Samsung maintained its leading 21 percent smartphone share last year, its shipments rising 1.7 percent to 295 million, reported IHS Markit Wednesday. The global smartphone market “failed to sustain its growth momentum” in Q4, when shipments declined 1.5 percent to 359.2 million units, said IHS. Full-year shipments fell 2.2 percent to 1.38 billion units, it said. The decrease was slightly less than the 2.4 percent decline in 2018 from 2017. Huawei was No. 2, recording 16.7 percent growth to 240.6 million units. Huawei “started to feel the impact of continued headwinds from U.S. government trade actions,” said IHS. After three quarters of “significant growth,” Huawei’s shipments declined 7.4 percent in Q4, it said. IHS sees 5G smartphones as a “key trend” for 2020. “While shipments are not large enough to significantly boost the market,” fifth-generation will bring “excitement to a growing number of market segments,” it said. “Major chipset vendors have already announced their reduced-cost 5G system-on-chip devices, allowing the industry to start to make a dent in the high pricing.” IDC's report Thursday on 2019's global smartphone shipments pegged the decline at 1.1 percent to 1.37 billion. Samsung raised its market-leading share 0.8 points to 21.6 percent in 2019, despite only a 1.2 percent increase in shipments. Apple captured the top share globally on strong holiday sales, the researcher found: "Despite Huawei's ongoing challenges outside of China," and a 7.1 percent decline in Q4 shipments, "it did manage to overtake Apple for the number 2 position overall."

Global smartphone sales to end users will rise 3 percent this year to 1.57 billion, forecast Gartner. There was a 2 percent decrease in 2019, the first decline since 2008, it said Tuesday. Gartner described 2019 as a challenging year for vendors facing an “oversupply in the high-end sector in mature markets,” plus “longer replacement cycles overall.” It’s basing forecasts of a 2020 rebound on the “introduction of 5G network coverage in more countries." The researcher expects users “who may have delayed their smartphone purchases until 2020 in expectation of price reductions [to] begin buying again." It’s projecting 2020 sales of 5G smartphones will be 12 percent of the market at 221 million units.

The global smartphone market will return to growth in 2020, after a 2019 sales decline of 2 percent, said Gartner Tuesday. Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users are on track to reach 1.57 billion units this year, up 3 percent from 2019, on continued rollout of 5G service and regional growth in the Middle East and North Africa (5.9 percent), Asia-Pacific (5.7 percent) and Greater China (5.1 percent), it said. Oversupply in the high-end smartphone segment and longer replacement cycles led to a challenging year in 2019, but broader 5G network coverage this year should lure users who delayed a smartphone purchase hoping for lower prices, said the research firm. 5G phone sales are forecast to total 221 million this year -- 12 percent of overall mobile phone sales -- and then more than double next year to 489 million units. With sub-$300 5G phones announced, sales growth of the category is expected to top that of 4G phones over 12 months, said analyst Annette Zimmermann. Strong demand, including expectations of Apple’s first 5G iPhone, will boost overall smartphone demand, particularly in Asia-Pacific and Greater China, where sales are predicted to reach 432.3 million and 376.8 million handsets. At next month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the spotlight will be on 5G devices at either end of the price scale, with pre-show announcements expected, said the analyst. “The key focus for vendors will be access to 5G and enhancement of the camera technology within devices.”

Sprint is offering to fix damaged Samsung Galaxy smartphone screens -- regardless of carrier -- for $49 through Feb. 9, it emailed Friday. About one in 10 phone screens is cracked. If a screen can’t be repaired, Sprint will offer up to $150 for a trade-in.

