NAME : RCS

AGE : ALMOST TEN YEARS OLD , BUT VERY , VERY NEW .

APPEARANCE : THE END OF APP-BASED MESSAGING ?

What ’ s RCS stand for ? It stands for Rich Communication Services - rich like a chocolate gateau , not Jeff Bezos .

And what is it exactly ? So , you know how nobody uses SMS anymore because Facebook Messenger , Whatsapp etc let you send gifs , stickers and videos , as well as a ton of other functionality ? Well , RCS is bringing all that to your phone as standard .

It ’ s replacing SMS ? Yeah , at an incredible rate . Juniper Research predicts that by 2025 , there are going to be 415bn RCS messages sent every year – growth of 2500 %.

What does that mean for WhatsApp and Facebook ? OTT messaging platforms are in trouble for a couple of reasons . First , people are going to have RCSs built into their phones as standard . Second , companies like Facebook and Google are going to lose out on one of the biggest advertising platforms of the decade . That also means telecoms are poised to open up huge new revenue streams .

� APPLE : Even in the midst of a pandemic , Apple shattered expectations , growing its market share and bringing home a record-breaking $ 111.8bn in revenue in Q4 alone .

� EUROPEAN SMARTPHONE OWNERS : The EU Commission has declared war on planned obsolescence and e-waste . Users can expect handsets that last longer , are more sustainably made , and easier to repair .

� UK 5G : The government has pushed back its 5G auction again to later this month , slowing the pace of adoption and hurting the country ’ s position as a 5G player .

� LG : Decades of wacky designs at premium prices turned heads but didn ’ t open enough wallets . Despite the success of the Wing and the unveiling of a rollable phone screen , LG is rumoured to be in talks to offload its phone brand this year .

mobile-magazine . com 11