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Apple has hired Tim Dashwood, the author of a series of 3D and 360 VR plugins for video editing software. Dashwood has since made his existing plugins for apps such as Final Cut Pro X free to download.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
In 2014, Uber was discovered to be blocking authorities from seeing its cars in order to evade regulations or bans in a series of locations including Paris, Las Vegas, China and South Korea. The next year, Apple found out Uber was also flouting its iOS developer rules to identify users' devices by hardware ID—and nearly got kicked out of the App Store over it.
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Saturday, April 22, 2017
In recognition of today's Earth Day, Apple created an "Earth Day Challenge" to reward reaching 30 minutes of exercise on the day with a special achievement badge in the Activity app, as well as stickers for use within iMessage.
Days after an error led to false iCloud cancellation emails sent to subscribers, Apple has followed up with another note apologizing for the bug, and reassuring them that their plan remains in good standing.
There's a lot of talk about Apple's shift to a new screen technology with the "iPhone 8," but fewer conversations about how it will all work — AppleInsider explains what changes Apple will likely need to make to implement the technology, while retaining Touch ID on the front of the rumored edge-to-edge screen on the device.
Ahead of Earth Day, Apple went on an environmental publicity blitz, most notably promising to eventually make products entirely out of recycled materials. Rumors about specific projects like the "iPhone 8" continued, meanwhile, and a new version of the Apple Watch appeared: the Apple Watch NikeLab.
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The year-old flagship Apple Store at Union Square in San Francisco was closed down today due to a massive power outage that affected around 90,000 other customers, shut down some subway stations and turned off traffic lights that snarled many busy intersections.
On Friday, a report revealed snippets of Apple's California Department of Motor Vehicles self-driving car application, offering insight into the company's autonomous vehicle project. A full copy of the document has been shared with AppleInsider.
Documents filed as part of Apple's application to test self-driving cars in California were revealed on Friday and offer a first look at the company's autonomous platform, dubbed the "Automated System."
Prominent U.K. newspaper The Guardian on Friday pulled out of two major app-based initiatives, Apple News and Facebook Instant Articles, in a bid to reclaim revenue.
Apple has reportedly hired two executives from Google's satellite division to head up "a new hardware team," with goals that are still unclear.
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With Photoshop World 2017 well underway, Adorama and B&H are both accepting pre-orders on Sony's newest mirrorless Alpha a9 camera and GM lens, as well as Nikon's D7500 DSLR camera — with no tax collected on orders shipped outside NY and NJ. Plus, save 5% on select DJI drones with coupon or pre-order the Phantom 4 Advanced for $1,349 including tax.
A new set of images purporting to be of the "iPhone 8" rear case have appeared on Chinese social media, but AppleInsider has learned that they are renders, based on recent, alleged schematic 'leaks.'
Popular iOS podcast app Overcast has updated with the ability to sync episodes directly to an Apple Watch, letting runners and others leave home without an iPhone in tow.
Once complete, Apple's data center in Viborg, Denmark will actually redirect heat to warm homes in the surrounding Jutland region, Apple noted this week.
Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter on Friday to mark Turkey's National Sovereignty and Children's Day — which actually takes place Apr. 23 — and to showcase a local billboard campaign, using iPhone photos shot by children.
This week on the AppleInsider podcast, Victor and Dan talk about the uncharacteristic rumors moving Touch ID to the back of the "iPhone 8," Mac Pro hardware rumors, the Mac Gamer, Thunderbolt GPUs and more.
Lending credence to speculation of a coming iPhone "supercycle," market research firm comScore on Thursday released data showing tens of millions of users who own legacy iPhones are primed to upgrade.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
The digital wallet race just lost another contestant, with Plastc Card entering bankruptcy and announcing to investors that it will shut down without ever delivering the digital payment card. Plastc joins Coin—which threw in the towel in February—in the electronic money pit that Apple has avoided with Apple Pay.
Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a profile of Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu as part of the "TIME 100 Most Influential People" special, offering insight into Apple's investment in the Chinese ride-hailing service.
Apple announced on Thursday that a new feature called "Up Next" has been added to Apple Music, a new video documentary series that promises to feature a new artist every month.
Apple on Thursday launched an Earth Day-related charity promotion promising to donate $1 to the World Wildlife Fund for each purchase made at its stores using Apple Pay.
An report from an Apple Environment Health and Safety contractor — said to have accidentally leaked to hundreds of Apple staff — may point to rumored augmented reality glasses, or some other new eye-related technology.
Mastercard is reportedly testing cards that integrate a fingerprint sensor, intended to offer a more convenient alternative to entering a PIN. Unlike Apple Pay, however, the cards would lack a series of important security features.
More information has emerged about the Chinese government demand that Apple crack down on streaming apps, with a new report circulating claiming that porn streamers are the government's major concern.
Apple and Nike on Thursday revealed a new edition of the Apple Watch Series 2, the Apple Watch NikeLab, essentially a color variation on the Apple Watch Nike+.
Expanding on a recent promise, Comcast on Thursday updated its Xfinity My Account app for the iPhone with support for Apple Pay, letting people handle TV and internet bills using their fingerprint.
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Not since the discontinuation of the iPhone 4s has Apple sold a handset with an all-glass back, but that's rumored to change this year with the flagship "iPhone 8." In the years between those two models, advances in glass production technology have made it so an all-glass "iPhone 8" could be more robust than you might assume.
Apple has published a set of new videos commemorating Earth Day that explain clean energy technologies, Apple's own environmental protection efforts, and feature Apple employees and executives narrating and explaining the concepts behind the programs.
Apple's approach to original video programming is reportedly scattershot, to the point that the company hasn't settled on a focus, or even who will be in charge.
Despite the company's own dependence on ads, Google is reportedly planning to build a native ad-blocker into the mobile and desktop versions of its Chrome browser — presumably including Apple's iOS and macOS.
"Deliverance," the first track from an album generated by a sound engineer who worked with Prince in 2006 has been pulled from Apple Music, the iTunes Music store, and other streaming services after a challenge from the musician's estate.
In the process of renovating its flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City, Apple will have to dismantle the famous glass cube that sits over top, according to recently published building permits.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application detailing a method of inserting virtual objects into a real environment, and relocating or removing real objects from the same, using advanced hardware and complex algorithms.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
As it does every year, Apple on Wednesday began preparing its brick and mortar stores for Earth Day, which falls on Saturday, April 22, by changing the leaf of its familiar illuminated logos green.
- Apple promises future products to be made from 100% recycled materials
- Apple Music scores exclusive rights to Clive Davis documentary
- Apple to offer 2017 Earth Day Challenge Activity achievement with iMessage stickers
- Serial patent troll Acacia Research again sues Apple, cellular carriers over wireless patents
- New mid-April drone footage shows trespasser's view of Apple Park site
- Roundup: The best laptop bags, cases and sleeves for Apple's Late 2016 MacBook Pro
- Why Apple should cater to 'serious' gamers - and why it probably won't
- Apple to expand Search Ads to three international markets, debuts new management tools
- EFF: Google Chromebook is still spying on grade school students
- Apple suppliers withhold royalty payments to Qualcomm amid legal spat
- Apple Maps adds public bike rental stations & UK EV charger networks
- Cartoon Network adds support for Apple's iOS 10.1 TV app, Siri Universal Search
- Withings Home Plus HomeKit security cam cancelled, likely over Nokia-Apple patent spat
- Alphabet Verily begins research on 10,000 patients to 'map human health'
- Microsoft debuts Wunderlist replacement To-Do on iPhone, Mac & iPad coming soon
- AlwaysOnline adds 14 countries to iPad Apple SIM plans, cuts prices
- New Prince song 'Deliverance' arrives on Apple Music & iTunes, full album release in jeopardy
- Apple's efforts to boost in-house chip development amplifies risks to suppliers
- Chinese regulators put pressure on Apple over live streaming titles on App Store
- LaCie announces 2big Thunderbolt 3 RAID dock, compatible with Apple's MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
- Another alleged 'iPhone 8' schematic shows Touch ID home button on back of device, vertical camera
- Apple Music & iCloud users receive unexpected subscription discontinuation alerts
- 'iPhone 7s,' 'iPhone 8' chip orders suggest more than 100 million iPhones on tap by end of year
- Tim Cook accepts Newseum 2017 Free Expression Award, says companies should have values
- Comparison: Which 9.7" iPad is right for you?
- Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 to feature dual camera array ala iPhone 7 Plus
- Snapchat for iPhone gains 3D, augmented reality 'World Lenses'
- Google Maps adds Timeline support on Apple's iPhone & iPad
- Facebook reveals full Apple Music integration in Messenger, AR initiative at F8 conference
- Apple's GarageBand, iMovie, Keynote, Numbers, Pages now free for all iOS & macOS users
- Pandora Premium drops invite system, launches wide with iOS & CarPlay support
- Conde Nast uses Apple's iPhone 7 Plus to shoot covers for 'Bon Appetit,' 'Traveler'
- Apple Pay picks up over 25 more card issuers across US & China
- Availability of Apple's 12.9" iPad Pro slips to May as rumored update looms
- Pornhub launches TrickPics for iOS, an AR photo filter for censoring nude selfies
- State-backed fund may take minority stake in Toshiba's memory unit to prevent foreign buyouts
- Logitech POP programmable button gains Apple HomeKit compatibility with new model
- Teardown finds Samsung Galaxy S8+ battery 'virtually identical' to fire-prone Note 7
- Apple still experimenting with 'iPhone 8' tech including curved screens, new camera systems
- New 'pro' iMac said to have discrete GPU and Xeon E3 processor, ship at end of 2017
- Apple settles Unwired Planet patent suit for undisclosed amount
Tuesday, April 18, 2017


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Earnings results often give us a good indication of what direction the company will take in the months ahead. With Q1 now behind us, let’s have a look at DigitalOcean (NYSE:DOCN) and its peers.
