Canalys: Smartphone Shipments Decline in China, Huawei Remains the Top Smartphone Manufacturer

A few days after publishing its report of the Indian smartphone market in Q3 2017, Canalys has published a report of the Chinese smartphone market in that same quarter. The Chinese smartphone market is the largest smartphone market in the world, with India having now overtaken the US to become the second largest market. However, according to the firm, smartphone shipments declined in China this quarter by 5% to 119 million units.

Huawei remains the top smartphone manufacturer in China, but the gap between the first, second and third-placed manufacturers is narrow, as Huawei, Oppo and Vivo took 19%, 18% and 17% market share respectively.

Compared to Q3 2016, Huawei grew shipments by 23% to to ship 22 million units. Oppo's smartphone shipments, on the other hand, declined to 21 million units. Vivo's growth rate was the best of the top five with 26% growth, making it the most impressive performer in the top 3 after shipping over 20 million units. Xiaomi and Apple placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Top five smartphone manufacturers in China

According to Canalys, Apple's story of declining smartphone shipments in China is over for now, as shipments grew 40% from 8 million in Q3 2016 to 11 million in Q3 2017. This is Apple's best performance in China in the last eight quarters, where the growth of the company has slowed considerably since the launch of the iPhone 6S in September 2015. The report stated that the mix of the iPhone 8 series at launch is also higher than the corresponding mix of the iPhone 7 series at launch last year. However, Canalys warned that "despite launching three new devices this year, Apple's success in China could be short-lived."

Apple's recovery in China in Q3 2017

According to Canalys Research Analyst Mo Jia, Apple's growth this quarter is temporary. He stated that the high sell-in caters to the pent-up demand of iPhone upgraders in the absence of the iPhone X. Also, price cuts on previous generation iPhones after announcing the iPhone 8 have also helped. He predicted that it is unlikely for Apple to sustain this growth in Q4 2017.

The iPhone X has been regarded as an expensive device globally, but excitement for the launch of the iPhone X is building in China. Mr. Jia stated that even though the device would launch this week, the pricing structure and supply issues will restrain growth. He added that the iPhone X would enjoy a healthy grey market status, but Apple's popularity is unlikely to be helped by it in the short term.

Declining shipments have become a major concern for many vendors in China, according to the market analysis firm. Canalys Research Analyst Hattie He predicted that the competition among the top vendors in China would remain tight with no clear winner in Q4. She also said that Q4 will be a highly competitive quarter because of the 11.11 online shopping festival.

Canalys also expects Xiaomi break the dominance of Huawei, Oppo and Vivo in Q4, on the account of its aggressive offline expansion in the country. This will result in even tighter competition for the top spot of the Chinese smartphone market.

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Source: Canalys

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Huawei Encourages an Open ICT Ecosystem at this Year’s Huawei Eco-Connect Europe Event

Huawei recently held an event in Berlin for their Huawei Eco-Connect Europe conference and this year's theme was "Go Digital – Go Cloud." This is the company's flagship event for the European region with the goal of emphasizing the need to create and shape an open and innovative information and communications technology (ICT) ecosystem which can empower the digital transformation of European businesses. The President of Huawei Western European Region, Vincent Pang, spoke during the event to share the company's thoughts.

The company says that the "digital transformation" isn't something that is to be considered a "future trend." Telling the audience that "it's happening now" while also believing that the process cannot be completed by one single company, or organization, alone." This is the reason why they are working to build an open digital ecosystem as it will take the effort of many companies around the world for the transformation to go smoothly.

Huawei hopes that they are able to facilitate this open and innovative information and communications technology ecosystem by encouraging cross-industry innovation, creating a welcoming digital culture, and by bringing clear value to many European communities and enterprises. Again, the company feels that collaboration is key here and that is why they've worked to build over 2,000 partnerships including Intel, Altair, Commvault, KUKA, Orange Business Services, SAP and others.

Along with this digital transformation they also feel the cloud will also be important so during this event in Berlin, they announced plans to build a global cloud network that is based on its own public services. But again, they are also collaborating here so there will also be a number of cloud networks that are built together with partners. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has been running their workloads on the public cloud that was jointly developed by Huawei and T-system, and the company hopes to expand upon this with help from the industry as the market grows.

