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LONDON: Tesco Plc chief executive officer Dave Lewis (pic) is stepping down next summer and will be succeeded by a surprise choice, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc’s Ken Murphy.
Lewis, 54, will leave the UK’s largest retailer after a turnaround that began when he joined Tesco in 2014 in the wake of a massive accounting scandal. Since then he’s leveraged the company’s position as UK grocery market leader to boost profits despite consumer jitters over Brexit, the shift to online shopping and competition from discounters Lidl and Aldi.
While there’s been speculation that Lewis was ready to move on, the 52-year-old Murphy is a dark-horse choice to succeed him.
The spotlight previously was on internal candidates such as Charles Wilson, former chief of wholesaler Booker, which Tesco acquired last year. But he stepped down from his role running the retailer’s UK arm after being diagnosed with cancer.
Tesco shares rose 1.1% in London on Tuesday, reversing early losses, after the company reported first-half operating that beat analysts’ estimates.
While Lewis’s turnaround is complete, “the bigger question is why Tesco overlooked an array of internal candidates for the new CEO position and have gone outside and appointed Ken Murphy from Boots (a.k.a. ‘Ken who?’), ” said Nick Bubb, an independent retail analyst.
Murphy worked at Boots UK & Ireland before rising to chief commercial officer and president of global brands at Walgreens Boots, the trans-Atlantic drugstore operator formed through a merger.
Lewis, who joined the retailer from consumer-goods giant Unilever, said on a call that he’s not leaving for another job. Five years ago “there was a lot of pressure, financially and in terms of the relationship that the brand had with consumers, ” he said. “The business is now healthy, vibrant and there’s a real energy.”
Tesco said Lewis informed chairman John Allan some time ago about his desire to move on, sparking an orderly succession process. Wilson did not want to be considered for the top job, Allan said on the call.
Under Lewis, Tesco has been streamlining its store operations, cutting thousands of jobs and closing fresh-food counters in some U.K. outlets while starting a discount brand called Jack’s.
The company ended a short-lived foray into the US before the CEO’s arrival, and he continued the international retrenchment by selling South Korean and Turkish operations, while eyeing expansion in markets like Thailand.
On the call, Lewis confirmed a Bloomberg report that Tesco has been weighing options for its Polish business. Tesco last month agreed to sell its mortgage portfolio to Lloyds Banking Group Plc.
“Investors may see scope for more restructuring, whether through continued cost efficiency, products and supply-chain optimisation, as well as turnaround in some of its geographies outside the UK, ” Morgan Stanley analyst Maria-Laura Adurno said in a note.
Along with the CEO succession, Tesco announced a deal to boost the Booker wholesale business, agreeing to acquire Best Food Logistics. The company, which supplies clients like Pret A Manger, KFC and Burger King, will add £1.1bil in food-service sales, Tesco said.
Tesco shares have gained 26% this year. They’ve returned about 2.1% a year since Lewis took the helm in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared with an 11% annual decline under his predecessor, Philip Clarke.
Walgreens Boots Alliance shares have fallen around 20% so far this year. In the UK, the Boots chain has said it will close 200 of its 2,500 stores and dismiss 350 employees at its headquarters. Last year, operating profit slumped 22% to a near-decade-low of £391mil (US$479mil).
The announcement of the new CEO came as Tesco reported a half-year sales decline of 0.4%, hurt by comparisons with a year earlier when hot weather, the soccer World Cup and royal wedding boosted results. Operating profit beat analysts’ estimates. — Bloomberg
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text: The Graph Stats for April show an expected sharp decline in sales. Single family sales in the Cowichan Valley were down 43% compared to the same month last year, and much of the Vancouver Island followed a similar trend. Inventory remains relatively low and despite the drop-in sales, there has been no noticeable effect on selling price. The average sale price of a single-family home in April was $569,031. The current 12 Months to Date statistics show the average sale price is $544,880, up 7% from the previous year.

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2022 Citroen C4: Australian launch due late 2021 with petrol power only, no plans for electric e-C4
Citroen's new small SUV will reach Australian showrooms by the end of the year, with a pair of punchy turbo-petrol variants – but no electric model.
The 2022 Citroen C4 small hatch-turned-SUV will go on sale in Australia in the fourth quarter of 2021 (October to December inclusive) – though buyers keen on electric propulsion will need to look elsewhere for the time being.
A spokesperson for Citroen's Australian distributor confirmed to CarAdvice all versions of the new C4 bound for Australia later this year will employ petrol power only – with Australian government documents pointing to the fitment of the brand's 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine.
The all-electric e-C4 (bottom of story) will remain a Europe-only proposition for the time being, with the spokesperson confirming there are "no current plans" to introduce the electric model locally, at least as part of the launch line-up – but stopped short of ruling an Australian introduction out further down the road.
Shared with the C4's Peugeot 2008 twin under the skin, listings in the Australian government's Road Vehicle Certification System (RVCS) database indicate the 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine will be offered locally in two states of tune: 96kW and 114kW.
Both versions will be paired to eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmissions – rather than the six-speed auto that's paired to the 96kW tune in the 2008 – driving the front wheels only.
Meanwhile, the not-for-Australia e-C4 mates a 100kW/260Nm electric motor to a 50kWh battery for up to 350km of WLTP-certified driving range, and a 30-minute zero to 80 per cent recharge time thanks to 100kW DC capabilities.
The RVCS listing indicates at least two C4 variants will be offered in Australia – likely badged Feel and Shine, as per the larger C5 Aircross.
Entry-level models will feature 16-inch alloy wheels (and likely the less powerful of the two engine tunes), while range-topping versions appear set to gain 17-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights, and the uprated 114kW engine tune.
Other features available on certain grades should include a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital instrument cluster, dual-zone climate control, a head-up display, wireless phone charging, Advanced Comfort heated front seats, and a heated steering wheel.
A suite of active safety systems are available, including adaptive cruise control and lane-following assist, which combine for semi-autonomous driving on motorways, allowing the car to accelerate, brake and centre itself within its lane.
They're joined by autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, and a 360-degree camera.
Australian pricing won't be announced until closer to launch, however using UK pricing is a guide, an entry-level 'Feel' model could be priced from around $36,000 before on-road costs, increasing to just under $40,000 before on-road costs for a flagship 'Shine' version.
Those estimates put the C4 in line with its semi-premium small SUV competition, including the Peugeot 2008 ($34,990 to $43,990 before on-road costs), Volkswagen T-Roc ($33,990 to $40,990) and Mazda MX-30 M Hybrid ($33,990 to $40,990).
Should the e-C4 make its way to Australia, UK pricing would see the electric model's local sticker price fall above $50,000.
The 2022 Citroen C4 will launch in Australia in the fourth quarter of 2021 (October to December inclusive). Local pricing and specifications will be announced in the lead-up to launch.


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London – Lender Nebeus has come up with a new way to turn cryptocurrency into extra cash for holiday shopping.
The blockchain platform is allowing borrowers to use Ethereum and Bitcoin as collateral for loans. Under a new program Nebeus will advance fiat-currency loans against altcoins held in its crypto-savings account.
Nebeus holds the Bitcoin or Ethereum as collateral until the loan is repaid. That enables the peer to peer (P2P) platform to make such loans without credit scores. When the loan is repaid the borrower’s cryptocurrency will be returned to his or her digital wallet. Using the program a person would be able to use cryptocurrency to finance holiday shopping or emergency purchases without selling it.
“We are also offering an unmatched service – P2P collateral crypto loans,” Nebeus cofounder Sergey Romanovsky said. Romanovsky believes that the potential market for such loans is huge.
Large Potential market for P2P Collateral Crypto Loans
“Over 70% of cryptocurrency owners could generate passive income with bitcoin loans while keeping their cryptosavings intact, as research shows,” Romanovsky noted.
Nebeus is also offering a potential moneymaking opportunity to those who want to their hand at blockchain lending. Its platform allows cryptocurrency owners to borrow money, and issue altcoin-based loans.
“For those willing to lend, our platform will provide opportunities to get significantly higher returns than in conventional banking, while providing the security of a loan return backed by collateral in cryptocurrency,” Romanovsky said.
Nebeus P2P Lending is Growing Fast
Nebeus reported that its’ P2P lending business is growing fast, at a rate of 300% a quarter. Over 20,000 borrowers have used Nebeus’s platform to get instant loans in Bitcoin.
Nebeus is a three year old London based company that started with a humble cryptocurrency wallet. It was able to launch its lending platform by raising $2 million from private sources.
Long-term plans are far more ambitious at Nebeus, the company hopes to raise $30 million from the initial cryptocurrency offering (ICO) for its NBTK Token. The NBTK token sale is scheduled for 30 November 2017.
That money will be used to create a blockchain-based financial services supermarket. The hope is that the supermarket will form the basis of the world’s leading cryptobank. Planned Nebeus cryptobank services; include debit cards linked to cryptocurrency accountants that can be used for ATM withdrawals and brick mortar purchases with fiat currency.
Nebeus also hopes to be able to create an ecosystem that will enable it to roll out new cryptocurrency-based financial services and products fast.
To find out more about Nebeus’ upcoming token sale, please visit: http://www.nebeus.com/ico
Nebeus provides instant loans in bitcoins, serves as a P2P exchange platform and features a user-friendly bitcoin wallet. The Nebeus trading system will allow users to buy and sell bitcoins with favourable exchange rates and will allow instant deposits into user accounts.
The Nebeus platform; was first developed in 2014 with the goal of delivering a convenient, low-cost and highly efficient service that meet the demands and challenges of the ever-evolving crypto-currency market. Nebeus is a Level 39 member and portfolio company.
Contacts: Max Smetannikov, Irina Nazarova, MVG for Nebeus, +1 646 205 7030, email@example.com


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Microsoft teasing new Surface devices for 2016 and 2017
Microsoft houses a Hall of Fame inside one of its buildings and developer Shubhan Chemburkar recently had a chance to visit the site and take photographs. Interestingly, the Surface section of the Hall of Fame includes four placeholder placards: One for 2016 and three for 2017 all sitting next to existing Surface devices that are currently available. This highly suggests that Microsoft has some Surface announcements up its sleeve before the end of this year and even more for 2017.
It's still unclear if the next Surface will be a notebook, tablet, AIO, or simply another accessory. Recent rumors are pointing to a Surface AIO for an announcement this Fall while the Surface Phone is still a real possibility according to Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott. The three Surface devices hinted for 2017 could be direct successors to the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book alongside a third brand new model for either the smartphone family or the outgoing Surface 3 tablet.
The Surface Pro tablets have been extremely successful in bringing Windows to a tablet form factor and currently ranks number one in our list of top 10 Windows tablets.


