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- WHO WE ARE
- TRAINING & EDUCATION
- UNION MOVEMENT
- HEALTH & SAFETY
- FIND ETHICAL AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTS
Inala resident and clothing outworker Thoa Tran and supporters today protested outside Queensland Parliament asking why Campbell Newman and the LNP wanted to make their work and lives harder.
Already, Thoa and the thousands of other clothing outworkers toiling away in garages and lounge rooms in Queensland, work long days sewing garments for clothing retailers and making as little as $5 an hour.
Without consultation, the LNP recently axed a mandatory code of practice for clothing manufacturers which will reduce vital protections for outworkers.
Thoa, through interpreter Ly Nguyen, said she made school uniforms for a local manufacturer, and was paid for each garment. She has been an outworker for 18 years.
Thoa said she does not have superannuation or paid leave.
“If I get sick then I get no pay for those days. Sometimes I work to 11pm – I have three kids. The government should treat outworkers as fairly as other workers in Australia,” she said.
“Why does the Newman government want to make our lives and our work harder.”
She and fellow outworker Hun Nguyen produced a special pillowslip for Premier Campbell, and asked him to reverse the axing of the code.
Today’s protest had the support of around 20 outworkers, Queensland unions, the Uniting Church, and the Fair Wear campaign.
Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia National Secretary Michele O’Neil said the repeal of the mandatory code of practice for home-based clothing outworkers would allow a return to a previous era of exploitation.
The key feature of the Code is the requirement for transparency throughout clothing supply chains by identifying every person involved in the production of a garment. This includes where an outworker has been used and who their employer was. This information is critical for checking whether outworkers are receiving their proper entitlements and are otherwise being treated fairly.
“We are concerned that the LNP thinks ethics are out of fashion in the Queensland clothing industry,” she said.
Ms O’Neil said outworkers in Queensland were often paid just $5 to $7 an hour and received no annual or sick leave, superannuation and found it difficult to access workers’ compensation.
“There are thousands of home-based outworkers toiling away in their garages or lounge rooms assembling garments. This code is an important protection for their livelihoods,” she said.
“The LNP has bulldozed through this change without a thought for the impact on our most vulnerable workers, mostly from migrant backgrounds. The code is not red tape – it’s about ensuring transparency and fairness,” she said.
Queensland Council of Unions President John Battams said the Code of Practice was a critically important law protecting outworkers from exploitation.
“There is a voluntary Ethical Clothing Australia code, which reputable employers such as Cue, adhere to. Apart from that, now that the LNP has removed the mandatory code there is now significantly less protection in Queensland for these workers,” he said.
The Code was formulated under the previous Labor government with the strong support of unions, church and faith groups and community organisations (including Fair Wear) with an interest in protecting the rights, wages and conditions of clothing outworkers.
“We urge the government to reconsider these changes which will disadvantage an already vulnerable group of workers,” he said.


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US drops Apple case after accessing iPhone data
The Justice Department said it was approached by an unidentified third party about a possible method to get into the phone
The US said it has gained access to the data on the iPhone used by a terrorist and no longer needs Apple’s assistance, marking an end to a legal clash that was poised to redraw boundaries between personal privacy and national security in the mobile internet age.
The Justice Department said a week ago that it was approached by an unidentified third party about a possible method to get into the phone. The...
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Definition: This entry furnishes the annual percent change in consumer prices compared with the previous year's consumer prices.
Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of January 1, 2012See also: Inflation rate (consumer prices) map
Here’s the Short Worldwide History of Inflation and Deflation
The Wall Street Journal - 11/25/2014 2:20:44 PM
Consumer prices are heading lower across much of the world. And that’s been ... A number of arguments are made for why inflation was so rampant during the 1970s. There was the ending of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate regime at the start of that ...
Why inflation differs between young and mature economies
Market Realist - 11/25/2014 12:26:12 PM
A rise in a country or ... to the interest rate, can support your investment when inflation is favorable. India doesn’t have a Producer Price Index (or PPI). Instead, it uses the Wholesale Price Index (or WPI) and the Consumer Price Index (or CPI).
Indonesian inflation expected to rise to 7.7-8.1 pct this year
Xinhua News Agency - 11/26/2014 9:33:13 AM
JAKARTA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's central bank governor Agus Martowardojo said here Wednesday that the country's consumer price ... Soon after the fuel price hikes, the central bank raised its lending facility rate by 50 basis points to 8 percent.
Dubai inflation highest in five years
MENAFN - 11/26/2014 8:14:29 AM
(MENAFN - The Arabian Post) Dubai's inflation rate advanced to the highest level in more than five years, after prices in the housing index rose the most since at least January 2009. Consumer prices ... of six Arabian Gulf countries, Jordan and Morocco ...
Consumer confidence improves in November: ANZ report
Economic Times - 11/25/2014 6:16:57 PM
MUMBAI: After being in the dumps, consumer confidence in the country ... "Only lower inflation will improve consumer confidence," she added. Apart from standard macro-economic developments, the Index also factors in currency, gold price, equity markets ...
World stocks mixed, U.S. undermined by weak consumer data
4 Traders - 11/25/2014 4:15:16 PM
"It was a nice U.S. opening to new highs and then you ended up with consumer ... to boost prices. Falling prices have helped energy-importing countries but are proving counterproductive to nations like Japan, which is seeking to boost inflation and bust ...
S. Korea faces pressure to cut record-low rate further
People's Daily Online - 11/26/2014 4:14:05 PM
The country ... interest rate, adjusted for inflation, is even higher than the one during the 2008 global financial crisis, urging the BOK to cut rates further to prevent the Japanese-style deflation from happening in South Korea. Consumer prices rose ...
RBI's rate cut: Risks and benefits to the Indian economy
Rediff India Abroad - 11/26/2014 3:20:59 AM
Sliding producer prices are pushing up the real, or inflation-adjusted, value of China's alarmingly large corporate debt burden. Lower rates will give borrowers ... investment from around the world. He wants to turn the country into a manufacturing hub.
Thailand to freeze prices of many goods for 6 months
worldbulletin.net - 11/25/2014 9:34:24 AM
Thailand's Commerce Ministry said on Friday that prices of many consumer ... fertiliser. Inflation in Thailand accelerated in May to a 14-month high of 2.62 percent from a year earlier due to higher food and energy prices, with the core rate, which ...
China won't consider more rate cuts or easing until fourth quarter data out: official
Reuters - 11/25/2014 8:44:18 AM
Reuters reported that the ... 7 percent - a rate not seen since the global financial crisis. Producer prices, charged at the factory gate, have been falling for almost three years, piling pressure on manufacturers, and consumer inflation is also weak.
The time has come to cut interest rates
The Hindu Business Line - 11/25/2014 4:15:16 PM
There is hope that the central bank’s target for January 2015 and 2016 of consumer inflation being 8 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, may be realised. Inflation, based on the Consumer Price ... pushed the country’s economic growth rate to a ...
The Three Countries With The Highest Inflation
Forbes - 5/9/2014 7:43:49 PM
Elevated inflation can be harmful to a country’s economy. Moreover, as prices rise, if wages don’t keep ... In this article, we’ll discuss the three countries with the world’s highest inflation rate. We’ll also include a brief, but important ...
Australian Dollar to New Zealand Dollar (AUD/NZD) Exchange Rate Stronger on NZ Inflation
audnews.com.au - 11/24/2014 3:19:11 PM
After the Reserve Bank of New Zealand 2-Year Inflation Expectation ticked ... The Australian Dollar to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate is currently trending in the region of 1.0956. Yesterday… After iron ore prices declined for the fifth consecutive ...
Exclusive - India central bank under pressure to cut rates as growth slips
7 News Yahoo - 11/25/2014 1:37:47 PM
HISTORY OF INFLATION Rajan, who made no reference to policy rates at a speaking engagement on Tuesday in Gujarat, has resisted calls to cut the RBI's 8 percent repo rate , even though consumer ... a country long plagued by double-digit price rises that ...
India under pressure to cut rates
Fin24 - 11/25/2014 1:30:38 PM
History of inflation Rajan, who made no reference to policy rates at a speaking engagement on Tuesday in Gujarat, has resisted calls to cut the RBI's 8% repo rate, even though consumer ... to India, a country long plagued by double-digit price rises ...


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Seeking to increase global reach and industry participation, the International Organization of the Flavour Industry (IOFI) will restructure fully by October, per a membership vote. A new fee structure is expected to stabilize funding for science, advocacy and communication activities.
"A new, streamlined 10-person board will govern the organization," IOFI says. "Comprised of five association ordinary members (one each from EFFA, FEMA, JFFMA, Latin America and Asia) and five company ordinary members, the board members will work on behalf of the global industry. Serving staggered three-year terms, the new board will meet four times per year (twice in person and twice virtually), with additional interim conference calls as needed."
Under the new structure, IOFI will cease to be an association of associations and will become an association of flavor association members and flavor company members.
"Association members will be voting members who pay dues based on market share (association ordinary members) or non-voting members who pay a nominal fee (corresponding members) while working their way to full membership/dues requirements," IOFI notes. "Company ordinary members will be members of associations in at least three major regions, and pay a fee based on global market share."


