusion processing.

Geekbench 6, the latest version of the best cross-platform benchmark, has arrived and is loaded with new and improved workloads to measure the performance of your CPUs and GPUs. Geekbench 6 is available for download today for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux.

A lot has changed in the tech world in the past three years. Smartphone cameras take bigger and better pictures. Artificial intelligence, especially machine learning, has become ubiquitous in general and mobile applications. The number of cores in computers and mobile devices continues to rise. And how we interact with our computers and mobile devices has changed dramatically - who would have guessed that video conferencing would suddenly surge in 2020?

Following the release of the award-winning Razer Kishi V2 for Android last year, Razer announced a major update to their Razer Nexus software and Kishi V2 for Android controller firmware. The new Virtual Controller Mode allows all Kishi V2 for Android owners to use their controller to play touch-screen games. This new addition brings console-quality controls to all mobile platforms for the ultimate mobile gaming experience.

Razer's solution relies on a novel combination of hardware in the Kishi V2 controller and software in the Razer Nexus app, to enable reliable, secure, and easy-to-use controller support on countless touch-screen games. Virtual Controller Mode is available as a free update to all Kishi V2 for Android owners today, via the Razer Nexus app on the Google Play Store. This feature will also be rolling out to the Razer Edge in Q1 2023.

MediaTek today announced the Dimensity 8200, the company's newest chipset for premium 5G smartphones. Smartphones powered by the Dimensity 8200 will offer flagship level experiences - including connectivity, gaming, multimedia, displays and imaging - at a more accessible price point. Built on the 4 nm-class process, the new chipset delivers unparalleled power efficiency. It also integrates an octa-core CPU with four Arm Cortex-A78 cores operating at up to 3.1 GHz, along with a powerful Mali-G610 graphics engine, for better performance across applications.

To enhance gaming performance, the chipset takes advantage of MediaTek's HyperEngine 6.0 gaming technologies so users can enjoy smooth high framerate gameplay without suffering connection drops, FPS jitter, or gameplay hiccups. MediaTek's Intelligent Display Sync 2.0 technology intelligently adjusts the display refresh rate according to the game frame rate detected, which helps provide smoother viewing experiences.

According to TrendForce's latest research, global smartphone production totaled around 289 million units for 3Q22, showing a slight QoQ drop of 0.9% and a YoY drop of 11%. The smartphone market thus exhibited an extremely weak demand situation as the "iron law" of positive growth in the third quarter was broken after being in effect for years. The contraction of smartphone production during this year's peak season was mainly attributed to smartphone brands giving priority to consumption of channel inventory for whole devices and maintaining a fairly conservative production plan for 3Q22. Moreover, they had kept lowering their production targets due to strong global economic headwinds.

Regarding the performances of the major smartphone brands in 3Q22, Samsung posted around 64.2 million units in device production, showing a QoQ increase of just 3.9%. This was the result of the brand scaling back production since 2Q22 and maintaining a conservative outlook on the future market situation. Due to persistent inventory pressure, Samsung is expected to again post a QoQ decline for 4Q22. In the aspect of product development, Samsung has been the leader in foldable smartphones. This year, the global market share of foldable smartphones is estimated to reach 1.1%; and within this segment, Samsung is expected to hold a market share of almost 90%. As for 2023, the global market share of foldable smartphones is forecasted to climb to 1.5%, and Samsung is forecasted to retain a market share of almost 80% in the segment.

During the Snapdragon Summit 2022, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. introduced its latest premium mobile platform, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform will define a new standard for connected computing, intelligently engineered with groundbreaking AI across the board to enable extraordinary experiences. This new mobile platform will be adopted by global OEMs and brands including ASUS Republic of Gamers, HONOR, iQOO, Motorola, nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, REDMAGIC, Redmi, SHARP, Sony Corporation, vivo, Xiaomi, XINGJI/MEIZU, and ZTE, with the first commercial devices expected by the end of 2022.

"We are passionate about enabling people to do more, so we design Snapdragon with the user at the center. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, will revolutionize the landscape of flagship smartphones in 2023," said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 delivers groundbreaking AI, unparalleled connectivity, and champion-level gameplay, enabling consumers to enhance every experience on their most trusted device."

