Qualcomm has announced that its new processors and modems will allow phones to communicate with the Iridium satellite network, letting users send and receive messages even in areas without cell coverage. The Verge reports: The feature, called Snapdragon Satellite, will be available in phones that have both Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and its X70 Modem system, along with some additional radios. Phones that support it should be "launched in select regions starting in the second half of 2023," according to the company's press release, and there are several manufacturers working on designs, according to Francesco Grilli, a Qualcomm spokesperson who helped conduct a briefing for journalists. For now, the feature will likely only be available in flagship Android phones, as Qualcomm's only including the tech in its premium chips. Companies that want to add it to their phones will work directly with Qualcomm to figure out the software and hardware, but they shouldn't have to build new relationships with Iridium, according to Grilli. To the satellites, phones with the tech will look like any other Iridium-enabled devices. As for who will pay for the messages, "the cost of the satellite-based messaging service and dependent services will depend on OEMs and service providers and how they choose to offer the service," according to Grilli.

At first, Snapdragon Satellite will be limited to use in emergency situations, letting you contact someone for help even if you're in a remote area without cell service. According to Grilli, "Snapdragon Satellite leverages Garmin Response." When you send an SOS, "response coordinators immediately see the customer's Latitude/Longitude in their proprietary mapping and response coordination software to determine the appropriate agency to coordinate the rescue." Qualcomm says that, eventually, it'll support "premium messaging," which will likely cost extra and will have to be implemented by OEMs, cell carriers, or other over-the-top service providers. So far, this isn't something Apple offers; you can only send texts via satellite using its SOS feature.

While Qualcomm says the emergency service will be free or very cheap, it hasn't provided details yet on how much it'll cost you if you just want to be able to text your friends from remote areas, like a hiking trail, ski lift, or even a boat in the middle of the ocean. Once that service becomes available, however, Qualcomm says you'll be able to use it with your regular phone number. (That likely won't be the case for emergency use, but it matters less there.) [...] While details are sparse on what it'll be like to actually send and receive satellite messages, it sounds like the experience will be similar to Apple's in that you'll have to follow instructions on your phone to point it toward a satellite. According to Grilli, your phone will be able to predict where Iridium's satellites are months in advance thanks to the way its constellation orbits the Earth. When you go to connect to one, it'll use GPS and other measurements to determine where you need to be facing...

The WPC announced during CES 2023 that the next generation of the Qi standard, named "Qi2," was built with Apple's help. 9to5Mac reports: The new standard aims to improve the efficiency and interoperability of the technology, which is why it will have a "Magnetic Power Profile" at its core. As explained by WPC, this Magnetic Power Profile essentially works like Apple's MagSafe. As a result, Qi2 accessories will be perfectly aligned with the devices, thus improving energy efficiency and fast charging. And of course, since it was developed in partnership with Apple, the Qi2 standard will also work with MagSafe by default.

Currently, MagSafe is a proprietary standard from Apple, and even accessory manufacturers have to pay to use such a standard. While Apple can still technically limit some features to MagSafe certified accessories, the announcement of the Qi2 standard is good news to ensure that this type of accessory is compatible with different phones. The new Qi2 standard will replace its Qi predecessor once it becomes available. WPC says that one billion Qi devices are expected to be sold globally by 2023. The first Qi2 certified devices and accessories are expected to be introduced by the end of the year.

Fierce Wireless reports: Verizon is telling customers that if they're still using a 3G CDMA or 4G (non-VoLTE) phone that does not support its newer network technologies, "your line will be suspended without billing and will lose the ability to call, text, or use data."

Verizon is the last of the Big 3 wireless carriers in the U.S. to shut down a 3G network and repurpose the spectrum for newer technology. AT&T was first, shutting its 3G network down in February. T-Mobile's shuttered its 3G network over the summer.... Verizon has been working with customers — both consumers and businesses — since 2016 to ensure customers have "every opportunity" to get a device that uses either 4G or 5G, including direct outreach to customers and even sending some customers updated devices proactively, according to Karen Schulz of Verizon's Global Network & Technology Communications team.