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Millennial-targeted Haus has unveiled several innovative aperitifs to be enjoyed as pre-dinner drinks and its newest creation is the whiskey-inspired Bitter Clove. This aperitif inspired by the spicy and earthy taste of dark liquor boasts a third of the alcohol of whiskey, offering a flavorful alternative that taps into the rise of low-ABV drinking culture. As Haus co-founder and co-CEO Helena Price Hambrecht describes, "We wanted the ritual of drinking without the consequences of high sugar, high alcohol liquor—and it turns out millennials want the same thing."
Bitter Clove is made with distilled and fermented chardonnay grapes and natural botanicals like cloves, star anise, cinnamon and ginger.
Just this June, Haus launched its first flavor, Citrus Flower as an alternative to Aperol, followed by Rose Rosé.


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What to expect from Apple’s September event
It is September which means Apple event is coming. This year, the event is dated at September 7 and we expect a range of products from iPhone to new Apple Watch.
Apple iPhone 7
On September 7, we will see iPhone 7. That is probably not a coincidence.
Anyway, back to the device, we expect to see two iPhones as usual; the regular model and the plus one. Yes, it looks like only two iPhones are coming which not includes the Pro though.
Normal iPhone 7 will have a 4.7-inch display and will look mostly like the current iPhone 6S with one or two major design changes. First one is the new bigger camera that also takes sharper photos. The second might be the absence of the headphone jack but this change will either happen this year or the next year with “revolutionary” iPhone.
Under the hood, there are also new updates such as faster Apple A10 and 32GB base storage.
Apple Watch 2
Alongside with the next generation iPhones, there will be a new Apple Watch. Coming in same sizes, the watch will use a slimmer display which will allow a bigger battery to be put inside. According to the reports, bigger battery will last 35% longer compared to the current generation.
Furthermore, the second generation watch will include a GPS which has a potential of making the health data more accurate.
In any case, there will be new cases for iPhone 7 and new straps for the second generation watch. However, if iPhone 7 really lacks the headphone jack, Apple might pack the upcoming iPhones with a new bluetooth earphones called as “EarPods”. However, there might also be a simple adapter which will allow users to both charge their phones and listen music at the same time.
No New iPads or MacBooks
If you were waiting to see the new MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, you will not be really happy. We don’t expect Apple to introduce neither Macs nor iPads in September.
In October though, there will be a dedicated event for the Macs. In that event, we expect to see new thinner and lighter MacBook Pro with a new keyboard and an OLED Bar. However, there is no details about the MacBook Air series at all.
Also, by a little chance, we might see the new 5K Apple Display with a graphic card.
Next year, though, will be the year of iPads. There will be a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro with a cheaper 9.7-inch model.


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Women-owned companies are an essential part of the U.S. business landscape, and a recently published report looked at some of the statistics driving it, based on the figures from 2016 alone. The American Express OPEN report estimated that women-owned businesses are responsible for more than $1.6 trillion in revenue and that the amount of these enterprises in the country increased five times more than the national average over a nine year period beginning in 2007.
Growth and success
For women who want to or currently do own businesses, the results of this report may be encouraging. Not only did this demographic show marked comparative success, it signified other important ties between the women owning businesses and the country’s overall state of diversity.
“The American Express OPEN report estimated women-owned business revenue is responsible for more than $1.6 trillion.”
Specifically, the report stated that minority women owned almost 5 million firms, with African-American women making up 1.93 million of these. Ohio was one of the top 10 states home to the highest number of women-owned firms in 2016, along with California, New York and Texas.
However, Florida’s growth rate for women-owned businesses between 2007 and 2016 was 67 percent, the highest of any individual state during this stretch of time.
The industry-specific breakdown showed some additional interesting statistics. The industries with the highest number of women-owned businesses (wholesale trade and accommodations/food services) also had the highest number of total firms.
The two sectors with the shortest gap between total and women-owned firms were construction and transportation. All of the businesses measured for these respective industry figures had at least $500,000 in revenue.
American Express was also part of a recent ranking of the 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies, along with the Women Presidents’ Organization. A statement listed the three top ranked businesses (Orangetheory Fitness, Pinnacle Group and Technology Concepts Group International), and 92 percent of the honorees founded their business.
All of the CEOs are active in daily operations, while 94 percent provide health insurance to all employees. American Express Global Commercial Payments President Susan Sobbott explained the hope of what these awards can possibly lead to.
“Supporting the growth of women-owned and led companies is a true mission for us at American Express, and we are delighted to recognize these trailblazing women for their success,” she said. “We hope these awardees and the stories of their business success will inspire others to create and lead prosperous businesses.”
Gaining alternative offensive
In light of these reports, women entrepreneurs may feel like the time is right to search for how to get an SBA loan. The SBA 504 Loan Program can help owners discover the resources to make important purchases for business development. Register with our mailing list here to learn more about this and other options.


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by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE next generation of flagship smartphones will be more powerful and efficient following MediaTek’s enhancing its 5G smartphone chipset.
It has announced the Dimensity 9000+, an enhancement to the company’s top-of-the-line chipset.
Dr Yenchi Lee, Deputy General Manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communications Business Unit, said building on the success of the Dimensity 9000, the new version ensures that device makers always have access to the most advanced high-performance features and the latest mobile technologies.
This makes it possible for their top-tier smartphones to stand out, he added.
“With a suite of top-tier AI (artificial intelligence), gaming, multimedia, imaging and connectivity features, the Dimensity 9000+ delivers faster gameplay, seamless streaming and an all-around better user experience,” said Lee.
The Dimensity 9000+ is the latest addition to the Dimensity 9000 series of flagship smartphone chipsets, which are designed for the growing bandwidth demands of the mobile market.
The new chipset is said to provide more than a 5 percent boost in central processing unit (CPU) performance and more than 10 percent improvement in graphics processing unit (GPU) performance.
It integrates MediaTek’s fifth generation Application Processor Unit (APU 5.0) for improved AI computing capabilities in a power-efficient design.
MediaTek is a global fabless semiconductor company that enables nearly 2 billion connected devices a year.
– CAJ News


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Despite the knowledge that the average size of the Australian backyard is getting smaller, our love of pools is still continuing to grow, bringing new
It’s no secret that we’re all a little bit too attached to our smartphones. Whether we’re constantly scrolling through Instagram or binge watchi
Dr Helen speaks to Beauty News about the most common signs and symptoms of dental anxiety and how you can manage this form of anxiety. Melbourne Den
It’s “gross”, but we need to talk about it – our bowel movements. Channel Nine presenter Erin Molan is a person who knows that bet
To celebrate the release of the film MEN IN BLACK™: INTERNATIONAL, Gelatissimo has created two limited edition, out of this world gelato flavours.
“I eat only healthy foods. So why can’t I lose weight?” Believe it or not, this is one of the questions I get emailed about the most. “But I t
The Ultimate Gelato experience! Australia’s extremely popular Gelatissimo, is making all dreams come true, launching its human and dog friendly Pawe
From excess consumption of over-priced avo-on-toast and UberEats to regular online shopping sprees and extravagant same-day delivery costs, it’s off


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1 year ago
Bolt Threads, a biotech startup, is looking to bring a little science into the world of style. For its neckties, the company produces silk with courtesy of an unlikely inspiration—spiders.
Spider silk, with which it weaves webs, is known for its durability and softness, but has long been difficult to recreate, Men’s Health reports. Bolt Threads spent seven years studying the properties of this elusive material to replicate them.
As a result of this intense research, the company created its own protein with similar properties by gene editing yeast cells, Bolt Threads recently announced. Through a fermentation process, the proteins are produced in large batches and are then spun into threads like normal silk.
Bolt Threads debuted its synthetic spider silk ties this week at SXSW as a proof of concept for a line of other products it plans to develop with Patagonia.
Available in a limited release, the company is selling 50 ties made from the material through a lotto (which can be entered here).


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A 14-year-old Russian model has collapsed and died after a 12-hour fashion show in China, according to UK tabloid the Daily Mirror.
Vlada Dzyuba died after she reportedly suffered “utter exhaustion” and collapsed following a fashion show in the Chinese city of Shanghai. Dzyuba then reportedly went into a coma before walking onto the catwalk and died two days later.
Doctors have reported that the model was found to be suffering from chronic meningitis.
There are several reports that Dzyuba was on a “slave labor” contract and did not have any medical insurance.


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3D Phoenix, Łomianki, Poland, has been named an official sales partner for Meltio, headquartered in Linares, Spain. Under the partnership, 3D Phoenix will play a key role in the distribution and support of the Meltio metal Additive Manufacturing solutions in the Polish market.
“We are excited about our emerging partnership with Meltio, as this is a landmark moment for the Polish industry,” stated Rafał Pancewicz, Business Development Director at 3D Phoenix. “Whether our customer is looking for a conventional 3D metal printer or a printing system integrated with a CNC machine that seamlessly combines addition and subtraction processes, utilising the best aspects of both technologies; or prefers integration with a robotic arm for greater freedom in creating large, complex parts and innovative exterior coatings – with Meltio, we will fit any of these scenarios. This technology opens up entirely new possibilities in the production of metal parts.”
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Tomasz Garniec, Meltio Manager – Poland, added, “As a Meltio team, we are happy that our already long efforts to find a good partner in Poland have finally ended in success. 3D Phoenix represents a business that fits well with our philosophy. The Łomianki-based company is an experienced supplier of additive devices but focuses on engineering and industrial solutions.
“Poland – as an economy of nearly forty million people in the central-eastern part of Europe – has a developed economy in which we find huge mining companies, big production in the automotive sector, a large defence production sector, but also heavy industry, which is largely based on foundry engineering. Poland has been one of the world’s major players in industrial metalworking for many years – so it’s a good place for Meltio to grow,” Garniec concluded.