MediaTek today launched the Dimensity 9200, its latest 5G chipset powering the next era of flagship smartphones. Boasting extreme performance and intelligent power efficiency, the new SoC brings immersive all-day gaming experiences, ultra-sharp image capturing and support for both mmWave 5G and sub-6 GHz connectivity to consumers around the globe.

"MediaTek's Dimensity 9200 combines ultimate performance with significant power savings, extending battery life and keeping smartphones cool," said JC Hsu, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of MediaTek's wireless communications business unit at MediaTek. "With notably brighter image capturing and improved gaming speeds, along with the latest display enhancements, the Dimensity 9200 will bring new possibilities for next-gen smartphones that come in a variety of stylish and foldable form factors."

Apple today announced iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the most advanced Pro lineup ever, featuring the Dynamic Island—a new design that introduces an intuitive way to experience iPhone—and the Always-On display. Powered by A16 Bionic, the fastest chip ever in a smartphone, iPhone 14 Pro introduces a new class of pro camera system, with the first-ever 48MP Main camera on iPhone featuring a quad-pixel sensor, and Photonic Engine, an enhanced image pipeline that dramatically improves low-light photos. These groundbreaking advancements make iPhone even more indispensable for everyday tasks, creative projects, and now even emergency situations with features such as Emergency SOS via satellite and Crash Detection. iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available in four gorgeous new finishes: deep purple, silver, gold, and space black. Pre-orders begin Friday, September 9, with availability beginning Friday, September 16.

"Our customers count on their iPhone every day, and with iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, we're delivering more advancements than any other iPhone. iPhone 14 Pro introduces a camera system that empowers every user—from the casual user to the professional—to take their best photos and video, and innovative new technologies like the Always-On display and the Dynamic Island, which offers new interactions for notifications and activities," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Groundbreaking safety capabilities bring users even more security, offering help when they need it most. And with the incredibly powerful and efficient A16 Bionic chip and all-day battery life, this is the best iPhone yet."

capabilities, and FlexCam experiences
Samsung Electronics today announced the next generation of groundbreaking foldable smartphones: Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4. Both devices feature customizable form factors, tailored experiences and upgraded performance. Now in its fourth generation, Galaxy Z series continues to break from convention to deliver new, impactful interactions that enhance everyday life.

"Samsung Galaxy foldables are built on the foundation of our openness philosophy, enabling new possibilities with complete customization both inside and out. Created in collaboration with our world-class partners, the next foldable devices offer unparalleled mobile experiences that meet the needs of our most dynamic users," said Dr. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. "Through our unwavering focus and industry leadership, excitement for the foldables continues to grow. We've successfully transformed this category from a radical project to a mainstream device lineup enjoyed by millions worldwide."

MediaTek today announced the Dimensity 9000+, an enhancement to the company's top-of-the-line 5G smartphone chipset. This new high-end offering delivers a boost in performance over the Dimensity 9000 to make the next generation of flagship smartphones even more powerful and efficient.

The new Dimensity 9000+ system-on-chip (SoC) integrates Arm's v9 CPU architecture with a 4 nm octa-core process, combining one ultra-Cortex-X2 core operating at up to 3.20 GHz (compared to 3.05 GHz with the Dimensity 9000) with three super Cortex-A710 cores and four efficiency Cortex-A510 cores. The advanced CPU architecture and Arm Mali-G710 MC10 graphics processor built into the new chipset provide more than a 5% boost in CPU performance and more than 10% improvement in GPU performance.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the launch of Razer Kishi V2 for Android, with an iPhone release confirmed for later this year. This announcement ushers in the next generation of the innovative and award-winning mobile gaming controller that brings console-quality controls and gameplay to the smartphone. With the explosive growth of cloud-based gaming and casting on mobile platforms, the future of handheld gaming is brighter than ever, and Razer is here to provide gamers the easiest solution to play any game with absolute control and zero compromises.

Razer's new upgrades to Kishi V2 take the company's 16 plus years of product expertise in the PC and Console gaming space and brings those advancements to handheld gamers. Inspired by Razer's award-winning Wolverine V2 console controllers, the Kishi V2 features the same high-quality inputs with all-new tactile microswitch controls bringing industry-leading enhancements to handheld gaming hardware. The new Share button allows gamers to quickly capture the perfect still or record video clips to share with followers and friends. The Kishi V2 also introduces dual multifunction buttons and the ability to launch the all-new Razer Nexus app with the push of a button. These improvements ensure the Kishi V2 is optimized for maximum performance while playing the latest streamed-AAA or mobile game releases.

