Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023
How The Mobile Phone Market Has Evolved Since 1993
Visual Capitalist
By James Eagle, featured creator
The mobile phone landscape looks drastically different today than it did three decades ago.
In 1993, Motorola accounted for more than half of the mobile phone market. But by 2021, its market share had shrunk to just 2.2 percent. How did this happen, and how has the mobile industry changed over the last 30 years?
This video by James Eagle chronicles the evolution of the mobile phone market, showing the rise and fall of various mobile phone manufacturers. The data spans from December 1992 to December 2021.
The Early Days of Mobile Phones
Motorola is known for being a pioneer in the mobile phone industry.
In 1983, the American company launched one of the world’s first commercially available mobile phones—the DynaTAC 8000X. The revolutionary analog phone cost nearly $4,000 and offered users up to 30 minutes of talk time before needing to be recharged.
Motorola went on to launch a few more devices over the next few years, like the MicroTAC 9800X in 1989 and the International 3200 in 1992, and quickly became a dominant player in the nascent industry. In the early days of the market, the company’s only serious competitor was Finnish multinational Nokia, which had acquired the early mobile network pioneer Mobira.
But by the mid-1990s, other competitors like Sony and Siemens started to gain some solid footing, which chipped away at Motorola’s dominance. In September 1995, the company’s market share was down to 32.1 percent.
San Diego on forefront of launching
first-in-the-nation care court program
By Richard Allyn
San Diego is on the forefront of what Governor Newsom is calling a “bold new strategy” to battle the homelessness crisis. Last month, San Diego brought together state, county and local leaders to begin the groundwork on launching California’s new “Care Court” system.
This new program, which begins in October, will use local courts to help provide treatment and housing to those who are mentally ill and on the streets.
San Diego is one of the first counties in California volunteering to launch this first-in-the-nation Care Court program, and hosted that inaugural meeting with leaders from throughout the state.
“We really rolled up our sleeves and got to work for how we’re going to make Care Court work on the streets in San Diego next year,” said County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, a strong supporter of the concept.
New computer program ‘learns’ to identify
mosaic mutations that cause disease
By Scott LaFee
Genetic mutations cause hundreds of unsolved and untreatable disorders. Among them, DNA mutations in a small percentage of cells, called mosaic mutations, are extremely difficult to detect because they exist in a tiny percentage of the cells.
Current DNA mutation software detectors, while scanning the 3 billion bases of the human genome, are not well suited to discern mosaic mutations hiding among normal DNA sequences. Often medical geneticists must review DNA sequences by eye to try to identify or confirm mosaic mutations — a time-consuming endeavor fraught with the possibility of error.
Writing in the Jan. 2, 2023 issue of Nature Biotechnology, researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine describe a method for teaching a computer how to spot mosaic mutations using an artificial intelligence approach termed “deep learning.”
Price Charities leads $3.5 million push
to train more mental health care workers
A coalition spanning government and private philanthropy took a step toward solving the region’s mental health staffing shortage with the unanimous approval last month of a $3.5 million project that aims to train a broad range of mental health care workers.
Price Charities, long known for its work on mental health care issues, pledged $2.5 million toward a five-year pilot project, supporting Interfaith Community Services of Escondido, an organization that has been helping people through the rough patches of life since 1979. An additional $1 million will come from county coffers.
Applications open for Tourism
Authority’s Accelerator program
The San Diego Tourism Authority is now accepting applications for its innovative Tourism Accelerator program. San Diego travel and tourism businesses owned by people of color, LGBTQ+, women and veterans are invited to apply to the high-impact program that includes a suite of services and benefits valued at over $14,000. Deadline to apply is Jan. 6, 2023.
Realty Income to acquire properties from
CIM Real Estate Finance Trust
Realty Income Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire up to 185 single-tenant retail and industrial properties from subsidiaries of CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, a non-listed REIT which is sponsored by an affiliate of CIM Group, for approximately $894 million in cash. The portfolio composition may vary based upon the completion of due diligence and the potential exercise of rights of first refusal related to certain properties. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.
Geno joins United Nations
Global Compact initiative
Sustainable materials leader Geno announced that it joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) initiative — the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 15,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories in over 160 countries.
Geno’s mission is to accelerate the materials transition — at scale, creating traceable, transparent and responsibly sourced supply chains that replace unsustainable sources.
Urban Plates debuts upgraded
Plate Pass subscription program
With more and more guests feeling the pinch of inflationary pressures, Urban Plates of Solana Beach has upgraded its signature Plate Pass program to offer more savings on more menu items. Unlike other loyalty or subscription-based programs, Plate Pass benefits are redeemable immediately and are not blocked by a tier system. Guests start saving 20 percent off their entire check as soon as they sign up for the program. Launched thiw week, the enhanced Plate Pass program invites members to access more of the Urban Plates menu while making memberships more convenient and affordable.
San Diego’s Blacksmith Medicines
merges with Forge Therapeutics
Blacksmith Medicines Inc., a San Diego company, and Forge Therapeutics have signed a definitive merger agreement to leverage their combined chemistry platforms, creating a leading biopharma dedicated to discovering and developing medicines targeting a large class of proteins called metalloenzymes, with initial focus on oncology and infection. The Blacksmith platform has been validated through multiple pharmaceutical partnerships, including deals with Roche, Eli Lilly, and Basilea, which have the potential to earn over $800 million in milestone payments plus royalties.
Realty Income Corporation to acquire property
from CIM Real Estate Finance Trust
Realty Income Corporation, The Monthly Dividend Company based in San Diego, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire up to 185 single-tenant retail and industrial properties from subsidiaries of CIM Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (CMFT), a non-listed REIT which is sponsored by an affiliate of CIM Group, for approximately $894 million in cash. The portfolio composition may vary based upon the completion of due diligence and the potential exercise of rights of first refusal related to certain properties. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.
EDF Renewables North America divests
interest in five wind projects in U.S.
EDF Renewables North America has completed the transaction with Boralex Inc. by which Boralex has acquired EDF Renewables’ 50-percent ownership interests in five operating wind power projects totaling 447 megawatts (MW) in Texas and New Mexico. EDF Renewables put into service all five projects totaling 894 MW with commissioning dates between 2014 and 2015. The sale of assets represents an integral part of EDF Renewables’ business model to facilitate a balanced portfolio and advance funding for new project development.
Emeritus Program offers seniors free creative courses
The Emeritus Program at the San Diego College of Continuing Education allows adults 55 and older to take courses at no cost so they can learn another creative skill. From nutrition to arts, retirement, and more, SDCCE’s Emeritus program offers hundreds of free classes specifically designed to support older adults maintain independence, rejoin the workforce, and actively engage in the community. New to the program this year is the Law and the Retiree curriculum series, which gives an overview of legal topics in areas of health care, insurance, housing,