Data is the lifeblood of the internet and software in general, and the amount of data created is growing at an accelerating pace. Likewise, the importance of storing the data in scalable and efficient formats continues to rise, especially as the diversity of the data and associated use cases expand from analyzing simple, structured data to high-scale processing of unstructured data, images, audio and video.
The 5 data storage stocks we track reported a mixed Q1; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 3.76%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 0.82% above consensus. Tech stocks have been under pressure since the end of last year, but data storage stocks held their ground better than others, with the share price up 9.49% since earnings, on average.
Started by brothers Ben and Moisey Uretsky, DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN) provides a simple, low-cost platform that allows developers and small and medium sized businesses to host applications and data in the cloud.
DigitalOcean reported revenues of $127.3 million, up 35.9% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a strong revenue growth but an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.
"Despite an uncertain macro environment, we had a good start to the year with strong growth and free cash flow," said Yancey Spruill, CEO of DigitalOcean.
DigitalOcean delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full year guidance update of the whole group. The company added 14,000 customers to a total of 623,000. The stock is up 3.1% since the results and currently trades at $44.85.
Is now the time to buy DigitalOcean? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Best Q1: MongoDB (NASDAQ:MDB)
Started in 2007 by the team behind Google’s ad platform DoubleClick, MongoDB offers database-as-a-service that helps companies store large volumes of semi-structured data.
MongoDB reported revenues of $285.4 million, up 57.1% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 6.86%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with an exceptional revenue growth and a solid beat of analyst estimates.
MongoDB delivered the strongest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The company added 72 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to a total of 1,379. The stock is up 14.8% since the results and currently trades at $276.99.
Is now the time to buy MongoDB? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Slowest Q1: Commvault Systems (NASDAQ:CVLT)
Originally formed in 1988 as part of Bell Labs, Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) provides enterprise software used for data backup and recovery, cloud and infrastructure management, retention and compliance.
Commvault Systems reported revenues of $205.9 million, up 7.63% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 1.96%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with a slow revenue growth.
Commvault Systems had the slowest revenue growth in the group. The company added 1 enterprise customer paying more than $100,000 annually to a total of 226. The stock is up 4.23% since the results and currently trades at $63.29.
Formed in 2011 with the merger of Membase and CouchOne, Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) is a database as a service platform that allows enterprises to store large volumes of semi-structured data.
Couchbase reported revenues of $34.8 million, up 24.6% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 6.83%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analyst estimates.
Couchbase delivered the highest full year guidance raise among the peers. The stock is up 17.3% since the results and currently trades at $16.60.
Founded in 2013 by three French engineers who spent decades working for Oracle, Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) provides a data warehouse-as-a-service in the cloud that allows companies to store large amounts of data and analyze it in real time.
Snowflake reported revenues of $422.3 million, up 84.5% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 2.26%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with an exceptional revenue growth but decelerating customer growth.
Snowflake pulled off the fastest revenue growth among the peers. The company added 22 enterprise customers paying more than $1m annually to a total of 206. The stock is up 7.86% since the results and currently trades at $143.50.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned

domain: news


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Canadian publishers are adjusting to big changes in the works at their biggest retail client, Indigo Books & Music. The latest one is that for a 10-week period this fall, the retail giant is asking that books be sent directly to stores rather than to Indigo’s distribution center.
Indigo wrote to its vendors to explain that it is asking for the temporary measure in order to ensure a good supply of books in stores for the holiday season while it changes and updates its distribution center. Indigo opened an online facility last year, has invested in the physical infrastructure, and it is adding a new software system, which will begin to be used in 2012. During this time, it expects that 85% of its stock will be received directly from sources.
“We will reduce or even remove the store-specific minimum order thresholds to ensure that we are outputting orders on a timely basis,” the letter promised, “and hope that you will not consolidate orders for more than one week to avoid stocking out at the store level. “
The letter also warned publishers to expect returns. “We will be aiming over the coming weeks to return stock from our DC of titles for which there is no longer active store demand, or for which we have high inventory levels relative to our requirements through Holiday.”
Indigo recently told publishers that books that are not selling may be returned sooner than they have in the past (industry standard was typically a 90-day trial period) in order to make room for Indigo’s new line of lifestyle products launching this fall.
CEO Heather Reisman has described the retailer’s new product mix as a strategy for surviving the rise of e-books and e-readers.


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A marijuana food truck is now rolling across America
Weed has long been a clandestine driving force for food-cart culture. Now, thanks to some states' governments finally ceasing to be squares and just, you know, go with it, people can get their buzz at a food truck, rather than at home beforehand.
Unveiled at Denver's Cannabis Cup, Samich Truck (standing for savory accessible marijuana infused culinary happiness) is a collaboration between Magical Butter and two chefs with extremely high ambitions to make food that satisfies more than the stomach, preemptively curing munchies before they even happen. The inaugural sandwiches from the converted 40ft school bus include a sunbutter & jelly, a take on banh mi, BBQ pulled pork, plus tomato soup, all of which pair extremely well with a little Floyd.
The truck will set up shop in Seattle this Summer, when the state joins Colorado in legalizing recreational marijuana sales. Because pot-infused banh mi is a gateway food, the company plans to eventually deploy a traveling fleet of trucks to other cities where they can legally operate, and will also launch an app so you can find a truck near you and end up taking the longest lunch break ever.
Andy Kryza is a senior editor on Thrillist's national food and drink team, and is seriously considering getting a Summer home in Seattle. Follow him to extended guitar solos and late-night Call of Duty freak-outs via @apkryza.


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While the server industry transitions to the latest generation of processors based on the x86 platform, the Intel Ice Lake and AMD Milan CPUs entered mass production earlier this year and were shipped to certain customers, such as North American CSPs and telecommunication companies, at a low volume in 1Q21, according to TrendForce’s latest investigations.
These processors are expected to begin seeing widespread adoption in the server market in 3Q21. TrendForce believes that Ice Lake represents a step-up in computing performance from the previous generation due to its higher scalability and support for more memory channels. On the other hand, the new normal that emerged in the post-pandemic era is expected to drive clients in the server sector to partially migrate to the Ice Lake platform, whose share in the server market is expected to surpass 30% in 4Q21.
Volume ramp of CPUs based on the Eagle Stream platform will likely take place in 2Q22, while AMD is expected to reach a 15% share in the server market next year
Regarding the mass production schedule of Intel CPUs based on the next-gen Eagle Stream platform, volume ramp is expected to occur in 2Q22. These processors, which feature embedded HBM, comprise a much more diverse product lineup compared to the previous generation. Although Intel’s 2Q22 target represents a slight delay from the market’s previous expectation of a 4Q21 ramp-up, Eagle Stream CPUs will enter the final product qualification stage at the end of 4Q21, after which Intel will begin provisioning certain leading customers with a small batch of these CPUs in 1Q22, according to TrendForce’s survey of server ODMs. As such, the mass production schedule of Sapphire Rapids will likely resemble the release of Ice Lake server processors earlier this year.
Genoa CPUs, AMD’s competitive equivalent of the Intel Eagle Stream, are expected to enter mass production on a similar schedule, since AMD’s wafer starts at the 5nm node have been relatively low-volume. AMD’s server processors manufactured at the 14nm node and below have the competitive advantage in terms of price-to-performance, core count, and interface support.
Furthermore, after progressing to the 7nm node, these processors have been seeing gradually increased adoption by various public cloud service providers, including Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, and Tencent, throughout 2021. AMD CPUs have currently surpassed a 10% penetration rate in these three CSPs’ servers. Going forward, AMD will begin inputting wafers at the 5nm node at the end of 2021 in order to further optimize its processors’ cost, power consumption, and performance. TrendForce therefore expects AMD CPUs to reach a 15% share in the global server market in 2022.
While the ARM architecture is starting to gain popularity, ARM chips are mostly built-to-order due to the relatively small scale of client demand
Processors based on the ARM architecture began seeing increased market penetration this year, with AWS’ self-designed Graviton chips enjoying the greatest market share. In addition, Ampere and Marvell have also been releasing more agile and flexible ARM-based server processors, validation for which by CSPs is expected to kick off in 4Q21. The server market, however, is still dominated by x86 processors, which currently account for 97% of total server processor shipments.
In particular, AMD has transitioned most of its server offerings to processors manufactured at the 7nm and 7nm+ nodes by increasing wafer inputs at these nodes and replacing its old 14nm product lineups. This transition has paid off, as some of AMD’s clients have gradually become receptive to these new products. On the other hand, ARM- and RISC-based processors are currently built to order, mostly for the data center market. TrendForce therefore believes that ARM CPUs will not be competitive with x86 CPUs in the server market before 2023.
