173158236 story [](//tech.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=google)[ ](//tech.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=microsoft)[](//tech.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=apple) Posted by msmash on Monday February 26, 2024 @01:01PM from the tough-luck dept. Microsoft offered to [sell its Bing search engine to Apple in 2018](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/24/google-says-microsoft-offered-to-sell-bing-to-apple-in-2018.html), Google said in a court filing earlier this month. The document, from Google's antitrust case against the U.S. Justice Department, was unsealed on Friday. From a report: _In the filing earlier this month, Google argued that Microsoft pitched Apple in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020 about making Bing the default in Apple's Safari web browser, but each time, Apple said no, citing quality issues with Bing. "In each instance, Apple took a hard look at the relative quality of Bing versus Google and concluded that Google was the superior default choice for its Safari users. That is competition," Google wrote in the filing. The Justice Department said in its own newly unsealed filing that Microsoft has spent almost $100 billion on Bing over 20 years. The Windows and Office software maker launched Bing in 2009, following search efforts under the MSN and Windows Live brands. Today Bing has 3% global market share, according to StatCounter. In the fourth quarter, Microsoft generated $3.2 billion from search and news advertising, while Google search and other revenue totaled $48 billion. Google said in its filing that when Microsoft reached out to Apple in 2018, emphasizing gains in Bing's quality, Microsoft offered to either sell Bing to Apple or establish a Bing-related joint venture with the company._

Image source, Getty Images **Sales in China of Apple's iPhone fell by 24% in the first six weeks of 2024 compared to a year earlier, according to research firm Counterpoint.** It comes as the US technology giant is facing fierce competition in the country from local rivals. During the same period China's Huawei saw its sales jump by 64% in its home market, the report says. Apple and Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the BBC. Aside from a resurgence of Huawei sales at the more expensive end of the Chinese phone market, Apple was also "squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi," [Counterpoint Research's Mengmeng Zhang wrote](https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/china-smartphone-sales-first-6-weeks-2024-double-digit-declines-for-apple-oppo-vivo/). China, which is one of Apple's biggest markets, also saw overall smartphone sales shrink by 7% in the same period, the report said. Huawei struggled for years due to US sanctions but its sales surged after releasing its Mate 60 series of 5G smartphones in August. It came as a major surprise as the Chinese firm was cut off from key chips and technology required for 5G mobile internet. Honor, which is the smartphone brand spun off from Huawei in 2020, was the only other top-five brand to see sales increase in China during the period, according to the report. Sales of Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo also fell in the first six weeks of the year, Counterpoint said. Its report also said Apple's share of the Chinese smartphone market dropped to 15.7% from 19% last year, putting it in fourth place as it fell from the number two spot. Meanwhile, Huawei rose to second place as its market share grew to 16.5% from 9.4% a year earlier. Despite its sales falling by 15% over the last year, Vivo remained China's top-selling smartphone maker, Counterpoint said. Apple started offering discounts on its official sites in China last month before subsidising certain iPhone models through its flagship stores on Alibaba's marketplace platform Tmall last week. A slowdown in demand in China could affect Apple's revenue which already disappointed investors when the firm [released its earnings last month](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/fy2024-q1/FY24_Q1_Consolidated_Financial_Statements.pdf). The firm said sales in China were $20.82bn (£16.4bn) in the last three months of 2023, down from $23.9bn in the previous year. Apple shares fell by 2.8% in New York trade on Tuesday.

173231614 story [](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=china)[ ](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=business)[](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=iphone) Posted by [BeauHD](https://twitter.com/BeauHD) on Wednesday March 06, 2024 @08:00PM from the what-sanctions dept. Huawei is back from [the dead](https://slashdot.org/story/23/07/12/2011225/chinas-huawei-poised-to-overcome-us-ban-with-return-of-5g-phones) after recording a sales jump of 64% in the first six weeks of 2024 compared to a year earlier. Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone sales in China [fell by 24% during the same period](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68486928). The BBC reports: _Aside from a resurgence of Huawei sales at the more expensive end of the Chinese phone market, Apple was also "squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi," Counterpoint Research's Mengmeng Zhang [wrote](https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/china-smartphone-sales-first-6-weeks-2024-double-digit-declines-for-apple-oppo-vivo/). China, which is one of Apple's biggest markets, also saw overall smartphone sales shrink by 7% in the same period, the report said. Huawei struggled for years [due to US sanctions](https://slashdot.org/story/23/03/31/2115236/chinas-chip-industry-will-be-reborn-under-us-sanctions-says-huawei) but its sales surged after releasing its Mate 60 series of 5G smartphones in August. It came as a major surprise as the Chinese firm was cut off from key chips and technology required for 5G mobile internet. Honor, which is the smartphone brand spun off from Huawei in 2020, was the only other top-five brand to see sales increase in China during the period, according to the report. Sales of Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo also fell in the first six weeks of the year, Counterpoint said. Its report also said Apple's share of the Chinese smartphone market dropped to 15.7% from 19% last year, putting it in fourth place as it fell from the number two spot. Meanwhile, Huawei rose to second place as its market share grew to 16.5% from 9.4% a year earlier. Despite its sales falling by 15% over the last year, Vivo remained China's top-selling smartphone maker, Counterpoint said. _

