Apple Sets Oct. 28 'Pro and tell' Event as China Smartphone Market Hits 14-Year Low

Counterpoint Research said in preliminary data released Oct. 19 that China's smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2026 fell 10% year on year to the lowest same-period level since 2012. The research firm attributed the decline to higher memory prices raising bill-of-materials costs and worsening supply shortages. Huawei took 21.3% share, with shipments up 19% year on year. Counterpoint said relatively stable prices early in the quarter and sales of Huawei's Changxiang, nova and Mate lines supported growth; Huawei raised prices from September, which could pressure later sales. Apple ranked second with 19.5%. Sales of the iPhone 18 Pro series in its first three weeks in China rose 23.5% from the same period for the previous Pro series, and the delayed launch of the base model pushed some buyers to Pro models. The launch sales figure and full-quarter shipments use different scopes. The two companies combined held more than 40% of the market. Counterpoint said other Android vendors are adding Pro Max models, launching cheaper devices or delaying standard versions, while consumers postponing upgrades, waiting for promotions or buying refurbished phones could weigh on fourth-quarter demand.

Liu Xing, public relations head for ByteDance's Doubao, said on Oct. 19 that a claim that more than half of China's compute is used to make short dramas was 'not reliable.' He said only about 10% of ByteDance's total compute is used for training and inference of video-generation models. Red Star News published a screenshot of his post in which he marked two report screenshots as 'false'; those screenshots cited an investor relations record listing short dramas and video generation as the largest AI token-consumption scenarios. Liu's 10% figure covers total ByteDance compute and includes model training and inference, not short-drama production alone.

Tibo Sottiaux, a member of OpenAI's Codex and ChatGPT team, said on Oct. 19 that OpenAI had worked with OpenCode to help affected users who also use the OpenAI API restore service and refund API credits consumed during an attack. OpenCode disclosed that a security incident linked to a large-scale model-distillation attack affected 1.4% of Console users, specifically some users who had linked external model providers in the cloud. It said it sent emails individually and worked with Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. Sottiaux said security teams can apply in advance for Daybreak Blue, a model configuration for defensive tasks with some cybersecurity restrictions relaxed. OpenCode co-founder Dax Raad replied that Daybreak played a key role in the defense and was still running. The refund applies to affected OpenAI API customers, not all third-party model accounts.

Reuters reported Oct. 19 that Nscale is negotiating with Anthropic over an AI compute deal that could be worth about $45 billion, to be served by the second facility at the Monarch data center campus in West Virginia. People familiar said the facility would use Nvidia Vera Rubin AI chips and provide 460 MW. Anthropic also holds a right of first refusal for a planned third facility; talks are ongoing and terms may change. The talks concern a second Monarch facility and are separate from an August compute-leasing agreement worth $45 billion. Reuters also said Microsoft recently withdrew from another Nscale flagship data center partnership because of power-connection delays, with projected power supply pushed to the 2030s.

Cloud startup Modal plans to adopt Nvidia's Vera CPU for AI agents that run sustained tasks, Reuters reported Oct. 19. Modal had run such workloads entirely on Intel and AMD chips. It said early tests doubled the amount of work agents could complete and it would adapt its low-level software to Nvidia's architecture. CEO Erik Bernhardsson said Modal would combine Vera with existing Intel and AMD products in a hybrid fleet and allocate hardware by task performance; it will retest when Intel and AMD release new models. Separately, Tenstorrent completed a $1.5 billion funding round at a post-money valuation of $6.2 billion, according to the 爱范儿 briefing.

Musk said in an X post on Oct. 19 that he would give one SpaceX share he holds to every child in the United States next year, calling it 'the first of many actions.' Based on the post's timing, the pledge points to 2027. Business Insider reported the same day that SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband had previously pledged SpaceX shares to more than 2 million children; Musk said he would add his own shares to the effort.

Netflix film chief Dan Lin has left the company, Deadline reported Oct. 19. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Lin both provided statements confirming the change. Lin, who joined in 2024 from production company Rideback and succeeded Scott Stuber, pushed to reduce high-cost film projects. A successor will be decided after Peter Rice arrives on Oct. 26 as chief content officer, replacing Bela Bajaria; no interview process for Lin's successor has started. Wang Teng said his sleep-health company ISHO will hold its first product launch on Oct. 29, and Unitree Technology will hold its 2026 World Physical AI Conference on Oct. 22 with more than 3,000 guests and 40 exhibition zones, according to the briefing.

Yinwang, CATL and Times Electric signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on Oct. 19 covering replaceable batteries and battery-swap networks. Yinwang joined CATL's chocolate battery-swap ecosystem. CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun, Yinwang CEO Jin Yuzhi and CATL market-system co-president Yang Jun attended.

Editor's Summary Apple has set an Oct. 28 event in Los Angeles where a touchscreen MacBook Pro and new iPads are expected, while Counterpoint reported China smartphone shipments fell 10% in the third quarter to the lowest same-period level since 2012. AI infrastructure deals and disputes also moved: Nscale and Anthropic discussed a $45 billion compute deal, Modal planned to use Nvidia's Vera CPU, and ByteDance and OpenAI addressed separate compute and security claims. Musk's pledge of SpaceX shares to every U.S. child and Netflix's film-chief departure added to a busy corporate news day.