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BANGKOK • Thailand's economy grew less than expected in the third quarter on slower consumption and government spending but early signs of an export recovery may help put growth on a firmer footing next year.
The central bank is expected to keep monetary policy accommodative through 2017 as South-east Asia's second-largest economy confronts outflow pressures from higher interest rates in the United States, global trade policies and China's slowdown.
Thai exports posted their first annual growth in seven quarters in the July-September period, but analysts said reduced consumer spending in the wake of mourning for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on Oct 13, was likely to hurt fourth-quarter GDP.
"We think growth in Thailand will slow further in Q4. The passing of (the) king will probably cause some disruption to economic activity in the short term," Ms Krystal Tan, Asia Economist at Capital Economics, said in a report.
The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.6 per cent in the third quarter from the second, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said yesterday. From a year earlier, growth was 3.2 per cent, down from 3.5 per cent in the second quarter.
Annual growth in household consumption slowed to 3.5 per cent in July-September from 3.8 per cent in the prior quarter, while public investment expanded at a slower rate of 6.3 per cent and private investment contracted 0.5 per cent.
NESDB chief Porametee Vimolsiri said the fourth quarter could soften slightly due to slower tourism and last year's high base effect.
The agency expects 3.2 per cent GDP growth this year compared with 3.0-3.5 per cent forecast previously, and said exports would be flat compared with a 1.9 per cent decline earlier.


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Blog: Oktoberfest - 200 years old and still going strong
Chris Brook-Carter | 20 September 2010
It is the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest this year, one of the great events in the drinks calendar that takes place every year, largely in, well...September.
The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honour of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on 12 October, 1810 and ended on 17 October with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.
The reason, organisers say, was for the better weather conditions in September. However, the last Oktoberfest weekend remains in October.
If you have never been you really should. It remains a wonderful celebration of Bavarian culture, food and, of course, drink. The world's largest fair, it attracts over 6m people each year, who consume close to 7m litres of beer and nearly 150,000 pairs of pork sausages. The result of this is that some 878 metres of urinals are in constant use and lost property points are kept more than busy with 4,000 items passing through their doors including, 260 pairs of glasses, 200 mobile phones, wedding rings, and even crutches, according to the festival's entry on wikipedia.
For those of you who can't make it this year, here are a collection of images from the festivities so far.
Here's a round-up of the top stories on just-drinks last week, featuring Coca-Cola Life, Australian Vintage, Pernod Ricard and BrewDog....
Beer consumption in Germany - already pretty impressive - will undoubtedly have enjoyed a spike following celebrations over the nation's FIFA World Cup win. ...
Last night, The Coca-Cola Co's UK division celebrated moving in to its stylish new central London headquarters with a barbecue on its roof-top terrace....
Here are some of the top stories from just-drinks last week, featuring PepsiCo, San Miguel Corp, Stock Spirits and William Grant & Sons....
- Pernod's Portman Group penalty - a coincidence?
- A tobacco analogy soft drinks will want to embrace
- Comment - Coke Life: Hit or Miss?
- just The Preview - SABMiller's Q1
- Cognac plays the waiting game in China
- Pernod Ricard swings at Portman Group
- Remy posts Q1 sales drop as Edrington loss bites
- Bacardi to fight US football team legal action
- C&C Group steps down as Portman Group funder
- Distell to take 26% stake in spirits firm KHEAL


