Connect with us

Published

on

Samsung announced its flagship Galaxy S23 smartphone lineup on Wednesday.

Samsung

Samsung on Wednesday launched its latest lineup of flagship Galaxy smartphones, touting a better camera and enhanced gaming features as the South Korean tech giant tries to tempt people to upgrade amid weak macroeconomic conditions and waning consumer demand.

The Galaxy S23 smartphone lineup features three new models: the standard S23, a slightly more expensive S23+ and the top-of-the-line S23 Ultra. The S23 and S23+ start at a price of $799 and $1,000, respectively. The most advanced model will retail at $1,200.

All three are available for pre-order today and will hit the shelves on Feb. 17.

The S23 series will go head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone 14, which launched last September. Samsung typically releases its flagship Galaxy S models in the first half of the year and its Galaxy Z line of folding phones in the second half.

Samsung mostly made subtle improvements to its new premium handset, including improved camera capabilities.

The most expensive of the three models, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, features a 200-megapixel “adaptive pixel” sensor that combines 16 pixels into one larger pixel for brighter, more detailed shots in low light situations, Samsung said.

Samsung added users’ low-light photography with the device would be assisted by much faster processing speeds from its internal chipset, which was developed in partnership with Qualcomm, as well as artificial intelligence.

There’s also a video feature on the device called “astro hyperlapse” which lets users take time-lapsed motion shots — for example, of star movements — without any special equipment.

Samsung also touted the gaming capabilities of its new device, saying users will be able to play for longer thanks to a more powerful battery. The S23 Ultra houses a huge 5,000 mAh, or milliampere hour, battery.

The S23 Plus and S23 come with 4,700 mAh and 3,900 mAh batteries, respectively.

The company also unveiled its new Galaxy Book3 laptop lineup Wednesday, which includes a third Ultra model with a 16-inch AMOLED display. Samsung’s Galaxy Book2 came in only two options. Samsung hopes the new laptops will make a splash in the premium PC market.

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 series.

Samsung

The firm showed off software that lets users drag and drop files between its laptops and smartphones. Users can also pair the Book3 with Samsung tablets to use the latter as a second screen, Samsung said.

Tough times for smartphone market

The company is launching its new products at a particularly tough time for the consumer tech space. Demand for premium smartphones in particular has softened, with people opting to spend less on big-ticket gadgets due to climbing price pressures and tighter budgets.

Global smartphone shipments plunged 18.3% to 300.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022 — usually a big holiday shopping period — marking the largest decline in a single quarter on record, according to market research firm IDC.

A total of 1.21 billion smartphones were shipped in 2022, which represents the lowest annual shipment total since 2013, IDC said.

“Everything is heading in the wrong direction for consumer electronic providers,” Paolo Pescatore from PP Foresight told CNBC via email.

On Tuesday, Samsung recorded its worst quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2014. The firm reported operating profit of 4.31 trillion won ($3.4 billion), down 69% from the same period a year ago. Samsung said its performance was hampered by weak demand for mid- to low-end smartphones and memory chips.

Meantime, many people are also suffering from smartphone fatigue whereby, not quite satisfied with improvements promised by newer models, they’re holding onto their current phones for longer.

“As has been the case with most flagship launches in recent years, the customers who will feel the most benefit from Samsung’s latest devices will be those upgrading from older models or from a mid-range device,” said Leo Gebbie, principal analyst for connected devices at CCS Insight.

“Customers who have bought a premium-tier mobile in the last year or two will see little difference between the device they already have and the new Galaxy S23 family.”

In that context, Samsung has consolidated its smartphone portfolio to simplify its offering to customers. The firm incorporated its S Pen stylus into last year’s Galaxy S22, marking the symbolic end of its high-end Note phone series.

It’s also tried to boost consumer appetite for new premium phones with its folding devices. Samsung last year launched two new foldable models, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Continue Reading

Technology

Nvidia looking to halt H20 chip production after China cracks down on purchases, reports say

Published

on

By

Nvidia looking to halt H20 chip production after China cracks down on purchases, reports say

An Nvidia chip is seen through a magnifying glass in Beijing, China, on August 1, 2025.

Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Nvidia has asked some of its component suppliers to stop production related to its made-for-China H20 general processing units, as Beijing cracks down on the American chip darling, The Information reported Friday. 

The directive comes weeks after the Chinese government told local tech companies to stop buying the chips due to alleged security concerns, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Nvidia reportedly has asked Arizona-based Amkor Technology, which handles the advanced packaging of the company’s H20 chips, and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, which supplies memory for them, to halt production. Samsung and Amkor did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. 

A separate report from Reuters, citing sources, said that Nvidia had asked Foxconn to suspend work related to the H20s. Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In response to an inquiry from CNBC, an Nvidia spokesperson said “We constantly manage our supply chain to address market conditions.”

The news further throws the return of the H20s to the China market in doubt, after Washington said it would issue export licenses, allowing the chip’s exports to China — whose shipment had effectively been banned in April.  

Last month, the Cyberspace Administration of China had summoned Nvidia regarding national security concerns with the H20s and had asked the company to provide information on the chips. 

Beijing has raised concerns that the chips could be have certain tracking technology or “backdoors,” allowing them to be operated remotely. U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation that would require AI chips under export regulations to be equipped with location-tracking systems to avoid their illegal shipments.

Speaking to reporters in Taiwan on Friday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged that China had asked questions about security “backdoors,” and that the company had made it clear they do not exist.

