Global smartphone revenue rose 7% year-on-year in Q2 to an historic $109 billion, the highest second-quarter total on record even as shipments declined, Counterpoint Research revealed.

The disconnect between rising revenue and falling volumes was driven by average selling prices (ASPs), which rose 17% to a record high of $400, fuelled by sustained demand for premium devices and memory-driven price hikes across Android portfolios.

Apple was the standout performer, with revenue up 22% to the brand’s highest-ever Q2 total.

The growth was supported by a 13% rise in shipments alongside an 8% increase in ASP, pushing Apple’s revenue share to a record 49%.

Counterpoint Research director Tarun Pathak said Apple’s performance was underpinned by sustained demand for the iPhone 17 line-up, particularly the base 17 and 17 Pro Max, which kept the sales mix skewed toward premium smartphones.

Unlike rivals which pushed through steep price increases, Apple largely held pricing steady, a move Pathak said reflects the company’s ability to absorb rising bill-of-materials costs and stay comparatively insulated from the industry’s memory chip crunch.

He cautioned Apple would likely raise prices in coming quarters, but believes the pricing discipline so far has strengthened its competitive position, enabling growth in both value and volume.

China, Europe and emerging markets were strongholds, as Apple’s stable pricing improved its relative value proposition against widespread Android price hikes.

Samsung ranked second with a 16% revenue share, with both revenue and shipments up 9% helped by steady Galaxy A-series demand and continued momentum from the Galaxy S26 series, along with strong growth in North America and the Middle East and Africa.

Xiaomi posted the steepest shipment decline among the top five brands, down 26%, dragging revenue down 17% despite a 13% rise in ASP as the company pushed toward higher-value devices.

Oppo and vivo also saw revenue fall, down 10% and 11%, respectively.

Senior analyst Shilpi Jain said the market has entered a phase where value, not shipment volume, is the primary growth driver, with OEMs increasingly passing higher component costs on to consumers.

With memory shortages showing no near-term signs of easing, the research company expects further price increases and steeper shipment declines across the industry in the second half of 2026.

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Infrastructure company Azio AI Holdings signed a master services agreement (MSA) with AT&T worth roughly $2.4 million to provide enterprise fibre connectivity for its first AI data centre campus.

The deal covers a 500-megawatt site and establishes a standardised connectivity framework across the campus, delivering the high-capacity, low-latency network infrastructure needed to support AI training, inference, GPU cloud computing, enterprise colocation, and other high-performance computing workloads.

Azio said the connectivity buildout is intended to streamline network deployment as it brings on additional customers under its hyperscale AI strategy. The company pointed to a recent power purchase and hosting agreement with a GPU customer, which it said will require a rapid, modular buildout at the Texas site.

“This agreement establishes the networking framework supporting our initial 500-megawatt Texas AI platform while creating a scalable operating model that can support future expansion as additional projects move forward under our hyperscale AI strategy,” Azio COO Elgin Tracy stated.

The company’s broader strategy centres on scalable, liquefied natural gas-backed energy capacity intended to meet rising demand for GPU cloud and AI workloads.

It stated the Texas site was picked in part due to the location being able accommodate large-scale industrial infrastructure without the land-use and community constraints which can complicate data centre projects in urban areas.

The agreement adds AT&T to the growing list of telecoms operators positioning themselves as connectivity partners for the AI infrastructure buildout, as data centre operators race to secure the fibre capacity needed to link GPU clusters to enterprise and hyperscale customers.

Azio did not disclose a timeline for construction completion or when the Texas campus is expected to become operational.

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Tim Cook’s last earnings call as the CEO of Apple covered record revenue across iPhone, Mac and services despite ongoing supply constraints for memory chips.

Revenue in its fiscal Q3 2026 (the period from 29 March to 27 June) was $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year-on-year.

Cook (pictured) took the helm from Apple co-founder and chief Steve Jobs in 2011, when the company posted annual revenue of $108 billion.

“It’s a special privilege to be part of people’s lives in lasting and meaningful ways, helping them to create, connect and experience the world around them,” Cook said on the earnings call.

“The transition is going seamlessly, and I am beyond excited for John [Ternus] to step into his new role and lead Apple into its next era.”

Tariffs
Apple’s booked a $0.11 per-share boost from tariff refunds, which added roughly two percentage points to gross margin after the US Supreme Court struck down a tranche of the Trump administration’s fees earlier this year.

“Last year, we made a $600 billion commitment to the US over four years and now, as we said before, we plan to reinvest the tariff refunds we’ve received into the US,” Cook said.

“We’re pleased with the progress we’ve already made advancing the American supply chain.”

Cook highlighted Apple sourcing more than 100 million components from a TSMC production facility in the US state of Arizona as an example.

“We could not be more pleased with how that fab has ramped and is producing for us.”

Siri AI
He noted positive developer reviews of Siri AI, which was introduced at WWDC in June.

“I think it’s a very big idea to have AI that’s private, that’s based on your personal context and that’s integrated across the operating system.”

Siri AI is scheduled to be released in September alongside iOS 27 and the iPhone 18 line-up.

