Telecommunications Resellers NAICS 517121

May 7, 2025 - Smartphone Sales Decrease

• The US smartphone market, an indicator of demand for wireless telecommunications service, contracted 2% year-over-year in Q1 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The premium segment, defined as devices priced above $800, took the hardest hit as both Apple and Samsung saw sales decrease. “Carriers have attempted to offset market weakness by prioritizing strong device promotions,” said Maurice Klaehne, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint.
• Telecommunications industry core products and services are becoming commodities according to professional services firm PWC. Firms have difficulty raising prices while telecommunications service providers face a continual need to invest in infrastructure. PWC notes, however, that there are always niches of expansion and opportunities for companies in industries with relatively slow growth. A sweeping reconfiguration of legacy industries will create a greater demand for connectivity and communications services in the coming years, according to PWC. Key megatrends within the telco industry itself are causing a sweeping internal reconfiguration, which is opening up many new opportunities. These include strategic investments in AI, fixed connectivity, and B2B service; working with investors and regulators to create opportunities to optimize market structure; and deploying deals to build scale.

• Hackers are turning to traditional IT remote monitoring and management tools to execute cyberattacks on businesses and other organizations. Legitimate monitoring and management tools used by organizations including telecommunications resellers are being used by hackers to discover client-side applications and to conduct exploitation/post-exploitation activities. “The problem of course, is their effectiveness for legitimate security professionals make them effective for cybercriminals who crack them to remove any licensing requirements to use for free,” according to Chris Clements, vice president of solutions architecture at cybersecurity firm Cerberus Sentinel. “There are numerous hacker malware packages that are great for controlling computers, but they run the risk of being detected and removed by endpoint protection tools like anti-virus software and endpoint detection and response software,” Clements said. “Remote monitoring and management tools by and large eliminate this possibility as they are very often deployed for legitimate IT administration purposes.”
• Telecommunications resale industry revenue increased 1.5% year over year and 1.9 quarter over quarter during the third quarter of 2024, according to the US Census Bureau. Telecommunications resale industry employment decreased moderately during the first month of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Telecommunications reseller sales are forecast to increase at a 2.79% compounded annual rate from 2024 to 2028, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.