Support will extend to include PCIe G5 and DDR5 RDIMM, while CXL will improve memory performance
It should be noted that Intel as the dominant leader in the market for x86 server CPUs has decided to have Eagle Stream support CXL (Compute Express Link). This interface further optimizes the memory coherence between the CPU and the memory components to which the CPU is connected. The processor platform thus has the ultimate function of establishing a memory pool for all computing units within the server through memory virtualization, even though this function is not notably emphasized in the initial establishment of the product specifications, which originally sought to enable high-bandwidth and low-latency data transfer for the CPU.
The memory pool, in turn, enhances the interconnections (or the data transfer efficiency) among the CPU, memory, GPU, ASIC, FPGA, etc. The new CXL interface will be able to offer significant improvements in terms of dealing with heavier workload in the future and conducting heterogeneous computing. Moreover, CXL will be able to overcome the limits imposed on the current hardware architecture with respect to data transfer and thereby enable more effective integrated computing capability.
The build-out of data centers continues to grow because of the emergence of applications related to AI and Big Data. Furthermore, the demand for larger cloud storage capacity has massively expanded as a result of enterprises’ increasingly rapid digital transformation efforts in the post-pandemic world. At the same time, with the increase in CPU core count, how to raise computing performance via memory optimization has now become an important issue. Eagle Stream can resolve this bottleneck by extending support to PCIe G5 for the SSD interface technology.
Compared with its predecessor, PCIe G5 offers twice the data transfer rate. Therefore, hyperscalers are eager to adopt SSDs based on this standard. As for DRAM, both Eagle Stream and Genoa extend support to the next-generation DDR5 server DRAM, which delivers a faster data transfer rate, making these new server CPUs superior to Ice Lake in all respects. NAND Flash and DRAM suppliers have made plans to commence mass production of PCIe G5 SSDs and DDR5 RDIMMs at the end of 2Q22 in anticipation of demand generated by the release of the Eagle Stream and Genoa platforms for these next-gen products.
For more information on reports and market data from TrendForce’s Department of Semiconductor Research, please click here, or email Ms. Latte Chung from the Sales Department at email@example.com
The ramp-up of the Intel Ice Lake and AMD Milan processors is expected to not only propel growths in server shipment for two consecutive quarters from 2Q21 to 3Q21, but also drive up the share of high-density products in North American hyperscalers’ enterprise SSD purchases, according to TrendForce’s latest investigations. In China, procurement activities by domestic hyperscalers Alibaba and ByteDance are expected to increase on a quarterly basis as well. With the labor force gradually returning to physical offices, enterprises are now placing an increasing number of IT equipment orders, including servers, compared to 1H21. Hence, global enterprise SSD procurement capacity is expected to increase by 7% QoQ in 3Q21. Ongoing shortages in foundry capacities, however, have led to the supply of SSD components lagging behind demand. At the same time, enterprise SSD suppliers are aggressively raising the share of large-density products in their offerings in an attempt to optimize their product lines’ profitability. Taking account of these factors, TrendForce expects contract prices of enterprise SSDs to undergo a staggering 15% QoQ increase for 3Q21.
Looking ahead to 4Q21, TrendForce expects a decline in server shipment to bring about a corresponding downward correction in enterprise SSD procurement capacity. Meanwhile, clients will continue to validate higher-layer PCIe G4 products from Kixoia and Micron. On the other hand, as the shortage of SSD components becomes alleviated going forward, enterprise SSD suppliers’ production capacities will likely increase as well. As a result, enterprise SSD contract prices for 4Q21 will likely remain relatively unchanged from 3Q21 levels.
Suppliers are making a strong push to develop PCIe G5 and CXL products as these new interfaces become available for server applications next year
Intel and AMD are expected to kick off mass production of Eagle Stream and Genoa CPUs, respectively, in 1H22. In addition to being compatible with PCIe G5, these server processors will also support the CXL (Computer Express Link) interface. TrendForce’s investigations indicate that NAND Flash suppliers have been fast-tracking their production of PCIe G5 SSDs in response to the upcoming mass production of Eagle Stream. As such, these SSDs are likely to see market release between 2Q22 and 3Q22.
Micron, on the other hand, has also announced its development of CXL products. Because CXL enables optimized data transmission between CPU and other components, such as memory, GPU, ASIC, and FPGA, memory solutions with CXL interface are likely to experience rapid growth in the hyperscale market, which is constantly in pursuit of faster data transmission speeds. TrendForce believes that the release of increasingly fast data transmission interfaces will bring about a massive increase in the expenses and technological challenges associated with SSD controller IC development. Enterprise SSD suppliers will subsequently have to jostle for market share by leveraging their respective unique competitive advantages.
For more information on reports and market data from TrendForce’s Department of Semiconductor Research, please click here, or email Ms. Latte Chung from the Sales Department at firstname.lastname@example.org
As the Taiwanese IPC (industrial PC) market suffered from deferred orders due to supply chain and logistical disruptions that took place in 1H20, total domestic IPC revenue for 1H20 reached NT$105.4 billion, a 4.7% YoY decrease, according to TrendForce’s latest investigations. However, given that the pandemic was gradually brought under control in 1H21, the market was able to benefit from strong demand from China’s 5G infrastructure rollout, as well as from expanded investments by Europe and the US in public infrastructures such as roads and railways aimed at facilitating an economic recovery. Hence, Taiwan’s IPC revenue for 1H21 reached NT$115.1 billion, a 9.2% YoY increase.
Regarding the financial performances of the top 10 IPC suppliers in Taiwan for 1H21, Ennoconn secured first place with a revenue of NT$42.95 billion, a 16.7% YoY increase. After its acquisition spree that began in 2010, Ennoconn is currently attempting to integrate its various subsidiaries’ technologies and resources in order to make headways in certain emerging technologies, including industrial automation, machine vision, HMI, and cloud services. Going forward, Ennoconn will cultivate its presence in the EV, smart healthcare, and smart retail sectors.
For 1H21, runner-up Advantech posted a revenue of NT$27.37 billion, an 8.2% YoY increase. While Advantech previously favored an acquisition-driven strategy, the company is now expanding into the smart healthcare, smart manufacturing, and smart city sectors primarily through technological partnerships and equity investments. Backed by its WISE-PaaS platform, Advantech continues to expand into the global markets by investing in overseas ISV (independent software vendors) and SI (systems integrators) in the aforementioned sectors.
DFI earned a third-place ranking in 1H21 with a revenue of NT$5.28 billion, a 25.2% YoY increase. After becoming part of the Qisda fleet in 2017, DFI subsequently went on to acquire telecom and information security solutions supplier AEWIN as well as industrial automation vendor Ace Pillar in 2019. These activities culminated in an annual revenue of NT$8.35 billion, an 18.8% YoY increase, for DFI in 2020. DFI currently specializes in smart manufacturing, smart healthcare, and intelligent transportation systems/infrastructures.
AI accelerator suppliers and IPC suppliers work in tandem to clearly define the AI value chain
IPC products have been widely used in AIoT and IIoT applications in recent years due to the proliferation of edge computing. As such, these products have also become the key determinant of how rapidly industries can adopt AI technologies such as machine vision. At the same time, IPC suppliers’ unique position in the mid-stream AI value chain means they are responsible for bridging the gap between upstream AI accelerator suppliers (including Intel, AMD, and Nvidia) and downstream ISV/SI.
With regards to the upstream AI value chain, Intel and AMD acquired independent FPGA suppliers Altera and Xilinx, respectively, in order to achieve more comprehensive heterogeneous computing competencies via horizontal integration. On the other hand, midstream IPC suppliers have been vertically integrating with downstream ISV/SI either independently or collectively through JVs, technological collaborations, strategic alliances, or M&A. For instance, Advantech and ADLINK are now operating on multi-strategy models as well as strategic collaboration models respectively, while Ennoconn and DFI are operating on M&A-oriented models.
On the whole, TrendForce expects that, as AI accelerator suppliers and IPC suppliers push integration forward in the AI value chain, not only will an increasing number of IPC products based on heterogeneous computing platforms be released to market, but emerging AI technologies such as machine vision will also see increased penetration in industrial automation applications. Hence, TrendForce expects annual machine vision revenue to reach US$86 billion in 2025.
In recent years, notebook computer (laptop) brands and processor suppliers alike have been actively adjusting their product strategies and business operations in response to behavioral shifts in the way consumers purchase and use computing devices. While notebook brands jostle for superiority in industrial design with improvements to their product appearances every year, competition in the processor industry has been even fiercer. TrendForce’s investigations indicate that the current competitive landscape in the processor industry consists of three developments, indicated below:
First, competition between AMD and Intel. Not only are both companies focused on expanding their respective ecosystems, but they have also been aiming to conquer the gaming market by releasing new products aimed at gamers this year. Apart from making headways in the PC processor market, AMD has introduced the AMD Advantage Design Framework.
AMD Advantage gaming notebooks are certified to meet standards of performance set by the company. AMD hopes that this certification system will allow it to generate a more consolidated gaming ecosystem while raising its brand equity. Intel, on the other hand, has been cultivating its presence in the creator and 5G notebook markets in an attempt to become the primary driver of digital transformation in the post-pandemic era.