Cook noted Apple is working closely with the European Commission to make the assistant available on devices in the European Union and said the company recently received approval to ship some of the original features of Apple Intelligence for use in China.

“We’re working now through the rollout of those and there will be more work required down the road for Siri AI,” he said. “But we’re at the front end of that.”

Supply chain
Apple flagged persistent supply constraints heading into the current fiscal quarter, forecasting revenue growth of 9% to 11%.

Cook described the memory chip shortage driving the pressure as a “hundred-year flood,” warning Apple expects to keep paying more after three consecutive quarters of price increases, albeit with some inventory offset and reductions in other components.

Numbers
Net income rose 27.1 per cent to $29.8 billion.

iPhone revenue rose 21.7% to $54.3 billion, which Apple branded a record for the period.

Greater China revenue rose 22.4% to $18.8 billion.

Service revenue was $30.7 billion and Mac revenue rose 28.7% to $10.3 billion.

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Mobile World Live brings you our top three picks of the week as Apple unveiled its device leasing programme, Orange struck a data centre JV deal and Amazon Leo plotted expansion.

Amazon Leo readies 5K satellites for D2D plan

What happened: Amazon Leo applied to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deploy up to 5,105 direct-to-device (D2D) satellites, advancing its ambition to deliver voice, messaging, data and emergency connectivity services to standard mobile devices.

Why it matters: In its FCC filing, Jeff Bezos-backed Amazon Leo explained its D2D system would communicate directly with existing mobile hardware using dedicated L-band and S-band spectrum links, potentially setting the stage to better compete against SpaceX’s Starlink service, among others.

“The newly filed application for Amazon’s next-generation LEO D2D constellation is massive,” said independent consultant Carlos Placido. “Although the system is planned to deploy 5,105 satellites beginning in 2028, the filing defines a total of 11,045 orbital positions.”

Amazon Leo readies 5K satellites for D2D plan

Apple lifts lid on US device leasing service

What happened: Apple fleshed out Apple Upgrade, a direct-to-consumer hardware leasing programme backed by Klarna Group, offering US customers monthly payment options across its iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad product lines.

Why it matters: Apple confirmed the programme offers dual tenure options per category. iPhone and Apple Watch plans offer 12- and 24-month lease terms starting at $17.99 and $11.99 per month, respectively. CEO and marketing director of PP Foresight Paolo Pescatore stated the arrangement responds to rising device prices and longer consumer ownership cycles by shifting focus from high upfront costs to manageable monthly payments, making premium devices feel more accessible and encouraging regular upgrades.

“However, this is more than another payment option,” he said. “It marks a significant shift from owning devices to accessing them through an ongoing leasing relationship. This gives Apple another way to stimulate demand without resorting to aggressive discounting, while keeping customers within its family of products and exerting greater control over the upgrade, trade-in and return cycle.”

On the consumer front, he explained lower monthly payments will be attractive, but the apparent flexibility carries important trade-offs. Customers do not own the product during the lease, AppleCare costs extra, damaged devices can incur charges, and upgrading or leaving early could require them to pay the remaining lease payments.

“The total cost and end-of-term choices must therefore be made crystal clear,” he said. “Otherwise, consumers could find themselves locked into a perpetual cycle of monthly payments without building any ownership or resale value.”

Apple lifts lid on US device leasing service

Orange plots data centre JV with global investor

What happened: Orange agreed a deal with global infrastructure investor Morrison to create a jointly controlled data centre company in France, a move designed to meet rising demand for AI services in the country.

Why it matters: Orange said the 50:50 JV will support the development of its existing French data centre portfolio and target 400MW of capacity, almost 10 times its current level. To boost the entity, the operator said it will contribute five major data centres across four campuses in France, along with its operational expertise and commercial reach. The duo anticipate an investment of around €3 billion, utilising Orange’s existing assets, while Morrison will make an equity contribution.

“Orange Business will leverage this platform for its customers to accelerate its trusted AI and trusted cloud business ambitions,” Orange CEO Christel Heydemann explained on an investor call. “The value creation for Orange will therefore materialise through revenue upsides and dividends inflows.”

Orange plots data centre JV with global investor

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AT&T switched on a dedicated standalone (SA) 5G core for public safety network FirstNet, which the operator described as the first and only such nationwide network built specifically for first responders.

The new core is physically separate from AT&T’s commercial network infrastructure, a design intended to give public safety agencies greater security, reliability and control over their connectivity.

AT&T stated the architecture was shaped by feedback from first responders and is intended to meet operational needs which differ meaningfully from everyday consumer use.

Scott Agnew, president of FirstNet at AT&T, said the SA core was purpose-built around the mission of public safety rather than adapted from a consumer network.

“This milestone keeps America’s public safety network strong for the future, because when our first responders succeed, our communities are safer.”

AT&T stated the dedicated core functions as the central nervous system for the FirstNet network, keeping public safety traffic separate from commercial traffic.

It runs across multiple geographically-distributed core sites to add redundancy, an approach AT&T stated improves performance and resilience.

