Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 01/16 – Apple Tops Global Smartphones Sales For The First Time Ever

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

The app that was supposed to be TikTok but for news is shutting down. Apple tops global smartphone sales for the first time ever. Microsoft debuts Copilot Pro. How the Apple Vision Pro demos are actually going to work. And about that weekend streaming NFL playoff game. Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Ramp.com/techmeme Links: Instagram co-founders’ news aggregation startup Artifact to shut down (TechCrunch) Apple Grabs the Top Spot in the Smartphone Market in 2023 (IDC) Bringing the full power of Copilot to more people and businesses (Microsoft) Apple readies Apple Watch Series 9 ban workaround by disabling blood oxygen functionality [U] (9to5Mac) Apple Vision Pro’s Lengthy Sales Pitch Will Include 25-Minute Demo (Bloomberg) The NFL and Taylor Swift surprisingly aren’t enough to crash Peacock (The Verge) ‘Peacock Game’: The NFL’s Digital Buttfumble (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Tuesday, January 16th, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough today. The app that was supposed to be TikTok, but for news, is shutting down.

Apple Tops global smartphone sales for the first time ever. Microsoft debuts co-pilot Pro, how the Apple Vision Pro demos are actually going to work, and about that weekend streaming NFL game. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. In a move that's surprised just about everybody, algorithmic news sharing app artifact is shutting down. after concluding that, quote, the market opportunity isn't big enough to warrant continued investment in the product, quoting TechCrunch. The team had rapidly iterated on its product from a

smart news-like news reading app to a curation and news discovery platform where individual users could become creators of a sort, finding interesting gems from around the web that others could like and comment on. It also employed several AI tools to summarize news, rewrite clickbait headlines and surface the best content. However, the slate of changes had perhaps diluted the original value of the product, which was a simple news app that could take on the likes of built-in offerings on users' phones like Apple News. The end result was something more akin to a Twitter replacement, but that's a market with numerous competitors, including, in fact, Meta's Instagram, which has launched a Twitter-slash-Rival called Threads. In the blog post penned by Instagram and

artifact co-founder Kevin Sistram, he writes that acknowledging the market reality is something startups often fail to do, but, quote, making the tough call earlier is better for everyone involved, end quote. Indeed, Artifact was an unusually high-profile startup, given who the founders were, Sistram and Mike Krieger, both Instagram founders, worth quoting what they had to say in the shutdown note. We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn't big enough to warrant continued investment in this way. News and information remains critical areas for startup investment. We are at an existential moment where many publications are shutting down or struggling, local news has all but vanished, and larger publishers have fraught relationships with leading technology companies.

My hope is that technology can find ways to preserve, support, and grow these institutions, and that these institutions find ways of leveraging the scale that things like AI can provide, end quote. Yes, but once again, this seems to be an example of entrepreneurs finding that in a weird way. Social media is not a platform that can accommodate news in a way that achieves the level of scale, social platforms can monetize, despite the fact that news items flood social media, and by some measures, the majority of especially younger Americans consume their news on social media. To their credit, they tried to overcome this a bunch of ways. As mentioned, they recently evolved into a Twitter-like conversation platform, a Pinterest-like way of discovering links, and they were, from the beginning, a sort of algorithmic-style news platform like Apple News, but maybe more in the vein

of TikTok, but for news. I do have to give them credit for making me a regular Apple News, user. I tried out artifacts, saw immediately the utility, but then read too many stories about Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and my algorithm became all gaming news all the time. So I switched to Apple News, and since I'm more able to curate my news sources, that is now the first app I go to when I wake up in the morning. We knew that last year was a bad year for smartphone shipments. That's one of the reasons 2023 was a bit of a tech recession year. And indeed, IDC is confirming that global smartphone shipments declined. 3.2% year-over-year to 1.17 billion units in 2023. But also, there's interesting news here. For the first time ever,

Apple gained the top spot in terms of market share with 234.6 million units shipped, followed by Samsung, with 226.6 million units. Also, there are signs of a turnaround coming soon, quote, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation IDCs worldwide, quarterly mobile phone tracker, global smartphone shipments declined 3.2% year-over-year to 1.17 billion units in 2020. While this marks the lowest full-year volume in a decade, driven largely by macroeconomic challenges and elevated inventory early in the year, growth in the second half of the year has cemented the expected recovery for 2024. The fourth quarter, Q4, saw 8.5% year-over-year growth and 326.1 million shipments higher than the forecast of 7.3% growth. While we saw some strong growth from

low-end Android players like Tranchen and Zhaummi in the second half of 2023, stemming from rapid growth in emerging markets. The biggest winner is clearly Apple, said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's worldwide tracker team. Not only is Apple the only player in the top three to show positive growth annually, but also begs the number one spot annually for the first time ever. All this despite facing increased regulatory challenges and renewed competition from Huawei and China, its largest market. Apple's ongoing success and resilience is in large part due to the increasing trend of premium devices, which now represent over 20% of the market, fueled by aggressive trade and offers and interest-free financing plans.