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|Day's range||68.02 - 68.36|
Market's momentum is likely to continue in the coming months as the global economy will gather pace after nearly three months of lockdowns.
It seems that consumers' confidence got restored in May as lockdowns were eased and businesses gradually reopened. Government stimulus helped companies weather the coronavirus crisis and improve their customer sentiments.
Consumer behavior has changed drastically since stringent social-distancing measures are in place. This opens up opportunities for some businesses.
Amazon (AMZN) plans to hire 50,000 temporary workers in India in a bid to meet the growing demand amid COVID-19.
Wayfair Inc. (W) is looking like an interesting pick from a technical perspective, as the company is seeing favorable trends on the moving average crossover front.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the health and well-being of millions of people. Roughly two months ago, when gyms across the nation were closing their doors, savvy investors knew a door had opened for Peloton's business. Peloton, the largest interactive fitness platform in the world, is trying to become a household name, and it's made substantial progress during COVID-19 as consumers have looked for ways to exercise from home.
At Overstock's annual meeting last week, CEO Jonathan Johnson said that quarter-to-date sales were up 130% year over year, with new customers up 260% during the period, as more consumers than ever were embracing online shopping. Peloton's sales -- and shares -- have surged since March. Peloton has a similar story to tell.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- With first-quarter earnings mostly in the books, investors have now gotten their first detailed glimpse of how the coronavirus pandemic has affected profits in corporate America. To no one’s surprise, the results as a whole weren’t good: Earnings fell about 14% from a year earlier for members of the S&P 500 Index, according to DataTrek Research. Wall Street analysts expect things to get worse before they get better, with earnings forecast to plunge about 41% in the second quarter, decline 24% in the third quarter and drop 11% in the final three months of the year. Add them up and Wall Street forecasts a 20% tumble for the year to $127 a share. Coming into 2020, the consensus was that members of the S&P 500 would produce earnings of about $175 a share. But that’s the mile-high view. For a real sense of the challenges facing the economy, it helps to get as granular as possible. To that end, we’ve asked those Bloomberg Opinion columnists that focus on business and finance to provide their thoughts on the quarter that snapped the longest U.S. economic expansion in history, revealing the winners and losers, highlighting interesting tidbits and musing about what may lie ahead.Bankers are the good guys? The message from the largest U.S. banks as they released their earnings in mid-April, just as the pandemic was escalating across America? We are well-capitalized, made a lot of money from trading in extremely volatile markets, and have the capacity to help our clients get through the crisis. Unlike the financial crisis just over a decade ago, big banks have a chance to be the good guys now, processing U.S. Small Business Administration loans and allowing individuals and families to delay payments on credit cards, auto loans and mortgages in certain cases. Yet banks have been among the biggest laggards across U.S. stock markets. The KBW Bank Index has fallen about 42% this year, compared with just 12% for the S&P 500, suggesting the economic recovery might be slower and more punishing than the broader markets for equities may be signaling. —Brian ChappattaCable conundrums, streaming dreams. The absence of lucrative sports programming and muted advertiser demand has forced traditional cable-network operators to make an even bigger push into the rocky terrain of streaming, where revenue is entirely dependent on must-see content continuously propelling subscriptions. AT&T Inc. said total ad sales fell 13%, while Walt Disney Co. said ESPN alone suffered an 8% drop. Meanwhile, almost 16 million people signed up for Netflix and about 2 million canceled cable TV. —Tara LachapelleGorging on comfort food. As panic-ridden consumers stock up on essentials, Big Food brands of yesteryear, from Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes to Kraft macaroni and cheese, that had been struggling to find their place in a new health-conscious society suddenly had a moment. This explains the resurgence of companies such as General Mills Inc., whose brands include Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and Totino’s pizza rolls. Its U.S. retail sales surged 45% in March and 32% in April. The question: Is this only a moment? We’re also noticing some quirky consumer habits. Unilever NV said we are using less deodorant, skin care and shampoo, as much of this use is associated with work and socializing. Henkel AG enjoyed strong demand for home hair coloring. If the recession is a long one, expect these habits to continue. —Tara Lachapelle and Andrea FelstedAmazon isn’t alone. E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc.’s sales increased 26% in the quarter, and the company forecast up to 28% growth for its April-through-June quarter as nationwide lockdowns sparked a surge in online shopping. But overwhelming demand and shortages are giving its rivals opportunities as consumers increasingly shop elsewhere. It's showing up in the latest metrics from Shopify Inc.'s merchants, as well as Wayfair Inc., Best Buy Co., Target Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp. — all pointing to much faster online sales growth rates than the tech giant. —Tae KimBig Tech divergence. Shares of Facebook Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. rose post-earnings following better-than-feared commentary on April digital ad market trends. Even so, Facebook cautioned the future economic recovery may be worse than expected. And Google said not to extrapolate the stabilization that seemed to occur in April. Both internet ad giants may face business pressures going forward if companies cut their marketing budgets in coming quarters. In contrast, Amazon and Netflix are thriving as consumers increasingly shift spending to e-commerce and watch more streaming video content. Finally, Apple Inc. uncharacteristically failed to give sales guidance for its current quarter for the first time since 2003, signaling the lack of visibility it has for iPhone demand. —Tae KimCovid-time tech winners. Best-of-breed cloud software makers are surging as companies accelerate the spending shift away from traditional on-premise equipment to the cloud's more scalable and cost-efficient offerings. Some of the biggest earnings winners included Datadog Inc., Okta Inc. and Twilio Inc. Video-game stocks are one of the hottest-performing subsectors this year as it has become a key in-home entertainment choice under shelter-in-place orders. Both Activision Blizzard Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. posted strong results and confirmed accelerating sales for its offerings in April. Investors also bid up Zoom Video Communications and Slack shares as the two companies benefited from the workforce-collaboration software trend and revealed strong accelerating business metrics. —Tae KimPharma unfazed, for now. As a wide variety of industries panicked and cut profit targets, large drugmakers broadly reaffirmed guidance in the first quarter. Merck & Co., which makes many hospital- and physician-administered treatments, was the only big firm to slash its drug sales forecast seriously. Making medicine is a durable business, even in a pandemic. However, if a strong second-half economic recovery doesn't materialize, more companies may follow Merck as patients make the tough decision to stay home instead of venturing out and seeking treatments. —Max NisenCover me. Large health insurers were also relatively sanguine, despite a pandemic that would seemingly spark increased claims. They believe that the dive in expensive elective surgeries will balance out adverse effects. That doesn't mean there won't be change. UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced this month that it plans to re-enter Obamacare's insurance markets after mostly exiting four years ago. A 14% unemployment rate will do that. Watch for imitators. —Max NisenCashing in on Covid cures? During Gilead Sciences Inc.’s first-quarter earnings call, an analyst asked CEO Daniel O'Day if investors should expect the sort of attractive returns from newly confirmed Covid treatment remdesivir that the company produces for other drugs. O'Day responded that "there's been no other time like this in the history of the planet" and that "we understand our responsibility." In other words, probably not. Gilead announced on Tuesday a temporary royalty-free license that will allow five generic drugmakers to make a presumably cheaper version for more than 100 low-income nations. Other companies will face pressure to follow its example and price moderately in developed countries, which calls into question the soaring valuations for pandemic-focused drugmakers. —Max NisenGoing local. Still spending. Coronavirus shutdowns have snarled industrial-supply chains already facing strain from the U.S.-China trade war. While no one envisions an abandonment of China as a manufacturing hub, there are early signs of work being brought back to the U.S. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to mean much in terms of jobs, at least not for humans. Rockwell Automation Inc. said it's seen an uptick in interest from companies that might have previously manufactured products out of Asia to take advantage of low wages but are now rethinking that economic calculus. When it comes to investment, discretionary spending on things like travel has been cut across the board at many manufacturers. Most CEOs and top executives have taken pay cuts. Buybacks are off the table but for a few brave souls, including Eaton Corp. But many manufacturers are continuing to fund projects they view as essential to their future growth. For United Parcel Service Inc., that means investments in automation that can help make e-commerce deliveries more profitable. For Caterpillar Inc., that's services work and expanding its product lineup. "I'm not planning on sacrificing the future just to cut back on capex," Honeywell International Inc. CEO Darius Adamczyk said on a recent earnings call. —Brooke SutherlandPink slips or paychecks? While aerospace manufacturers such as Boeing Co. and General Electric Co. have moved swiftly to announce large layoffs amid a collapse in the industry, other industrial companies have been more surgical, at least for now. Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby has said his company's efforts to hold headcount relatively flat even as revenue climbed the past few years means there's less slack in the system and the company doesn't have to be as ruthless on job cuts during the pandemic. Others, such as railroad Union Pacific Corp., are worried about having enough labor at the ready whenever a recovery does occur so prefer furloughs when possible. "We don't want to cut the talent so deep that when the recovery happens, we don't have the right people," said Greg Hayes, CEO of Raytheon Technologies Corp., whose robust balance sheet and defense business give it more flexibility to weather the commercial aerospace downturn. Companies can still save costs without cutting employees: Trash-hauler Waste Management Inc. is guaranteeing 40 hours a week of pay for full-time employees through the pandemic, but the redistribution of its workers has helped it reduce more costly overtime hours by half. —Brooke SutherlandStaying safe. Most manufacturers have kept their doors open through the pandemic because their work is considered essential. That has come at a cost: Trash-hauler Republic Services Inc. spent $3 million in the first quarter on actions to keep its employees safe, including providing them with protective gear and doing enhanced cleaning. To keep Emerson Electric Co.'s factories humming, Chief Operating Officer Steve Pelch had to rent aircraft to bring in crucial supplies and double the number of buses used to transport workers in Mexico so they can safely spread out, according to an interview with Bloomberg News's Thomas Black. Automated doors have been installed, as have hand-washing stations. Plexiglass partitions separate workers on the factory floor. Siemens AG digitally redesigned an Airbus SE factory that's been repurposed for ventilator manufacturing to ensure social distancing, and workers must pass through a sanitization tent to gain access. In what could be a key test for the reopening of other parts of the economy, automakers with large union workforces including General Motors Co. and Ford Motors Co. are bringing their factories back to life this week in preparation for a May 18 official restart. Ford said it will require face masks for anyone entering its facilities, as well as safety glasses with side or face shields for those employees whose jobs don't allow for social distancing. It's spacing out production shifts to allow more time for cleaning and requiring employees to complete daily health and temperature checks. —Brooke SutherlandOil, oil everywhere. At a primeval level, the oil business is all about sinking money into the ground. When the barrel gods are smiling, even more money comes back up. In 2020, it feels like the gods aren’t happy. Hence, earnings season for oil companies was odd. While exploration and production companies are always careful to talk up efficiency, what really gets the juices flowing are spending plans for new wells. Not this time. Parsley Energy Inc., which fracks in America’s oil heartland, the Permian basin, suspended drilling, declaring bluntly (and correctly) that right now, “the world does not need more of our product.” At the other end of the scale, Exxon Mobil Corp. also slashed spending this year to as little as — get ready for it — $23 billion! While Exxon recognizes the immediate impact of Covid-19, it doesn’t think “events like this change basic human nature or people's wants and desires.” The jury remains out on that notion. And in any case, the switch from budget boasting to public prudence offers a glimpse of what peak oil could mean for what’s ahead. Expect dissonance. —Liam DenningThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Beth Williams is a managing editor with Bloomberg Opinion. She has also worked at Bloomberg News as an editor and reporter covering M&A, markets, companies, finance and government.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
In this episode of Motley Fool Money, Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Ron Gross, Andy Cross, and Jason Moser take a look at the latest headlines from Wall Street and go through earning reports of companies in a range of industries. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. To get started investing, check out our quick-start guide to investing in stocks.
Celebrations may be in order for Wayfair Inc. (NYSE:W) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant...
Wayfair (NYSE: W) stock surged following the e-commerce specialist's first-quarter earnings report that revealed soaring sales growth. The home furnishings retailer was enjoying strong demand in January and February, but its expansion pace hit a higher gear as shelter-in-place mandates placed a premium on digital ordering. The leader in its niche won more than its fair share of that extra business, and in a conference call with analysts, Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah and his team credited their competitive advantages for that success.
Shares of online home-goods retailer Wayfair (NYSE: W) had a tremendous run in April, as it became clear that stuck-at-home consumers were still shopping -- and quite a few were shopping at Wayfair's sites. Wayfair's stock ended April with a gain of 132.1%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Chart shows the change in Wayfair's stock price during April 2020.
The online home goods retailer revealed a number of encouraging trends that should benefit it even after stay-at-home mandates are relaxed.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The e-commerce rebels are making their advance.Last October, Shopify Inc. CEO Tobi Lutke said his company’s goal was to “arm the rebels” against the Amazon.com Inc. empire. Since then, the mantra has become a rallying cry for Shopify’s employees and the merchant customers that use its e-commerce store software. And now, the business turmoil sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic is creating an opportunity for the online seller rivals to gain some valuable ground over their giant competitor.Amazon is widely considered one of the biggest beneficiaries of the e-commerce boom, as self-isolating consumers shift their shopping behavior to purchase more online. The numbers are bearing out the trend: While most companies are suffering from dramatic business slowdowns, Amazon last week posted first-quarter revenue of $75.5 billion, up 26% from a year earlier, and projected continued momentum by giving a sales growth forecast range of 18% to 28% for the June quarter.(1) Amazon’s growth hasn’t come without issues, though. The company has faced severe logistical challenges to meet demand – including the rapid hiring of 175,000 additional workers. And the stress put on its supply chain and delivery networks, along with the prioritization of certain essential items, has led to shipping delays and many shortages for its customers. Questions revolving around workplace safety have also dogged Amazon.With Amazon so much in the spotlight, it may be surprising to know that consumers are increasingly going elsewhere for their online shopping needs. In fact, several e-commerce sellers are showing dramatically faster growth rates than the tech giant. On Wednesday, Shopify revealed the aggregated online sales of its merchant customer base grew 46% in the first quarter and accelerated further in April. That news came after online furniture retailer Wayfair Inc. said it had revenue growth of roughly 90% so far in its second quarter, a significant increase versus the 20% growth it generated for the three months ended in March.Traditional retailers are flourishing as well. On April 23, Target Corp. said its online business had risen more than 275% month-to-date to that point, while electronics retailer Best Buy Co. also pointed last month to recent triple-digit growth trends for its website. Costco Wholesale Corp., meanwhile, reported April e-commerce sales growth of 86%. For all the antitrust scrutiny Amazon has gotten for crushing the competition in e-commerce with its leading 37% share in the U.S. last year, according to eMarketer, these recent numbers point to share losses for the tech giant. Rivals now have an opening to show they, too, can delight customers with good service and build consumer loyalty. And if they can take advantage, perhaps the e-commerce race isn’t over yet.What is the clearest signal investors, at least, are noticing the progress? On Wednesday, Shopify briefly surpassed Royal Bank of Canada as the most valuable company in Canada for the first time. Yes, the rebels may have a fighting chance.(1) Amazon first-quarter revenueincludes its sales at its online and physical stores, third-party seller services, subscription services, AWS cloud-computing sales and other businesses.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Tae Kim is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Barron's, following an earlier career as an equity analyst.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.