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Bringing the tablet wars to Apple, Microsoft has unveiled the 10.6-inch Microsoft Surface, a Windows 8 tablet that hosts an Intel CPU and 1080p display
Microsoft has ended a series of rumours, officially unveiling its first iPad rivalling tablet device during last night's LA-based launch event in the form of the 10.6-inch Microsoft Surface.
With two devices confirmed as heading to market, Microsoft will pair a 9.3mm thick Windows RT powered machine with the headline grabbing Windows 8 offering, a device which lines up at a rather beefy 13.5mm thick and which will play host to an Intel CPU.
"Much like Windows 1 needed the mouse, we wanted to give Windows 8 it's own hardware," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "This combination of hardware and software works together to deliver an amazing experience."
Microsoft Surface Tablet Specs
Measuring in at 10.6-inches in size and featuring a rugged Gorilla Glass 2 display, the Microsoft Surface is an effort to expand the possibilities of the tablet scene bringing a higher level of usability and business centric functions to the portable devices.
Describing the Windows 8 Surface tablet as a “full PC,” Microsoft has paired its Pro model iPad competitor with an impressive 1920 x 1080p Full HD ClearType screen with the metal backed tablet playing host to a full size USB 3.0 connector and the option of 64GB or 128GB storage capacities.
With an 862g heft the Windows 8 Surface tablet is far from the lightest option on the market with Microsoft looking to further plump its business credentials with a number of full QWERTY keyboard and trackpad toting cases connecting to the device in Apple Smartcover-esque magnetic fashion.
For those not wanting to plump for an additional case, the tablet features on inbuilt kickstand to aid in media playback with the sleekly finished tablet sporting a bevelled edge for a more ergonomic feel in the hand.
Microsoft Surface Tablet Release Date and Price
Despite taking the opportunity to officially showcase the upcoming Windows 8 powered Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 rival, Redmond based Microsoft has yet to announce any confirmed release date plans or a Microsoft Surface UK price.
Speaking with the BBC Research Vice President with analyst firm Gartner, Carolina Milanesi, has suggested Microsoft will be able to reduce its cost on getting the Surface to market by avoiding its own licensing fees for the Windows 8 software.
"Microsoft can offer a competitive price for these specifications as it doesn't need to pay itself a licence for the Windows 8 software which other manufacturers will have to do, and that might make its PC and tablet-making partners unhappy," she said.
Are you impressed with Microsoft's attempts to bring the tablet fight to Apple or do you see the Windows 8 machine as too little, too late for the software giant? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.


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The market for mobile health (mHealth) devices is projected to grow at an astonishing rate over the next few years, from $5.1 billion in 2013 to $41.8 billion by 2023, according to business intelligence consultancy Lux Research. While it has been overshadowed by the consumer devices market, which has received considerable media attention, clinical mHealth devices will surge after 2018 and emerge as the long-term winner, says Lux Research.
The reason clinical mHealth devices are late bloomers, relatively speaking, largely is attributed to the regulatory barriers that medical manufacturers must negotiate, but the medical community's conservative nature is also a factor, says Nick Kurkjy, Lux Research Associate and lead author of the report titled, mHealth Showdown: Consumer and Clinical Devices' Battle for Market Dominance.
"It can seem like physician workflow rules are set in stone," Kurkjy told PlasticsToday. "Doctors are among the slowest adopters of new technology," he adds. "That is understandable, because people's lives depend on what they do, and what they are doing is working." Health economics, however, is changing the playing field, and making mHealth an inevitable force.


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Facebook appears ready to go public with $10 billion IPO in early February, despite ire at leak.
Exxon Mobil sells Japanese subsidiary for $4 billion in move to cut refining.
News Corp. reportedly woos Bloomberg exec as Twitter-happy Murdoch sees weekend arrests at The Sun tabloid.
ABB buys Thomas & Betts for $4 billion.
Angry Birds boss doesn't fear piracy.
Apple aims to sell 40 million iPhones in China next year.
Altria sees tobacco users embrace discount brands.
Bank of America shakes up investment banking division.
Barnes & Noble takes on Amazon with fifth Nook device.
Beyonce sees university class focus on her.
Birdseye shifts marketing strategy in UK.
BlackBerry loses fans in Europe.
Canon president steps down after disappointing results.
Carolina Panthers unveil new logo.
Citi chairman Richard Parsons plans to step down.
Coca-Cola plans to invest $1 billion in Mexico.
Colgate balances marketing efforts.
Delta explores possible bid for US Airways.
DreamWorks is in trouble.
Facebook app projects users' U.S. election sentiments on Times Square; and brand interactions lag on FB.
FDA seizes imported orange juice on fungicide fears.
Food Network programming exec tapped to oversee YouTube food channel.
FTC sues to block Omnicare's bid for PharMerica.
Fujifilm proposes tie-up with scandal-ridden Oympus.
Google looks to unify data mining, claims users are delighted with social search, and passes Facebook as world's "most friendly" website.
HBO loses subscribers to Showtime.
Heinz expands flavored beans.
Michelle Obama association (even untrue) lifts Agent Provocateur.
P&G's Pantene names 11 athletes as global brand ambassadors.
PBS pulls Downton Abbey-inspired jewelry from website.
PepsiCo plans to add up to $500 million to marketing budget, reports Ad Age.
Quiznos eyes growth after restructuring.
Range Rover takes a ride in next James Bond film.
RBS CEO turns down bonus amid criticism, as EasyJet founder rejects executive pay deal.
Rugged Bear clothing brand relaunches in U.S.
Samsung puts tablets in the London Eye.
Scope, a British charity serving the disabled community, crowdsources brand identity with clients.
Sephora introduces uniforms designed by Prabal Gurung.
Starbucks is flourishing in China, sees social media successes lowering advertising costs.
T-Mobile UK launches "Full Monty" pricing.
Twitter posts Q&A to address concerns about geo-censorship announcement, which sees Thailand as first government endorser, as British friends are denied U.S. entry for tweets perceived as a terrorist threat.
U.S. online ad spend will exceed print this year.
Volvo turns car body panels into batteries.
Walmart U.S. chief marketing officer now reports to chief merchandising officer.
& Hot sauce makers battle at Super Bowl.


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Wednesday 9 June 2021, Amsterdam
The global surgical instrument tracking devices market is projected to reach $868.2 million by 2031, reveals the premium market intelligence study. The study also highlights that the market is set to witness a CAGR of 9.16% during the forecast period 2021-2031.
This report indicates that the global surgical instrument tracking devices market has grown significantly in recent years, owing to increased acceptance in the healthcare sector after several cases of retained "foreign bodies" within the patient’s body following an operative procedure. Surgical instrument tracking devices have gained popularity among end users as concerns about patient safety and the need for better surgical asset management have grown. In addition, advances in barcodes and radio frequency identification devices (RFID) have stimulated the growth of the surgical instrument tracking devices market. The Internet of Things (IoT) has added a new dimension by allowing surgeons to “visualize” surgical procedures, improving patient safety, and maximizing the correct use of surgical instruments. These prominent advancements in technology are expected to drive the surgical instrument tracking devices market during the forecast period 2021-2031.
To emphasize the impact of COVID-19 on the global surgical instrument tracking devices market, Aditya Singh, Senior Analyst - BIS Research, states, "The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the elective procedures across countries due to which the market has been impacted negatively. Due to increased concerns about patient’s safety during a surgical procedure, both emerging and developed countries have witnessed accelerated growth in the adoption of surgical instrument tracking devices. The rise in surgical and operative procedures globally and the growing cases of retained surgical instruments are expected to leave a long-term impact on the global surgical instrument tracking devices market. The surgical instrument tracking devices market has been witnessing increasing activity and innovation from new market entrants. Most of the new features in connected devices are providing real-time location of the surgical instruments, information about the sterilization cycles, operating room scheduling activities, and large memory capacity. Advancements in technologies, rising need for tracking devices in hospitals and ambulatory centers for device tracking and inventory management and increase concerns about patient’s safety is expected to pave the way for further innovation for the surgical instrument tracking devices.”
Leading companies, market participants, and vendors operating in the market include Steris plc., Stanley Black & Decker, Becton, Dickinson and Company, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Fortive Corporation, Getinge AB, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd, Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation, ASANUS Medizintechnik GmbH, FingerPrint Medical Limited, among others.
ASDReports.com contact: S. Koomen
ASDReports.com / ASDMedia BV - Veemkade 356 - 1019HD Amsterdam - The Netherlands
P : +31(0)20 486 1286 - F : +31(0)20 486 0216
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It’s not a surprise, but the numbers still manage to deliver a little shock value—tourism on Maui and across Hawaii is down. Way down. As reported in The Maui News, industry big wigs converged for the Maui Visitors Bureau marketing meeting this week and the figures staring up at them were grim—a 22 percent drop from a year ago in arrivals on Maui for the month of June, which led to a nearly 16 percent decline in visitor spending. Hotel occupancy fell 7 percent, according to The Pacific Business News. During a month when they should be flush with cash, Hawaiian Airlines announced that they barely broke even. “We’re in for some tough, trying times,” said MVB Executive Director Terryl Vencl when given the unenviable task of stating the obvious. And now we get to the part that’s unfortunately going to become something of a mantra in this space: The primary cause of this roller coaster-esque downturn is, drum roll please, rising fuel costs and the sagging economy. OK, since we’re going to be repeating that so often, let’s coin an awkward acronym: RFCSE. That’ll save ink, which, incidentally, is also getting more expensive.
The arrow’s pointing up, but in the most ironic sense possible. Last week we told you about the Maui Land & Pineapple Co. layoffs, wherein 274 people lost their jobs. Well, seems not everyone at ML&P is hurting. The Pacific Business News reports that the company actually turned an $8 million profit last year, and shelled more than half of that out to CEO David Cole in the form of a $4.1 million “compensation package.” That’s a whole lot of lower-level salaries that could have been paid, and less people in the unemployment line. Now let’s wait for the inevitable spin.
Bad news for car dealerships across Maui: New vehicle sales are down sharply on the island, The Maui News reports. According to figures from the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, there were 2,768 new cars, SUVs and trucks registered in the county as of the end of June. That’s more than a 26 percent drop from last year. The smallest decline came in truck sales, which fell a mere 1.1 percent, something that shouldn’t surprise anyone who regularly drives Maui’s roads.
One industry’s bane is another’s windfall: Even as RFCSE hit travel and auto sales, those first three letters led to another record-busting quarter for the oil companies. The Associated Press reports that, with the cost of their gooey goodness on a seemingly endless upward trajectory, Exxon Mobile reaped the biggest operating profit in U.S. corporate history—$11.7 billion. That second quarter haul represents a 14 percent uptick over last year, and came as a result of $138 billion in total sales. According to World Bank figures, that number is greater than the GDP of almost 150 countries. Too bad nobody gets to vote in—or out—the leadership at Exxon Mobile.
Staying with the fossil fuel-centric theme, gas prices did drop an average of 5 percent statewide, providing drivers with a smidgen of relief. But—and this is where we wish we had an icon that was like an arrow going sideways—per gallon costs actually rose slightly in Wailuku, from $4.70 to $4.72, according to figures released by AAA and reported in PBN. So…take the Superferry to Oahu, bring your car and save on gas? No, that won’t work. So much for ending on a positive note. Points for trying? MTW


