Software-defined vehicles (SDVs) are increasingly playing a crucial role in automakers’ product evolution. From consolidating hardware to providing regular software updates and the necessary compute power for future applications such as autonomous driving and digital cockpits, the SDV will become a defining enabler.

In this latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, host Murtuza Ali is joined by Benjamin Lyon, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Aptiv, a global technology firm and automotive supplier. The conversation dives into Aptiv’s software platform and service offering, which are enabling the SDV for automotive OEMs.

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The European regulatory landscape is changing, and a key focus is on sustainability. As part of this, the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies to publish regular reports and how their activities impact the environment. Larger companies are already doing this, but from 1st January 2026, smaller companies will also be required to submit reports. For some this will not be an easy task, so for this podcast we talk to Francis D'Souza from Banyan.eco, who is helping companies meet the requirements.

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IoT connectivity is starting to play a crucial role in connecting devices to the internet. From remotely controlling smart home appliances and devices like smart meters to even monitoring industrial machines, IoT applications are proliferating. With the stellar rise of AI, edge computing is enabling even faster decision making.

In this latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, host Mohit Agrawal is joined by Kenta Yasukawa, Co-Founder and CTO of Soracom, a global cellular IoT connectivity provider. The conversation dives into Soracom's focus areas, recent achievements, the landscape of cellular IoT connectivity, AI, and the company’s vision for the future of IoT.

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eSIM technology is seeing rapid growth. It is being adopted by OEMs in premium smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets, freeing up space for sleeker designs. In our previous podcasts, we spoke about the global eSIM market, innovative business models from various companies, eSIM testing, interoperability, and much more.

In this latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, we look at eSIM opportunities in India, one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Host Mohit Agrawal is joined by two Kigen officials – VP of Marketing Bee-Hayes Thakore and Regional VP Solutions Mayank Sharma. Kigen is among the companies named as leaders in Counterpoint’s latest eSIM rankings. It is a fast-growing company, renowned across the industry for its eSIM enablement. Kigen also pioneered iSIM technology.

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Generative AI (GenAI) is emerging as a major trend in the tech industry, finding its way into the latest smartphones and PCs. However, on-device AI has been around for a few years now, and there is some confusion regarding the definition of a smartphone with AI and a GenAI smartphone.

Counterpoint Research defines a GenAI smartphone as a mobile device that leverages large-scale, pre-trained generative AI models to create original content or perform context-aware tasks. We expect such devices to have multimodal capabilities, allowing them to process text, image, voice and other inputs to generate a variety of output and enable a user experience that is fluid and seamless. We also expect the hardware specifications of such devices to evolve as the technology advances. But at present, a device should have hardware capabilities that are comparable to or exceed the performance of current flagship smartphones to effectively run GenAI models.

While GenAI technology appears promising, there are several questions in the industry. GenAI phones will need powerful hardware to run those large language models (LLMs), faster processing for inferencing, and more storage. Will these upgrades weigh on the smartphone pricing? Will GenAI phones cost more than regular phones? Could GenAI be the factor that will drive smartphone upgrades? We try to answer all these questions in this podcast.

In this latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, host Mohit Agrawal is joined by Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, to talk about GenAI smartphones. We discuss our definition of GenAI smartphones, potential impact on pricing and upgrade cycle, role of chipmakers, OEM strategies and our forecast. In this discussion, we also touch upon hardware requirements, ecosystem players that are driving GenAI experiences, regional differences and much more.

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5G technology offers a significant leap over 4G, unlocking low-latency, high-upload and high-download speeds in today’s connected era. But as we rely more on connectivity for new and immersive experiences for applications like Extended Reality (XR), connected cars and even generative AI applications, 5G Advanced will push the boundaries of what is possible.

5G Advanced Release 18 is nearing completion with finalization expected in June 2024, whereas Release 19 is estimated to be completed in the second half of 2025. From massive network capacity to ultra-low latency and speeds, 5G Advanced enhances network performance, reduces energy consumption, which is good for sustainability, and brings new use cases like non-terrestrial network (NTN) integration.

In the latest episode of The Counterpoint Podcast, host Gareth Owen is joined by Danny Tseng, Technical Director of Marketing at Qualcomm, to discuss 5G Advanced and current and future advancements in the 5G technology. The discussion focuses on how 5G Advanced will play a crucial role in network performance and energy efficiency, while also integrating new applications like IoT and AI. The conversation also briefly touches upon 6G and beyond.

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Continuing our eSIM podcast series, we talk to eSIM Plus, a worldwide virtual phone number and mobile data provider. It uses eSIM to overcome digital boundaries and offer comprehensive solutions. eSIM Plus offers a virtual phone number along with flexible mobile data plans tailored to the specific needs of both individuals and businesses.

Addressing both, previous slower-than-expected growth and current stable growth, eSIM Plus seeks to catapult customers into a new era of mobile connectivity based on vast global reach, adaptable solutions, and local pricing for global connectivity. The price and convenience of deployment will improve the user experience and serve as the foundation for an Always Connected society.

In this latest Counterpoint podcast, host Ankit Malhotra is joined by Dina Tsybulskaya, CEO of eSIM Plus, to delve into how eSIM Plus plans to go beyond present-day connectivity. The discussion how it is forming synergies between critical sectors like Finance and Telecom to support advanced technologies like Cryptocurrency and leverage the power of blockchain for efficient operations. Dina also emphasizes integrating eSIM with satellite services, disrupting the existing network core and shifting towards global balancing of prices.

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Continuing our eSIM podcast series, this time we talk to Thales, one of the eSIM provisioning landscape leaders according to Counterpoint’s CORE report. Being in the industry for over 30 years, Thales has played a foundational role in organizations like Trusted Connectivity Alliance (TCA). Thales also deployed the world's first GSMA-certified eSIM activation solution on Google Cloud.

Thales adopts a hybrid architecture, combining the benefits of public cloud and private cloud for operational excellence and security. It also offers a wide range of activation methods for the consumer market, thus enhancing the end-user journey through various channels. Thales’ strategic focus is on providing eSIM services with a comprehensive portfolio, addressing both consumer and IoT markets, eSIM discovery service, real-time profile adaptation and supply chain optimization.

In the latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, host Ankit Malhotra is joined by Pascal Di Girolamo, Marketing Director at Thales, to talk about eSIM innovations, digital security and more that Thales is working on. The conversation dives into the challenges faced by the eSIM industry, including the need for enhanced customer awareness and a seamless transition from M2M to IoT. Pascal also emphasizes the importance of certification and collaboration with partners like Qualcomm, and much more.

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