Second, the Nvidia-Arm collaboration. This collaboration took place for the purpose of establishing an AI-enabled reference platform for notebook computers. More specifically, Arm’s CPU/NPU/GPU product stack delivers such wide-ranging AI solutions as real-time recognition, vibration detection, and keyword spotting. Following Arm’s successful foray into the PC segment, Nvidia will speed up its release of notebook products, including CPUs based on the Arm architecture.
Third, Qualcomm’s cross-sector ambitions. By architecting always connected notebooks* with Microsoft and Google, Qualcomm is now leveraging its advantages in 5G technology to prepare for upcoming competition with Intel in the 5G services market.
As the aforementioned companies’ presentations at Computex 2021 would suggest, not only do these processor suppliers possess their own competitive technological advantages, but they also share the common goal of upgrading their gaming competencies, including graphics cards, graphics technologies, and cooling performances.
Some of their current offerings aimed at the gaming market include the AMD RX 6000M, Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti/RTX 3070 Ti GPU, and Intel 11th Gen Core H45. Interestingly, the AMD Advantage Design Framework, which certifies OEMs’ gaming notebooks based on the AMD platform, represents the company’s intention to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the gaming market.
After Nvidia announced its US$40 billion acquisition of Arm last September, the partnership is expected to yield considerable technological synergies by way of the two companies’ AI collaboration. TrendForce believes that, in the long term, Arm Cortex CPUs based on the Armv9 architecture will allow Nvidia to break free from the dominance of Intel and AMD in the notebook CPU market. In particular, Nvidia will be able to cultivate its presence in the high-performance notebook market by combining its existing graphics technology with Arm Cortex CPUs.
Qualcomm’s main impetus for entering the notebook market can be attributed to the fact that the pandemic has brought about a new normal in which consumer adherence to notebook products has become increasingly strong. On the whole, Qualcomm’s cross-sector ambition appears to be on the cusp of victory, given the company’s preexisting 5G competencies and its experience in always-connected applications, advanced camera technologies, immersive audio/visual and display experiences, AI acceleration, and power efficiency for smartphones. As a case in point, Qualcomm is set to release Windows on Snapdragon notebooks as its own 5G *always connected PC platform.
It should be noted that Intel has also adopted MediaTek’s 5G chip technology in 5G connected notebooks featuring “Intel 5G Solution 5000”. On the other hand, Qualcomm is also developing mobile processors aimed at the entry-level always connected 4G/5G notebook market. TrendForce expects competition in the always connected market to generate a fresh wave of replacement demand in the mobile computing market.
*Always connected laptops (notebooks): notebooks that feature modem chips and have a constant internet connection much like smartphones. These notebooks can connect to the internet using 4G/5G networks without the need for Wi-Fi.
The rise of such products as automotive, industrial, telecom, and networking chips in recent years has resulted in continued advancements in packaging and testing technologies, and the market revenue of these technologies has seen a corresponding rise as well. Demand for advanced packaging has been relatively strong thanks to high demand for 5G smartphones, consumer electronics, and high-performance processors.
In particular, the mainstream development of advanced packaging and testing is currently concentrated on three major fields: HPC chip packaging（2.5D/3D）, FOPLP（fan out panel level packaging）, and SiP（system in package）. Some of the other factors driving forward the technological development of advanced packaging also include improvements in end product functions, advancements in transistor gate sizes, reduction in advanced packaging L/S, and migration of chip interconnect technology from micro-bumping to hybrid bond.
According to TrendForce’s investigations, the advanced packaging market last year reached a revenue of US$31.037 billion in 2020（which was a 13% increase YoY）and accounted for 45.8% of the total packaging market. At the moment, most packaging and testing companies have successively entered the advanced packaging market, with Flip Chip applications accounting for the majority of applications across smartphone AP, WiFi chips, entry-level processors, and high-end PMICs. Flip Chip applications make up more than 80% of the total advanced packaging revenue.
In spite of continued growth, advanced packaging will unlikely overtake traditional packaging in terms of market share within 5-10 years
In spite of the multitude of companies that are eager to enter the advanced packaging industry, not all of them possess the technological competence to progress in R&D, thus making acquisition the fastest path to advanced packaging success. With regards to technological competence, foundries and IDMs are the likeliest candidates to enter the industry, as they already possess ample experience in chip development.
At the moment, TSMC, Intel, and Samsung are the most well-equipped to do so, respectively. With regards to outsourced operations, Taiwanese companies such as ASE, SPIL, and PTI lead the industry in terms of packaging technologies, while U.S.-based Amkor is able to compete for neck-and-neck with ASE. Although these aforementioned companies are not specialists in chip fabrication, they have an extremely strong grasp of the downstream assembly ecosystem, hence their superiority in advanced packaging.
On the other hand, thanks to China’s Big Fund, the trinity of Chinese packaging and testing operators（JCET, TFME, and Hua Tian）were able to acquire major global players, including STATS ChipPac, AMD-SUZ, and Malaysia-based Unisem, respectively, during the 2014-2019 period.
Hence, not only have the Chinese trio been able to raise their market shares and rankings in the global packaging and testing market, but they have also been able to acquire certain competencies in advanced packaging technologies.
The current market would seem to suggest that advanced packaging has been gradually cannibalizing the market share of traditional packaging. However, as applications including home appliances and automotive electronics still require traditional packaging, TrendForce believes that only after 5-10 years will advanced packaging overtake traditional packaging in terms of market share.


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A defendant this month was dismissed from a federal lawsuit involving nearly two dozen southwest Missouri timeshare businesses and individuals.
The judge dismissed timeshare company Catalyst Consulting Firm LLC on the grounds of improper grouping of defendants and lack of specification of claims, according to documents in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida.
In an omnibus order filed Nov. 6, the defendant stated its arguments for dismissal as impossible to reasonably defend against broad allegations from the plaintiffs, led by Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc., who lumped 22 timeshare entities together as one, the court motion said.
The decision comes two months after Orlando-based Wyndham and other plaintiffs sued Catalyst and others in the timeshare industry seeking $15 million on seven counts for damages and injunctive relief. Among the claims are federal trademark infringement, violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trades Practices Act and civil conspiracy.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida agreed with Catalyst, stating Wyndham cannot make multiple claims against the defendants without specifying which acts are improper.
“The complaint repeatedly lumps the defendants together, rendering it unclear and confusing as to which defendant is being charged with which conduct and on what grounds,” the court documents state.
The Wyndham companies, also including plaintiffs Wyndham Resort Development Corp., Wyndham Vacation Resorts Inc. and Shell Vacations LLC, have until Dec. 10 to file an amended complaint to support its claims against Catalyst. Court documents state the plaintiffs failed to allege how Catalyst infringed on Wyndham trademarks and interfered in its business relationships or contracts.
The lawsuit also makes the claim that Mary Clapp, owner of Clapp Business Law LLC in Springfield, is the sole organizer of Catalyst. Clapp has told Springfield Business Journal the Chavez family owns Catalyst and her firm only served as the registered agent for Catalyst to list the business with the Missouri secretary of state.
The lawsuit also claims Catalyst is an alter-ego of all the rest of the defendants.
“We’re the youngest company out of all of them,” said Jeffrey Chavez, chief operations officer for Catalyst, disputing the claim.
The company was created on Jan. 19, according to Missouri secretary of state records.
Chavez said Catalyst is a resolution company to help timeshare customers navigate the sales process, and upgrade, sell or rent properties. Chavez said the reason his company was included in the lawsuit was due to past business with Principal Transfer Group LLC and owner Jason Levi Hemingway, and its use of Clapp as a registered agent. Hemingway and his CLS Inc. business also are named in the suit.
While one overarching lawsuit is front and center, there has been past infighting between defendants.
Among the other businesses in the suit, Josh Ungaro is listed as the registered agent of six: JJ&C Marketing LLC, Allied Solutions LLC, The Mid-West Transfer LLC, Transfer For You LLC, Midwest Transfers LLC and JJ Midwest Marketing LLC, according to Missouri secretary of state filings. He also was individually named in the suit.
Ungaro said Wyndham also is trying to sue 30 timeshare companies in Florida in an attempt to lump them together to run those companies out of the marketplace.
“Wyndham has been doing everything they can, trying to run everyone out of this industry,” he said. “It is absolutely ridiculous.”
Ungaro said Wyndham sued every business he owned except his tuition-free nonprofit school Perspectives Preparatory Academy in south Springfield, where half of the students have special needs.
“They didn’t want publicity suing the school,” he said.
SBJ’s attempt to reach Wyndham’s media department via email went unanswered.
Ungaro said he booked timeshare tours for a few months for Brian Scroggs but claimed the two stopped working together after Ungaro disagreed with Scroggs’ business practices. Scroggs is individually named in the lawsuit along with his two companies, Vacation Consulting Services LLC and The Transfer Group LLC.
Ungaro claimed his association with Scroggs and his businesses led to his inclusion in the lawsuit.
Ungaro said Hemingway ran a print shop for him, until he was fired and went to work for Scroggs. Ungaro said he filed a lawsuit two years ago against Hemingway claiming he broke nondisclosure and noncompete agreements by working for Scroggs, along with an alleged theft of a lawnmower.
