Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer of U.S. tech giant Meta, to discuss possible new investments in Italy, Meloni’s office said.
Meloni and Kaplan talked about artificial intelligence and other aspects of the technological transition, the statement from Meloni’s office said. Reuters
Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta has laid off nearly 20 employees over the alleged leaking of confidential company information, including unannounced product plans and details of internal meetings on Thursday. The company found out regarding the information leak during an internal probe and consequently fired the workers involved, according to an American technology news website, the Verge.
“We recently conducted an investigation that resulted in roughly 20 employees being terminated for sharing confidential information outside the company, and we expect there will be more,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold told the Verge. When employees join the tech giant, the company routinely reminds them of the data protection policies, and despite the nature of intent, leaking internal information is against those policies, Arnold added.
Meta’s Data Leak Shake-Up
The company became suspicious of the data leaks when certain stories around unannounced product proposals and internal meetings, including one recently led by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, started surfacing. Following which the company had warned the employees of possible termination via an internal notice in January this year.
“When information is stolen or leaked, there are repercussions beyond the immediate security impact…Will take appropriate action, including termination,” said Meta’s chief information security officer, Guy Rosen, according to the Verge.
However, while publicly announcing the news, the company reportedly didn’t mention anything regarding the subject matter of the information leaked.
The development comes as a blow to Meta’s employees, who have already been experiencing a dip in motivation, due to sudden changes in the company’s content moderation policies, and the recent layoffs of “low performers”. Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s official return to the White House, the company also rolled back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI), citing “shifting legal and policy landscape” as a reason in a notice to its employees. Mark’s Meta isn’t the only American firm that shifted its stance on inclusion policies to fall in line with Trump’s vision. Amazon, Walmart and McDonalds also took similar routes to scale back their diversity programs. Outlook Business
Lenovo Group reported its FY Q3 2025 earnings last week. Lenovo’s FY Q3 2025 quarter ended on December 31, 2024. As such, in this report, we will refer to the calendar quarter, Q4 2024.
Lenovo reported $18.8 billion in its Q4 2024 revenues, a 5% QoQ and 20% YoY increase which beat Wall Street’s estimate of $17.9 billion. Q4 2024 marks the fifth YoY increase after five straight quarters of YoY declines. Lenovo generated a net income of $695 million during the quarter, a 94% QoQ and 106% YoY increase. The company noted that in Q4 2024, more than 46% of the revenue mix was unrelated to PCs, similar to Q3 2024. This was due to 59% YoY revenue growth from the Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) and double-digit YoY revenue growth from smartphones. As we show in our Monthly Flagship Smartphone Display Tracker, during the October-December period, the Motorola Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra were consistently among the top five foldable OLED smartphone models. Also, our Advanced IT Display Shipment and Technology Report shows Lenovo had a high-double-digit share in 2024 for OLED and MiniLED notebook PCs.
During the earnings call, Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang stated, “Lenovo’s revenue and profit both achieved significant growth last quarter, with strong performance across all core businesses. Notably, the ISG business returned to profitability and the smartphone business experienced rapid growth. AI technology, with higher efficiency and lower costs, is accelerating the maturation of personal AI, particularly on-device AI and edge AI. It has also accelerated enterprise adoption of AI. This aligns perfectly with the direction of hybrid AI we’ve been driving and leading. Looking ahead, our continued investment in innovation, combined with our exceptional and resilient global operations, positions us well for sustained and profitable growth in the future.”