The upgrade also brings faster upload data rates and improved responsiveness, capabilities AT&T stated are increasingly necessary as first responders adopt connected tools including body-worn cameras and mission-critical communications applications.

Security beyond the standard measures used on commercial networks is built into the core.

Access is restricted to devices using a FirstNet SIM, which it stated protects subscriber data from potential attackers, while a dedicated security operations centre monitors the network around the clock for threats.

Adaptive Mission Performance
AT&T positioned the service as groundwork for a broader initiative called Adaptive Mission Performance to tailor network performance to specific public safety applications and use cases rather than relying on a single network slice from commercial infrastructure.

The operator stated it plans to deploy the capabilities over time as more subscribers migrate to the new core.

FirstNet subscribers are already being transitioned to the new core at no additional cost.

While laying claim to a nationwide launch, AT&T did note the service requires a compatible device and plan, and it is not available everywhere.

The operator deployed its SA 5G core in 2025, five years later than T-Mobile US.

Verizon Frontline rolled out its service in select markets in 2025.

T-Mobile and Verizon are using their SA 5G cores to provide network slicing for first responders.

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Meta Platforms revealed a dramatic acceleration in its infrastructure commitments, disclosing in a regulatory filing it has secured $279 billion in off-balance sheet lease obligations primarily dedicated to expanding its AI capabilities.

The future costs, which exist on top of its active leases, comprise short- and long-term agreements covering data centres, co-location facilities and certain network infrastructure.

The total for uncommenced lease commitments as of the quarter ended 30 June represents a 53% surge from the $183 billion reported in the previous period.

The social media giant is showing no signs of slowing its aggressive AI buildout, adding an extra $68 billion in commitments during July alone, with those leases slated to commence in 2027 and 2028.

The disclosure comes alongside mounting investor pressure on CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta’s stock fell today (30 July) following a disappointing Q3 revenue forecast yesterday which heightened investor scrutiny over the company’s massive capital expenditures on AI.

During the Q2 earnings call, Zuckerberg said Meta could sell compute directly to large enterprises but stated the social media giant believes there will be a “significantly higher margin on selling [super]intelligence rather than selling compute directly”.

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Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) outlined his high-stakes vision for AI across consumer and enterprise markets during a Q2 investor call, casting the technological transition as a massive commercial opportunity despite heavy infrastructure outlays and operational charges weighing on profitability.

Zuckerberg detailed three primary expansion pillars driving Meta’s long-term strategy. He noted AI investments are actively boosting performance across the main portfolio by improving user experiences, optimising return on investment for advertisers and enabling internal product teams to ship software faster.

Looking ahead, Zuckerberg stated that Meta is “developing new personal agents that will be the foundation for our next wave of products and revenue lines in the months and years ahead”.

Expanding beyond consumer applications, he highlighted a growing commercial footprint, pointing to “a large enterprise opportunity to sell to businesses, including APIs, business agents, potentially selling compute directly, and other services that we’re building for large customers”.

Q2 financial performance
Meta delivered strong Q2 top-line performance, driven by continuous gains across its AI-enhanced advertising suite, though rapid infrastructure spending and operational charges squeezed overall profitability below Wall Street expectations.

Meta generated $60.8 billion in revenue, representing a 28% increase compared to $47.5 billion in the same period last year. However, net income dropped 14% to $15.8 billion.

Advertising revenue accounted for $59.8 billion of total sales, up 28% year-over-year. This growth was supported by high adoption of AI automated ad features, with ad impressions growing 14% year-over-year across its Family of Apps and the average price per ad climbing 12%.

Family Daily Active People reached an average of 3.6 billion in June, reflecting a 3% increase year-over-year.

Total costs and expenses surged 55% to $42 billion, heavily weighed down by $2.4 billion in legal proceeding charges as well as $1.2 billion in severance expenses following restructuring in May.

Driven by the aggressive capex ramp and operational charges, free cash flow dropped 91% year-over-year to $784 million, compared to $8.5 billion in the prior-year period.

Capital expenditures jumped to $31 billion from $17 billion, including principal payments on finance leases, as Meta continued to scale its computing infrastructure, servers, and data centres to expand generative AI capabilities.

Looking ahead, the social media giant issued a Q3 revenue forecast of $61 billion to $64 billion.

For the full year, Meta maintained its capital expenditure guidance at $130 billion to $145 billion and anticipates total expenses between $165 billion and $169 billion, while reiterating full-year operating income is expected to exceed prior-year levels.

Highlighting engagement growth across its app suite, Zuckerberg noted Threads crossed 500 million monthly active users, “making it the fastest-growing conversation app ever,” while Facebook reached more than 2 billion daily active users a while ago.

“WhatsApp just hit an all-time messaging record, peaking at 30 million messages sent per second during the World Cup final,” he said.

Meta’s Reality Labs division, which houses the company’s VR and AR hardware efforts including Quest headsets and smart glasses, continued to weigh on overall profitability.

The unit posted an operating loss of $4.6 billion, widening slightly from a year earlier, on revenue of just $431 million, up from $370 million in the same period last year.

