Devices & Platforms

Apple has launched its latest AI-powered smartphone, the iPhone 16e, in a bid to gain market share in emerging markets such as India, where it has been ramping up its focus.

Oman has announced plans to start an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor chip manufacturing project in Salalah Free Zone, Dhofar, in the south of the country, following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Monday.

The Southeast Asian smartphone market rebounded in 2024 as vendors shipped 96.7 million units, an annual growth rate of 11%, snapping two years of decline.

The Indian smartphone market grew by 4% to 151 million units in 2024 and became Apple’s fourth largest market as rival Samsung recorded decline. 

The global smartphone market grew by 7% to 1.22 billion units in 2024, marking a rebound after two consecutive years of decline, with emerging markets highlighted as the industry’s key growth driver.

A China-based rival to ChatGPT, called DeepSeek, sent shockwaves across the technology industry by reportedly becoming the most downloaded free app on Apple devices and operating with fewer resources than its US counterpart.

Intracom Telecom has upgraded its uni|MS Network Lifecycle Automation & Management Platform.

Apple entered the top five highest-shipping smartphone vendors in India, as the overall market recorded a 5% shipment increase in 2024, despite ending Q4 with a decline.

Global smartphone shipments grew by 3% to 330 million units in the last quarter of 2024, marking a fifth consecutive quarter of growth, but analyst house Canalys noted this was a significant slowdown in growth.

The dispute between the Indonesian authorities and Apple is rumbling on as the smartphone giant apparently remains barred from selling the iPhone 16 in Indonesia despite a recent investment deal.

Malaysia, already a semiconductor powerhouse, is looking to locally produce GPU chips in the next five to ten years, according to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

Technology solutions provider ZTE has announced a partnership with ISP MiFibra to successfully commercialise ZTE's Smart Cloud Platform (SCP) in Peru.

Telecom and digital services provider du has announced an exclusive partnership with Emirati firm Cyberspace Technologies for Tairra, a business management platform dedicated to optimising operations for teams of varying sizes.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) stated that 227 million new people connected to the internet for the first time in 2024, bringing the total number of connected people to over 5.5 billion.

South African operator MTN is launching an own-branded 5G smartphone. Called the Icon 5G, the new MTN smartphone will sell for 2,499 rand (about US$138). The smartphone is manufactured by ZTE.

Analyst house Canalys revealed that the African smartphone market grew by 3% year-on-year in Q3 2024 despite macroeconomic challenges. It predicted that smartphone shipments would grow by a “cautious” 1% in 2025.

Apple has reportedly offered to invest an additional US$100 million in Indonesia to convince the government to approve its new iPhone 16 to be sold in the country.

5G connected cars are expected to be an increasingly hot item for India’s smart-device consumers next year as new models include 5G IoT connectivity and onboard GenAI as default technologies, says a new research report.

Data centre company Open Access Data Centres (OADC) has had a busy few days, most notably with the announcement of the imminent launch of Open Access Fabric (OAfabric), which is described as a truly open-access and collaborative digital platform that promises to redefine African interconnection.

Indonesia’s Industry Ministry said on Friday that sales of Apple’s new iPhone 16 in the country remain illegal due to an ongoing certification dispute, but clarified that incoming travellers and air crew who own the devices can still bring them for personal use.

Analyst firm Canalys reported that global smartphone shipments grew 5% year-on-year in Q3 2024, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of growth. 

North Korea is reportedly cracking down on the import of Chinese-made smartwatches that are able connect to mobile networks outside of the country via USIM cards.

Apple will begin selling iPhones manufactured in India and has revealed plans to open four new retail locations in the country.

Smartphone financing company M-KOPA hailed reaching the milestone of providing over five million customers with loans in Africa totalling US$1.5 billion.

Tata Group, a global enterprise headquartered in India, and Analog Devices (ADI), a major player in the semiconductor business, have announced a strategic alliance to explore potential cooperative manufacturing opportunities.

Indonesian digital telecommunications company Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, through its subsidiary, data communication, internet, and IT services group Lintasarta, has partnered with professional services company Accenture in a strategic collaboration to accelerate its sovereign AI cloud platform, aimed at propelling AI-driven digital transformation in Indonesia.

Semiconductor growth in India continues apace, with a number of deals announced in the past few days.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel is reportedly planning to shut down its Wynk Music streaming service in favour of a partnership with Apple Music as part of a broader exclusive content deal involving Apple TV+.

PLDT’s wireless arm Smart Communications says it is banking on affordable 5G devices as a key part of its strategy to drive growth in its 5G business in the Philippines as it plans on stronger rollout of its 4G and 5G networks for the rest of 2024.

The African smartphone market saw smartphone shipments grow by 6% year-on-year to 17.8 million units in Q2 2024, continuing recovery over the past three quarters against macroeconomic volatility.

The Indonesian smartphone market grew 20% year-on-year in Q2 boosted by the vendor promotion during the holiday season.

Smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia grew 14% year-on-year in Q2 this year reaching 23.9 million units, as the region continues to recover from macroeconomic effects.