Strangely enough, last week’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that it was [filing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple](https://www.fastcompany.com/91066998/heres-how-the-apple-antitrust-suit-could-change-iphone-design) didn’t leave me obsessing over Big Tech’s iron grip on our digital lives. Instead, I was struck by how much freedom we have to pick our platforms—a gratifying change from days of yore. First, a few _Fast Company_ tech stories for you: The late 1990s and early 21st century were an atypically uninspiring period for personal technology. And a big reason why was that one company had monopolized most of the pillars of computing as we knew it at the time. That would be Microsoft, whose Windows, Office, and Internet Explorer all commanded 90%-plus market share in their respective categories. Having vanquished their respective rivals, they began to calcify. But for most people, opting out of Microsoft’s ecosystem wasn’t realistic—or at least I sure remember feeling like I had no choice but to use the truly terrible [Internet Explorer 6](https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/8/5593584/the-most-hated-browser-in-the-world-is-finally-dead).  Whether you loved Windows XP or loathed it, you probably ended up using it. \[Image: courtesy of Microsoft\] Today, nobody dominates the tech business like Microsoft once did. Not Apple, not Google, and certainly not Microsoft, which [survived its own antitrust case](https://www.fastcompany.com/90371978/when-microsoft-was-the-tech-monopoly-everyone-loved-to-hate) and is [doing just fine these days](https://www.fastcompany.com/90931084/satya-nadella-microsoft-ai-frontrunner) despite no longer being in a position to bully its customers or competitors. Multiple viable options flourish in every category: Even using Google web search [is purely optional](https://www.fastcompany.com/91038374/kagi-web-search-engine-google-alternative). So how did Apple come to be targeted by the DOJ? The agency’s [88-page complaint](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.544402/gov.uscourts.njd.544402.1.0_3.pdf) says that iPhones have an overwhelming 70% market share by revenue for “performance smartphones.” That term is new to me, but it recognizably describes the fancy, pricey phones more often called _premium_ or _flagship_ smartphones. “Phones so nice that people are willing to pay a lot for them, even though cheaper options abound” is also an apt description. Apple, the DOJ says, has frequently preserved its dominant position “by making it harder or more expensive for its users and developers to leave \[rather\] than by making it more attractive for them to stay.” As a nonlawyer, I’m not qualified to speak to this argument’s odds of prevailing in court. But compared to the daunting prospect of dumping Windows for a Mac back in the day, it’s just not that tough to abandon the iPhone for an Android phone such as a Samsung Galaxy S or Google Pixel. I know because I’ve often hopped between iOS and Android, both of which support most of my favorite apps and make it equally easy to access my online data. Knowing that both platforms are vibrant—and roughly comparable in many ways, despite their differences—has been incredibly liberating. At its crux, the DOJ’s suit is an attack on Apple’s foundational goal of controlling what Steve Jobs called “[the whole widget](https://512pixels.net/2019/07/the-whole-widget/)”—an integrated experience involving Apple software and services running on Apple hardware powered, in recent years, by [an Apple-designed chip](https://www.fastcompany.com/90576013/apple-macbook-air-review-m1-apple-silicon-2020). Left to its own devices, the company will always default to building its own stuff and rewarding customers for owning as much of it as possible, rather than [worrying about users of other platforms](https://mashable.com/article/apple-messages-green-doj) or giving third-party developers [all the capabilities it makes available to itself](https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/21/24107669/doj-v-apple-apple-watch-messaging-digital-wallets-lock-in). That was part of the iPhone’s blueprint from the start, when its market share was dinky and many pundits were still [helpfully explaining](https://macdailynews.com/2007/01/15/bloomberg_writer_apple_iphone_wont_make_long_term_mark/) that it would struggle to compete with BlackBerry and Nokia. It’s certainly true that Apple’s controlling nature has its downsides, some of which are detailed in the complaint. To me, one of the biggest is its stewardship of the iPhone and iPad App Stores, the sole sources of software for those platforms (not counting unauthorized work-arounds such as [Riley Testut’s AltStore](https://www.fastcompany.com/90749170/altstore-riley-testut-iphone-sideloading-app-store) and the [emerging third-party stores](https://www.fastcompany.com/91017256/apple-will-open-iphone-to-alternative-app-stores-and-lower-fees-in-eu-to-comply-with-regulations) mandated by the European Commission). Apple has managed those marketplaces in an infuriatingly [self-serving](https://www.wired.com/story/spotify-apple-complaint-warren-antitrust-issue/), [sloppy](https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/22/idos-2-emulator-for-ios-to-be-removed-from-the-app-store/), and [arbitrary](https://www.fastcompany.com/91017256/apple-will-open-iphone-to-alternative-app-stores-and-lower-fees-in-eu-to-comply-with-regulations) fashion; almost 16 years after the App Store’s launch, it doesn’t even offer adequate tools for [finding the best apps and amid the schlock](https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-ios-app-store-just-flat-out-sucks.467652/). I’ve little doubt that if Apple were forced to compete with third-party app stores on a truly level playing field, it would work harder to earn the trust of users and developers. But here, too, some of the DOJ’s framing of the company’s behavior is overwrought, starting with the complaint’s opening anecdote. It involves Steve Jobs responding to an Amazon ad—showing a woman effortlessly switching the company’s Kindle e-reader apps for iPhone and Android—by declaring that Apple would “force” users and developers to use its payment system. Strangely enough, the complaint doesn’t mention that Jobs _didn’t_ box Amazon into adopting the iPhone’s in-app purchases. Instead, it merely prevented the company from selling Kindle e-books directly from its own storefront within its iOS and iPadOS apps. Maybe that’s enough to trigger antitrust concerns in itself, in which case the DOJ should say so. Meanwhile, all the Kindle books I bought on Amazon’s website are equally available to me on any phone I choose—just like most of the other material I consume on an iPhone. The DOJ does have quite a bit to say about the fact that the Apple Watch communicates with an iPhone using mechanisms that Apple has not made available to third-party smartwatch makers, resulting in a smoother experience that others can’t replicate. As a former Garmin smartwatch user who recently [switched to an Apple Watch](https://www.fastcompany.com/90960554/apple-watch-series-9-garmin-instinct), I can vouch that the latter is better integrated with my iPhone 15 Pro. I also bought the Apple Watch despite understanding that it binds me more tightly to Apple’s ecosystem, since it’s incompatible with Android. Still, I don’t feel the least bit like I’m being held prisoner in a walled garden. I’m just a guy who weighed his options, made a decision, and might well switch course down the road. A question for iPhone users: Do you recognize yourself in the DOJ’s depiction of unhappy campers trapped by Apple on a platform they’d prefer to escape? Whatever your take, [drop me a line](mailto:[email protected]). Unless you request otherwise, I might quote you in a future newsletter. _You’ve been reading Plugged In,_ Fast Company_’s weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to you—or you’re reading it on FastCompany.com—you can [check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself](https://www.fastcompany.com/section/plugged-in) every Wednesday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters._ Harry McCracken is the global technology editor for _Fast Company_, based in San Francisco. In past lives, he was editor at large for _Time_ magazine, founder and editor of _Technologizer_, and editor of _PC World_ [More](https://www.fastcompany.com/user/harry-mccracken)

