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CNET breaks down some of the major numbers from Apple's record-breaking quarter and looks at how they stack up to years past.
Josh LowensohnFormer Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Apple broke all kinds of records yesterday with its monster earnings report.
With those results in the rear view mirror, now's as good a time as any to sit back and take a look at what they mean. Below are some of the big or otherwise notable facts and figures to chew on.
$46.33 billion. That was Apple's total revenue from the quarter, an all-time record and 73 percent better than the company did during the same quarter last year.
$13.06 billion. Apple's profit for the quarter, more than double what it did during the same quarter last year.
$32.5 billion. That's the revenue Apple predicts it will bring in the current quarter. It's nothing as big as this quarter, but it would be about a 32 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago.
37.04 million. The number of iPhones Apple sold during the quarter, the most it's ever sold in any quarter and a direct result of the release of the iPhone 4S in October.
Apple did not provide a breakdown of which models contributed to the total, but it did say that the majority were the iPhone 4S. By comparison, Apple sold 72 million iPhones during all of fiscal 2011, and 40 million in 2010. Worth noting is that this is the first year Apple's offered a lineup of three iPhones at once; the company continues to sell the iPhone 3GS alongside the iPhone 4 and 4S.
It's so many iPhones, in fact, that if you run the math--as we wrote about yesterday--Apple actually sold more iPhones per day than people born in the world each day during the same time period.
15.43 million. The number of iPads Apple sold during the quarter, which is another record breaker and a 111 percent increase from the same quarter last year. To put that in perspective, Apple sold 32 million iPads during its fiscal 2011.
That volume of iPads ends up being higher than PC sales by rivals, at least according to research firm IDC. As Computerworld notes, IDC research pegs Hewlett-Packard as the top PC maker in the last quarter, shipping 15.1 million computers in its fourth quarter. It's also higher than Lenovo's 13 million and Dell's 11.9 million unit counts.
15.4 million. The number of iPods Apple sold during the quarter. That's down 21 percent from how many iPods Apple sold last year, even with price cuts Apple introduced to the iPod Touch and iPod Nano in October.
All told, net sale of the iPod came in at $897 million. That accounted for 5 percent of Apple's net sales this quarter as opposed to 13 percent during the same quarter last year. Apple still maintains that the iPod holds a 70 percent plus share of the U.S. market for MP3 players, as per data from the NPD group.
5.2 million. How many Macs Apple sold in its first quarter. That's an all-time record, and up 26 percent from a year ago. As with its other products, Apple doesn't break down how many units each model sold, except to say that the most growth was with its portables, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro.
1.4 million. How many Apple TV set-top boxes Apple sold in its first quarter. That's a tiny number compared to the rest of the company's products, but one thing to keep in mind is that Apple sold 2.8 million Apple TVs in all its fiscal 2011. During yesterday's earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said it was still a "hobby," but he said he "couldn't live without it."
85 million. That's how many people are using Apple's iCloud. That metric was not in the company's earnings release, or its quarterly report. Instead, it came during Apple's earnings call yesterday, with Cook saying "it is just not a product. It is a strategy for the next decade."
$1.7 billion. Apple's net sales of Apple's iTunes Store. That includes the iTunes Store, App Store and iBookstore. Add on "iPod services and Apple branded and third-party iPod accessories," and Apple pulled in $2.02 billion in net sales, a 42 percent increase from the same quarter last year.
$4 billion. How much Apple has paid to App Store developers cumulatively. That works out to $700,000 in payments to developments during the quarter, as per Apple Insider's math. That's adding on to the more than $3 billion number Apple announced at its iPhone 4S unveiling in October.
$30.15 billion. Apple's cash and cash equivalents and short-term securities. In plain English, that's the sum Apple could choose to spend on reasonably short notice. Add in long-term securities, which can be difficult to convert quickly to cash, and that sum rises to $97.6 billion.
During yesterday's earnings call, Apple's chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, attempted to avoid any questions about what the company was planning to do with all that money.
"We recognize that the cash is growing for all of the right reasons," Oppenheimer said. "And I would characterize our discussions today as active, about what makes the most sense to do with the cash balance. But, we don't have anything to announce specifically today."
$783 million. How much Apple spent on research and development in the quarter. That's up $183 million, or 32 percent, from the $575 million Apple spent during the same quarter last year. In its quarterly report filed earlier today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said the bump is "due primarily to an increase in headcount and related expenses to support expanded R&D activities."
41,800. The number of full-time equivalent employees working in Apple's retail stores.
110 million. How many people visited Apple's retail stores during the quarter, a 45 percent bump from the 76 million vistors that Apple pulled in during the same quarter last year. If you break that down by the company's average of 358 stores that were open, it's 22,000 visitors per store, per week.
$6.1 billion. Apple's net sales at its retail stores for the quarter. That's a 59 percent bump from the same quarter last year, where Apple raked in $3.84 billion from its stores.
148 percent. That was the jump in Apple's sales in Japan for the quarter compared with the same quarter last year. Japan accounted for $3.5 billion of Apple's net sales up from $1.4 billion last year.


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9 Immigrants Arrested In Raid File Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart
Nine Mexican immigrants, who were among 250 people arrested for being illegal immigrants in an Oct. 23 federal raid on 60 Wal-Marts in 21 states, have sued the company. In their lawsuit the workers accuse Wal-Mart and its cleaning contractors of failing to pay overtime, withhold taxes and make required workers' compensation contributions as well as discriminating against them by giving them lower wages and fewer benefits than other workers because of their national origin. The lawsuit alleges that Wal-Mart deliberately employed certain cleaning contractors because they knew these contractors would pay the illegal immigrants far less than they would have paid legal workers. A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart has said that the company did not know its contractors used illegal immigrants and was unaware of any labor violations that the cleaning contractors are accused of.