Indeed, the company initially said it was closing its 3G network in 2019. Then they extended it to the end of 2020 and finally, to the end of 2022. In March 2021, Verizon made it clear they were sticking with the 2022 end date and advised customers still accessing the 3G network that they may experience a degradation or complete loss of service.
"Even after that, until the day before their February billing cycle, they'll still be able to use the phones for two things: calling 911 and Verizon customer service," reports the Verge: While 3G will still exist in other countries for quite a few more years, Verizon's deadline is pretty much the end of the line for it here in the US. The tech hasn't gone gentle into that good night; carriers delayed their shutdowns several times, there were tiffs between Dish and T-Mobile, and you can't just turn a network that had been around for years off without things starting to break. (Some notable examples: some connected cars and trucks have been pushed offline, as have parking meters and older Kindles. AT&T's shutdown was even blamed for delays in reporting voting results in Michigan this year.)

Part of the reason carriers are decommissioning their networks is to help build their new ones. As we saw earlier this month, T-Mobile's latest and greatest 5G tech makes use of spectrum that was once part of its 3G network.
The Verge's conclusion? "Spare a thought for the tech that helped build the mobile-first world we live in; even if this ends up being the last time you ever think about it."

Netgear has fixed a high-severity vulnerability affecting multiple WiFi router models and advised customers to update their devices to the latest available firmware as soon as possible. BleepingComputer reports: The flaw impacts multiple Wireless AC Nighthawk, Wireless AX Nighthawk (WiFi 6), and Wireless AC router models. Although Netgear did not disclose any information about the component affected by this bug or its impact, it did say that it is a pre-authentication buffer overflow vulnerability. The impact of a successful buffer overflow exploitation can range from crashes following denial of service to arbitrary code execution, if code execution is achieved during the attack. Attackers can exploit this flaw in low-complexity attacks without requiring permissions or user interaction. In a security advisory published on Wednesday, Netgear said it "strongly recommends that you download the latest firmware as soon as possible." A list of vulnerable routers and the patched firmware versions can be found here.

A developer managed to use an exploit found in iOS 16 to change the default font of the system without jailbreak. 9to5Mac reports: Zhuowei Zhang shared his project on Twitter, which he calls a "proof-of-concept app." According to Zhang, the app he developed uses the CVE-2022-46689 exploit to overwrite the default iOS font, so that users can customize the system's appearance with a different font other than the default (which is San Francisco). The CVE-2022-46689 exploit affects devices running iOS 16.1.2 or earlier versions of the operating system, and it basically lets apps execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. The exploit was fixed with iOS 16.2, which also fixed a bunch of other security breaches found in the previous version of iOS.

Since iOS has its own font format, the developer performed the experiment using only a few fonts, including DejaVu Sans Condensed, Serif, Mono, and Choco Cooky. And in case you're wondering, Choco Cooky is the weird font that used to come pre-installed by default on Samsung smartphones. Now you can finally have it on your iPhone. Zhang explains that the process should be safe for everyone, since all changes are reversed after rebooting the device. Still, the developer recommends users trying out the app to back up their devices before replacing the default system font. He also details that the change only affects some of the text on iOS, as other parts of the system use different fonts. More details about the project, including its source code, are available on GitHub.

An anonymous reader shares a column: Every major phone manufacturer is guilty of a serious crime, and I won't be quiet about it any longer: they stole the power button from us. Apple, Google, Samsung: guilty, guilty, guilty. Long-pressing the power button used to bring up an option to turn your phone off, but then these companies decided to get cute and make this a shortcut to summon their digital assistant. This is bad and wrong, and I'm politely demanding that these companies return what they took from us.

Look, I get the logic. When phone screens got bigger, physical buttons like Apple's home button were axed, and existing buttons had to pick up the slack. In the iPhone X, Apple re-homed the Siri function to the power button. Since then, turning your iPhone off has required pressing a combination of buttons. If you make the fatal mistake of long-pressing the power button in hopes of turning your phone off, Siri will start listening to you as you curse about how the power button doesn't work how it should anymore. And woe to you if you don't hold down the right button combination long enough -- you'll take a screenshot that you didn't want and will have to delete later. It's just as bad on Samsung and Google phones.