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Dell’Oro Group revealed mobile operators have spent 208% more on standalone (SA) 5G than they had on 4G core functions at the same point in the technology’s lifecycle.

The company stated the long-term outlook for SA 5G technology is good, despite forecasting growth in the core network sector to moderate over the next two years.

In a report, the company stated the substantial financial commitment on SA 5G highlights the inherent architectural complexity and the broader strategic value of next-generation core networks compared with LTE deployments.

Explaining the timing behind the investments, senior director Sian Morgan noted the sequential release of 3GPP standards created an initial offset between early 5G RAN spending and deployment of SA cores.

Despite those early delays, the technical sophistication of SA 5G “is driving cumulative vendor revenues much higher” than LTE evolved packet core achieved at an equivalent point in its deployment timeline.

Morgan said SA 5G revenue is yet to reach its peak because the majority of mobile operators worldwide have yet to make commercial services widely available to customers.

Dell’Oro noted near-term headwinds as memory shortages drive server prices up, prompting operators to scrutinise project costs.

Morgan predicts a return to double-digit revenue growth in 2028.

Dell’Oro forecast growth in the next five years to be fuelled by the EMEA region. It increased its expectations for 4G core revenue after gains in 2025 and identified AI as providing opportunities to boost efficiency, though warned over potentially higher costs.

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Qualcomm reported fiscal Q3 results which beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations but missed on profit, as the chipmaker continued to grapple with the impact of a memory supply crunch weighing on the smartphone sector.

The company posted revenue of $9.9 billion for the quarter ended 28 June, down 4 per cent from $10.4 billion a year earlier but ahead of the roughly $9.7 billion analysts had expected. Net income during the period was $2 billion, down 25% year-on-year.

Handset chip sales fell 20% to $5.1 billion, which Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured) stated reflected a bottoming out in the China market after OEMs pulled back on orders amid memory supply uncertainty.

“We actually don’t expect fundamental changes in the premium tier and the higher tier volume,” Amon said on the company’s investor call.

Going forward, the executive expects Apple-related revenue to decline sharply and faster than previously anticipated, after Qualcomm’s share of components in the upcoming iPhone range came in well below an earlier estimate of around 20%.

Amon said the company is offsetting the loss with growth elsewhere, including its emerging data centre business, which it expects to generate $5 billion in revenue by fiscal 2027.

“We expect Android to grow and significantly offset the reduction in Apple, and then data centre revenue that starts to ramp in the fourth quarter,” CFO Akash Palkhiwala said.

Amon said its Q3 results reflected “solid execution of our growth strategy” despite the challenging environment.

He noted Qualcomm is taking steps to protect margins going forward, including raising prices across its chip portfolio from 1 September, as component costs continue to climb.

Automotive remained a bright spot, with revenue reaching $1.59 billion which marked a 61% increase and the 23rd consecutive quarter of double-digit year-on-year growth for the segment. Qualcomm reiterated a target of $10 billion in annual automotive revenue by fiscal 2029.

IoT revenue was $1.83 billion, representing a 9% increase. Combined automotive and IoT revenue climbed 28%, underscoring the company’s push to diversify beyond its traditional handset business as it also builds out a data centre and custom silicon strategy with a leading hyperscaler.

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Google expanded its Play Age Signals API to all developers globally, part of a broader push to help parents and app developers deliver safer, age-appropriate experiences on Google Play.

Currently available in Brazil, the tool will be introduced to users in Australia and Canada by mid-August, with a full global rollout planned later this year, according to Paul Feng, Google Play’s vice president of product management.

The Play Age Signals API is designed as a privacy-preserving tool that lets parents share their child’s age range, such as 16-17, directly with apps, while also allowing adults to share their own age when prompted by developers.

Developers then receive these signals to tailor in-app safety settings and content to match their audience, rather than applying uniform rules across all apps regardless of content type.

Feng stated the approach gives developers flexibility to choose protections appropriate to their app’s nature, noting a weather app shouldn’t require the same safety settings as an entertainment or media app.

For parents, age-sharing controls are centralised within the Google Family Link app rather than requiring configuration across individual apps.

Once a parent chooses to share a child’s age range, all Play apps using the API can receive that signal, letting children access age-appropriate content without manual setup in each app. Google said age ranges are never shared by default, and parents can update or disable the settings at any time.

The API builds on Google Play’s existing safety infrastructure, including mandatory safety standards for apps designed for families, ongoing app reviews and scanning, and tools such as Restrict Minor Access within the Play Console, which helps developers manage who can discover their apps.

Family Link continues to serve as a central dashboard for parents to manage screen-time limits, PIN-based content filters and app download approvals.

Google positioned the global expansion as an addition to its existing safety suite, aimed at helping parents and developers collaborate to make Google Play safer and more trustworthy for families.

The expansion comes as lawmakers and regulators around the world are increasingly pressuring app stores to provide better protections for minors.

Earlier this year, Apple pushed out age verification rules across a range of its services in the UK, responding to pressure from the government around ensuring safety on the internet for younger users.