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Justin Bieber was one of the world's highest-paid celebrities last year, joining the likes of Brad Pitt and NBA star LeB-ron James, a new report says.
Parade magazine estimates Canada's troubled troubadour made $55 million in 2012 - or a staggering $6,261 per hour. Hoops hero James made an estimated $57.5 million but Parade says more than $40 million of his take was from endorsement deals.
Movie star Pitt took in around $35.5 million while reality-TV curiosity Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson earned just $50,000 - still a lot more than most seven-year-olds earn.
With a slew of endorsement deals from Pepsi to CoverGirl, Modern Family star Sofia Vergara made around $21 million last year. Entertainment Tonight says she earns about $175,000 per episode of the TV sitcom.
Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen, who rose to fame on YouTube for her hit Call Me Maybe, made around $2 million.
And the odd siblings of showbiz - the Olsen twins - made around $40 million each but not from appearances, shows or concerts, but for their popular fashion lines.


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Researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel have created malware that will turn your plugged in headphones into a microphone.
Now, if you’ve ever plugged old headphones into a standard line in jack, you know that headphones are basically tiny microphones anyway, with vibrations converting themselves into electromagnetic signals. But this malware is a bit different. Dubbed “Speake(a)r,” the malware does the same thing, but through software. Wired explains:
Their malware uses a little-known feature of RealTek audio codec chips to silently “retask” the computer’s output channel as an input channel, allowing the malware to record audio even when the headphones remain connected into an output-only jack and don’t even have a microphone channel on their plug. The researchers say the RealTek chips are so common that the attack works on practically any desktop computer, whether it runs Windows or MacOS, and most laptops, too.
You can see the exploit in action in this video:
Wired says that in their tests, the researchers at Ben Gurion were able to record sound from as far as 20 feet away with a pair of Sennheiser headphones. Apparently, even when the compressing the recording to send over the internet, the recording was still distinguishable.
Moreover, because the chip feature that the researchers are exploiting is working as intended—it switches between line in and line out on one port)—protecting against this kind of proof of concept wouldn’t be easy.
The idea is definitely interesting, but it’s hardly the only way you can get spied on easily. If you have any internet-of-things devices in your house, consider that cameras, lights, home automation hubs, and anything else can be hacked to spy on you too. And don’t forget that we all carry around little spy computers in our pockets every single day, even though something as simple as battery status can give away location.
And to think, we said Mark Zuckerberg was paranoid as fuck for covering up the ports on his computer and his web cam.


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Over the years, marketers have pumped billions of dollars into brand advertising, from paid search and social ads to display and PPC — but why? Well, aside from the obvious desire to grow brand awareness, the more troubling response is simply because it’s established wisdom that they should.
The biggest question lies with whether or not marketers can actually prove this investment works for them, and that’s what The Drum, a global media platform and the biggest marketing website in Europe, set out to uncover in this new report.
The Drum conducted a survey and looked at how brands (B2B, B2C, and agencies) across the world currently advertise, how they’re measuring the effectiveness of their ad dollars, their experience with certain media platforms, and how marketers generally feel about the efficacy of brand advertising today.
Among the full results of the survey, here’s what we found most noteworthy:
- Only a quarter of brand respondents were able to attribute increased brand awareness to their spending on advertising.
- The most popular way of measuring return on investment in brand advertising is through clicks (62%), followed by impressions, conversions/assisted conversions, and increased sales correlating with the campaign period (all 60%).
- Almost a third (30%) of respondents said they didn’t measure brand perception at all, meaning they have no way of knowing whether what they spend on brand advertising is having any effect.
- 38% of respondents said they’re unsure if they trust Google, Facebook, and other advertising platforms to provide accurate counts on impressions, clicks, and video view counts.
Despite all of the uncertainty around brand advertising, businesses continue to spend billions on ads they aren’t even sure are working for their brands. Marketers need to find a better way to build awareness and brand affinity with the right people online.
Curious to learn more about the state of brand advertising? Take a look at the full report by heading over to The Drum’s website for more.


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Family-owned Lee Supply Corp. has not allowed the economic downturn to interfere with its showroom merchandising efforts or force cutbacks. In fact, during this recessionary period, the Indianapolis-based wholesaler has opened a new showroom and remodeled another; expanded its product mix; stepped up its training; and increased its advertising and merchandising of the showrooms.
“We are looking for lines outside of the traditional ones found in most plumbing showrooms,” says Jennifer Lee, who oversees showroom marketing and development. “We are looking for products that make Lee Supply unique in our market.”
To that end, the wholesaler has developed and grown partnerships with vendors, contractors and even showroom consultant (andSupply House Times’ columnist) Hank Darlington.
Training Is A Win-WinLee Supply partners with vendors on training events for both its customers and employees. Weekly vendor-sponsored product training sessions are conducted in its showrooms, scheduled as early morning, lunch-and-learns or dinner events. Recent training sessions have focused on custom shower planning, tankless water heaters, “green” and aging-in-place products, in addition to vendor-specific training.
“Training makes our contractors better prepared when they go to the client’s home and also when they quote jobs,” Lee says. These partnerships and the expanded training efforts have created a win-win situation for the vendor, contractor, homeowner and showroom.
Showroom employees are sent to K/BIS and other industry shows to further expand their product knowledge.
New showroom consultants are required to spend time outside the showroom during the first month of employment, working in other departments within the company and learning how the wholesaling side of the business can team with the showroom operation. New employees are also presented with a Best Practices book that includes guidelines and customer service expectations and they are required to study an ASA book about showroom sales.
The company also trains outside sales staff and branch managers so they can assist in the showroom when needed.
Hank Darlington is one of the outside consultants who has partnered with the wholesaler on training efforts. He recently conducted an all-day training seminar for all of Lee’s showroom consultants that focused on customer service.
“Motivating our showroom consultants is a high priority,” Lee says. “Instead of making them follow a long list of policies and guidelines, we empower our employees to do what they believe is best for achieving our goals - we call it the ‘use your best judgment’ rule. This system has worked well for us because our consultants feel that they can make judgment calls when needed, and our customers appreciate that.”
The Importance Of Advertising And PromotionIn response to the troubled economy, Lee Supply has focused on expanding its target market and market penetration. It plans to spend more advertising dollars, promoting its showrooms on television, radio and in local high-end magazines, as well as with direct mail and via the hosting of educational seminars. In addition, the company will participate in every home show and trade show that enters its market, Lee notes.
“We have increased our participation in local builder associations, as well as designer and remodeler associations,” she says. “This should improve our brand awareness and also enable us to meet new people in our industry.”
Providing Outstanding Customer ServiceLee Supply’s showrooms add value by offering expanded customer service. For example, its customer service department handles all warranty repair work for acrylic, fiberglass and whirlpools that Lee Supply sells. The company has a shower door installation department to further support its showrooms.
“We know that our customers can purchase their products from another wholesaler, online or at a big box store,” Lee notes. “We are adding value to our services to differentiate ourselves. While we strive to be competitive in our showrooms, we do not focus on having the lowest prices but rather on providing outstanding customer service, the best showrooms and the highest quality products.”
Two people on its staff carry a CAPS designation (Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists) and two have earned CGP certification as Certified Green Professionals. Recently the company set a policy whereby showroom managers are expected to achieve certification in either CAPS or CGP every two years.
In addition, a one-year plan calls for its kitchen cabinet specialists to become designated as an NKBA kitchen or bath designer.
“Our goal is to become the ‘go to’ place for all questions and products in those categories,” Lee says. “We are expanding into these markets that will only grow with time. By becoming a resource for our customers in these areas, we add value to our partnerships with them.”
Expansion In A Down EconomyIn the past two years during the economic downturn, Lee Supply opened a new showroom and remodeled another one.
“We believe that we must be prepared for when the economy turns around,” Lee says. “We can’t let our showrooms become out-of-date. We continuously focus on improving ourselves. Our sales team has not pulled back, but pushed forward, really making an effort to promote our showrooms and also our wholesale side. Our outside sales team is one of our best advertising tools.”
One of the company’s goals this year is to increase its point-of-purchase sales by expanding its product mix, Lee notes.
“By the end of this year we hope to be selling wellness products (lotions, salts, bath oils), high end soft goods (towels and robes), more accessories, and specialized cleaning products (cast iron cleaner, stainless steel cleaner),” Lee says. “Our goal is to have these items displayed in all of our showrooms and available for immediate purchase by the homeowners.”
About Lee SupplyLee Supply was founded by Herbert P. Lee in 1949 as a plumbing specialty supply house.
Its executive staff includes Bob Lee, president; Bill Lee, vice president/sales and marketing; Chip Lee, vice president/operations; and Jeff Beeson, general manager.
The wholesaler’s first showroom, located in Carmel, IN, was built in 2003. Since then seven showrooms have been opened, the most recent one in New Albany, IN.
The New Albany and Carmel “Design Studio By Lee” showrooms are each more than 6,000 sq. ft. The Carmel location features a Kohler Premier showroom area, a Kallista boutique, and a Brizo boutique that includes two working shower walls and seven working whirlpools and airbaths. Six full-time consultants are on staff. Two of the public restrooms in the showroom are remodeled every six months to feature the latest products.
The New Albany location has sections allocated for Kohler and Brizo. A customer relaxation area features comfortable chairs, a coffee bar and a large television that shows DVDs about new products. More than six televisions are positioned in the showroom to play product DVDs. The showroom has five working kitchen displays including appliances, and fresh cookies are baked every morning.
“We took all of the best features from our other showrooms and combined them into this new one,” says Jennifer Lee, who oversees showroom marketing and development.
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Alienware Curved monitor
Posted by Eradicator on January 09 2008 05:22:04
"Alienware has showcased a curved display prototype supporting a resolution of 2880x900, aimed mainly toward gamers, with a refresh rate of .02ms. This 3 feet wide DLP with LED illumination will be available by the second half of 2008. The monitor is still showing some flaws, but Alienware assures us that these will be gone by release. No price has been revealed as of yet."
Quick video and pics HERE