Long-pressing the power button on the Pixel 7 Pro just now brought up the Google Assistant and a prompt to ask it how to say sorry in Spanish. No, Google. It is you who should be apologizing. And the Galaxy S22 phones I used this year all bid me to set up Bixby whenever I made the mistake of long-pressing the power button. Both Google and Samsung let you change it back to the power menu -- and Samsung has the decency to put a shortcut to side key options on its shutdown screen -- but enough is enough. Long-pressing the power button should, by default, just turn the phone off. The thing that really adds salt to the wound is that the button combination to turn your phone off isn't even the same on every phone. On an iPhone, you can press and hold the power button and either volume key to get to shutdown options. On a Pixel phone, it's a short press of the volume up key and power button. If you screw up and press the volume down key, you'll take a screenshot, which will make you feel stupid when you find it in your photo gallery later. Samsung makes you press and hold the volume down key and power button.

For the last thirteen years the Free Software Foundation has published its Ethical Tech Giving Guide. But what's interesting is this year's guide also tags companies and products with negative recommendations to "stay away from." Stay away from: iPhones
It's not just Siri that's creepy: all Apple devices contain software that's hostile to users. Although they claim to be concerned about user privacy, they don't hesitate to put their users under surveillance.

Apple prevents you from installing third-party free software on your own phone, and they use this control to censor apps that compete with or subvert Apple's profits.

Apple has a history of exploiting their absolute control over their users to silence political activists and help governments spy on millions of users.


Stay away from: M1 MacBook and MacBook Pro
macOS is proprietary software that restricts its users' freedoms.

In November 2020, macOS was caught alerting Apple each time a user opens an app. Even though Apple is making changes to the service, it just goes to show how bad they try to be until there is an outcry.

Comes crawling with spyware that rats you out to advertisers.


Stay away from: Amazon
Amazon is one of the most notorious DRM offenders. They use this Orwellian control over their devices and services to spy on users and keep them trapped in their walled garden.

Be aware that Amazon isn't the peddler of ebook DRM. Disturbingly, it's enthusiastically supported by most of the big publishing houses.

Read more about the dangers of DRM through our Defective by Design campaign.


Stay away from: Spotify, Apple Music, and all other major streaming services
In addition to streaming music encumbered by DRM, people who want to use Spotify are required to install additional proprietary software. Even Spotify's client for GNU/Linux relies on proprietary software.

Apple Music is no better, and places heavy restrictions on the music streamed through the platform.


Stay away from: Netflix
Netflix is continuing its disturbing trend of making onerous DRM the norm for streaming media. That's why they were a target for last year's International Day Against DRM (IDAD).

They're also leveraging their place in the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to advocate for tighter restrictions on users, and drove the effort to embed DRM into the fabric of the Web.

"In your gift giving this year, put freedom first," their guide begins.

And for a freedom-respecting last-minute gift idea, they suggest giving the gift of a FSF membership (which comes with a code and a printable page "so that you can present your gift as a physical object, if you like.") The membership is valid for one year, and includes the many benefits that come with an FSF associate membership, including a USB member card, email forwarding, access to our Jitsi Meet videoconferencing server and member forum, discounts in the FSF shop and on ThinkPenguin hardware, and more.

If you are in the United States, your gift would also be fully tax-deductible in the USA.

Delta Air Lines is reportedly planning to make in-flight Wi-Fi free on a "significant portion" of its planes starting early next year, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The Verge reports: The company has reportedly been running tests where anyone who's a member of its free-to-join SkyMiles rewards program gets free access to the internet while in the air, but it seems as if that perk may become much more widely available soon. Delta is expected to roll out the free Wi-Fi to an increasing number of planes in its fleet throughout 2023, according to the Journal.

"Samsung's Mobile Experience (MX) Business has formed a completely new team for designing and developing its own chipsets," reports the Business Standard, citing media reports. "The company has formed an application processor (AP) solution development team within the business."

A similar position already exists with Samsung System LSI, which designs logic chips such as Exynos, which MX uses in its Galaxy phones. According to sources, the MX Business is forming its own identical team either to optimise these Exynos chips for its Galaxy line or, more likely, to entirely develop its own processors in the future, said the report.
Slashdot reader joshuark describes it as "Samsung ditching Samsung." Some context from Hot Hardware: Samsung's fancy phones sold in the U.S. use powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs that may not always outrun Apple's bespoke processors, but they're pretty darn fast. Overseas, though, Samsung uses its own home-grown Exynos chips, and they don't typically compete as well in terms of performance or efficiency.