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Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings revealed a $1.5 billion investment in Eaton Fiber to accelerate the expansion of Verizon fibre broadband to more than 1 million locations outside the operator’s existing US footprint.

Eaton Fiber is an affiliate of Tillman which serves as Verizon’s exclusive wholesale fibre-building partner

The investment fully funds Eaton Fiber’s acquisition of Ripple Fiber, a fibre-optic internet provider, alongside the next phase of Eaton Fiber’s network expansion.

The Ripple Fiber deal marks the first step in a buy-and-build strategy aimed at bringing Verizon fibre broadband to more locations through a combination of organic construction and further acquisitions.

Ripple Fiber’s existing shareholders, Platform Investment Partners and KLT, will continue backing the Eaton Fiber platform alongside Tillman and Bain Capital.

The deal builds on a commercial agreement between Verizon and Eaton Fiber fannounced in October 2025, under which the latter funds, builds, maintains and operates fibre network infrastructure, while Verizon serves as the exclusive retail provider for residential and small business fibre services, handling sales, marketing and customer service.

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman stated expanding Verizon fibre’s reach is central to the company’s growth and convergence strategy, describing the partnership as a capital-efficient model to extend its fibre broadband experience beyond its core footprint.

As part of the transaction, Verizon will acquire Ripple Fiber’s existing customers, who will transition to Verizon’s fibre broadband platform over time with uninterrupted service, along with a small portion of Ripple Fiber’s network and related assets adjacent to or partially within Verizon’s existing footprint in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Tillman co-president and Eaton Fiber co-founder Sachit Ahuja said the Ripple Fiber acquisition strengthens Eaton Fiber’s relationship with Verizon, while Bain Capital’s long-term capital provides additional resources to accelerate deployment.

Ripple Fiber founder and chief executive Greg Wilson said the acquisition positions the company to accelerate its mission of connecting homes and businesses to fibre using its experience operating wholesale networks.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Eaton Fiber has secured committed debt financing from a syndicate led by Societe Generale and SMBC, alongside existing financing partner Future Standard Digital Infrastructure.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile US are actively beefing up their fibre holdings through joint ventures, wholesale agreements and outright purchases of fibre-rich companies to support the convergence of mobile and fibre-based broadband services.

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The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted final rules for auctioning 160MHz of spectrum in the upper C-Band, setting the stage for an auction to close by July 2027 and creating what the regulator called a harmonised 5G super band spanning 440MHz when combined with existing holdings.

The rules apply to the 3.98GHz to 4.14GHz range, and build on the FCC’s lower C-Band auction conducted during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Combining the lower C-Band with the newly cleared upper C-Band will create a contiguous 3.70-4.14GHz block which the FCC described as a larger swath of licensed, 5G-grade mid-band spectrum than any other industrialised country holds.

“America’s wireless leadership is back,” FCC chair Brendan Carr stated. “Freeing up this spectrum drives down prices, raises speeds, and enhances competition. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, America will once again lead the world in wireless.”

The commission announced it will auction 60% more spectrum than the 100MHz minimum required by law, a move it stated would raise tens of billions of dollars in additional proceeds for the US Treasury to support deficit reduction and other national priorities.

The auction will offer 3,248 new flexible-use licences across the contiguous US.

Winning bidders will be able to launch wireless services in the top 75 US markets starting December 2030, with remaining markets following from July 2031, a timeline the FCC said is faster than originally expected.

The FCC estimated the spectrum release could generate at least $422 billion in GDP, 2.4 million new jobs and $621 billion in consumer surplus.

Aviation concerns
In 2021, major airline industry players pressed the government and regulators to delay the launch of 5G in C-Band over interference fears.

To protect aviation safety systems operating in adjacent frequencies, the FCC worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration on rules governing coexistence between wireless operations and radio altimeters in the nearby 4.2GHz to 4.4GHz band.

The FAA said the FCC had incorporated key safeguards to protect the frequencies aircraft altimeters rely on, and the rules include rebates to help the aviation sector retrofit and upgrade altimeter equipment. The FCC said incentive payments to satellite operators being cleared from the band will be lower in aggregate than those paid following the lower C-Band auction, reflecting the smaller amount of spectrum involved, though roughly proportionate to it.

The rules follow a process that began last year under the FCC’s renewed auction authority as part of President Trump’s so called  One Big Beautiful Bill Act, building on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted last November.

Commission staff are expected to seek comment on auction procedures in the coming days before finalising them ahead of the auction.

The order was adopted by a vote of FCC chairman Brendan Carr and commissioner Olivia Trusty in favour, with commissioner Anna Gomez approving in part and dissenting in part.

Space modernisation order
Separately, the FCC voted to overhaul its space and earth station licensing process, replacing the legacy Part 25 rules in their entirety with a new Part 100 framework rebuilt from first principles. The commission said it completed the systematic, industry-wide regulatory overhaul in roughly 18 months, a pace it described as historically unprecedented for a federal agency.

