Samsung’s decade-plus reign as the king of the smartphone market is over.“The last time a company not named Samsung was at the top of the smartphone market was 2010, and for 2023 it is now Apple,” research group IDC said Monday (Jan. 15) in its annual report on the mobile phone market.“A sort of shifting of power at the top of the largest consumer electronics market was driven by an all-time high market share for Apple and a first time at the top.”This is happening as smartphone shipments reached their lowe ...

With the looming merger between Kroger and Albertsons set to make it all the harder for smaller grocery chains to stand a fighting chance, delays due to ongoing pushback are giving those retailers more time to find their footing.The two grocery giants, along with divestiture buyer C&S Wholesale Grocers, announced Monday (Jan. 15) that the merger will close later than the initially anticipated timing of early this year, with the transaction instead expected to be finalized in the first half of Kroger’s fisca ...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he has no problem with partner OpenAI’s governing makeup.His comments, as reported Tuesday (Jan. 15) by Reuters, came two months after the artificial intelligence (AI) startup briefly fired CEO Sam Altman.“I’m comfortable. I have no issues with any structure,” Nadella said at a Bloomberg News event at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.Altman’s ouster only lasted a few days, but it led to a crisis at the startup, with workers leaving in droves fo ...

For Goldman Sachs, the narrowing of focus continues.And in the latest earnings report, released Tuesday (Jan. 16), the Wall Street firm detailed its progress toward jettisoning some of its credit card operations, selling GreenSky and moving away from its once-lofty Main Street banking ambitions.Supplemental materials released in tandem with earnings showed its provision for credit losses in the most recent quarter at $399 million in the Consumer Platforms division, which houses the card operations and trans ...

TreviPay has partnered with Mastercard to add a Universal Acceptance solution to its B2B payments and invoicing network.This solution aims to expand supplier access to TreviPay’s payments and invoicing technology, allowing them to offer net terms or trade credit financing, as well as SKU-level invoicing, to business buyers, the companies said in a Tuesday (Jan. 16) press release.The Universal Acceptance solution is designed to solve three of the top pain points for global business buyers: inefficient proces ...

Apple has reportedly made a strategic move to avoid a U.S. ban on some of its smartwatches.Facing a ban resulting from a patent dispute with global medical technology firm Masimo, Apple has decided to remove a blood oxygen feature from its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches, Bloomberg reported Monday (Jan. 15), citing a disclosure by Masimo.Apple did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.The U.S. Customs and Border Protection approved this change on Friday (Jan. 12), stating that the redesigne ...

Microsoft introduced a premium subscription that adds capabilities to its artificial intelligence companion, Copilot.The new Copilot Pro subscription caters to users who want faster access to advanced features and offers a seamless AI experience across devices, the company said in a Monday (Jan. 15) blog post.Additionally, Copilot Pro provides access to Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers, the post said.Subscrib ...

As restaurant brands turn to rewards partnerships to reach new audiences, Chipotle is seeing its efforts in the space keep its products top-of-mind for more consumers.  In an interview with PYMNTS, Stephanie Perdue, vice president of brand marketing at the fast-casual brand, explained that the restaurant’s recent partnership with fitness app Strava, which includes exclusive offers for rewards program members, is driving digital adoption among consumers focused on health in the New Year.“We always aim to be ...

FedEx will roll out an eCommerce platform in the fall.The new fdx platform will help eCommerce merchants optimize demand, conversion, fulfillment, carbon footprint, visibility, post-purchase and returns, the logistics company said in a Sunday (Jan. 14) press release.“FedEx is transforming into a digitally-led business powered by our extensive physical transportation network, leveraging our scale and insights from moving 15 million packages per day,” FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam said in the releas ...

Google has removed several cryptocurrency platforms from its Indian Play store.The removal, as reported Saturday (Jan. 13) by TechCrunch, involves crypto giants including Binance and Kraken, and follows a similar move last week by Apple. The move comes amid a crackdown on digital asset companies by the Indian government. Late last month, the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit India announced it was planning to block the URLs of nine offshore virtual digital asset service providers, saying these companies ...