Apple will not apologize for [its little blue bubbles](https://qz.com/apple-antitrust-lawsuit-doj-android-imessage-green-1851360957). The company told Quartz this week that [the Department of Justice’s big antitrust lawsuit](https://qz.com/apple-lawsuit-us-doj-iphone-app-store-antitrust-1851355450) — which guns for basically everything about Apple’s ubiquitous iPhone — is misleading. The DOJ said in its lawsuit filed last week that Apple created a monopoly in the smartphone market and hindered both its direct competitors and developers of apps and super apps, smartwatches, and digital wallets. The complaint laid out 210 allegations against the tech behemoth. It said Apple “repeatedly chooses to make its products worse for consumers to prevent competition from emerging,” all to protect its smartphone monopoly “and the extraordinary profits that monopoly generates.” But Apple told Quartz on Thursday that some of the facts as laid out by the DOJ simply aren’t true. Here’s a rundown of the company’s rebuttals. ### Apple said it doesn’t have a monopoly and that it’s never heard of ‘performance’ smartphones A big part of the DOJ’s argument is the claim that Apple has a 70% share in the “performance” smartphone market, which it defines as “a more expensive segment of the broader smartphone market.” The complaint said Apple has a 65% market share in the overall U.S. smartphone market. **Read more**: [A timeline of Apple’s rough 2024 (so far)](https://qz.com/apple-ev-cars-lawsuit-doj-iphone-sales-china-eu-spotify-1851360930) But Apple said the DOJ is flawed in using market share by _revenue_ — even though that’s [usually how market share is calculated](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/033015/how-do-i-determine-particular-companys-market-share.asp). Apple said its market share by _units_ is less than half of the U.S. market. Apple said it doesn’t know what “performance” smartphones are and that the DOJ used the term to inflate the company’s market share. ### Apple said it’s not squeezing third-party app developers The DOJ lawsuit pointed to Apple charging a 30% commission as a way to limit developers’ applications beyond the company’s influential App Store. “Apple keenly understands that while a community of developers and accessory makers is indispensable to the success of the iPhone,” the lawsuit said, “they also pose an existential threat to its extraordinary profits by empowering consumers to ‘think different’ and choose perfectly functional, less-expensive alternative smartphones.” Apple said that because it only charges the commission on paid apps, 85% of developers pay no fee to the company. It also noted the majority of developers who do pay a commission are eligible for a discount. ### Apple said no one wants green bubbles in their text messages The DOJ argued that Apple’s decision not to make iMessage available on other smartphones is an example of its monopoly. The DOJ said Apple suppresses rival messaging apps on its operating system by not allowing access to SMS (a more universal text messaging protocol). “Apple limits the reach of third-party messaging apps and reinforces network effects that benefit Apple,” the lawsuit said. The result is a dynamic in which [blue bubbles carry some cultural capital](https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/11/17/23965554/iphone-android-rcs-imessage-blue-bubble-elitism). In group text-message chats that include both iPhone users and Android users, for example, texts from the Android users show up in green bubbles instead of the iPhone blue bubbles — something that comes with stigma, [especially for young users](https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-apples-imessage-is-winning-teens-dread-the-green-text-bubble-11641618009). Apple responded in a statement to Quartz that other messaging apps such as WhatsApp are very successful on iOS, proof of its openness to other companies’ products. Apple also pointed out that [WhatsApp and Signal don’t support SMS](https://www.wired.com/story/best-sms-text-messaging-apps-android/) even on Android phones. Google uses RCS, the progeny of SMS, and Apple has [said it will adopt RCS](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/28/google-hints-that-apple-is-set-to-support-rcs-by-this-fall/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CApple%20has%20announced%20it%20will,everyone%2C%E2%80%9D%20the%20description%20read.&text=Last%20November%2C%20Apple%20confirmed%20that,on%20adding%20support%20for%20RCS.) starting this fall.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: _Independent browser companies in the European Union are [seeing a spike in users in the first month](https://www.reuters.com/technology/eus-new-tech-laws-are-working-small-browsers-gain-market-share-2024-04-10/) after EU legislation forced Alphabet's Google, Microsoft and Apple to make it easier for users to switch to rivals, according to data provided to Reuters by six companies. The early results come after the EU's sweeping Digital Markets Act, which aims to remove unfair competition, took effect on March 7, forcing big tech companies to offer mobile users the ability to select from a list of available web browsers from a "choice screen." \[...\] Cyprus-based Aloha Browser said users in the EU jumped 250% in March -- one of the first companies to give monthly growth numbers since the new regulations came in. Founded in 2016, Aloha, which markets itself as a privacy focused alternative to browsers owned by big tech, has 10 million monthly average users and earns money through paid subscriptions, rather than selling ads by tracking users. "Before, EU was our number four market, right now it's number two," Aloha CEO Andrew Frost Moroz said in an interview. Norway's Vivaldi, Germany's Ecosia and U.S.-based Brave have also seen user numbers rise following the new regulation. U.S.-based DuckDuckGo, which has about 100 million users, and its bigger rival, Norway-based Opera (OPRA.O), opens new tab are also seeing growth in users, but said the choice screen rollout is still not complete. "We are experiencing record user numbers in the EU right now," said Jan Standal, vice president at Opera, which counts over 324 million global users._ _Under the new EU rules, mobile software makers are required to show a choice screen where users can select a browser, search engine and virtual assistant as they set up their phones. Previously, tech companies such as Apple and Google loaded phones with default settings that included their preferred services, such as the voice assistant Siri for iPhones. Changing these settings required a more complicated process. Apple is now showing up to 11 browsers in addition to Safari in the choice screens curated for each of the 27 countries in the EU, and will update those screens once every year for each country. While DuckDuckGo and Opera are offered in Apple's list, opens new tab in all 27 countries, Aloha is in 26 countries, Ecosia is in 13 and Vivaldi in 8. Google is currently showing browser choices on devices made by the company and said new devices made by other companies running Android operating system will also display choice screen in the coming months. A Google spokesperson said they do not have data on choice screens to share yet._

Apple has lost its spot as the world’s biggest mobile phone seller after a steep sales drop as South Korean rival [Samsung](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/samsung) retook the lead in the global market share. Samsung had been the biggest seller of mobile phones for 12 years until the end of 2023, [when sales of Apple’s iPhone models overtook it](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/17/apple-samsung-worlds-top-smartphone-seller-iphone-honor-google-divide-android). Global smartphone shipments increased by 8% to 289.4m units during January-March, according to research firm IDC. Samsung won a 20.8% market share, beating Apple’s 17.3% share, which has been dented by slowing sales in China. IDC said that Apple shipped 50.1m iPhones in the first quarter, down from the 55.4m units it shipped in the same period last year. It was the biggest drop in [iPhone](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/iphone) sales since Covid-19 lockdowns caused global supply chain chaos in 2022. [ Samsung bets heavily on AI tricks to boost Galaxy S24 appeal ](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/18/samsung-bets-heavily-on-ai-tricks-to-boost-galaxy-s24-appeal) The drop in Apple sales, despite a growing global market, was partly ascribed to difficulties in China. Local rivals including Xiaomi and Huawei have put pressure on Apple and Samsung. At the same time, China’s government has [moved to ban devices made by foreign companies](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/08/china-iphone-ban-government-state-owned-firms-workers-apple-us) from workplaces. Apple is still the dominant player at the top end of the global smartphone market, and sales of the iPhone are its most important product. The company’s market value was $2.7tn (£2.16tn) on Friday, far ahead of every other smartphone maker and behind only Microsoft, which has been boosted by expectations of a boom in artificial intelligence. However, the back-and-forth movement at the top of the market highlights the intense competition among smartphone makers for market share. Xiaomi, China’s top smartphone maker, occupied the third position with a market share of 14.1% during the first quarter. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/15/apples-loses-mantle-as-worlds-biggest-phone-seller-to-samsung-as-china-sales-drop#EmailSignup-skip-link-9) Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion Samsung [launched its latest high-end S24 models](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/05/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-review-the-swiss-army-knife-of-phones-now-with-ai) at the start of the year, helping it to increase sales. [Samsung has bet heavily on AI features](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/18/samsung-bets-heavily-on-ai-tricks-to-boost-galaxy-s24-appeal) such as automatic phone call translation and video editing software to promote the S24 series. Investors are hoping that Apple will give more details of its own AI capabilities at a developer conference in June. Apple has reportedly [scrapped an effort to build its own electric car](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/27/apple-cancels-electric-car-layoffs), partly to shift resources to working on AI.

