In Q3 2024, Samsung solidified its position as the leader in the global smartphone market, achieving a total of 57.5 million shipments. However, it also recorded a year-on-year decline of 2%, making it the only major player to do so. In contrast, Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo experienced year-on-year growth rates of 9%, 3%, 8%, and 24%, respectively.

This figure contributed to an overall year-on-year growth of 5% in smartphone shipments, reaching nearly 310 million units—the strongest third-quarter performance since 2021. The increase is attributed to aggressive product launches and strong consumer sentiment, which have encouraged upgrades across various market segments.

Samsung led with 57.5 million shipments in the global smartphone market in Q3 2024

According to a report by market research firm Canalys, the growth in smartphone shipments was fueled by refreshed product portfolios from numerous brands. Samsung’s streamlined entry-level lineup played a crucial role in its success, appealing to budget-conscious consumers looking for value without compromising on quality.

Apple follows closely behind, securing second place with record shipments of 54.5 million units, largely driven by the successful launch of the iPhone 16 series. The new models, particularly popular in emerging markets, have benefitted from reduced hardware gaps between the base and Pro versions, enabling Apple to tap into a wider consumer base. Additionally, strategic production optimizations, including significant manufacturing efforts in India, have helped Apple enhance its supply chain and reduce lead times, further stimulating demand.

Xiaomi retains its third-place position with 42.8 million units shipped, maintaining a 14% market share. The company’s strategic inventory management for new launches in core markets has been instrumental in its performance. OPPO and vivo rounded out the top five, with shipments of 28.6 million and 27.2 million units, respectively. Both brands have demonstrated healthy growth in the competitive Asia Pacific region.

Canalys Analyst Le Xuan Chiew highlighted that Apple’s record Q3 shipments stemmed from a blend of channel and supply chain optimizations. As consumers upgrade from older iPhone models, Apple is also experiencing increased shipments of previous-generation iPhones, particularly in India, which has bolstered its market share in the mid-range segment. However, geopolitical challenges and delays in deploying new technologies may hinder Apple’s performance in the upcoming festive quarter and beyond.

OPPO has successfully launched products within the $100-$200 price segment

Canalys Senior Analyst Toby Zhu highlighted the intense competition in the low-end smartphone market, which persists despite earlier strong consumer demand.

Brands like OPPO have successfully launched products within the $100-$200 price segment, particularly in Southeast Asia, witnessing significant growth. However, rising component costs and channel saturation pose challenges to sustaining profitability.

Looking ahead, Canalys remains cautiously optimistic about the smartphone market. With emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, outperforming others, vendors are refining their inventory strategies and brand positioning to drive growth into 2025.

Nintendo has launched its own music streaming service that caters to fans of its games, including Mario and Animal Crossing. Fans will be able to listen to their favorite game tracks on their phones through the new Nintendo Music app, which has a user interface that pretty much looks like Spotify. The tracks are organized by game, so people can play the whole OST for specific titles if they want, but they can also listen to character playlists like a selection of songs performed by Animal Crossing’s K.K. Slider.

If they’re in the mood for certain songs, they can hit up one of the pre-made themed playlists, which put together tracks for themes like “boss battle” and “victory.” The app offers mood playlists, as well, that groups tracks with similar vibes, such as soft, relaxing songs for bedtime listening. One feature that’s probably unique to the service is spoiler prevention. If the listener adds a certain game to the setting, the app will hide the soundtracks that could give away a surprise ending or an unexpected final boss, among other potential spoilers. They can also extend a single track and keep it playing on repeat for up to an hour if that’s all they want to listen to.

Fans can access the new Nintendo Music service with a Switch Online membership, though they can start listening to game tracks even if they’re still on free trial. Every member on a Switch Online Family membership can also access it, so they don’t need to pay for an individual subscription.

Welcome to the third and final day of TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 at Moscone West in San Francisco! The excitement here is still in full swing, and there’s no slowing down. 

If you thought it was too late to join, think again—there’s still time to register and be part of the action.