In Q4 2024, in terms of revenue growth by region, the Asia-Pacific region excluding China saw its revenue grow 31% YoY, the highest growth rate among all regions. This was made possible by the double-digit YoY increases in each of the three business segments. IDG witnessed strong demand for high-end products, thanks to the Windows 11 refresh in Japan and an upswing in gaming interest throughout the region. Concurrently, ISG’s market share expanded, while SSG secured a major case win with a leading APAC airline, leveraging its GenAI-powered Care of One platform. China saw a 21% YoY revenue increase, primarily driven by a recovery in ISG sales. ISG’s performance was largely fueled by market share gains from its improved infrastructure portfolio and effective supply chain management. The region’s PC sales exhibited solid demand for premium models, demonstrating the Group’s resilience in driving growth through higher average selling prices (ASPs). In the Americas, the Group’s revenue climbed by 20% YoY, reflecting a strong recovery in both consumer and enterprise PC sales. The ISG division also delivered robust growth, underscoring the company’s ability to leverage its core strengths to meet demand, including those for AI solutions. The Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) market experienced an 11% YoY sales increase. The IDG and SSG businesses maintained their strong momentum, while ISG thrived on heightened demand from new billion-dollar cloud customers, who require the building of local data centers to meet booming demand and comply with regional data security regulations.
In terms of revenue growth by business segment, IDG, which includes the PC, tablet, smartphone and other smart devices businesses, grew 12% YoY. The segment’s profitability reached 7.3% during the quarter, remaining at the upper end of its historical range. Gaming PC sales performed exceptionally well during the holiday season, reflecting a consumer shift toward high-performance PCs to enhance the gaming experience. Commercial sales benefitted from the Windows 11 refresh, with premium workstation sales spearheading demand recovery in the commercial segment. At the 2025 CES, Lenovo showcased over 60 innovations that redefine AI device categories across commercial, gaming and consumer segments, furthering its vision of building an advanced hybrid AI ecosystem. With CPU and PC vendor roadmaps incorporating on-device AI across various price bands and featuring enhanced computing power, AI PCs are becoming more accessible and are projected to dominate global shipments by late 2025. The Group’s Motorola-branded revenue experienced double-digit growth YoY and continued to gain global market share for the sixth consecutive quarter. Geographical expansion has been a crucial catalyst for this growth, with sales outside of the Americas now accounting for 44% of its revenue, a significant increase from just 18% two years ago.
Lenovo also mentioned that they are progressing towards establishing a $10 billion businesses with sustainable profitability by optimizing scale in the profitable CSP segment and enhancing cost efficiency for ESMB and ISG toward building a sustainable and profitable growth trajectory. Lenovo is leveraging the skill that they have built with CSP to improve the cost effectiveness of their ESMB business, and ultimately secure the sustainable profitability of their ISG business.
During the Q&A, there were several questions that were very germane given the ongoing plans to impose or increase import tariffs, and the fuel that is expected to drive growth for the PC category in 2025 and beyond. On the issue of the Trump administration proposing to impose tariffs ranging between 10% and 25% on Canada, Mexico and China, Lenovo said it was still assessing the impact, but overall, it did not think it would have any significant impact on its business and future performance. Lenovo noted that these issues were not new to the Group, as so many other countries had similar tariff policies, like Brazil and India. Lenovo noted that it had already built a very strong and unique business model – ODM+. Under this model, Lenovo does both in-house manufacturing and outsourced manufacturing. Besides, it has a global manufacturing footprint, with more than 30 facilities in around 10 countries including Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan, Hungary, Germany, Mexico and the US. As a result, Lenovo believes that compared to the competition, it is more flexible and resilient to adapt to different scenarios.
Another question was asked regarding the IDG business outlook. Does Lenovo see an upside in the new gaming PC cycle? Has the replacement cycle of Windows 10 already started? Lenovo responded that going into the new financial year, it had strong confidence in its PC business trajectory. The Group has modeled the market to grow from mid-single digit to high-single digit. And within this context, it is planning to continue to grow in the premium market, hence gaining a share on top of the market growth. Lenovo expects to see tailwinds from the large installed base due for replacement, and Windows 10 end of service. As a result, and along with the rise of AI PCs, Lenovo expects the market growth to accelerate in the second half of calendar 2025.
