dominates

Snapchat invented the format that dominates the Internet. 15 years later it is still unable to make it profitable

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Evan Spiegel this week sent a memo to your employees announcing that Snap is going to lay off about 1,000 people16% of the entire workforce, in addition to canceling 300 vacant positions that had yet to be filled. Snap thus hopes to save more than $500 million in annualized costs starting in the second half of this year, although the cut is expensive in the short term, since it will have to pay between $95 and $130 million in compensation. Nevertheless, the stock rose 7% in response to the layoffs. The markets have been asking for them for a long time. Why is it important. Snap’s is not a “normal” failure story. It’s much more interesting than that. It’s the story of a company that forever changed how we communicate online and yet has failed to build a profitable business on it. In 2025 it lost 460 million dollars, although it is true that in 2024 it lost more and in 2023 even more. He has spent his 15 years of life in that dynamic. It still hasn’t closed a single complete year on a positive note. The context. His paradox begins in 2013, when he launched Stories: photos and videos that lasted 24 hours, published before disappearing. A format that is common today but at that time groundbreaking. A format that freed people from the pressure of permanence, of the trail. In August 2016, Instagram launched exactly the same thing, with the same name, and with much bigger muscle behind it. Within two months, Instagram had 100 million Stories users. It had taken Snapchat four years to reach that number. A year later it had already surpassed Snapchat. Yes, but. The problem was not that they were copied. The problem was that Meta, TikTok and YouTube adopted the format with an advantage that Snap never had: data. Meta and Google know who we are, what we buy, what interests us. Snap knows much less. That’s why their advertising converts worse, and advertisers pay less for it. A vicious circle. The coup de grace was Transparency Tracking AppApple’s privacy policy released in 2021, which sank tracking-based advertising models. Meta also sufferedbut Meta had the scale and ecosystem to absorb the impact. Not Snap, so its stock went from touching $83 to trading today around $6. A drop of more than 90% from its highs, in less than five years. However, Snap has 946 million active monthly users, grows 12% in year-over-year revenue and has one of the youngest audiences on all platforms. The most coveted demographic for fashion and entertainment brands. It has cutting-edge augmented reality technology and also has Snapchat+, your paid subscription, which is growing well. That is the contradiction that a thousand layoffs do not resolve: Cutting costs improves margins, but alone does not truly monetize a platform with almost a billion users when its audience is young and difficult to convert, and its competitors have ten times more resources. There is also an activist fund in the capital, Irenic Capital Management with 2.5%, which has been pushing for months exactly in this direction: cuts. And now what. Spiegel speaks at memo to concentrate investments where monetization already works. That is, give up on markets that are difficult to grow and profitable (Spain has every chance to be one of them) and focus on more powerful ones, presumably in the style of the United States or the United Kingdom. Give up growth in search of sustainability. Snap has been trying to solve an equation that others have solved at their expense for 15 years. These layoffs are bought time to keep trying. Featured image | Shutter Speed In Xataka | Snapchat introduced its own version of ChatGPT in its app. Nothing has gone, nothing good

China already dominates the screen market. The US and Japan have decided to draw up a plan to stop their advance