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As media coverage of the cryptocurrency craze careens across categories from tech to finance, business to politics, and even occasionally crime, a slowly growing number of specialty coffee people are taking notice. Individual companies are gradually beginning to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment, and some are wading more deeply into crypto’s less charted waters.
Take Pull Espresso Machines, which now accepts cryptocurrency for payments on Pull machine purchases. Pull’s owner, Todd Millar, even has a small “rig” set up for “mining” Bitcoin and other currencies himself — more for the personal edification than for the financial reward.
“I’m trying to understand a little bit more by being involved in it, by actually doing the mining part of it,” Millar told Daily Coffee News, aware of the irony of embracing bleeding-edge technology to help support a business building electronics-free manual lever espresso machines with a sort of old-world ethos.
The “rig” in use for his small mining operation is a bunch of linked, high-performance computer graphics cards dedicated solely to the task of receiving and verifying a never-ending stream of encrypted transactions that, once sorted, are stored forever in a decentralize public ledger. In the case of Bitcoin, the successful verification and entry of each transaction is also what triggers the release of new coinage into circulation. A portion of this and of the tiny Bitcoin transaction fee is rewarded to the race-winning rig, hence the term “mining.”
Crypto vs. Traditional Currency
Millar admits that while the cryptocurrency phenomenon is hard to grasp, it fast becomes an intellectual rabbit hole the closer one gets to understanding it.
“I can choose to hang on to the crypto and speculate the market, or I can immediately take that exact value and turn it in for real U.S. dollars,” said Millar. “There are lots of companies, lots of services that do it for very small fees. For me, it’s a more secure way of doing business, especially with international customers. This is a global business, it’s not just the USA, not just the U.S. dollar. Using a global currency like this really opens us up as a company.”
Millar does generally keep the cryptocurrency he earns as opposed to exchanging it for U.S. dollars, though. So does Pourtables maker Libra Coffee, another retailer in the specialty coffee industry with an interest in cryptocurrency. Libra is primarily an online roasted coffee merchant, offering a subscription service and a la carte coffee products purchasable the old-fashioned way, via credit cards.
“Generally, credit card companies take 2-4 percent transaction fees straight off the top for just being a middleman,” Libra founder and roaster Eric Medina told Daily Coffee News. “My thoughts are that if Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency is mass adopted, then it will allow us to increase our profit margin.”
Medina is an enthusiast and a believer to the extent that Libra Coffee has launched a special coffee blend called HODL, as an appeal to crypto culture. “HODL” stands for “Hang On for Dear Life,” an expression among crypto-fans for times when the speculative value of a currency swings wildly.
“Terms like HODL, Lambos, To the Moon, and all the other vernacular is a fun way to communicate about the trading volatility of the crypto space, but for Bitcoin to actually replace central bank money we have to spend it and replace it, and not day-trade it,” said Medina. “HODL coffee is a way to spend your Bitcoin, and if we get enough companies to do the same then you grow the Bitcoin/crypto economy.”
As an equipment manufacturer and seller, Millar has been burned by customers, by suppliers, by credit card companies, and others. For purveyors like Millar and Medina, the breakneck boom-and-bust rollercoaster of Bitcoin — or of any of the other 1,500+ currently traded cryptocurrencies — value is neither a draw nor a deterrent. Millar points out that risk is an inherent part of any business.
“At the end of the day, money is money, and it’s all a gamble,” said Millar. “I call it ‘going to Vegas.’ We’re building a machine and hoping to acquire a customer, that’s going to Vegas. And just hanging on to our U.S. dollar is going to Vegas. How is it any different to take a cryptocurrency? It’s really no different in my mind, it’s the same ‘going to Vegas’ mentality.”
A handful of coffee retailers throughout the world have been early adopters of this mentality when it comes to crypto. A new cafe in Dublin, Ireland, currently accepts the cryptocurrencies Litecoin and Ethereum. A Prague cafe called Bitcoin Coffee, operated by a kind of collective of crypto-anarchists under the name Paralelní Polis, has been accepting Bitcoin since as far back as 2014, creating a retail space that is inintentional disorienting to visitors accustomed to traditional cash payments. Yet another new cafe in Singapore accepts various forms of cashless payments, including Bitcoin and its own cryptocurrency, Ducatus.
“We just want to make sure people understand that cryptocurrencies are here to stay,” Ducatus CEO Ronny Tome recently told Reuters.
While such operations currently live with the value swings associated with crypto, it’s the security, transparency, cost-efficiency, speed and control inherent to the underlying platform that provides the appeal. That underlying technology is the blockchain, for which currency exchange is only one of many possible applications.
How Blockchain Works
Blockchain is a system of recording and encrypting data in an interlocking way, while also being a system physically comprised by a decentralized network of computers, rather than one central server. Both factors contribute to the security and transparency it provides.
A network spread far and wide is not only less vulnerable to singular hacking attacks or outages, but also alleviates the need to trust any one single entity or institution. Cryptocurrencies are considered to have entered the mainstream, after all, in reaction to the financial crash of 2008, when trust in big banks and the governments that bail them out reached a breaking point.
By circumventing these institutions, participants not only dodge the fees they charge for doing business and the delays inherent to their systems, but also the need to have any faith in their security, their integrity, or how responsibly (or not) they handle one’s finances.
When a user sends a transaction request into a blockchain, rather than going through a single institution or entity, it’s broadcast throughout a decentralized network of, in most cases, thousands of individual computers, often referred to as “nodes,” around the world, setting off a race to see which node is the first one to solve the virtual puzzle that generates the encryption according to a given system’s protocols.
The winner of that race is rewarded with a bit of cryptocurrency — the source of which differs depending on the type of cryptocurrency involved — and then the rest of nodes keep working essentially until the majority of them have verified that the first one got it right. The record is then sealed throughout the great decentralized ledger, as it were.
Each of these records, be it a financial transaction, a contract, or other sort of exchange, is then stacked one on top of another in a manner not unlike virtual Lego bricks, in that the encryption of the next file actually incorporates a number or some other data point drawn from the record before, like one Lego nob sticking upward into the next Lego brick. A bunch of these records is eventually sealed into a “block,” and eventually the blocks interlock as well, hence the blockchain.
These transactions are all completely visible to anyone on the internet, which gives the system its valued transparency, even if the identities of the humans involved can be kept secret if they want. Yet it is by virtue of the interlocking cryptography that if anyone attempted to change any part of a record after it is sealed, it would instantly cause a disruption throughout the entire chain. There is no computer on Earth fast or powerful enough to not only crack but also change and correct an entire blockchain all at once, especially given that these chains are also continuously growing. It is therefore considered to be incorruptible.
Not only does blockchain technology now provide the basis for “smart contracts,” it can also be used to record prices paid, quantities ordered, shipping and receiving info, and other data points for a variety of industries. In the case of specialty coffee, this includes coffee varieties, altitudes, processing methods and other origin-related details, all in a format that can never be altered or lost once the record is sealed.
In the next installment of our two-part series on cryptocurrency and blockchain, we’ll take a look at how blockchain technology actually works when applied to specialty coffee at origin.


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Along with most of the population, you’ve probably never heard of IDeaS – but they’re a significant player in the hospitality industry, with their forecasting software used to set the price of more than a million hotel rooms everyday.
But faced with increasing competition, we’ve been working with them to raise their profile within the sector.
Proving our versatility, we began the campaign in 2017 by securing coverage about a new contract in two trade titles – TTG Nordic and tnooz – along with a blog in another key publication, Serviced Apartment News.
We then secured dozens of pieces of coverage for IDeaS in a wide range of hotel and hospitality media outlets including Hospitality Net, Travel Industry News, The Caterer, ehotelier and Hotel Marketing.
But the best was yet to come later in the year, with the next stage of the campaign featuring news that IDeaS had bought Smart Space Strategy, a UK meetings, functions and events tech company. Hitting the phones we generated coverage in regional titles including Hotel Magazine, Boutique Hotel News, 4 Hoteliers, Hospitality Net, Hotel Marketing Support, Serviced Apartment News, Hotel Business, Smart Travel, Hotel Analyst, Skift and tnooz.
In fact, 2017 proved to be an incredibly busy year – we generated a whopping amount of coverage – with just under 200 pieces across the EMEA region.
And the good news is that 2018 is off to a flying start.
In the first three months we’ve helped to co-ordinate nearly 140 pieces of coverage.
And there’s more in the pipeline!
Watch this space for regular updates…


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Zappos has created a new platform for customers seeking purpose-driven product.
Called Goods for Goods, the curated experience features items from over 150 brands, all of which promote meaningful causes.
The Goods for Good platform includes products in five categories: Recycled, Organic, Sustainably Certified, Vegan and Give Back.
“We know for our customers [that] every purchase matters and they’re passionate about investing in products that contribute to a greater good,” said Steven Bautista, head of charitable giving. “We want to ensure the best service and shopping experience possible, so we’ve made it fast and easy for them to view all relevant products at once and learn about each brand’s purpose.”
The platform highlights the individual stories and purposes of the brands such as Native Shoes, which upcycles its shoes into playground equipment, and Veja, which makes its sneakers via sustainably sourced leather.
Research shows that consumers — particularly millennials and Generation Zers — have sustainability on the brain when shopping, and they’re even willing to shell out extra cash for items that fit the bill.
In a January survey by information technology firm CGS, more than a third of respondents said they were willing to pay 25% more than original price for eco-friendly items. Almost 70% of respondents age 18 and up said sustainability was an important factor for them in making purchases, with 68% of Gen Zers surveyed saying they’d made an eco-conscious purchase in the past year.
Shop the curated selection at Zappos.com/e/goods-for-goods.
Zappos Debuts New Book About Corporate Culture, Written by Its Employees
Zappos & New Balance Partner on Neon-Dipped Dad Shoes in Limited Release
How Zappos’ Unlikely Partnership With Fender Is Boosting Employee Morale


