Day: January 28, 2021

Apple edges out Samsung as top smartphone vendor

Thanks to iPhone 12 sales, Apple won the fourth quarter with the highest number of shipments among global smartphone vendors, says Canalys.

Image: Apple

Apple ended 2020 with a big boost in smartphone shipments courtesy of the iPhone 12.

Based on a report released Thursday by research firm Canalys, Apple shipped its most ever smartphones in a single quarter with 81.8 million units, a gain of 4% from 2019’s fourth quarter. At the same time, the company’s smartphone market share rose to 23% from 21%, pushing it into first place in the worldwide smartphone arena.

Though Apple no longer parses out actual unit sales for its products, iPhone revenues last quarter jumped to $65.6 billion versus $55.6 billion in the prior year’s quarter.

SEE: iPhone 12: A cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Calling the iPhone 12 a hit, Canalys analyst Vincent Thielke said that Apple is better positioned on 5G than its rivals as it’s heavily slanted toward developed markets and sales through mobile carriers.

“But it also made savvy moves behind the scenes to propel its sales and profitability,” Thielke added. “The omission of a power plug from the iPhone retail box, which reduces weight and size, is

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Missing a stimulus check? You might need an IRS payment trace. Here’s how to request it

We’ll tell you the right time to request a Payment Trace from the IRS for your no-show stimulus check.


Sarah Tew/CNET

Still waiting on your second stimulus check? It’s been almost two weeks since the IRS and US Treasury stopped sending out the second payment of up to $600 per person, but millions of people are experiencing delays or other issues preventing their check from arriving. To find out where your money is, you should first check the IRS’ payment status tool. Depending on what it tells you, you may need to take another step to track down your cash. 

For most people, that’s going to mean claiming your missing money on your 2020 tax return, as a Recovery Rebate Credit (here’s how to file that claim, even if you don’t usually file taxes). But in certain cases, you’ll need to contact the IRS and request something called a Payment Trace to find your missing funds. (You can use our stimulus calculator to estimate the amount of money you should have received in your check.) 

Here’s everything you need to know about what an IRS Payment Trace is, the two cases when you may need

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