The FTC wants comments by Jan. 3 in docket 202-3092 on a proposed consent order on Google's advertising for its Pixel 4 phone, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register (see 2211280062).

Mobile operators will lose $2.5 billion next year to business messaging providers such as Messenger, WeChat and WhatsApp, up 20% from 2021, said Juniper Research Wednesday. Promotional messages will account for nearly a third of the revenue loss as businesses increasingly use messaging for rich media marketing campaigns. SMS business messages will reach 1.7 trillion next year, up from 1.6 trillion in 2022, it said. SMS use will be strong at retail, with operator-led messaging channels in multi-factor authentication tracking along with the growth of e-commerce, Juniper said.

Apple's Emergency SOS service via satellite for its iPhone 14 will be available for U.S. and Canada customers starting later this month, Apple said Thursday. Helping enable the service is a $450 million investment from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund, with most of that funding going to Globalstar, it said. The money will be used for enhancements to Globalstar's L- and S-band low earth orbit satellite network and ground stations, it said. Globalstar CEO Jay Monroe said the company used the Apple funding to grow, construct, expand and upgrade its ground stations. Apple said iPhone users can text with emergency services, launch their Find My app and share their location via satellite when no cellular or Wi-Fi connection is available.

Qualcomm executives warned of weakening 5G and other handset demand, in a call to announce Q4 results Wednesday. “As we look to fiscal '23, further deterioration of the macroeconomic environment and extended China COVID restrictions have resulted in demand weakness and temporary elevated channel inventory across the industry,” CEO Cristiano Amon said on a call with analysts. The company already implemented a hiring freeze, “and we have planned spending reductions across our mature product areas and [selling, general and administrative expense] to fund our diversification,” he said: “We are continuing to evaluate additional actions, and we are prepared and committed to making further reductions to operating expenses as needed.” Qualcomm started to have “a deceleration in demand for mass-tier handsets in consumer IoT” last quarter, said Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala. Qualcomm now projects 3G, 4G and 5G handset volume to decline in 2022 “by low double digits on a year-over-year basis, including 600 million to 650 million 5G handsets,” he said. Revenue Q4 was $11.4 billion, up 22% over last year, net income was $2.9 billion, up 3%. Qualcomm closed down 7.66% at $103.88 Thursday.

T-Mobile said Tuesday it’s working with Sinch on next-generation 911 real-time text technology, which is being tested at an emergency communications center in Hood County, Texas. The technology allows T-Mobile customers “to communicate with 911 through simultaneous conversational text and voice -- text messages can be sent and read at the same time -- without the need for teletype technology,” said a news release: “This is particularly critical for up to 48 million Americans who are Deaf or hard of hearing, as well as those who have speech-related disabilities or are non-native English speakers. RTT also gives public safety centers the ability to make better-informed dispatch decisions during a crisis and shave crucial time off a response.”

A quarter of mobile phone owners are extremely or very likely to switch wireless carriers in the next six months if their carrier raises prices due to inflation, NPD emailed Thursday. Postpaid smartphone sales grew in the past two years due in part to carriers’ “aggressive subsidies and trade-in offers,” said the report. Some 39% of prepaid users said they switched to postpaid accounts due to the price of the plan and 37% due to network coverage and call quality. In Q2, 5G was 68% of postpaid sales, up from 49% in the year-ago quarter. About three-fourths of mobile phone owners are aware of cable companies’ mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) wireless service offerings, NPD said, and about a third are extremely or very interested in switching their mobile service to their cable provider if offered a comparable or more affordable rate. More than half of mobile phone owners are aware of wireless 5G home internet services offered by carriers, and nearly half of mobile phone owners show high interest in switching to 5G home internet if offered a more affordable option, it said. Consumers not willing to try out 5G home internet services are most concerned about data speeds, said the research firm. For the 2022 holiday season, interest in buying a smartphone tracks with income, said NPD’s report on holiday purchase intentions. Some 27% of consumers with an income over $150,000 showed interest in buying a smartphone during the holidays vs. 13% in the $75,000-$150,000 bracket and 12% making under $75,000.

Worldwide smartphone shipments fell 9.7% year over year to 301.9 million units in Q3, marking the largest-ever Q3 decline for the category and the fifth consecutive quarterly drop, reported IDC Friday. Market leader Samsung had a 7.8% year-over-year shipment decline to 64 million, with share growing slightly to 21.2%. Apple, the only vendor with higher year-on-year shipments, gained 1.6% to 51.9 million, with Xiaomi, vivo and Oppo rounding out the top five. Vivo and Oppo each had declines of over 22% in the quarter, IDC said. Most of the decline came from emerging markets “where lack of demand, rising costs, and inflation impacted consumers with lesser disposable incomes,” said analyst Nabila Popal. Inventory was high at the start of the quarter, leading OEMs to reduce shipments and orders “in an attempt to deplete inventory,” the analyst said. IDC expects a market recovery next year but has pushed out growth estimates for later in the year: “We now expect a steeper shipment decline for 2022 and a softer recovery in 2023,” she said.