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U.S. households boosted spending for a fifth straight month, serving to the financial system dig additional out from the deep gap created by the pandemic.
The Commerce Division stated personal-consumption expenditures—a measure of family spending on items and providers—rose 1.4% final month. Shoppers have elevated spending for the reason that summer time, though the tempo of positive factors slowed into early fall.
Private revenue—a measure of what households obtain from wages and salaries, authorities support and investments—was up 0.9% final month, after a pointy decline in August, rising on increased pay and remaining pandemic-related support.
Shoppers final month doled out extra on autos, clothes and footwear, persevering with a development of strong outlays on items on account of pent-up demand from pandemic-related financial disruptions.
Items spending rose 2%, on a seasonally adjusted month-to-month foundation. Spending on providers was up 1.1% over the month, with increased outlays on well being care, health and leisure. Companies companies had been hit significantly exhausting by the pandemic, and service-sector spending stays beneath pre-pandemic ranges.
Richard Moody, chief economist at Areas Monetary Corp., stated spending traits have mirrored a seamless financial upturn, significantly amongst households which have seen restricted job and revenue losses.
“You continue to suppose total shopper spending goes to proceed to develop, simply perhaps not as strongly because it in any other case would have if both the labor market had been absolutely healed or there having been one other spherical of monetary help,” from the federal authorities, Mr. Moody stated.
Latest private-sector knowledge present shopper spending stays beneath 2019 ranges, led by decrease spending on providers equivalent to journey, leisure and eating places. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s tracker of credit- and debit-card transactions confirmed that spending was down 5.2% from a yr earlier within the week by Oct. 25.
Spending within the South has rebounded to a better extent than in different areas. South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama had been up as of mid-October by greater than 6% in contrast with January 2020, in line with an evaluation by analysis group Alternative Insights of shopper credit score and debit card spending collected by Affinity Options. In New York and California, which had been particularly hard-hit by a excessive variety of virus instances, spending was down 6% and eight%, respectively, over the identical interval.
Figures from knowledge agency Earnest Analysis present that the Southeast and Southwest have led the way in which on positive factors in debit and bank card spending. The year-over-year, four-week trailing common for spending was up 3.4% and 4.5% within the Southeast and Southwest, respectively, as of Oct. 21, in contrast with a 1.4% and 0.4% drop within the Northeast and West.
Coronavirus instances have been rising throughout the U.S., creating new uncertainty as companies as soon as once more face working restrictions and staffing challenges, significantly at eating places and different providers operations.
“Companies spending will take a while to fully recuperate,” stated Pooja Sriram, U.S. economist at Barclays Capital. “It’s extremely contingent on how assured households really feel going out and interesting in these providers, provided that a lot of them require in-person contact.”
The pickup in private revenue final month mirrored the impact of a federal complement to state unemployment advantages that gives recipients with an additional $300 weekly. The top of a separate program that supplied a $600 weekly bonus to recipients of unemployment advantages weighed on private revenue final month, just like August.
Private revenue in September, nonetheless, was buoyed by an increase in compensation of workers, together with for non permanent Census staff, the Commerce Division stated. Wages and salaries rose 0.8% final month, a smaller acquire than the prior month.
A separate report confirmed shopper confidence within the U.S. elevated barely in October in contrast with September, however knowledge collected in the course of the second half of the month confirmed sentiment is stalling, in line with a College of Michigan survey launched Friday.
The ultimate studying of the index of shopper sentiment was 81.Eight in October, marginally increased than the preliminary estimate from two weeks in the past and barely up from September’s 80.Four degree. Client confidence is 14.Three factors decrease in contrast with the identical month a yr earlier.
Authorities stimulus to assist folks climate the pandemic supplied a monetary cushion to households that has propelled spending in latest months, stated Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. For instance, the federal authorities allowed for deferred funds on sure kinds of scholar loans and mortgages.
“We see that customers are nonetheless spending. In lots of instances, they’re spending in a different way, that means the composition of products and providers of their basket are completely different now,” Ms. Piegza stated.
Corporations equivalent to Mattel Inc. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. this month posted robust quarterly gross sales figures, reflecting American households’ elevated curiosity in the course of the pandemic in at-home leisure and meals that may be ordered on-line. Orders for long-lasting manufacturing unit items rose for the fifth straight month in September amid strong demand for family furnishings and autos. Spending on long-lasting items was up 3% final month.
Carter Rabasa, a self-employed occasions planner from Seattle, stated he and his household over the course of the pandemic had bought a $1,500 pergola for his or her yard, together with making different enhancements to their backyard space. He stated his household had additionally boosted spending on issues equivalent to takeout meals.
“We consider it as a form of pandemic reduction. The children are having this dreadful distant faculty expertise. We’re simply attempting to think about issues that may brighten the day and people issues price cash,” Mr. Rabasa stated.
U.S. gross home product within the third quarter rose a record 7.4% in contrast with the second quarter, the Commerce Division stated Thursday, because the financial system rebounded with the easing of lockdowns and different restrictions on enterprise and shopper exercise.
Client spending contributed strongly to progress, growing at a 40.7% annual fee within the third quarter.
In the meantime, the Labor Division reported preliminary jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell by 40,000 to 751,000 within the week ended Oct. 24. That was the bottom degree of claims since mid-March, though they remained traditionally excessive.
Robert Frick, company economist on the Navy Federal Credit score Union, stated financial uncertainties linger, amid a resurgence in coronavirus infections and unevenness within the U.S. labor market, with indicators that some layoffs in the course of the pandemic are becoming permanent job losses.
On account of pandemic-related woes, firms starting from Boeing Co. to Ralph Lauren Corp. have recently announced job cuts. Boeing stated it expects to reduce its head count by one other 11,000, constructing on beforehand introduced cuts to its workforce.
“We’re in a precarious place. The dual variables, Covid and stimulus, are much more necessary than they had been, say, a month or two in the past,” Mr. Frick stated. Job progress “appears to be slowing down greater than folks anticipated, so we want stimulus.”
Additional federal coronavirus stimulus is unlikely for now, nevertheless. Regardless of weeks of negotiations, Washington lawmakers and Trump administration officers haven’t reached an settlement on offering extra support.
A number of federal coronavirus support initiatives have already ended or are winding down. A spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Administration Company stated 54 states and territories have been awarded $42 billion to offer the $300 weekly complement to recipients of state unemployment advantages. President Trump in August issued an government motion permitting states to obtain $44 billion in FEMA funds to situation the improved advantages, that means the company has distributed many of the obtainable funds.
In the meantime, Individuals’ short-term outlook on financial circumstances worsened this month, weighing on an index of shopper confidence from knowledge agency The Convention Board.
Valarie Black, a single mom of two from Harrisburg, Pa., stated she was furloughed from her job as a lodge gross sales supervisor in March and finally laid off in June. Since then, Ms. Black, 43 years outdated, stated she had been accumulating unemployment advantages and looking for work. Lastly this month, as her unemployment advantages expired, she accepted a gross sales place at a automobile dealership. The pay is commission-based.
“At this level, it’s higher than making nothing. I do know I’m a hustler and I do know lots of people within the space, so I’ll simply do what I can to promote them vehicles,” Ms. Black stated.
However she stated she is being conservative with spending.
“Presently, it’s a maintain on every part till Christmas comes round for my children,” she stated.
Corrections & Amplifications
U.S. personal-consumption expenditures rose by 1.4% in September. The headline of an earlier model of this text incorrectly stated private revenue rose by 1.4%. (Corrected on Oct. 30)


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The COVID-19 crisis has triggered a discussion on increasing supply chain resilience to foreign supply shocks.
Before the pandemic’s arrival in Europe, a lockdown of factories that temporarily suspended manufacturing in China put the supply of intermediary goods at risk. In order to limit such risks, supply chain managers are likely to diversify their sources of supply.
All Coface Publications
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a mobility crisis, mainly because of physical distancing requirements and the necessity to avoid confined spaces, in order to limit the virus’ propagation. This has had a disastrous impact on the global transport sector, with air passenger transport being the most affected segment.
After a 2019 that was dominated by trade tensions between the United States and China, Coface has observed an incipent recovery in Asia (excluding China), supported by supply chain shifts and additional liquidity from the US Federal Reserve . Average payment terms improved in 2019, rising to 67 days compared to 69 days in 2018. And while 65% of companies reported experiencing payment delays in 2019 (63% in 2018), the average payment duration decreased to 85 days in 2019, down from 88 days in 2018.Read More
Spain and Italy will be amongst the economies hardest hit by COVID-19, contracting by 12.8% and 13.6% respectively in 2020, according to Coface’s forecasts. Taking a closer look at the health of Spanish and Italian corporate balance sheets should help identify pockets of vulnerability where widespread defaults are more likely to materialize.Read More
The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are of an unprecedented scale in Europe. The twin supply-demand shock has resulted in the halting of production (at least partially) in many companies as employees cannot go to work and in a fall in consumption because of mobility restrictions. The decline in revenues has deteriorated companies’ cash positions, fostering an increase in payment delays – and, ultimately, payment defaults.Read More
Our survey shows a deterioration in payment behaviour in 2019, which ultimately does not bode well for Chinese companies in the context of weaker activity in 2020. Coface expects growth to fall to 1.0%, the lowest level in 30 years, so given the historic correlation between economic activity and payment delays, we anticipate a sharp deterioration in 2020.Read More
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, global trade has been dragged down by numerous factors. However, as tight border controls begin to ease and producers begin to adapt, the good news is that global value chains still have a bright future.Read More
Coface group has launched our new video series called ExpressECO. The first episode of this series is called ExpressECO “Year of the Rat 2020: a tipping point for Asia’s economy?” featuring our Asia-Pacific economist, Carlos Casanova.Read More
Despite the economic slowdown, Coface’s latest survey on business payments in Poland shows that payment delays have systematically shortened since 2017 - but the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the Polish economy remains to be seen.Read More
Turkey Payment Survey 2019: better picture in payment terms but companies are still cautious regarding economic prospectsRead More
Corporate insolvencies fell by 3.3% in France during the first ten months of the year. After a difficult first quarter, due in particular to the repercussions of the “yellow vest” movement, they have been steadily declining since May 2019. As a result, the number of corporate insolvencies is expected to decline over the full year, for the fourth consecutive time. However, Coface expects a slight rebound of insolvencies in 2020 (+0.9%), for around 52,000 proceedings, mainly due to the expected slowdown in the construction sector that was largely driven by public works in 2019.Read More
This is the third edition of Coface’s survey on payment experience in Germany, done this summer, with 442 participating companies located in Germany. Our survey highlights that Germany is in a changing phase. The pressure on companies due to international competition is getting stronger. This is one of the reasons why German companies have increased their average credit period from 29.8 days to 35.9 days between 2017 and 2019.Read More


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Chart of the week: Palladium – the most precious metal of all?
The price of palladium has hit a new record of $1,495 per ounce. Last year it overtook the gold price, and it is also more highly valued than its sister metal, platinum.
The price of palladium has hit a new record of $1,495 per ounce. Over the past six months, the price has risen by 70%. Last year it overtook the gold price, and it is also more highly valued than its sister metal, platinum. But this is "unlikely to last",
says Ross Strachan of Capital Economics. Palladium is used in catalytic converters for petrol vehicles, and in batteries for hybrid cars. Supply rose sharply in 2018, while the current slowdown in car sales will hit demand and "should cause prices to come off the boil".
The biggest risk is the transition to electric vehicles, which do not produce emissions or need converters, says John Gapper in the Financial Times. If governments incentivise consumers to go electric, the metal could slide.
"By contrast gold's yield zero seems almost racy the dollar still accounts for the bulk of official reserves but tellingly, the managers of those rainy-day funds seem a mite concerned that they are crammed into the same spot. The share of dollars in the $10.7trn of reserves reported to the IMF has dropped from more than 65% in late 2016 to less than 62% in the latest figures."
Buttonwood, The Economist