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The Belarusian authorities must explain to the public what steps they intend to take to combat the serious economic crisis facing the country, the head of the IMF mission in Belarus said on Monday.
There is a serious economic crisis, IMF representative Chris Jarvis said at a press conference in Minsk, but there is a way out. The state must explain to the public what is happening and that it intends to do, he said.
The comments come as Belarusians get used to standing in lines to buy foreign currency and cheap vegetables in scenes reminiscent of the late Soviet and early post-Soviet times.
Currency is almost impossible to buy in exchange offices but there are still hundreds of people waiting for any to become available. There are regular roll calls to check the waiting list and anyone not appearing is crossed off.
Jarvis said the IMF recommended the government move to a free floating exchange rate, which would reduce the budget and current account deficits. It would also, he said, effectively cut workers’ salaries and create uncertainty in the market.
Belarusians aren’t just lining up for hard currency, though – dozens will wait in line for discounted produce. In Minsk, substandard tomatoes cost about a dollar per kilogram, while standard-quality tomatoes are about twice the price. Quality cucumbers are $1.50 per kilogram, but the cheapest go for just 20 cents.
Except for oranges and bananas, once plentiful imported fruits such as kiwi, mandarins, pineapples, avocados and grapes have all but disappeared from shelves, and their prices are now extravagant for middle-income Belarusians.
It’s the same situation with fish. Saltwater species, which have to be imported in the land-locked country, are especially scarce, and there are only two or three varieties on the shelves, where there were 20 or 30 before.
The cheapest cigarettes are still available, but smokers used to higher-priced brands may struggle to get their usual nicotine fix. Imported appliances are no longer available, and even the Belarusian Atlanta brand refrigerators and washing machines are much more expensive. Imported detergents and other cleaning and hygiene products are also in short supply, with many supermarket shelves sparsely populated.
But help is on the way – the first tranche of a $3 billion loan from the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) is due this month. Meanwhile, Belarus is seeking up to $8 billion from the IMF. Jarvis said on Monday that there would be no political element to any loan deal, but it would be dependent on economic reforms.
MINSK, June 13 (RIA Novosti)


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Discover more from The Fast Charge
Islington Council have blocked their own charging points
The latest news from the world of EV
Good morning and welcome back to The Fast Charge, the electric motoring newsletter. My name is Tom Riley and I’ll be your host.
There’s been a lot of EV news during the last few days, notably that hybrids are proven to be the great pretenders and Volvo is going all electric.
In my longer read this morning, I’ve revealed a niche story that I couldn’t stop laughing at. In short, Islington Council built a number of new charging points and have blocked them off with a cycle lane. Morons!
As ever, if you enjoy The Fast Charge, please do share it. Likewise, do drop me an email at email@example.com if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
In the news…
GREAT INTEREST: Last week Hyundai revealed their new Ioniq 5 model. This week the company has announced it’s received a huge 236,000 “expressions of interest” from potential buyers. Apparently, that’s only in Europe as well.
GREEN CREDENTIALS: The consumer group Which? has conducted a study suggesting hybrids are not nearly as green as manufacturers lead us to believe. Based on their research, they found that on average a hybrid burnt 2.5 times more petrol or diesel than suggested in official figures. This increases to nearly 4 times as much for the worst-performing vehicle. This means hybrid owners could be paying an average of £462 more a year than they should on fuel - due to the inefficiencies. Natalie Hitchins of Which? told The Times: “It is clear that the standard set for calculating fuel consumption is flawed and should be reviewed.” As The Times editorial suggests, “anyone looking for a green alternative to an internal combustion engine vehicle would do better to switch straight to an electric car.” Read more.
HIDDEN CABLES: Also in The Times this morning, news that a government-backed trial is ongoing in Oxford where the ‘city council’s trading company’ is looking at digging “discreet and safe channels” for charging cables. This is so a trip hazard is avoided. Apparently, a design has been trialled at 18 properties and will now be started elsewhere. Readers of The Fast Charge will recall we discussed this idea and the responses of councils to it last week. Hopefully with government backing council planners will take heed of the advice, though it will be interesting to see what administration one has to go through to get a channel. Dropping a kerb to your driveway - as a comparison - is already a long-drawn-out process and can cost around £1,000.
OIL IS BAD: According to new research by Transport & Environment (a European organisation), fossil fuel cars waste hundreds of times more raw material than their battery electric equivalents. Lucien Mathieu, an analyst at T&E and an author of the report told The Guardian: “over its lifetime, an average fossil-fuel car burns the equivalent of a stack of oil barrels 25 storeys high. If you take into account the recycling of battery materials, only around 30kg of metals would be lost – roughly the size of a football.” These facts will be very useful to persuade the acres of EV critics who claim they are no better than standard fuel cars.
TOP DOWN: Volkswagen is enjoying its place in the sun at the moment. It’s ID.3 electric car is one of the most popular on the market right now. It seems Volkswagen want to capitalise on this and are considering producing an ID.3 convertible. Volkswagen has a lot of experience in taking the roofs off cars, from the GTI to the Beetle (most famously modelled by Hitler). Perhaps their new car - if they make it - will be less controversial. Though, I’m not sure. Initial designs for the ID.3 convertible look like something out of Minority Report - which is ar too dystopian for me.
FROZEN FUEL: Yesterday Boris Johnson indicated strongly that in the upcoming Budget fuel duty - that is, duty on petrol and diesel - will be frozen. This is the tenth year since a freeze was first introduced. Coming out of a pandemic where our economy is in a state of who-the-hell-knows it would have been a huge blow to motorists in the UK who rely on driving around at great distances. However, surely it is time for the Chancellor to at least indicate when it will increase? After all, they will not only need to offset the savings and grants arising from higher usage of EVs soon but also perhaps use tax to encourage a switch. If they don’t announce a roadmap, it’s an interesting policy to make the year the UK is hosting the UN’s climate change conference.
MODERN FAMILY: Volvo has just this morning announced that it will go fully electric by 2030. According to the BBC, they will invest heavily in online sales and simplifying their products. Volvo does already produce an EV - the Volvo XC40 - which has a range of over 250 miles, a 0-62 of 4.7 seconds and will charge up to 80% in 40 minutes. Importantly, though, the XC40 looks like a car a normal family might own. Volvo is due to announce a second EV later today based on a similar platform for the XC40. I wonder which carmaker will join the EV arms race next!
Islington Council: an example of bad EV planning
Perhaps not fresh news, but I have discovered that intelligence is few and far between at Islington Council.
Back in 2019, Islington Council announced - covered in The Evening Standard - that they installed 18 electric charging points on Liverpool Road. For those unfamiliar, this road runs parallel to the main high-street in Islington (Upper Street) and is quite residential. Islington - being in North London - is quite an eco-centric area (represented by Jeremy Corbyn MP don’t you know) and EVs are popular.
However, at the end of last year the council plus Transport for London, without any consultation, used an experimental traffic order to install a cycle lane on Liverpool Road. A similar approach was used across London to build new cycle lanes quickly, making many people very upset. Not least of which in Islington. Because the new cycle lane means most of the 18 lamp-post Ubitricity charging points they installed are now inaccessible. (refrain laughter).
I’m unsure how much the council spent on these charging points, but let’s assume that it wasn’t pennies. From installation to planning and council staffing - the sum for these projects can be quite large.
You can find the road quite easily on ZapMap - as all the charging points are neatly laid out in an ‘out of order’ line.
At first, I thought they can’t have been so thick, but a search on Google Streetview shows they have. Take a look at these I found:
According to an Islington Tribune article in October, the council is being taken to court over the decision to install these cycle lanes without permission. At the time, Islington Council’s environment chief Labour councillor, Rowena Champion, said: “Local people know their streets better than anyone, and we’re listening to their feedback...That is why the route is being implemented as an 18-month trial, giving local people the opportunity to have their say on whether it should remain in place permanently.”
At least she admits they don’t know the streets.
I’m unsure if Islington residents have been successful in their struggle, but seeing as the charging points are still listed as out of service on ZapMap, I assume not.
Surely someone needs to be held responsible here, not just for the money that could have been wasted, but the poor planning that went into it more generally. Let’s hope other councils don’t repeat this idiocy...
By Tom Riley


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Meltdown and Spectre CPU Flaws Expose Modern Systems to Risk
eWEEK: Critical CPU flaws are revealed by security researchers that impact most modern CPUs. Patches are now available, though some experts warn that new hardware might be needed.
Click Here to read the entire article...
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According to foreign media reports, YouTube will reduce the definition of videos worldwide. The company ’s decision is to ease Internet congestion during the outbreak of the new coronavirus phenomenon.
The company said that in the next few days, users will find that when YouTube videos start playing, the default definition will become standard definition. If users want to watch high-definition videos, they can still improve the definition of the video manually.
For example, YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet, has previously established this policy in Europe, and this time the company has extended this policy to a global scale.
Previously, European regulators required major streaming video companies to reduce their bandwidth usage. In addition to YouTube, these companies include Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
The use of streaming services has surged in the past few weeks as hundreds of millions of people have stayed home to avoid the epidemic.
The company said that although YouTube usage will increase significantly after work in the evening, people’s usage will remain at a high level for most of the day.
Compared to services such as music, messaging, or maps, streaming video consumes more internet bandwidth due to the larger files being transferred.
Research by Sandvine, a network analysis agency, shows that last year, Google was the world’s highest consumer of network traffic, followed by Netflix. Sandvine said last week that YouTube traffic has recently picked up again.
Earlier, YouTube has introduced a feature that automatically adjusts the sharpness of videos based on the speed of the user’s Internet connection.
YouTube said that they do not think that the world’s internet bandwidth will be consumed in a short time, but due to growing government-level concerns, the company will still take proactive measures.
Google said in a statement: “We will continue to work closely with governments and network providers around the world to do our part in an unprecedented situation to minimize pressure on the system.”
Source: IT Home


