Year: 2018

Snapchat is today launching new lenses that respond to voice commands. The company says it’s now rolling out a series of lenses that will animate when users speak simple, English words like “hi,” “love,” “yes,” “no,” and “wow,” as opposed to taking some other action – like opening their mouth or raising their eyebrows, as has been the trigger for some of the company’s prior lenses that animate with special effects.

For example, saying “hi” in the new lens will launch an animation that surrounds you with a flock of chatty birds; “love” will play cheesy jazz music; “yes” creates a zoom effect; “no” puts you in an infinite photo tunnel; and “wow” puts a bow on your head and surrounds you with the word.

While the company has offered lenses that involve audio before, this is the first time it has created lenses that actually recognize words, then use its understanding of what was said as a marker that kicks off the lens animation.

Snapchat says it will begin to make around five to six of these new lenses available to users within the next week. They’ll appear periodically in the Lens carousel along with the others, starting today, Wednesday August 1st.

The lenses will prompt users how to trigger the animation, when launched, Snapchat says.

Unique lenses have always been one of Snapchat’s biggest differentiators. And it has continually pushed the bar forward in this area by creating those that take advantage of camera technology and augmented reality in new ways. For example, it has launched things like World Lenses that add AR elements to any scene – including, more recently, Bitmoji – plus selfie games, lenses that can change the sky, paint the world around you, and more.

In May, it also launched the first lenses that react to sounds – but not particular words. The company says it’s possible for the new speech recognition lenses to be combined with its other lens technology, but it declined to say if that’s something it had planned.

The new lenses are also remarkably similar to the speech recognition triggered AR stickers found in the Panda video app, we should also note.

New lenses like this help to keep Snapchat users engaged, and could potentially turn into a technology that’s opened to advertisers further down the road, too.

The company may not have the size and scale of Facebook’s app empire (including also Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp), but it does have the younger audience, who are increasingly ditching Facebook for other apps like Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram.

The convertible tablet space is a tricky one. After several years, no one’s managed to precisely nail it — no device will ever manage to straddle the line as the perfect laptop and tablet. But the category is a rare bright spot in an otherwise stagnant tablet market, and Samsung’s never been one to stand down from a challenge.

If nothing else, the Tab S4 represents Samsung’s most aggressive approach to the category yet. The company appears fairly confident that it will fulfill the need for both laptop and tablet for a certain segment of the population, at least — which would go a ways toward justifying that $650 starting price.

To accomplish this, the company is reinventing DeX. Formerly used to refer to the smartphone docking station, it’s now the name of the company’s desktop mode for Android. DeX is the key to the Tab’s convertibility. The S4 defaults to standard Android mode, switching over to DeX as soon as it docks in the keyboard case.

It’s an interesting choice. Rather than go with Windows 10, Chrome or any other operating systems designed specifically for the desktop environment, Samsung’s doubling down on the environment it introduced for the original DeX docks.

Why? I suspect it’s a control thing, at least in part. Windows 10 would have required surrendering more functionality to Microsoft (not the mention the consistency complications of the Android-centric Galaxy brand). With Android, Samsung can effectively run roughshod over the operating system as it sees fit. That means, no doubt, the eventually addition of things like the S-Pen’s Air Command interface and other proprietary Samsung differentiators.

I took a Chromebook as my sole computer on a recent trip to China. As such, I feel pretty confident in speaking to the limitations of attempting to rely on apps that aren’t optimized for desktop mode. It’s not impossible, but it’s certainly clumsy. When you launch them, they open in a small window.

You can make them full screen, but have to restart them in the process. I suspect the discrepancies won’t be as pronounced on the 10.5-inch as they would be on, say the Pixelbook, but there are still some kinks to work out. That includes the fact the Play Store doesn’t specialize in desktop apps, which cuts out a certain number of speciality programs. In my case, I had the damnedest time trying to find a fill in for Audacity, so I could edit podcasts on the 13 hour flight (cue the emails from 800 developers telling me that they have the solution). 

The good news on this front is that Samsung has worked with some key developers to offer up programs in the “App for Samsung DeX” section of the app menu. The biggest here is Microsoft, which worked with Samsung to create a DeX version of Office. There are some other key apps here as well, like Tripadvisor. For things like games, on the other hand, you’ll mostly be stuck running the mobile version.