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Source: Huawei

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Partial Render of the OnePlus 5T Leaks, Shows Thinner Bezels

Many of us are still getting used to the idea of OnePlus releasing more than one flagship smartphone each year. This raised a lot of resentment last year as it was simply unexpected, but now that we're hearing rumors about it happening again, which makes it seem as if this could be a yearly thing. Many of other smartphone OEMs release two flagship smartphones each year and today we get a nice, clear look at the top half of what has become known as the OnePlus 5T.

Many are assuming that it will follow the same naming scheme as last year, which would further establish the "T" revisions as a yearly release. Exactly one week ago we reported on an alleged render of the OnePlus 5T and in that image we saw almost non-existent side bezels with very slim top and bottom bezels. This matches the trend we've been seeing in the smartphone industry this year so again, it makes sense that OnePlus would release such a device.

Top-half of OnePlus 5T (2.5t? Ha). http://pic.twitter.com/pmfhdQSgWQ

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 30, 2017

Today, we're getting another look at the device and while we're only seeing the top half of the OnePlus 5T, it's a much clearer and detailed view of the device. Again, we're seeing very thin side bezels and a much slimmer top bezel than we're used to seeing from OnePlus smartphones. Since we know there won't be a Snapdragon 836 SoC from Qualcomm for them to upgrade, we should look at other improvements OnePlus made last year to see what we can expect this year.

Besides the improved SoC, we also saw an upgrade to the front-facing camera. So it would make sense to see OnePlus upgrade the cameras in the OnePlus 5T when compared to the OnePlus 5. Rumor has it that we'll be seeing a dual camera setup on the back of the device like the OnePlus 5, but this time it will be with dual 20MP sensors.

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Source: @evleaks

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MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM is Rolling Out to the Mi 6 and Mi Mix 2

Xiaomi first announced MIUI 9 back in July of this year and since then we've seen the company testing the beta version of the update with multiple batches of devices. The company has given us a list of which devices will be receiving the Global Beta and we can assume that each of them will eventually be receiving the Global Stable version as well. Today, we have learned that people with the Mi Mix 2 and the Mi 6 are both currently receiving the Global Stable build of MIUI 9.

We're seeing MIUI V9.0.1.0.NCAMEI as the firmware version that is currently being rolled out to the Mi Mix 2, and MIUI V9.0.1.0.NDDMIEI as the version that is being sent to the Mi Max 2. These are a couple of Xiaomi's latest smartphone releases, so it makes sense for them to be receiving a stable build of MIUI 9. This is how most smartphone OEMs handle these things as well since they want to reward those who most recently spent money on their devices.

As we mentioned during the launch event of MIUI 9, this update brings a lot of features to the table that fans of Xiaomi have been waiting for. Many felt that MIUI 8 was very fast and brought a lot of good features (besides the notification system), and the company continues that progress with this latest update. Those receiving the new update will see new icons, new animations when closing and launching applications and a number of system optimizations all across the platform.

MIUI 9 users will now have access to the multi-window mode and they'll have the ability to search for applications in the Dual applications mode. The improvements of the new update include better protection from unintentional tapping for Dial pad, improved timers for Silent/DND mode, and a redesigned home page. There have also been some changes made to the cleaner and virus scan features of the platform.

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Source: GSM Arena Source: Xiaomi

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PSA: Windows 10 Fall Update Disables SMB v1, Breaks Many Android File Manager Apps

Shared Message Block (SMB) is a protocol allowing for file transfer access, printer access and serial port access over wireless. It was so exclusive to Windows that another name for the protocol was "Microsoft Windows Network". SMB, however, is extremely vulnerable, being the cause of the Sony Pictures hack in 2014 and more recently the WannaCry malware just a few months ago. Real-time attack tracking shows that SMB is still one of the primary methods of attacking clients, and so with the Windows 10 Fall update, SMB v1 has been disabled. This does not mean the protocol is entirely gone, rather replaced by SMB v2. The only problem about this is that many applications can no longer use a similar protocol to transfer files wirelessly to Windows computers. None are really as effortless as SMB. This removal comes after Microsoft already released guides on how to disable SMB v1 within Windows.

However, as we covered only a couple of months ago, there is one file explorer which actually supports SMB v2. FX File Explorer was updated back in August to include a new UI, and more importantly, SMB v2 support. There aren't a huge amount of differences between SMB v1 vs SMB v2, it's mainly all just security fixes. This change is likely to disadvantage many who actively use the feature, but with FX File Explorer already supporting the new protocol and the forced switch over, it's likely other app developers will follow too.