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China currently accounts for almost 60% of the LCD panel market which are used in the manufacture of monitors, televisions and other display devices. The growth of Chinese companies BOE and TCL has caused South Korean panel manufacturers, such as LG Display or Samsung Display, gradually abandon LCD technology to dedicate their resources to other, more profitable innovations, like OLED technology. South Korea produces most of the organic matrices (OLED) that we can find in our televisions and mobile phones, among other devices, but China’s market share in this segment does not stop growing. In fact, It is already close to 40% in OLED panels for smartphones, and presumably little by little it will also grow in the segment of large-format OLED matrices for televisions and monitors. However, South Korea is not the only country that is suffering from China’s monumental onslaught. Japan, Taiwan and the US also fear that their display device manufacturers will end up in the hands of Chinese suppliers, something that is essentially already happening to a large extent if we stick to LCD technology. This dependency also acquires a critical nature in the field of screens used in military systems. Japan Display will be the great beneficiary of the very probable agreement between the US and Japan During the 80s, 90s and the first decade of the 2000s, Japan led the screen market with its cathode ray tube televisions, and later with its first LCD and plasma panels. However, in the early 2000s, Japanese companies made a strategic mistake: they bet everything on plasma technology because they believed that it would end up taking over LCD technology. South Korea, however, opted for the production of these latest matrices, and finally Samsung and LG won this war. The state-of-the-art plant that Japan Display plans to build in the US will cost about $13 billion Japan paid a very high price for this strategic mistake: it lost a large part of its share in the market for the production of panels for display devices. Twenty years later, the US and Japanese governments are determined to amend it to compete with the solutions coming from China. And they plan to do it by investing, according to Reutersa package of 550 billion dollars coming from Japanese funds. Some of this money will presumably be used to build a state-of-the-art display manufacturing plant in the US. It will cost about $13 billion and will be managed by Japan Display, a consortium created in 2012 as the result of the merger of the panel production divisions of Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba. This plan seeks to limit the dependence that American and Japanese manufacturers have on matrices from China, especially in the field of technology militaryrbut they are not going to have it easy. And it is that the consulting firm Counterpoint Research It predicts that China will expand its share of the display market to reach 75% in 2028. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Reuters In Xataka | LG and Samsung have a new pact that no one expected, according to Reuters. One who wants to shake up the television market In Xataka | China is devouring the television market. So much so that Panasonic is considering abandoning it

attack the trident that dominates the market

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One more day, new bad news related to the RAM memory crisis. If you were expecting a Steam Machinenow you can expect it to be more expensive. The rise of AI is causing a component crisis that has no clear end. The SSDs have gone up in price a lot and have 32 GB of RAM on your PC It is the new “I have land.” All Big Tech needs more and, in the absence of it, Intel has chosen to get into it like an elephant in a china shop. Hand in hand with SoftBank to create its own memory chips for data centers and, in the process, take a bite out of the South Korean industry that controls the scene. No end in sight. Intel has been covered several times in recent days. Like a phoenix, it seems that the crisis is behind us and, after years of promises, realities begin. They are ready to start producing its new generation of processors, but also its CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, has commented that They will start producing GPUs for data centers. With that they want to take a bite of the cake that NVIDIA is eating almost alone, but also, the executive let a more bitter pill: “there is no relief in sight for the end of the AMR crisis.” So it points out that does not see a horizon for this price escalation before 2028, and it makes sense if we take into account recent forecasts or possible ‘strange’ movements by some companies. Intel 🤝 SoftBank. Market estimates such as those of TrendForce They point to a memory price increase of between 90 and 95% quarter-on-quarter in this first quarter of the year, but it is not the only thing: SSDs will also rise between 55 and 60% due to one of their components, NAND memory. It is a bad time to build a PC, although companies are moving to open RAM factories, but not for you: for the AI. And here Intel, as we already saidhe doesn’t want to be left behind. A few months ago, Intel partnered with Japan’s SoftBank to find a replacement for HBM memory for data centers. Fix a problem. HBM memory (high bandwidth memory) is ideal for data centers. They allow a large amount of data to be temporarily stored, and they do so at high speed. The problem is that they get very hot and are complex to manufacture. It is one of the key components of GPUs and requires both large amounts of power and optimal heat dissipation. What Intel and SoftBank are looking for is to create an alternative based on stacked DRAM chips. They are not that optimal, but the idea is to find a way to wire them as efficiently as possible so that they are a threat to the HBM memory monopoly. “Monopoly“The idea is to have a prototype in the short term with the aim of starting to market it by 2030. We will see if AI fever lasts so long. But anyway, if the experiment goes well, it could be a significant blow to the South Korean companies Samsung and SK Hynix, as well as the American company. Micron. They are the three companies that they practically control the market for both RAM like HBM chips. And something as important as it is symbolic: it will be the first time that Japan aspires to return to the throne of memory chip manufacturers that it ruled in the 80s and that it lost to South Korea. Although be careful: Samsung is also investigating these stacked DRAM memories. NVIDIA and its demands. In the end, they are all moving. The big producers have already detailed its roadmap for the development of RAM for the next five years. And the whales that are taking over the product -NVIDIA-, are ‘encouraging’ the production companies let’s get the batteries. Without going any further, a few days ago Jensen Huang, boss of NVIDIA, met with representatives of the Taiwanese industry (TSMC, Asus or Foxconn) and told them that this year he needed a lot of memory and a lot of wafers. Also I know it has told Samsung. As we said in the first lines, if you were hoping for a quick solution to the crisis or wanted to build a PC, the news is not good. And all the movements that we are seeing in the industry to expand production and find solutions point to the same direction: continue powering data centers. Images | Intel In Xataka | TSMC’s only problem was that it was in Taiwan. So the United States has decided to get her out of there

