Samsung sold 12.5 million smartphones in China between January and March, accounting for a 18.5% market share, up 2.2pp from the previous quarter, the report quoted data compiled by Strategy Analytics as saying.

Samsung Electronics will buy new shares in unlisted South Korean smartphone maker Pantech, making Samsung the third-largest Pantech shareholder with a 10% stake.

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global Android smartphone profits reached US$5 billion in total during the first quarter of 2013. Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95% share of all Android smartphone profits.

Nokia's position in the smartphone market dropped to No. 10 in the first quarter of 2013, from No. 8 in the fourth quarter of 2012.

"Are you aware that results are what matter? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Please switch to another road," one shareholder, Hannu Virtanen, told Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.

Rubinstein's experience at a handset vendor, as well as at a large computing company like HP, will help Qualcomm with its strategy.

Although smartphone sales are still climbing Qualcomm is now facing fiercer competition from other chip makers, including Intel, which has been redesigning its microprocessors in an attempt to grab a bigger piece of the mobile computing market.

ARM jumped the most in more than four years after reporting sales that beat estimates as demand increased for its graphics and processing technology.

Finnish phone maker Nokia has won a court injunction banning HTC from using microphone parts made by STMicroelectronics in its flagship HTC One phones, in a move that will deepen the problems at the struggling Taiwanese handset company.

Samsung Electronics is considering purchasing mobile memory chips from rival SK Hynix Inc for future products including its new flagship Galaxy S smartphone to be launched this month, JK Shin, head of Samsung's mobile business, said on Thursday.

"More generally there is a growing level of dissatisfaction among Apple executives and employees, and a greater willingness to explore leaving..."

A German security consultant, who's also a commercial pilot, has demonstrated tools he says could be used to hijack an airplane remotely, using just an Android phone.

Samsung is not done pumping the smartphone form factor with growth hormones-a "Mega" phone with a 6.3-inch screen is reportedly in the works.

Lenovo, which has maintained a small IC design team consisting of about 10 people over the last decade, is now committed to expanding this team to about 100 engineers by the middle of 2013, according to a China-based industry source with direct knowledge of the company's recruitment of chip designers.

Samsung still has its challenges in trying to beat Apple for consumers' loyalty.

The HTC One was successfully torn down, but the excessive use of glue, rather than screws, helped make this device the single most difficult cellphone ever disassembled.

In a rare interview a day before Samsung Electronics's launch of a new flagship smartphone, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller on Wednesday played down the expected competition from the device. He also discussed how he believes products that run Google's Android software, such as Samsung's phone, are inferior to Apple's iPhone.

Google is cutting loose another 10% of its Motorola Mobility workforce - which means 1,200 employees at the smartphone maker face redundancy. The move comes after 4,000 jobs in the Motorola wing of Google's biz were axed in August 2012.

Samsung has failed to secure a iPhone ban in Japan in its latest patent fight with Apple.

Qualcomm has announced a pair of new mobile processors designed for entry-level and mid-range smartphones. Expected in handsets later in 2013, the Snapdragon 200 and 400 balance the high-end 600 and 800 processors introduced in January.

The new HTC One, shown exclusively to the BBC at the company's headquarters in Taiwan's capital Taipei weeks before its official launch, differs starkly from HTC's previous phones - and from many other smartphones currently on the market.

Samsung said it was 99% sure that the phone wasn't one of theirs, adding: "It looks more like an HTC model."

ARM, the designer of chips for leading smartphones, beat analyst expectations with full-year profits up 20%. A presentation to investors by CEO Warren East was dominated by talk of the 'post-PC' era, in which the market for Internet-enabled devices will spread into areas such as security and healthcare.

It's clear Samsung is serious about expanding its footprint in Silicon Valley. In December the Korean company announced it is building a 1.1-million-square-foot R&D center in San Jose and an incubator in Palo Alto. This week it also unveiled a "Strategy and Innovation Center" in Menlo Park, which Sohn oversees.

To quote the immortal lines of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) in Jurassic Park: "your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should."

It's been leaked and previewed and speculated about for months now. The only thing left to do with the BlackBerry 10 operating system is release it, and RIM-now officially renamed to "BlackBerry"-finally did that today at its press event in New York City.

As expected, Qualcomm cashed in on smartphone sales and the chipsets that go with them. In a statement, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said the company is positioned for strong growth courtesy of its Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and 600 processors.

"Fuelled by robust demand for its popular Galaxy models, Samsung was the star performer, shipping a record 396.5 million mobile phones worldwide and capturing 25% market share to solidify its first-place lead," said Neil Shah, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Lenovo has signalled it is a potential acquirer of Research In Motion, lifting the shares in the troubled Canadian maker of BlackBerry smartphones.

Starting from January 26, Americans will have to get permission to "unlock" their smartphone so it runs on more than one mobile network.

Apple is working on "a new product" aimed at the low-end of the market that will be built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

The successor to Samsung Electronics' blockbuster Galaxy S3 could launch in April. That's according to Samsung news Web site SamMobile, which pegs the phone's launch on April 15.

ASML has warned of a weak first quarter but said it sees a recovery in the following months as smartphone and tablet makers shift to the next generation of chips.

Nearly two years ago, Stephen Elop, Nokia's new chief executive, spoke of flaming ocean platforms and shark-infested waters to describe the problems he inherited as the company teetered on the brink of irrelevance.

Samsung Electronics is looking to supply chips to more Chinese and other emerging smartphone makers, the head of its system chip business said, to counter any fall-off in demand from Apple, which is weaning itself off Samsung chips used in its iPhones and iPads.

Sony has announced a new smartphone that can be used in the shower or bath without the risk of damage.