Over the past few weeks, DeepSeek has made headlines and Lenovo was asked about its cooperation and collaboration with DeepSeek for its device and infrastructure business. Lenovo responded that based on its assessment, DeepSeek had a very positive impact on them, further proving that Lenovo’s hybrid AI had always been the right strategy and the Group had been on the right path by deploying distilled small models for local devices at the edge. DeepSeek improved AI efficiency, driving the democratization of AI and uplifting the potential of locally deployed AI models to support the wide adoption of edge AI and on-device AI. As a result, it may also indirectly boost the growing demand for GPU servers. All of these are aligned with Lenovo’s hybrid AI strategy and will benefit all of its businesses. Lenovo is launching an AI workstation deploying a local DeepSeek-R1 distilled model with up to 7 billion parameters. This is a model size that just a few years ago could only be run on public cloud platforms like Chat-GPT 3.0. But today, Lenovo can do it entirely locally. This can enhance every individual’s productivity while protecting their data and privacy. On the enterprise AI side, DeepSeek has proven that AI deployment is not necessarily expensive and made the ROI case more convincing. So, this would help change enterprise customers’ perspectives and accelerate adoption. As such, Lenovo expects the broader use of AI solutions to create more opportunities for its hybrid AI advantage and drive growth in its ISG and SSG businesses.
Q4 2024 by business segments
For FY Q4 2025 (CY Q1 2025) guidance, Lenovo notes that at the heart of the innovations showcased at CES 2025, are its investments in on-device and agentic AI, which leverages the power of AI to deliver personalized, productive and protected solutions to empower users to redefine business experiences across multiple categories. These new innovations will enable the Group to deliver both enterprise and personal AI solutions, creating a comprehensive full-stack portfolio to transform industries and empower individuals. These critical AI innovations are supported by a strong focus on research and development (R&D), the expenditure on which increased 14% YoY and 7% from two years ago. Despite geopolitical tensions affecting the technology sector, the Group’s business has demonstrated remarkable resilience. Lenovo’s success in navigating market challenges can also be attributed to its strategic expansion into the Middle East, further enhancing its extensive global manufacturing footprint. Counterpoint Research
The upcoming IndiaAI Datasets platform will allow access to sensitive and crucial data on a case-by-case basis to the companies or developers, depending on the conditions and purpose for which that data will be utilised.
The datasets platform, which is in the works, will house anonymous and non-personal data for developers and companies looking to train their AI models. The companies, however, will have to register themselves and make a request to access certain dataset on the platform.
Most datasets, however, will be open for use, officials said.
“The way the datasets platform has been designed is that every government department, which is publishing the data, will have the right to decide what they want to keep in an open domain, what they want to keep in a licensing domain or restricted domain, and what they want to keep in prohibited domain,” Abhishek Singh, additional secretary at the ministry of electronics and IT said, at Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) Conclave on Thursday.
“In some cases the departments may think of making it available to everyone. But if there is some sensitive data, that might be made available to only a few people with certain conditions. We are not saying either open or closed, but we are making it pertinent with the data owners to decide what kind of access they will give and to whom,” Singh said, adding that the first version of the platform will be launched within next 10 days.
The dataset platform, which is being built at a cost of around Rs 200 crore, is one of the seven pillars of the Rs 10,000 crore IndiaAI mission.
MeitY is currently consulting different ministries to source datasets, which can be made available on the platform. The same is crucial given that the government has also started the process to create India-origin foundational models, for which it has already received 67 proposals.
“We are trying to get datasets from all sources – whether it’s the department of commerce or DPIIT, ministry of finance, trade data, export-import data, productivity, yield. Very granular data is available, but right now it is all in silos,” Singh said.
The developers, through the datasets platform can access sector-specific data or India-specific general data crucial for training large language models.
“We are getting very deep into sectoral data,” Singh said, adding that data generated on e-sanjeevani, which is the government’s telemedicine portal, can be used to build a health model. The government plans to use voice samples of doctor-patient consultation that can be used by firms building health models.