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The hacker says he undertook the attack to shed light on how slow Adobe is to fix security issues after being alerted to them -- and says Yahoo is next.
Adobe has temporarily closed one of its user forums after a hacker caused a data breach.
The forum, Connectusers.com, allows Adobe customers to share information and opinions about its Connect online conferencing service, which is used to host Web conferences, e-learning, and webinars.
However, after a hacker hailing from Egypt posted a purported file dump containing user details from the site on Pastebin, Adobe pre-emptively took down the forum and said it will reset the passwords of affected site members.
The file dump, posted by the alleged hacker using the alias ViruS_HimA, apparently contains over 150,000 e-mail addresses and passwords from Adobe employees, the U.S. military and companies including Google and NASA. E-mails ending with adobe.com, .mil, and .gov have only been released as a screenshot, with the Egyptian hacker claiming they are "not looking to ruin Adobe['s] business."
According to the Hacker News, ViruS_HimA uploaded a php shell to the Web site, and then was able to look for database configuration files in order to steal the forum credentials, before exporting and dumping the database.
ViruS_HimA said he undertook the attack to shed light on how slow Adobe is to fix security issues after it receives security notifications, sometimes taking three to four months to patch vulnerabilities.
The hacker also claims that Yahoo is the next target.
Adobe apologized for the hack, saying that although the forum was compromised by an "unauthorized third party", it does not appear that any other services, including the Adobe Connect conferencing service itself, have been affected.
The company is investigating reports of the hack and is "working diligently to restore forum services as soon as possible," it added.


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Apple will be launching official support for the Arabic language on the App Store. This is coinciding with the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS in Fall 2019. As iOS 13 was recently released into the public beta stage, many testers have noticed this new addition.
Apple unveiled the App Store with iOS 2 (formerly known as iPhone OS) in 2008. Nobody predicted that it would became the most popular gateway to finding and using native mobile apps. Language support was relegated to the most popular ones, but so many more were added with subsequent iOS updates. Expect to see the complete App Store UI in Arabic, in addition to users typing from right-to-left in Arabic to search for apps.
The biggest hint came with the Developer update in June 2019 announcing support for Arabic metadata for app listings. This would permit developers to fill out for their app all the details including name: description, categories, and more. This change will greatly cast a bigger net to localize content, helping Arab developers create work for the people of the Middle East region.
The number of Arabic-specific apps remains small on the App Store. Apple is hoping to tap a growing technology market in the region. This will greatly support business growth across the Middle East region, and further expand the Apple ecosystem. You’re talking about a region where the average person likely has 2 smartphones.
The Arabic language support will be released to the following countries once iOS 13 is released to the public:
- Saudi Arabia
- the United Arab Emirates, and
Apple celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store with much fan fare in 2018; this is the perfect start to help chart the next 10 years. If Apple is adding Arabic support to the mobile App Store, expect to see it on the Mac App Store with an update to macOS Catalina.
Photo credit: Apple Newsroom


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Dr Food predicts ‘eco scoring’ of foods will cross the pond
Some major grocers in Europe are including so-called “eco scores” on the front of food product packages.
International food expert, David Hughes, predicts consumers in the U.S. will come to demand more environmental information on their food as consumers are in Europe.
“On one level, it’s going to be front of pack and I see that coming like a train. But then, what I’ve been noticing more recently is a rush of apps. There’s an app for that. You want to know what your environmental impact is? You want to know your carbon scores? There is an app for that.”
Hughes says several of those apps allow consumers to set carbon budgets. And there’s an Irish app that is catching on.
“You take a picture with your phone of your receipt and then it gives you a run-down of the carbon impact of each of the products and then totals it up and tells you how far you are on budget.”
Hughes says European apps for nutrition will likely merge with eco-scoring apps and will have a profound effect. But he expects a lot of arguing on HOW to determine those scores. Hughes made his comments as a guest of the Center for Food Integrity.


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March 6, 2014 6:51 PM
2008 Sichuan earthquake advertising Africa animal protection Baidu basketball blood selling california CCP CCTV celebrities censorship Chen Guangbiao citizenship counterfeit goods CPPCC entrepreneurs food France health health care HIV/AIDS Hong Kong Hu Jintao imports ivory trade Jia Qinglin leadership transition Liu Xiang London luxury goods mo yan NBA NPC 2013 obesity Olympics online public opinion PM2.5 public health Shanghai sina weibo soccer sports traditional Chinese medicine two sessions Wen Jiabao wildlife preservation wine Xi Jinping yao ming
July 19, 2011 7:33 AM
NBA basketball player turned Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference delegate Yao Ming has become an advocate against growing
A global campaign to end the harvesting and selling of shark’s fins, along with a crackdown within China on lavish banquets, where the fins
August 13, 2013 1:40 PM
China’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition is underway at the “Two Sessions,” the annual convening of the National People’s Congress
March 11, 2013 8:32 PM
- China Fuels Resurgent Ivory Poaching
- Celebrities Join in on Animal Rights Uproar (...
- Explaining the Asian Linvasion
- Yao Who? China’s New NBA Star
- Yao Ming Joins Shanghai Political Body
- Lafite Counterfeits Afloat?
- Yao Ming Courts China's Wine Boom
- Yao Ming Begins College Life
- China Showcases Next Olympic Stars
- Lone Sharks: Persuading the Chinese to Give u...
- Rockets’ Yao Ming to Quit NBA: Reports
- China Fans Ask, Will Yao Ming’s Baby be...
- Sports Round-up 07.17: Yao Back, Liu Still Br...
- China’s New Celebrity Culture
- NBA Playoffs Disappear from TV in China
- Yao Ming Seeks Traditional Chinese Cure To He...
- Yao Ming Out of the Olympics?
- In China, the NBA’s Bucks vs. Rockets T...


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Kelly & Michael: New York Auto Show Week
Each year, Live! gets a first look at the annual New York Auto Show. This time around, Michael Strahan got to experience a variety of hot cars that are coming to the marketplace, from green cars to the new Corvette and the latest in hatchback technology. Here are the highlights from 2013 New York Auto Show Week on Live!


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CMOs are increasingly turning to AI to solve their biggest challenges.
That’s no surprise: AI has the potential to transform talent, tech, and strategy for marketing leaders.
To learn how, we brought together some world-class CMOs and marketing experts to discuss how CMOs and marketers can use AI to unlock their full potential.
These insights come from the AI for CMOs roundtable at the Marketing AI Conference (MAICON) 2021, the top event for understanding, adopting, and scaling AI in marketing.
The roundtable featured:
- Panelist: Amy Heidersbach, CMO of AI-powered language company Persado.
- Panelist: Daniel Incandela, at the time CMO at Terminus and currently CMO at Reachdesk.
- Moderator: Jim Lecinski, former Google marketing VP and clinical associate professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Interested in MAICON? Click here to see the incredible programming planned for MAICON 2022.
1. CMOs increasingly see AI as an essential part of the marketing stack.
CMOs are increasingly bringing AI into the marketing stack. Heidersbach sees many more plans and budget items for AI, both internally and at partner companies. Incandela notes that marketing is taking more ownership over the tech stack, and AI is running behind the scenes in a lot of those tools.
The reasons why?
There are two drivers.
The first is the need for scale. The most transformative CMOs are looking to grow fast and unlock the value of their enterprise technology investments. While they’re hiring for these needs, they can’t do it fast enough to meet growth demands. AI provides an attractive solution to improve marketing performance and learn to improve at scale.
The second is data. Until recently, brands haven’t had enough data or the right data to power AI tools. That’s changing. CMOs no longer need more data. They need to understand the data they have and make useful predictions based on it. These are areas where AI excels, so adoption is increasing as a result.
“As a CMO, each year I spend more and more time with my ops person because data is becoming so much more critical,” Incandela said.
2. CMOs are using AI for two big reasons.
The first is explosive top-line growth, says Heidersbach, not incremental growth. She’s seeing AI platforms that are making big changes that have big impacts that transform businesses. AI is also forecasting and recognizing trends, so CMOs can better understand and drive ROI, says Incandela.
However, another big factor always comes into play for CMOs. The need for more efficiency.
CMOs are being asked to do more with less. AI isn’t just helping them crush topline revenue numbers. It’s also helping them reduce costs. The talent war is real, says Heidersbach, and scaling to dozens or hundreds of team members is incredibly difficult. AI fills the gap by achieving efficiencies at scale that don’t require a commensurate rise in staff.
3. AI adoption for CMOs starts with this one thing.
Marketing exists to solve business problems, says Heidersbach. CMO tenures are growing shorter, in part because marketing isn’t fully embracing the need to connect initiatives to larger business objectives.
AI must tie back to business goals.
You don’t need AI transformation overnight, but you do need to tie any AI efforts big or small to the business outcomes leadership cares about. This can be done by looking at the business’s roadmap and tech strategy right now. What is the ROI of current investments? Where are the gaps? You can then map AI investments to underserved business goals.
Want to learn more about AI adoption from the best in the business?
As Chief Content Officer, Mike Kaput uses content marketing, marketing strategy, and marketing technology to grow and scale traffic, leads, and revenue for Marketing AI Institute. Mike is the co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing and the Future of Business (Matt Holt Books, 2022). See Mike's full bio.


