According to ABI Research, it's An Open and Shut Case -- "When the US Congressional Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual property invited testimony from four industry experts, they were considering nothing less than the future of digital rights management in the United States. At issue are proprietary versus open digital rights management (DRM) technologies, and whether governments should get involved. Advocates say that open DRM standards would help the portable industry. Most industry leaders are adopting a government hands off attitude, but ABI believes that other attempts at proprietary DRM schemes probably wouldn't succeed. Apple was the first to offer such a service and the content industry didn't care if their DRM was proprietary. But DRM becomes critical once video, and sharing between STBs and portable devices, become a reality."
The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...