The lawsuit against Hemingway was dismissed without prejudice, according to Missouri court records.
“I don’t associate with those people,” Ungaro said of Hemingway and Scroggs.
BBB weighs in
Separate from the Wyndham lawsuit, an alert is listed on the Better Business Bureau website stating a pattern of consumer complaints against Scroggs’ Vacation Consulting Services and The Transfer Group. Consumers allege misleading advertising, unsuccessful extrication of timeshare contracts, failure to issue refunds, failure to cancel a contract with the company and overall poor customer service.
BBB officials say when they see a flurry of activity in complaints against a company, they investigate the cause and reason.
“Our focus was on those businesses because of the complaint activity,” said Don O’Brien, a BBB investigator in St. Louis. “We had been looking at both of these firms for a while. We found it to be in the best public interest to let consumers know.”
Vacation Consulting Services had 19 complaints closed, which have been addressed and handled by the company, in 2018, O’Brien said, with The Transfer Group closing 17 complaints during the year.
Vacation Consulting Services still has three unanswered and seven unresolved complaints, with The Transfer Group having three unanswered and five unresolved complaints, O’Brien said. Both businesses are currently rated F by the BBB.
Scroggs told SBJ last month he was in the process of closing both companies and opening a new business, Real Travel LLC. He was critical of the BBB’s methods in a provided statement:
“According to the BBB webpage, we have seven unresolved customer complaints, and we have had only 34 complaints out of 2,500 clients over four and a half years,” he said. “Vacation Consulting Services had an A- to a B+ rating from 2014 through the beginning of 2017. It is interesting to see the fluctuation in the BBB’s grading system.”
Wyndham Vacation Ownership also is not accredited on the BBB website. The firm holds a C+ rating and a 1-star review out of five from 166 customers. There are 2,160 complaints filed against Wyndham.
O’Brien said the BBB ratings algorithm assesses how quickly businesses respond to and resolve complaints, and it takes into account the size and scope of the business and its operations.
Geoff Pickle contributed.
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Salesforce needed 14 years as a public company to reach a market cap of $100 billion. Getting there required three multibillion-dollar acquisitions and four distinct revenue sources.
When Zoom topped the $100 billion mark last year, it had been public for just over 14 months. The company was reliant on a single product and had completed just one tiny acquisition.
While it’s still just a toddler on the Nasdaq, Zoom is now being forced to take on adult responsibilities for investors, thanks to its unexpectedly rapid ascent. The video chat company’s historic growth during the Covid-19 pandemic vaulted its market cap from $9.2 billion at the time of its 2019 IPO to a peak of $159 billion in October, putting it tentatively even with Cisco.
Zoom has lost about one-third of its value since then, despite reporting 191% revenue growth in the latest quarter, as investors prepare for a post-pandemic future and as competition picks up, most notably from Microsoft Teams.
Still, Zoom is among the 25-most valuable North American tech companies and the only one in that pack to go public in the last four years. Shopify and Snap, which went public in 2015 and 2017, respectively, are the only companies in the group that trade for a richer multiple to sales.
In other words, the stock market is giving Zoom the tools to become a major dealmaker. And Zoom is taking advantage, announcing earlier this week the $14.7 billion purchase of Five9, which sells cloud-based software to call centers.
“It allows them to use their currency to buy things that are impactful,” said Alfred Chuang, a partner at venture firm Race Capital who previously co-founded BEA Systems and sold it to Oracle for $8.5 billion in 2008. “I can’t imagine this will be last one.”
The Five9 deal is one of the 10 largest U.S. enterprise software transactions on record, according to FactSet, and is bigger than any acquisition ever by Amazon, Google, Oracle, Cisco or Adobe. At about 23 times Five9’s expected 2022 revenue, it’s also the second-priciest software deal on a price-to-sales basis, behind only Salesforce’s $27 billion purchase of Slack, which closed earlier this month.
Chuang, who has been friends with Zoom CEO Eric Yuan since his pre-Zoom days at WebEx, says Yuan is now in a position familiar to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, whose company has more than doubled in value since mid-2018 to $240 billion.
Both companies are set up to be cloud consolidators as automation changes the future of work and the enterprise software stack of the future gets built, Chuang said. In the three years since reaching a $100 billion market cap, Salesforce has completed four billion-dollar-plus deals, including Slack and the $15.7 billion purchase of Tableau.
“Not everything has worked out,” Chuang said, but he argues it’s important to take take big swings, even if the business is currently in good shape.
“When you have a very fast-growing company and become very successful, most people don’t want to rock the boat,” he said. “Acquisitions are not only useful to acquire customers but are super critical to satisfy a product vision you may have.”
The Cisco connection
Zoom’s initial talks with Five9 date back to last year, according to people familiar with the matter. The CEOs, who both previously worked on collaboration products at Cisco, know each other well and forged a product integration in 2019, when Zoom launched a phone offering.
Yuan was a lead engineer at WebEx when the company was acquired by Cisco in 2007, and Five9 CEO Rowan Trollope ran all of Cisco’s collaboration products, including WebEx, until taking the Five9 job in 2018. They never overlapped at Cisco — Yuan left to start Zoom a year before Trollope joined — but the connection is key as they both saw the challenges of retrofitting a legacy technology company for the cloud era.
Acquisition talks cooled for a while and picked up in the last three months, said people with knowledge of the transaction, who asked not to be named because the discussions were confidential. That’s when Goldman Sachs started advising Zoom on a deal and Five9 hired Frank Quattrone’s Qatalyst Partners.
Zoom also shuffled internal responsibilities this year, putting CFO Kelly Steckelberg in charge of business development, a job that had previously been held by operating chief Aparna Bawa, people close to the matter said. Yuan and Steckelberg drove the Five9 deal, the people said.
Bawa has assumed increased responsibilities elsewhere in the business. She oversees security, privacy and government relations, which all took center stage as Zoom became a widely-used service at large enterprises as well as in education, health care and among religious organizations.
Representatives from Zoom and Five9 declined to comment.
At a Morgan Stanley investor event in March, Steckelberg was asked about Zoom’s plans for the call center.
“Contact center is an absolutely really important part of the phone strategy,” Steckelberg said in response. “The way we approach that today is through partnering. We have great relationships with Five9. Eric and Rowan are very good friends.”
Zoom’s goal is to be not only a video service used for meetings with co-workers and clients, but to become the center of all work communication, including for customer service reps in call centers.
Yuan went a step further in June on Zoom’s quarterly earnings call. He responded to an analyst’s question about contact center expansion by telling investors, “Stay tuned, you will see something.” He followed by suggesting that details could be revealed around the time of the company’s Zoomtopia conference in September.
“I hope we will be able to do more,” he said, indicating that Zoom may go beyond integrations with call center technology providers.
Buy vs. build
A big reason why an agreement took so long to come together was because both stocks were so volatile, people familiar with the talks said. Shares of Zoom and Five9 moved 10% or more in a single week on several occasions this year, making it difficult to come to terms. Ultimately, the acquisition price was a modest 13% premium to Five9’s last closing price before the announcement.
The deal is projected to close in the first half of 2022 and Trollope will continue to run Five9 as a president of Zoom. Five9 adds a projected $650 million in revenue next year to the $4.8 billion in sales that analysts expect from Zoom, according to StreetAccount.
On the investor call following the announcement, Yuan and Trollope said that common customers have been telling them they want to count on a single vendor that can provide communications technology for internal purposes as well as customer service. Zoom could invest in building the product itself, but customers “do not want to wait,” Yuan said.
Analysts like BTIG’s Matt VanVliet said the decision to buy instead of build is the right one.
“Overall, we are encouraged by Zoom’s strategy to supercharge its platform with this acquisition rather than rely purely on its own internal R&D chops, which would have taken years to scale,” wrote VanVliet, who has a buy recommendation on Zoom, in a report on July 19.
Zoom has a long way to go before it can claim to have a portfolio of cloud software products, like Salesforce, Adobe and ServiceNow.
Late last year, the company entered the live events space with the launch of a homegrown product called OnZoom, expanding the video platform beyond the workplace and betting that online gatherings, in some form, are here to stay. In July, Zoom hired Abhisht Arora, a 21-year Microsoft veteran and Teams program manager, as its head of corporate strategy, reporting directly to Yuan.
Between development of new products and big acquisitions into parallel markets, Yuan is trying to ensure that Zoom is more than just a pandemic stock, and that its status as an enterprise giant remains long after we say goodbye to Covid-19.
— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
Tech stocks just finished a five-week rally — the longest stretch since market peak in November 2021
Tech stocks on display at the Nasdaq.
Peter Kramer | CNBC
The Nasdaq just wrapped up its fifth straight week of gains, jumping 3.3% over the last five days. It’s the longest weekly winning streak for the tech-laden index since a stretch that ended in November 2021. Coming off its worst year since 2008, the Nasdaq is up 15% to start 2023.
The last time tech stocks enjoyed a rally this long, investors were gearing up for electric carmaker Rivian’s blockbuster IPO, the U.S. economy was closing out its strongest year for growth since 1984, and the Nasdaq was trading at a record.