The Tab S4 represents an interesting sort of cross section of a number of different Samsung offerings. The Galaxy Tab line meets DeX, with a side of S-Pen, which is large and optimized for the bigger form factor. There’s a slot for the stylus on the side of the keyboard case — a nice touch that has been absent in a number of these kinds of devices, including ones from Samsung itself. I can never figure out what to do with that damn pen when I’m not using it.

Live Messages — the animated Gif drawing app introduced on mobile — is here. Air Commands are present in Android mode as well. That they don’t carry over into DeX mode feels like a strange sort of oversight on Samsung’s part, but the company tells me it’s something they’re considering, so there’s that.

Also interesting is the absence of a trackpad on Samsung’s keyboard case. Touch and pen functionality are the primary methods for cursor manipulation here. I suspect that will ultimately serve most users just fine, but you’ll have to re-program your brain a bit in the process. When your hands assume typing position, habit draws them down to the trackpad, like some peripheral version of a phantom limb.

The keyboard is pretty okay, so far as keyboard cases go. I honestly prefer it to the kind of soft version you get with a Surface. There’s more tactile feedback here, and the keys are raised. They’re soft but springy. I’m in no rush to replace my full-time laptop with the device, but I write words for a living. For those whose typing is largely limited to Facebook updates and email, it’s probably just fine.

It’s also worth mentioning that the case is robust enough in keyboard mode to actually sit in your lap without collapsing. Not every convertible can say that. Surface Go, I’m looking at you.

The battery is a bright spot here. At 7,300mAh, Samsung says it should get you around 16 hours of video playback. That seems like a fairly optimistic estimate compared to the 10 hours Apple quotes on the 10-inch iPad Pro but at the very least, it should get you through just about any flight.

The rest of the specs are pretty solid as well, including an octa-core Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM and either 64- or 256GB of storage, plus expandable memory via microSD. You can also get the Tab with built-in LTE (for an added cost/monthly fee, of course). That should serve you pretty well for most of what you need to do tablet or otherwise.

The port situation, on the other hand, is another pain point for replacing your desktop outright. There’s the Pogo dock for the keyboard and a single USB-C — so good luck with those accessories. Of course, you can also just get Bluetooth mouse — Samsung makes one of those specially for the Galaxy Tab, naturally.

The WiFi version of the Tab S4 arrives August 10th, along with the Verizon LTE version. Other carriers (Sprint and US Cellular) will get their models at some point later in Q3. Pricing will likely vary, based on carrier.

The Galaxy Tab S4 isn’t quite the end-all, be-all laptop replacement, Samsung was no doubt hoping for, but it does represent an interesting new paradigm for the company in the wild world of convertible tablets.

YaDoggie, the dog food and wellness startup founded by Yahoo’s former VP of Mobile, has teamed up with kitchen appliance maker Instant Pot to launch its fresh dog food product. Called YaDoggie Fresh, it’s “human-grade” fresh dog food that is specifically designed to be cooked in an Instant Pot.

The fresh product, which comes in turkey and salmon, takes 20 minutes to cook using the Instant Pot. YaDoggie says the formulas were designed by a licensed veterinary nutritionist and are 100 percent grain free. The product starts shipping October 1.

“We know lots of our customers would love to make their own healthy food for their dogs but they just don’t have the time to find a recipe and buy and prep ingredients – Fresh does that for them,” YaDoggie CEO Sol Lipman said in a press release. “Fresh aligns with our goal of making it easy for Pet Parents to give their dogs the best food possible, and it’s a great complement to our kibble.”

YaDoggie’s core offerings are healthy, grain-free kibble, treats and a smart scoop, which will cost $49. The food comes in three recipes, buffalo/duck, lamb and sweet potato and limited ingredient turkey and pea — none of which include rice, corn, wheat or soy.

YaDoggie aims to help dog parents take a holistic approach to caring for their pups. But instead of defining itself as a dog tech company, YaDoggie is positioning itself as a dog wellness company using technology to make things better.

All you last-minute shoppers, world-class procrastinators and all-around slow-pokes listen up! You have until midnight tonight to buy your passes to Disrupt San Francisco 2018 at the early-bird price. We’re talking real savings: up to $1,200.

We really do want you to join us at Moscone Center West on September 5-7, but why the heck would you pay full freight when you could simply buy your ticket now?

