Technologies

Smartphone Shipments Are Forecast to Decline in 2023 Thanks to Inflation

Despite a lower forecast for 2023, look for the market to rebound in 2024.

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A weaker economic outlook and ongoing inflation mean that global shipments of smartphones are expected to decline by 3.2% in 2023, according to a new forecast from International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. That prediction is even worse than the last — it’s been revised downward from the 1.1% decline that was forecast in February.

Smartphone shipments now are expected to total 1.17 billion units for the year.

It’s not all bad news, however. Despite the lower forecast for 2023, IDC reports that it expects a smartphone market recovery in 2024, with 6% year-over-year growth. But consumer demand is recovering much slower than expected in all regions, the report noted.

«If 2022 was a year of excess inventory, 2023 is a year of caution,» said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. «While everyone wants to have inventory ready to ride the wave of the inevitable recovery, no one wants to be stuck holding it too long. This also means the brands that take the risk — at the right time — can potentially reap great rewards of share gain.»

Read more: Best Phone to Buy for 2023

One particular type of phone is continuing to develop more choices: the futuristic-looking foldable phones.

«We continue to see more foldable designs in the market, which is a great technological step forward for the industry, but the timing is unfortunate,» said Ryan Reith, group vice president, Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers at IDC.

As CNET reported in our rating of the best foldable phones, the market for folding phones is dominated by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4. But Google recently took the wraps off its first foldable, the Pixel Fold, Motorola has launched a refreshed version of its folding Razr flip phone and both Honor and Oppo offer folding models.

If you’re due to upgrade your phone this year, CNET also has lists of our picks for the best phones for 2023, best Android phone of 2023 and best phone under $500.

Technologies

I Didn’t Expect a Refund From Amazon After All These Years, but It Happened

Amazon’s internal review led to a surprise deposit in my bank account.

Did you get a random refund from Amazon recently? You aren’t alone. Several customers have reported they received a variety of amounts of money from products they ordered months or even years ago, with one customer on LinkedIn saying he received a refund of $1,800 for a smart TV bought seven years ago. Others made similar comments about products bought long ago.

According to Bloomberg, it all ties back to an internal review Amazon did, possibly in response to a 2023 lawsuit. That suit claimed Amazon had quietly reversed legit return-related refunds for some shoppers. Now, it looks like Amazon’s making good — and if you’ve ever had a return go sideways, you might see a little money show up too.

A representative for Amazon told CNET that only a small number of customers would be affected.

«Following a recent internal review, we identified a very small subset of returns where we issued a refund without the payment completing, or where we could not verify that the correct item had been sent back to us so no refund was issued,» an Amazon representative said. «There is no action required from customers to receive the refunds, and we have fixed the payment issue.»

In its latest earnings call, Amazon reported a one-time expense of $1 billion connected to refunds that the company had not yet sent out. These earmarked funds could be responsible for the sudden updates that shoppers are now seeing regarding purchases as far back as 2018.

Read more: I’ve Been Tracking Tariff Price Impacts Every Day and Here’s What I’ve Found So Far

If you receive an email about a surprise refund from Amazon orders, it may be related to these changes Amazon has made behind the scenes. You may still want to confirm it’s not fraud by logging into your Amazon account or making a quick service call, especially if it’s a larger amount like a payment for a TV. Scammers may be taking advantage of this news, too, so be wary of any notification that asks you for financial information, which Amazon should already have.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, May 25

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 25.

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

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword isn’t too tough. I was stumped right away though, with 1-Across, but when I read it to my teen daughter, she knew it immediately. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Good for a bike route, bad for a bike tire
Answer: FLAT

5A clue: Rolling in it
Answer: RICH

6A clue: Internet company with a purple logo
Answer: YAHOO

8A clue: McIlroy who won the 2025 Masters
Answer: RORY

9A clue: Mumford & ___ (rock band)
Answer: SONS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Food item dipped in ketchup
Answer: FRY

2D clue: Apt rhyme of «falsifiers»
Answer: LIARS

3D clue: Sneezing sound
Answer: ACHOO

4D clue: Plant’s defense against herbivores, perhaps
Answer: THORN

7D clue: Yiddish exclamations of woe
Answer: OYS

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 25, #244

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 244, for May 25.

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.

The purple category in Connections: Sports Edition today is about the biggest sports event of the day. You probably know what it is. Hint: Get behind the wheel in the Hoosier State. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: Get your racket.

Green group hint: Pac Northwest player.

Blue group hint: Blow that fastball past the hitter.

Purple group hint: Gentlemen, start your engines.