Today brings some of the most anticipated stage sessions, with insights from trailblazers like Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and founder and CEO of Automattic; former NFL quarterback and Lumi CEO Colin Kaepernick; Perplexity co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas, and others. Plus, we’ll soon see who emerges victorious in Startup Battlefield 200. Don’t miss your chance to explore groundbreaking innovations from our exhibiting startups in the Expo Hall, gain invaluable knowledge from industry leaders in hands-on sessions, and make meaningful connections.

Get ready for an action-packed day — here’s what’s in store for day 3 of Disrupt 2024.

Check-in

Grab your scannable badge at the Registration Desk anytime from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Don’t forget your ticket and government-issued photo ID. The name on your badge/ticket must match the name on your ID. You cannot pick up a badge for another attendee.

Badge return for a chance to win!

Return your badge at the end of Disrupt and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win a free ticket to Disrupt 2025. Only 5 out of the 10,000+ attendees will win.

Stage Sessions

We’re ending Disrupt 2024 on a high note with more industry heavyweights taking the stage. Visit the full agenda for timing and session info.

Disrupt Stage

Matt Mullenweg: The Future of WordPress and the Web: Matt Mullenweg, Co-Founder, WordPress, and Founder and CEO, Automattic

Startup Battlefield Alumi Update: Robhy Bustami, BioticsAI (2023 winner); Sheeba Dawood, Minerva Lithium (2022 winner); and Aaron Hall, Intropic Materials (2022 runner-up)

Startup Battlefield 200: Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner, Mayfield Fund; Chris Farmer, CEO, Partner and Co-Founder, SignalFire; Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Construct Capital; Ann Miura-Ko, Co-Founding Partner, Floodgate; and Hans Tung, Managing Partner, Notable Capital

From Search Engines to Knowledge Engines: Perplexity’s Rush Toward an AI-Curated Web: Aravind Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO, Perplexity

Colin Kaepernick Helps Creators Own Their Story: Colin Kaepernick, Founder, Lumi, and Super Bowl Quarterback 

Builders Stage

How to Raise in 2025 if You’ve Taken a Flat, Down, or Extension Round: Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Co-Founder and General Partner, Footwork; Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and General Partner, Construct Capital; and Elliott Robinson, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

How to Build Tech That Wins Over Customers: Wassym Bensaid, Chief Software Officer, Rivian

How to Pick a Unicorn: Wesley Chan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, FPV Ventures

Making Something of Nothing: Carl Pei, CEO and Founder, Nothing

Free but Not Cheap, the Open-Source Dilemma: Bogomil Balkansky, Partner, Sequoia Capital; Aeva Black, Section Chief, Open Source Security, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; and Luis Villa, Co-Founder and General Counsel, Tidelift

When to Cash Out, When to Keep Fighting: Naveen Rao, Vice President, Generative AI, Databricks; Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, Head of Data Clean Rooms, Snowflake; and Dharmesh Thakker, General Partner, Battery Ventures

AI Stage

How Generative AI Is Flooding the Web with Disinformation: Imran Ahmed, CEO, CCDH; Brandie Nonnecke, Director of the CITRIS Policy Lab, CITRIS UC; and Pamela San Martín, Co-Chair, Oversight Board

Speeding Ahead: Lessons for the GenAI Evolution: Kirsty Roth, COO, Thomson Reuters

The Advantages of “Open” AI: Ali Farhadi, CEO, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence; and Irene Solaiman, Head of Global Policy, Hugging Face

The AI Clouds Race: What’s Behind the Scenes: Roman Chernin, Co-Founder and CBO, Nebius AI

AI on Wheels with Zoox: Jesse Levinson, Co-Founder and CTO, Zoox

Navigating AI’s Legal and Ethical Minefield: Sarah Myers West, Executive Director, AI Now Institute; Aleksandra Pedraszewska, AI Safety, ElevenLabs; and Jingna Zhang, Founder and CEO, Cara

What Does AI Governance Look Like Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond?: Elizabeth Kelly, Director, U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute; Scott Wiener, California Senator; and Jessica Newman, Director of CLTC’s AI Security Initiative, UC Berkeley