China dominates technological industries invented by the West

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iRobot, pioneer of domestic robotics and creator of the Roomba, has gone bankrupt and ends up in the hands of Piceaa Chinese manufacturer. It is not an isolated case but rather the symbol of a devastating trend in which Western companies develop technologies for decades and China ends up appropriating entire industries. iRobot was founded in 1990 by three MIT researchers. It launched the first Roomba in 2002 and sold 50 million units. For two decades it dominated the robot vacuum cleaner market. In 2021 it was worth $3.5 billion. Today it is worth 140 million25 times less. Picea cancels its 264 million debt and keeps everything. Why is it important. It’s not just about vacuum cleaners. Chinese manufacturers – Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame, Xiaomi – already control almost 80% of the global robot vacuum cleaner market. With Picea purchasing iRobot, that figure is close to 95%. China not only manufactures cheaper: it now owns Western innovation that it previously only copied. The pattern repeats: Volvo has been Chinese since 2010. Motorola too. Segway, the scooter that was going to revolutionize urban mobility, ended up in the hands of Ninebot. Lenovo bought IBM PC. Haier took over GE Appliances. Geely owns Lotus. Western brands survive, but only as shells with Asian engineering inside. Between the lines. Europe blocked Amazon’s purchase of iRobot in 2024 for fear that it would dominate the smart home. The result: the company was not independent, but ended up owned by its own Chinese manufacturer and creditor. European “protection of competition” resulted in iRobot falling into the hands of its foreign rivals. iRobot outsourced its production to Vietnam to avoid Chinese tariffs, but Trump’s 46% tariffs on Vietnam cost it an extra $23 million in 2025. Meanwhile, Picea was simultaneously its manufacturer, its major creditor, and its indirect competitor. It didn’t even take a hostile takeover: just financial patience. He waited for iRobot will drown in debt and collected the remains. The invisible cost of innovation. iRobot invested decades in R&D: military robotics, space robotics, domestic autonomous navigation… That research is expensive, slow and risky. Chinese manufacturers have not had to pay that cost. They just had to wait for the technology to mature, copy what worked, and improve execution. The asymmetry is total. The West imposes antitrust restrictions on itself that slow domestic consolidations while Chinese companies operate with extensive state support, protected access to a domestic market of 1.4 billion consumers and regulatory scrutiny that cannot even be compared. Europe has recently blocked other similar operations, such as that of Adobe and Figma either that of Broadcom and Qualcomm. Yes, but. It is not about approving any acquisition without scrutiny, but about recognizing that blocking the purchase of Amazon has led to an objectively worse result: pioneering American technology that ends up in Chinese property. If you are truly concerned about Chinese companies dominating strategic sectors, this was a blunder with predictable consequences. Western governments constantly talk about technological sovereignty and their willingness not to depend on China. But concrete actions are producing the opposite effect. Ultimately, the only thing the West loses is not its industry, it is ownership of its technological innovation. In Xataka | The largest food chain in the world is Chinese, surpasses McDonald’s and is unknown in Europe: Mixue Featured image | Onur Binay

Openai not only dominates in ia. Now the App Store in the United States with Sora and Chatgpt is also “eating”