“Hopefully the response that we’ve given to the Chinese government will be sufficient. We’re in discussions with them,” he said, adding that Nvidia had been “surprised” by the queries.

“As you know, [Beijing] requested and urged us to secure licenses for the H20s, for some time and I’ve worked quite hard to help them secure the licenses, and so hopefully this will be resolved,” he said.

Nvidia in a statement on Friday said “The market can use the H20 with confidence.”

It added: “As both governments recognize, the H20 is not a military product or for government infrastructure. China won’t rely on American chips for government operations, just like the U.S. government would not rely on chips from China. However, allowing U.S. chips for beneficial commercial business use is good for everyone.”

Last month, Nvidia had reportedly sent notices to major tech companies and AI developers urging them against the use of the H20s, in what first had appeared as a soft mandate. The Information later reported that Beijing had told some firms, including ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent,  to halt orders of the chips altogether, until the completion of a national security review. 

It had been seen as a major win for Nvidia when Huang announced last month that the U.S. government would allow sales of the company’s H20 chips to China.

However, the national security scrutiny the H20s are now facing from the Chinese side, highlights the difficulties of navigating Nvidia’s business through increasing tensions and shifting trade policy between Washington and Beijing. 

Chip industry analysts have also said Beijing’s actions appear to reinforce its commitment to its own chip self-sufficiency campaigns and its intention to resist the Trump administration’s plan to keep American AI hardware dominant in China.

Continue Reading

Technology

Google scores six-year Meta cloud deal worth over $10 billion

Published

on

By

Google scores six-year Meta cloud deal worth over  billion

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech at the Meta Connect annual event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Sept. 25, 2024.

Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters

Meta has agreed to spend more than $10 billion on Google cloud services, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The agreement spans six years, said the people, who asked not to be named because the terms are confidential. The deal was reported earlier by The Information.

Google is aiming to land big cloud contracts as it chases larger rivals Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure in cloud infrastructure. Earlier this year Google won cloud business from OpenAI, which had earlier been deeply dependent on Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure.

Alphabet said in July that the Google Cloud unit, which contains productivity software subscriptions in addition to infrastructure, produced $2.83 billion in operating income on $13.6 billion in revenue during the second quarter. Revenue growth of 32% outpaced expansion of 13.8% for the company as a whole.

Meta’s deal with Google is mainly around artificial intelligence infrastructure, said one of the people. Meta said in its earnings report last month that it expects total expenses for 2025 to come in the range of $114 billion and $118 billion. It’s investing heavily in AI infrastructure and talent, building out its Llama family of models and adding AI across its portfolio of services.  

Meta and Google have long been rivals in online ads. But Meta needs all the cloud infrastructure it can access. The company operates data centers and has made commitments to use cloud services from Amazon and Microsoft.

Google declined to comment.

WATCH: Antitrust ruling could end Google’s $26 billion default deals, but experts see upside for AI

Antitrust ruling could end Google’s $26 billion default deals, but experts see upside for AI

Continue Reading

Technology

Workday beats estimates but CEO warns of challenges in education and government

Published

on

By

Workday beats estimates but CEO warns of challenges in education and government

CEO of Workday Carl M. Eschenbach and Ana Eschenbach attend the Allen and Company Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at The Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., July 10, 2025.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Workday reported an earnings beat on Thursday, but issued guidance that was inline with estimates and warned of pressure in some areas. The shares slipped in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did relative to LSEG consensus:

  • Earnings per share: $2.21 adjusted vs. $2.11 expected
  • Revenue: $2.35 billion vs. $2.34 billion expected

Revenue increased 13% from a year earlier in the fiscal second quarter, which ended on July 31, according to a statement. The company’s net income rose to $228 million, or 84 cents per share, from $132 million, or 49 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

For the current quarter, Workday called for $2.24 billion in subscription revenue and $180 million in professional services, which implies $2.42 billion in total revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected a total of $2.42 billion. The company sees an adjusted operating margin of 28.0%, just below the 28.1% consensus among analysts surveyed by StreetAccount.

Workday, which provides software for finance and human resources departments, now sees $8.82 billion in subscription revenue for the full year, and $700 million in professional services revenue, implying a total of $9.52 billion. The LSEG consensus was $9.51 billion.

The part of Workday that works with state and local governments faced challenges during the quarter, CEO Carl Eschenbach said on the earnings call.

“I think we’ll continue to see that as people are trying to figure out what the funding slowdown is going to look like, all the way to the state level,” he said.

Meanwhile, higher education in the U.S. is facing pressure from President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in March to shut down the Department of Education.

“If it’s a higher ed university that includes a healthcare system, they too are getting a little pullback in funding,” Eschenbach said. “So it’s something we’re keeping our eye on.”

Also on Thursday Workday said it’s acquiring Paradox, a company with conversational artificial intelligence software for recruiting, for undisclosed terms. During the quarter, Workday announced AI agents for extracting accounting details from documents and reporting absent days.

As of Thursday’s market close, Workday shares were down about 12% this year, while the Nasdaq is up about 9%.

WATCH: Trade Tracker: Rob Sechan details his latest moves in Workday, NRG Energy, Texas Pacific Land and KLA Corp

Trade Tracker: Rob Sechan details his latest moves in Workday, NRG Energy, Texas Pacific Land and KLA Corp

Continue Reading

Trending