Architecting the Future: Building Hardware for an AI-Native World: Carl Pei, CEO and Founder, Nothing; Jerry Yue, Founder and CEO, Brain.ai; Mark Solomon, Co-Founder, Stealth Startup; and Lee Ott, VP of AI Products, HP

The Future of AI’s Data Infrastructure: Unlocking the Power of GenAI with MongoDB and Capgemini: Will Shulman, VP of Product, MongoDB; and Steve Jones, EVP, Collaborative Data Ecosystems and Capgemini

But Is It Art? Generative AI’s Evolving Role in Music and Video Production: Amit Jain, CEO, Luma AI; Michael Shulman, Co-Founder and CEO, Suno; and Kakul Srivastava, CEO, Splice

Startup Battlefield 200

At last, the day has arrived to crown the winner of Startup Battlefield 200! The last group of the top 20 startups, meticulously selected and tirelessly rehearsed, are set to present on the Disrupt Stage. They’ll face an esteemed panel of VCs to compete for the coveted $100,000 equity-free prize and the Disrupt Cup. As they pitch, judges will offer key insights into what it takes to build a sustainable and successful startup.

Interactive, deep-dive sessions

Dive into interactive sessions addressing today’s biggest tech challenges. Check the full agenda for session times and details.

Roundtable Sessions

Take part in these 30-minute collaborative Roundtables, but don’t forget to pre-register on the event app. Keep in mind that Expo+ Passes do not grant access to these sessions.

AI Innovation, Product-Market-Fit, and GTM Best Practices in Startups: Aishwarya Srinivasan

Evolution of a Consumer AI Startup: Angela Du, SoftBank Investment Advisers

Building Hybrid Teams of Tomorrow (encore): Haseeb Khan, Tkxel

Refining Pre- and Post-training Data Strategy for LLM Success (encore): Ian McDiarmid, Siddharth Mall, Kaushik PS, TELUS Digital

Visionary Companies Embrace Innovation to Thrive in the Fast-Paced Economy (encore): Meredith Roemer and Patrick Maroney, SAP America, Inc.

From Experimental to Essential: Achieving Reliability with AI Agents in Mission-Critical Tasks (encore): Mike Carter, Vooma AI

Breakout Sessions

Engage in a dynamic 50-minute Q&A panel. Seats are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. All ticket types are welcome.

How to Stand Out Amongst the AI Wave: Strategies for Success in Enterprise Sales: Rudina Seseri, Glasswing Ventures and Marc Boroditsky, Cloudflare

Building AI Agents — for Product Leaders & Founders: Marily Nika, Google

Safety, Trust, and Profit: Anticipating Misuse to Build Safer Products and Attract Investment: Megs Shah, The Parasol Cooperative; Chad Sniffen, National Network to End Domestic Violence; and Sahab Aslam, Sukun Ventures

Stablecoins: The Future of Fintech: Nik Milanović, The Fintech Fund; Cuy Sheffield, Visa; and Ben Milne, Brale.

Expo Hall

The bustling Expo Hall brings together attendees and global startups, creating a hub of innovation and discovery. Meet pioneering minds and see what’s next in tech. Doors open at 8:00 a.m.

Pitch Showcase Stage 

Head over to the Expo Hall to catch some of our exhibiting startups as they present their pitches.

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Fast Pitches, Sustainability, Mobility + Logistics

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Fast Pitches, SaaS, Enterprise+ Productivity

1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Fast Pitches, SaaS, Enterprise+ Productivity

Forge meaningful connections

Alongside casual interactions with other Disrupt attendees, take your networking to the next level with the Braindate app. Explore or initiate topics for more in-depth discussions. Visit the Networking Lounge powered by Braindate on level 2 for in-person meetings in 1:1 or small-group settings any time from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Exclusive for Investors and Founders

Founder & Investor Breakfast

This invite-only reception is where investors and founders will enjoy their breakfast with each other at Disrupt to discuss what it takes to scale groundbreaking ideas from seed to unicorn, along with actionable insights and growth strategies.

