Another analyst firm has downgraded its growth forecast for the global smartphone market, but while US tariffs are a key reason for the shift, there are other issues at play, including weakness in China.

Counterpoint Research on Wednesday revealed that it has revised down its predictions for this year. Having previously expected 4.2% year-on-year growth in smartphone shipments in 2025, it is now looking at a 1.9% increase.

That's quite a change, and the headline reason behind it is of course the tariff issue.

Vodafone has launched a new digital travel platform centred around its Travel eSIM, and has extended it to 206 destinations on 700 networks, which will be supported by GenAI customer service.

• Unprecedented £11bn investment is one of the largest privately funded infrastructure programmes in the UK, connecting all four nations and every community  
• VodafoneThree is the only mobile network operator with a fully funded, regulated and guaranteed network build plan, reaching 99.95% 5G Standalone population coverage by 2034 and at its peak creating approximately 13,000 jobs
• Within just two weeks, through sharing of combined spectrum, 7 million

Spain's Telefonica said it was looking into a potential cyberattack after data allegedly belonging to one million customers in Peru was released on an internet forum.

"We are investigating an alleged security breach. The sample released by the actor, which comprises 1 million records, seems to correspond to customers in Peru," a Telefonica spokesperson said.

According to a post on X by HackManac - an account tracking cyberattacks around the world - a group calling itself "Dedale" was offering a database containing information on approximately 22 million Telefonica customers.

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud will have local European leadership, independent governance, and a dedicated Security Operations Center.

US public cloud giant AWS has unveiled a new company that will run its European sovereign cloud operations, with copious vows about security and autonomy.

Imaginatively named ‘AWS European Sovereign Cloud’ the new organisation is positioned as offering the maximum levels of local governance and control while still being owned by AWS. The parent company, which will formally launch before the end of this year, will be run by Kathrin Renz, who leads AWS’s industries business. But it’s OK because she’s nice and German and thus, we’re asked to believe, will prioritise Europe stuff.

Nokia has been selected to lead PROACTIF, an EU project involving 42 European tech firms from 13 countries with the aim of boosting drone and robotics autonomy on the continent.

42 partners and four affiliates from 13 countries are involved, and the focus is on critical infrastructure surveillance and emergency management in Europe. It is funded by the European Union’s Chips Joint Undertaking.

BT has reorganised its multinational services operation into a dedicated division within the group, fuelling further speculation about its future.

Funnily enough, it is called BT International, and when it comes to the global stage it repositions the UK incumbent as what it calls an asset-light, platform-rich service provider.

Nokia, Colt, and Honeywell are researching how to protect encrypted data from quantum risks using Low Earth Orbit satellites.

The firms have announced they are working on quantum-safe networking using satellite communications, which involves testing new ways of protecting encrypted optical network traffic from risks that emerge when quantum computing potentially breaks through traditional encryption methods.

Analyst IDC has decreased its predictions for worldwide smartphone shipments this year, forecasting them to grow 0.6% YoY to 1.24 billion units, citing uncertainty and tariff volatility.

The forecast was reduced from the 2.3% growth in its February forecast, a drop which it attributed to high uncertainty, tariff volatility and macro-economic challenges such as inflation and unemployment, leading to a slowdown in consumer spending.