[Apple](https://qz.com/apple-ev-cars-lawsuit-doj-iphone-sales-china-eu-spotify-1851360930) just had its worth performance since the pandemic devastated supply chains in 2022, according to a new analysis of global smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2024. The Cupertino, California-based company [sold 50.1 million iPhones](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS52032524) between January and March, a 9.6% decrease from the same time in 2023, according to preliminary data released by the International Data Corporation (IDC). Apple controlled 17.3% of the market, down from 20.7% last year. Samsung Electronics, which sold 60.1 million phones and had a 20.8% market share, was the best-performer in China last quarter, with Apple ranked second. Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi trailed behind both, with 14.1% of the market and 40.8 million units sold. Overall, global smartphone shipments jumped 7.8% year-over-year to 289.4 million units, marking a third consecutive quarter of growth, according to the IDC. “The smartphone market is emerging from the turbulence of the last two years both stronger and changed,” Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, said in a statement. Apple stock was down slightly in Monday morning trading. The company’s market cap has trailed Microsoft by the size of Tesla’s after [a rough start to 2024](https://qz.com/apple-ev-cars-lawsuit-doj-iphone-sales-china-eu-spotify-1851360930) that included [a sweeping Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit](https://qz.com/apple-doj-antitrust-lawsuit-iphone-apps-imessage-1851375442). Apple’s flagging performance reflects its [struggles to sell iPhones in China](https://qz.com/apple-iphone-sales-china-huawei-vivo-1851308057) after releasing its latest model — the iPhone 15 — in September 2023. The smartphone giant is being “squeezed” by aggressive pricing from local rivals like Oppo and Vivo, according to analysts from Counterpoint Research. [Huawei has also seen a resurgence](https://qz.com/huawei-profits-smartphone-sales-us-sanctions-ai-chips-1851374124) after releasing its latest smartphone series, the Mate 60 Pro, which helped its profits double in 2023. On Jan. 15, [Apple began offering discounts on its iPhones in China](https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-offers-iphone-15-rare-discount-china-competition-intensifies-2024-01-15/), cutting prices by as much as 500 yuan ($70). It was the company’s first price cut on new models in years. [Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Shanghai](https://qz.com/apple-tim-cook-iphone-sales-china-new-shanghai-store-1851351445) last month to commemorate the opening of Apple’s 47th store in China. On Monday, [Cook arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam](https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/companies/tim-cook-arrives-in-vietnam-4734303.html), to meet Apple users, developers, and content creators during a two-day visit. Apple is the country’s third-largest smartphone vendor — behind China’s Oppo and South Korea’s Samsung — and the company has started [developing and manufacturing Macbooks and iPads](https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/Apple-to-move-key-iPad-engineering-resources-to-Vietnam) there. [Apple made $14 billion worth of iPhones in India](https://qz.com/apple-iphone-production-india-china-1851399473) last fiscal year as the company moves to reduce its reliance on China for manufacturing. As geopolitical tensions rise — and after a worker’s revolt cost Apple billions of dollars — the tech giant has been diversifying its supply chains.

Remember when Apple [filed a lawsuit](https://apple.slashdot.org/story/22/05/02/1954208/apple-lawsuit-says-stealth-startup-poached-engineers-to-steal-secrets) against chip startup Rivos (saying that in one year Rivos hired more than 40 former Apple employees to work on competing system-on-a-chip technology)? Apple [settled that suit](https://apple.slashdot.org/story/24/02/11/0120236/apple-is-settling-chip-secrets-theft-case-against-startup-rivos-former-employees) in February. And now Tuesday Rivos announced that it raised $250 million, [according to Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/technology/startup-rivos-raises-250-million-develop-risc-v-ai-chips-2024-04-16/), "in a funding round that will enable it to manufacture its first server chip geared for artificial intelligence," combining a CPU with an AI-accelerating component optimized for LLMs and data analytics. _Nvidia gobbled up more than 80% market share of AI chips in 2023. But a host of startups and chip giants have started to launch competing products, such as [Intel's Gaudi 3](https://www.reuters.com/technology/intel-reveals-details-new-ai-chip-fight-nvidia-dominance-2024-04-09/) and Meta's inference chip — both unveiled [last week](https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-debuts-new-generation-ai-chip-2024-04-10/). Rivos is tight-lipped about the specifics of the product, but has disclosed that its plans include designing chips based on the RISC-V architecture, which is an open source alternative to the architectures made by Arm, Intel, and Advanced Micro Devices.. \[U\]sing the open source alternative means Rivos does not have to pay a license fee to Arm. "RISC-V doesn't have a (large) software ecosystem, so I decided to form a company and then build software-defined hardware — just like what CUDA did with Nvidia," said Lip-Bu Tan, founding managing partner at Walden Catalyst, one of Rivos' investors._ Meanwhile, there's a rumor that Allen Wu, former chief executive of Arm China, has founded a new company that [will develop chips based on RISC-V](https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/firebrand-ex-arm-china-ceo-founds-risc-v-processor-startup). _Tom's Hardware_ writes: _Under the leadership of the controversial Allen Wu, Zhongzhi Chip is reportedly attracting a notable influx of talent, including numerous former employees of Arm, indicating the new company's serious ambitions in the chip sector... \[T\]he company's operational focus remains partially unclear, with speculation around whether it will primarily engage in its own R&D initiatives or represent Tenstorrent in China as its agent... which develops HPC CPUs and AI processors based on the RISC-V ISA... Based on the [source report](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2024/04/20/news-arms-former-ceo-engages-in-risv-v-market/), Zhongzhi Chip is leveraging its connections and forming alliances with several other leading global RISC-V chip developers._

