The smartphone market in the U.S. basically boils down to three companies — Apple, Samsung and everyone else. And everyone else could be about to shrink.
Recently, a report claimed that LG might exit the smartphone business, citing years of losses for that division of the electronics giant. That the report surfaced shortly after LG made a splash at this year’s CES showing off a rollable phone suggests how hard it is for smartphone makers not named Apple and Samsung to capture sustained interest from U.S. phone buyers.
The ups and downs of device makers would normally be of little interest to those of us who just want to find the best phone out there. Who cares if Phone Maker X is struggling to break through so long as I can pick up a new iPhone or Galaxy S model every so often?
But even companies with the track records of Apple and Samsung need rivals to push them forward. And you could argue that the two-horse show that is the U.S. smartphone market these days is allowing a feeling of sameness to creep into the latest flagship devices.
Take Apple’s decision a few years back to stop placing a headphone jack in its new iPhones. Samsung resisted that move with its own flagships — until it didn’t. Now, you won’t find a Galaxy S or Galaxy Note model with a headphone jack. The recent Galaxy S21 models all shipped without microSD card slots, something Apple’s always left out of its iPhones. And after mocking Apple’s decision to not include a charger with the iPhone 12, Samsung did exactly the same thing with the Galaxy S21.
To be sure, you’re not going to confuse the iPhone 12 with the Galaxy S21 any time soon. But some of the differentiating factors between the two smartphones brands are starting to disappear.
The Apple-Samsung duopoly by the numbers
No one would dispute the fact that Apple and Samsung are the leading phone makers in the U.S. According to numbers from Counterpoint Research, in the third quarter of 2020, Apple enjoyed a 40% market share to Samsung’s 30%. The next biggest player was LG, with a 13% share, while other phone makers made up 11% of the market.
(Image credit: Counterpoint Research)
We don’t have fourth quarter numbers yet, but you’d figure that Apple’s share would only grow, given that the company enjoyed record phone sales the last three months of the year fueled by the iPhone 12’s release.
“Smartphones are a mature product category, and the U.S. market has been in a duopoly with Apple and Samsung for years,” said Avi Greengart, founder and lead analyst for Techsponential. “This is not ideal for consumers, but both companies are under considerable competitive pressure in markets outside the U.S., and that helps protect consumers from stagnation.”
Handset OEMs compete on a global scale, and competition remains healthy.
— Tuong Nguyen, Gartner
Indeed, when you take the entire world into account, Huawei is the second largest phone maker, wedged between Samsung and Apple. And other companies combine to hold the largest slice of the global market, according to numbers from research firm IDC. “The bigger picture is that handset OEMs compete on a global scale, and competition remains healthy,” said Tuong Nguyen, a senior principal analyst with Gartner.
There’s another factor hanging over the U.S. phone market, where a lot of people still buy their devices through the phone carriers providing their wireless service as opposed to picking up the best unlocked phones. “U.S. carriers also play a strong gatekeeper role; as much as they would like alternatives to Apple and Samsung, they have also been unwilling to open up their shelves to the churn of Chinese vendors,” Greengart said.
Competition among budget phones
Apple and Samsung may command the lion’s share of attention for people looking for flagship phones, but there’s one segment of the market where they’re overshadowed by other players. Midrange phones have been lively in recent years, as phone makers try to attract budget-minded shoppers.
“We are seeing more options at lower price points,” Greengart said. The iPhone SE is Apple’s cheapest device at $399, but Apple hasn’t gone any lower with prices, Greengart added while “vendors like TCL, OnePlus, and Google are trying to expand the market for mid-tier devices.”
The Moto G Power has helped Motorola make a space for itself in the market for lower-priced phones that still boast noteworthy features. (Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
Motorola and Google have been especially successful at making waves. Motorola’s affordable G Series of phones have drawn a lot of interest from consumers by focusing on specific features like battery life in the case of the Moto G Power. Google’s Pixel flagships had failed to attract much of an audience until the company rolled out A series phones — first the Pixel 3a, then the Pixel 4a — that delivered high-end camera performance at a lower price.
That’s been the secret for phone makers looking to escape the long shadow cast by Apple and Samsung. Just how many premium features can you squeeze into a phone while keeping the overall price competitive to what the market leaders charge? OnePlus’ entire business model seems designed around this entire point, both with its flagships but especially with the affordable OnePlus Nord phones it started rolling out last year.
Can phone makers still innovate?
That’s a sign that there’s room for phone makers to establish their own devices, even if the iPhone and Galaxy flagships consume a lot of oxygen in the smartphone space. And it may just push Apple and Samsung to keep finding new features and enhancements for their phones, even if the smartphone market is a pretty mature one at this point.
Neither company wants to be labeled as showing incremental improvement from their previous models, nor be a step or two behind the competition.
— Ramon Llamas, IDC
“Both [Apple and Samsung] repeatedly highlight how much faster their processors are, how much bigger and brighter their screens are, and how much more developed their cameras are,” said Ramon Llamas, research director for mobile devices and AR/VR at IDC. “Neither company wants to be labeled as showing incremental improvement from their previous models, nor be a step or two behind the competition.”
Phone displays are a good example of where the market leaders have kept trying to elevate the user experience, especially in the case of Samsung. Last year’s Galaxy S20 introduced 120Hz refresh rates to Samsung’s flagship lineup and subsequent releases have seen the company add dynamic refresh that adjust depending on what task you’re performing.
Fast refreshing displays on phones like the Galaxy S21 Ultra put pressure on Apple and its future smartphones. (Image credit: Future)
Faster refreshing displays mean smoother scrolling and a better overall experience, which is pressuring Apple to respond in kind. Indeed, fast-refreshing displays are reportedly on the feature list for the iPhone 13 slated for release later this year.
Phone makers have also been trying to leave their mark with cameras. Recent Galaxy phones have seen Samsung up the megapixel rating on its main sensor — the Galaxy S21 Ultra features a 108MP camera as its primary shooter — while also upping the zoom capabilities of its camera phones. Apple, in turn, has put an emphasis on software improvements, introducing and enhancing features like Smart HDR, which enhances shots you take even in challenging lighting, and Deep Fusion, which calls out the finer details of photos.
Of course, you could make the case that the camera improvements in the iPhones and Galaxy devices might not have come as rapidly without Google applying the pressure to Apple and Samsung. While the Pixel phones may not enjoy a big slice of market share, they’ve undoubtedly introduced plenty of new capabilities to mobile photography, with the latest Pixels ranking among the best camera phones. Apple and Samsung would certainly be motivated to upgrade their cameras every year without the Pixel, but the extra competition certainly doesn’t hurt.
The outlook for smartphone competition
That’s why consumers can be forgiven if they’re a little bit worried that the dominance of Apple and Samsung might slow the pace of innovation in the smartphone market. Advances will still happen, but it’s a question of how rapidly they’ll come without the threat of extensive competition.
“We’ve reached a point in this market where the innovations have been coming incrementally,” Gartner’s Nguyen said. “The next big use case/application is what will change this dynamic — much in the same way that smartphones changed the mobile phone market in a substantial way. The million dollar question is what the application or combination of applications will be.”
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