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Getting to the podium of the most popular free applications of the App Store is the dream of any developer. It is not just about adding downloads: it means achieving a massive user base and enviable visibility. For many, the reasoning is automatic: “If this app has come here, something must have.” In that scenario, Openai is marking a milestone. The company of Sam Altman barely has two applications and both They occupy the highest positions of the ranking in the United States. It is a direct reflection of the interest that arouses among users and the influence that the firm has acquired in a matter of months. A surprise launch. On Tuesday, after announcing with just a couple of hours in advance, an event, Openai presented a new version of its video generator. But the real surprise came later: An application with a spirit of Tiktoklaunched at the moment in the United States and Canada under invitation. A brilliant rise. Although its access was limited, the app began to add downloads quickly. In just one day it reached 56,000 facilities, According to Appfiguresand this Friday had already become the most unloaded application in the country. An immediate irruption reminiscent of the viral phenomena of other times. The success of Sora by OpenAi It soon reflected in Apple’s official data. The app has reached the first place of the section “Top Charts”surpassing a GeminiGoogle’s chatbot, already Chatgptthe other application of Openai itself. Besides, it also dominates The photo and video category. Much more than download. Being up in the App Store does not depend only on the volume of facilities. Specialists in the field They point out that Apple uses an algorithm that, in addition to downloads, values ​​the retention of users, reviews, the stability of the app and other decisive factors. The details of the algorithm, however, are unknown. The viral factor. Sora’s proposal has met expectations: becoming a viral content factory. Its dynamics encourages users to star in their own memes and share them in a social environment That, in turn, multiplies its reach. The result is an addictive experience that is gaining ground at high speed. OpenAI in front of the usual giants. Today, the place that once occupied WhatsApp, Facebook or Messenger is claimed by OpenAi applications. In the United States general list, the first finish applies appears in the fourth position with Threadsand it is not until the 13th place that we find WhatsApp. What we are seeing is an OpenAi settlement in the digital life of millions of people. The company not only marks the step in artificial intelligence: it is also conquering one of the most influential platforms in the world, the App Store. Images | Screen capture In Xataka | Openai is demonstrating to be able to overcome the goal in virality. His mission was not supposed to be that

China increasingly dominates technology on earth. There is a place where they are still far from Occiden

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A recent report The New York Times He has evidenced the Chinese difficulty to compete with Spacex in the deployment of communications satellites. While Musk’s company already accumulates 8,000 Starlink satellitesthe two main Chinese networks just add 120 units in orbit. Why is it important. Low orbit satellites are strategic for autonomous cars, war with drones and military surveillance. China considers Starlink a direct threat and has planned two megaconstellations with 27,000 satellites between them. Qianfan, the constellation of low orbit satellites developed by China, anticipated having 650 operating satellites at the end of the year. Shanghai Spacesail Technologies, the company after the project, has only managed to put 90 in orbit since August. Guowang, an alternative born in 2020, is even worse: 34 satellites of the 13,000 planned for the next decade. The context. The Popular Chinese Liberation Army See Starlink as something “deeply integrated into the US military combat system”. It is not empty paranoia: this network is essential to coordinate drones in Ukraine and Spacex has government contracts for spying and missile monitoring. The background. China has not solved the key problem that Spacex solved years ago: reusable rockets. Chinese companies continue to wear single -use pitchers, which multiplies costs and reduces the frequency of launches. The Falcon 9 can reuse its first stage up to 20 times, greatly reducing the costs. After five hundred missionsit is still the reference. Chinese candidates –Long March 8R, Zhuque-3, Tianlong-3– accumulate failures and delays. Yes, but. China is negotiating Contracts with 30 countries to access Qianfan. He has already signed agreements in Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, taking advantage of certain misgivings towards American technology dependence. The rhythm of Chinese launches accelerates: more than thirty missions in the first half, putting 150 satellites in orbit. But they need to multiply by five or six the rhythm to fulfill their international radio frequency commitments. In addition, there are some counterparts to your proposal: The decisive moment. Chinese megaconstellations must launch half of their satellites in five years after obtaining the frequencies, completing the deployment in seven. Not fulfilling could force them to reduce the size of the networks. Main loser? China dominates manufacturing, batteries, solar panels and traditional (non -advanced) semiconductors. But in sectors that require maximum risk assumption – Biotechnology, the space – the United States maintains a decisive advantage. Getting smaller in some scenarios, but maintains it. The business mentality that rewards rapid and cheap failures against guaranteed successes makes the difference between Spacex and its Chinese rivals. Outstanding image | Spacex In Xataka | What types of satellites exist: guide not to get lost in a gigantic network of which we are increasingly dependent