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There were mutterings, even in the glory days, but the party was too loud for them to really be heard. Suddenly the startup world was female-led, female-friendly, female-focused. After years of looking fruitlessly, furiously, at the unsmashed glass ceiling, women in business decided to paint it pink instead.
The Wing opened its first all-female members’ club space in Manhattan in 2016, growing to 11 locations serving 10,000 members in the US and the UK. If you were visiting The Wing, you could wear your dress from Reformation, fresh from its 2012 relaunch, singing sweetly about its ethical manufacturing practices. That dress was possibly first spotted on one of many female-focused websites that blended fashion with feminism and mental health advice – Refinery29 and ManRepeller among them. An Away suitcase, debuted in 2016, provided something to pack it all up in.
Each of those companies had a charismatic female founder. Even if you weren’t a customer, these women were suddenly everywhere, styled and smiling and telling their success stories. The naysayers mostly focused on price: these websites were free to read, but everything else required a significant disposable income. Was it really inclusive? But these comments were eclipsed by the overall rosy glow. Here was the representation we’d all been clamouring for.
It was the ‘golden age for women in power’, The Wing founder Audrey Gelman told The Washington Post of the moment the company launched its first space, when it still looked like Hillary Clinton would be the 45th US president.
Clinton wasn’t the only woman forced to concede a powerful position. In one week of last June, as the Black Lives Matter movement gathered more strength, Gelman stepped down from her role, publicly apologising for ‘leadership mistakes’, as did Refinery29’s Christene Barberich, who wrote on Instagram: ‘I’ve read and taken in the raw and personal accounts of Black women and women of colour regarding their experiences inside our company. What’s clear […] is that R29 has to change.’
Reformation’s Yael Aflalo, and Jen Gotch of clothing company Ban.do, resigned around the same time, for similar reasons. In the same month, Leandra Medine Cohen moved away from ManRepeller, issuing an Instagram mea culpa for ‘failing to deliver’ on her mission. And Shannon Spanhake left Cleo, a company designed to help working parents, when it was revealed she’d fabricated her professional background, taken six years off her age and created a toxic workplace.
In December 2019, Away’s Steph Korey resigned as CEO after a report by The Verge exposed, again, a ‘toxic workplace’ and ‘a culture of intimidation and constant surveillance’. (She later returned as co-CEO before announcing in July that she would step down again.)
Men in senior positions also stepped down in 2020. Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian – often found cheering as his wife Serena Williams wins tennis games – left his company’s board so he could be replaced by a non-white board member. CrossFit’s Greg Glassman resigned after saying that he wouldn’t mourn for George Floyd. Adam Rapoport, editor-in-chief of US magazine Bon Appétit, went after staff spoke out about discrimination and a picture circulated of Rapoport and his girlfriend, both white, dressed as stereotypical Puerto Ricans for a fancy-dress party.
But, Rapoport aside, male resignations attracted much less attention. Meanwhile, the death of the girl boss was analysed in countless articles. Sometimes the focus was collective, sometimes on individual companies.
Screenshots of Steph Korey’s demands on staff circulated on Twitter. Gelman issued an apology on Instagram. The general tone of the cultural response was one of shocked glee, as if each founder was Regina George and the buses just kept on coming.
It’s also worth noting wild disproportions behind these numbers – simply, there are far fewer women with senior positions to resign from. In the US, where these changes took place, only 14% of startups have a female CEO. In the UK, female-founded companies secured just 16% of equity deals provided by venture capital in 2018. A US study of the same year published in the Journal of Management showed that female CEOs were far more likely to be fired than their male counterparts, even if the company was performing well.
Should 2020’s fallen women have stayed in their roles? Probably not. Did they deserve to pick up a disproportionate amount of attention for their failures? That’s where it gets complicated…
The women in question are alleged to have behaved badly or, at the very least, thoughtlessly. There is a real need to address inequality and damaging work cultures. But the invisible hand of sexism was also present, as were the usual questions about money: who has it and who doesn’t, and what that means. So, how does this break down?
First, there was betrayal. Every brand where the female CEO stepped down traded on their ethics, either explicitly, such as The Wing, or implicitly, as Away did. They were supposedly feminist companies run by supposedly feminist women and, between them, they promised everything from ethical supply chains to mental-health support.
‘There’s a metaphor used in marketing. It’s called brand-as-person,’ says Cleopatra Veloutsou, professor of brand management at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow. ‘We give brands a character in the same way that we do with humans, ascribing a social class, values and so on. There’s also recent research that shows, for firms based around one entrepreneur, the company will take on their personality: they will make decisions as though they were the brand, so the brand then becomes consistent with the characteristics that person has. As consumers we look for brands that share our values. They form part of our emotional life.’
So, when brands fail to live up to the ethical standards that first made them appealing, we feel betrayed in the same way we would if a friend lied to us.
‘There’s a very real emotional disappointment when we feel that we’ve been sold a line,’ says Catherine Connors, a California-based serial entrepreneur, currently the League of Badass Women CEO. ‘I may be overstating it, but part of the reason this [feminist] marketing works is that we really want to hear it, to hear that we can do it, can chase our dreams, because we haven’t been hearing it for – relatively – very long.’
This leads, says Connors, to elevated expectations of women. But, she continues, women are also ‘expected, for the most part, to use a feminist lens or a female empowerment angle, because a business opportunity is recognised. Look at Away. It’s a suitcase brand, but nothing about suitcases screams feminist… and no one cares if [a male] CEO is rude to his employees.’
Male leaders attract criticism too, of course, but rarely the same absolute censure that female CEOs get. WeWork attracted billions in investment, never made any money and CEO Adam Neumann was forced to step down just before the company made 2,400 of its staff redundant. But he still walked away with a payout of almost $1.7 bn.
Peter Thiel, who was one of the founders of PayPal, has funded former President Trump and is open about his right-wing political views. While this puts him at odds with Silicon Valley’s largely liberal outlook, he still holds a lot of sway in the technology world.
Facebook has been criticised for everything from dismissing employee concerns, killing the media – even destroying democracy: Mark Zuckerberg, who strongly contests any such claims, remains in place. There’s a freedom for men to fail that’s not extended to women.
‘Women do trend more towards ethical and socially responsible businesses than their male counterparts,’ says Tara Sabre Collier, who specialises in gender-led investing. There are many reasons for this, partly, as Sabre Collier points out, because women are more likely to experience inequality in the world and wish to change it. But selling feminism is also a way of attracting investment. We know that consumers respond well to feminist marketing. So it’s a clever move, whether genuine or cynical, for a woman going up for venture capital funding to stress her ethical credentials. But having principles baked into your business model means that the world expects more from you, and so it becomes much easier to fail.
‘Venture capital money can come with weird strings,’ says Sarah Drinkwater, director of beneficial technology at philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network. ‘Look at The Wing. It tried to be all things to all people. To some, it was a venture-backed startup. To others, it was a social justice organisation. It was not clear about its mission. For many founders, there’s a core tension that’s hard to overcome.’
Several of the women interviewed for this piece said that as venture capital companies mostly consist of white men, people who do not match the pattern find it difficult to convince funders that their ideas have merit.
June Angelides has worked as a banker, an entrepreneur and is now an early-stage tech investor. She says women are often not taken as seriously: ‘As a Black woman, I am conscious of the fact that products for the Afro-Caribbean society may not get as much investment. That’s a large market to miss out on. We need to invest in women, because it’s the only way we will break this cycle of tech products that are by men, for men.’
When investors do meet with women, they are often the women who are most like them: white and already wealthy. These women then become poster girls for female success.
‘The reason these women are visible is because they’ve raised a certain amount of money,’ says Drinkwater. They are also photogenic and often operate in retail and lifestyle spaces that consumers can relate to. They ‘became the very public faces of their companies’, Maria Aspan wrote in an article for Fortune. ‘In a way that’s more common if you’re selling leggings than, say, cloud-based enterprise software.’
This increased visibility means that the ‘female founder’ stereotype gets compounded and the patterns repeat.
A high profile also means that when a female founder fails, she fails in public: it isn’t just the business community watching. Part of this is understandable: we feel it is right, fair, for the ‘mean girl’ to be taken down: we all become Janis Ian, not realising this delight in failure makes us mean, too.
‘We have an immense appetite for watching women suffer,’ says Drinkwater. ‘Look at our films, our music.’
‘It has to do with the way we hold women accountable in public, capitalist, democratic spaces,’ says Connors. ‘In a way that we don’t with men. For thousands of years, women have been confined to the private sphere. We have so much socially ingrained self-doubt about being in the public sphere, so we look at women who move into it with some degree of suspicion, even hostility.’
There’s also a disconnect between those supposedly feminine traits – compassion, empathy, nurture – and those that we traditionally associate with CEOs: drive, ruthlessness, a willingness to break rules.
Cleo, the company run by Shannon Spanhake, has a website full of smiling parents and children, telling employers it will help them ‘take care of your modern workforce’. Contrast this with a slide Spanhake showed staff. Forbes reported that one of the bullet points told them to ‘expect to work 50 to 60 hours a week’.
‘There’s a cult of the male founder where we expect them to have this Peter Pan boyish quality,’ says Connors. ‘They’re rebels, right? They defy the system – Han Solo, Tony Stark – refusing to be grown-ups and profiting from it. The problem is that kind of entrepreneurial hero’s journey doesn’t apply to women. They’re expected to be Wendy, not Peter, making sure everything is maintained and managed behind the scenes. Look at Sheryl Sandberg compared to Mark Zuckerberg.’
Silicon Valley has become our dream factory, edging out its neighbour from the south, Hollywood. It shapes our thoughts, our desires, our politics. Even the language is mythic: investors are ‘angels’, startups valued at $1 bn or more are ‘unicorns’, rapid growth is termed ‘blitzscaling’. But are we expecting too much when we expect business leaders to be role models as well?
‘We are looking for heroes in all the wrong places,’ says Carl Rhodes, co-author of CEO Society: The Corporate Takeover of Everyday Life. ‘With neoliberalism in the 1980s and 1990s, business became a lot more prevalent. The idea that private enterprise would lead us to a brighter, shinier future was linked to the political agenda… Do we want to look for heroes in that realm of life, or is there a broader sense of what we might look for socially, politically and personally?’
In 2017, the Me Too movement showed men that the old ways would no longer work. Last year, Black Lives Matter turned the same spotlight on white privilege. The demands of the Covid-19 crisis and the increasing pressure of climate change mean that caring is no longer just for activists.
The girl boss was almost set up to fail and we enjoyed watching her do so. But she shouldn’t be excused because the system around her was wrong. The female founders started marking out a path, a different way of doing things. That path shouldn’t be abandoned just because they failed. We need to expect more from women and men. We should learn from the girl boss, even as we bury her.
This article appears in the April 2021 issue of ELLE UK.
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John Lewis to raise Quiet Mark awareness through window displays
Department store chain John Lewis will be implementing Quiet Mark displays in a number of its stores to raise consumer awareness of quiet products.
The Quiet Mark will take centre stage in 16 of John Lewis’ stores across the UK over the next five weeks.
The displays will feature Quiet Mark-awarded technology, washing machines, tumble dryers, food processors and kettles from electrical brands such as AEG, Dualit, Dyson and Magimix.
John Lewis consumer research and sales have revealed a rising consumer need for products that help to keep unwanted noise to a minimum.
Said Lawrence Mitchell, technology buyer for John Lewis: “There continues to be strong demand for Quiet Mark products with our customers and we’re delighted with the dedicated Quiet Mark windows in 16 of our shops across the UK.”
Said Quiet Mark’s co-founder and managing director, Poppy Szkiler: “The striking new Quiet Mark store window displays at John Lewis’ flagship stores, and throughout the country, underline the strong, supportive partnership between Quiet Mark and John Lewis. They highlight a new era of sound-design for consumer technology, which is taking centre stage, as the desire for peace and quiet in a tech-frenzied world increases.
“As the noise of everyday life becomes ever more intrusive, John Lewis has recognised that quiet is highly valuable to consumers, because it naturally helps support health, wellbeing and a fundamental need for more near-silence.
She added: “John Lewis Partnership is playing an integral role in understanding this, meeting a demand for quieter products and educating customers on the ways they can design the soundscape of their home with Quiet Mark-approved products. If we all choose to buy quieter technology we can begin to collectively transform the aural environment.”
The 16 stores include:
- John Lewis, Oxford Street, London
- Peter Jones, Sloane Square, London
- John Lewis, Watford
- John Lewis, Aberdeen
- John Lewis, Milton Keynes
- John Lewis, Norwich
- John Lewis, Leicester
- John Lewis, Nottingham
- John Lewis, Cribbs
- John Lewis, Cardiff
- John Lewis, Newcastle
- John Lewis, Liverpool
- John Lewis, Kingston
- John Lewis, Peterborough
- John Lewis, Welwyn
- John Lewis, Glasgow