The overall shift in ranking at the top of the market further highlights the intensity of competition within the smartphone market, said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's worldwide mobility and consumer device trackers. Apple certainly played a part in Samsung's drop in rank, but the overall Android space is diversifying within itself. Huawei is back and making inroads quickly within China, brands like One Plus, Honor, Google, and other. are launching very competitive devices in the lower price range of the high end, and foldables and increased discussions around AI capabilities on the smartphone are gaining traction. Overall, the smartphone space is headed towards a very interesting time, end quote.

Microsoft has debuted Copilot Pro for $20 per month per user, offering access to the latest models and features, including custom co-pilot GPs and integration into office. This is, again, the pro version, the more advanced version of Copilot, also reportedly the fastest. But Microsoft still said, while Copilot Pro was the best experience for individuals, they are still pushing organizations on Copilot for Microsoft 365, which became available in November. What exactly does Copilot Pro get you? Quoting Microsoft. A single AI experience that runs across your devices, understanding your context on the web, on your PC, across your apps,

and soon on your phone to bring the right skills to you when you need them. Access to co-pilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on PC, Mac, and iPad for Microsoft 365, personal and family subscribers. Priority access to the very latest models, starting today with OpenAIs GPT4 Turbo. With Copilot Pro, you'll have access to GPT4 Turbo during peak times for faster performance and, coming soon, the ability to toggle between models to optimize your experience how you choose. Enhanced AI image creation with Image Creator from designer, formerly Bing ImageCreater, ensuring it's faster with 100 boosts per day while bringing you more detailed image quality as well as landscape image format. Also, the ability to build your own co-pilot GPD, a customized co-pilot

tailored for a specific topic in our new co-pilot GPT builder coming soon with just a simple set of prompts, end quote. As part of the Massimo patent fight, the USCBP has decided that Apple can avoid a ban and sell the watch series 9 by removing its plight. Pulse oxymetry features. Quoting Mac Rumors. A filing viewed by Mac Rumors suggests that Apple will be removing the blood oxygen app from new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models sold in the U.S. at least temporarily.

This change would allow Apple to sidestep and import and sales ban on Apple Watch models with blood oxygen sensing, which the U.S. International Trade Commission ordered last year after ruling that Apple violated Massimo's pulse-oximity patents. The ban was already temporarily paused shortly after it began last month, but it could have resumed as early as this month, which likely spurred Apple to take this measure, end quote. Apple has begun sending altered versions of the Apple Watch to its U.S. retail outlets already, as reported by Mark German and Bloomberg. The exact sale date of this new flavor of neutered watch remains uncertain, and Apple has not yet replied to inquiries for comment.

On Apple's website right now, the Blood Oxygen app is still promoted as a feature on the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models. This app calculates and shows the oxygen saturation levels in the user's blood and is designed solely for, quote, wellness purposes. It is anticipated that users who already own Series 9 and Ultra 2 models will keep this feature, and there are no plans to remove it in models sold in other countries. This is all most likely just a temporary measure on Apple's part. German has indicated that Apple is working on a software update to modify the blood-oxygen app's algorithms. This change aims to buy more time for various appeal processes to go through their paces.

Mark German has had his sources outline exactly what you can expect if you decide to go pick up an Apple Vision Pro in store next month, including extensive fitting and calibration and an employee guided demo lasting up to 25 minutes. Remember, Apple flew out a bunch of sales associates to Cupertino for a boot camp on how to sell this thing. The largest Apple stores are expected to have more than a dozen demo units available for folks to sign up for on launch day. The demonstration starts with a retail worker using an app to scan the customer's face, similar to setting up face ID. That's why they sent out a note last week telling people to bring their iPhones with them. For the face scanning, this identifies the correct light seal, foam cushion, and band size needed for the customer. The light seal prevents external light intrusion and is available in over 25 variants. The foam cushions have two sizes for glasses wearers.

