Smartphones have overtaken laptops as the UK's preferred device for accessing the internet, according to an Ofcom survey, highlighting the need for businesses to adapt their strategies for mobiles.

A painful reversal in fortunes for Samsung Electronics' smartphone business continued in the second quarter, the company confirmed on Thursday, adding to scepticism about its strategy to halt its sliding market share.

Chipmaker Qualcomm said it may break itself up as it delivered its third profit warning this year and announced plans to slash jobs and spending in the face of rising competition.

Microsoft reported a $3.2 billion quarterly net loss, its biggest ever, as the company wrote down its Nokia phone business and demand fell for its Windows operating system.

Qualcomm is expected to conduct a sweeping strategic review that will look at the possibility of a breakup, among other options, after an activist investor pushed for change at the chipmaker.

ARM, the chip designer whose technology powers almost all smartphones, reported sales that missed analysts' estimates after device shipments by customers including Apple Inc. trailed predictions.

Apple and Samsung are in advanced talks to join the rest of the telecoms industry to launch electronic Sim cards, in a move could fundamentally change how consumers sign up to mobile operators.

Microsoft also announced the reduction of up to 7,800 positions, primarily in the phone business.

Apple distributors have slashed iPhone 4s to below Rs 13,000 (US$205.08), taking the battle right to the doors of domestic and Chinese smartphone players such as Micromax and Xiaomi in the popular mid-range smartphone market.

On June 29, 2007, Apple released the original iPhone with a sleek form factor and revolutionary multi-touch screen and significantly disrupted an industry then dominated by companies such as Nokia, BlackBerry, Sony and Motorola.

Smartphone thieves suffered a setback Wednesday when new laws took effect requiring all smartphones sold in California to come with an opt-out "kill switch," which slashes the phone's value if stolen and resold on the black market.

Sources familiar with Nokia's plans claim the Finnish company will launch its first smartphones as early as 2016. They will be powered by Google's Android mobile platform and will be manufactured by Foxconn.

Greater China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, is now Apple's second-largest market and has become a battleground for the company as it vies with Samsung Electronics Co. and Xiaomi Corp. for smartphone supremacy.

Gigaset, a name normally associated with landline phones, is to enter the smartphone race.

Microsoft on Wednesday announced the departure of former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop as part of a broad restructuring at the company, one that will see its Operating Systems Group and Microsoft Devices Group merge into one unit.

BlackBerry is considering equipping an upcoming smartphone with Google Android software for the first time, an acknowledgement that its revamped line of devices has failed to win mass appeal, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

China's Huawei Technologies expects total shipments of smartphones in southeast Asia to rise 160% to 8 million units in 2015, boosted by strong demand in Myanmar, it said on Thursday.

Xiaomi wants its own custom-designed processors to differentiate its products and control its destiny, an executive of Leadcore Technology told EE Times.

An increasing number of companies, mainly retailers, are launching low-cost smartphone services in Japan by taking advantage of a regulatory step designed to help users easily switch mobile operators.

Qualcomm has announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, is powering LG's latest flagship smartphone, the LG G4. The new smartphone is the first to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor with X10 LTE.

Lenovo and Acer have both unveiled smartphones with much larger than normal batteries.

Microsoft has lost the first round in a patent battle that could see its handsets banned from import into the US.

Broadcom has reported solid results for the first quarter of 2015, with revenue driven by high-end smartphone and broadband access markets.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi plans to assemble its products in Indonesia this year in a bid to boost the percentage of local content ahead of the government's "made in Indonesia" plan that will impose a mandatory 40-percent local content requirement for 4G handsets.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has decided to sell devices through a leading electronics retail chain in India, part of its effort to move away from online-only sales and boost growth in the world's third-largest smartphone market.

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new battery that can be recharged in about a minute and is safer than the lithium ion cells used in everything from smartwatches to passenger jets.

TSMC fell for a fifth day in Taipei trading, its longest losing streak in two years, after at least four analysts published reports saying a stronger U.S. dollar may weaken smartphone chip demand.

Sony has said it will spin off its video-and-audio business into a separate company as part of a three-year plan to return to profit.

Samsung's smartphone marketshare in Japan is so low the company is considering pulling out of the market to avoid ongoing losses.

The fine is the largest in China's corporate history and will require the firm to lower royalty rates on patents used in China's mobile phone market.

Samsung Electronics has appointed a new smartphone marketing chief, less than a month before the expected unveiling of its next flagship Galaxy S handset.

Samsung has announced the first full-year revenue decline at its mobile division since 2006 - a 21% fall - analysts barely mentioned that business. They focused instead on the semiconductor arm.

Qualcomm reduced its outlook for fiscal 2015, saying it expects its newest Snapdragon mobile chip will not be used in a major customer's flagship smartphone, sending its shares lower.

Sony plans to cut around 1,000 additional jobs in its struggling smartphone division as it tries to bring its electronics business back into the black, sources said on Wednesday.