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Bitwise's first product, the Bitwise Hold10 Private Index Fund, is a market cap-weighted basket of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by network value. Backed by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant.
The HOLD 10 Index is a passively managed fund of the top 10 cryptocurrenciesThis year the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has grown from about $13 billion to well over $150 billion, fueled by infusions of capital from all different types of investors. But irregardless of this extreme growth, it's still very complicated for most people to invest in cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Traders and Index FundsI mean sure why not: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is weighing a new trading operation dedicated to bitcoin and other digital currencies, the first blue-chip Wall Street firm preparing to deal directly in this burgeoning yet controversial market, according to people familiar with the matter. Literally, why not?
This Startup Wants to Be Vanguard for CryptocurrenciesYou should have figured this would happen sooner or later. A San Francisco-based startup is launching a cryptocurrency index fund that will track the most valuable virtual coins. Bitwise Asset Management, which has received funding from AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant, says it wants to be "Vanguard for crypto."
AngelList Creator Naval Ravikant Backs S&P-Style Cryptocurrency Fund - CoinDeskA startup led by former Facebook and Google employees is launching a cryptocurrency index fund. Backed by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant, Bitwise Asset Management is today coming out of stealth mode to reveal its first product, the Bitwise Hold10 Private Index Fund - a market cap-weighted basket of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by network value.
Would you recommend this product?


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The startlingly steady supply of leaked iPhone parts that literally fit together a little too neatly to be fake has convinced basically everybody that we’ve been staring at the new iPhone for months now.
The single most persistent rumor has been that the iPhone’s display will grow from 3.5 inches diagonally to 4 inches. As of yet, the leaked parts have never quite shown what that means. But this photo of a purported new iPhone front display assembly next to one for the current iPhone 4S makes it very clear. No? Just have another look:
More new iPhone autopsy photos at Sinocet, if you’re into that kind of thing.
- Top Mexican soccer player Alan Pulido has been rescue after he was kidnapped outside of his hometown in Tamaulipas.
- Yep. Marco Rubio said he's sorry for implying Donald Trump has a small penis.
- Lights have turned Australia's most iconic buildings into seriously psychedelic works of art.


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Gap issued fiscal first-quarter projections that beat consensus estimates, while reporting same-store sales for April that were stronger than expected. Shares rose 4.5% to $40.56 in premarket trading.
Pain Therapeutics said Pfizer (PFE) is evaluating its continued participation in the development of the pain-medicine candidate Remoxy and doesn’t know when a final decision will be made. Shares of Pain Therapeutics dropped 50% to $2.82 premarket as the developed of novel drugs released a letter from Pfizer in which the drug maker said it is reassessing its endorsement of the Remoxy program due to the “years of delay, additional cost incurred to bring the program to this point and development work left in the program.”
A public stock offering by 3D Systems (DDD) priced at a discount to Thursday’s close. The 7.5 million offering priced at a 7% discount, at $40 a share. The three-dimensional-printer maker’s shares fell 6.5% to $40.20 premarket.
Air Lease’s first-quarter earnings rose 49% as the jet-leasing company recorded higher revenue from the rental of flight equipment. Shares fell 8% premarket to $28.15 as the company’s earnings met analyst expectations but revenue fell short.
Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT) fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 26% as the Internet-gear manufacturer reported weaker systems revenue that was further pressured by higher operating expenses. Shares jumped 20% to $19.28 premarket as the company issued upbeat guidance for the current period.
Air Methods (AIRM) swung to a first-quarter loss as the provider of emergency medical transport services was hurt in part by bad weather.
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (MDRX) swung to a surprise first-quarter loss amid restructuring-related charges, acquisition-related impacts and other items while the electronic health-records company also reported weaker revenue. Adjusted earnings and revenue missed expectations.
Apollo Global Management (APO) said its public offering of about 21.1 million Class A shares owned by two co-founders and some key investors will price at $25 a share.
Erickson Air-Crane (EAC) first-quarter loss narrowed as the company posted stronger sales in its larger segment, and the year-ago period saw a large dividend payout. However, adjusted earnings significantly topped consensus estimates.
Molycorp (MCP) first-quarter loss widened sharply as languid prices for the mining company’s rare-earth products and the high cost of production weighed on results, but revenue jumped, exceeding Street expectations.
Priceline.com (PCLN) earnings grew 34% as the online-travel agent delivered a typically better-than-predicted quarter, supported by a new way of booking at its namesake brand and expansion in emerging markets. But the market was unsettled by Priceline’s outlook, which predicted stable growth but still fell short of expectations.
ServiceSource International (SREV) first-quarter loss expanded on higher costs and expenses, as well as income-tax provisions, but adjusted results topped consensus estimates.


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Obamanomics: Consumer Confidence “Unexpectedly” Plummets In JanuaryDoesn't have the slightest clue how to improve the economy, just arrogance.
(Bloomberg) — Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly
dropped in January as gasoline prices picked up and more Americans said jobs were hard to get
The Conference Board’s confidence index fell to 61.1 from a revised 64.8 reading in the prior month, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise to 68. The figure was lower than the most pessimistic projection.
Job growth has fallen short of the pace required to drive bigger gains in wages, at the same time higher fuel costs threaten to strain household budgets and limit spending. The report showed fewer Americans expect their incomes to increase in the next six months, and they pared plans to purchase cars and homes.
Sentiment data indicate “just how fragile households believe the economic expansion is,” Steven Wood, president of Insight Economics LLC in Danville, California, said before the report. It is “largely the result of ongoing weakness in the labor and housing markets as well as the political bickering in Washington and on the campaign trail.”