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ISLAMABAD : Bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan are very cordial and the two capitals enjoy very close affiliations, but at the same time the volume of trade between the two countries is well below potential.
The leadership of the two countries have agreed to take the bilateral trade volume upto $5 billion in coming years but still many steps need to be taken to achieve the objective.
After the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1, experts believe that the trade between Iran and Pakistan would get a boost and both countries can benefit from each other in all sectors especially in trade and economic sector.
Though trade between Iran and Pakistan crossed $1 billion mark after the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the figure is below the full potential of the trade between the two neighboring states.
Business between the private sectors of Pakistan and Iran is not very active and a lot of time and lots of opportunities have been lost, IRNA reported Sunday.
The 20th Iran-Pakistan Joint Economic Commission meeting was held in Teheran in April this year with an objective to implement the decisions that have been taken between the two countries to enhance the trade.
This year central banks of the two countries have also signed an agreement to open a proper banking channel but this agreement is yet to materialize.
Iran is a big market and Pakistani goods have a good reputation and value in Iranian market. There is a big demand of Pakistani basmati rice, he said.
Iranian products which are very good in quality are not very easily available in Pakistani markets.
In big cities one can find Chinese and other countries’ products easily but not Iranian products. The only major Iranian export which is available in Pakistani stores is ‘date’.
Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline is another key project that could completely change the face of Pakistan’s economy and boost economic ties between the two neighbors.
The cost production would come down if Iranian gas comes here, more jobs will be created. Iran has already completed its portion of the project but Pakistan has yet to start construction of the pipeline on its territory.
Meanwhile Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE) has approved purchase of additional 100 MW electricity from Iran. Pakistan is right now importing 100 MW electricity from while Iran has already announced its readiness to increase electricity exports to Pakistan respectively to 1000 and 3000 MW.
Developments after the JCPOA suggest that the Iranian economy will grow at a rapid pace in coming years and its neighbors could easily reap fruits of this expansion.
Pakistani businessman and member of Sialkot Chamber Of Commerce and Industry Khawar Anwar Khawaja believes the lack of banking channel is one of the major obstacles in boosting the bilateral trade.
Speaking to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), he stressed the need for removal of trade barriers between Iran and Pakistan asking both sides to fully implement Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and also sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for stronger trade ties.
However, he said that future of trade ties between Iran and Pakistan is very bright as both are neighboring countries which can benefit from each other in trade sector.
He said that Sialkot Chamber Of Commerce and Industry is one of the major trade bodies of the country and is willing to enhance trade with Iran. “We are ready for all kinds of cooperation with Iran,” he said. NNI
Originally published by NNI


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In the spirit of giving this holiday season, officials with the Central Valley Community Resources (CVCR) spread some Christmas joy, distributing brand new tennis shoes to those in need.
CVCR leaders said that they received a donation of about 35 pairs of name brand shoes including Fila, Nike, and Vans in a variety of styles and sizes. The shoes were donated for men, women and youngsters that are homeless in the Riverbank community. Members of the CVCR organization distributed the shoes last week at the Community Center Park gazebo. They provided a lunch and shared some holiday cheer as part of the giveaway as well. CEO Darlene Barber-Martinez noted that people were so appreciative and thankful to receive the shoes. She said that they commented that the shoes were nice, pretty and comfortable.


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Asda, Tesco, Poundland and Home Bargains sold knives to underage children at least 15 times, National Trading Standards has claimed.
A proposed merger between Sainsbury's and Asda has been blocked over fears it would result in higher prices for consumers.
The supermarket giant has announced it will no longer sell single kitchen knives by the end of April this year.
Earlier this month, Irish cheesemaker Ornua admitted that it had begun stockpiling cheddar in the UK to protect the company against price rises if the UK left the European Union without a deal.
Sainsbury’s and Asda have been warned by the competition watchdog that nearly 500 of their supermarkets overlap following initial investigations into the £12 billion tie-up.
The alleged incident took place in a supermarket when the 18-year-old was trying to pay for her shopping
Amy Platt decided to take action after being infuriated by 'Future Scientist' and 'Daddy's Little Girl' t-shirts at her local store
Andrew Joret spoke to Paul Ross and Carole Malone about the egg contamination scare, after produce from the Netherlands was found to be tainted with a pesticide.
A number of eggs from the Netherlands are thought to be contaminated with the insecticide Fibronil
Let us take you back to a time before MacBooks and smartphones...
A survey by Lloyds Bank has revealed that having a supermarket close to your house can put thousands on the asking price. But which store makes the biggest difference?


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They'll run a robo-taxi service in the heart of tech-industry competitors.
He's accused of accessing a secret database, downloading a blueprint.
NTSB report details high-speed crash that killed 2 teens
It has already cut way back on the stuff in cells for the Tesla Model 3.
A swan song, a quest for history, a hometown boy.
U.S. national security investigation alarms BMW, VW and Daimler.
Bright spot in a tough week.
Daimler will invest 500 million euros ($589 million) in Hambach, France, to start producing a small electric Mercedes-Benz, the first of more than 10 EVs it plans by 2022 to go up against U.S. rival Tesla and its Model 3.
Toyota is taking an unprecedented route to meet China's stringent green car quotas: its showrooms will sell an electric vehicle without the Japanese company's distinctive triple-oval logo.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk defended the snub of two Wall Street analysts on a conference call, proclaiming in a tweet on Friday that they "were trying to justify their Tesla short thesis."
Budweiser beer maker Anheuser-Busch said on Thursday it reserved up to 800 hydrogen-fueled semi-trucks from Nikola Motor Company as part of plans to convert its dedicated long-haul fleet to renewable powered trucks by 2025.
Nikola Motor Co, which makes hydrogen-powered semi trucks, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against electric automaker Tesla alleging design patent infringements.
Carmakers have big plans for their next generation of factories: smarter designs, artificial intelligence and collaborative robots building a wide range of vehicles on the same line.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday rejected a litany of ethics complaints against him as lies intended to derail President Donald Trump's agenda, and put much of the blame for any agency missteps on his staff.
The Trump administration's rejection on Monday of an Obama-era plan to make automobiles more fuel efficient opens up a long process to weaken current standards and puts California and the federal government on a collision course over vehicle emissions.
The White House is reviewing Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt's activities after reports he paid below the market rate to live in a condo owned by a lobbyist who deals with issues overseen by the agency, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Formula One has pushed back the start of a new television streaming service it had hoped to launch in Australia this weekend.
The recall will "correct a concern related to brake hoses."