A special device scans the lenses to get prescription details. The store stocks numerous lenses for this purpose. After gathering those details, a colleague assembles the Vision Pro headset with the appropriate accessories in the back room. The employee then guides the customer on using the Vision Pro's interface. This includes eye-controlled pointer navigation, gesture-based selections, and proper headset handling. They'll demonstrate adjusting the fit dial on the headband and using the digital crown to switch between virtual and augmented reality modes. The staffer can view what the user sees on the Vision Pro through an iPad. The Apple employee then lets customers fit the headset themselves. They calibrate it by performing eye-tracking exercises with varying brightness levels and a hand scan

within the device's field of vision. And then, according to Mark, quote, the roughly 20 to 25-minute demo can begin. Users will be directed to the photos app to view still images that are similar to the ones preloaded on Apple's other devices in retail stores. That's followed by examples of panorama shots. Then the demo starts to get more interesting. the customer sees 3D images that Apple calls spatial photos, in this case of a kid hitting a pinata, and a spatial video footage of a birthday party. The next part of the demo shows how to use the device as a computer or iPad replacement. It explains how to position multiple app windows in space and scroll through web pages in the Safari browser. Customers are then shown 3D and immersive movies, including clips of wild animals, the ocean, and sports.

There's also a compelling scene that makes users feel as if they're on a tightrope. The Vision pros in Apple retail stores also will be preloaded with various third-party apps that are launching with the device next month. The goal of the demos is giving users an experience that's compelling but not exhausting, ideally leaving them itching for more, end quote. The buying process is slightly different. Buyers still get the face scan, but that then guides the employee to package the correct light seal band and cushions at the point of sale akin to assembling an Apple Watch with its band for customers. Each Apple retail store will feature a special table showcasing the Vision Pro hardware, although these display units are not for wearing. Depending on the store's size, about two to four units will be exhibited for you to gock at,

but not demo. Apple really wants people to try the Vision Pro in store. However, online purchasers will have access to the face scan system, allowing for a customized product to be assembled and delivered to them. Finally today, over the weekend, Peacock did an exclusive stream of the NFL, wildcard game, and it turns out it was the most streamed event in U.S. history with 27.6 million total viewers and a 24.6 million peak viewer average. This was the first streaming exclusive NFL playoff game, and it reportedly cost the NFL around $110 million. Quoting the Verge.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this was the first streaming exclusive NFL playoff game, and it reportedly cost Peacock around $110 million, quoting the Verge. According to the Wall Street Journal, when the league struck new broadcasting deals in 2021, it reserved the rights to one playoff game per season, and this NBC Universal deal is only for the 2023 postseason. NFL media exec, Hans Schroeder told the outlet, it's likely that in future years the game will continue to be streaming only, which could attract bids to put it on platforms, including Peacock again, Viacom-owned Paramount Plus, Disney's ESPN Plus streaming, or Fox's Tooby, end quote.

Peacock also aired a holiday exclusive game this past December, which only averaged about 9.9 million viewers, so that wasn't great. A typical Sunday night football game can get 26.1 million viewers. So, hey, they did better this time, and the reports are the streams mostly held up. There wasn't a ton of belly aching online about the video buffering or anything like that, but there were a ton of complaints online about being forced to have Peacock to watch. Also, in the journal, Jason Gay was particularly critical, calling. it the NFL's digital butt fumble. Quote, here was a marquee wildcard weekend playoff contest walled off from the non-paying public, all because the NFL sold the game to a mega-media conglomerate, NBC Universal, which wanted to use it to attract new subscribers for Peacock, its paid streaming service featuring French bike racing and 19 zillion reruns of law and order. Far be it for me to reject capitalism in the journal, but historically, this hasn't been the way of the NFL, where TV socialism reigns. And it's supposed to be for each, according to his abilities to each according to his needs, especially the compulsive gamblers.

The Chief's Dolphins Joust was available over the air, free in the Kansas City and Miami area, per NFL rules. This is our new reality. You're already paying Amazon if you've been watching Thursday night football. Sunday ticket is off to YouTube, and as cable continues to bleed subscribers, more streaming games are sure to follow. The NFL's desire for every eyeball is pushing up against the new realities of modern media, and if it wants the dollars, Peacock paid $110 million for its playoff game. The journal's Joe Flint reported, it has to let its TV partners reorient their business, end quote. We had our first surprise snowstorm. In about two years this morning, I tried to record around the noise of people shoveling snow outside, but if you listen

real close, talk to you tomorrow.