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Christmas and New Year festivals are crucial for Edinburgh city centre - Roddy Smith
A huge part of the credit must be laid at the door of those who facilitated and organised – at short notice -Edinburgh's Christmas and Hogmanay festivals. The figures show yet again the vital importance of the city's festivals and events:
Christmas footfall in the city centre was excellent, at only 2.6 per cent down against 2019 – which was a bumper year for footfall. We significantly outperformed everywhere else – the UK average was -14.3 per cent and Scotland -13.9 per cent versus 2019.
Hogmanay footfall on Princes Street was 61 per cent up on 2019.
Retail and hospitality sales for Edinburgh City Centre were up year-on-year by 25.7 per cent and 59.2 per cent respectively.
Over two million people attended the Christmas festivities.
These figures are exceptionally positive and clearly show the impact and benefit of Edinburgh’s Christmas and Hogmanay festivals – they are fundamentally crucial to the city centre economy.
The importance of footfall during this period for the Edinburgh city centre business community can never be underestimated or taken for granted. We need to work collectively and proactively to ensure the city delivers a superb programme of activity over both Christmas and Hogmanay in 2023 and beyond.
Essential Edinburgh strategically supported both the Christmas and Hogmanay activities to increase city centre footfall across the whole of December. With the ice rink on George Street selling over 70,000 tickets and the sold-out event at Hogmanay catering for large crowds over the three days of activities, this was a great success.
That this past Christmas period was so successful is due largely to the work of UniqueAssembly with the City of Edinburgh Council, there is also another major factor that should not be overlooked. St James Quarter has had a hugely positive effect, attracting new footfall in the east end of the city centre whilst also increasing footfall levels and dispersal right across the whole of the city centre.
There is no doubt that rail strikes had an impact on footfall and sales across hospitality and retail but in general we are very pleased at how well the city is recovering post pandemic. With cost of living issues affecting everyone, it is pleasing to see the city performing so well against its peers.
2023 is going to be a hugely exciting year for our city centre. New mixed-use developments continue to be built on Princes Street, new hotels opening soon with the W Hotel and Red Carnation, as well as the St James Quarter nearing full occupancy – we have much to look forward to.
Although hybrid working now seems the norm, we are witnessing more and more people returning to offices, positively effecting the city centre. The real missing piece of this jigsaw is local and national government offices, huge employers that are returning to offices much slower than their commercial counterparts.
Our city is hugely attractive to visitors over December and Hogmanay, but we must continue to recognise, promote and invest in marketing our city year-round to the world.
Roddy Smith, Chief Executive, Essential Edinburgh
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Software company New Relic laid off “less than 20 people” as part of a restructuring that combines two of its engineering teams, the company said Monday afternoon.
The San Francisco-based company, which has its engineering headquarters in downtown Portland, said it is integrating its site engineering team with its core technology platform team.
“This combined team will be responsible for continuously improving the scale and reliability of our platform,” the company said in a written statement. The layoffs were attributed to overlapping job duties and occurred across the company’s global footprint.
“We did not take this decision lightly and we are working to ensure the impacted individuals have our support during this unprecedented time,” according to the statement.
Social media posts about the move indicated that those affected were caught off guard.
This is the latest change at New Relic, which has seen several leadership and other internal changes since last fall. The highest ranking executive in the company’s Portland office, chief product officer Jim Gochee, retired in November. He was replaced in January by former Adobe executive Bill Staples.
The company also created the position of president and chief operating officer and installed board member Michael Christenson to the role.
Teams have been reorganizing under the new leadership. The company is still hiring in other areas of the business including engineering, product, sales and customer support. The company is one of the largest tech companies in Portland. It has more than 500 employees in U.S. Bancorp Tower.
New Relic has been focused on its next-generation product called New Relic One, to help customers visualize and map complex development environments. That product took two years of development and was released in 2019. That development process and subsequent realignment around New Relic One contributed to the company’s recent stumbles. CEO Lew Cirne has said that product will set the company up for the next decade of growth, however, that work disrupted some short-term goals.
Last month, during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call, Cirne described the last fiscal year as a transitional time. He told industry analysts the company is through that process.
“As I've said in previous calls, I think we could have executed better throughout most parts of the business as we went through that transitional year,” Cirne told analysts.
New Relic makes software that helps customers monitor their own software applications and has been growing with the rising importance of rapid software development in a variety of businesses.
The company recently completed its fiscal year 2020. In the fourth quarter it had revenue of $160 million, up 21 percent from the year-ago quarter. For the full year it had revenue of $600 million, up 25 percent from 2019.
For the year, the company widened its losses. It lost $85.5 million, or $1.52, compared to a loss of $33.1 million, or 72 cents a share, in 2019.


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Interactive technology promises a wealth of insights on customer behavior, but retailers need to have a plan for deploying the technology and glean insights from data analytics.
From the minute a shopper walks into the new Fort Worth, Dallas-based Neiman Marcus, digital technology is nearby. Here’s the scoop on how the retailer's iLab is developing and designing innovations that are driving a robust customer experience.
Chris H. Petersen says going up against Amazon is like taking a knife to a light saber battle. Why? Because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Artificial intelligence isn't just about having a chat bot. As a leading women's wear retailer is discovering, AI offers a way to solve a slew of retail challenges and boost the bottom line way beyond just better customer communication.
When most businesses think of artificial intelligence, chances are they think about chatbots, logistics, or really any machine learning algorithm that improves their business processes. But what some companies are finding out is that AI can do a whole lot more than just streamline operations.
The need for retailers to have a single customer view to ensure a consistent positive experience, across all the channels via which they interact with shoppers, has only grown more critical as the number of channels and the volume of customer data generated has increased.
Understanding the consumer is just one part of the equation for Crate & Barrel. The key, as a top leader explained, is knowing what a consumer is looking for, helping them find it easy and quick, and driving the purchase forward.
The donut quick service restaurant changed things up by replacing static signs with digital signage. The goal was simple: Boost the customer experience.
A vending/micro market veteran has developed a technology, featuring artificial intelligence, he believes will disrupt the consumer goods distribution industry.
Retailers not using Internet of Things technology may soon want to investigate its potential given big opportunities to boost the customer experience and save big bucks.
Retailers must give young consumers self-service options when it comes to shopping.
The 'customer service experience' encompasses every interaction, or touchpoint, that a customer has with your company; deliver value, and the customers will embrace your new technology and better customer service experience.
Why do retail stores still have "cash registers"?
'No buying decision is final until the try-on is complete!' says fitting room expert and Alert Tech CEO Marge Laney, who's on a one-woman mission to improve fitting rooms in retail apparel stores, in this excerpt from her new book, 'Fit Happens: Analog Buying in a Digital World.'
Paul Price, CEO of marketing technology company Creative Realities, will offer ICX Summit attendees his expert insights and real-world examples for putting the 'wow factor' into the customer experience.
The first-ever UGG Australia technology-driven concept store opened last month in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, featuring interactive digital signage touchscreens and giving shoppers the ability to customize their favorite styles.
The luxury brand is debuting its new store, featuring "connected walls" and high-tech dressing rooms.
Chad Brown with Xomni demonstrates his company's interactive assisted selling solution for Kohl's, at this year's NRF show.
Interactive digital signage creates a completely new atmosphere for buying cable services at NYC flagship store.
This year at NRF, Inclusion brought some highlights from its New York Experience Lounge. Although the "Big Show" has come and gone, the Lounge itself is still open for visits for a limited time, at the company's headquarters at Broadway and Houston.


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3i link-up for Japanese buyouts
Venture capital giant 3i has become one of the first British companies to move into the slowly-developing Japanese buyout sector, via a joint venture with Industrial Bank of Japan.
The IBJ said the two companies would set up a management buyout fund next month with an initial 10 billion yen (£51.5 million) to invest. It is hoped that another 10 billion yen can be raised from investors.
"In Japan, the demand for management buyouts is gradually increasing and is set to rise further," said the IBJ. The venture, capitalised at 400 billion yen, will see 3i take 60%, and the IBJ the remaining 40%. It will initially have a staff of 10 based in Tokyo.
US firms and established brokerages such as Jardine Fleming have been setting up joint ventures with Japanese companies since last year's "Big Bang" reforms, but the 3i deal is one of the first start-ups for a British financial firm in Japan.
The Rothschild group last week announced a fund management joint venture with Mitsui, but so far European finance groups have been slow to move on the opportunities presented by the financial restructuring in Japan. US groups such as GE Capital, Merrill Lynch and the new Citigroup have so far led the charge.
IBJ shares added six yen to 843 on the news.
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Chipotle’s First-Ever Super Bowl
In this commercial
TV Commercial Review
Heart or Humor
Chipotle Mexican Grill unveiled its first-ever Super Bowl commercial during the second quarter of Super Bowl LV. The spot, titled “Can a Burrito Change the World?,” features a young boy rhetorically asking that question while highlighting the impact that Chipotle’s ‘Food with Integrity‘ standards could have on the world, including reducing carbon emissions, saving water, and supporting local growers.
As evidenced in the ad, created by Venables Bell and Partners, Chipotle believes that how we grow our food affects how we grow the future. The company believes the global pandemic has shifted consumer behavior to lean towards a community-focused society, further igniting a passion inside many to make purchasing decisions that drive the difference in the world around them. With this spot as part of a series of brand actions, Chipotle is shedding light on how greater awareness of where food comes from and how it is grown can not only help everyone but also begin to reverse an agricultural industry crisis, which has lost 40x more farmers than it has gained over the last decade.
Chipotle is utilizing the big game to address the challenges faced within our food system and has committed $5 million over five years to help remove barriers and enable the next generation of farmers and ranchers to succeed. Last year, the brand spent more than $300 million in food premiums to purchase responsibly sourced, humanely raised, and often locally grown supplies. Even though more than 400 million acres of farmland are expected to need new farmers in coming years*, it is becoming increasingly difficult for young farmers to find affordable land in the United States. Chipotle helps these young farmers get started and assist the local communities that rely on the opportunities and income these farms provide.
In addition to this commitment, on Sunday, February 7, Chipotle will be donating $1 from every delivery order to the National Young Farmers Coalition. Fans ordering from the app or online can round up their order total to the next highest dollar using Chipotle’s real change feature to support the National Young Farmers Coalition starting today.
“Our big game ad debut is a milestone moment for our brand,” said Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer. “We want to use this massive platform to help shift attention toward creating positive change for the challenges our food system faces and educate consumers on how they can make a difference.“
Food with Integrity


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Weber Shandwick, in partnership with KRC Research, released The State of Corporate Reputation in 2020: Everything Matters Now. This new survey was conducted among executives from 22 markets worldwide and examines what drives a company’s reputation, why it is important to be highly regarded and the benefits that come with having a strong corporate reputation. The study also touches on topics such as corporate culture, CEO and employee activism, crisis and risk.
The research confirms that corporate reputation is an invaluable asset with an appreciable impact on a company’s bottom line. On average, global executives attribute 63 percent of their company’s market value to their company’s overall reputation. Additionally, there is an important segment of executives that attributes at least 76 percent of their market value to company reputation. This group is referred to in the research as the 76 Percenters and represents companies that are leveraging their company reputations for maximum financial returns.
Another key finding from the research is that reputation is “omnidriven.” That is, a company’s reputation is influenced by a variety of factors, with no one driver having a greater impact than all of the rest. This lack of distinction suggests that companies can no longer solely focus on and prioritize just a few key drivers of reputation, but on many. From quality of employees, to quality of products, to financial performance, to corporate culture, everything matters to managing corporate reputation today.
The State of Corporate Reputation in 2020 provides companies with insights for building reputation for greater market value. These recommendations are derived from substantial differences between the average global executive and the 76 Percenters.
Click here for the full report and view the presentation below.