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With mounting concerns that the potential merger between AT&T and T-Mobile would result in a monopoly, Sprint has not been shy about vehemently opposing the deal. Consequently, Sprint’s internal operations must adapt to the ever-changing mobile marketplace. Armed with unrelenting tenacity and new sales tactics, the popular mobile network is ready to fight what will possibly be the largest network in the United States.
Sprint’s distaste for the AT&T-Mobile merger has been evident in a number of ways, whether it is through advertisements or CEO Dan Hesse’s public proclamations on the topic. more recently, the executive clarified Sprint’s stance on the acquisition in saying:
If AT&T is permitted to devour one of the two remaining independent national wireless carries, while the rest of the world achieves advances in technology and innovation for the 21st century, the U.S. will go backwards- toward last century’s Ma Bell.
Snagged by the folks at Spantechular.com, Sprint’s latest strategy has been uncovered, one that specifically targets T-Mobile customers that are unsure about the network’s merger with AT&T. The document, which was leaked by an internal source, details a credit program that rewards T-Mobile customers porting their existing numbers to sprint.
Currently, the deal between the two is undergoing debate within a number of governmental bodies, who will determine the legitimacy of the AT&T’s acquisition. In the event that the AT&T-Mobile merger falls through, Sprint will credit new customers by reimbursing their early termination fees.
While Sprint’s efforts are admirable, the popular network may not be offering a big enough incentive to force T-Mobile customers to jump ship. Though it may not bring in record numbers, the new sales tactic that retailers will adopt will most certainly help Sprint gauge the popular opinion of T-Mobile customers on the topic.
What do you, Sprint and T-Mobile customers alike, believe? Will Sprint’s strategy of scooping up T-Mobile’s uneasy clients work? Should Sprint be opposing the merger so vehemently? Sound off in the comments below.
UPDATE: This deal is only for business customers.


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Reggie Fils-Aime’s Recent Wii U Interview
In a recent interview with Nintendo’s president; Reggie Fils-Aime discussed Nintendo’s Christmas holiday goals and what the future has to bring with the upcoming Wii U gaming console. Reggie also gave some light on the upcoming Nintendo gaming title – ‘Mario Karts 7‘.
When asked about the Wii U’s backward compatibility with current Wii gaming titles, Reggie explained how the Wii U will cost significantly more than the current Wii gaming console.
“The consumer buying Wii hardware today is going to be a different consumer than the one who will be buying Wii U in the future. This is the first holiday that the Wii is available at $149.99 or below, so it’s an expanded demographic we’re reaching. These are consumers who have heard about Wii for the past couple years, but at $199 or $249 it was economically out of their reach.
“We haven’t announced pricing for the Nintendo Wii U gaming console yet, but you can definitely expect that pricing is going to be different and that the games are going to be different. We do believe that the Nintendo Wii and Wii U will coexist for some time. As we drive the install base of Wii, we’re really setting people up to take their gaming library and be able to transfer it over to Wii U.” – Reggie Fils-Aime.
Reggie Fils-Aime was then quizzed regarding the up-coming Mario Kart ‘7’ gaming title.
“We are giving Mario Kart 7 a huge push. I think you covered the activity we did at the LA Auto Show. It was a great way for us to break through at a different kind of event and show people what is fun and unique about Mario Kart: totally customized karts, different types of racing effects in terms of the glider in the air and the submarine in the water, the different range of tracks and the different ranges of items.
“I think the best parts of the game are the multiplayer and community aspects. The group of us here can create our own community where we are only going to race these kinds of tracks using only these certain items, and we’ll play against each other. It’ll have scoring, bragging rights, the whole nine yards. Once the community has been built, anybody can participate. I think the online features are going to push this game and make it even more popular than the franchise has already become.” – Reggie Fils-Aime.
Source: Reggie Fils-Aime’s Recent Wii U Interview


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Since 2017, Christine Fox has been building a following on the online craft marketplace Etsy.
She’s made more than 150 sales of $20 candle holders and $220 wool blankets that she knits herself, and amassed more than 600 fans who follow her work on the site. But after about a year of growing her business, she’s packing up and moving on.
She doesn’t want to pay the additional overhead costs that Etsy announced on Thursday. The company is increasing the fees that sellers must pay on purchases from 3.5% to 5%. Fox said she paid more than $1,000 between November and December of 2017 in fees to Etsy, which took a significant bite out of her overall profit.
“I can’t afford it,” she said. “Etsy is sending the message that it doesn’t care about its customers.”
Fox was one of a chorus of Etsy vendors voicing their concerns on Twitter
Don't miss: These side hustles can pay $100,000 a year
A spokeswoman for Etsy told MarketWatch the higher fees will go to investments in new features including customer support. The company also plans to increase its direct marketing spending by at least 40% this year, a spokeswoman said. Etsy hosts 2 million sellers on the site.
“Etsy is only successful when our sellers are successful, and we are constantly listening to how we can better help them reach their goals,” she said. “Sellers have been vocal about their desire for us to bring them more buyers and tools to run their businesses effectively.”
“Additionally, our revised fee structure will enable us to make meaningful investments in key areas while remaining the best overall value for creative entrepreneurs,” she added.
Etsy’s fees are still smaller than many of its major competitors. Shopify, home to more than 500,000 online sellers, charges sellers by the month in addition to a smaller fee per purchase. The basic Shopify plan costs $29 per month, plus 2.9% and 30 cents per transaction. The next level Shopify Plan is $79 per month, plus 2.6% and 30 cents per transaction, and the advanced Shopify Plan is $299 per month, plus 2.4% and 30 cents per transaction.
Christian Adair, an Etsy shop owner in Pennsylvania, will be moving all of his wares to his personal online shop following the Etsy fee hike. His bath and body products are his main source of income. He said he can’t keep prices low for customers with the new fees. The LuvMilk shop sells 8-ounce cans of bath salts for $6 each and banana-flavored lip balm for $2.50 per stick. He makes about $3,000 to $4,000 a month (after paying fees), and pays about $800 to $1,000 a month in fees during “extra busy” months.
“Etsy doesn’t care about its sellers, they only care about the bottom line,” he said.
Meanwhile, Etsy’s stock soared toward a record high on Thursday after the announcement, with its second biggest gain in its history. The company said it expects to increase revenue in 2018 some 32-34% from one year ago due in part to the increased transaction fees. The FactSet analyst consensus for 2018 revenue of $544 million implies a 23% rise from last year.
Analyst Edward Yruma at KeyBanc Capital, who raised his stock price target on Etsy to $48 from $36 and affirmed his overweight rating, said, “While Etsy’s management baked in some conservatism based on seller discontent, we believe momentum is very strong and any bellyaching will be allayed by continual platform improvements.”


