MediaTek’s mobile phone business was 57% of Q2 revenue and grew 143% year over year mainly through increasing adoption of its 5G high-end SoCs “among our customer base,” said CEO Rick Tsai on a quarterly call Tuesday. The first high-end smartphone model built on MediaTek’s 5G “open resource architecture” is shipping, said Tsai: “More models for multiple customers will come in the next few months.” MediaTek is standing by projections that 5G smartphone shipments will exceed 500 million units globally this year, more than double the 2020 volume, he said: “We expect the 5G migration to accelerate and penetrate into more regions next year.” Also Tuesday, Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said 5G subscriptions are nearly 300 million, “on track to double that by the end of 2021” (see separate report in this issue).

The Information Technology Industry Council hailed the reprieve for U.S. importers from the threat of tariffs on goods from Vietnam. “ITI welcomes the U.S. government’s bilateral engagement -- rather than consideration of tariffs that harm U.S. competitiveness and jobs -- to address concerns with Vietnam’s currency valuation practices,” emailed Senior Policy Director Sam Rizzo Monday. The agreement the U.S. Treasury reached last week with the State Bank of Vietnam to address U.S. allegations that Hanoi was devaluing the dong against the dollar was a “satisfactory resolution” of the investigation launched in October, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Friday. Vietnam plays a large and growing role in the consumer tech supply chain.

Pass consumer data privacy legislation this term, Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., told a Friday Brookings Institute webinar. Data flows are "critical to our shared economic future" and nowhere more important than EU-U.S., she said. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in Schrems II (see 2007160002) left thousands of smaller companies that relied on trans-Atlantic data transfer mechanism Privacy Shield scrambling, she said: The growing patchwork of state privacy laws won't work and won't lead to a PS alternative. Current tools such as standard contractual clauses, binding corporate rules and recent European Data Protection Board guidance are helpful but don't "take away the need for a successor framework," said Workday Chief Privacy Officer Barbara Cosgrove. Talks on a PS replacement are ongoing, said Sharon Bradford Franklin, a director of the Center for Democracy and Technology security and surveillance project: CDT has heard that one is the extent to which the U.S. government can enact measures by the executive branch or Congress to address ECJ concerns. A comprehensive U.S. consumer data privacy law would be helpful, but surveillance laws must change to benefit Europeans and Americans, she said. The big issue is individual redress, said lawyer Peter Swire. There's frustration on the U.S. side about the issue because the U.S. has a good system via Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act courts, Swire said: "Get over it." He and other panelists said it might be possible to give Europeans an independent review and some pathway to redress in federal courts administratively, via an executive order on surveillance law. Most agreed any solution must ultimately become law. The U.S. looks "really different" from the rest of the world with regard to privacy protection, and it’s hard to make the case that it's a safe place for data, said Swire. The U.S. and EU are considering whether they can align on tech issues such as data governance and AI, and must get a handle on privacy law first because it underpins those areas, said Cameron Kerry, Brookings distinguished visiting fellow-Center for Technology Innovation. The idea of the recently created Tech and Trade Council is to bring like-minded democratic countries together, he said: The U.S. is "the outlier" because it lacks a privacy regime.

U.S. companies selling AI products into Europe will be subject to EU AI laws no matter where they're headquartered, European Commission Legal and Policy Officer Gabriele Mazzini said on a Thursday FCBA webinar. A legislation proposal, which the EC floated in April (see 2104210003), would affect anyone marketing AI into the EU, said Mazzini, of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology. The EC made clear it wants to promote its vision of AI regulation globally, so similar policies may arise elsewhere, including in the U.S., said Verizon Senior Manager-EU Public Policy Marco Moragon. The proposal aims to address risks of AI technologies, such as enforcement of fundamental rights, consumer and other laws, said Mazzini. Protecting democratic rights and legal principles is a top priority for civil society, said Iverna McGowan, Center for Democracy and Technology Europe Office director: AI could disproportionately affect vulnerable people. Verizon operates in EU markets and wants a consistent, harmonized regime, said Moragon. CDT believes a risk-based and rights-based approach to AI isn't mutually exclusive, said McGowan. She seeks a baseline against which to assess the technology's possible impact on human rights, saying a rights-based approach should start by consulting people about how AI services affect their real-life experiences. The proposal divides AI systems into three groups: prohibited, where there's no societal value from their use; higher risk, which may pose problems but can have beneficial societal/economic benefits; and low risk, where no prior rules will be imposed, but companies will be subject to transparency requirements, said Mazzini. Companies must self-assess risk, which may be burdensome to smaller firms, said Moragon. When the measure refers to users, it means purchasers of AI systems, not end users, said McGowan: Accountability should be clearer on what rights and redress end-users get. A European Parliament decision on which committees will have jurisdiction here isn't likely before September, Mazzini added.

TrendForce trimmed its 2021 smartphone production forecast 5 million units to 1.35 billion, citing the “intensifying COVID-19 pandemic in India and Vietnam in April and May.” Production could fall further in the second half “since the pandemic is showing no signs of an impending slowdown in Southeast Asia,” the industry researcher said: Samsung has been relocating smartphone production to Vietnam since 2009. The OEM didn’t comment Wednesday.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr again backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez (R) and Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation in urging President Joe Biden to enable U.S. businesses to provide internet service to Cubans (see 2107150053). “Increasingly, dictators around the world are shutting down Internet connections when people yearning for freedom stand up to those oppressive regimes” and “we are seeing that right now in Cuba,” Carr said Friday. He said he stands with Florida Republicans “to call on the Biden Administration to put its full support behind efforts to end this Internet blockade. American enterprises have the technology capability to beam Internet into Cuba, and we must not lose any time in authorizing and clearing the way for the deployment.”

Xiaomi became No. 2 global smartphone vendor for the first time in Q2, reported Canalys Thursday. The Chinese phone maker had 17% share on 83% shipment growth, behind market leader Samsung, which grew shipments 15% for 19% share. Apple’s share was 14% on 1% unit growth, followed by Oppo and vivo with 10% share each.

Global IT spending will grow 8.6% this year to $4.21 trillion, after 0.9% growth in 2020, reported Gartner Wednesday. Communications services will be the biggest chunk at $1.44 trillion, followed by IT services ($1.18 trillion) and devices ($784 billion). “Technology spending is entering a new build budget phase,” said analyst John-David Lovelock. “This means building technologies and services that don’t yet exist.” While many companies expect revenue declines post-pandemic, “IT spending is accelerating ahead of revenue expectations,” said Gartner.

Public-private partnerships will help drive mobility-as-a-service ride-hailing deployments to “displace” more than 2.2 billion “private car journeys” globally by 2025, from 471 million trips displaced this year, reported Juniper Research Monday. “As the pandemic wanes, MaaS solution providers should view the increasing demand for travel as an opportunity to disrupt established transport provision ecosystems by demonstrating the cost-effectiveness and efficiencies of their platforms.” It cautioned that the need for vendors to rely on high penetration of mobile devices and internet connectivity to fully exploit MaaS offerings “will limit adoption to developed regions.” Juniper forecasts that more than 70% of the displaced private car journeys will occur in Europe and the Far East by 2025.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security added 34 organizations to its entity list for tighter export restrictions, said Friday's final rule. Fourteen are based in China and “have enabled Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim minority groups," said Commerce. Another five were “directly supporting" China's "military modernization programs," it said. A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson, anticipating the BIS action, told a news conference Friday in Beijing that this list "is in essence a tool for suppressing specific companies and industries in China under the pretext of human rights."