Pyramid Research analysis, NTT Hits Light-Speed -- "NTT East, NTT West, and NTT Communications recently announced plans to spend an estimated JPY800bn (US$7.4bn) over the next five years to create the world's largest fiber optic network. Specifically, the NTT companies will upgrade 30m connections nationwide to fiber thereby allowing them to offer a wider array of value-added services on top of traditional voice. As Japan analyst Jane Buenaventura states, the justification for this expense is simple: survival in the increasingly competitive Japanese broadband market."
The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...