Top Android news of the week: HTC woes, Samsung layoffs, keep Xperia on dry land
This week in Android we had reports of Samsung cutting its Korean staff due to poor financial performance, HTC was dropped from stock exchange ranking, and Android Pay is rolling out in the US.
HTC's financial troubles have been ongoing for a while, and as a result the firm has been dropped from the TWSE 50. This is the Taiwan Stock Exchange's listing of the 50 largest firms in Taiwan.
HTC is based in Taiwan and this is no doubt embarrassing for the company.
Samsung cutting staff due to lackluster smartphone sales
In spite of releasing the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+, Samsung's smartphone sales have dropped to the point that the company will reduce its Korean staff by 10 percent. The company will also reduce its operating expenses by 50 percent next year in an effort to control the situation.
Samsung has been the number one Android phone OEM for some time and this is a major blow to the space.
Sony now says don't use our waterproof phone underwater
A big splash was made by Sony over its waterproof Xperia phones. It touted the rigorous testing they put the phones through in order to gain a waterproof certification. Using the phones underwater has been a part of the marketing campaigns for the phones.
The firm's policy now states that even though some Xperia phones are indeed waterproof, owners should not use them underwater. The new terms for the Xperia Z5 indicate that the waterproof rating was achieved under laboratory settings and that owners shouldn't try this at home (or elsewhere).
Google's rebranded mobile payment system is rolling out in the US. Android Pay will eventually replace Google Wallet for mobile payments. According to the company Android Pay will be accepted in millions of establishments at major retail operations like McDonald's.
