China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis. A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents where national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership. The involvement of “shadow fleet” commercial vessels in these incidents is consistent with…
Tag: Telecoms
Trump threatens 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in US
Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in the United States, as he stepped up the pressure on Apple to build its signature product in America. The US president caused a pre-trading dip in Apple shares with a post on the Truth Social platform stating that iPhones sold inside the US must be made within the country’s borders. Trump said in the post: “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold…
Huawei shrugs off US sanctions with fastest growth in four years
Chinese telecoms firm Huawei grew faster in 2023 than it has for four years, as it shrugged off the impact of US sanctions. Revenues rose by nearly 10% to 704.2bn yuan (£77bn) as the Shenzhen-based company enjoyed a rebound within its consumer segment, which includes smartphone handsets. The performance meant Huawei defied the effect of sanctions imposed by the US in 2019, when Donald Trump’s White House accused the firm of being a security risk, something Huawei denies. The UK also vowed in 2020 to remove Huawei from 5G infrastructure…
TechScape: What’s really behind Apple’s shift from China
This week, the first iPhone 14s rolled off Apple’s newest production line in Chennai, India. I understand why that doesn’t seem like huge news. The company has been assembling phones in India for some time, all of which serve the large domestic market. But it’s an important milestone, marking the first time Apple has produced a new iPhone outside of China in the same year it was released. It is also an important step in one of Apple’s most sensitive projects: to decouple its fortunes from those of Sino-American relations.…
Apple shifts some iPhone 14 production from China to India
Apple has begun making iPhone 14s in India, as it moves some production away from China for the first time against a backdrop of Chinese Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and geopolitical tensions between the US and the country’s communist government. A production line in Chennai has begun operation, assembling the iPhone 14 for the domestic Indian market. The move, which marks the first time the company has assembled iPhones outside of China in the same year they were released, is part of a plan to disentangle its manufacturing operations from the…
At least 13 phone firms hit by suspected Chinese hackers since 2019, say experts
At least 13 phone companies around the world have been compromised since 2019 by sophisticated hackers who are believed to come from China, a cybersecurity expert group has said. The roaming hackers – known as LightBasin – were able to “search and find” individual mobile phones and “target accordingly”, according to CrowdStrike, a group regularly cited by western intelligence. Hackers were also able to obtain personal subscriber information held by phone companies and metadata showing who made and received calls. “Sophisticated signals intelligence activity” aimed at phone company networks has…