Daily Authority: Smartphone sales are weird - Android Authority

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⚡ Good morning! Hey there! Here’s what’s happening to end the week… other than Qualcomm’s launch in China of what should be the refreshed Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip… Plus? Super? Max? We find out soon enough.
A couple of notes on mixed smartphone sales.
Things were still pretty good, last quarter, in North America, showing growth:
But, elsewhere, things are not as good:
Q2 sales are going to be very interesting. Will inflation raise prices, or will companies be forced to drop prices and take a hit to margins in the case of falling sales?
🔋 The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 may have a much larger battery after all (Android Authority).
👉 Bill Gates uses a Galaxy Z Fold 3. In a recent AMA yesterday he said: “I have an Android Galaxy Z Fold 3. I try different ones. With this screen I can get by with a great portable PC and the phone and nothing else.” (r/IAMA)
🍎 Apple’s board of directors reportedly tried out its upcoming AR / VR headset: hints that it could be coming soon, but probably not at WWDC? (The Verge).
📺 LG’s flagship 4K ultra-short throw projector gets closer (The Verge).
👉 Y Combinator has sent founders “a 10-point survival strategy” in a fairly ominous marker of what’s going on in SIlicon Valley, startups, and preparing for the worst (TechCrunch).
📃 SpaceX reportedly paid $250,000 to cover up Elon Musk’s sexual misconduct, Musk denies it and is tweeting a lot (The Verge).
🚗 The incredible shrinking car dealership: Honda is adapting (Wired).
📡 NASA is receiving strange data from Voyager 1: “A mystery like this is sort of par for the course at this stage of the Voyager mission” (NASA).
🚀 Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft reached orbit successfully late yesterday though some “Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC)” thrusters failed after launch, though plenty of redundancy is in place — launch video linked (YouTube).
🏩 The secret Life of a Tokyo coke baron: “As the Yakuza lose influence, foreign criminals are seizing the reins of the Japanese drug market. One of them spent a year telling us how he does it.” Classic Vice, though, uh, maybe don’t have your kids read this? (Vice).
🪓 And something of a cleanser: Here’s a baby beaver, the cutest of baby animals? (Twitter).
🦷 “Why can’t a human body heal teeth in case it breaks or there is a cavity?” (r/askscience).
Samsung put Galaxy Buds 2 inside a Poké Ball, and they sold out in a flash.
Have a great weekend,
Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor.

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