China dominates the hardware market for cryptocurrency. Now you will do it from the US

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The US is a critical market for Chinese criptodiviss mining hardware manufacturers. In fact, it is The most important on the planet. And it is for several reasons. The most obvious is that the country led by Donald Trump brings together a good part of the operators that They are dedicated to cryptocurrency because it offers them the ideal conditions to carry out this activity. Many of them have been installed in Texas, North Dakota, Georgia and other states of this country because electricity in them has a very competitive price. In addition, some investment funds and American venture capital companies finance operators that are dedicated to mining. In fact, its support has acquired such size that companies such as Riot Platforms or Digital Marathon, which buy a large amount of hardware for mine, traded in the stock market. And we cannot ignore that in 2021 the Chinese government prohibited mining and transactions With cryptocurrencies, which forced Chinese operators to move to a country that offered them more favorable conditions. Tariffs are restructuring the mining hardware market The prohibition of the Chinese mining government and transactions with cryptocurrency in mid -2021 triggered an exodus of the operators. Many of them moved to the US, but this does not mean that no one is undermining in China. In fact, this last country still represents approximately 20% of Hashrate Bitcoin Global, so it only exceeds the US. What happens is that currently in China this activity is carried out in a clandestine way. Chinese companies Bitmain, Canaan and Microbt produce more than 90% of the mining equipment sold on the planet An important note before moving forward: the Hashrate or the rate of hash It measures the calculation power used to undermine cryptocurrencies. The higher this value, the greater the calculation capacity of a system or an infrastructure. Whatever it is important that we keep in mind that China is not only the place of origin of many operators that are dedicated to cryptodivine mining; A good part of the companies that are dedicated to the manufacture of mining hardware are Chinese. In fact, The three that sell the most come from China. Bitmain, Canaan and Microbt produce more than 90% of mining equipment sold on the planet. And all three are making new facilities in the US with one purpose: dodge tariffs that the government led by Donald Trump has deployed so as not to lose competitiveness in the US market. These are the three most relevant Chinese companies, but, According to Reutersmany more companies from this Asian country are being installed in the US with the aim of continuing to compete with guarantees in this market. However, this does not mean that Chinese hardware manufacturers for mining are abandoning China. They are not doing it. Its plan is to supply the US market thanks to its factories installed in the US and compete in the other markets on the planet with the production of its plants in China. “Although more than 30% of Bitcoin’s global mining occurs in North America, More than 90% of the hardware comes from Chinawhich represents a great imbalance between demand and supply “, SANJAY GUPTA holdsStrategy Director of the American Hardware manufacturer for Auradine Mining. This is the heart of this matter. All probability this imbalance will be corrected, but mining hardware will continue to be mostly in the hands of Chinese companies. Although they reside in the US. Image | David McBee More information | Reuters In Xataka | Bitcoin was supposed to save us from decentralization. A third is already in the hands of a few great actors

23 years ago China gave the US a lesson. Thanks to it today dominates the battery industry overwhelmingly

