So Q4 is a quarter that companies from grocers to computer repair to smartphone companies look forward to. It’s the holiday shopping season, of course. However, smartphone companies might want to forget this one. Because smartphone growth ends 2018 in a drag.
So when I say drag, I mean sales grew just 0.1% from Q4 2017. Ouch. Apparently, high end smartphone lovers (think iPhone X, Google Pixel 3, Samsung Galaxy 9) saw no reason to upgrade. Apple got the worst of it. Because Q4 2018 was their worst quarter since early 2016. In fact, they told investors not to expect a prosperous Q1 2019 either. Their sales continue to decrease literally to this day.
Samsung isn’t fairing much better. Not only did they have a bad Q4 2018, but their overall sales in the recent past fell off. As I stated before, their Galaxy 9 phones aren’t helping matters much. They can partially thank Android’s Huawei phones. They sold over 60 million smartphones between October-December 2018. The majority of these sales come from China, one of the greatest smartphone markets around today. In fact, Huawei is probably the only one that had a good Q4 2018. Their sales for that period grew 14.8 % from Q4 2017. This is while everybody else struggled to break even from one year ago. Some publications went as far as calling 2018 the year of the Huawei.
However, for all others, smartphone growth ends 2018 in a drag. And if something revolutionary doesn’t come from the smartphone game in 2019, then I don’t see an end in sight. Location wise, the worst drops were right here in North America. Then follow that with China and the rest of Asia. That’s alarming for smartphone companies because these nations (US, China, India, Japan, etc) are their money maker. Some experts say that in mature markets, like the smartphone, sales start declining when pretty much everybody has them. But let’s hear from you. Why do you think smartphones are decking?
So today is the day for love, or so they say. Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day. Around this time, some people take to dating sites to look for that last minute date. But how ironic…one dating site hacked on Valentine’s Day.
So the dating site’s name is Coffee Meets Bagel. They told millions of their users that hackers stole their account information. Well, they gave users an email saying that a third-party ‘might’ have acquired their information. Also in this letter, Coffee Meets Bagel assured that they only stole names and emails. Because they don’t store passwords or financial stuff. They listed various steps they’re doing to protect the consumer, including working with the law to find the hackers.
However, this breach included over 670MB worth of info. Yes, it included people’s names and emails, but also registration and gender info. Though Coffee Meets Bagel has millions of accounts, we don’t know how many were hacked. In fact, as of December 2018, this dating site has over 7 million members. Then add the $25 million it made in 2018. They’re still growing. But they did give advice to it’s members in the wake of this hack. They warned against any page asking you for personal data, especially those you don’t know of. Also, watch out for suspicious emails. Our computer repair techs?remind our clients of this often.
This dating site hacked on Valentines Day though. I find it interesting hackers picked this date for the attack. Yes, few people,especially in IT service, expected this dating site to be hacked on this particular day. Maybe they know this would be a good time to get good info on people. Maybe this would be a good time to sell stuff on the dark web. But it could also be that they went through a bad Valentine’s Day experience. It could have been a break up, divorce, or the day they discovered another person in their relationship. Who knows? It’s not of of possibility. What do you think?
So Valentine’s Day is tomorrow (bah humbug!). But even us in technology, whether computer repair or IT support leadership, have a sense of humor about it. Maybe this is why T-Mobile spoofs Valentine’s Day.
So starting today, T-Mobile starts a Valentine’s Day promotion. But maybe I should call it an-anti Valentine’s Day promotion. Because here, they want you to break up with your carrier and choose T-Mobile. In fact, they even give it a name. That name is, “National Break Up With Your Carrier Day”. Here is an old 2014 commercial that captures that spirit.? Valentine’s Day is a perfect day to woo someone to you. And T-Mobile is using this day to woo you from the hands of their competitors.
I say this because they seem to be breaking out with the deals. They include two smartphones and unlimited lines for $100 a month. It also has auto pay, and many choices of phones. However, none of them include iPhone products. This even includes ‘Netflix On Us’. That’s right. With this plan, they’ll even pay for your Netflix watching habits. But let’s talk about newer, more expensive phones, like Samsung Galaxy S9 and Google Pixel 3. Obviously, they will cost you more. However, let’s say you have a Verizon account and owe them money. During this promotion, T-Mobile says they will pay up to $650 of what you owe to Verizon. That is, if you join them.
Here is a disclaimer. I am not supporting or advertising for T-Mobile, or any other phone company. But I’m reporting how smartphone companies are using Valentine’s Day to promote. That’s nothing new or unusual. However, what catches my eye here is the way they’re trying to woo customers away from the competition on this very occasion. It’s to the point they’re even paying for a bill you may owe to a competitor. This is how T-Mobile Spoofs Valentine’s Day. It reminds of a jilted lover trying to win his/her ex back from the new lover…on Valentine’s Day. Or a single person trying to take somebody’s boyfriend/girlfriend…on Valentine’s Day. That rarely works in the romance world. Will it work here?