The new rules are intended to speed up space and earth station licensing through a faster, more predictable process the FCC likened to a “licensing assembly line”, while also enhancing space safety and removing outdated regulations to support the country’s commercial space sector.

The FCC framed the reform as part of a broader push under the Trump administration to strengthen US leadership in space.

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Google upgraded iPhone migration options with a service built directly into Android 17 aimed at simplifying the switch, a release timed to coincide with the unveiling of Samsung’s Z Series at its Galaxy Unpacked event.

The search giant expanded the range of data which can be wirelessly transferred from an iPhone without downloading a separate migration app.

In addition to “photos, videos, contacts, messages and calendar”, the latest method covers a user’s “Google Account, passwords, Wi-Fi credentials” and eSIM profile.

By simplifying onboarding and broadening the compatible data types, Google aims to lower the barriers to switching smartphone ecosystems to attract more iPhone users to Android.

Google commenced deployment of the feature on select Pixel devices and it is also available on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 and Z Fold8 ranges unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked.

The company plans to expand the migration method to more Android devices in future.

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T-Mobile US won the most categories in Opensignal’s latest network experience report, which also examined the performance of AT&T and Verizon over a 90-day period during a window which included the FIFA World Cup.

Opensignal stated the Q2 research covered tested operators’ ability to manage network congestion both at stadiums and across host cities.

Verizon, as the World Cup’s official telecommunications sponsor, deployed private 5G and fixed wireless access to support broadcast and retail operations at venues, alongside investment in surrounding communities.

AT&T launched a premium Turbo Live service in January to ease congestion at live events and introduced a World Cup eSIM for visiting fans, while T-Mobile rolled out new Dynamic CX capabilities on its AI-powered self-organising network and promoted its T-Priority service for first responders.

Opensignal pointed to a Federal Communications Commission spectrum auction in June, a re-auction of mid-band licences previously held by Dish Network, as a key factor shaping future capacity.

On network performance, T-Mobile won best download speed outright at 192.5Mb/s, nearly 97Mb/s ahead of second-placed AT&T at 96Mb/s and Verizon third at 89.4Mb/s.

T-Mobile also led the 5G download speed category at 247.4Mb/s, ahead of AT&T’s 223.5Mb/s and Verizon’s 179.2Mb/s, and swept both upload speed (16 Mb/s) and 5G upload speed (19.2 Mb/s) awards.

In reliability and consistency, T-Mobile won reliability experience with 942 points, narrowly ahead of AT&T’s 939 and Verizon’s 932, and led consistent quality at 82.8%, ahead of Verizon’s 80.4% and AT&T’s 79.4%.

Coverage
Verizon won the coverage experience award outright with 9.7 points out of 10, narrowly ahead of AT&T, while T-Mobile was ranked third, but won 5G coverage with 8.5 points.

AT&T topped time on network at 99.6%, though T-Mobile led 5G Availability at 91.8%, with Verizon closing the gap significantly, up seven percentage points from the prior report.

For video and gaming, T-Mobile won video experience and live video experience, while Verizon took top honours across 5G video experience and 5G live video Experience. T-Mobile also swept both games experience and 5G games experience awards.

All told, T-Mobile won 12 out of the 16 categories.

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AT&T reported a 2.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $31.6 billion in Q2, driven by net adds across fibre, fixed wireless access (FWA) and post-paid phone subscribers.

While slightly below analysts’ estimates, the small increase was driven largely by growth in Advanced Connectivity fibre and wireless revenues, including the impact of AT&T’s first-quarter acquisition of Lumen’s mass markets fibre business.

The operator added more than 1 million Advanced Connectivity customers during the quarter. Advanced Connectivity service revenue grew 5.1% year-over-year to $23.5 billion.

AT&T rolls its fibre broadband, FWA, post-paid phone and business fibre services into its Advanced Connectivity category.

It recorded 646,000 total consumer and business internet net adds, comprised of 367,000 fibre and 279,000 FWA connections, marking a record quarter for combined fibre and fixed wireless additions.

Post-paid phone net adds totalled 432,000 to top analysts’ projections of 338,500, according to FactSet.

AT&T chair and CEO John Stankey (pictured) noted on the earnings call those additions mark the strongest consumer post-paid wireless account growth in more than three years. Post-paid churn of 0.86% was down slightly from 0.87% a year ago.

Stankey has long been a proponent of a converged strategy of wireless and fibre services as a key differentiator for the company.

“At the end of the second quarter, 42.5% of our advanced home Internet customers also have a post-paid wireless account with AT&T,” he said on the earnings call. “This convergence rate reached 45% when excluding customers within our acquired footprint from Lumen.

“These are high lifetime value subscribers, and our strong customer growth is a key driver of our accelerated financial growth during the second quarter,” he added.

The operator added more than 1 million total consumer and business fibre locations, bringing its total to 38.6 million. Stankey said it remains on track to exceed 40 million fibre locations by the end of 2026 and more than 60 million by 2030.

Income from continuing operations rose 3.6% to $5.0 billion, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 5.2% to $12.3 billion.

