Apple

[New] Starbucks outshone those of major third-party mobile pay services in 2018: The coffee giant was projected to have more than 23.4 million U.S. mobile payment users that year, compared to Apple Pay's 22 million, Google Pay's 11.1 million and Samsung Pay's 9.9 million.
Tech giants including Microsoft, Google, and Apple have all hired sci-fi writers for the express purpose of writing design fiction that will eventually lead to tomorrow's commonplace commercial products.
If Chinese import tariffs stay the same or go up in 2020, Apple may have no choice but to raise iPhone prices in the U.S. by $75 to $100 per phone: Demand could drop by six to eight million units.
In just a few years, companies like Apple and Magic Leap, and Microsoft will develop affordable, consumer-ready, smart glasses that serve as a gateway into the exciting world of AR.
Netflix disappointing earnings report fueled fears that the streaming giant would struggle to compete with the new services on the way from Disney and Apple this year, and WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal next year.
As of 2019, several smart TV makers will support Apple's AirPlay 2 wireless streaming tech, and Samsung has become the first TV maker to include iTunes.
Firms in Apple's supply chain for MacBooks, AirPods, and the Apple Watch are anticipating mixed fortunes for 2019, with variations to the level of production anticipated across all three product ranges due to Apple's own strategies and anticipation for new models.
With Google and Amazon already dominating the market for smart speakers, it's hard to imagine that Apple or any other company will surpass them in the next year.
Fingerprint on Display technology will grow 500 percent in 2019, despite Apple forgoing the technology in future iPhones.
Smartglasses will follow a similar trajectory as the Apple Watch, which outsold conventional watch brands such as Rolex and Omega within three years of being launched.
Leading devices including Apple AirPods and Beats by Dre Powerbeats Pro are expected to sell nearly 16 million units in 2019 (up 45 per cent) and approach $2 billion in revenue.
Dramatic growth in Apple's wearables means that the product category - mostly comprising the Apple Watch and AirPods - will overtake both iPad and Mac by the end of next year.
Apple will likely absorb any trade war tariffs in the short term as it looks to diversify production beyond China as soon as next year.
The world's top-3 notebook vendors Lenovo, HP and Dell are set to introduce their first 5G models in the second half of 2019, and Apple is also expected to roll out its 5G MacBook series in the second half of 2020.
Apple has a new, 16-inch MacBook Pro expected to launch later this year, and it may be the first model to switch away from the Butterfly switch keyboards found in all MacBooks for the past few years.
Apple could soon be making 5G chips for future iPhones in-house, especially since the 2020 iPhones are already rumored to be the first 5G iPhones with Qualcomm's 5G chips.
In the U.S., an estimated 70% of merchants will support Apple Pay by the end of 2019, compared with about 80% in Canada and 99% in Australia.
Apple is not expected to offer 5G iPhones until late next year or 2021.
Samsung will launch the S lineup's upgrades in San Francisco, as it looks to provide Apple with some competition in the ultra high-end smartphone segment.
Apple will be producing a 5G iPhone by 2020, but Apple could complete development of its own 5G modem and do without Qualcomm's version by 2022 or 2023.
The global mobile payments market is forecast to grow to $3.7 trillion by 2024 from $897.7 billion last year as more businesses let shoppers pay with PayPal, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, AliPay and WeChat Pay.
IDC expects global semiconductor revenue to fall by 7.2% in 2019, on the back of subdued smartphones sales, which includes Apple, and lower Chinese demand.
As for the global ranking of smartphone market share, Samsung is expected to remain the market leader, while Huawei is set to surpass Apple to become the world's second largest smartphone maker.

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Last updated: 13 October 2019