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Zions Bancorp. (ZION) in Salt Lake City has added a former officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to its board.
The $55 billion-asset company said in a press release that Edward Murphy had joined its board. Murphy was chief financial officer of the New York Fed from 2005 to 2013. He also served as CFO of the retail division at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) from 2002 to 2004.
Zions has been working to provide an acceptable capital plan to regulators. The company resubmitted its plan in April after its original plan was rejected. Zions disclosed earlier this week that the Fed had requested two more weeks to evaluate the resubmission and that it now expects a response by July 28.


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Taipei, Taiwan’s exports inched up in July, reversing a year-on-year decline seen in the previous four months, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Friday.
Solid demand for high-tech gadgets offset the weakness in outbound sales posted by old economy industries amid the continuing impact from COVID-19, the MOF said.
Data compiled by the MOF showed the country’s exports rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier to hit US$28.20 billion after a 3.8 percent year-on-year drop in June.
On a month-on-month basis, the July outbound sales also rose 3.9 percent, the data indicated.
In July, the MOF said Taiwan’s imports, however, fell 6.8 percent from a year earlier to US$22.83 billion and the fall in imports boosted a trade surplus by US$1.76 billion from a year earlier to US$5.37 billion in July.
In the first seven months of this year, the MOF said, Taiwan’s exports rose 0.5 percent from a year earlier to US$186.21 billion, but imports fell 1.3 percent year-on-year to US$159.49 billion, with the trade surplus at US$26.72 billion, up US$3.08 billion from a year earlier, the MOF said.
The MOF said the high-tech industry in July continued to get a boost from strong demand for devices used in working remotely and learning online, as both have become necessary amid COVID-19, while emerging technologies such as 5G applications lifted outbound sales further.
In July, electronics component makers saw a 15.5 percent year-on-year increase in exports totaling US$10.98 billion, which made up 38.9 percent of the total outbound sales, with exports in semiconductor suppliers up 16.6 percent at US$9.84 billion, the MOF said.
As for the information and audio/video device firms, their exports for July hit a new high of US$4.35 billion, up 18.5 percent from a year earlier, and accounting for 15.4 percent of the total exports in the month, the MOF said.
The old economy industries, however, continued to feel the impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in July, the MOF said.
Last month, exports of base metal, machinery, plastics/rubber and chemical products fell 12.0 percent, 14.1 percent, 10.8 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier to US$2.04 billion, US$1.77 billion, US$1.73 billion and US$1.29 billion, the data showed.
The MOF said China and Hong Kong combined remained the largest buyer of Taiwan-made goods in July, with purchases valued at US$12.58 billion, up 12.7 percent from a year earlier, and making up about 44.6 percent of the total exports.
The growth of exports to China and Hong Kong resulted from a recovery in demand from the China market, where the impact imposed by COVID-19 was fading in the wake of economic reopening, the MOF said.
The United States came in second with exports at US$4.36 billion, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, followed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (U$4.32 billion, down 8.8 percent), Europe (US$2.22 billion, down 11.3 percent), and Japan (US$1.79 billion, down 3.3 percent), the MOF said.
Looking ahead, the MOF said that as COVID-19 continues to affect the global economy, Taiwan’s exports for August are expected to fall 0.5-2.5 percent from a year earlier.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel


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Foodservice & Restaurant Supply Chain Disruption: Conflict, COVID, Climate
August 8, 2022
War, climate change, and a nightmare supply chain is driving avocado prices to new heights. U.S. restaurants are likely to be impacted first, followed by grocery stores.
August 3, 2022
Farmers in southern Spain fear extreme drought and consecutive heatwaves this year could cut olive oil output in the world's largest producer by nearly a third in the 2022/23 season.
August 1, 2022
U.S. consumers spent $2.4 billion on breaded chicken sandwiches in the June quarter, up 3% from the previous three months. Despite boneless, skinless breast-meat prices nearly tripling since the start of 2021, demand from restaurants has stayed hot in recent months.
July 28, 2022
As soaring food prices continue to wreak havoc globally, there is some reprieve in cooking oil, coffee and avocado
July 26, 2022
In its first forecast for 2023, USDA sees inflation retracting to a 2.5%-3.5% range. The 20-year historical average for consumer food prices is a 2.4% rise.
July 21, 2022
US supply chains are graded an F+ as disruption is the new normal and the ability to optimize a perfect supply chain no longer exists.
July 20, 2022
Truckers opposed to new California ‘gig economy’ law have effectively halted import and export operations at the West Coast’s third-busiest container port.
July 19, 2022
Fueled by a strong economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. consumers are spending record sums on food eaten away from home.
July 15, 2022
Legislation has been introduced that would remove food safety oversight functions from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
July 11, 2022
Some companies are renegotiating agreements to take advantage of lower rates.
July 8, 2022
Supply constraints have pushed up prices of the fruit considerably.
June 28, 2022
The world has perhaps never seen this level of simultaneous agricultural disruption, meaning it may take years to return to global food security. “Where we are today it's two to three years before you get out of the current environment".
In the U.S. prices increased 7.4% at restaurants and other food venues outside the home, also marking a more-than-four-decade increase.
June 21, 2022
A slowdown in consumer spending caused by inflation and a potential recession will have a massive impact on freight demand and prolong an inventory drawdown. For supply chains, the consumer pullback couldn’t come at a worse time.
June 20, 2022
Diners may be trading dine-in restaurants for less expensive dining like fast food and fast-casual and there is a "pent-up demand for services like dining out."
June 12, 2002
Some of the nation’s biggest food suppliers and restaurants said they would continue to raise prices as they face starkly higher costs.
June 2, 2022
For 11 weeks restaurant traffic has declined. Still, restaurants are managing to hold on.
May 31, 2022
Supply-chain issues persist as the volume of containers is more than ports, rails and warehouses can quickly handle.
May 27, 2022
From substitutions to diversifying suppliers, companies have to stay flexible as war, weather and other disruptions pressure ingredient supplies and prices.
May 18, 2022
In April, average wholesale food prices in the PPI jumped 18% from a year earlier. It was the largest 12-month increase in nearly five decades. Eggs surged 220%, butter jumped 51%, fats and oils were up 41%, and flour 40%. The outlook for higher food prices reflects a broader trend for the U.S. economy.
May 17, 2022
Portions at U.S. restaurants are indeed getting smaller.
May 11, 2022
Wholesale food costs were 17% higher in March than the same time last year. "Inflation is just ridiculous now."
May 10, 2022
Cotton prices have soared to their highest levels since May 2011 as concerns grow over a possible export ban by top exporter India and a severe drought hitting U.S. yields. Prices are not expected to come back down for some time.
May 9, 2022
For the first time ever, farmers the world over — all at the same time — are testing the limits of how little chemical fertilizer they can apply without devastating their yields come harvest time. Early predictions are bleak.
May 6, 2022
The economic fallout of the war in Ukraine is evident in all business sectors, and the foodservice sector, both domestically and globally, has not been spared.
May 3, 2022
In light of the Russia-Ukraine war, new report provides the 12-month inflation outlook in North America for packaging materials, including plastic, paper, glass, and aluminum.
April 28, 2022
Ukraine war, drought in South America, and biofuel demand pressure supplies. If corn and soybeans notch new highs, they will be the latest raw materials to do so in the broadest and sharpest commodities rally of the modern trading era. Vegetable oils, oats, and wheat already reached records in 2022.
April 25, 2022
Indonesia — the largest producer of the edible oils commodity in the world — announced plans for an export ban of palm oil starting April 28. This comes as the broader edible oil market has been hit by a series of inflationary events, including poor weather and labor shortages in key crop-growing countries, rising global demand and the war in Ukraine.
April 18, 2022
“If the war ended today, we would have food inflation widely for three years.”
April 12, 2022
What this means for dining out as COVID cases increase more than 50% in 10 days.
April 7, 2022
“The world is realizing it’s not easy to take a major commodity like sunflower oil and switch to an alternative.
April 5, 2022
Raising prices can only go so far, so some eateries are using menu engineering to draw customers’ attention to items with better profit margins or less dramatic price hikes.
April 2, 2022
A rapidly escalating bird-flu outbreak in the U.S. is contributing to a surge in egg prices and threatens to raise prices on other poultry products in the coming months.
April 1, 2022
The culprit? Citrus greening and weather impact.
Increases in energy, transportation, labor costs, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will lead to continued price increases for food packaging over the next 12 months
March 30, 2022
The cutoff in commodities from Russia is changing the global map for sourcing raw materials.
March 29, 2022
Yet total restaurant visits in February were down 8% from a pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
March 23, 2022
After drought and heat reduced yields in the West by 9%, Maine growers are shipping millions of potatoes to Washington and Idaho
It all amounts to a double whammy for the global food supply.
March 16, 2022
“Even the most prepared businesses will be impacted by these new lockdowns in China, as flexibility within the supply chain is minimal.”
CP carries U.S. grain to Pacific Northwest export terminals, and moves potash fertilizer into the United States, which is critical ahead of spring planting season.
Prices for citrus fruits have increased 16.2% over the past year, due to cold weather and disease.


