The GSMA said Monday it expects some 25,000 attendees at its second Mobile World Congress Americas, in cooperation with CTIA, scheduled for Sept. 12-14 in Los Angeles. The show's theme is “Imagine a Better Future,” said a news release. Los Angeles is “the entertainment capital of the world,” said Michael O’Hara, GSMA chief marketing officer. “This year’s show will really illustrate how mobile is reshaping how media and content are produced and consumed.”
Microsoft representatives met with Nick Degani and Alison Nemeth, aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, urging further action on the company’s 2016 petition seeking changes to the rules for white spaces devices in the 600 MHz band. Microsoft said then the rules were “overly cautious in a number of respects that will significantly hamper consumer services.” In the latest filing, in docket 14-165, Microsoft said the FCC should “adopt policies that efficiently use spectrum resources throughout the 600 MHz band, permitting White Spaces technologies to improve broadband access in rural communities.” Former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Cooley, also represented Microsoft at the meeting.
Amid a flattening of Apple’s U.S. iPhone installed base, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners said Monday that base reached 151 million units at year's end. The iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X models account for 18 million units, or 12 percent; the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus 58 million, or 39 percent; and the 2-year-old iPhone 6s and 6s Plus 43 million, or 28 percent, said the researcher. Early last year, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus had 35 percent a year after launch, CIRP said. “Growth did flatten considerably,” said analyst Mike Levin. He said iPhone quarterly growth averages 4 percent, and while “most companies would be delighted with growth in a loyal customer base at those rates, just a few years ago Apple grew the iPhone installed base considerably faster.”
The Small UAV Coalition urged FAA acting Administrator Daniel Elwell to “immediately move” to adopt a proposed rule that would establish “standards for remote identification and tracking” of drones and other unmanned aerial systems. A UAS standards rule should require all “operators who are required to register with the FAA to abide by remote identification and tracking requirements,” said Friday's letter: “Those efforts should build on” recommendations that the UAS Identification and Tracking Aviation Rulemaking Committee included in a final report submitted to the FAA in September. “There are difficult choices to be made with respect to the technological solutions identified in the Final Report, data requirements, data collection and storage, and how best to ensure effective implementation throughout the diverse universe of UAS operators,” the group said of the letter, publicized Monday. “Because identification and tracking technology continues to evolve, the proposed rule should be based on performance standards; this will enable industry to innovate and improve identification and tracking solutions over time. The notice-and-comment process will provide the opportunity to resolve these important issues and any necessary standards could and should be developed in parallel.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s efforts to trumpet iPhone sales records on the company’s Thursday earnings call didn’t sway Wall Street, which expected higher December quarter phone sales and viewed March quarter projections as light. Shares closed down 4.3 percent at $160.50 Friday. Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones in the quarter with revenue totaling $62 billion, it said. Units were down 1 percent, and higher average selling prices of the 8, 8 Plus and X led to a 13 percent revenue bump. “Because iPhone has the largest residual rate on it, it acts as a buffer for the customer to buy a new one, and it winds up with another customer somewhere else who’s perfectly fine with having a previously owned iPhone,” Cook said. “The more people with iPhones, the better.” The X is “setting up the next decade,” he said as before. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said the company expects iPhone revenue to rise double digits this quarter compared with a year ago and sequential growth from the December to March quarters will exceed the comparable 2017 period.
A large group of wireless ISPs and other businesses said the FCC shouldn't tamper with rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. “For many of us, CBRS will allow us to develop our own networks and deploy technologies that will improve the experiences of our customers and connect the unconnected in rural America,” said a filing in docket 17-258. “CBRS is ready for business, and we are here to tell you that business is ready for CBRS.” The FCC may approve a compromise (see 1801310067).
Reports on global smartphone shipments agreed Q4 volumes declined but differed on magnitude. Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 403.5 million units in Q4, a 6.3 percent decline from the same quarter a year earlier, said IDC Thursday. The worldwide smartphone market shipped a total of 1.47 billion units in 2017, declining less than 1 percent, IDC said: “Developed markets such as China and the United States both witnessed a decline during the quarter as consumers appeared to be in no rush to upgrade to the newest generation of higher-priced flagship devices.” Strategy Analytics pegged the global Q4 decline higher -- at 9 percent to 400 million units -- the “biggest annual fall in smartphone history.” It blamed a “collapse in the huge China market,” where demand fell 16 percent due to longer replacement rates, fewer operator subsidies and “a general lack of wow models.” Global smartphone shipments last year grew 1 percent, topping 1.5 billion units for the first time, said SA. IHS Markit “preliminary data” showed global unit shipments declined 4.5 percent to 387.5 million smartphones, said Gerrit Schneemann, senior analyst-mobile location and mobile devices. Shipments for the year grew 3.1 percent to 1.44 billion units, Schneemann wrote Friday: “Of the leading handset brands, only Xiaomi and Motorola experienced shipment growth" in Q4.
Sprint is moving toward mobile 5G early next year and will soon be able to put less emphasis on discounting the cost of its service, CEO Marcelo Claure said on a financial call Friday as the carrier reported quarterly results. “I am very confident in Sprint's future, based on the competitive advantage that we will have with the deployment of 5G on our 2.5 GHz spectrum,” Claure said. “We're working with Qualcomm and network and device manufacturers in order to launch the first truly mobile network in the United States by the first half of 2019.” Sprint will offer applications “no one else can offer and there will be no reason to continue discounting,” Claure said. New Chief Financial Officer Michel Combes said Sprint has cut $6 billion in costs out of the business, but isn’t done cutting. “I still see more room to improve operational efficiency,” he said. The company reported slowing growth. Postpaid phone net adds were 184,000 for the quarter, with churn of 1.71 percent. But Sprint noted this is its 10th consecutive quarter of postpaid net adds.
High exposure to RF radiation (RFR) caused tumors in tissues surrounding nerves in hearts of male rats, the federal National Toxicology Program said, reporting on results of study released Friday. NTP said the incidence of the tumors -- malignant schwannomas -- increased in male rats as they were exposed to increasing levels of RFR beyond the allowable cellphone emission levels. They noted an “unusual pattern of cardiomyopathy, or damage to heart tissue, in exposed male and female rats,” said a news release. The amount and duration of exposure were much higher than people experience with even the highest level of cellphone use, said John Bucher, NTP senior scientist. "Tumors we saw in these studies are similar to tumors previously reported in some studies of frequent cellphone users." Scientific evidence continues to show no adverse health effects from cellphone use, a CTIA spokesman said: "The scientific community will consider the NTP draft reports in the context of the many other scientific studies conducted over several decades.” Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, also said cellphones are safe. “All of this research provides a more complete picture regarding radiofrequency energy exposure that has informed the FDA’s assessment of this important public health issue, and given us the confidence that the current safety limits for cell phone radiation remain acceptable for protecting the public health,” Shuren said.
Backed by $21 million in Series A funding, including from CSAA Insurance, Owl launched a car cam Thursday, calling it the first such LTE-connected product. It's designed to capture crashes, break-ins, dents and traffic stops, using video, sensors and intelligent software, including a camera aimed inside the auto. It can alert owners via an app of problems.