MediaTek today announced the Dimensity 1050 system-on-chip [SoC], its first mmWave 5G chipset that will power the next generation of 5G smartphones with seamless connectivity, displays, gaming and power efficiency. Through dual connectivity using mmWave and sub-6 GHz, the Dimensity 1050 will deliver the speeds and capacity required to provide smartphone users with an incredible experience, even in some of the most densely populated areas. The Dimensity 1050 combines mmWave 5G and sub-6 GHz to fluidly migrate between network bands, and is built on the ultra-efficient TSMC 6 nm production process with an octa-core CPU. Supporting 3CC carrier aggregation on sub-6 (FR1) spectrum and 4CC carrier aggregation on mmWave (FR2) spectrum, the Dimensity 1050 will be capable of delivering up to 53 percent faster speeds and greater reach to smartphones compared to LTE + mmWave aggregation alone. The SoC integrates two premium Arm Cortex-A78 CPUs with speeds reaching 2.5 GHz and the latest Arm Mali-G610 graphics engine.

"The Dimensity 1050, and its combination of sub-6 GHz and mmWave technologies, will deliver end-to-end 5G experiences, uninterrupted connectivity and superior power efficiency to meet everyday user demands," said CH Chen, Deputy General Manager of Wireless Communications Business Unit at MediaTek. "With faster, more reliable connections, and advanced camera technology this chip delivers powerful features to help device makes to differentiate their smartphone product lines." In addition to 5G optimizations, the Dimensity 1050 offers Wi-Fi optimizations alongside MediaTek's HyperEngine 5.0 gaming technology to ensure lower-latency connections with the new tri-band - 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz - that extends game time and performance. Additionally, high-end UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5 memory ensure ultra-fast data streams to accelerate apps, social feeds and faster FPS in games.

MediaTek today launched the Dimensity 8100 and Dimensity 8000 system-on-chips (SoCs) to bring flagship level technology - connectivity, displays, gaming, multimedia and imaging features - to premium 5G smartphones. Both chips borrow the advanced technology from MediaTek's powerful flagship Dimensity 9000 platform and package it into the new Dimensity 8000 series which is built on the ultra-efficient TSMC 5 nm production process with an octa-core CPU. The Dimensity 8100 integrates four premium Arm Cortex-A78 cores with speeds reaching 2.85 GHz, and the Dimensity 8000 has four Cortex-A78 cores operating at up to 2.75 GHz.

"You could say the MediaTek Dimensity 8000 series is the little brother to our flagship Dimensity 9000 chip. Meaning it brings flagship grade features and next level energy efficiency to the premium smartphone market," said CH Chen, Deputy General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Communications Business Unit. Both chips combine an Arm Mali-G610 MC6 GPU with MediaTek's HyperEngine 5.0 gaming technologies for exceptional power-efficiency that extends play time, and best-in-class frame rates - 170fps for the Dimensity 8100 and 140fps for the Dimensity 8000. Quad-channel LPDDR5 memory and UFS 3.1 storage ensure ultra-fast data streams.

The number of devices connected to WiFi has skyrocketed by 12X since 2018 as Xfinity households connected nearly 1 billion devices in 2021. In fact, reliable WiFi has become so critical that nearly half of the country (45 percent) believe it is more important than reliable transportation*. These findings and more highlight Comcast's 2021 WiFi Trends Report, providing insights into how WiFi enabled Americans to pursue what mattered to them most in 2021 based on network trends and consumer insights.

"The ecosystem of connected devices in the home and the applications running on them has exploded over the last few years, driving a shift in consumers perceptions on what truly is important to their connectivity experience," said Sophie Ahmad, Chief Marketing Officer of Xfinity Consumer Service, Comcast Cable. "Unbeatable Internet that provides the best connection, complete security, faster speeds and the best tech is now integral to how Americans work, exercise, parent, and entertain."

MediaTek today launched its Dimensity 9000 5G smartphone chip for next-generation flagship smartphones, and announced device maker adoption and endorsements from some of the world's biggest smartphone brands, including OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi and Honor. The first Dimensity 9000 powered flagship smartphones will be in the market in the first quarter of next year. The Dimensity 9000 - the world's first smartphone built on the ultra-efficient TMSC N4 (4 nm-class) production process - leads the industry in computing performance, gaming, imaging, multimedia and connectivity innovations.