MeitY is also in talks with Prasar Bharati as it has content in different languages, which could be valuable for voice-enabled services. Financial Express
Goa Government has informed all Telecom / ISPs to make online applications through “Gatishakti Sanchar Portal” of the Department of Telecom, towards utilization of Electricity Department infrastructure for installation of Internet / Telecom /Television / Communication cables.
“Gatishakti Sanchar Portal” of Department of Telecom, Government of India for online application towards utilization of Electricity Department infrastructure for installation of Internet / Telecom / Television / Communication cables is opened for application from February 15, 2025. The Gatishakti Sanchar Portal can be accessed at gatishaktisanchar.gov.in” the order states
As per provisions of the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024, all such applications are to be processed online. All Facility Providers are therefore requested to apply on this portal (including those that have previously submitted applications in hard copy) for utilization of Electricity Department infrastructure across the State of Goa for installation of cables.
The Electricity Department will process these applications and provide approval on merit basis after payment of the requisite fees.
It is to also inform that the Electricity Department has appointed 2 Nodal Officers for North and South Goa for better coordination of the Facility Providers with Electricity Department.
It is also directed that all Facility Providers shall ensure that all safety measures are undertaken, aesthetics maintained and cables installed in the manner causing no inconvenience for the working of the Electricity Department line staff. All old / unused cables may be immediately removed along with all accessories. The cables may be laid in underground ducts wherever such ducts are available. Goemkarponn
Taiwan is home to some of the most important companies in the global technology industry. However, its political status remains contentious, with China actively seeking to influence and ultimately annex the country. This effort is driven by a well-oiled propaganda machine that speculates about Taipei’s diplomatic and business activities.
China has accused Taiwan of trying to sell off its thriving semiconductor industry to the United States, claiming that Taipei is essentially handing over control of TSMC to Washington as a “souvenir.” In exchange, Taiwan would supposedly secure political support from the new US administration against Beijing’s influence.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, recently suggested that TSMC could soon become the United States Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. However, she provided no evidence to support this claim and accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of seeking assistance from “external forces” to achieve full independence from Beijing.
Chinese authorities further alleged that Taiwan is using its semiconductor industry as leverage to gain explicit political backing from Washington. Fenglian also speculated that TSMC has been in discussions with Intel to acquire a stake in the company. However, neither TSMC nor Intel have confirmed these claims, and the Taiwanese government stated that it has no information about any new overseas investments planned by TSMC.
“This sort of shameless selling out of Taiwan is in actuality pandering to the United States,” Fenglian said.
TSMC is one of the few companies capable of transforming microchip designs into physical silicon products, providing large-scale manufacturing capabilities. Some of the world’s biggest technology firms, including US giants like Apple, Nvidia, and AMD, rely on the Taiwanese foundry to produce the chips that power smartphones, computer CPUs, and GPUs for consumers and enterprises alike.
In response to Beijing’s accusations, Taipei authorities have issued an official statement refuting the claims. They emphasized that TSMC is a vital pillar of Taiwan’s economy and dismissed suggestions that the US is acting as an unwavering political ally. Instead, they described Washington as an increasingly adversarial entity due to shifting policies under the Trump administration.
Taiwan is now actively working to address the challenges posed by these new policies, with government officials seeking collaboration with industry leaders to maintain the country’s dominance in the global tech sector.
Despite Trump’s aggressive stance on business, politics, and diplomacy, Taiwan’s geopolitical situation remains deeply complex. While Washington has historically supported Taipei – offering both political backing and military aid to counter China’s influence – the evolving US-Taiwan relationship is far from straightforward and will likely continue to be a delicate balancing act in the years ahead. TechSpot
HP Inc beat first-quarter revenue estimates, driven by strength in its personal systems segment and growing demand for artificial intelligence-capable systems.