Mix and mingle with founders and investors over coffee

After the Founder & Investor Breakfast, Investor and Founder Pass holders are welcome to enjoy their morning coffee with their peers at the Deal Flow Cafe. Opens at 10:00 a.m.

Pre- and after-hours events

Disrupt AI meetup

Network with fellow AI professionals and attendees at an AI meetup, sponsored by Google Cloud and VioletX, as we wrap up our last day of Disrupt. Present your TechCrunch Disrupt badge at check-in for entry. Must be 21+ to attend. Check the Disrupt app agenda for venue information.

Side Events

More than 60 company-hosted Side Events are set to happen throughout San Francisco this week, extending the Disrupt excitement. Here’s what’s happening today. For times and more details, head to the Side Events page.

Palo Alto AI X Web3 Summit: Hosted by CTH Group

Memo to the Mayor — Civic Innovation Lab Powered by GenAI: Hosted by NTT

Creative Tech for Future Products: Panel & Happy Hour: Hosted by JETRO, in collaboration with Japan Innovation Campus, AlchemistX, and Digital Garage

Construction Tech Happy Hour: Hosted by Brick & Mortar Ventures

City of Ulsan Innovators Night: Meet & Connect: Hosted by SID Partners US

Happy Hour with Women Founders Bay!: Hosted by Women Founders Bay

Dnipro VC AI Summit: Hosted by Dnipro VC AI Summit

Founder Friends SF: Hosted by Hustle Fund

Embarkr Launch Party: Hosted by Embarkr

Last chance to experience Disrupt 2024

The energy at Disrupt 2024 is still buzzing! Startups are pitching their innovations, attendees are deep in networking, and industry giants continue to share their game-changing insights onstage. Don’t miss out — this is your last chance before it’s gone for a whole year. Register here or stop by the Registration Desk at Moscone West for your ticket.

The new iPad Mini has arrived, bringing with it a faster A17 Pro chip, 8GB of RAM, support for the Apple Pencil Pro, and a taste of Apple Intelligence. However, unless you’re dead set on the tablet’s 8.3-inch form factor, the latest iPad Air is a better buy — especially since the 11-inch configuration is on sale at Amazon and Target with Wi-Fi and 128GB of storage starting at $498 ($101 off), an all-time low.

If you’re having trouble choosing between Apple’s entry-level iPad and an M4-powered iPad Pro, the 2024 iPad Air represents the middle ground. It’s a good-step option from the base iPad with USB-C charging, support for both the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and newer Apple Pencil Pro, and a laminated Liquid Retina display. The latter isn’t as nice as the 120Hz OLED screen found on Apple’s premium iPads, though, and the Air is still beholden to the same aging Touch ID sensor for logging in as previous models, as opposed to Face ID. Thankfully, it does sport a 12MP landscape-oriented webcam — a welcome tweak from the prior model — and a speedy M2 chip, which allows it to leverage AI-powered writing tools, a new and (slightly) improved Siri, and a slew of minor Apple Intelligence features found in iPadOS 18.1.

Admittedly, none of the AI features currently in beta are revolutionary — ChatGPT integration won’t arrive until December, and some most promising tools won’t arrive until 2025 — but at least you’ll have a futureproof iPad for whatever Apple ships in the coming months.

OpenAI has just announced ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode is now available for the Mac and PC versions of its chatbot, in addition to the mobile versions.

The update was revealed with the phrase “Big day for desktops” in a tweet on X.com. While the Mac version of the ChatGPT app has been out for a while now, the Windows version only just launched. Until now, however, Advanced Voice mode wasn’t available as it currently does not work in the browser-based version of ChatGPT.

A similar experience to mobile

A change to the US government’s system for processing the census could improve the accuracy of publicly disclosed data – without compromising the privacy of individual citizens and residents.

The government relies on national census data – gathered every 10 years by the US Census Bureau – to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding to states and local communities. Such data also plays a key political role by helping states draw Congressional district boundaries and determining how many seats in the House of Representatives go…