Virtual reality headset shipments globally fell 4% year over year in Q3, the third consecutive quarter of declines, Counterpoint said Friday. The augmented reality/AI smart glasses segment is set to grow in 2025, with the debut of the Android XR operating system and new entries from major tech companies as main drivers. Counterpoint said the VR market is struggling with hardware limitations and costs, and expects slight growth in the global VR market in coming years, compared with "significant expansion" in the global augmented reality smart glasses market.
AI and devices such as smart glasses and enterprise drones will drive uplink traffic demands in 2025, ABI Research said this week. That in turn will create changes in telecommunications network design, it added. Moreover, Chinese operators, early adopters of 5G stand-alone core networks, are already heavily into network slicing and priority packages. Other telecom operators will need to adapt quickly to shifting traffic, ABI added. In addition, it said 2025 will see telecom vendors facing slowing capital expenditures as 5G rollouts flatten in mature markets like North America and Western Europe. To remain competitive, they must partner with AI-focused firms, ABI added.
The extended reality market is starting to mature, and the time is ripe for rollout of Google's Android XR platform for XR headsets and glasses, a Counterpoint note said Tuesday. While Apple has Vision OS for Apple Vision Pro and Meta has an operating system only for Meta devices, Google is trying to create a unified platform with Android XR, letting developers build apps for XR devices. With Android as its base, the OS benefits from an existing ecosystem, making it easier for developers to port apps into XR devices, Counterpoint said. With the Android XR OS, "Google is looking to create the ‘smartphone’ moment, like it did with Android, allowing OEMs to build devices without worrying about the underlying software."
Walmart said Tuesday it completed its $2.3 billion purchase of Vizio. The retailer said Vizio's smart TV SmartCast operating system would open the door to additional advertising services, especially when coupled with the Walmart Connect advertising unit.
Apple's iPhone 15 was the most popular smartphone globally in Q3, with 3% of the smartphone market, Counterpoint said Monday. The iPhone 15 Pro Max and 15 Pro held second and third place, respectively, in global sales rankings. Samsung had five of the 10 spots, with its Galaxy-S series returning to the top 10, it said.
Shipments of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have topped 1 million, with that success driving increased interest in other developments of lightweight smart glasses using on-device and cloud AI to provide interactive services, Counterpoint Research said Monday. The category of similarly designed smart glasses will gradually become a key segment of smart wearable, it added.
Requiring providers to unlock handsets within 60 days of activation, even if not paid off, would encourage handset-related arbitrage, fraud and trafficking and increase providers’ bad debt, according to AT&T. It said an unlocking requirement would create a disincentive for providers to continue offering aggressive handset promotions and flexible handset financing. Recapping a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staffers, AT&T said in a docket 24-186 filing posted Wednesday that arguments for 180-day unlocking periods for prepaid and postpaid handsets miss that the different business models of the two offerings dictate various results. It said prepaid customers may not pay every month, so prepaid providers might need more than 180 days from device activation to recover subsidies on a device. AT&T said prepaid unlocking shouldn't be required any sooner than six months after activation, as that is typically enough time to recover the subsidy on most prepaid devices and to mitigate most device fraud and theft risks.
Skylo's direct-to-device partnership with Google for emergency messaging capabilities for the Pixel 9 phone (see 2408130067) could be the first of many for Skylo, which already has chip partnerships with Qualcomm, Samsung and Mediatek, William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma noted Wednesday. While Viasat is one of Skylo's main partners, the Pixel 9 partnership isn't material for Viasat, he said. For the Pixel 9 service, Skyo is largely layering direct-to-device connectivity atop Viasat's existing L-band network, he said.
Gabb, which makes smartphones for kids, Monday introduced the Gabb Phone 4 “designed to foster the skills necessary for kids to flourish in the digital age.” Children “gain independence as they learn to navigate just the right amount of tech, supported by built-in parental controls and free from capabilities they aren’t quite yet ready for,” the company said. The phone includes GPS tracking that lets parents know their kids’ location in real time.
By making AI available on just its newest devices, Apple appears to be attempting to encourage customers to replace their old phones, LightShed’s Walter Piecyk told investors Tuesday. “The addition of AI features to the newest iPhone comes at an ideal time for Apple,” Piecyk wrote: “Its iPhone revenue has been stagnant, and the vast majority of its installed base has old phones as the upgrade cycle slowed to record lows. It should therefore be an easy lift for Apple to stimulate a stabilization or inversion of the lengthening replacement cycle.” Apple’s announcement Monday was “what was necessary to stay in the game,” Piecyk added in the note.