Apple’s iPhone sales in China fell 19% to start the year, according to new a report, Apple’s worst performance in the country since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The company’s share of China’s smartphone market [fell in the first quarter of 2024 to 15.7%, from 19.7% the previous year](https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/china-smartphone-q1-2024/), according to Counterpoint Research. The drop was driven by competition from Apple’s homegrown rival Huawei, which saw smartphone sales rise almost 70% after releasing its Mate 60 Pro series. Overall smartphone sales in China grew 1.5% year-over-year in the first quarter. Apple fell to third place behind Chinese sellers Vivo and Honor in first-quarter market share — just barely on top of Huawei, which saw its market share jump from 9.3% to 15.5% year-over-year. Honor is a former subsidiary of Huawei. iPhone sales in China [fell 24% year-over-year in the first six weeks of 2024](https://qz.com/apple-iphone-sales-china-huawei-vivo-1851308057), due to competition with Huawei and “abnormally high” sales the previous year. Overall smartphone sales in the country were down 7% year-over-year for that period. But China’s smartphone sales seem to be recovering back to a growth trajectory, Ethan Qi, an associate director at Counterpoint Research, said in a statement. Qi noted that sales promotions during Chinese New Year were the largest driver of growth. “Apple’s sales were subdued during the quarter as Huawei’s comeback has directly impacted Apple in the premium segment,” said Ivan Lam, a senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research. “Besides, the replacement demand for Apple has been slightly subdued compared to previous years.” But Lam also said it’s possible iPhone sales will recover, as there is already a slow and steady improvement. “For the second quarter, the possibility of new color options combined with aggressive sales initiatives could bring the brand back into positive territory; and of course, we are waiting to see what its AI features will offer come WWDC in June,” Lam said. “That has the potential to move the needle significantly longer term.” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said Sunday the [chip used in the Mate 60 Pro smartphone](http://for/%20the%20second%20quarter,%20the%20possibility%20of%20new%20color%20options%20combined%20with%20aggressive%20sales%20initiatives%20could%20bring%20the%20brand%20back%20into%20positive%20territory;%20and%20of%20course,%20we%20are%20waiting%20to%20see%20what%20its%20AI%20features%20will%20offer%20come%20WWDC%20in%20June.%20That%20has%20the%20potential%20to%20move%20the%20needle%20significantly%20longer%20term.”) “is not nearly as good” and “years behind” advanced chips produced in the U.S. Apple stock was mostly flat in pre-market trading on Tuesday. The stock is down about 10% so far this year.

An anonymous reader shares a report: _Consumer Intelligence Research Partners is out with a report on how iPhone activations compare to Android in the US. The latest data shows a notable drop over the last year bringing Apple's US smartphone [market share of new activations back in time six years](https://9to5mac.com/2024/04/24/iphone-market-share-new-low-android-dominates/). CIRP shared its new iPhone report on its Substack this morning. The firm notes that while it believes Apple's installed smartphone base is higher than the recent share of US smartphone activations, the latter has taken a dive._ _As shown below, the metric peaked at 40% for Q1 and Q2 in 2023 with Apple seeing a decline to 33% of new smartphone activations in the US as of Q1 2024, says CIRP. That means 2 out of 3 new smartphone activations in the US are Android devices. Per CIRP's data, Apple hasn't seen numbers that low since 2017._

[](/search?tid=163) [Wilson](/~Wilson) (42865)发表于 2024年04月26日 17时52分 星期五 [新浪微博分享](//service.weibo.com/share/share.php?url=//www.solidot.org/story?sid=78017&appkey=1370085986&title=%E7%BE%8E%E5%9B%BD%E5%B8%82%E5%9C%BA%20iPhone%20%E6%89%8B%E6%9C%BA%E6%BF%80%E6%B4%BB%E9%87%8F%E4%B8%8B%E9%99%8D) [](javascript:void(0);) **来自再会，谢谢所有的鱼** Consumer Intelligence Research Partners（CIRP）的报告显示，美国市场 iPhone 手机激活量下降，今年一季度美国激活的智能手机中每 3 部就有 2 部是 Android 手机。数据显示，2023 年第一季度和第二季度 iPhone 新手机激活量占总激活量的 40%，2024 年第一季度降至了 33%，这是 2017 年以来的最低水平。CIRP 认为，原因包括了前几年手机质量上升因此更换率下降，新手机新功能不足以吸引用户购买 ... https://apple.slashdot.org/story/24/04/25/1512229/iphone-activation-market-share-hits-new-low-as-android-dominates

Google put an eleven-figure price tag on being the go-to search tool on Apple’s Safari browser. Court documents from the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google reveal that company parent Alphabet paid the iPhone maker $20 billion in 2022 to be its default search engine, Bloomberg reports. The disclosure, made by Apple senior vice president of services Eddy Cue, was the first confirmation of the exact dollar figure paid by Google to maintain its search engine dominance on the browser. The New York Times had [previously reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/technology/google-apple-search-spotlight.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share) that Google paid Apple about $18 billion in 2021 to keep Google’s search engine as the default option on iPhones. Antitrust and adaptation ------------------------ Google’s relationship with Apple, which **is** at the center of the lawsuit, has proven to run particularly deep. The filings also reveal that in 2020, Google’s payments to Apple made up 17.5% of the company’s operating income — no small slice of Apple’s cash flow. The Department of Justice and several U.S. states [filed its lawsuit](https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/1329131/dl?inline) against Google in 2020, accusing the tech giant of building an illegal monopoly in the search engine and advertising markets, primarily through multi-billion dollar deals paid out to browser companies, like Apple and others. Google has maintained that people use its search engine because it’s a useful product. After three years, the trial began in September, with concluding arguments slated for Thursday and Friday. The unsealed documents also show that Apple was fielding several potentially lucrative proposals for its browser’s coveted default slot: Microsoft offered Apple 90% of its advertising revenue in 2020 to make its search engine, Bing, Safari’s default, Bloomberg reported. Google had a search engine market share of almost 92% as of February, according to [data from Oberlo](https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/search-engine-market-share#:~:text=As%20of%20February%202024%2C%20Google,desktops%2C%20tablets%2C%20and%20smartphones.). Its share hasn’t dropped below 90% since 2014, and it has been the top search engine for the better part of two decades. But Prabhakar Raghavan, a senior vice president at Google who oversees search, ads, commerce, payments, and other key areas, warned employees last week that times have changed for the search giant. The company, he added, [needs to “twitch faster”](https://qz.com/google-alphabet-growth-prabhakar-raghavan-1851429513) to adapt to the new market.

