First batch of 5G phones get quality certification in China

BEIJING — The battle over 5G smartphones has intensified in China, with the first batch of eight 5G phone models having obtained the quality certificate needed to hit the market.

Huawei Technologies Co’s four 5G models, including Mate 20X 5G and Mate X 5G, have obtained China Compulsory Certification, according to the website of the China Quality Certification Centre.

Other smartphone vendors Oppo, Vivo, ZTE and One Plus also each have one 5G model that secured the certificate.

It is worth noting that Xiaomi, Samsung and Lenovo failed to make their way into the first batch. Xiaomi said on Wednesday that it will apply to conduct quality tests next week in accordance with its product launch schedule.

Smartphones in China need to acquire three licenses before they are allowed to be sold to the public. The licenses include China Compulsory Certification, a license to allow smartphones to get connected to the 5G network, and Radio Type Approval Certification.

Oppo said on Wednesday that its Oppo Reno 5G model has already secured all of the three licenses and the phone will be available in the China market in the third quarter of this year.

Tang Hai, chief 5G scientist at Oppo, said obtaining the licenses proves that the quality and the performance of Oppo’s 5G smartphone is recognised by industry regulators. The company’s Reno 5G has already been available in Switzerland since May.

Huawei announced in June that its Mate 20X 5G had obtained the country’s first license to allow terminal telecommunication equipment to enter the 5G network in China. The company is scheduled to release the phone on its home turf on July 26.

On Wednesday, the IMT-2020(5G) Promotion Group, an organisation affiliated with the country’s top industry regulator to boost the development of the superfast technology, said Huawei’s self-developed 5G chip has already passed the tests of all networks.

Qin Fei, general manager of Vivo’s telecom research institute, said the company’s 5G smartphone will hit the streets in August and the testing speed of its model has reached one gigabit per second.

Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, said this year will only see a very small number of 5G smartphones sold, but companies are all trying to have the first-mover advantage to appeal to consumers.

According to a report by market research company Counterpoint, global 5G smartphone shipments are expected to reach 108.2 million units in 2021, up an estimated 255 per cent year-on-year.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Motorola unveils its first Google smartphone

SAN FRANCISCO - Motorola on Thursday introduced the keenly-anticipated Moto X, a Google-centric smartphone that buyers get to design themselves.

Moto X is the first Motorola smartphone created in collaboration with Google since the Internet titan completed its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility in May of last year.

"At Motorola our roots are deep in mobile hardware -- we invented mobile communications," Motorola Mobility Canada general manager Odile Guinot said in a release.

"Now, as a Google company, we've become the kind of company that can build a smartphone like Moto X," Guinot added. "It fuses our history of mobile innovation with the best of Google mobile services."

Moto X will be available in the US by the end of August or early September at a starting price of $199 if bought along with a two-year service contract with a telecom service company.

It will also be available at that time in Canada and Latin America.

People can visit an online Moto Maker studio to customize colors, accents, memory capacity and other aspects of handsets, which will be assembled in the United States and delivered free of charge within four days, according to Motorola.Cand

Moto X smartphones are powered by Google's Android software and features include sophisticated voice controls and anticipating what users might want from the Internet at any given moment.

Motorola also streamlined the ease with which smartphone pictures can be taken.

"Moto X promises to be unlike any device we've offered before," said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president of devices at US telecom giant AT&T.

Moto X will work on an array of telecom networks, according to Motorola. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Verizon, Vodafone deal smoothed by cross-ownership

If Verizon Communications  buys out U.K. partner Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless, cross-ownership in both stocks by large institutional investors could smooth the path to a deal.

Shareholders in both Verizon and Vodafone include BlackRock , U.K.-based Legal & General Investment Management, Norges Bank Investment Management, Capital Research, State Street , and the Vanguard Group — according to data provided to IBD by Thomson One Analytics.

BlackRock Advisors is the biggest shareholder in London-listed shares of Vodafone, according to Thomson One. Blackrock Institutional Trust Co., BlackRock Financial Management and BlackRock Investment Management all own big chunks of Verizon.


Verizon Communications owns 55% of Verizon Wireless, Vodafone the rest. Analysts have estimated the value of Vodafone's stake at $100 billion to $135 billion. Technically, a shareholder vote wouldn't be required in a buyout of Vodafone's stake, but no doubt shareholder approval would be greatly desired by the companies.

Verizon's stock as well as NY-listed shares of Vodafone are both up a fraction in the stock market today, continuing to rise amid speculation over a deal.

Some analysts have said a deal that would give Verizon Communications full ownership of the wireless business may already be priced into its stock.

Verizon's chief financial officer recently said tax hurdles to a deal could be overcome, as IBD reported.

One way Vodafone could avoid a big capital gains tax in the U.S. would be to restructure the joint venture, with Vodafone exchanging its shares of Verizon Wireless for shares of Verizon Communications.

At Macquarie Capital, analyst Kevin Smithen says if a deal is announced, the stock reaction might be mixed.

"Many investors on both sides of the Atlantic own both Verizon and Vodafone for a trade. Even with a (possible) joint listing in London, we see huge cross-ownership creating selling pressure and feel that Verizon might not go up on the deal," he said in a report.

source: news.investors.com