1. Fujitsu is spinning off its mobile device unit into a new company, Fujitsu Connected Technologies Ltd. The Japanese maker of chips, devices and servers is also spinning off its personal computer unit. Fujitsu said it decided to spin off these businesses because the smartphone and PC businesses are becoming more commoditized and differentiation is becoming more difficult.
2. Smartphone sales are slowing, but Huawei continues to grow its smartphone revenue by taking market share from rivals. The Chinese company said it shipped 100 million smartphones in 2015, making it the world’s third largest smartphone maker after Apple and Samsung. The company also said 2015 spending on research and development totaled 14.2% of revenue, and it has now filed 76,687 patent applications.
3. Samsung is boosting battery life in its newest flagship smartphone for the Chinese market. The Galaxy A9 boasts a 4,000 mAh battery and promises up to two days of talk time without a recharge. The phone approaches phablet size, with a six-inch screen and a width of 7.4 millimeters. The A9 will be available in China later this month.
4. The “uncarrier” has made investors very happy this year. Shares of T-Mobile US gained almost 50% this year as the carrier has continued to take customers away from rivals. During 2015, T-Mobile surpassed Sprint to become the nation’s third largest carrier.
Shares of both AT&T and Verizon Communications are poised to end the year little changed from where they were at the start of 2015. Early this year, both T-Mobile US and Sprint saw their stock prices shoot up while shares of their two larger rivals remained basically flat. Then in the spring, the two smaller carriers went in opposite directions, with T-Mobile US soaring while Sprint sank. Sprint stock saw a brief revival in August after its Japanese parent SoftBank increased its investment in Sprint, but investors lost patience in the fall as the carrier remained close-lipped about its network buildout and continued to lose customers to T-Mobile US.
5. Apple filed a Christmas Eve motion demanding more damages from Samsung in a sign the patent war between the two smartphone giants is not over. Samsung recently paid Apple $548 million three years after a jury had awarded Apple almost twice that amount. Now Apple is saying Samsung continued to infringe its patents after the period of time covered by that trial, and the iPhone maker wants another $180 million. The motion was filed in the same San Jose, California, court in which the jury trial took place in 2012.
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