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Quango officials spend £38,000 of taxpayers' money on food and drink... including 'business lunch' for three at Hooters
- Government watchdog officials spent £80 on meal at American grill
- Also spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers' cash on meals at luxury London eateries
- Consumer watchdog admits Hooters was 'poor choice of venue'
Saucy: American-themed bar grill Hooters is well-known for its scantily-clad waitresses
The Office of Fair Trading has run up a £38,000 food bill charged to the taxpayer, including £80 on a mean at raunchy American food chain Hooters, it was revealed today.
Bosses at the Government quango, which works to protect consumer rights, racked up the £80 taxpayer-funded bill at Hooters in Nottingham, famous for its busty waitresses who wear hotpants while serving customers.
A member of the consumer watchdog entertained business contacts at the American-themed grill, according to figures obtained by the Taxpayers' Alliance.
Figures released through Freedom of Information requests showed that the OFT spent £77.73 on a meal at the Nottingham branch of the chain in October 2009.
Officials at the quango also amassed bills over £1,000 charged to the taxpayers at high-end London restaurants as part of business lunches and meals hosted for delegates.
In the past two years the OFT spent £1,064.47 at Chez Gerrard in London, as well as a further £1,440 at Patterson's, another exclusive London restaurant.
The taxpayer-funded bill at Hooters today came under fire from Object, which campaigns for against the sexualisation of women.
Anna van Heeswijk, campaign manager, told the Daily Express: 'What hope do women have for equality when it is seen as acceptable for a government office to use taxpayers' money to support a restaurant which is based on the objectification and degradation of women?'
Lunch: Officials from the Office of Fair Trading spent nearly £80 in Hooters, Nottingham, during a taxpayer-funded meal
OFT bosses also splashed out £100 on food at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair, as well as £386.44 at Lutyens, near St Paul's in London, during a lunch for Japanese delegates hosted by the firm's boss John Fingleton.
In total, the Office of Fair Trading spent £572,458 from the public purse between 2009 and 2011.
The two-year bill included £90,000 on flights, £10,000 on stays at five-star hotels, and even £500 on jewellery in Liverpool and £440 for a training course.
Emma Boon, campaign director for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'It's preposterous that staff at the quango in charge of ensuring we don't get ripped off have spent taxpayers' money in Hooters; it's an inappropriate venue in which to conduct business.
'The OFT needs to explain some of the more extravagant looking items on these bills, such as big lunches and five-star hotel stays, as some of this spending looks inappropriate.'
The Office of Fair Trading, Britain's leading consumer watchdog, conceded Hooters was a 'poor choice of venue'
A spokesperson for the OFT said the £77 bill from Hooters was for a meal for three people in October 2009.
A spokesperson said: 'The OFT believes Hooters was a poor choice of venue and has relayed this to a junior official in question.
'The money was spent on food only, and staff are permitted to fund subsistence costs when travelling away from the office on business.
'In some cases where conferences take place in higher end hotels, officials can stay there for reasons of practicality.
'Where we can, we seek to recover the costs of travel and accommodation from event organisers.'
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A group of military chemists and scientists are developing ways to embed electronics into flexible, bendable, and stretchable materials.
According to a press release, so far the research team has figured out how to cram a circuit board onto a thin ribbon of flexible silicon.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Ph.D. Benjamin J. Leever explained,” Basically, we are using a hybrid technology that mixes traditional electronics with flexible, high-performance electronics and new 3-D printing technologies.”
Leever noted that applications include using inks made of metals, polymers, and organic materials. ” With our technology, we can take a razor-thin silicon integrated circuit, a few hundred nanometers thick, and place it on a flexible, bendable or even foldable, plastic-like substrate material,” he said.
Using liquid gallium alloys and ionic species, the research team has created thin, foldable material that allows the circuitry to fit into very tight spaces. It can actually be molded to a variety of shapes, including forming to a person’s skin.
Right now, the team is focusing on military applications, but this technology could have potential in other fields. For example, Leever notes it could be used to monitor the condition of bridges or provide feedback on athletic activities.
Once the technology becomes commercially available, it could be used for a plethora of game-changing devices. We are already seeing flexible materials in other wearable applications. Combined with this technology, it could be possible for you to have an entire smartphone or tablet roll up into a ball without causing damage.


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Moving freight across the U.S.-Canada border is essentially as easy as moving freight domestically: there are just a few extra steps involved. The biggest differences are working with a licensed customs broker and filling out customs documents. Working with a licensed and bonded carrier that is well-experienced moving freight across the border makes the process easy!
No matter what industry you’re in, getting products to your customers on-time and in good condition is vital to your business’ success.
There are over 300 land, air and sea ports of entry into the United States, and the U.S. Customs & Border Protection agency (CBP) has jurisdiction over all of them. At these ports, CBP provides security and screening of all foreign visitors, returning American citizens and imported cargo. Here, we’ll take a look at imported cargo — specifically at the requirement of a U.S.
If you need fast delivery for your international freight, you might be considering full-container load (FCL) shipping. FCL is often seen as a fast shipping option because the freight isn’t sorted at the port and travels directly to its destination. But what if you don’t have enough freight to fill a 20-foot container? Less-than-container load (LCL) shipping is normally the most cost-effective option for small shipments, but it isn’t known for being fast. So, what’s the solution?
Have you been notified that your ocean shipment is delayed? If so, it’s quite possible that it’s sailing on a Hanjin ship. Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd, the world’s seventh-largest container carrier, filed a court proceeding in Korea seeking to be placed into receivership on August 31, resulting in $14 billion in stranded cargo around the world, according to various media reports. The company’s vessels have been seized at ports or stranded at sea because of an inability to pay required fees.


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‘I’d like to once again urge entrepreneurs to enter the lithium-refining business. You can’t lose, it’s a licence to print money’
ELON Musk’s profile in the mining sector is driven by electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla. Future demand for green metals, such as lithium and cobalt, will stem from the global energy transition from fossil fuels, and EVs will play a big role even if some of the obituaries of the internal combustion engine seem premature. What puts Musk in this year’s Rainmakers & Potstirrers, however, is the ‘friend-shoring’ he has come to represent between miners and original equipment manufacturers as they begin to cooperate in an effort to improve the efficiency of the supply chain, sometimes by regionalising.
Musk being Musk, he looked to take this harmonisation of interests a step further by exploring an investment in Glencore, allegedly. Glencore has declined to comment, but it’s interesting that Tesla secured a large cobalt supply contract from the miner’s Democratic Republic of Congo operations last year. Securing lithium supply with good provenance is clearly a concern for Tesla, as it is for other OEMs. That’s part of the reason why Musk urged entrepreneurs to move into lithium refining. He followed this up by offering “a giant contract” to any supplier that could mine the mineral in an environmentally sustainable way.
He has even floated the notion of Tesla “getting into mining” directly, although details of how this might be done are sketchy. “We might get into the mining business, I don’t know,” he said at Tesla’s annual general meeting last year. It has not all been smooth sailing for Tesla: the firm’s share price took a big knock in 2022 as competition revved up and Musk’s acquisition of Twitter proved a distraction. Musk also lost his ‘World’s Richest Man’ title in 2022 to Louis Vuitton and Dom Perignon magnate Bernard Arnault of France.
LIFE OF ELON
Musk hails from Pretoria, South Africa, but makes little mention of his roots, which include Canadian ancestry via his mother. Until recently the world’s richest man, he cofounded PayPal, formed SpaceX, and was an early investor of electric car maker Tesla, which he went on to run. And of course he acquired Twitter in 2022. Musk’s interests in space derive from his view that humanity must inhabit more than one planet to survive. A father of 10, he is doing his bit for the perpetuation of Homo sapiens.


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The National Institute of Requirements and also Modern Technology (NIST) on Thursday launched an upgraded cybersecurity support for taking care of dangers in the supply chain, as it progressively becomes a financially rewarding assault vector.
” It motivates companies to think about the susceptabilities not just of an ended up item they are thinking about making use of, however likewise of its elements– which might have been created in other places– and also the trip those elements required to reach their location,” NIST claimed in a declaration.
The brand-new directive lays out major security controls and practices that entities ought to embrace to determine, analyze, and also reply to dangers at various phases of the supply chain, consisting of the opportunity of destructive capability, imperfections in third-party software application, insertion of imitation equipment, and also bad production and also growth methods.
The growth adheres to an Exec Order released by the united state Head Of State on “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity (14028)” last Might, calling for federal government firms to take steps to “boost the safety and security and also honesty of the software application supply chain, with a top priority on dealing with important software application.”
It likewise comes as cybersecurity dangers in the supply chain have actually concerned the center over the last few years, partially worsened by a wave of strikes targeting widely-used software application to breach lots of downstream suppliers at one time.
According to the European Union Company for Cybersecurity’s (ENISA) Threat Landscape for Supply Chain Attacks, 62% of 24 strikes recorded from January 2020 to very early 2021 were located to “make use of the depend on of consumers in their vendor.”
” Handling the cybersecurity of the supply chain is a requirement that is right here to remain,” claimed NIST’s Jon Boyens and also among the magazine’s writers. “If your firm or company hasn’t begun on it, this is a thorough device that can take you from crawl to stroll to run, and also it can aid you do so promptly.”