So the CES Conference in Las Vegas is in full swing now. The Consumer Technology Association sponsors it. Many people are looking to many things, but I think one device will stir things up. It’s a cell phone that folds. The folding smartphone is here.
So a Chinese IT service company they call Royale took the CES stage. They revealed their FlexPai. Not only did they show it off, but they let the tech media and the public play with it for a while. However, we don’t know whether to call it a phone or tablet. That’s because it’s 7.8 inches.
But you can fold the AMOLED display in half, literally. Well, there is a small gap between the two halves. When you do fold the phone in half, it’s smaller than the average smartphone (about 3.9 inches). Yes, it does work when you do fold it. All your stuff will move to one side of the phone, apps, emails, texts, and all. It runs on Android (ha ha, Apple!) software, and has all the features you should expect from an expensive smartphone/tablet. It better. Because FlexPai’s Royale will run you an average $1,300 in the US. There are other phone makers trying to build the smartphone, like Samsung.
However, FlexPai beat them to it. Yes, the folding smartphone is here. Here comes the real question: Will it sell? Royale seems to be banking on it. Because later in this conference, they plan to show a video displaying their folding smartphone. There’s also a debate whether to go on their own or team up with others in the IT support world. If they were smart, then they would team up with other tech corporations. Most of today’s tech is controlled by three or four major tech corporations: Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft. In a world like that, you can’t afford to go at it alone. It would be foolish for Royale to do so. But the question is: Who would join them on their folding smartphone quest?
So today, Apple releases it’s new iPhone XR to Apple stores and retailers around the world. It’s on the low end of Apple’s new phones coming out this year. In fact, you can get one for under $800. But Bloomberg Magazine just released a bombshell by rival Samsung, on this very day. Did Samsung ruin Apple’s big day?
First of all, Samsung, through Bloomberg Magazine, gave many a detail about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S10. But that’s just the beginning. They teased about the revolutionary folding smartphone. The call the secret device Winner. Furthermore, Samsung worked on this project for years. The work still continues this day because they don’t know whether to make this horizontal or vertical. From pictures I saw, the landscape nature portrait looked great. However, many on the designer team don’t like it. Here is what we know. You can fold the device. Furthermore, when you do, the screen will be four inches. The display will open like a snap. But there are still concerns. Just make sure your screen doesn’t crack. Because when it does, it will crack like paper.
Keep in mind Samsung tested this ‘Winner’ over 200,000 times, by closing it that many times. They don’t expect the phone to be released until the Spring of 2019. That’s all I know for now, because, like I said, much of this project is under wraps. But back to this question: Did Samsung ruin Apple’s big day? They did announce their upcoming products on their XR release day. I doubt that was coincidence. That was by design.? It’s a typical one in the IT service/smartphone wars. I also read stories of how XR sales are going right now. They’re not good. You don’t see long lines at Apple stores for this XR. That may mean little to us computer repair folks, but to Apple, that’s pretty concerning. Did Samsung ruin Apple’s big day, or is that happening without Samsung’s announcement?
So are you tired of your old smartphone? Do you have a new one and don’t have any need for the old one? Then Maybe Ebay can help. Ebay’s instant selling: Sell your old smartphone.
So this is a new system Ebay created. They call it Instant Selling. However, there is good news and bad news in this. The good news is this will only take a few minutes, and Ebay does most of the work for you. However, the bad news is you don’t get money back. Instead, you get an Ebay voucher. That’s great if you’re an avid Ebay shopper. But what if you’re just a once-in-a-while Ebay user? Or what if this is your first time on Ebay, and an Ebay voucher doesn’t interest you at all?
So here is the first step: Click on this Ebay?page.?Then, tell them what brand and model your phone is. They’ll ask you about the condition of the phone because the better shape it’s in, the more money, I meant, the bigger Ebay voucher you’ll get. It also helps if you have the original box it came in. You’ll get a table of prices and worth. Then, you’ll get the voucher when you agree to your specific quote. They’ll give you a label to print. You follow instructions on where and how to ship your old phone. Then all you do is enjoy your Ebay voucher.
From what I’m seeing, they’re only doing this for newer smartphone brands, like Galaxy S7 or IPhone 6 and newer. Also, you need to be under contract with AT&T or Verizon. Sorry, Sprint and T-Mobile customers. Many in the IT support and computer repair community have those brands. Ebay does need new ideas, especially if they’re going to compete with Amazon. What do you think of Ebay’s Instant Selling?