It could be for this reason that the company has allegedly formed a new "application processor solution development team." This information comes from Korean tech and electronics site The Elec.... The average smartphone user doesn't obsess much about smartphone speed, but the gap between Apple's finest and even the best Exynos SoCs is a yawning chasm. Rumor has it that the Galaxy S23 will be the first to use Snapdragon processors around the world. If that's true, then Samsung is definitely concerned about performance, and it may well be the case that [team leader] Choi Won-joon wants Samsung's mobile unit to start building its own processors.

Tim Cook has tweeted an admission that Apple uses Sony image sensors in its iPhones as part of the CEO's supplier tour of Japan. "We've been partnering with Sony for over a decade to create the world's leading camera sensors for iPhone," Cook tweeted, and thanked Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida for showing him around the Kumamoto facility. The Verge reports: Apple largely keeps tight-lipped about the specifics of the hardware components that go into each iPhone, so outright confirming that it's used Sony camera sensors for over a decade is notable. Apple's website tends to just list the specs of each iPhone's camera -- such as resolution, aperture, and field of view -- rather than the specific components used. But hardware specifics have tended to matter less in the age of computational photography.

Tim Cook's visit to Sony's facility suggests this partnership isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and a recent report in Nikkei Asia offers some clues as to what the companies are working on for future iPhones. Sony is said to have developed a new image sensor that uses a new semiconductor architecture to capture more light and reduce both over- and underexposure. The new sensor is expected to feature in Apple's next generation of iPhones, but will also ship to other smartphone manufacturers.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Apple has confirmed that an iPhone software update it released two weeks ago fixed a zero-day security vulnerability that it now says was actively exploited. The update, iOS 16.1.2, landed on November 30 and rolled out to all supported iPhones -- including iPhone 8 and later -- with unspecified "important security updates."

In a disclosure to its security updates page on Tuesday, Apple said the update fixed a flaw in WebKit, the browser engine that powers Safari and other apps, which if exploited could allow malicious code to run on the person's device. The bug is called a zero-day because the vendor is given zero days notice to fix the vulnerability. Apple said security researchers at Google's Threat Analysis Group, which investigates nation state-backed spyware, hacking and cyberattacks, discovered and reported the WebKit bug.

Apple said in its Tuesday disclosure that it is aware that the vulnerability was exploited "against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.1," which was released in October 2021. As such, and for those who have not yet updated to iOS 16, Apple also released iOS and iPadOS 15.7.2 to fix the WebKit vulnerability for users running iPhones 6s and later and some iPad models. The bug is tracked as CVE-2022-42856, or WebKit 247562. It's not clear for what reason Apple withheld details of the bug for two weeks.

A new report from CIRP says that only about 24 percent of recent iPhones purchased in the US were sold directly by Apple. Instead, the most popular way to buy a new iPhone was through a wireless carrier, which accounted for 67 percent of sales. The Verge reports: CIRP (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners) surveys iPhone buyers to find out which models they're buying and where they're shopping -- information Apple doesn't disclose. Outside of carriers and Apple retail, CIRP attributes 4 percent of iPhone sales to Best Buy and 5 percent to "other," which includes Target and Walmart. Those are just tiny slivers of the pie compared to the gigantic piece wireless carriers are eating.

Recently the EU voted to require tech companies like Apple to standardize on USB-C charging ports.

A CNN opinion piece calls this "a hallelujah moment for iPhone owners everywhere." iPhone cords are a very big business: There are reportedly about 1.2 billion active iPhones out in the wild. And if their charging cables need to be replaced once or twice a year as many users attest, at roughly $20 a pop, well, you could just about buy a Twitter a year for that sum.... While the new edict only directly applies to devices sold in the EU, India looks set to follow in Europe's footsteps....

[T]he move is almost certain to serve as the push that gets Apple to finally abandon its bespoke-battery-booster approach for future versions of the world's most popular smartphone. Even Greg Joswiak, the company's global head of marketing, admitted that the EU standardization push means the lifespan of Apple Lightning charging cables is likely finally over. And right on time, given that ten years ago Apple called it the "cable standard for the next decade...." It might even dilute some of the tribal tension between iPhone and Android users, assuming the latter don't lord over us the fact that most of them have already been charging with C for half a decade. (We still have our blue message bubbles, greenies!)