174005505 story [](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=apple) Posted by msmash on Wednesday May 29, 2024 @03:20PM from the up-next dept. Apple is seeking a senior engineer to [help build a television and sports app for Android](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-29/apple-signals-that-it-s-working-on-tv-app-for-android-phones), a sign the company is finally bringing its TV+ service to the rival smartphone platform. From a report: _In a job listing published in recent days, Apple said it's looking for someone to lead the development of "fun new features" and "help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports." The move suggests that the company is looking to gain market share in video streaming -- and is setting aside its rivalry with Android in order to chase additional users. It's rare for Apple to develop software for Google's Android, which competes with its iOS platform. The TV+ service, launched in 2019, is Apple's answer to Netflix or Disney+, and the company has spent heavily on feeding it with original content._

One of Apple’s major challengers in the Chinese market is nearing a billion active users amid ongoing U.S. sanctions on its technology. Huawei has [reached 900 million active consumer devices](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-21/huawei-mobile-devices-near-a-billion-as-apple-rivalry-heats-up?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_content=business&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter&embedded-checkout=true&sref=P6Q0mxvj) with the company’s Harmony operating software, said consumer chairman Richard Yu, according to Bloomberg. He added that the company’s premium smartphone sales have risen 72% in the first five months of the year. Since fully releasing its Mate 60 Pro smartphone series in September, Huawei has experienced a [resurgence in China](https://qz.com/huawei-beats-apple-makes-huge-profits-china-sanctions-1851445476). In April, Huawei reported a net profit of 19.6 billion yuan, or $2.7 million, in the first quarter — [up 564% from the previous year](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-30/huawei-profit-surges-564-as-it-eclipses-apple-in-china?sref=P6Q0mxvj). It also reported a 37% rise in sales to 178.8 billion yuan, or $24.7 billion. Huawei has put HarmonyOS in other devices, including watches and TVs, over the years, which [helped it overtake Apple’s operating system by Chinese market share](https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/global-smartphone-os-market-share/) in the first quarter of this year, according to Counterpoint Research. The Mate 60 Pro is powered by the Kirin 9000s chip, which uses advanced 7-nanometer processing technology. The processor was made by top Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC). Both the smartphone and chip were considered a feat for Huawei, which has been on the U.S. trade blacklist since 2019. However, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in April that [the chip “is not nearly as good” and “years behind”](https://qz.com/china-huawei-chip-us-sanctions-gina-raimondo-1851425501) advanced chips produced in the U.S. Yu said Huawei will release a successor to the Mate 60 Pro, the Mate 70, at the end of the year, Bloomberg reported. He also said Huawei’s Ascend processors, which the company’s developing as an alternative to advanced chips from firms such as Nvidia, are 1.1 times more effective in training AI models compared to chips made by unspecified competitors.

 Apple has finally reversed its iPhone sales slump in China. According to Jefferies analysts, Apple’s new iPhone discounts have helped the company turn around its underperformance in the Chinese smartphone market, and its iPhone sales outperformed Google and Huawei devices during an annual Chinese shopping festival. 618 is China’s month-long online shopping festival ending June 18. Even though [the festival itself wasn’t as popular for Chinese shoppers this year](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/chinas-retail-outlook-dims-after-mid-year-shopping-festival-flop-2024-06-24/), Apple came out of it shining. Apple’s China iPhone sales for the five week period before and after the festival — beginning four weeks prior to June 18 and ending one week after, to account for delivery times — grew in the high single digits from last year, while Google and Huawei smartphone sales grew in the mid-single digits, Jefferies analysts said. “We believe if iPhone discounts continue to stay aggressive, its market share will likely have limited downside,” they wrote in a research note June 30. “Between now and the launch of iPhone 16 (end of Sep), we believe iPhone discounts will remain heavier than those of Android flagship as Apple will likely need to defend \[its\] market share.” [Apple had its worst performance in smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2024](https://qz.com/apple-iphone-smartphone-sales-slump-covid-samsung-1851410066) since the pandemic, selling nearly 10% fewer iPhones globally than the same period in 2023. That poor showing reflected [its downturn in China](https://qz.com/apple-iphone-sales-china-huawei-vivo-1851308057) since releasing the iPhone 15 last September. The tech giant started offering discounts on its iPhones in the country in January and [cut prices way further in May](https://qz.com/apple-iphone-discounts-price-cuts-sales-china-tim-cook-1851487691). Apple’s launch of its AI project [Apple Intelligence is expected to boost iPhone sales by a lot](https://qz.com/apple-ai-smartphones-intelliphones-will-dominate-mark-1851507087) in the future. [Apple Intelligence will bring a host of AI-powered tools](https://qz.com/apple-wwdc-live-updates-reveal-ai-features-strategy-iph-1851529951) to its cell phones, including a major update to its voice assistant Siri. And [Apple is partnering with OpenAI](https://qz.com/apple-openai-partnership-chatgpt-iphone-ipad-1851530584) to put ChatGPT on its devices. Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.

In a new analysis, research firm Bernstein challenges the conventional wisdom surrounding Apple's iPhone sales fluctuations, arguing that perceived market share shifts between Apple and Android devices are largely illusory. The report, which Bernstein sent to its clients, contends that the majority of iPhone buyers are existing users upgrading their devices, rather than switchers from Android platforms. Bernstein posits that year-to-year changes in iPhone unit sales are predominantly driven by Apple's upgrade rates within its established user base. This dynamic creates the appearance of significant market share gains or losses, particularly in China, where consumers are highly sensitive to new features. The analyst notes that upgrade cycles in China tend to be more pronounced than in other markets, leading to exaggerated perceptions of market share volatility. He suggests that the company's struggles in the region are more likely attributed to poor upgrade rates within its existing customer base rather than a mass exodus to competitors like Huawei.