Stankey stated the results demonstrate the company’s structural advantages heading into the next era of connectivity, and confirmed AT&T is accelerating planned share repurchases to approximately $10 billion this year.

SpaceX
The AT&T chief was asked about forging a wholesale agreement with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX but he stated AT&T does not see a need for satellite service as a core part of its distribution strategy because it already handles more than 98% of traffic across its converged customer network.

“I don’t feel a need right now that I need to have a satellite partner as a main distribution vehicle for me because I don’t think it addresses a part of the market that I can’t get to on my own,” he said.

Stankey pointed to the joint venture AT&T formed with Verizon and T-Mobile US, stating it allows the operators to work with multiple satellite operators, including SpaceX, Amazon, and AST SpaceMobile, for the small percentage of coverage which falls outside their terrestrial networks.

“By the time we get into next year, we will have solved for that other 2% and we will be in the market doing what customers want, which is providing them the assurance that they can buy from one provider and always be on the internet,” he said.

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Intel and Google Cloud broadened their multi-year strategic collaboration with plans to deploy Gemini Enterprise and Google Cloud infrastructure across the chipmaker’s global operations as part of a wider AI-driven transformation.

Under the expanded partnership, Intel will roll out Gemini-powered generative AI tools across engineering, supply chain and corporate functions, aiming to scale workforce capabilities through agentic workflows.

The hyperscaler’s infrastructure will also support Intel’s semiconductor development environment, with custom agentic workflows intended to speed up the chip design lifecycle and improve cross-functional execution.

Intel CIO Cindy Stoddard stated the collaboration gives employees a central hub to build and deploy agents through Gemini Enterprise, alongside elastic cloud infrastructure to scale silicon development, as part of the company’s push to move faster and more efficiently.

Karthik Narain, chief product and business officer at Google Cloud, described the partnership as an effort to pair Intel’s engineering expertise with agentic AI tools to create what he called an autonomous foundation for how the chipmaker designs, operates and scales its business.

The companies stated the deployment moves Intel beyond isolated AI pilot programmes. Through the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, Intel’s business units will be able to build and run tailored line-of-business agents aimed at automating core processes and speeding up data-driven decision-making.

Gemini’s reasoning capabilities will also power dedicated coding assistance and engineering automation tools designed to streamline software development pipelines and automate multi-step workflows.

Intel is separately piloting Google Cloud-powered tools for marketing and communications, including agents that can identify relevant subject matter experts, draft executive-ready messaging, and generate supporting content across communications channels.

On the infrastructure side, Intel is extending its on-premises compute capacity into Google Cloud’s C4 and N4 instances to support silicon development simulations and core engineering workloads, letting engineering teams run high-performance computing simulations concurrently to shorten chip development cycles.

The tie-up builds on a partnership which has deepened steadily this year. In April, Google committed to using multiple generations of Intel’s Xeon processors, including the 18A-manufactured Xeon 6, to support AI training and inference in its data centres, alongside a plan to co-develop custom infrastructure processing units.

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Micron Technology secured strategic supply agreements with major automotive partners including Qualcomm and Harman to guarantee long-term chip access for software-defined vehicles.

The deals come during an aggressive industry-wide race to expand manufacturing capacity to meet a massive surge in memory chip demand driven by rapid AI adoption.

As the only US-based manufacturer of high-bandwidth memory chips used in Nvidia’s AI processors, Micron occupies a unique market position alongside South Korean rivals Samsung and SK Hynix, allowing it to command premium prices while solidifying long-term commitments during ongoing hardware shortages.

Micron also struck deals with Visteon, Joynext, Denso, Astemo, and Hyundai Mobis. It stated the agreements would improve visibility and help optimise production planning. It expects greater stability in pricing and supply chains for increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled vehicle platforms.

Demand for high-performance DRAM and NAND flash memory has grown as the automotive sector transitions toward highly connected, autonomous and intelligent designs.

Modern vehicle architectures require robust computing hardware to support advanced driver assistance systems, infotainment services and high-speed connectivity.

Sanjay Mehrotra, chair, president and CEO of Micron, emphasised the next phase of automotive innovation hinges on the strength of the ecosystem behind it. He noted “memory and storage serve are critical enablers” for the sophisticated digital experiences consumers expect.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon highlighted the collaborative effort required to deliver advanced digital cockpit and driver assistance technologies. He stated working with Micron provides a strong hardware foundation as vehicles become more intelligent and connected.

The automotive sector is a key area for increasing Qualcomm’s revenue beyond mobile chips. In its April Q2 earnings, it reported Automotive sales rose 38 per cent to $1.3 billion.

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Verizon revealed a plan to sell 274 company-owned retail locations and lay off an additional 500 corporate employees as part of an ongoing restructuring effort under CEO Dan Schulman.

A representative for Verizon confirmed to Mobile World Live (MWL) the layoffs will impact roughly 3,000 retail and corporate employees.

Following the retail divestment, which is scheduled to take effect on 16 August, Reuters reported Verizon’s corporate-owned store footprint will shrink to 1,000 locations.