Every Disrupt offers an incredible amount of value, top-notch programming and unparalleled networking opportunities. Come for our roster of renowned speakers, including Megan Quinn, a general partner at Spark Capital; Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO at Bumble; and Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO at Uber.

Don’t miss our Virtual Hackathon — where thousands of the best hackers, developers, designers and programmers around the world compete to create something spectacular. We’ll scrutinize every submission and bring the top 30 teams to display their hacks at Disrupt. The best hack wins $10,000 and, thanks to our generous sponsors, we also have a bunch of very cool hack contests that offer thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.

Some great companies got their start in our premier pitch competition, Startup Battlefield. Companies like TripIt, Box, Yammer and Mint to name a few. This year, the startups really bring the heat as they compete for investor love, media attention and $100,000 in non-equity cash.

You’ll find more than 1,200 outstanding startups and exhibitors showcasing an incredible array of tech products, platforms and talent on our show floor in Startup Alley. It’s a breeding ground for innovation, inspiration and opportunity.

Looking for more good reasons to go? Check out the full conference agenda.

Disrupt San Francisco 2018 takes place on September 5-7 at Moscone Center West. Your chance to save on ticket pricing runs out at midnight tonight, so stop what you’re doing and get your ticket now.

Editor’s note: This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and TechCrunch may earn affiliate commissions.

Heading back to college with the best gear is the only push that some students need to get things moving in the right direction. While students are expected to take lecture notes during class, power through study sessions and, if necessary, do assignments on the go, there are tech essentials better suited than others for getting these jobs done.

Whether it’s time for a new laptop and protective gear or a few new accessories, we’ve got the recommendations covered.

Chromebook: Chromebook Flip C302CA

A Chromebook is a great choice for a simple notebook with a cloud-based storage system, and we think the Chromebook Flip C302CA is the best option. You’ll work predominantly in a browser and across apps — and whichever way is most comfortable, as the Chromebook Flip C302CA’s 360-degree hinge allows it to be used as a laptop or tablet.

It only comes with a few ports (a headphone jack, two USB-C ports and a microSD slot) but you can use an adapter to plug in additional peripherals. We like its backlit keyboard, touchscreen, Android app support and that its build feels more like a pricier Ultrabook. If portability is at the top of your list, it’s lightweight and compact, which makes carrying it around campus and doing work on the go more manageable.

Laptop for creative work: Dell XPS 15 & Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (15-inch, 2017)

For film, photography and design students who can’t always use on-campus labs and want a capable machine of their own, we recommend the Dell XPS 15. This Windows laptop has a powerful graphics card and processor that contribute to quick upload and rendering speeds. The is an alternative for students who prefer macOS.

It’s also equipped with a powerful processor, and both machines have excellent displays and responsive trackpads. Either laptop can handle heavy editing projects and demanding creative work that would otherwise slow down a basic laptop.

Anti-malware software: Malwarebytes Premium

In addition to antivirus software, secure passwords, data logins and two-factor authentication, a reliable anti-malware program will help ensure that your computer is protected against vulnerabilities. While antivirus software typically works against worms, viruses and Trojans, anti-malware tackles newer exploits that aren’t spread by email, USB drives or older avenues.

We recommend Malwarebytes Premium for macOS and Windows computers because it runs well with Windows Defender and doesn’t get in the way of other programs. It’s simple to set up and use, plus it performs real-time scanning and doesn’t require you to make special adjustments to settings in order to get the best coverage.

Bluetooth keyboard: Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard

For students who like working across different setups, a Bluetooth keyboard provides the option to take a break from a laptop and work with a desktop computer, smartphone or tablet. The Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard can connect to three devices at once and switch between them with the press of a button.

It’s light, sturdy and small enough to stash in a backpack and use in class, at a library or anywhere else on the go. The combination of its rounded springy keys and the angle of its slope make it comfortable to use over long periods of time. Aside from outperforming other models that we tested, it’s inexpensive and offers two years of battery life with heavy use.

Sanho HyperDrive USB Type-C Hub (left)Type-C Multiport Adapter: Sanho HyperDrive USB Type-C Hub

With every school year that comes around, an updated batch of laptops are released — many of which come with the latest ports. The Sanho HyperDrive USB Type-C Hub pairs best with MacBooks that have a single USB-C port. It adds a single HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports and a USB-C port for passthrough charging.