If Apple really does come out with a foldable smartphone, it’ll be late to the party—but will somehow arrive just as the real fun is starting.  Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images The Android world has enjoyed [folding smartphones](https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-folding-phones/) for six years, but Apple stans may soon be able to take part—a folding [iPhone](https://www.wired.com/gallery/iphone-buying-guide/) might arrive in 2026, according to [a report from The Information](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-moves-forward-with-foldable-iphone). The project, codenamed V68, is in early development and there's no guarantee it will come to fruition, but the report says it has moved past the conceptual stage and suppliers are involved. This would be Apple's first major design change to its flagship product since the [iPhone X](https://www.wired.com/2017/11/review-iphone-x/) in 2017. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report of a folding iPhone. Apple's move comes at a time when the popularity of folding smartphones is soaring across the world. Analytics firm Counterpoint Research reports that the folding phone market [grew by 49 percent year over year](https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/global-foldable-smartphone-market-q1-2024) in the first quarter of 2024, its highest rate of increase in six quarters. Shipments of iPhones were [down 13 percent in the first quarter year over year](https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/apple-iphone-market-share-quarter/), so a folding iPhone just might be what Apple needs to boost sales. But foldables aren't just more popular—they're more mature too. The latest models are far more refined and more durable than the clumsy early attempts. Samsung has spent the past six years publicly tweaking its folding smartphones—every year has brought small changes to the [Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip series](https://www.wired.com/review/samsung-galaxy-z-fold6-and-galaxy-z-flip6/), improving the durability of the screen and the reliability of the hinge. These were the biggest failings of the form factor in the early days of foldables, but advances in glass technology and hinge engineering have brought 2024's folding devices ever closer to a level of quality that matches what's expected of a [traditional smartphone](https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-android-phones/). Samsung's latest models have [IP48 water- and dust-resistance ratings](https://www.wired.com/story/ip-ratings-explained/), and while it's still not as dust-resistant as its nonfolding counterparts, it's one step bringing it closer. Samsung may have the longest track record, but competition is at the heels, with [Huawei](https://www.wired.com/tag/huawei/) and [Motorola](https://www.wired.com/review/motorola-razr-and-razr-2024/) lobbing off large chunks of Samsung's market share, and new devices from [OnePlus](https://www.wired.com/review/oneplus-open/) and [Google](https://www.wired.com/review/google-pixel-fold/) vying for consumer's attention. That means there's more manufacturing capability to craft these folding phones, though they remain expensive—while Motorola offers a $700 folding flip phone, Samsung just raised the [price of its handsets](https://www.wired.com/story/samsung-galaxy-unpacked-july-2024-flip6-fold6-galaxy-ring/). All this action in the market makes it the perfect time for Apple to join the folding fray. Apple has reportedly tested products in two sizes, but this greenlit project is for a folding flip phone, much like the Razr from Motorola or Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip6. These kinds of flip phones allow you to enjoy a full-size smartphone, and then fold it in half to stuff it in a pocket or bag. You get the same smartphone experience but in a tiny package. There's usually an external “cover screen,” and you can imagine Apple will likely create a way to access notifications, widgets, and even Siri (with its upcoming [AI-infused improvements](https://www.wired.com/story/everything-apple-announced-wwdc-2024/)) there. There's likely not much that Apple has to worry about on the developer front in terms of app compatibility—the company has been laying the groundwork for apps to resize and work on any Apple platform ever since the introduction of the [M1 chipset in the MacBook Air](https://www.wired.com/review/macbook-air-m1-2020/). iPhone apps are [now available on Mac](https://www.wired.com/story/wwdc-2018-federighi-ios-apps-on-macos/), and the Vision Pro headset can run mobile apps. Apps on iPad can enjoy [Mac-like interfaces](https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-use-stage-manager-with-ipad-and-mac/) to take advantage of the tablet's larger screen. This doesn't affect a fliplike folding phone, but should Apple decide to announce a booklike folding phone, like the iPad-shaped Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold6, there should be a wide number of apps ready to take advantage of the increased screen real estate. But starting with a flip phone makes sense for Apple as the design choice inherently solves the problem of a Too Big phone in a Too Small pocket. These phones are also cute and retro, and I can imagine celebrities will hop on the bandwagon immediately—after all, Motorola already got [Paris Hilton to DJ](https://www.wired.com/story/motorola-razr-and-razr-plus-2024/) its launch event and show off its new Razr+. Apple has a history of coming into an established market late, releasing a more mature product that feels informed by the hits and the misses of what's come before it. But also, expectations around foldables have been set in the minds of the buying public, so it will be interesting to see what Apple will drum up to make its late-to-the-game flip stand out. The Information's report mentioned the potential of a superslim device that’s no thicker than a normal iPhone when folded. I can already imagine accessing Apple's Voice Memos on a compact folded iPhone and having Apple Intelligence transcribe and summarize the recording. The market is ripe for a folding iPhone. Just brace yourself for the price—there's little doubt that it will be _very_ high.

**Check out Shift, the best new browser for managing all your apps. [Download Shift for Free](https://shift.com/?utm_source=sourceforge&utm_medium=unitad&utm_campaign=1024)** One window for everything you do on the internet. The first browser to integrate your web apps into one seamless experience. × 175266613 story [](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=apple) Posted by msmash on Wednesday October 16, 2024 @05:20PM from the slow-progress dept. Apple's [$3,499 Vision Pro](https://apple.slashdot.org/story/23/06/05/1845237/apple-vision-pro-is-apples-new-ar-headset) is [struggling to attract major software-makers](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/apple-headset-stalls-struggles-to-attract-killer-apps-in-first-year/ar-AA1sblax) to develop apps for the device, a challenge that threatens to slow the progress of the company's biggest new product in a decade. WSJ: _New apps released on the Vision Pro every month have slowed since its launch in January. Some of the most successful virtual-reality software developers have so far opted not to build apps for the headset. Without enough killer apps, certain users have found the device less useful and are opting to sell it. "It's a chicken-or-egg problem," said Bertrand Nepveu, who previously worked on the Vision Pro at Apple and is now an investor in this area at Triptyq Capital. Nepveu and app developers think Apple should fund app makers to give them an incentive to port over their existing apps from other headsets or to develop fresh content. This practice has become common in the industry, with headset leader Meta Platforms funding many developers and even buying several app makers. The social-media company is a formidable competitor to Apple, with a market share of all headsets reaching 74% in the second quarter this year, according to Counterpoint Research._