This time around, there’s far less champagne popping. Cost cuts have replaced growth on Wall Street’s checklist, and tech executives are being celebrated for efficiency over innovation. The IPO market is dead. Layoffs are abundant.
Earnings reports were the story of the week, with results landing from many of the world’s most valuable tech companies. But the numbers, for the most part, weren’t good.
Apple missed estimates for the first time since 2016, Facebook parent Meta recorded a third straight quarter of declining revenue, Google‘s core advertising business shrank, and Amazon closed out its weakest year for growth in its 25-year history as a public company.
While investors had mixed reactions to the individual reports, all four stocks closed the week with solid gains, as did Microsoft, which reported earnings the prior week and issued lackluster guidance in projecting revenue growth this quarter of only about 3%.
Meta was the top performer among the group this week, with the stock soaring 23%, its third-best week ever. In its earnings report Wednesday, revenue came in slightly above estimates, even with sales down year over year, and the first-quarter forecast was roughly in line with expectations.
The key to the rally was CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pronouncement in the earnings statement that 2023 would be the “Year of Efficiency” and his promise that “we’re focused on becoming a stronger and more nimble organization.”
“That was really the game-changer,” Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist at Hightower Advisors, said in an interview Friday with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“The quarter itself was OK, but it was the cost-cutting that they finally got religion on, and that’s why I think Meta really took off,” she said.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that the times are changing. From the year of its IPO in 2012 through 2021, the company grew between 22% and 58% a year. But in 2022 revenue fell 1%, and analysts expect growth of only 5% in 2023, according to Refinitiv.
On the earnings call, Zuckerberg said he doesn’t expect declines to continue, “but I also don’t think it’s going to go back to the way it was before.” Meta announced in November the elimination of 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce.
Link said the reason Meta’s stock got such a big bounce after earnings was because “expectations were so low and the valuation was so compelling.” The stock lost almost two-thirds of its value last year, far more than its mega-cap peers.
Apple, which slid 27% last year, gained 6.2% this week despite reporting its steepest drop in revenue in seven years. CEO Tim Cook said results were hurt by a strong dollar, production issues in China affecting the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the overall macroeconomic environment.
“Apple is navigating what is, of course, a very difficult environment quite well overall,” Dan Flax, an analyst at Neuberger Berman, told “Squawk Box” on Friday. “As we move through the coming months and quarters, we’ll see a return to growth and the market will begin to discount that. We continue to like the name even in the face of these macro challenges.”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who succeeded Jeff Bezos in mid-2021, took the unusual step of joining the earnings call with analysts Thursday after his company issued a weaker-than-expected forecast for the first quarter. In January, Amazon began layoffs, which are expected to result in the loss of more than 18,000 jobs.
“Given this last quarter was the end of my first full year in this role and given some of the unusual parts in the economy and our business, I thought this might be a good one to join,” Jassy said on the call.
Managing expenses has become a big theme for Amazon, which expanded rapidly during the pandemic and subsequently admitted that it hired too many people during that period.
“We’re working really hard to streamline our costs,” Jassy said.
Alphabet is also in downsizing mode. The company announced last month that it’s slashing 12,000 jobs. Its revenue miss for the fourth quarter included disappointing sales at YouTube from a pullback in ad spending and weakness in the cloud division as businesses tighten their belts.
Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s finance chief, told CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa that the company is meaningfully slowing the pace of hiring in an effort to deliver long-term profitable growth.
Alphabet shares ended the week up 5.4% even after giving up some of their gains during Friday’s sell-off. The stock is now up 19% for the year.
Ruth Porat, Alphabet CFO, at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 23rd, 2022.
Adam Galica | CNBC
Should the Nasdaq continue its upward trend and notch a sixth week of gains, it would match the longest rally since a stretch that ended in January 2020, just before the Covid pandemic hit the U.S.
Another area in tech that flourished this week was the semiconductor space. Similar to the consumer tech companies, there wasn’t much by way of growth to excite Wall Street.
AMD on Tuesday beat on sales and profit but guided analysts to a 10% year-over-year decline in revenue for the current quarter. Intel, AMD’s primary competitor, reported a disastrous quarter last week and projected a 40% decline in sales in the March quarter.
The semiconductor industry is dealing with a glut of extra parts at PC and server makers and falling prices for components such as memory and central processors. But after a miserable year in 2022, the stocks are rebounding on signs that an easing of Federal Reserve rate increases and lightening inflation numbers will give the companies a boost later this year.
Jury finds Musk, Tesla not liable in securities fraud trial following ‘funding secured’ tweets
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his security detail depart the company’s local office in Washington, January 27, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
The Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter CEO was sued by Tesla shareholders over a series of tweets he wrote in August 2018 saying he had “funding secured” to take the automaker private for $420 per share, and that “investor support” for such a deal was “confirmed.”
Trading in Tesla was halted after his tweets, and its share price remained volatile for weeks.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before reading their verdict. “We are disappointed with the verdict and considering next steps,” said Nicholas Porritt, partner at Levi & Korsinsky, the firm representing the shareholders in the class action, in an email to CNBC.
“I am deeply appreciative of the jury’s unanimous finding,” Musk wrote on Twitter.
Musk’s lead counsel, Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, arguing before the jury earlier Friday, said the matter had to be assessed in context, noting the Tesla CEO was only considering taking the company private. He said fraud cannot be built on the back of a consideration.
Spiro did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The shareholders in the certified class-action lawsuit included a mix of stock and options buyers who alleged that Musk’s tweets were reckless and false, and that relying on his statements to make decisions about when to buy or sell cost them significant amounts of money.
Musk later claimed that he had a verbal commitment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and that he thought funding would come through at his proposed price based on a handshake. However, the deal never materialized.
During the course of this trial, Musk also said he would have sold shares of SpaceX to finance a going-private deal for Tesla, as well as taking funds from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Apple’s long-term positives outweigh rare earnings miss, Morgan Stanley says
Apple CEO Tim Cook holds a new iPhone 14 Pro during an Apple special event on September 07, 2022 in Cupertino, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
“Taking a step back, it’s rare to see Apple miss and guide down in a quarter, but we believe the long-term positives from tonight’s report outweigh the short-term negatives,” Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring wrote. Apple’s Thursday night earnings report cited a strong dollar, continued production issues in China, and the broader macroeconomic environment as three reasons for Apple’s first year-over-year sales decline since 2019.
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“On the third factor, I would say was just the challenging macroeconomic environment, and you’re hearing that from, I would think, everybody,” CEO Tim Cook told CNBC’s Steve Kovach.
But Morgan Stanley assesses those headwinds as transitory, noting both accelerated growth in iPhone installed base and a continued upward margin trajectory as longer-term upside which will ensure “the Apple flywheel keeps spinning.”
Morgan Stanley reiterated its top pick rating for Apple. The company has managed to navigate a broader tech downturn with considerable success and is one of the few tech companies that has staved off layoffs and maintained a level of operational expense discipline.
It’s that same discipline that helps Morgan Stanley analysts maintain a bullish outlook on Apple, which guided to a March 2023 gross margin ranging from 43.5 to 44.5%, according to the note.
“We believe Apple’s ability to post the highest gross margin in a decade despite seeing revenue decline Y/Y is impressive, and moving forward, we expect gross margins to improve as mix, FX, commodities, and logistics all work in Apple’s favor through the rest of 2023 and into FY24,” Morgan Stanley’s note said.
Apple’s user spend levels are also keeping Morgan Stanley bullish, proof that “the underlying drivers of Apple’s model remain robust.”
Investors have apparently embraced Morgan Stanley’s appraisal of Apple’s durability as a long-term investment. Apple shares were up around 1% at the open Friday, despite the sales miss, recouping losses from a 4% drop Thursday night. The company also reported misses on the top and bottom lines, beating analyst expectations only in iPad and services revenue.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
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The world of iPhone photography’s quest for legitimacy just took a step forward with a robust marketplace, designed specifically for selling of iPhone snapshots. Foap is a Swedish app that today launched in the app store for both the USA and UK, and they’ll sell your iPhone photographs at $10 a pop. Of that fee, you get $5 and they get the other $5.
What will stop this from being instantly overrun by dreck, is that every photo has to be manually approved before being put up for sale. Of the 41,800 photos already uploaded, only 16,500 got put up on the market. Even more curiously, Foap doesn’t want your overly-filtered Instagram shots. As TechCrunch reports, “refreshingly, heavy Instagram filters and the like are strictly banned.”
Foap is reported to be targeted companies who want natural looking photos with a local flavor, and discovering the right image relies on heavy metadata tagging of each file.
By divorcing itself from the faux-lomo trend that dominates iPhone photography right now, Foap is doing a lot to show that just because it’s shot on a mobile phone, doesn’t mean it has to be over-produced and ultra-saturated to be of interest.


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Employees of Sany Heavy Industry Co at a workshop in Shenyang, Liaoning province. (Zhang Wenkui/for China Daily)
Sany Heavy Industry Co, one of China's top three construction machinery manufacturers by production volume, reported on Tuesday night that its sales revenue was up 71.2 percent year-on-year to 19.2 billion yuan (.9 billion) in the first half of this year.