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Farewell to MSN Direct, in 2012
- Todd Bishop
Microsoft tonight gave notice of plans to discontinue the MSN Direct service, its system for delivering data over FM radio signals. The service, which dates to the company's ill-fated foray into smart watches, has more recently been focused on delivering real-time traffic information and other data to GPS navigation devices.
It's the latest in a series of Microsoft consumer services to be discontinued. But it's not happening right away. Microsoft says MSN Direct's official death notice will come on January 1, 2012, more than two years away. Here's how the company is explaining the decision in an FAQ posted on the MSN Direct site.
The delivery of location-based services in the U.S. and Canada has evolved since Microsoft began offering MSN Direct in early 2004. Leveraging unused FM radio spectrum to broadcast data represented a step forward in 2004, however, many choices today including WiFi, Cellular, FM RDS and other digital networks are now readily available and are continuing to grow in popularity. Despite good initial MSN Direct adoption, these alternatives have significantly reduced demand for MSN Direct service. As such, Microsoft has made the decision to focus future U.S. and Canada investments on these existing network connections and discontinue the MSN Direct services business. Microsoft will continue to explore new ways to leverage the efficiencies of FM digital broadcast in other applications and markets going forward.
I've followed this service since the launch of those first smart watches, and even thought it was never a big business, I always thought the technology, at least, was pretty interesting -- finding new utility in an old infrastructure. Will be interesting to see if Microsoft or someone else can ultimately find a profitable use for the system.
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Could a divestiture spark a corporate turnaround? This is the question investors may be pondering as ZimVie, a notable player in the medical device sector, has announced the sale of its spine business to H.I.G. Capital, a global private equity investment firm, for a sizeable $375 million. The transaction, disclosed on December 18, 2023, at 08:59 PST, is composed of $315 million in cash and a promissory note worth $60 million.
This strategic move by ZimVie has already stirred positive momentum among shareholders, with shares soaring over 40% following the announcement. With the company’s board giving its stamp of approval, the deal is anticipated to be finalised in the first half of 2024, setting ZimVie on a potentially lucrative trajectory.
The spine business sale is more than just a change of ownership. ZimVie has positioned this divestiture as a growth catalyst. The company forecasts that shedding this division will ultimately be beneficial for its revenue growth rate. This projection is supported by the notion that streamlining operations can lead to enhanced focus on core areas and better allocation of resources.
Market analysts and industry experts have weighed in on the implications of the deal. “This sale represents a substantial inflection point for ZimVie,” says Martin Price, a healthcare sector analyst. “The influx of cash not only bolsters their balance sheet but also provides them with the agility to invest in innovation or potentially return value to shareholders.”
The strategic divestiture is reflective of a broader trend in the medical device industry where companies are reassessing their portfolios to maximize efficiency and growth. In recent years, there’s been a discernible shift towards specialization, with firms opting to focus on high-growth areas or markets where they hold a competitive advantage.
The deal between ZimVie and H.I.G. Capital is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Upon completion, the transaction is poised to open a new chapter for ZimVie, allowing it to refine its focus and potentially expand its market presence in other medical device categories.
As with all major corporate decisions, there are questions to be considered. What will ZimVie’s strategic focus be post-sale? How will the capital be reinvested into the business? And most importantly, how will this affect the stakeholders involved – from employees to end-users of their medical devices? It’s clear that the company is taking a decisive step towards reshaping its future, and stakeholders will be watching closely.
We invite our readers to join the conversation. What are your thoughts on ZimVie’s decision to sell its spine business? How do you see this move impacting the company’s future and the medical device industry as a whole? Share your insights and continue to follow this developing story.
In conclusion, ZimVie’s bold maneuver to divest its spine business to H.I.G. Capital for $375 million represents an optimistic turn in its corporate narrative. It’s a story of strategic reorientation, highlighting the potential of focused investments and lean operations in the business world. As ZimVie charts its course for the next phase, stakeholders anticipate a renewed vigor in its approach to innovation and market presence. We encourage our readers to stay informed on this topic, as the actions of today will shape the healthcare solutions of tomorrow.
What does ZimVie’s sale of its spine business involve? ZimVie has agreed to sell its spine business to H.I.G. Capital for $375 million, with the deal comprising $315 million in cash and a $60 million promissory note.
Why is ZimVie selling its spine business? ZimVie is selling its spine business as a strategic move to enhance its revenue growth rate, allowing the company to focus on its core operations and allocate resources more effectively.
How has the market reacted to the sale announcement? Following the announcement, ZimVie’s shares have risen sharply by over 40%, indicating a positive market reaction.
When is the sale expected to be completed? The sale of ZimVie’s spine business is expected to close in the first half of 2024, contingent upon customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
What are the potential benefits of this deal for ZimVie? The potential benefits for ZimVie include an improved balance sheet, increased investment in innovation, enhanced operational focus, and the opportunity for shareholder value return.
Our Recommendations: “Smart Moves in the Medical Device Market”
As we digest the news of ZimVie’s recent business maneuver, it’s essential to recognize the savvy behind such strategic decisions. In a rapidly evolving medical device market, agility and focus are key. G147 recommends that investors keep a close eye on companies like ZimVie that demonstrate a willingness to adapt and realign their operations for growth. These are often the businesses that stay ahead of the curve, offering promising opportunities for those looking to invest in the healthcare sector’s future.
Let’s know about your thoughts in the comments below!


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So, farewell then 2015. And hello 2016. To kick things off, FStech brings you 10 FS technology-related predictions for the year ahead
"For the first time I can genuinely believe that mobile payments will become mainstream in 2016 and not be restricted to the early adopters or PR firms that have a vested interested in pushing their clients' products! Much of this is based around stronger marketing and a better value proposition for consumers. Apple, Android and Samsung have all been effective in getting products adopted and brought the ability to make mobile payments to most of the UK population. It's interesting that this marketing has not been led by the banks, particularly when they have successfully deployed some of the largest mass market mobile payments products in the world, such as Paym. The other major catalyst is the adoption of mobile payments on many of the major transport networks like the London Underground. Therefore my first prediction is that those with the strongest marketing strategies, and not necessarily the best technology, will be some of the winners in 2016.
My next prediction is that there will be more reality in the market about the speed of adoption of mobile payments. Yes, it's mainstream in 2016 but as a proportion of payments (rather than percentage growth rates) it will be tiny. This will grow over time but we know that consumer adoption of technology is measured in decades not months. My third prediction is that there will be an increased focus on targeting the under 30s rather than the wider population in general. This segment grew up in the mobile era, and looks towards the mobile as a way to manage their like as well as their money. The launch of mobile centric banks such as Starling and Atom will make the mobile and mobile payments become synonymous.
And what might hold mobile payments back? Rather than a poor consumer experience/proposition as it was in the last few years, the industry still needs to review how it educates customers around security issues. Apple has started to help the messaging by providing mass exposure to tokenization but I think this is an industry wide issue. For example, when we think back to the chip and PIN roll-out for credit cards a decade ago, there was an industry wide effort (with significant marketing funding) to educate consumers. Someone needs to take this role in 2016. Who will it be?" Matt Simester, director, PCL
“While phishing attacks, banking Trojans and large scale low value cash outs have characterised the last 10 years of cybercrime, new techniques are becoming part of the criminal arsenal while firms invest more and more in cyber threat intelligence in the hope of keeping up. In 2016 we predict that organised crime groups will become increasingly selective in targeting high net worth individuals, corporate treasuries and commercial bank accounts; as well as looking for new ways to profit. The recent US indictments of alleged market hackers show just how sophisticated manipulation of markets has become – whether through front running stocks using stolen market sensitive information, or pump and dump schemes using personal data acquired in bulk from unsuspecting banks, insurers and even governments.” David Ferbrache, technical director at KPMG’s cyber security practice
"Financial inclusion will mean big business. Making serious money and reaching the unbanked have not always gone hand-in-hand. We’re now witnessing a major shift in thinking as big name players in payments and other industries are talking openly about the huge opportunity in reaching unbanked customers – and not just as a corporate social responsibility gimmick. PayPal, Walmart and Coca Cola are just a few companies to pursue innovative financing for small businesses and products targeted towards underserved consumers, while a swathe of new payments startups have taken on financial inclusion as a goal. What’s more, digital payments are now being actively promoted by global policymakers as critical to economic stability and financial inclusion for the world’s poorest." Alix Murphy, senior mobile analyst, WorldRemit
“I have been tremendously excited to see how the FinTech sector as a whole has moved up to a whole new level in 2015. And what particularly excites me is the way two particular groups have seemed to really recognise the role of FinTechs in underpinning economic growth. First of all there’s Government. In the Summer, the UK government appointed its first Special Envoy for FinTech, signalling a real recognition that this sector has a fundamental role to play. Eileen Burbridge was appointed by George Osborne as the government’s special envoy for FinTech. And the UK government also signalled a commitment to FinTechs with an ambitious goal to make London the global centre for FinTechs. In setting out this ambition, George Osborne said that British regulators would provide ‘the space where innovation can happen’, backed up by Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s promise that reforms to the financial sector would be designed to make innovation easier. Bold promises that, if genuinely delivered, will truly shake up the marketplace.
The other group that, perhaps surprisingly, has embraced the change being empowered by FinTechs, is the very organisations being challenged by the disruptors. The traditional banks. In 2015 there was a growing groundswell amongst the traditional banks to get involved in the FinTech sector, with a genuine interest in extending their services to deliver better value for customers. Key investments have been made by several of the high street banks, including Barclays and Santander, as well as the appointment of FinTech specialists in a number of these organisations. I firmly believe this is great news for the sector as a whole.
There are a wealth of businesses – from startups to established brands - that are looking for ways to improve people’s lives and they need to be able to do things differently and better to achieve their goals. The payments process is a common thread through all of this. And whilst much of this year’s headlines have focused on the innovations occurring in the consumer payments sphere, 2015 has also seen considerable developments in the B2B payments sector which probably isn’t surprising when looking at the state of the global economy.
FinTechs are in the perfect position to bring innovation to the international B2B landscape and a number of brands have thrown down the gauntlet during 2015. With no legacy infrastructures, lower running costs versus incumbents and increased transparency, the new breed of disruptors can finally get B2B payments moving. And it isn’t just a question of charging less than traditional banks and cutting them out of the picture. FinTechs can collaborate with banks to help them successfully move into the digital payments market. In turn, banks can offer them the additional security through their regulation, offering added peace of mind to their customers, as well as dragging the payments process into the future.
2015 has been a year where the FinTech sector has moved on significantly – not least through the growing consumer appetite for better and quicker ways to pay – think tap and pay. 2016 has to be the year that the business marketplace gets in on the act." Anders la Cour, CEO, Saxo Payments
"Though financial trading was one of the first business disciplines to embrace real-time data and digital technology back in the 1980s, those systems have evolved in a closed, proprietary way. It’s a state of affairs that is remarkably similar to the world of mobile telecoms in about 2006 – they called it the ‘walled garden’. When Apple, Google and other smartphone vendors opened up mobile devices to ecosystems of developers, consumers felt the benefits almost immediately. In 2016 we will start to see a growing ecosystem of in-house developers, software providers and institutional digitisation leaders emerge." Albert Lojko, global head of platform, Thomson Reuters
"A recent report from Ovum (predicting blockchain and mobile will send payment tech spend soaring in 2016) demonstrates the growing business importance of blockchain technology. To harness the innovative potential that the blockchain technology has, it is essential that the industry moves away from regarding it as merely the backbone of currencies such as Bitcoin, towards recognising and actively developing its many other innovative applications.
Distributed ledger technologies such as the blockchain can be a vital new tool to increase data sharing across the economy. We will see increased efficiency, transparency and trust in government services, particularly with personal and sensitive data, and as the report discusses we’ll see business disruption driven by both FinTech startups and fast-moving corporate innovators. Collaboration across the private sector, public sector and universities is critical. Equally, issues of scalability and sustainability of blockchains must also be addressed, so that we can move towards a collaborative, immutable data store supported by a decentralised network that is open to anyone.” Marko Balabanovic, chief technology officer, Digital Catapult
"While T2S went live in the middle of last year, only a handful of CSDs, including ourselves and Italy’s Monte Titoli have actually joined. The project has been subject to repeated delays, and some have even speculated that it risks being compromised by fast evolving disruptive technologies in 2016, such as blockchain. Blockchain has been identified as a potential threat to T2S as it could revolutionise clearing and settlement.
In recent weeks, discussions have taken place between the London Stock Exchange, LCH.Clearnet, Societe Generale, CME Group, UBS and Euroclear under the name Post Trade Distributed Ledger Working Group to explore how blockchain could be used to run post-trade processes. Whilst there are big expectations for blockchain in 2016, there are still many unanswered questions when it comes to the technology’s applicability to T2S. In moving to T+instant, we would be replacing a small operational risk with a very large credit risk because if a trade settles instantly, a counterparty needs to come up with the money instantly. As it stands, it’s not entirely clear that distributed ledger processing is the best solution to achieve that." Avi Ghosh, head of marketing & communications, SIX Securities Services
"Payment has been a significant area of investment for retailers over the past few years on the basis of keeping up with the ever changing PCI standards. More recently the potential to outsource this challenge to Payment Service Providers at a reasonable cost has become more attractive. Retailers that only have a UK presence often have a different payment providers for web sales from their provision in-store. Those that have driven into other territories often have separate payment providers for each of their channels in those other territories. Incursions into new territories often do not have integrated payment. Different standards across the regions; chip and PIN in the UK versus chip and Signature (or swipe and PIN) in the USA doesn’t help the situation. The introduction of new payment methods such as Apple Pay, contactless, etc, serves to complicate things further.
My key prediction for 2016 is that retailers will properly address the ability to pay (and refund) via a common platform across all channels and regions of operation. Today’s mismatch of payment providers across the channels and regions inhibits the basic process of returns across different channels and is a big driver of customer dissatisfaction with a retailer. Resolving this situation will go a long way towards enabling omnichannel retailing." Huw Thomas, managing director, PMC
“Technology continues to evolve at break-neck speed and service providers across the e/m-commerce industry are deploying ever more innovative and personalised experiences. This evolution holds true in the payments space where new and innovative solutions continue to proliferate. In 2016 we’re likely to see continued deployment and mainstream adoption of payment methods and experiences that are considered ‘new’ today. Mobile will continue to grow as a channel through continued growth in tablet/smartphone devices . Consumers will be exposed to new technologies designed to streamline the payment experience and reduce friction in the payment flow. This will be key to the success of new payment methods, convenience and security are king, and consumers need to feel comfortable with both the physical process of making a purchase and the sense that their payment and personal data are secure. Biometrics are already mainstream and it is likely that new forms of authentication that further speed the end customers experience will start to be trialled. Many merchants are pushing ahead with contactless payments and promoting mobile payment services that build on the familiarity and provide opportunities for additional value added services. The real forward-thinkers will be putting the building blocks in place for future innovations. 2016 is really just going to be the beginning.” Rob Fish, strategic architect, The Logic Group
"The cap on interchange charges for processing card transactions has helped to protect merchants and consumers in the short-term, but has translated to ever-shrinking margins for the banks. It is only a matter of time until banks find new ways of profiting from payment schemes and that they will likely start charging consumers a fee for card, and even e-wallet services, as a result. We may see a rise in cash payments as this balance is redressed, but I have no doubt we’ll see big players in the e-wallet industry rising to the occasion to develop a solution – especially the ones that already specialise in direct to bank transactions." Peter Moore, CEO, Consolis
Crystal ball time
So, farewell then 2015. And hello 2016. To kick things off, FStech brings you 10 FS technology-related predictions for the year ahead


