According to two new reports issued this week, while operators recognise the need to provide bundled service offerings, they have yet to determine how to change consumer buying habits and generate extra demand. Recent consumer market studies by Yankee Group and In-Stat show that consumers are not used to looking for a bundled service offering and are still most attracted by the lowest price available for a specific service. In-Stat reports that just 14 percent of potential residential customers in the US intend to sign-up for a bundled offering from a single service provider in the next twelve months, prompting a warning that operators need to better understand specific market segments and provide more targeted offerings. Commenting on what she described as �tepid at best� growth potential for bundled services, In-Stat analyst Amy Cravens said, �In order to better capitalise on the bundled opportunity, providers must offer a variety of package choices to match the appropriate services with different customers� needs.�
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...