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The German-American physicist John Bannister Goodenough patented the technology that allowed to manufacture Iron and lithium phosphate batteries (known as LFP for its English denomination) in 1997. In 2019, when he was no less than 97 years, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution for his contribution to the development of lithium ion batteries. However, Goodenough made a mistake. An important mistake: he failed to transfer his innovation to the American industry, so its impact on the West was minimal. Wang Chuanfu, the founder of the Chinese company Byd, did not make that mistake. In 2002 he perceived the potential of the technology that Goodenaugh had invented, so he asked his research and development team (R&D) to investigate the technology and capabilities of LFP batteries with the purpose of minimizing the dependence that China of the nickel and cobalt had. That decision I guide Byd towards the leadership position Shared with Catl currently occupied in the battery production industry. In fact, in 2008 he placed in the market The first car in the world Equipped with an LFP battery. China manufactures 57% of the batteries used by electric cars China is currently The largest electric vehicle market of the world. In 2025 in this country more electric cars will be sold for the first time than with combustion engine thanks to some extent to government subsidies. In addition, China is the largest electric car exporter on the planet. In 2023 he exported approximately 1.7 million electric vehicleswhich represents more than 30% of its total car exports. However, its international expansion is being seriously conditioned by the tariffs that are imposing USA or the European Union, among other regions with very serious difficulties to compete with the Chinese electric car. Finally, as we have seen, China is also a world leader in The production of lithium batteries. If we stick to electric cars the country led by Xi Jinping Fabrica 57% of batteries that these vehicles use. CATL and ByD are the largest lithium batteries on the planet with a market share in 2024 of 37.9% and 17.2% respectively, according to the consultant Sne Research. In 2017 for the first time the market share of NCM batteries surpassed that of LFP in electric cars China has reached this leadership position due to several factors. On the one hand it is The largest producer in the world of lithium and rare earths, which are the main raw materials used in the manufacture of batteries. In addition, it controls the processing of these materials and is capable of producing large -scale batteries and with a very competitive price. However, in this recipe there is one more ingredient that we cannot overlook: byd and Catl lead the global battery industry thanks to their capacity for innovation and adaptation. In 2017, Chinese government subsidies prioritized the development of Nickel batteries with greater energy density, so much of Chinese battery manufacturers opted for NCM technology. These lithium -ion batteries use a nickel (ni), cobalt (co) and manganese (mn) cathode, hence their name. And byd lagged. In fact, in 2017 for the first time the market share of NCM batteries surpassed that of LFP in electric cars. And in 2019 the NCM batteries already dominated the market. But Byd did not give up. Wang Chuanfu was convinced that the really important security was, and, therefore, the thermal stability of the batteries, so it launched a new R&D project that concluded with The tuning of Blade batteries. These devices are thinner, have modular structure and can be easily integrated into the chassis of electric cars. This bet went well to Byd. At the end of 2020 this company and catl They controlled 66% of the Chinese market of the LFP batteries for electric cars against 6% that added in 2019. This is the authentic strength of the two Chinese companies that lead the world battery industry. Image | Byd More information | Volt Rush In Xataka | Historic record for China: its chips industry has produced in 2024 more than ever despite the sanctions

This Alavesa company dominates mobile phones, and the 2G blackout transformed it into something much more interesting