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It has been widely reported that Amazon are soon to launch a music streaming service. The Internet behemoth has reportedly already reached agreement with major record labels such as Sony Music Entertainment and the Warner Music Group. It is also thought likely that Amazon has been in discussion with many more major and independent record labels.
The new service is likely to be launched in summer 2014 and will be made available to Amazon Prime members. However, Amazon has yet to make an official statement regarding the news so full details are not available as yet.
As reported on Buzzfeed, Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to access the music on-
The new streaming service will work in much the same way as Amazon’s Prime on-
It is not clear exactly when the new streaming service will launch, but it is likely to be in June or July 2014.


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AGAT Software provides unique compliance and productivity solutions for Webex Meetings including Ethical Wall to control participants and activities during the meeting, eDiscovery to audit and store all meeting data, DLP to inspect meeting content by policy, and lastly, Virtual Asstsiatnt and Sentiment analysis to improve productivity and performance. Continue reading to learn more about […]
Cyber criminals shift their focus to mobile devices
A new report by Juniper Research suggests that cyber criminals are transitioning their focus from PCs onto mobile devices. The research shows that as BYOD (bring your own device) policies become more popular, the threat from unprotected employee mobile devices is becoming more important.
The report, Mobile Security: BYOD, mCommerce, Consumer & Enterprise 2013-2018, predicts that the number of smartphones and tablets used by workers worldwide will exceed 1 billion by 2018, representing almost 35 percent of the total consumer base.
The research company said that organizations adopting BYOD strategy need to consider mobile devices as just another endpoint and need therefore to devise measures to mitigate the challenges and the risks of managing a multi-platform environment.
Juniper said that more than 80% of smartphones will remain unprotected through 2013, despite a steadily increasing consumer awareness of mobile security products.
The report indicates that nearly 1.3 billion mobile devices, including smartphones, featurephones and tablets, are expected to have mobile security software installed by 2018, up from around 325 million this year.
Juniper experts note that handsets might be lost or stolen and can be the cause of financial and privacy loss. Moreover, almost all malware threats are capable of damaging mobile devices or stealing the user’s personal information.
They added that both private and public sectors are now increasingly the target of different types of attackers; hackers, botnet operators, cyber-criminals, terrorists and even foreign governments.
Juniper said that the first three groups mainly attack for monetary gain, either by directly hacking the bank account of business segments, or by taking control of enterprise mobile devices to access sensitive business data, such as a business plan or corporate strategy. The other two groups may attack government security systems via mobile devices as part of their information gathering or espionage activities, thereby posing a direct threat to national security.


