The US/China trade-war has reached new heights. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen the media report on the moves made against Chinese manufacturer Huawei. News reports have discussed developments including Huawei being banned from Google’s Android services, and suspending business activity with the manufacturer to comply with the US Administration ban. This news is going to cause major implications for global smartphone makers and consumers alike across the globe.

Last month, I was invited to the GSMA’s Fraud and Security Group (FASG) event in Chicago. The FASG aims to drive the industry’s management of fraud and security matters, and along with raising awareness, looks to increase the protection of mobile operator technology, customer identity, security and privacy, to ensure that mobile operators remain trusted partners within the telecoms industry.

At the start of 2019, the industry saw OEMs such as Apple attribute declines in revenue and smartphone sales to heating tensions with China, as well as to the broader economic slowdown. Samsung also forecasted a drop-in profits due to declining mobile sales in China and because of “intensified competition”. But it seems that the slowdown in global smartphone sales cannot be solely blamed on China – demand doesn’t seem to be strong in developed markets, either.

Carriers and mobile device retailers aren’t immune to general trends in consumer behavior and customer experience. Like in any other industry, the mobile device industry has to embrace an increasingly digital buyer’s journey. What used to be exclusively a brick-and-mortar process has evolved into an omnichannel experience that spans desktop websites, apps, mobile sites, and more.

By now, no consumer should be tossing their old mobile devices in drawers when it comes time to upgrade. Not only is it an environmental concern, but you’re also leaving significant amounts of money on the table if you neglect trade-in programs.

Every quarter, we analyze the millions of data points we’ve acquired and filtered from the mobile device trade-in market. Our research examines data points about the most-traded devices around the world, the devices with the highest trade-in values, the total amount of money returned to consumers in the United States, the average value of traded devices, and more.

In 2018, the global cost of fraud exceeded $3 trillion. There are countless types of fraud that contribute to these losses, including identity theft, telemarketing scams, insurance fraud, and so many more.

After months of planning and preparation, Mobile World Congress (MWC) now seems like a distant memory. With headlines and column inches over the past few months full of talk of 5G, 5G trials and 5G firsts, it comes as no surprise that the big focus for this year’s show was on the next generation of cellular technology.

The industry is set to welcome the first 5G smartphones into the market this year with most manufacturers planning to launch the new models early in the year. AT&T has announced it will add a Samsung smartphone to its 5G device collection, with Verizon doing the same. We can also expect to see 5G-ready devices from the likes of LG and OnePlus early on in 2019.

2018 was an eventful year for the global smartphone market. We saw the usual flurry of new devices from the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung; we saw rumors and news stories about 5G devices, and we saw players such as Huawei, Xiaomi and OnePlus shake up the market, addressing consumer demands for lower priced devices, with more innovation.