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The MWC was a brutal hive of technological and telecos from all over the world … with America and Asia in a prominent place, something that results paradoxical and expected at the same time in an event organized in Barcelona: Error 404, Europe Not Found. But in one of the Halls Yes there was European presence, because there There was the huge Spanish pavilion, that of Red.es, and in turn there was, in one of its fifty spaces, SPC (Smart Products Connection), an Alava technology that has turned the technological needs of the elderly into their small gold mine. And we were able to talk to his CEO, Teresa Acha-Forea, an old acquaintance of Xataka: A decade ago We interviewed her in her stage with Wikowhich was a mark of that same matrix. Of telephone liberalization to leadership in a specialized niche SPC’s story begins with The beginning of the process of liberalization of telecommunications At the end of the eighties, when Telefónica lost the monopoly of the sale of telephones. It was then that this company Alavesa jumped to start marketing landlines. It looks like a gray and little activity sexy (And it is), but it was his germ. For years it was your main business (They still have a presence in him), But with the slow agony of the fixed this leg is more in the consulting of conference terminals for companies than in the sale of the telephone itself. Red.es pavilion in the MWC 2025. In one of its fifty spaces was SPC. Image: Xataka. A little after that was when the adventure that has taken them here began. “Twenty years ago we began to make adapted phones for blind and people with special needs“, explains Teresa during our interview at the Mobile World Congress 2025.” We also had a Portfolio of telephone numbers for seniors, with large, first fixed and then mobile keys. “ What began as a specialized line has led the company to a dominant position in Spain: “We have become the first Spanish telephone brand for seniors, we have 50% of that market,” says the directive. The silent revolution: from 2g to 4g While the technological world revolts around The latest ©SPC has demonstrated the ability to evolve without losing its essence. Its catalog has been growing with the decades, but always maintaining the focus on a type of accessible and easy -to -use devices. That approach also has its own technological risks. In this case, a question of networks: “These devices are 2g, but you have to change to 4g by The blackouts that are going to be done. All these devices will stop working, so we decided to launch the catalog in 4G. ”What was cost savings because it made no sense to aim at ultra -granted speeds also finds its expiration date. This technological change has meant a great change for the company: “We went from transmitting voice to transmit data. That makes a ‘silly’ device have some intelligence. With the 4G we saw that we could exchange data, that is, send orders.” And that forced paradigm change led them to A much deeper change: the hardware for the service. Taking advantage of the 4G jump, SPC has developed a platform called SPC Carelaunched at the end of last year. “It is an app that is usually downloaded a responsible, a child,” explains the CEO. “It allows to manage the entire device menu, contacts, volume, brightness … It also has functions for the child, such as locating the father’s mobile by GPS or seeing his SMS.” The latter, he points, not so much to invade his privacy and to prevent The frauds that have found in the SMS a great ally. In it MWC 2025 The company presented new functions for this platform: “We have incorporated new actions, for example, a medication reminder. We have an agenda in which to schedule days and hours for a specific message to arrive, which we can write, and thus will come in a personalized way.” The most interesting thing is how this reminder is delivered: “That message will not come as SMS, because they do not usually read them, but as a voice call.” A detail that demonstrates the company’s knowledge about the real needs of its target audience. This evolution represents a paradigm change for SPC, as its directive acknowledges: “This is being a small great revolution for the company. We have gone from being a hardware company very specialized in the development of the PCBA with engineering in China, to manage applications and data.” Between design and manufacturing Although SPC is presented as a Spanish manufacturer, its productive model reflects the reality of the contemporary technology industry: Design in any country, manufacture in China. Nothing on the other Thursday, nothing we don’t know. However, the degree of involvement of the company in the development of its products varies quite according to the category. It is not a black or white. “It depends on each category, we intervene more in the conceptualization or less,” explains Acha-Forea. “The person in charge is the one who has contact with the manufacturer of the Chipset. The manufacturer of Chipset Sells specific engineering that are the ones that develop the PCBA “. In the most strategic products, the personalization level is very high: “In the tablets, we do everything with engineering in China. From speaking with engineering, and telling him that this is the PCBA, this is the type of plate, we want this type of battery here, this here, this here …”. The CEO is clear on which products they have more intervention: “Tablets and smartphones for seniors are own molds, they are ours. When it is its own mold, it is its own PCBA and its own engineering.” Current Catalog of SPC smartphones. Image: SPC. At the opposite end are the smallest or generic products: “Some headphones … Well, you choose the headset and say, well, because I want you to change this, … Read more

The treasure desired by all nations that China dominates with iron fist can be key in Ukraine: its rare earths