The company also said it would lay off an additional 1,000 to 2,000 employees as part of its previously announced restructuring plan. The move is expected to generate savings of about $0.3 billion in fiscal 2025.
Shares of the company, however, dipped more than 3% in extended trading after it projected second-quarter adjusted profit per share between 75 cents and 85 cents, lower than analysts’ consensus estimate of 86 cents.
PC market growth is expected to accelerate this year as the Windows 10 end-of-support deadline in October pushes hundreds of millions of PC users to refresh their devices.
Demand is also expected to surge as companies launch AI-capable PCs equipped with advanced and powerful processors designed for AI tasks.
However, worries around margins are creeping up, after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would impose an additional 10% duty on Chinese goods on March 4 on top of the 10% tariff that he levied on February 4 on imports from China.
HP has been diversifying its supply chain, and by October-end expects more than 90% of HP products sold in North America to be built outside of China, CEO Enrique Lores said in an interview.
The PC market grew for a fifth consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter, with total shipments of desktops, notebooks and workstations rising 5% to 67.9 million units, Canalys data showed in January.
HP reported revenue of $13.5 billion for the first quarter ended January 31, above the average analyst estimate of $13.36 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Net revenue for HP’s Personal Systems segment, home to its desktop and notebook PCs, rose 5% to $9.2 billion. Its commercial PS net revenue grew 10%. Reuters
Kalimpong residents now have access to a stable and reliable BSNL media network, resolving long-standing connectivity issues that have plagued the district for years. The new network was officially launched during the 2025 Telecom Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting, marking a significant improvement for thousands of users who had suffered frequent service breakdowns.
For years, Kalimpong’s connectivity depended on an outdated optical fibre cable (OFC) network along NH-31A via Sikkim. This 144-kilometre stretch, with 70 kilometres running through Sikkim, was highly vulnerable to landslides and road damage, leading to repeated disruptions. As a result, 1,277 Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) customers—the highest in any district in West Bengal—were frequently left without service.
Further 48 lease circuits and over 54,000 mobile users, including government offices, banks, and private institutions relying on BSNL, faced constant interruptions. An alternative route via Lava-Gorubathan to Siliguri had been abandoned in 2012 due to road widening, further compounding the problem.
Recognising the urgent need for a solution, Member of Parliament Raju Bista raised the issue in the previous BSNL TAC meeting. He reviewed supporting documents and collaborated with the Telecom Ministry and BSNL leadership to address the problem. Following discussions with Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and coordination with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and BSNL’s Chairman and Managing Director, a plan to strengthen connectivity was finalized.
On October 5, 2024, BSNL secured a 10G bandwidth lease from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited at an annual cost of Rs. 34 lakhs. The installation was completed by October 21, 2024, followed by a six-month trial period to assess reliability. With successful testing, the upgraded network is now fully operational, offering seamless connectivity to the district.
MP Raju Bista emphasised that the initiative aligns with the broader Digital India vision led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He expressed gratitude to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, DoT, BSNL, and local stakeholders for their cooperation in making this critical upgrade possible.
“Our region has many challenges, from connectivity issues to other developmental gaps. I assure the people that each of these concerns will be addressed systematically. As your elected representative, I am committed to working towards the comprehensive development of our constituency and ensuring our rights as guaranteed by the Constitution,” Bista said.
With the new BSNL network in place, Kalimpong is set to experience uninterrupted connectivity, benefiting individuals, businesses, and institutions. This upgrade brings the district closer to the digital transformation envisioned for the country, ensuring better access to essential services and communication infrastructure. India Today NE
States don’t have a clear picture of how federal waivers are shaping implementation of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Pew Charitable Trusts said that should change.
The organization called on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to publicly disclose all past waivers granted under BEAD, arguing that transparency would improve consistency and fairness across states.
Kathryn de Wit, director of Pew’s broadband access initiative, told Fierce Network that while states often share information informally, making these waivers public would provide clarity on approved adjustments and ensure equitable treatment across jurisdictions.
