News | Latest Breaking News Stories & Headlines

58% of contactless payments made using mobile wallets

The use of smartphones and smartwatches, as the preferred payment method in Ireland, is continuing to grow.

Apple had 19% of the smartphone market, despite flat or declining sales in the US, Europe and China, followed by Samsung

Apple takes top spot for first-quarter smartphone sales

Apple took the top spot for global smartphone sales in the first quarter on the back of the iPhone 16e's launch and strong demand in countries such as Japan and India, data from Counterpoint Research shows.

Business • 15 Apr

Indonesia has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet's Google as well as Apple's iPhone 16 due to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components

Indonesia bans sales of Google phones, Apple's iPhone 16

Indonesia said it has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet's Google due to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components, days after blocking sales of tech giant Apple's iPhone 16 for the same reason.

Business • 01 Nov 24

Apple's shipments in China had increased by 12% in March, marking a significant improvement from the first two months of 2024

Apple's iPhone sales in China jump 52% in April

Apple's smartphone shipments in China rose 52% in April from a year ago, extending a rebound seen in March, according to data from a research firm affiliated the Chinese government.

Business • 28 May 24

Chinese firm Honor has developed a new higher capacity battery technology which uses silicon-carbon for its new AI-infused flagship Magic 6 smartphone

Smartphone makers charge ahead to make better batteries

Facing consumers who are fed up with having to plug in their phones all the time, device makers are racing to develop more potent batteries that can charge faster and last longer.

Business • 27 Feb 24

The four-day Mobile World Congress (MWC) got under way today in Barcelona

Smartphone makers bet on AI to revive sales

Smartphone makers are packing their latest devices with flashy new artificial intelligence tools such as real-time voice translation and advanced photo editing in efforts to reignite consumer demand.

Business • 27 Feb 24

Samsung said it remained wary of disruption from the coronavirus pandemic and US-China trade tensions in the short-term

Samsung sees profit decline on weak server chip demand

Samsung Electronics said it expects fourth-quarter profit to fall due to weak server chip demand and rising smartphone competition, after posting its best quarterly operating profit in two years in the third quarter.

Business • 29 Oct 20

Swappie expects to see far greater demand for high quality refurbished smartphones

Online smartphone store Swappie set for Irish launch

Swappie, an online store for used smartphones, has announced a new round of funding which will enable it to expand its operations into Ireland and other European markets.

Business • 16 Jun 20

Samsung's solid chip sales is helping cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic on smartphones and TVs

Samsung's first quarter results beat estimates

Samsung Electronics said today its first-quarter operating profit likely managed to rise slightly from a slump a year earlier, as solid chip sales helped cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic on smartphones and TVs.

Business • 07 Apr 20

Huawei said it shipped 240 million smartphones in 2019

Huawei says 'survival' top priority as sales fall short

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei said today that "survival" was its top priority after announcing 2019 sales were expected to fall short of projections as a result of US sanctions.

Business • 31 Dec 19

Huawei launches its Kirin 990 chips at Berlin's IFA event

With new chipset Huawei forges ahead with phone plan

Huawei Technologies today showcased its chipset for a new high-end smartphone, pressing ahead with plans to launch its Mate 30 range.

Business • 06 Sep 19

ComReg will hold its national conference on the Digital Society tomorrow

84% of Irish consumers own a smartphone - ComReg

A new survey from ComReg shows that 84% of the population here own a smartphone, with two thirds of these using Google's Android operating system, while the remainder are using Apple's iOS.

Business • 05 Sep 19

Huawei has said that US politicians 'want to put us out of business'

Huawei asks US court to throw out federal ban

Chinese telecom giant Huawei today stepped up its legal battle to overturn US legislation barring American federal agencies from buying its products amid an escalating high-tech dispute.

Business • 29 May 19

ARM's move will have a big impact on Huawei's ability to do business

ARM supply halt deals fresh blow to China's Huawei

British chip designer ARM halted relations with Huawei to comply with a US blockade of the company, potentially crippling the Chinese telecom company's ability to make new chips for its future smartphones.

Business • 23 May 19

Huawei reports a 50% jump in consumer business revenue for last year

China's Huawei reports record 2018 sales

China's Huawei Technologies said it could become the world's biggest-selling smartphone vendor this year even without the US market and as global scrutiny of the firm intensifies.

Business • 24 Jan 19

Problems with buying used smartphones online included problems with delivery and faults

ECC urges caution if buying refurbished smartphones

Shoppers thinking of buying a refurbished smartphone online in the run up to Christmas have been warned to do so with caution.

Ireland • 14 Nov 18

Weak smartphone sales are likely to offset record high chip earnings at Samsung

Samsung profit growth slows on smartphone weakness

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics estimated today that its earnings grew at the slowest pace in more than a year in the second quarter.

Business • 06 Jul 18

Samsung would need to make an additional payment to Apple of nearly $140m if the verdict was upheld

Apple and Samsung settle US patent dispute

Apple and Samsung Electronics have settled a seven-year patent dispute over Apple's allegations that Samsung violated its patents by "slavishly" copying the design of the iPhone.

Business • 28 Jun 18

Prime Time - Brexit Risks Cheese Jobs, Smartphones In School

It employs thousands of people in every corner of Ireland. As the clock ticks and negotiations stall, RTÉ Prime Time has a special report on what's at stake for our cheese industry and interviews key UK Remainers and Leavers on the Brexit crisis.

Prime Time • 29 Jun 18

IDC said that smartphone companies shipped a total of 1.46 billion devices in 2017

Smartphone shipments declined by 5% last year

The shipment of smartphones around the world declined by 0.5% in 2017, the first annual decline the market has seen since the introduction of what is now known as smartphones.

Business • 27 Feb 18

Apple alleges it owns at least eight battery life patents that Qualcomm has violated

Apple accuses Qualcomm of patent infringement

Apple has filed a countersuit against Qualcomm, alleging that Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile phone chips that power a wide variety of Android-based devices infringe on Apple's patents.

Business • 29 Nov 17

The four devices will go on sale here in August

Nokia phones return to Irish market

Nokia phones are to return to Ireland again from next month.

Technology • 26 Jul 17

Blackberry said today it expects to be profitable on an adjusted basis for the second year in a row

BlackBerry's quarterly profit beats expectations

BlackBerry today reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings for the sixth quarter in a row, as the smartphone pioneer's shift to the higher-margin software business paid off.

Business • 31 Mar 17

Huawei, Oppo and BBK were the only smartphone companies in the top five globally to register an increase in sales

Chinese smartphone makers continue to close gap

The ongoing rise of Chinese smartphone makers is continuing, with latest figures showing three manufacturers from that country accounted for over a fifth of smartphone sales between July and September.

Business • 17 Nov 16

The new phone starts at a price of $649 (€580), and Google is working with exclusively with Verizon Communications in the United States

Google unveils new smartphone at conference

Alphabet subsidiary Google has announced a new "Pixel" smartphone and a virtual reality headset, the company's latest effort to sell consumers on Google-branded devices.

Business • 04 Oct 16