"The Dimensity 9000 is a milestone for MediaTek, highlighting our rise to incredible with a true flagship 5G smartphone chip. This chip signals MediaTek and our Dimensity family has entered a new phase of innovation," said Dr. Yenchi Lee, Deputy General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Communications Business Unit. "The Dimensity 9000 is the most powerful and energy-efficient chip to date, delivering a number of industry firsts and a full suite of features for the most discerning tech enthusiasts."

NAND Flash suppliers' Clients in the data center segment were gradually stepping up enterprise SSD procurement after finishing inventory adjustments, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. Moreover, the adoption rate of 4/8 TB products in the enterprise SSD market increased substantially on account of the releases and adoption of the new server processor platforms from Intel and AMD. Although the recent wave of COVID-19 outbreaks that struck Southeast Asia weakened smartphone sales in 2Q21, the quarterly total NAND Flash bit shipments rose by nearly 9% QoQ, as PC OEMs still had plenty of component orders in 2Q21 due to the fairly robust notebook demand during the period. On the other hand, the shortage of controller ICs became more severe during the period, and the winter storm that battered Texas this February affected the operation of Samsung's foundry fab Line S2 in Austin. As demand for NAND Flash products rose, the overall ASP also rose by nearly 7% QoQ, and the quarterly total NAND Flash revenue rose by 10.8% QoQ to US$16.4 billion in 2Q21.

Total NAND Flash revenue for 1Q21 increased by 5.1% QoQ to US$14.82 billion, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. In particular, bit shipments rose by 11% QoQ, while the overall ASP dropped by 5% QoQ; hence, bit shipment growth offset the decline in the overall ASP. Although NAND Flash demand from notebook computer and smartphone manufacturers remained high, clients from the data center segment exhibited relatively weak demand, since this segment had yet to leave the state of NAND Flash oversupply. Contract prices for this quarter therefore still mostly showed a considerable QoQ drop. On the other hand, OEMs/ODMs of end products began to increase procurement of NAND Flash products from the second half of January onward because they noticed that the shortage of NAND Flash controller ICs was affecting the production of medium- and low-density storage products. Besides avoiding a possible supply crunch in the future, OEMs/ODMs were placing additional orders because they were preparing for a push to expand market share. On account of these developments, the overall NAND Flash demand surpassed expectations in 1Q21.

TrendForce's investigations find that India has become the second largest market for smartphones since 2019. However, the recent worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country has severely impaired India's domestic economy and subsequently dampened various smartphone brands' production volume and sales (sell-in) performances there. TrendForce is therefore revising the forecasted YoY growth in global smartphone production for 2021 from 9.4% down to 8.5%, with a yearly production volume of 1.36 billion units and potential for further decreases going forward.

TrendForce further indicates that the top five smartphone brands (Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo) have either set up assembly plants in India or sought assistance from EMS providers with operations in the country. Hence, the share of made-in-India smartphones has been on the rise over the years, even though the majority of the domestically manufactured devices are still for meeting the demand of the home market. Judging from the current state of Indian smartphone manufacturing, TrendForce expects the second wave to reduce the country's smartphone production volume for 2Q21 and 3Q21 by a total of 12 million units, in turn resulting in a 7.5% YoY decrease in smartphone production in India for the whole year.

LG Electronics Inc. (LG) announced that it is closing its mobile business unit. The decision was approved by its board of directors earlier today. LG's strategic decision to exit the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector will enable the company to focus resources in growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services.

Current LG phone inventory will continue to be available for sale. LG will provide service support and software updates for customers of existing mobile products for a period of time which will vary by region. LG will work collaboratively with suppliers and business partners throughout the closure of the mobile phone business. Details related to employment will be determined at the local level.

Global sales of smartphones to end users declined 5.4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphone sales declined 12.5% in full year 2020.

"The sales of more 5G smartphones and lower-to-mid-tier smartphones minimized the market decline in the fourth quarter of 2020," said Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner. "Even as consumers remained cautious in their spending and held off on some discretionary purchases, 5G smartphones and pro-camera features encouraged some end users to purchase new smartphones or upgrade their current smartphones in the quarter."