You’ll be able to connect to HDMI displays that support 4K video while charging your computer at the same time. It’s small, durable and, like other USB-C port laptop adapters that connect devices with “legacy” ports or transfer data, it can be a lifesaver when you’re in a pinch.

These picks may have been updated by Wirecutter. 

Kidbox, a subscription clothing box similar to Stitch Fix – but aimed at parents who dislike kids’ clothes shopping (aka all of us) – is now launching its own private label kids’ brands. At launch, the three clothing brands – Miki B., Kid’s Club, and Baby Basics – will join the startup’s over 130 existing brand partners, such as Adidas, DKNY, 7 for All Mankind, Puma, Jessica Simpson, Reebok, Diesel and others.

The company had said earlier this year that it would soon be branching out into its own brands with the arrival of its fall 2018 back-to-school box.

Having sent out its first box of clothing during the back-to-school shopping season in 2016, Kidbox now has two years of data under its belt to inform its designers what kids clothing is selling. Its boxes, similar to Stitch Fix, are put together after parents fill out a profile. The offer their kids’ sizing information, age, and what sort of styles, colors and patterns, they like and hate. Kidbox then preps a box accordingly, and anything the child doesn’t want – or mom or dad don’t want to buy, that is – can be sent back.

However, Kidbox heavily incentives its customers to keep the whole box – it’s around half a dozen items for under $100, which is reasonable. In fact, it can cost more to return items, as you then pay the price on the tag instead of receiving the whole-box discount.

With its new private labels, Kidbox aims to grow its margins further.

“We believe we’ve identified a void in the children’s apparel marketplace,” Kidbox CEO Miki Berardelli told TechCrunch this spring, when referencing its plans to sell its own clothing. “The style sensibility of our exclusive brands will all have a unique personality, and a unique voice that’s akin to how our customers describe themselves. It’s all really based on customer feedback. Our customers tell us what they would love more of; and our merchandising team understands what they would like to be able to procure more of, in terms of rounding out our assortment,” she said.

The company at the time was fresh on the heels of a $15.3 million Series B focused on scaling the business, which included bringing the new lines to its customers.

Kidbox’s brands will focus on the four main personality types of Kidbox shoppers, the company now explains. Miki B. represent a sort of “city cool” aesthetic, while Kid’s Club will encompass sporty athletic, modern casual, and classic preppy styles. Baby Basics, of course, includes baby items.

The lines were created by Kidbox’s own design team, which includes designers from brands like Tory Burch, Burberry, Bonobos, and J.Crew. The team focused on every aspect – like  fabric, color, pattern, and cut. They decided on using 100 percent cotton jersey, so the clothes will hold up and become wardrobe staples.

Each Kidbox shipment will now feature at least one of its own brands, the company says.

In addition to the new brands, Kidbox also teamed up with French Toast on a $68 uniform box for boys and girls that caters to kids whose schools enforce dress codes.

Kidbox today competes with other kids clothing subscription boxes like Rockets of Awesome, Kidpik, Mac & Mia, fabKids, and others. As a parent and customer of a couple of these, what I like about Kidbox is the wearability its items, which tend to be more practical choices, and its affordability. My child likes that the Kidbox often comes with a small surprise – and always includes crayons and stickers, too.

The company declines to share subscriber numbers, but touts 1.2+ million members of its “community” which encompasses social media fans, email subscribers, and paying customers.

The New York-based startup has $28 million to date from Canvas Ventures, Firstime Ventures, HDS Capital, plus strategic partners Fred Langhammer, former CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., and The Gindi Family, owners of Century 21 department stores.

 

With its latest funding round, Formlabs has achieved unicorn status. The Massachusetts-based 3D printing startup just raised another $15 million. The latest round brings its total funding up to $100 million, and puts the company in the relatively rare air of hardware startups with valuations in excess of $1 billion. This latest funding, which follows a $30 million raise in April, is led by New Enterprise Associates.

The milestone is doubly impressive, given the state of 3D printing. After years of hype, the bubble burst, sending much of the competition scrambling. But Formlabs, which began life as a Kickstarter campaign back in 2012, set itself apart from the competition by offering industrial 3D printing in a desktop form factor.

That technology was quick to catch on among hardware prototypers looking to step up their game from the plastic depositing technology found on devices from companies like MakerBot. In recent years, the company has added more desktop manufacturing technologies and worked to push its existing tech into the burgeoning world of 3D printing for manufacturing.

