Little-known Facts About the Mobile Phone Industry

Beyond the latest models and increasingly impressive phone specifications, what more is there to the gadget that has captured the imagination of people around the world? AG reveals interesting nuggets about the mobile industry.

Weirdest app ever created

For sure this is not the only strange app in the market but it sure is one of the strangest. Debuting in the App Store on August 5, 2008, the I Am Rich apps only function is to remind a user how rich he is. Priced at USD999.99, the app displays a red jewel on a users screen, which shows I am rich. I deserv [sic] it. I am good, healthy & successful. when tapped on. Eight people reportedly downloaded it, but Apple removed it from its store the day after its release and two of these users asked for it to be restored. Despite the flak it drew, German developer Armin Heinrich defended it as art and released I Am Rich LE. The newer version, with a friendlier price of USD9.99, comes with a calculator and, of course, the infamous reminder without the spelling mistake.

Mobile phones from big brands use screens from China

Besides supplying touchscreens to brands like Nokia, LG, Microsoft and Tesla, Hunan-based Lens Technology is also a major supplier of glass and crystal sapphire screens to Samsung and Apple. Founded by Zhou Qunfei, the worlds richest self-made woman, the company employs around 90,000 people and has more than 30 factories producing a billion screens.

Apple wins in legal battle with Samsung

The two technology giants were embroiled in a seven-year-long legal battle over the infringement of a number of design and utility patents by Samsung. The court initially ordered Samsung to pay USD1 billion to Apple but after a series of appeals and retrials, the sum was reduced to USD539 million. The companies eventually reached a settlement but the amount of damages was undisclosed.

A first for Chinas largest mobile phone producer

In the second quarter of 2018,

Huawei surpassed Apple for the first time, becoming second in global smartphone shipments, just behind South Koreas Samsung. The Chinese brand shipped 54.2 million phones in this period, 41 per cent more than the previous year.

2,617 iPad should have been the elder brother of iPhone

Steve Jobs said Apple had begun developing the iPad, announced on January 27, 2010, before the iPhone, released on June 29, 2007. Jobs reportedly shared with his team an idea of having a glass multi-touch display one could type on. Six months later, they produced an amazing display that enabled scrolling and some other functions. Jobs realised the greater potential in building a phone based around a touchscreen, and the team shelved development of the tablet to work on what would become the iPhone, Apples most lucrative product.

In China, you can have a mobile phone custom made

You can customise a mobile phone according to your needs at the phone manufacturers in Shenzhen that tap into the regions smartphone supply chain. Some of these phones are available online for less than

USD100. One mini cellphone that resembles a Porsche key apparently goes for roughly USD10 if you buy thousands of them!

Operating systems (OS) on mobile

In March 2017, Googles mobile operating system,

Android, surpassed Microsofts famous desktop operating system, Windows, as the most popular online OS. Google has Asia to thank for its heady rise: According to 2017 figures, more than 50% of Web traffic used Android in Asia, compared to around 20% in North America and Europe.

For years, the dominant mobile OS was Symbian, most notably used by Nokia, but Android overtook it as far back as 2011.

Nokia developed iPhone-like phones years before Apple did

A former Nokia marketing manager reportedly disclosed that the firm aborted the production of an Internet-enabled prototype phone with a large display and touchscreen due to the high cost of production and the uncertainty over its potential. While unconfirmed, the phone in question could be the 7700, which was anounced in late 2003 but never released. The predecessor to Nokias first official touchscreen mobile phone (7710) weighed a mere 183g and was the brands first pen-based device. Besides a five-way directional controller, virtual keyboard, organiser and a document viewer, the 7700 was also capable of taking photos, recording video and playing audio and video.

Mobile Frenemies

Samsung and Apple, the two brands that made headlines for their high-profile legal dispute decided to collaborate in 2016. Though the terms of the deal were confidential, the Korean brand provided some 100 million OLED panels, with an estimated value of USD2.59 billion, for the production of iPhone X

Apples first to have an OLED screen released in 2017.

The worlds most expensive phone

With prices starting from SGD20,000, the Vertu Signature launched in 2008 is likely the most expensive non-customised phone one could purchase. The basic model features black leather, stainless steel, a ruby button and mediocre specifications while its pricier siblings have sapphire-topped keys, mother-of-pearl inlays and 18-carat gold details. The exorbitant price tag included an 18-month access to a worldwide personal concierge service. Vertu declared bankrupt in 2017 with a GBP128 million debt. The brands cheapest mid-range model, Aster, costs at least

SGD9000.