Ransomware like WannaCry spread through SMB v1 too, as all Windows machines on the network will by default support SMB v1 connections from the same network. This meant that the malware could spread easily and quickly, so closing up the hole and removing SMB v1 was certainly the right move there. As was said above, there should be some initial issues with its removal if you actively used it, but there are replacements and soon applications will support the new protocol.

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Source: Microsoft Support

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Google Pixel 2 XL Now Available in Italy and Spain (Google Store)

Historically, the greatest issues with the Pixel line have always been availability issues. While the Pixel is catering to a much more wider audience that the Nexus aimed for (average smartphone users vs developers), they haven't kicked up production for this wider audience. Even taking away production issues, the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL face yet another key problem: global availability. Both the original generation and the new generation of Google Pixel phones are only officially available in 6 countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, and the United States. However, this issue is being slowly solved as the new generation of Pixel phones becomes more and more global. Google has silently made the Google Pixel 2 XL available in two more countries: Italy and Spain.

This move makes Google's new, and slightly controversial, large-screen offering more widely available outside the American continent. And given that Android more popular than iOS in both countries, it seems like a safe choice. But did you notice how we didn't mention the regular Google Pixel 2 in the paragraph above? Weirdly enough, rather than launching both, Google has only decided to sell the Pixel 2 XL in Italy and Spain, while the HTC-made smaller Pixel 2 stays only available in the 6 original launch locations.

There could be many reasons behind this, the most possible one being supply chain or distribution issues, possibly related to the Samsung-made AMOLED screen or other components. Or it could be a matter of Google wanting to push the larger Pixel 2 XL as the better choice over the Pixel 2 after having some market research. Whatever it is, we do expect the Pixel 2 to eventually make its way to both of these countries sooner or later.

If you're in Italy or Spain and have been looking into getting the Google Pixel 2 XL, hop into your local Google Store website to order yours now. However, if you'd rather have the smaller Pixel 2, you either have the option of waiting until it becomes available or just straight out importing it.

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Source: Google Via: r/Android

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Google is Collecting Feedback on Android 8.1 Developer Preview 1 OTA Installation Issues

Google released Android 8.1 Developer Preview on October 25 and the stable version of the maintenance release for Android Oreo will be released in December. However, Android Beta Program users can test-drive the latest update through an OTA, and all users can also download and install the system images with an unlocked bootloader. The principal advantage of the OTAs in the Android Beta Program is that they don't require a device factory reset/wipe or an unlocked bootloader.

Google has been going through a rough patch with the increasing amount of issues reported with the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL. To say the least, the company has come under a lot of fire recently. To add to the already mounting problems, new issues have surfaced through the new Developer Preview.

We have already reported that some Pixel 2 models were failing to flash factory images of the Android 8.1 Developer Preview. At the time, we also noted that some devices had trouble installing the OTA sent by Google as well. After numerous user reports, Google is examining the Android 8.1 beta installation failures.

The message users are getting after trying to install Android 8.1 (source: Reddit)

Users who had enrolled their device in the Android Beta Program to receive the latest preview releases over the air received the notification about the pending update which was available for download. Several users who proceeded with the installation of the downloaded OTA have reported that they are unable to install and boot into the Android 8.1 Developer Preview. They stated that they received an 'Update failed' notification after restarting the phone, which was required to complete the installation process. Their devices booted back to Android 8.0 (safe and sound thanks to the A/B partition system), greeting them with the installation failure message.

These problems have been reported on the Google Pixel User Community as well as Reddit. Google is also recommending users who are having the problem to post their issues in the Pixel User Community thread.

The company also appears to have removed the manual OTA file downloads for the 8.1 developer preview, so, at this moment of time, the only way of installing the 8.1 beta are either by registering for the Android Beta Program and waiting for the official update, or flashing the full factory images.

Here is the statement from the Community Manager at the Pixel User Community:

"We are collecting feedback about user reports of OTA installation issues on the 8.1 beta. If this is happening to you, can you post your experiences here? That will allow us to possibly reach out for bug reports or additional information."

Orrin - Community Manager

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Source: Pixel User Community
Via: Android Headlines

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