The National Retail Federation estimates 193.8 million U.S. adults plan to watch Super Bowl LIV live from Miami and to spend $17.2 billion in connection with the Fox telecast, said the association Thursday. NRF canvassed 7,300 adults Jan. 2-9 and found 9 percent plan to buy new TV sets in time for the game. That would equate to about 17.4 million TVs. Fox Sports will produce the Feb. 2 broadcast in native 1080p with hybrid log-gamma HDR, Kevin Callahan, vice president-field operations and engineering, told the Sports Video Group in December. There are “real reasons” why sports look better in 1080p than in 4K at 60 frames a second, said Mike Davies, Fox senior vice president-field and technical operations. “At 60 frames, in 4K, you will get more motion blur in action scenes.” Pay-TV and streaming services that take the Fox feed will have the option of upconverting it to 4K, he said. “We still must remember that while it’s all well and good that we are doing this in UHD, that very few people will be seeing it that way. We do need to serve the greater audience of 100-plus million people domestically, and make sure the experience is good for them.”

Vendors will ship over 3 billion smart devices globally in 2023 -- including smartphones, PCs, tablets, wearables, smart speakers and personal audio devices -- up from 2.4 billion last year, said Canalys Wednesday, citing the expansion of “ambient computing.” Newer categories, such as smart personal audio devices, wearable bands and smart speakers, form multiple touch points that complete intelligent ecosystems for consumers on the move, at work or at home, said analyst Jason Low. Smartphones will remain the most important category, though vendors face challenging conditions despite 5G and new form factors, said Low. Smart personal audio will be the fastest growing category this year, up 32.1 percent to 490 million. Smart speakers continue to expand, rising 21.7 percent to 150 million, followed by wearables, up 11.8 percent.

Qualcomm added three "platforms" to address the “ongoing demand” for 4G, said the company Tuesday. The Snapdragon 720G, 662 and 460 enable fast connectivity, deliver key Wi-Fi 6 features and have Bluetooth 5.1 support. “While we see a fast adoption of 5G across geographies globally,” 4G “will continue to remain a focus area” in regions like India “where it will stay a key technology for connectivity,” it said. “Our goal is to enable our partners to continue creating solutions that offer seamless connectivity access and exceptional mobile experiences.”

Bose is closing its remaining 119 retail stores in North America, Japan and Australia over the next several months, a spokesperson emailed Thursday, citing the “dramatic shift to online shopping in specific markets.” It will continue to operate 130-plus stores elsewhere, she said. The audio industry shift to smartphones as source devices and headphones as personal speakers was a driving force behind the decision. “Originally, our retail stores gave people a way to experience, test, and talk to us about multi-component, CD and DVD-based home entertainment systems,” said Colette Burke, vice president-global sales. “At the time, it was a radical idea, but we focused on what our customers needed, and where they needed it -- and we’re doing the same thing now.” It said “as smartphones changed the industry, the company’s focus turned to mobile, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi solutions.” Its products are largely bought through e-commerce, including Bose.com.

The smart home market will account for over 13 percent of 815 million Bluetooth device shipments by 2024, up from 250 million last year, said ABI Research. Growth in smart lighting, voice-enabled front-end products, door locks, smart appliances and sensors was cited by the researcher, including in a Wednesday email. Bluetooth’s low power consumption, audio capabilities, widespread presence in mobile devices, and mesh networking support position it for many device types, said analyst Andrew Zignani: It will benefit from smart home growth along with Wi-Fi, 802.15.4 and Z-Wave.

Worldwide shipments of used smartphones rose 17.6 percent to 206.7 million last year, reported IDC this week. The growth reflects “considerable savings” over new devices, as OEMs "struggled to produce new models that strike a balance” between new features consumers want and reasonable prices, said the researcher. The used market “shows no signs of slowing down,” said analyst Anthony Scarsella, with the transition from 4G to 5G. “The ability for vendors to push more affordable refurbished devices in markets in which they normally would not have a presence is helping these players grow their brand as well as their ecosystem of apps, services, and accessories.” Used smartphones had 22.2 percent share in North America in 2018, expected to grow to 26.2 percent by 2023. Elsewhere, it was 77.8 percent in 2018, forecast to reach 73.8 percent share in three years.