The revenue surge was largely pushed by the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and growing demand in the domestic market for next-generation construction machinery such as excavators, bulldozers, pipe-layers, road rollers and wheel loaders since the second half of 2016.
The company's first-half fiscal report said that Sany has gained steady momentum in the past six months. Its net profit topped 1.1 billion yuan, up a staggering 740.9 percent year-on-year. The group's assets had reached 59.52 billion yuan by the end of June.
Yin Xiaoli, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Construction Machinery Association, said many of the opportunities (from the initiative) were raised due to the surging demand for public services, manufacturing and infrastructure projects in economies taking part in the initiative, especially in fast-growing economies such as Turkey, Poland and Saudi Arabia.
Sany remains the world's biggest concrete mixer manufacturer and this product garnered sales totaling 6.6 billion yuan between January and June. The company also generated revenue of 6.9 billion yuan from excavators, which has made the group China's top seller of excavators for seven consecutive years. Sany now occupies one-fifth of the market.
In the meantime, sales of excavators, pilling machines and cranes have soared by 102.4 percent, 226.4 percent and 69.8 percent year-on-year, respectively.
The report also noted a strong uptick in the group's global business, as international sales jumped 25.9 percent year-on-year, totaling 5.8 billion yuan in the first half.
Firms in the construction machinery industry "will continue to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative, and Sany is one of them", said Duan Dawei, chief financial officer of Sany. "The growing number of infrastructure projects, including roads, railways, airports and ports, will increase the need for construction equipment, and the growing trade activities in this segment will also boost shipments of high-end equipment."
Despite the steady growth, Sany's first-half performance failed to meet expectations, as the profits from second quarter did not catch up with the figure of 700 million yuan in the first quarter.
That has led to a sharp drop of its stock price on Wednesday after the report was released. The group explained that one major reason was due to the rising renminbi and that the group's income generated abroad was mainly cashed in US dollars.
He Dongdong, Sany's senior vice-president, said the group's next step is to accelerate its progress in artificial intelligence technology development, as it can connect all its products with a cloud data platform to boost work efficiency.
"Traditional manufacturing business like construction machinery is falling behind in making itself digital," He said. "Sany is wasting no time in digitalization."


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If you blew a mouthful of cigarette smoke in somebody's direction, you could expect a stern look at best and a mouthful of foul language at worst.
Passive cigarette smoking is known to be harmful and associated with increased risk of lung cancer and heart disease.
But with many former smokers now "vaping" e-cigarettes, experts are starting to wonder if it's another toxin that could be dangerous to inhale second-hand.
Dr Sarah White, director of Quit Victoria, say that while e-cigarettes don't burn or smoulder the way conventional cigarettes do, bystanders are still exposed to aerosol exhaled by the user.
"Although there is not a large body of evidence on the dangers of second-hand vapour, it has been shown to expose bystanders to nicotine and other toxins," Dr White told ninemsn Coach.
"The long-term health effects of 'passive vaping' are unknown."
Some people are turning to e-cigarettes in the hope that they are a less life-threatening addiction, but Dr White says their safety cannot be guaranteed – for users or people nearby.
"Regardless of the threats to health that second-hand vapour could pose, many bystanders find it unpleasant and simply don't want to breathe in pollutants from someone else's e-cigarette," she points out.
"Most people would likely prefer to breathe in fresh air, so it's probably courteous to refrain from vaping in public places, particularly where smoking conventional cigarettes is not permitted."
As for those doing the vaping, Dr White cautions against assuming they're a healthy alternative to smoking.
"Currently there is insufficient evidence to support the use of e-cigarettes as a quitting aid," she says.
"Many e-cigarettes labelled as not containing nicotine, an addictive drug, have actually been found to contain nicotine when tested independently. So there are some real concerns about consumer safety standards."
Meanwhile, stories of e-cigarettes exploding in people's faces demonstrate another safety threat.
At present, e-cigarettes can be sold in Australia provided they don't contain nicotine and don't make therapeutic claims to aid quitting smoking, although some people import nicotine-containing e-cigarettes from overseas.
"Quit Victoria has concerns about the potential short and long-term health effects of e-cigarettes," Dr White says.
"Legislation is urgently needed to address this emerging problem including banning the retail sale of novelty non-nicotine e-cigarettes, extending smoke-free laws to cover all e-cigarette use and banning advertising and promotion of all e-cigarettes."


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Kim Komando offers 10 tips to helps consumers battle scammer who are trying to take advantage of people during the.
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2017) Quw Bitcoin For Sale Very Cheap How Much Bitcoin Can I Buy On Coinbase With Credit Card 11 Apr 2019. Visa and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase have created a debit card that. Visa today announced a debit card that will allow users to buy things using. fiat currency or credit cards is the miner fees (money paid to Coinbase to. an intrinsic
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Tim Cook, Apple's COO, has confirmed that the company is working on a new iPad, while at the same time suggesting that the current competition just isn’t up to the challenge.
“If you look at what’s shipping today, there isn’t much out there. There are two kinds of groups in the market today”, said Apple’s new day-to-day boss during the company’s financial earning report conference call on Tuesday. “Ones that are using windows are generally big and heavy and expensive. They have weak battery life or require a keyboard or stylus to work. Customers aren’t interested in them".
Windows tablets slammed, Cook moved on to Android-powered tablets, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab:
“Then you have Android tablets, but the operating system wasn’t designed for them”, said Cook, citing Google’s comments along the same line. “So you wind up having something the size of a tablet that is less than we believe is reasonable, so you end up with a scaled-up smartphone. You end up with a bizarre product. Those are tablets that we don’t have any concern on”.
"It's hard for me to understand if somebody does a side-by-side with an iPad, some enormous percentage of people are gonna select an iPad there", he added.
Tough words, but what about the 26 plus tablets announced at CES at the beginning of January:
“The third batch, as in the ones announced at CES, nothing is shipping yet. They lack performance, timing and prices. Essentially they are vapour”.
Confirming the company is working on the next version of the iPad, Cook said:
“We aren’t sitting still. We have a huge user experience from iTunes to the App Store. We are very confident with entering into a fight with anyone”.
"The iPad team is building the best iPad for the future", Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO added later in the conference call before adding "We've been running three quarters without any competition".
Bold words on what is essentially the first day of his new job.


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In 2019, the globe’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by profession quantity, Binance obtained the Indian profession system, WazirX. In the last 5 years, worldwide financial investment in the Indian crypto market has actually enhanced by a massive 1487%.
Abundant incentives commonly require terrific dangers, and also the exact same is real with the extremely unpredictable cryptocurrency market. A number of significant worldwide cryptocurrency exchanges are proactively searching the Indian crypto market, which has actually been revealing a continual rise in day-to-day trading quantity over the previous year amidst a large decline in costs as numerous financiers looked at worth purchasing. As the cryptocurrency craze proceeds, several brand-new cryptocurrency exchanges have actually come up in the nation that makes it possible for purchasing, marketing, as well as trading by supplying performance via easy to use applications.
In spite of India’s vague plan, international capitalists are making massive bank on the nation’s electronic coin environment because of a range of variables such as
Steve Wozniak, Founder of Apple forecasted that Bitcoin is a genuine gold as well as it will certainly control all the money like USD, EUR, INR, as well as ASD in future and also come to be international money in coming years.
Unocoin is one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchange systems in India that account for over a million investors with mobile applications. International capitalists are looking at the wide variety of cryptocurrency exchange systems in India to take benefit of the arising market.
Just Recently, Tesla Chief executive officer Elon Musk made a news of financial investment in the cryptocurrency market worth USD1.5 billion, and also that the electrical business would certainly approve bitcoin from purchasers, which led to a global bitcoin cost dive from USD40,000 to USD48,000 within 2 days. 2 of the largest systems for making repayments throughout the globe, Visa and also Mastercard are likewise backing cryptocurrencies by presenting them as a tool to make purchases.
Bitcoin was the very first cryptocurrency which originated and also afterwards around 1600+ cryptocurrencies has actually been released with some one-of-a-kind attribute for every coin.
It is constantly excellent to place your cash in numerous cryptocurrencies rather of one as it has actually been seen that couple of cryptocurrencies expand much more, some ordinary if various other cryptocurrencies go in the red area.
For a nation with over 15 million crypto adopters, the brand-new referral from the board might hold excellent worth to establish the future of cryptocurrency in India. How to buy livepeer Progressively, the cryptocurrency is obtaining traditional approval, which might lead to greater fostering of electronic money.
The Indian cryptocurrency market is not immune to the horrible crypto accidents. The cryptocurrency market is expanding given that last year, Indians possess much less than 1% of the globe’s bitcoin, which produces a calculated drawback for the Indian economic climate.
When taken into consideration a “Boys club” due to primary male populace involvement in the cryptocurrency market, the progressively increasing number of ladies capitalists and also investors has actually led to even more sex nonpartisanship in the electronic and also brand-new kind of financial investment techniques. After the pinnacle court cleared up the legitimacy of “digital money”, the Indian cryptocurrency system, CoinSwitch experienced a rapid 1000% rise in its females individuals. Ladies often tend to conserve a great deal even more than their male equivalents as well as even more cost savings suggests even more variety in financial investments such as high-return properties like cryptocurrencies.