Along with the new funding, Formlabs is also adding former GE CEO Jeff Immelt to its board of directors. 

“I’m excited to work with Formlabs at this pivotal time in the company’s development,” Immelt said in a release tied to the news. “Max and the team have demonstrated outstanding progress to date, with best-in-class technology and impressive momentum across a wide swath of industries, including engineering, healthcare and manufacturing. Since the company’s founding in 2011, they have outpaced competitors and established themselves as a leader in 3D printing. I look forward to supporting this next phase for the company as they accelerate adoption and continue to advance the technology.”

Formlabs currently employs 500 across North America, Europe and Asia.

A little more than a year ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk handed over the first Model 3 electric vehicles to employees at a splashy event in Hawthorne, California. It’s been (production) hell ever since, a term Musk has used repeatedly in the past 12 months as the electric automaker struggled to ramp up production of its most important vehicle to date.

Now, a month after Tesla hit a key milestone and produced nearly 5,000 Model 3 cars in the last week of June, investors, fans and critics are waiting to get a closer look at the company’s finances. Tesla is expected to report its second quarterly earnings after the market closes August 1. A conference call will be held at 2:30 pm PT.

Here’s what we’re looking for and what we hope to hear from Musk:

Conversions

Tesla has opened the Model 3 waitlist floodgates and invited all reservation holders in the U.S. and Canada to order the electric sedan.

Tesla might not share the number of reservations holders who have opted to ask for a refund or to go ahead and order a Model 3. But that figure would give insight on demand as well as help determine what obstacles lie ahead. For instance, a large number of reservations converting to orders might signal a rosy future for revenue as well as potential headwinds in production and delivery times with the increased volume.

Those reservations also equal money. The company had $985 million in customer deposits, which includes the Model 3, at the end of the first quarter. Once a customer decides to buy a Model 3, their $1,000 deposit becomes non-refundable and another $2,500 payment is required to complete the order.

Cash

The company did bring in record revenues in 2017— $11.8 billion in all. And first-quarter revenues of $3.4 billion were 26% higher than the previous quarter.

But revenue only tells part of the story.

A Bloomberg analysis in May estimates Tesla is spending more than $7,430 every minute. Tesla’s free cash flow, which is the amount of cash it generates after accounting for capital expenditures, has been negative for six consecutive quarters.

Tesla ended the first quarter with a cash balance of $2.67 billion, a $702 million drop from the previous quarter. Tesla saw its net debt increase $1.05 billion. The company’s outstanding debt is more than $10 billion.

And it doesn’t appear that the spending has slowed. The company is pulling skilled workers from a variety of departments to work on its vehicle and battery plants, sometimes flying them in from out of state and housing them in hotels, CNBC reported Tuesday.

It’s just one of the extra costs Tesla is taking on to consistently produce 5,000 or more Model 3 sedans a week if it hopes to be profitable.

Tesla reported in the first quarter a net loss of $$784.6 million, or $4.19 per share.

China

China has the potential to be a key market for Tesla. The automaker reached a deal in July with the Shanghai government to build a factory capable of producing 500,000 electric vehicles a year.

The factory would be the automaker’s second assembly plant and aimed at serving the alluring Chinese market.

Watch (or listen) for more information on Tesla’s factory plans for China, including the potential financial strains it will place on the company. Tesla hasn’t provided an estimate of what the factory might cost to build. That’s a critical data point for Tesla, which has been burning through cash as it tries to ramp up production of its Model 3 vehicle.

Cool head

Musk’s combative behavior during the previous earnings call in May and erratic tweets has even supportive investors taking note.

For better or worse, Tesla and Musk are inextricably linked. In the past, Musk’s frankness during calls and his late-night tweets has been celebrated. But patience has grown thin with some in recent weeks, including analysts.

Earnings calls have become a gauge, not just of how the company is holding up, but for its leader as well.

Felicis Ventures, the early-stage, San Francisco-based venture firmed founded a dozen or so years ago by former Googler Aydin Senkut, has closed its sixth fund with $270 million.

It’s Felicis’s biggest vehicle to date (the firm closed its last fund with $200 million in 2016). Yet even bigger news for the team may be its new managing director, Victoria Treyger, who spent the last six-plus years as the chief revenue office of the online lending company Kabbage and before that, spent a couple of years as the chief marketing officer of RingCentral, the cloud phone system company.