And it might generally reduce the temptation among tech companies, chief among them Apple, to "innovate" by introducing proprietary parts that regularly force an entire domino cascade of costly upgrades. (The fact that every new iPhone seems to be a random millimeter different in size and shape in each direction already means that brand new cases, cradles and screen protectors have to be repurchased along with new handsets, all for the privilege of a few hundred pixels of fresh real estate.) While that process may offer a welcome cash stimulus to the peripherals and accessories industry, it contributes to the massive environmental burden caused by e-waste, estimated at about 60 million tons a year — an amount heavier than the world's heaviest man-made object, the Great Wall of China.

Apple has announced that its Self Service Repair store for iPhones and MacBooks is now open for business in Europe. From a report: First announced last November, the repair program essentially enables anyone to purchase genuine Apple components to repair their damaged devices, while the Cupertino company also provides online manuals to guide consumers through the self-service repair process. It's worth noting that while the program is open to anyone where the repair store is available, repairing Apple's hardware probably isn't for the average consumer, as just getting into the devices to begin the repairs is a complex process. But for any have-a-go hero out there willing to invest a bit of time and money learning, Apple is also selling the tools necessary to carry out fault-specific repairs, with an option to rent a repair kit for $49 if they only have a one-off repair they wish to carry out.

The Wall Street Journal reports: In recent weeks, Apple Inc. has accelerated plans to shift some of its production outside China, long the dominant country in the supply chain that built the world's most valuable company, say people involved in the discussions. It is telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam, they say, and looking to reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn Technology Group.

Turmoil at a place called iPhone City helped propel Apple's shift. At the giant city-within-a-city in Zhengzhou, China, as many as 300,000 workers work at a factory run by Foxconn to make iPhones and other Apple products. At one point, it alone made about 85% of the Pro lineup of iPhones, according to market-research firm Counterpoint Research. The Zhengzhou factory was convulsed in late November by violent protests.... Coming after a year of events that weakened China's status as a stable manufacturing center, the upheaval means Apple no longer feels comfortable having so much of its business tied up in one place, according to analysts and people in the Apple supply chain....

One response, say the people involved in Apple's supply chain, is to draw from a bigger pool of assemblers — even if those companies are themselves based in China. Two Chinese companies that are in line to get more Apple business, they say, are Luxshare Precision Industry Co. and Wingtech Technology Co.... Apple's longer-term goal is to ship 40% to 45% of iPhones from India, compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who follows the supply chain. Suppliers say Vietnam is expected to shoulder more of the manufacturing for other Apple products such as AirPods, smartwatches and laptops.

For now, consumers doing Christmas shopping are stuck with some of the longest wait timesfor high-end iPhones in the product's 15-year history, stretching until after Christmas.... Accounts vary about how many workers are missing from the Zhengzhou factory, with estimates ranging from the thousands to the tens of thousands. Mr. Kuo said it was running at only about 20% capacity in November, a figure expected to improve to 30% to 40% in December.
Foxconn says it accounted for 3.9% of China's exports in 2021, the Journal points out.

Yet "A survey by the U.S.-China Business Council this year found American companies' confidence in China has fallen to a record low, with about a quarter of respondents saying they have at least temporarily moved parts of their supply chain out of China over the past year."

CNN reports on the aftermath of last weekend's protests against the Chinese government: A protester told CNN they received a phone call Wednesday from a police officer, who revealed they were tracked because their cellphone signal was recorded in the vicinity of the protest site.... When they denied being there, the caller asked: "Then why did your cellphone number show up there?"

In China, all mobile phone users are required by law to register their real name and national identification number with telecom providers. The protester was also told to report to a police station for questioning and to sign a written record....

In Shanghai, where some of the boldest protests took place with crowds calling for Xi's removal on two consecutive nights, police searched residents' cellphones in the streets and in the subway for VPNs that can be used to circumvent China's internet firewall, or apps such as Twitter and Telegram, which though banned in the country have been used by protesters. Police also confiscated the cellphones of protesters under arrest, according to two protesters who spoke to CNN.

A protester who was arrested over the weekend said they were told to hand over their phone and password to the police as "evidence." They said they feared police would export the data on their phone after it was confiscated by officers, who told them they could pick it up a week later. Another protester said police returned their phone upon their release, but officers had deleted the photo album and removed the WeChat social media app.
One protester told CNN they successfully avoided being contacted by the police as of Thursady afternoon.

During the demonstration, they'd kept their phone in airplane mode.