The global smartphone market fell for the third consecutive quarter in Q3, dropping 9% year on year, for the worst Q3 since 2014, reported Canalys Tuesday. Consumers delayed buying electronics to prioritize essential spending, a trend that’s likely to continue to limit the smartphone market for the next six to nine months, it said. “The smartphone market is highly reactive to consumer demand and vendors are adjusting quickly to the harsh business conditions,” said Canalys analyst Amber Liu, saying most vendors are focusing on reducing the risk of inventory buildup “given deteriorating demand.” Vendors had “significant stockpiles going into July,” but sell-through gradually improved from September due to aggressive discounting and promotions, she said. “The pricing strategy of new products is cautiously crafted, even for Apple, to avoid significant pushback from consumers who now tend to be very sensitive to any price hike,” Liu said. Samsung used “heavy promotions” to retain its leadership position, holding 22% market share in Q3, up a percentage point from Q3 2021, Canalys said. Apple gained 3 share points to 18% in Q3. Demand “shows no signs of improvement” heading into Q4 and first half 2023 so vendors have to balance forecasts with the supply chain and distribution to hold market share, said analyst Sanyam Chaurasia. “Going into the sales season, consumers who have been delaying purchases will expect steep discounts and bundling promotions as well as significant price reductions on older generation devices,” Chaurasia said. Compared with strong demand in Q4 2021, a “slow but steady festive sale is anticipated” this quarter, he said, but it’s too early to tell whether Q4 will be a “turning point of market recovery.” Rounding out the top five vendors were Xiaomi with 14 share, Oppo at 10% and vivo at 9%. Apple was the only top-five vendor with positive growth, on “relatively resilient demand for iPhones,” said the research firm.

New mobile devices sold in the EU must have common chargers by the end of 2024, with laptops requiring the same USB Type-C charging port by 2026, after the European Parliament approved the proposal Tuesday. The measure covers mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems and earbuds. Laptops rechargeable via wired cable, with a power delivery of up to 100 watts, will also have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port. The law is part of an EU effort to cut waste and help consumers make sustainable choices, parliament said. EU lawmakers voted to broaden the scope of the original European Commission proposal (see 2201260044) by including more devices, and to ensure the same rule applies to future wireless technologies, said rapporteur Alex Agius Saliba (of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, and Malta) at a briefing. By 2024, the EC must harmonize interoperability requirements for wireless technology standards to prevent companies from continuing to sell their proprietary technology: "Proprietary solutions will be a thing of the past." The rules will apply to all non-EU companies seeking to sell products within the EU single market. The law isn't retrospective, and older chargers will be phased out, he said. The measure is likely to have ramifications outside the EU because it makes no sense for producers to make chargers solely for European markets, he said. The law is expected to save buyers up to 250 million euros ($248 million) a year on unnecessary charger purchases and cut down on the 11,000 tons of e-waste generated by disposed-of and unused chargers annually, parliament said. The rule now needs formal approval from EU governments.

Worldwide shipments of foldable phones, including flip- and fold-style form factors, will reach 13.5 million this year, a 67% year-on-year increase due to Samsung’s success with the Flip and Fold products, said IDC Monday. The research firm projects foldable phone shipments will reach 41.5 million units in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate of 38.7%. IDC expects Samsung’s recently updated Flip and Fold models (see 2208100035) to outperform the previous versions “and grab more consumer attention in the category.” Samsung “continues to be the gold standard for foldable devices in the market," said analyst Anthony Scarsella, noting the 2022 models’ “incremental but critical improvements over their predecessors.” The success of the latest models “should be a strong indicator of how foldables will evolve and capture consumers moving forward,” he said. Price remains a “pain point” for consumers, but Samsung’s $999 starting price may be accepted by many consumers amid an overall increase in consumer goods pricing due to inflation, Scarsella said. Analyst Nabila Popal doesn’t believe foldables will become mainstream near term, saying: “Mainstream means volume, and volume is dominated by cheaper, sub-$400 phones.” She cautioned vendors not to undercut the segment with low-cost foldable phones to generate an early sales boost, especially if such a strategy compromised quality and user experience. Vendors should focus on improving user experience and boosting confidence in the foldable category to generate long-term growth, Popal said, calling foldables “the future of premium Android devices.” Foldables have potential in the commercial segment where they can function as two-in-one devices replacing separate phones and tablets, a concept that may gain traction as prices continue to fall and new business cases emerge, IDC said. The 13.5 million foldable phones projected to ship this year will be a 1.1% share of the overall mobile phone market; the research firm expects 1.4 billion smartphones to ship in 2022.