[Amazon.com’s cloud unit](https://www.fastcompany.com/91239742/amazon-announces-a-set-of-nova-ai-models) on Tuesday showed new data center servers packed with its own AI chips that will challenge [Nvidia](https://www.fastcompany.com/section/nvidia), with Apple coming aboard as a customer to use them. The new servers, based on 64 of Amazon Web Services’ Trainium2 chips, will be strung together in a massive supercomputer with hundreds of thousands of chips, with the help AI startup [Anthropic](https://www.fastcompany.com/section/anthropic), which will be the first to use it. Apple executive Benoit Dupin also said that Apple is using Trainium2 chips. With more than 70% market share, Nvidia dominates the sale of AI chips, and traditional chip industry [rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices are rushing to catch up](https://www.fastcompany.com/91134766/amd-unveils-new-ai-chips-to-compete-with-nvidia). But some of Nvidia’s most formidable competitors are also its customers: Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google all have their own custom AI chips. While Meta’s chip powers internal operations, Amazon and Google use their chips internally but also market them to paying customers. AWS Chief Executive Matt Garman also said that Trainium3, the company’s next generation of AI chip, will debut next year. The new offerings “are purpose-built for the demanding workloads of cutting edge generative AI training and inference,” said Garman at the event in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The new servers, which AWS calls Trn2 UltraServers, will compete against Nvidia’s flagship server packing 72 of its latest “Blackwell” chips. Both companies also offer proprietary technology for connecting the chips, though Gadi Hutt, who leads business development for the AI chips at AWS, said that AWS will be able to connect a greater number of chips together than Nvidia. Expand to continue reading ↓

Experience faster, smoother browsing with built-in features like a free VPN, ad blocker, and AI tools—get the Opera web browser and redefine how you explore the web! [**Download for FREE here**](https://www.opera.com/partner?utm_medium=pb&utm_source=sourceforge&utm_campaign=testdecember) Try it for free today. × 175815927 story [](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=china)[ ](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=iphone)[](//apple.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=apple) Posted by msmash on Thursday January 02, 2025 @05:00AM from the whatever-floats-the-boat dept. Apple is [offering rare discounts](https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-offers-iphone-discounts-china-competition-intensifies-2025-01-02/) of up to 500 yuan ($68.50) on its latest iPhone models in China, as the U.S. tech giant moves to defend its market share against rising competition from domestic rivals like Huawei. From a report: _The four-day promotion, running from Jan. 4-7, applies to several iPhone models when purchased using specific payment methods, according to its website. The flagship iPhone 16 Pro with a starting price of 7,999 yuan and the iPhone 16 Pro Max with a starting price of 9,999 yuan will see the highest discount of 500 yuan. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will receive a 400 yuan reduction. The discounts come as consumers remain cautious with spending amid China's slowing economy and deflationary pressures, with the country's consumer inflation hitting a five-month low in November._

Apple ([AAPL\-2.83%](https://qz.com/quote/AAPL)) is giving its Chinese customers a discount on iPhones as it [competes with homegrown rivals](https://qz.com/apple-losing-huawei-china-smartphone-iphone-ai-market-1851672936) such as Huawei. The iPhone maker is offering a [discount of up to 500 Chinese yuan](https://www.apple.com.cn/iphone/), or $68.50, on its latest iPhone models when customers use “eligible payment methods,” according to the Apple website. The 500 yuan discount applies to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, while the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be discounted by 400 yuan during the promotion, which runs from January 4 to 7. In the third quarter of last year, Apple [re-entered the top five smartphone makers](https://qz.com/apple-china-smartphone-market-share-huawei-iphone-16-1851681264) in the Chinese market, capturing a 15.6% share and coming in second place, according to [data](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP52680124) from the International Data Corporation (IDC). The Cupertino-based company had previously [fallen to sixth place](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP52467524) in the second quarter. Huawei, once the world’s largest smartphone maker before [U.S. sanctions hobbled](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/huawei-q4-smartphone-shipments-plunge-41percent-as-us-sanctions-bite.html) its business in 2020, is slashing prices by up to 20% on its premium phones to compete with Apple in China. The company is also pushing innovation, launching its groundbreaking Mate XT smartphone with a 10-inch tri-fold display [just hours](https://qz.com/huawei-mate-xt-trifold-smartphone-apple-iphone-16-ai-1851644416) after Apple’s iPhone 16 debut in September. “Huawei has staged an impressive comeback, recording four consecutive quarters of at least double-digit growth,” the IDC said. “The launch of the world’s first tri-foldable phone is expected to further drive the foldable market development.” Huawei and other Chinese smartphone makers experienced double-digit growth last year, [boosting smartphone shipments in China by 8.9%](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP52467524) year-over-year in the second quarter, according to a previous IDC report.

Two months after it announced plans to discontinue its high-end Quest Pro VR/XR headset, Meta has [stopped selling its remaining inventory](https://www.meta.com/quest/quest-pro/) of the device, which saw prices of between $1,000 and $1,500 over the short course of its life. And that has once again thrust virtual reality headsets into a spotlight. A decade ago, they were heralded as the next great thing, with Meta paying $2 billion in 2014 to acquire Oculus and buying a suite of VR development studios in the years that followed. Apple’s entry into the market last year with the Vision Pro got enthusiasts excited once again. But the end of the Meta Quest Pro is again raising questions about the viability of high-end VR in the consumer marketplace. And with Meta’s top headset now nothing but a memory, eyes turn to Apple. The Apple Vision Pro costs $3,500 and up. A year ago it was Apple’s biggest new product of the past 10 years. Since then, enthusiasm has faded. Apple has not released sales numbers for the device and did not reply to _Fast Company_’s request for comment, but in October, the _Wall Street Journal_ [reported](https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/apple-vision-pro-software-sales-fec324c0) sales [have been disappointing](https://www.fastcompany.com/91112727/vision-pro-sales-tanking-supply-chain-data-meta-quest), with Apple reportedly cutting its first year shipments roughly in half. The VR market, overall, is in flux, at best. Headset sales were down in the first two quarters of 2024, but rebounded slightly in the third quarter, according to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker. Meta still has more than a 70% market share and Apple’s sales numbers did not drive the Q3 growth. The Vision Pro did get some good news at CES this week, though. Nvidia announced Monday that its GeForce Now game-streaming service would be coming to the headset later this month, giving owners access to more than 2,100 AAA video games without the need for a separate computer. (The service is also coming to Meta’s Quest 3 and the Pico headset.) Nvidia also said it was using the Vision Pro to help humanoid robots [learn automated tasks](https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/06/nvidia-is-helping-humanoid-robots-learn-through-apple-vision-pro-instruction/). And _Wicked_ director Jon Chu gave the headset a positive spin when he announced he had used the Vision Pro to view and give feedback on edits of the movie. Expand to continue reading ↓ Chris Morris is a contributing writer at Fast Company, covering business, technology, and entertainment, helping readers make sense of complex moves in the world of tech and finance and offering behind the scenes looks at everything from theme parks to the video game industry. Chris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience, more than half of which were spent with some of the Internet’s biggest sites, including CNNMoney.com, where he was director of content development, and Yahoo! Finance, where he was managing editor [More](https://www.fastcompany.com/user/chris-r-morris)