Verizon stated in a note to employees it is actively collaborating with the franchise owners running its 5,000 independent outlets to ensure high customer service standards are maintained across all locations, according to the news outlet.

Reuters reported during previous retail transitions, approximately 70% of affected retail staff secured employment with the incoming franchise partners

Wave7 Research analyst Jeff Moore told MWL after the retail stores are sold, 20% of them will be corporate owned while the remaining 80% will be dealer outlets.

“This takes hundreds of employees off of Verizon’s books and puts them onto the books of various Verizon dealers,” he said.

The mobile operator cut about 15,000 jobs in November 2025 as part of Schulman’s restructuring efforts, and sold 179 corporate-owned stores to franchise operators.

Following the 2025 layoff, the operator proceeded to trim several hundred additional positions in May 2026 as part of its multi-year operational overhaul.

In January, Schulman announced a plan to cut $5 billion in operating expenses in 2026, with a large portion coming from layoffs.

In June, Verizon introduced simplified service plans, dropped activation and upgrade fees and launched a new loyalty programme aimed at reducing churn.

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AST SpaceMobile shifted the timeline for reaching its target satellite constellation, moving the milestone from the end of 2026 into early 2027.

The delay was revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory filing tied to a $1 billion notes offering and follows a serious setback to one of its two main launch partners

The company stated based on its current expectations around launch availability, its campaign is now targeting approximately 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by early 2027.

In May, the satellite player targeted approximately the same number of BlueBird satellites in orbit by the end of 2026 after previously projecting 45 to 60 of its next generation birds would launch this year.

In late 2024, AST SpaceMobile signed a multi-launch agreement with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. It previously relied on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets to launch its birds into orbit before attempting to branch out to the larger New Glenn models.

AST SpaceMobile previously predicted an orbital launch cadence of roughly every one to two months in 2026 through deals with multiple launch providers, but New Glenn is no longer an option for this year.

Its multi-provider strategy has been strained since April, when AST lost its BlueBird 7 satellite after a Blue Origin New Glenn launch failed to reach a sustainable orbit.

Analysts previously told Mobile World Live the setback was significant, since New Glenn had been AST’s best launch option for its oversized satellites, and rebuilding that capacity could take a year or more.

The loss of New Glenn as a near-term option appears to have factored into the newly disclosed timeline shift. In the filing, AST SpaceMobile said the timing of future BlueBird launches remains contingent on a number of factors, including completion of satellite assembly and testing, launch vehicle readiness, logistics, and other elements largely outside its control.

The updated timeline accompanied pricing details for AST SpaceMobile’s $1 billion offering of convertible senior notes due 2034, aimed at qualified institutional buyers, with an option for initial purchasers to acquire an additional $150 million.

Offering
Net proceeds are expected to reach roughly $983.6 million, or $1.13 billion if the option is fully exercised, after fees and expenses. The company stated it intends to use the funds to pursue growth initiatives and secure additional access to orbit, “including potential partnerships or acquisitions aimed at further vertically integrating its launch capabilities”.

Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates, said on X the filing “makes it pretty clear they now intend to buy/invest in a launch provider,” calling it a “fascinating pivot” from expectations AST would direct more capital toward spectrum. He questioned which rocket companies might be available at the right price.

 “What launch provider is for sale that’s ready and able to launch 4,500kg satellites in the near term?”

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Thinking Machines Lab unveiled its first AI model more than a year after former OpenAI executive Mira Murati (pictured) founded the start-up, moving it from research previews to a full launch.

The Inkling model is designed to reason natively across text, images and audio, while balancing cost against performance through variable, adjustable effort.

Thinking Machines stated the model is trained to exhibit safe behaviour across all modalities.

The company noted Inkling is a mixture-of-experts transformer with 975 billion total parameters and 41 billion active parameters, supporting a context window of up to 1 million tokens.

Thinking Machines described it as the first in a family of models of varying sizes.

Rather than chasing state-of-the-art performance in a single domain, Thinking Machines said it trained Inkling for solid capabilities across agentic tasks, reasoning, coding, instruction-following, factuality, vision and audio, positioning it as a foundation model for future releases.

The company acknowledged Inkling is not the most performant model available today, closed or open.

Inkling is open-weight, meaning developers can download and customise the model without access to training data or source code.

It is available for fine-tuning on Tinker, Thinking Machines’ developer platform, alongside a so-called Inkling Playground for testing the model directly.

Bloomberg reported Thinking Machines is not aiming to monetise the model itself; the company currently generates revenue through Tinker, which it sells to customers including hedge fund Bridgewater Associates for financial-task fine-tuning.

The news outlet noted Murati’s company raised $2 billion at a $12 billion valuation last year and was reportedly in talks over a larger subsequent round, though it added several employees have since departed for firms including Meta Platforms and OpenAI.

Bloomberg also reported the launch could help fill a gap in the US open model market, as Meta shifts focus on proprietary offerings and rising AI spending pushes some users toward freely available Chinese models.

Thinking Machines was founded in early 2025 by Murati and a host of other former OpenAI employees, with the company initially focused on collaboration between the technology and people.

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