“States know about the waivers because they are sharing them among themselves. We’re encouraging NTIA to make those public, so people know the options that have been approved until now,” de Wit said. “Not all of them are public, but they are related to shared challenges that states have.”
NTIA has the authority to grant waivers on a case-by-case basis, but it has not published details on how these decisions were being made. Without public documentation, it’s unclear whether waivers have been granted consistently.
Some of the biggest obstacles to BEAD deployment — including permitting delays, Build America, Buy America compliance, and letter of credit requirements — have already been the subject of NTIA-issued waivers. If NTIA has allowed certain states flexibility on these issues, but not others, that could create disparities in broadband rollouts nationwide.
Pew’s recommendation comes as BEAD enters a critical stage: All 56 states and territories have had their BEAD initial proposals approved, and at least 19 states were already reviewing project bids.
Pew was also recommending that NTIA look to existing permitting processes from other federal broadband programs rather than introducing new ones. De Wit stressed that such an approach would build trust among states and ISPs and ensure the program remains on track.
“We’re hoping they queue off of the recommendations that we’ve provided,” de Wit said. “Members of Congress and the states are eager to get shovels in the ground. We have high participation of ISPs, which indicates they are acting in good faith and are ready to get moving.” Broadband Breakfast
The India tablet market (inclusive of detachable and slates) shipped 5.73 million units in 2024, up 42.8% year-over-year (YoY), according to new data from the (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. The detachable and slate tablet categories grew by 30% YoY and 47.2% YoY, respectively. The market, however, declined by 17% YoY in 4Q2024 due to delays in some government manifesto deals.
The consumer segment grew by 19.2% YoY in 2024, driven by strong eTailer promotions, discounts, and cashback offers. Samsung led the eTailer channel in 2024 with a share of 24.4%. The commercial segment grew by 69.7% YoY, fueled by a remarkable 104.5% YoY growth in the Education segment driven by increased government-funded education projects despite a 9.9% YoY decline in the Very Large business (VLB) segment.
“With Android tablets getting better cameras, software updates, and app integration, tablets are becoming the device of choice for light productivity and entertainment and attracting a certain section of PC buyers. Despite more than 60% of shipments continued to be entry-level tablets (<=US$300), the ASP (average selling price) increased from US$309 in FY2023 to US$336 in FY2024 in the consumer segment. With rising component costs resulting in an increase in notebook PC prices, tablets are becoming an attractive option for customers”, said Priyans h Tiwari, research analyst, IDC India & South Asia.
Top 5 Company Highlights:
Samsung led the market with a 42.6% share in 2024 as it led in both commercial and consumer segments, with shares of 51.1% and 32.1%, respectively. Samsung maintained its leadership with a share of 35.5% in 4Q24 with its strong presence in public sector education projects, its good push across consumer channels, and a heavy inventory push during online sales.
Acer Group stood second with an 18.7% share in 2024. It did very well in the commercial segment, with a share of 32.8%, as it fulfilled several key government and education deals. The vendor held a share of 8.9% in 4Q24.
Apple stood third with an 11% share in 2024. It did well in both commercial and consumer segments, growing by 45.3%YoY and 4.7% YoY, respectively. Its growth in the commercial segment was driven by increased adoption of iPads by top management in enterprise and government ministries, along with FMCG companies. The vendor held a share of 18.1% in 4Q24.
Lenovo stood fourth with a 9% share in 2024. Its consumer segment showed a healthy 18.6% YoY growth driven by strong demand for its models priced between $150 and $250 primarily in the e-tailer channel. The vendor held a share of 12.5% in 4Q24.
Xiaomi also stood fourth with a 9% share and 101.7% YoY growth. The growth came from strong 3Q24 shipments with a 27.3% share of the total consumer market. Its focus on offline and eTailer channels along with new launches led to this growth. The vendor held a share of 10.5% in 4Q24. IDC