Apple's iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature was put to the test in Alaska yesterday, when a man became stranded in a rural area. MacRumors reports: In the early hours of the morning on December 1, Alaska State Troopers received an alert that a man traveling by snow machine from Noorvik to Kotzebue had become stranded. The man was in a cold, remote location with no connectivity, and he activated the Emergency SOS via satellite feature on his iPhone 14 to alert authorities to his predicament. Apple's Emergency Response Center worked with local search and rescue teams and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator to send out volunteer searchers directly to the GPS coordinates that were relayed to Apple using the emergency function.

The man was rescued successfully and there were no injuries. The area where he was located is remote and on the fringes of where satellite connectivity is available. Apple says that satellite connectivity might not work in places above 62 degrees latitude, such as northern parts of Canada and Alaska, and Noorvik and Kotzebue are close to 69 degrees latitude. Troopers who helped with the rescue were "impressed with the accuracy and completeness of information included in the initial alert," with the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature designed to ask several questions ahead of when an alert is sent out to expedite rescue missions.

Japanese camera manufacturers are bidding farewell to a once-major component of their operations, with Panasonic Holdings and Nikon suspending development of entry-level point-and-shoot cameras under their flagship brands. From a report: The companies will instead focus resources on pricier mirrorless models going forward, aiming to navigate a market upended by smartphones. Casual photographers flocked to compact digital cameras in the mid- to late 1990s, embracing their affordability and portability compared with single-lens reflex cameras. Global shipments reached 110 million units in 2008, according to the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA). But as the iPhone and other camera-equipped smartphones won general consumers over, the camera industry fell off a cliff. Global shipments of compact digital cameras plunged 97% from the 2008 level to just 3.01 million units in 2021.

Panasonic has been scaling back its model offerings in Lumix compact digital cameras, which debuted in 2001 and enjoyed high spots in domestic rankings at one point. The company has not released any new product for the price range below 50,000 yen ($370 at current rates) or so since 2019 and has no plans to develop a low-priced model going forward. "We've halted developing any new models that can be replaced by a smartphone," a spokesperson said. Panasonic will continue production of current offerings. But its focus going forward will be on developing high-end mirrorless cameras for photography enthusiasts and professionals. Nikon has suspended development of new compact models in its Coolpix line. It now offers just two models with high-powered lenses but it is "closely monitoring market trends" to determine production volumes going forward, according to an official. Nikon has also withdrawn from development of SLR cameras to specialize in upmarket mirrorless single-lens models. These companies are following in rivals' footsteps. Fujifilm has discontinued production of its FinePix compact cameras and will develop only the X100V series and other pricier models.

More than 1 billion people will be connected to 5G by the end of 2022, according to the latest mobility report from Ericsson. CNET reports: Between July and September of this year, 5G added 110 million subscribers around the world, upping the total count to 870 million, said the report, released Wednesday. That's almost double the number of 5G subscribers there were by the end of 2021, which the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker estimated to be 580 million. If 5G users hit the 1 billion this year, that means fifth-generation networks will have hit the nine-figure subscriber mark two years faster than 4G did, said Ericsson, confirming that 5G is so far the "fastest-scaling mobile connectivity generation."

4G subscriptions are still growing as well, with 41 million subscribers added between July and September. It's anticipated they will peak at 5.2 billion by the end of the year, and mobile subscriptions overall are forecast to exceed 8.4 billion. By 2028, 5G is expected to reach 5 billion subscriptions globally and make up 55% of all network subscriptions, according to the report. Overall mobile subscriptions in 2028 are expected to be more than 9.2 billion.

Apple's iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max model shipments could miss market expectations by up to 20 million units in the holiday quarter due to labor unrest at a major Chinese factory, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said. Reuters reports: Kuo is the latest to flag a hit to the world's most valuable company from protests over pay and strict COVID-19 curbs at the world's biggest iPhone factory, the Foxconn-operated plant in the central city of Zhengzhou. He trimmed his estimate for quarterly iPhone shipments by about 20% to between 70 million and 75 million units, compared with the market consensus of 80 million to 85 million units.

Kuo, in a blog post on Tuesday, also predicted that the supply shortfall could erase demand for the more popular Pro models, instead of deferring sales, as consumers also grapple with a weakening economy. In contrast, other Apple analysts expect sales to pick up once production constraints ease and more Pro models become available. Some analysts signaled the possibility of the challenges extending into 2023.