Technologies

Maybe Don’t Wait to Buy a Phone: Tariffs Expected to Slow Smartphone Shipment Growth

The US and China will drive smartphone shipment growth despite ongoing tariff concerns.

If you’re thinking about buying a smartphone, now’s the time to start shopping around. The technology research firm International Data Corporation has lowered its smartphone shipment growth forecast to 0.6% year-over-year because of economic challenges. One of the big reasons cited is the Trump Administration’s tariffs.

In February, IDC predicted 2.3% growth for the year but that was before Trump’s tariffs, which put extra charges on items imported from other countries, especially China. The IDC updated its worldwide quarterly mobile phone tracker on Thursday to show the shift.

What does that mean for smartphone availability and prices? Here’s what you need to know.

The US and China will lead smartphone growth despite trade war

Among all countries tracked globally, the US and China will drive the 0.6% growth, with China expected to have 3% year-over-year growth in smartphone shipment growth and the US expecting a 1.9% growth rate. That’s down from the previous projection caused by the ongoing US-China trade war, said Anthony Scarsella, research director for the IDC.

The growth decline doesn’t seem temporary. It’s expected to remain in the single digits for the foreseeable future. Yet, Nabila Popal, IDC senior research director, says the slowdown in 2025 is certainly short-term and won’t impact the market long term. Growth is expected to be higher in 2026 but will still be in the low single digits due to high penetration, increasing life cycle and the increasing popularity of used smartphones.

What the smartphone growth shift means for you

The big reason for the change is that consumers are buying fewer smartphones for a few economic reasons beyond tariffs.

«I don’t think anyone expected the mayhem of April 2, and the uncertainty that followed after, which is still ongoing,» said Popal. «But a lot of the market decline in 2025 is not just due to the tariffs but also economic challenges in emerging markets stemming from unemployment, inflation and FX volatility that is tightening the consumer wallet.»

Manufacturers are impacted, too. According to IDC, Apple sales could face a decline in China this year because of competition and not qualifying for government subsidies for iPhone models.

However, that could be offset by upcoming mobile product launches, like the iPhone 17, that could boost shipments and sales. For example, the base model of the iPhone 16 was the top-selling smartphone for the first quarter of 2025 globally. The iPhone 17 upgrades are expected to do fairly well, preventing the market from a deeper decline, Popal said.

While you cannot control growth protections and cellphone prices, it’s important to do what’s best for your wallet. If you’re in the market for a new phone and you’re worried about tariffs bumping up the price of the new iPhone or limiting availability, you may consider buying sooner rather than later if you already have the money saved for it. It’s also a good time to save more to account for price increases if you don’t plan on buying right away.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 26, #549

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 549 for Thursday, March 26.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

How good are you at unscrambling letters to make a new word out of an old one? Today’s Connections: Sports Edition requires you to do just that — for the purple category, naturally. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Touch ’em all!

Green group hint: It’s outta here!

Blue group hint: Working one’s way up to the majors.

Purple group hint: Unscramble these words.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Slang for home run.

Green group: MLB home run leaders in 2025.

Blue group: Minor league baseball leagues.

Purple group: Anagrams of MLB teams.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is slang for home run. The four answers are dinger, homer, jack and round-tripper.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is MLB home run leaders in 2025. The four answers are Judge, Ohtani, Raleigh and Schwarber.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is minor league baseball leagues. The four answers are Carolina, International, Pacific Coast and Texas.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is anagrams of MLB teams. The four answers are Bucs (Cubs), parties (Pirates), spread (Padres) and stem (Mets).

Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing.

#1: Serie A Clubs. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.

#2: WNBA MVPs. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.

#3: Premier League team nicknames. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.

#4: Homophones of NBA player names. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 26 #753

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 26, No. 753.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle should appeal to musicians of all kinds. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: I blew it!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: I’m in the band.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

NORM, CARL, MODE, MODES, LUTE, COME, COME, BEND, NITE, TINE, HARM

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

OBOE, FLUTE, CLARINET, RECORDER, HARMONICA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is WINDINSTRUMENT. To find it, start with the W that is at the bottom of the far-left vertical row, and wind up and across.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.

#1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

Technologies

Ring Finally Goes Wire-Free for Its Latest 4K Video Doorbells

The launch of battery-powered versions of the company’s powerful AI doorbells has been highly anticipated.

Security company Ring on Wednesday announced a significant expansion of its video doorbell line, notably battery-powered versions of both its 4K and 2K models, priced from $80.

Both Amazon’s Ring and Google Nest debuted high-resolution video doorbells with new AI features in the fall of 2025. But they were wired only, and in my tests, I kept thinking, «I sure wish there were battery models available.»

Wireless video doorbells are far better for most front doors than models that require connecting to your existing doorbell wiring, which is often poorly positioned for a security camera. Mine, for example, is located on a wall beside my door that’s useless for any kind of video views, no matter how you angle a lens.

«Enhancing image quality in battery-powered doorbells means customers can enjoy reliable performance with the flexibility to install devices in a way that suits their space, whether renting or living in homes without existing wiring,» a Ring spokesperson said.

At first, I wondered whether the higher 4K resolutions and more advanced AI features would use too much power to support batteries. If so, Ring is the first to fix that issue with this suite of doorbells, including these models available for preorder right now:

Ring Battery Doorbell Pro — $250: This model offers up to 4K resolution and 10x zoom, and Ring says it features a redesigned internal architecture to support battery power.
Ring Battery Doorbell Plus (2nd-gen) — $180: This model includes a quick-release battery pack along with 2K video.
Ring Battery Doorbell (2nd-gen) — $100: This video doorbell includes 2K video, a 6x zoom and what Ring calls a «streamlined, rechargeable design,» which means you take the entire video doorbell to charge it, not just the battery — a design I greatly prefer, since Ring’s battery packs can get fiddly.

There’s also a new version of a Ring wired doorbell with 2K resolution, starting at $80. It wouldn’t be Ring without a plethora of doorbell devices to confuse newcomers, which is why I have a guide specifically for Ring video doorbells that will need some updating once I finish testing these new models.

Resolution plus an intelligence upgrade

Ring’s ordinary subscriptions of the Ring Protect plan give you cloud video storage and intelligent alerts for people, packages and vehicles, which are important but not really advanced AI. But spring for the $20-per-month Ring AI Pro cam, and this new generation of cameras opens up other capabilities.

Ring’s AI features include AI video descriptions, so if you get an alert, you can also get a summary of what the doorbell saw, including people and activities. A similar feature lets you search your video history with specific terms, such as «bike,» «truck» and so on. You also get the beta version of Ring’s Familiar Faces feature, which can ID logged faces of people who approach.

If these AI features make you uneasy and you’d rather protect your privacy, the best option is to avoid a subscription altogether or choose a lower-tier plan that gives you cloud storage without AI.

I also have a guide on how to turn off Ring’s detection and data-sharing features that might make you nervous, so you can keep what you like while ditching what you don’t.