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Coles has announced it’ll dim the lights and turn down the radio for an hour each week, as part of a new initiative to make a more inclusive experience for shoppers with difficulties processing sensory stimulation.
68 stores across Australia will participate in the Quiet Hour from 10.30am to 11.30am each Tuesday, after a successful trial run in conjunction with Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect).
In addition, the volume will be turned down on beeping scanners, trolley collections will be paused, PA announcements will be restricted to emergencies, and trained staff will be on deck to help customers.
Those measures were designed to make the frequently hectic supermarket a little easier to navigate. That’s big news for shoppers and shoppers’ children on the autism spectrum, who may find the regular hubbub offputting.
In a statement, Aspect’s Linzi Coyle said the initiative also aims to establish a “‘no-judgement’ shopping space where people on the spectrum and their families can feel comfortable and welcome whilst grocery shopping.”
The announcement has been met with a positive response. Shoppers have taken to Facebook to voice their appreciation for the move, with others asking when the initiative will be rolled out at their local store.
Around 1 in every 100 Australians have an autism spectrum disorder, and a significant portion of that community might find shopping a lil’ easier because of this move.
Cop a squiz at the list of participating stores below:
Tea Tree Plaza
Casuarina – Bradshaw St


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(Ecofin Agency) - With its proposed plan, Stellantis aims to move quickly towards “highest internal integration.”
The automotive group Stellantis announced, today (October 13), an agreement with the Algerian government for the installation of a Fiat-branded cars production plant in the country.
The agreement was signed, in Algiers, during a ceremony chaired by Ahmed Zaghdar, Algerian Minister of Industry, and Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO. It provides for the production of passenger cars and utility vehicles and “the development of industrial, after-sales and spare part activities, an Algerian news agency reports. The industrial site will be located in Oran, a port city located 432 km from Algiers.
“For Stellantis, the mission is very clear. [...] with the FIAT brand, we will bring to Algerian society the best. We have to offer mobility that is safe, clean, and affordable. We will bring models, platforms, and technologies,” said Stellantis Group CEO Carlos Tavares during the signing ceremony.
Stellantis “understood the country’s interests. We will unite quickly towards the highest internal integration,” he added.
For Minister Ahmed Zeghdar, the agreement, which is the embodiment of excellent relations between Algeria and Italy, comes after intensive consultations between the two parties.
Stellantis was born, in 2021, from the merger of French group PSA and Italian-American corporation Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Currently, it has 14 brands including Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Dodge. In 2021, it announced a record US$15.1 billion profit and a US$172.2 billion turnover.


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The bangladesh mobile phone market continued its upward trajectory as both feature phone and smartphone categories witnessed a. All market bangladesh rangdhanu shopping complex 2nd floor, shop no 327, mirpur 12 dhaka, 1216 phone: 01724-666717, office: 01730-834090. Mobile phone bangladesh market price from tk 890 we now have 1359 ads from 5 sites for mobile phone bangladesh market price, under electronics.
2018 latest updated mobile phone price in bangladesh from all brands, full specification, showroom locations, rating, and review android, smartphone, feature. The bangladesh smartphone market posted healthy growth in 2017, with shipments up 206 per cent year-on-year to 81 million units despite a. Bangladesh smartphone shipment market share % source: smartphone shipments contributed to 21% of the total mobile phone shipments,.
There are six (06) mobile phone operators in bangladesh grameenphone, let's move on the handset market scenario of bangladesh. Products explore the latest vivo smart phones vivo reveals apex™ fullview ™ concept smartphone news 2018-02-26 thumbnail. Home phones smartphone galaxy j series samsung bangladesh is the market leader in product categories like mobile phones, smart phones, panel. We phone - available in bangladesh local market price of we devices with latest price update and previous price trend. Buy new and used mobile phones in bangladesh on bikroy find best deals on iphones & android phones from samsung, apple, symphony, nokia and other.
In a country with 147 million mobile phone subscribers, over 10 million use to get a quick share in the bangladesh market,” the report said. This graph shows the market share of mobile vendors in bangladesh from july mobile vendor market share in bangladesh - august 2018 device vendor. Items 1 - 20 of 67 buy mobile phones online at best price in bangladesh find your smartphone from top cell phone brands at pickaboocom 0% emi warranty. Nonetheless, feature phones were highly popular in the bangladeshi market due to their low price, availability, durability and customers' usage behavior.
The smartphone market's growth rate came down to 1% in 2017 from 37% the last year, bangladesh imported 34 million mobile phones. The “assembled in bangladesh” handsets will be launched for sale before eid-ul -fitr, which is the peak time for the smartphone market. Smartphone shipments contributed to 24 percent of the total mobile phone shipments, signalling a slow but steady adoption of smartphones.
Set market and making a new brand image by a new company who wants to enter into bangladeshi mobile phone set industry this study has analyzed the. 213 products buy best mobile phone online from samsung, sony, huawei, htc, on latest mobile price in bangladesh market with additional deals on upcoming,. Symphony grabs 40% of smartphone market in bangladesh that way i have put the company in top 5 smartphone brand in bangladesh. This list ranks the countries of the world by the number of mobile phones in use note that it is 8, bangladesh, 150,945,000, 157,497,000, 9554, june 2018 state of electronic communications market in september 2015 - mobile phones, .


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Global battery industries have accelerated rapidly, with the potential growth for Australia now more than double previous estimates.
A new report, Charging Ahead – Australia’s Battery Powered Future reveals the battery industry could provide $16.9 billion per annum in value-add and support 61,400 local jobs by 2030.
Increased adoption of electric vehicles is the key driver behind the forecast growth, with increased need for batteries in stationary storage also contributing to global battery demand.
The report analysed global influences on the potential growth of Australia as a major supplier of battery minerals. With the support of the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund and the $1 billion value add-in resources sub-fund, its recommendations could result in Australia's battery industry becoming a global leader.


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Last year, Burger King Japan brought back its bizarre Kuro Burger—a black burger with black sauce and black cheese—for the third year in a row. I ate it, and it tasted slightly better than it looked (not saying much). The Kuro Burger is coming back again this year, but BK Japan is also trying out a new freakshow sandwich: The AKA (Red) Samurai burger, featuring a blood-red bun and cheese, and red ANGRY sauce.
Prediction: It will be pretty good.
The basic problem with the Kuro Burger was a patty that tasted like it was made mostly of pepper, and an infusion of bamboo charcoal that had nothing to offer but its color. The AKA Samurai Beef has solved those problems:
What you’re seeing here is a bun and cheese colored with tomato powder, not coal, and a miso-based sauce flavored with doubanjiang—a spicy, fermented red pepper sauce found mostly in Szechuan food. Burger King’s press release claims it’s “spicy enough to get angry.”
The Kuro’s tangy black sauce was alright, but didn’t have enough kick to overcome the Olympic-sized swimming pool of mayo it was drowning in. If ANGRY sauce meets mayo, so be it: spicy mayo is a real thing. (Also, every fast-food red sauce I tasted in Japan would be a tremendous upgrade to America’s dollar menus. It’s statistically likely that BK didn’t mess this one up.)
The AKA Samurai Beef also looks like it comes with a regular burger patty, which beats the microwave Salisbury steak in last year’s Kuro.
So, sure, I’d eat it. But I also ate a black burger with slimy black cheese and squid ink sauce, so take that recommendation with a grain of salt and a whole lot of pepper. Uuuuughhhh, so much pepper.
This red menace arrives July 3 in beef and chicken flavors, and the new Kuro—with improved cheese, which was the only part that didn’t need improvement—follows in August.


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Aprilís new car sales in Western Europe fell 8 per cent, suggesting on first sight that the market has finally lost the enduring display of fizz seen
in the regionís rebounding new car market for most of the past 44 months. But Aprilís outwardly disappointing turnout, with sales falling well short of last yearís same month levels in all but three of the 18 markets monitored by AIDís market observers, doesnít necessarily mean that the regionís robust sales rebound has finally come to a screeching halt. The reasons why this positive trend was broken last month are all too easily spotted
Aprilís new car sales in Western Europe were hit by three fewer working days in many markets.
Accordingly, all but one of the regionís major markets posted declines.
While Spain saw a minor 1.1 per cent uplift in sales both Italy and France saw minor respective falls of 4.6 and 6 per cent.
The UK, the long-running regional car sales dynamo, was hardest hit.
Germany saw an 8 per cent dip in April sales, but same month sales in the UK slumped by nearly a fifth, pulled back by fewer working days and one other special
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Europeís car sales on track for 10-year high as slowdown fails to materialise
07 Apr 2017
Europeís diesel car market is continuing to crumble
02 Feb 2017
Diesels at the Crossroads†49.5% 2016 West European diesel share
25 Jan 2017


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Calling for open trade policies, Ren Zhengfei said, "Both the US and China need to develop their economies, as this is good for our society and financial balance. Everyone needs this. As humanity keeps making progress, no company can develop a globalized industry alone. It requires concerted efforts around the world."
Allaying concerns around the potential impact of 5G on a global scale, Mr. Zhengfei further said, "We are open to transferring all of our 5G technologies, not just licensing production to others. This will include source programs and source code to all the hardware design secrets as well as the know-how, and the chip design."
The modern globalized industry is interdependent, needing open supply chains and cooperation between companies across geographies. Huawei, as the leading global ICT solutions provider, will continue its focus on providing platforms for diversified industries such as mining, ports, iron & steel, coal to apply ICT solutions with increased adoption of electronic, software, and computing systems.
Continuing its commitment to offering best in class products and solutions to its customers, Huawei is firing the innovation engine going beyond telecom with over 100 research centers and joint labs around the world, specializing in areas like mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and aesthetics and catering to diverse industries.
Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have more than 194,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.
Our mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will drive ubiquitous connectivity and promote equal access to networks; bring cloud and artificial intelligence to all four corners of the earth to provide superior computing power where you need it, when you need it; build digital platforms to help all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; redefine user experience with AI, making it more personalized for people in all aspects of their life, whether they're at home, in the office, or on the go.
For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:
Source: Carl Byoir & Associates