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Beijing Mobile Ad Firm Completes $10m Series-B Funding
Beijing-based mobile internet advertising firm Domob has completed second-round financing worth more than $10 million from Qiming Ventures and Redpoint Ventures, TechWeb.com.cn reported July 29. The company was founded in November 2010 by former employees of Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU), China Mobile (NYSE:CHL, 0941.HK) and Amazon's (Nasdaq:AMZN) China site Joy.cn, and received millions of dollars in investment from Redpoint in February this year, according to the report.
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The NPD Group identified chicken as the most heavily consumed meat in the country.
Aussies have eaten more meat in the past 12 months ending March 2018, according to a recent study by The NPD Group.
According to the market research company, 46% of Aussies’ 4.8 billion annual foodservice occasions include meat products. That number is up by 6% compared to last year.
Chicken is the most in-demand meat as it covers almost half of all meat services. It is also most consumed by millenials while beef is most popular among men younger than 50 years old. Fish and seafood are in-demand among people aged 50 years old and above.
Among QSR menu offerings, chicken and beef are the only ones that is said to have a positive, long-term performance.
Check out the full infographic below:
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ORLANDO, Fla. - Employees at some Orlando area Chick-fil-A restaurants were hard at work on Sunday.
The Atlanta-based chain known for being closed on Sundays said they weren’t sure of how many, but did confirm that several Orlando area stores prepared meals following the attack at a popular nightclub, providing food and any additional assistance to those in need.
In a statement, Chick-fil-A said: “Orlando is in our hearts and prayers.”
One Chick-fil-A location posted a photo of their flags at half-staff and the following message to their Facebook page:
“God Bless the USA. Home is where the (heart) is. Orlando is our home. #prayfororlando.”
Chick-fil-A employees were seen distributing sandwiches and ice tea to those who waited several hours in line to donate blood in addition to the hundreds of law enforcement officials who responded to the shooting scene.


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Barclays is reportedly running a pilot test to enable charities to accept bitcoin. Barclays is working with Safello, a bitcoin exchange that went through the Barclays accelerator program in London this summer. The Barclays accelerator is run in conjunction with Techstars. While details are limited, Barclays (similar to other large financial institutions) is interested in leveraging bitcoin’s underlying technology and the blockchain infrastructure and if indeed media reports are true this would be the first example of a money center bank conducting ‘live’ trials. Barclays is calling it a “proof of concept.” According to a Business Insider article, Barclays Chief Design and Digital Officer Derek White is quoted as saying, “We’ve chosen to embrace disruption. We’re increasingly becoming a technology financial services company, not a bank with a technology division.”
MasterCard launched Start Path Global by expanding its 18 month old Start Path program to Canada, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. StartPath is a six month long partnership program targeted at commerce related startups where MasterCard provides business, operational or investment support. Companies selected to participate under Start Path Global will also have access to Start Path Partners, a group of global companies in banking, retail and technology. This is a win-win arrangement for both the early-stage as well as established companies in that the startups benefit from having access and contacts to the market, while the Partner companies gain an early view of new technology. As a global payments network, MasterCard is uniquely positioned to play the role of a central hub or ‘match-maker’ in closing the gap between new and legacy technology while driving towards innovative new commerce solutions.
Klarna announced the launch of its U.S. business and the signing of Overstock.com as its first e-commerce merchant. Klarna is an online and mobile payments provider based out of Sweden (where it handles 30% of all online purchases) and operates in 18 markets with significant presence in Germany, France and Italy. In addition to card / payments acceptance at digital merchants, Klarna offers a ‘pay after delivery’ service whereby it settles with the merchant and collects payments from consumers within 14 days of the transaction. This convenient post-delivery payment option has driven up conversion rates for merchants – both mobile and desktop. In fact, Klarna’s largest 20 merchants in 2014 have increased their conversion by 5.5% during 2015. Klarna’s pay after service is similar in some respects to PayPal Credit or Affirm, in that both offer POS financing or transactional credit. This is a nascent, yet interesting market that could have a disruptive effect on credit cards that have traditionally been used for online purchases. We think mobile wallets with an embedded financing facility could be an interesting adjacency. Klarna is currently valued at about $2.25B.
PayPal launched a new P2P money service platform called PayPal.Me. This new P2P service allows for the setup of a personalized URL (e.g. paypal.me/username) that can be shared with others to request money. According to PayPal, this is a “mobile-first” offering catering to a $51B global market consisting of friends and family members that owe each other money. While PayPal currently offers money send / ask features on its website and provides P2P funds transfer functionality through Venmo, this new service is designed to reach a broader global audience. In addition to the U.S., PayPal.Me is launching in 17 international markets. There’s been some early ‘buzz’ around selection of user names – the URL personalization is a nice feature.
EVO announced the acquisition of the merchant acquiring business of Banamex in Mexico. EVO is a U.S.-based merchant acquirer / processor with interests in North America and Europe. Banamex is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup. According to press information, the two companies have entered in to a 10-year strategic marketing alliance that includes an exclusive referral arrangement. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The EVO / Banamex deal is the second large merchant acquiring transaction in Mexico following the Elavon / Santander JV announced in 2010. Mexico continues to be a largely bank driven, yet under leveraged merchant acquiring market (similar to other Latin American countries) that has proved tough for U.S. and international payments processors. There is significant untapped market and profit opportunity here – the key is to balance growth and high-tech solutions with local customs and requirements.


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Once upon a time, Microsoft could count on platform dominance around the world, because Windows ruled in the age of the desktop. In emerging economies, that platform dominance was usually maintained through rampant ‘piracy’ of Windows – a fact that Microsoft could never openly condone, but from which it clearly benefited.
That was then, this is now. Mobile computing is now the growth business and, for those in emerging economies who previously never managed to get their hands on PC hardware, smartphones are their first computers. And what’s running on such handsets in Africa, the most untapped market of them all? Not Windows – which is why Microsoft has just launched a concerted campaign, called 4Afrika, to change that.
Windows Phones for Africa
The lynchpin of this scheme is the Huawei “4Afrika with Windows Phone 8” device. Microsoft has already released lower-end Windows phones in African markets, such as the Nokia Lumia 620, but those are relatively expensive – in Nigeria, for example, that device is expected to cost around $250. The Huawei 4Afrika phone will cost $150.
It would be interesting to know how heavily Microsoft is subsidizing this phone, because the Huawei 4Afrika is a variant of the $300 Ascend W1, which targets the European market. The 4Afrika phone has a 480×800-pixel screen, a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, a 10-mm-thick case and 4GB internal storage, along with front- and rear-facing cameras. Standby time – a big deal in markets where power can be unreliable or hard to come by – is rated at 420 hours.
According to a Microsoft blog post, the handset also comes preloaded with “custom apps created by African developers for African consumers.”
Not bad for the price, you may think. But look at the local prices for cheap smartphones – and by this I mean the likes of Nokia’s semi-smart Asha devices but also BlackBerry and Android phones – and you’ll see handsets priced around $80. That’s almost half the price of the Huawei 4Afrika.
According to Ian Fogg, senior principal analyst at IHS Screen Digest, that discrepancy could take the Huawei 4Afrika out of reach for many:
“This is a cheap smartphone for Windows Phone, but it’s still significantly more expensive than the entry-level Android smartphones in the market or the Nokia Asha devices, which Nokia is putting head-to-head with entry-level Android.”
However, Fogg pointed out that Microsoft’s tight reference platform for Windows Phone 8 meant the Huawei 4Afrika would give a much better experience than those cheaper Android phones, which may use cheaper and less powerful components…
Read More: gigaom.com


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SkyMint, a leading vertically integrated cannabis company based in Ann Arbor, announced the acquisition of 3Fifteen Cannabis, a Michigan-based network of dispensaries. The deal provides SkyMint with the capability to serve nearly 90 percent of Michigan’s adult residents.
Alongside the acquisition, the company closed a $70 million senior secured term loan from Tropics LP, an affiliate of SunStream Bancorp, a joint venture initiative sponsored by Sundial Growers Inc. in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It also closed an $8 million equity investment from Merida Capital Holdings in New York City.
“SkyMint was founded on a mission to become a leader in the cannabis industry while leveraging our leadership position as a positive catalyst for change,” says Jeff Radway, CEO and co-founder of SkyMint.
“With this acquisition of 3Fifteen Cannabis, we have a monumental opportunity and responsibility to truly shape the market for the better, bring more jobs to our state, provide Michiganders increased access to clean, handcrafted, premium products and experiences at the best value, and continue our commitment to uplift the communities we are fortunate to serve.”
The company’s 27 locations across the state gives it the largest retail footprint, with no less than three additional SkyMint storefronts set to open in 2021, and an additional 15 in 2022.
The announcement comes after Michigan’s record-breaking July sales. According to an August 2021 report from industry analyst Headset, the state saw a 56 percent year-over-year increase in July sales, totaling $171 million, with adult recreational products comprising of $128 million. In May, Michigan sales fell only $8.5 million short of Colorado, which is the second largest market in the country.
“Merida has already invested deeply in Michigan through 3Fifteen, due to the attractive population dynamics. SkyMint’s leading vertical position augments 3Fifteen’s leading retail presence,” says Mitch Baruchowitz, CEO of Merida Capital Holdings. He will join the SkyMint Board of Directors after the completion of the transaction.
“SkyMint is an award-winning company known for its retail presence, its vast manufacturing and cultivation capabilities, and a community-minded attitude. We look forward to bringing SkyMint into new growth markets where Merida has operations.”
After the acquisition of 3Fifteen and the financial input from Merida and SunsStream, SkyMint now has a combined workforce of 730 people and a combined consumer base of 670,000. It holds a dominant market share in Grand Rapids (four locations), greater Lansing (four locations), metro Detroit (five locations), and Ann Arbor (two locations).
Aside from retail, it also operates two indoor cultivation facilities totaling 77,000 square feet with a third indoor cultivation facility — totaling 184,000 square feet — due to open next year. It also operates a 1,000-acre sustainable sun grown farm, which it claims is the largest outdoor cannabis farm in the state.
“SunStream is actively deploying capital in the cannabis space and is committed to supporting premier U.S. operators. We look acutely at all aspects of a company prior to forging a capital partner relationship, with a view to financially sponsoring prospective top-three or podium operators on a state-by-state basis,” says Zach George, a partner at SunStream.
“As one of the largest vertically integrated operators in Michigan, SKYMINT is an excellent example of a financially sound, strategically positioned cannabis operator backed by a strong management team capable of navigating rapid growth.”