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Trump has had to get there An unexpected negotiating element In the war in Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv have been waiting for the new administration with respect to the conflict for weeks. The answer, unexpected for the majority, is about to see if it is as it seems. If affirmative, the United States would enter fully into the contest to help Ukraine, although in exchange for very precious minerals with incalculable geopolitical value. Rare lands in exchange for support. Donald Trump’s recent statement on a possible agreement with Ukraine, in which The United States would receive rare minerals in exchange for military assistancehas shaken the geopolitical panorama and generated international mixed reactions. The proposal, presented by Trump himself in the Oval office, seeks to condition Kyiv aid, linking it with strategic resources such as lithium, uranium and titanium, fundamental to the technological and military industry. This strategy, which reflects its transactional approach in foreign policy, represents a significant change regarding the unconditional military assistance that the American nation has provided so far, where it was practically reduced to money and weapons. A turn in the relationship. Since Trump’s re -election, uncertainty about American commitment to Ukraine has been a matter of concern for Kyiv. Everything changes, a priori (and being real), with this offer, since Ukraine could ensure Washington’s support when a “strategic interest” In his future. In fact, the answer has not been expected, and Ukrainian officials have explained that The administration of Volodymyr Zelensky would be willing to sign joint agreements with the United States To guarantee the collaboration in the exploitation of these resources, in an attempt to consolidate military support in the middle of the wear of the conflict with Russia. Moreover, Zelensky has warned that Without American intervention, these resources could end up in the hands of adversaries As Iran or North Korea, in case of a Russian victory. Geopolitical impact As we said, the international reaction to Trump’s words has not been waiting. In Europe, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz harshly criticized the proposaldescribing it as selfish and stressing that minerals should be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine instead of being exchanged for weapons. A European diplomat expressed doubts about the viability of the plansuggesting that it is not yet clear if it is a negotiation strategy or a firm demand. In addition, he stressed that European countries have already considered more transactional approaches with the United States, although without compromising essential resources of Ukraine. And from Russia? From Moscow, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov interpreted Trump’s proposal as a sign that the United States will no longer deliver free helpwhat Russia sees as an opportunity to weaken Western support to Kyiv. This perspective coincides with Russian military advances in eastern Ukraine, where many of the rare mineral reserves are found. The minerals. It We have counted before. In the case at hand, the elements of rare earths that Donald Trump seeks to ensure through an agreement with Ukraine in exchange for military aid They are essential strategic metals for key industriesfrom advanced technology to defense. Despite its name, these 17 elements are not particularly scarce, since There are large deposits in China, Brazil, Vietnam and Russia. However, its extraction implies highly polluting and expensive processes, which has limited its production outside of Chinawho dominates the global market thanks to massive investments in refinement and more lax environmental regulation. The importance of rare earths. These metals They are practically irreplaceable in many industrial applications. Neodimium and Disposio, for example, allow to manufacture ultra -policy magnets essential for wind turbines and electric motors, while the Europium is crucial for television screens and the hill is used in oil refining. Besides, They play a key role in the development of modern armamentincluding in the equation guided missiles. Since production is concentrated in China (and therefore, The dependence of most countries), we have the best of the clues for which United States and EU seek to reduce its dependencepromoting new sources of supply and recycling of materials. Trump’s interest. Linking with the above, Trump possibly sees in Ukrainian deposits An opportunity to strengthen US supply and reduce that Chinese influence In the sector, more convulsed than ever with The war of tariffs imposed. In this sense, one of the greatest attractions of the agreement for Washington is Access to lithium deposits of Ukraine, essential for the manufacture of microchips and batteries for electric vehiclesstrategic sectors where the United States competes directly with China. Within the framework of its transactional policy, the tycoon proposes that Ukraine guarantees access to these resources in exchange for military support, An idea previously suggested by Volodymyr Zelensky. The geopolitics of these materials, therefore, is key, since a greater dependence on China could represent strategic risks, as happened in 2010 when Beijing blocked exports to Japan in a territorial conflict. Difference with other critical minerals. Rare earths are just a part of The so -called critical mineralsa broader category that includes tungsten, tellurium and Indian, essential for clean energy and advanced technologies. In fact, China has already imposed export controls of some of these materials In response to American tariffs, reinforcing the need to diversify the global supply. Paradigm change. Be that as it may, Trump’s interest in convert military assistance into an agreement based on resources It represents a fundamental change in the way in which the United States could handle its relationship with Ukraine (or other nations in conflict). While Kyiv sees this as an opportunity to maintain American support, the proposal It has also generated tensions with Europe and criticism about ethics to condition aid to an exchange of strategic goods. On the other hand, and at least publicly, Russia does not see it either bad, but as a chance. In a context of prolonged war and with Moscow gaining ground, this new approach could define the future of the conflict and remodel geopolitical balance in the coming years. Of course, it is about to see if Trumop’s … Read more

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