It’s easy to understand the attraction on both sides. Treyger gives the firm greater strength when it comes to marketing and fintech know-how. According to Senkut, Treyger is also acutely interested in health-related opportunities, which, not coincidentally, is a growing area of interest for the firm.

Indeed, he argues, persuasively, Treyger was being courted aggressively from operating companies wanting to tap her experience as a C-level executive at two separate but fast-growing companies.

That Treyger decided to pursue venture capital surely speaks to an interest in the industry broadly. But Felicis seems like a particularly good fit for her, too. For one thing, Treyger “basically has an equal spot at the table,” according to Senkut. This isn’t always the case with a new hire into a venture firm, even at the most senior level.

Treyger also joins a now four-person leadership team — including Senkut, Sundeep Peechu, and Wesley Chan — that has, in the parlance of the startup world, been crushing it.

Already in 2018, the firm has seen three major exits, including when Adyen, the Amsterdam-based payments platform, went public in June (it currently boasts a $16.3 billion market cap); when Pluralsight, the corporate learning platform, went public on the Nasdaq in May (it’s currently valued at just north of $3 billion); and when Ring, the video doorbell maker, was acquired in March by Amazon for $1 billion.

Felicis can — and does — further brag that has enjoyed a $1 billion(ish) exit in each of the last seven years. The full list includes: Meraki (acquired for $1.2 billion by Cisco in 2012); Climate Corp (which sold in 2013 to Monsanto for roughly $930 million); Twitch (acquired for $970 million in 2014 Amazon); Shopify (it went public in 2015); Fitbit (it also went public in 2015); Cruise (it was acquired by General Motors for reportedly more than $1 billion in 2016); Dollar Shave Club (acquired for $1 billion by Unilever in 2016); and Rovio (which went public last year).

How was the firm pulled off what seem like an outsize number of hits for a small and relatively young organization? Senkut says one central tenet for the firm is resiliency, meaning Felicis works to ensure that it’s portfolio is “anti fragile,” as described by essayist, scholar, and risk analyst Nassim Taleb, in his 2012 book about “things that gain from disorder.”

As it pertains to Felicis, Senkut says, “We basically want to have many uncorrelated bets — across stages, sectors and geographies — so that no matter what happens in the world, some part of our portfolio is always poised to win.”

The strategy, which has since the firm invest everywhere from Canada to Australia and in between, has certainly paid off so far.

Though early last year Felicis lost its first female general partner, Renata Quinitini, to venture peer Lux Capital (she said her interests and Lux’s began to align better over time),  Felicis describes its newest fund as “oversubscribed.” It’s an easy claim to believe, given the amount of money that investors are looking to park with venture firms, and the performance to date of Felicis in particular.

Still, taking on more investing capital was not a consideration, says Senkut. Asked why not, he laughs. “We know our strike zone,” he says.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei is now the second biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world according to new reports from IDC and Canalys, as The Verge initially spotted.

In IDC’s latest report, the firm says that the overall market has shrunk by 1.8 percent in Q2 2018. But the biggest surprise is that Huawei now has a 15.8 percent market share with 54.2 million smartphones shipped in Q2.

It doesn’t mean that Apple is performing poorly. The company is shipping slightly more smartphones this year compared to last year. Apple also has a slightly bigger market share with 12.1 percent of the market.

Samsung is shipping 10.4 percent less smartphones but still remains the leader with 20.9 percent market share, or 71.5 million smartphones. In other words, many Samsung buyers are now buying Huawei devices, or other Android devices.

Canalys confirms this trend with the same order — Samsung, Huawei and then Apple. But the firm also highlights that Apple suffers from seasonability compared to its competitors.

Samsung and Huawei sell many different devices and release new phones all year long. Apple usually releases new devices in September, which creates a huge spike during the last quarter of the year. Apple will likely overtake Huawei and maybe even Samsung in a couple of quarters.

It’s interesting to see that Huawei is performing so well while the company has had issues with the U.S. government. If you browse the smartphone category on Amazon, Honor devices usually appear near the top of the list — Honor is Huawei’s brand for cheaper devices. The Huawei P20 Pro is also a solid device for those looking for a premium device.