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The company, which has announced extension of high-speed The company, which has announced extension of high-speed 4G services to eight more circles by March 2017, has also decided to increase the number of towns covered by the fourth generation connectivity to 2,500 by March 2017 from 1,000 announced earlier. It is offering 4G services in nine circles at present. Data revenues, which grew 18.8 per cent for the reporting period and now contribute 20.8 per cent of the pie, were one of the biggest growth factors for the company. However, a bulk of the revenue still comes from voice side and such subscribers account for only 69.5 million of its over 200 million base. In the face of competition posed by the new entrant Reliance Jio, which is offering free voice calls and cheaper data to add subscribers, Sood said pricing will not be a differentiating factor in the long run. However, Reisten said that in face of the competition, the company has been forced to offer 50-60 per cent more under the same plan. The overall average revenue per user was at Rs 186 in the second quarter of the fiscal but the voice revenues were impacted by ongoing pressures. The voice average revenue per minute was at 32.1 paise as against 32.5 paise, Reisten said. Vodafones subsidiary mpaisa is confident of meeting the March 2017 deadline for getting the final license for the payments bank, Sood said. PTI AA MBI AA KRK MR
VODAFONE-INDIA 2 LAST
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
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Moneycontrol Research Team
This year’s correction in the erstwhile market darling, mid-caps, has been severe. While the headline Nifty Index has risen by 2%, the mid-cap index has fallen by close to 11.5%. Within the mid-cap universe, the correction in several pockets have been significant. Earnings disappointments only partially explain the decline; sentiment, too, has been subdued. After a careful analysis of the financial numbers and the earnings outlook, we have constructed a 16-stock mid-cap portfolio (with 30% cash to take care of future volatility) to capitalise on the current weakness, which we feel presents a good opportunity for long-term investors.
Amber Enterprises is an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and ODM (original design manufacturer) for room air conditioners (RACs) and components, an underpenetrated category in the consumer space. The capability to cater to marquee Indian RAC (room air conditioner) companies, with a market leadership position and 80 percent of revenues coming from margin-accretive ODM processes, should benefit the company.
Leading amine manufacturer, Balaji Amines, which continues to achieve double-digit volume growth, looks interesting. In the medium term, the company benefits from multiple capacity expansion initiatives and higher capacity utilisation for products wherein imports face anti-dumping duty. We like the management’s strategy of focusing on high-margin products where the domestic market is dependent on imports.
Dhanuka Agritech looks attractive after a 34-percent correction from its 52-week high, given that the company’s growth story remains intact. We see earnings tailwinds from a healthy product mix with more than 50 percent sales from specialty molecules, a strong lineup of new products, low penetration of herbicides and fungicides in India, favourable rural-focused policies and a good monsoon. However, in the short-term, pressure on the raw material front might continue.
Strong capex in the domestic hydrocarbon sector would benefit Engineers India, which is expected to deliver 12% annual earnings growth over next years backed by strong order book of close to Rs 7,800 crore or about four times its annual sales. After a 40% correction, its stock is attractively valued at 17 times earnings offering a 3% dividend yield.
FIEM Industries (FIEM) is a lighting solutions provider to automobiles, catering to two-wheeler (2W) segment. With its market leadership, strong clientele, focus on developing in-house technologically advanced products, and adoption of LED-based products, the company should witness decent earnings traction despite a drag from the LED Luminaries business. The business should remain unaffected by EV disruption, and trades at reasonable valuation.
Himadri Speciality Chemicals continues to benefit from elevated realisations for carbon black and coal tar pitch. The company has guided to strong volume growth across product lines in the next three years, particularly in high-margin specialty carbon black and the carbon material for the lithium-ion battery. Given the high visibility in earnings the current consolidation in stock price presents an opportunity.
IG Petrochemicals, a leader in the phthalic anhydride market has been generating strong return ratios. The company is expected to deliver 22% annual earnings growth over next two years. After a steep correction of close to 40%, the stock is attractively valued at 8 times FY20 estimated earnings.
JK Paper is well positioned in high-quality paper segments with cost leadership and integrated production capacities and is also looking to expand through the organic as well as inorganic route. Favorable industry factors such as improved supply -demand dynamics and raw material availability in proximity will continue to aid profitability.
Karur Vysya Bank’s results have been weighed down by higher slippages and consequently higher provisions. However, the directional roadmap appears to be encouraging in terms of its strategy of diversification and de-risking of the lending book, garnering more low cost deposits, stepping up fee income and a greater adoption of technology under the new CEO (an ex- Citi banker).
After the recent correction, Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) looks attractive given the clean balance sheet and revenue growth visibility. The company has recently taken a price hike which should protect margins. Gas as a cleaner fuel should see volume traction as the city gas distribution network expands. Higher crude prices also make gas a good alternative.
Mas Financial, a Gujarat –based NBFC that got listed last year, has been a slow but steady player. The company has carved out a niche in lending to micro and small enterprises in its focused geographies, understands its end market well and has a unique sourcing strategy (partnering with several NBFCs) and conscious about maintaining its profitability parameters.
Minda Corp (Minda) is a well-diversified auto-component manufacturer catering to passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and commercial vehicle segments. The reported numbers have been strong. With marquee clients in its kitty, no client concentration, focus on research and development to develop technologically advanced products, and a turnaround at Minda Furukawa, the company beckons attention.
Raymond is one of India’s largest textile manufacturers. Premium product launches in the branded fabric and branded apparel segments, cost rationalisation initiatives, store additions in smaller cities, benefits of the recently concluded capex programmes, and monetisation of the Thane-based land will be drivers of earnings and cash flow.
Sanghi Industries has witnessed a sharp correction as its Q4FY18 numbers were hit by a 15-day plant shutdown. Sanghi has one of the lowest cement production costs and is expected to post 18-20 percent volume growth in FY19 driven by its entry into the high-margin Mumbai market. The company is on track to double its cement capacity to 8 MT by FY20.
Transport Corporation of India (TCI) reported strong financials in FY18 and should benefit from recent government initiatives such as the Dedicated Freight Corridor, Sagarmala and BharatMala as well as growing industry demand. TCI currently trades at a valuation which is at a discount to its industry peers.
VA Tech Wabag, one of the world’s leading companies in the water treatment field, had a difficult FY18, marred by misses both in revenue and order intake. The decision to complete the APGENCO projects resulted in ballooning of receivables. The company expects the receivable issue to get sorted in FY19 along with an improved ordering environment.For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page


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AbbVie’s Humira, a treatment for inflammatory disease and the world’s best-selling drug, is no longer patent-protected in the EU. Competitors are already taking advantage of it.
Humira is an antibody drug, called adalimumab, that has been topping the lists of best-selling drugs for years. Last year alone, it made over €15B in sales worldwide.
The antibody was discovered by BASF and Cambridge Antibody Technology in the 90s using phage display, a technique that was awarded a Nobel prize this month. Commercialized by AbbVie, the drug’s success is due to the wide range of indications it is prescribed for. Humira is used to treat multiple inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and Crohn’s disease.
The expiration of its EU patent opens the door for biosimilars (the generic equivalent of a biological drug), which will bring a significant price reduction. Simon Stevens, CEO of the UK’s NHS, has stated that thousands of patients in the UK receiving Humira will be switched to biosimilars, which is expected to save the NHS £150M a year. Humira is the drug that the NHS spends the most on every year, costing over £400M a year for the more than 46,000 patients that are prescribed the drug.
Three biosimilars of Humira launched immediately after the patent expired: Novartis’ Hyrimoz, Amgen’s Amgevita, and Biogen’s Imraldi. Mylan and Fujifilm’s Hulio and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Cyltezo could soon follow, as they have already received marketing authorization in the EU.
The patent expiry could also benefit biotechs developing treatments in combination with adalimumab, which will be able to offer their treatments at a lower price.
In India, biosimilars of Humira have been available since 2014 at a fifth of the US price. In the US, the patent expired in 2016. However, Amgen managed to extend the protection until 2023 thanks to over 100 patents covering different processes and techniques used to manufacture the drug.
Images via Shutterstock


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Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
- Tesla stock surged as much as 7% Thursday to briefly touch $2,003 per share.
- It’s the first time that the automaker’s stock has crossed the $2,000-per-share threshold.
- The company – already the world’s most valuable automaker – now has a higher market capitalization than Walmart.
- Watch Tesla trade live on Markets Insider.
- Read more on Business Insider.
Shares of Tesla rose as much as 7% on Thursday, briefly touching an all-time high of $2,003 per share.
It’s the first time that the automaker, led by Elon Musk, has crossed the $2,000-per-share threshold, even amid its searing rally that’s sent shares skyrocketing this year.
The rally pushed Tesla’s market capitalization to nearly $372 billion, surpassing the market value of big-box retailer Walmart, worth about $371 billion. Tesla earlier in the year became the most valuable automaker in the world after eclipsing Toyota’s market value.
Read more: MORGAN STANLEY: Buy these 22 stocks that are slashing costs as sales take a hit from COVID-19 – putting them in position to smash the market as the economic recovery continues
Tesla shares have been on a tear this year, fueled by strong vehicle-delivery results, a streak of profitable quarters, and the potential the stock could be included in the popular S&P 500 index.
The latest leg of the company’s rally comes ahead of its first-ever 5-for-1 stock split, which it announced in August. At the end of trading August 21, each shareholder of record will receive four additional shares for each they own, to be distributed at the end of trading August 28. Tesla will begin trading on a stock split-adjusted basis on August 31.
Tesla has surged roughly 375% year-to-date.
Read more: Stock market wizard William O’Neil famously turned $5,000 into $200,000 in just a few year’s time. Here’s the 7-part model he uses to sniff out winning stocks.
Source: Read Full Article


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Music Drop has just got better!
The wireless music transfer tool from Codeceptive Studios has recently been updated to version 184.108.40.206. So what does the update bring?
First of all the web app has been redesigned and now looks more sharp. Additionally the feature to play tunes directly on your Windows Phone device via the Web App seems to be pretty cool and takes another step forward to suit users needs.
The authors haven’t also forgotten about the multilanguage tracks support and introduced Unicode to make users transfer tunes basically in every country in the world using their own mother tongue. Isn’t it awesome?
Las but not least, another two files format support was introduced and now includes WMA and M4A.
Music Drop is a free app and is available for all Windows Phone 8 devices. The app can be found on the Windows Phone Store here.


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Here at Loves Data, we've been touting the importance of mobile for years, but even as the reported usage of mobiles and tablets for online tasks exponentially increased, the numbers never quite seemed to compare to the reality around us. Now, we might know why. Today we learned that most studies around the usage of mobile phones are based on self-reports, and as it turns out, we’re not very good at gauging our own behaviour. According to a new study from the University of Lancaster, people consistently under-reported their mobile usage by about 50%. Most people reported being on their phones two to three hours a day when in reality they clocked over five hours. Many of those hours were actually made up of small bursts of usage. Participants in the study checked their phones over 85 times a day during the study, with about half of those interactions lasting under 30 seconds.
This study is relatively small and was restricted to the 19-33 age group, but new numbers from Pew Research in the United States also indicate that it’s an increasingly mobile world. While the percentage of the population who own a computer has on average held steady, the percentage of adults who own a mobile phone continues to rise. Ownership of a smartphone is seeing an even sharper increase with penetration surpassing that of computers for the first time this year.
So while we already knew that when it came to online engagement, mobile is king, even we might have underestimated the depths of a relationship between a person and their smartphone.