It is the'beginning of the end' for traditional smartphones, according to an annual technology report. Analysts believe that something entirely different may supplant the smartphone such as smart rings, bracelets and glasses. Even as top makers like Apple and Samsung unveil new handsets with improved performance, overall sales have flattened with most major markets largely saturated, the report found. In just over a decade, smartphones have become the hottest-selling consumer device around the world. The next catalyst for smartphones could be the possibilities offered by the forthcoming 5G, or fifth generation wireless networks, new form factors or advances in virtual and augmented reality. Future Today Institute founder Amy Webb said in her annual report on technology trends that 2018 'marks the beginning of the end of traditional smartphones'.

Manufacturing giant Foxconn has said it will make a major investment in artificial intelligence-based R&D as it looks for new business growth opportunities in a cooling global smartphone market, Nikkei reports. "We will at least invest some 10 billion New Taiwan dollars ($342M) over five years to recruit top talent and deploy artificial intelligence applications in all the manufacturing sites," said chairman Terry Gou. "It's likely that we could even pour in some $10BN or more if we find the deployments are very successful or can really generate results." Gou added that the ambition is to become "a global innovative AI platform rather than just a manufacturing company". Data put out this week by Strategy Analytics records a 9 per cent fall in global smartphone shipments in Q4 2017 -- the biggest such drop in smartphone history -- which the analyst blames on the floor falling out of the smartphone market in China.