In 2014, Bitcoin holds the 90% market as well as remainder of the cryptocurrencies holds the staying 10%. In 2017, Bitcoin is still controling the crypto market yet its share has actually greatly dropped from 90% to 38% as well as Altcoins like Litecoin, Ethereum, Surge has actually proliferated and also recorded one of the most of the marketplace.
In March 2020, the Supreme court reversed the main financial institution’s choice to outlaw economic organizations from dealing in cryptocurrencies, which triggered financiers to stack right into the cryptocurrency market. Resolving the cryptocurrency circumstance in India, the Financing Priest claimed in a CNBC-TV18 meeting, “I can just provide you this idea that we are not shutting our minds, we are looking at means in which experiments can occur in the electronic globe and also cryptocurrency.”
With the enhanced susceptability of the system and also loss of count on in the plans of the main financial institution and also cash in its existing style, individuals have actually an enhanced hunger for electronic money which resulted in the rebound of cryptocurrency. Due to the outstanding efficiency of cryptocurrency in the center of the worldwide monetary dilemma, the uptrend has actually enhanced passion in the digital money market in Asia as well as the remainder of the globe.
The cryptocurrency fad caused the development of several trading systems such as WazirX, CoinSwitch, CoinDCX, ZebPay, Unocoin, and also several others. These cryptocurrency exchange systems are very protected, obtainable throughout numerous systems, and also enable immediate deals, supplying a pleasant user interface for crypto fanatics to acquire, market, or profession electronic possessions limitlessly. A number of these systems approve INR for acquisitions as well as trading costs as reduced as 0.1% so easy, quick, and also safe and secure systems offer a financially rewarding chance for both neighborhood investors as well as novice financiers.
Financing and also Corporate Event Priest Nirmala Sitharaman reduced some financier’s worries claiming that the federal government has actually not intended to entirely disallow cryptocurrency usage. It is obvious that the federal government is still looking at the nationwide safety and security threats positioned by cryptocurrencies prior to choosing on placing a total restriction.
Several of us get the cryptocurrencies at the optimal in the hope to make fast cash as well as loss sufferer to the buzz of bubble and also shed their cash. It is constantly excellent to place your cash in several cryptocurrencies rather of one as it has actually been discovered that couple of cryptocurrencies expand much more, some ordinary if various other cryptocurrencies go in the red area.
Instead of remaining on the stakeholders, capitalists and also side-lines intend to reconcile multiplying the electronic coin community till the federal government presents the restriction on “personal” cryptocurrency and also introduced sovereign electronic money.
A few of the factors which I have actually experienced as well as would love to share, cryptocurrencies have actually been developed on the decentralized system – so customers do not call for a 3rd party to move cryptocurrency from one location to one more one, unlike fiat money where a customer require a system like Financial institution to move cash from one account to an additional. Cryptocurrency improved an extremely secure blockchain innovation and also nearly zero opportunity to hack as well as swipe your cryptocurrencies till you do not share your some crucial info.
According to one more TechSci Research study record on “India Cryptocurrency Market By Supplying (Equipment & Software Application), By Refine (Mining & Deal), By Kind (Bitcoin, Etgereum, Bitcoin Money, Surge, Dashcoin, Litecoin, Others), By End Customer (Financial, Property, Stock Exchange & Virtual Money), By Area, Projection & Opportunities, 2026”, India cryptocurrency is prepared for to expand at a considerable CAGR owing to boosting demand for openness as well as decrease in purchase expenses. Furthermore, climbing fostering of electronic money and also expanding blockchain modern technology are sustaining India cryptocurrency market.
While the older generation still favors to spend in gold, actual estate, licenses, or equities, the more recent ones are welcoming the risky cryptocurrency exchanges as they are a lot more versatile to them. Neither does the less-than-friendly mindset of the federal government in the direction of crypto or reports swirling around the crypto are able to drink the self-confidence of the young people populace in the electronic coin market.
The very first cryptocurrency which enters into the presence was Bitcoin which was improved Blockchain modern technology and also possibly it was released in 2009 by a strange individual Satoshi Nakamoto. At the time composing this blog site, 17 million bitcoin had actually been extracted and also it is thought that complete 21 million bitcoin can be extracted. The various other most prominent cryptocurrencies are Ethereum, Litecoin, Surge, Golem, Civic as well as difficult forks of Bitcoin like Bitcoin Money and also Bitcoin Gold.
In March 2020, the Supreme court rescinded the main financial institution’s choice to outlaw economic establishments from dealing in cryptocurrencies, which motivated financiers to load right into the cryptocurrency market. Attending to the cryptocurrency circumstance in India, the Money Priest stated in a CNBC-TV18 meeting, “I can just provide you this hint that we are not shutting our minds, we are looking at means in which experiments can occur in the electronic globe as well as cryptocurrency.”
According to SimilarWeb, the nation is the second-largest resource of internet website traffic to peer-to-peer bitcoin trading system, Paxful. While the mainstream economic situation is still battling from the “pandemic result”, cryptocurrency is acquiring energy in the nation as it supplies the young generation a rapid as well as brand-new method of gaining cash.
It is recommended to customers to not place all cash in one cryptocurrency and also attempt to stay clear of spending at the height of cryptocurrency bubble. When it is on the height of the crypto bubble, it has actually been observed that rate has actually been all of a sudden dropped down. Considering that the cryptocurrency is an unpredictable market so customers need to spend the quantity which they can pay for to shed as there is no control of any type of federal government on cryptocurrency as it is a decentralized cryptocurrency.
It is suggested to customers to not place all cash in one cryptocurrency as well as attempt to stay clear of spending at the top of cryptocurrency bubble. Considering that the cryptocurrency is an unpredictable market so customers have to spend the quantity which they can manage to shed as there is no control of any type of federal government on cryptocurrency as it is a decentralized cryptocurrency.


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Topic: General Studies 3:
- Indian economy and mobilization of resources; Agriculture Sector
In News: Though the coronavirus pandemic hit all the sectors of the economy in the country, the growth in the export of agricultural commodities continues in the country.
- The export of Agri and allied commodities during Apr,2020 – Feb,2021 was worth 2.74 lakh crore as compared to Rs. 2.31 Crore in the same period last year indicating an increase of 18.49%.
- The commodities which posted significant positive growth in exports were wheat,Other Cereals,Rice (other than Basmati), Soya meal, Spices, Sugar, Raw Cotton, Fresh Vegetable, Processed Vegetables, and Alcoholic Beverages.
There was a recovery in global prices — due to a combination of
- Demand revival from unlockdowns (opposite to what happened in April-May)
- Continuing supply chain disruptions (including from a shortage of shipping containers)
- Chinese stockpiling (in anticipation of a fresh corona outbreak during the winter)
- Dry weather in producer countries such as Thailand, Argentina, Brazil and Ukraine
How Agriculture exports have the potential to transform Indian farm sector?
In India, we are more constrained on the demand side than on the production side. And it is demand that’s also driving farmers’ income.
There are two sources of creating demand for agri commodities — domestic and global. Given the innate vagaries of the domestic value chain and subdued consumption sentiment, it is important to focus on the exports value chain. India now fares miserably compared to its global peers here. We are the world’s second largest farm producer, but the country doesn’t figure in the ranks of the top 10 exporters. India has, moreover, not leveraged its position as the second largest horticulture producer. Smaller countries such as Thailand and Egypt fare better than India in horticulture exports.
There’s a need to come up with a new model of growth through focused value chains. When it comes to exports, there are several key issues that affect the various stakeholders concerned. The most crucial are our farmers, who cultivate fractured landholdings and are often not updated on the global demand trends, whether it pertains to the varieties to grow or quality and the safety standards to be maintained. Further, even when they are, investing in post-harvest processing, cold chain or branding requires capital, which isn’t tenable for a small farmer. Thus, there is an imperative to bring scale to agricultural operations through, say, farmer producer groups or organisations (FPO).
Ways to further boost the Agri-Exports
- A ‘Public-Private-Farmer Group Partnership’ model could be the way ahead for pushing agri exports from India. This model can receive a boost through establishing crop-specific councils with representation from the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, the ministries of agriculture and commerce, big FPOs, corporates and SMEs, with some experience and interest in developing agri value chains. These councils need to be adequately funded by the government for carrying out market research, building strong brands and setting up common infrastructure (the Basmati Export Development Foundation is a good model).
- Majority of India’s agri-exports are low value, raw or semi-processed products. Therefore, the agri-export strategy should include integration of value-added agri-produce with global value chains (GVC), by adopting best agricultural practices involving productivity gains and cost competitiveness. It’s also imperative for India to reconsider joining the RCEP at an opportune time, and to enter into FTAs with the EU, the US and the UK.
- In order to boost exports of dairy products and make the dairy sector globally competitive, the central government needs to consider development of dairy export zones (DEZs) in collaboration with state governments. This could immensely benefit small dairy farmers, organised as farmer producer organisations (FPOs)/farmer producer companies (FPCs)/cooperatives, for supplying milk, and also for contract production of dairy products on behalf of major dairy producing companies, leading to cost efficiency and higher export revenue to dairy companies as well as significantly higher income to farmers.
- Linking of FPOs through contract farming arrangements with export-oriented food processing units of food parks created under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, for producing processed cereals, fruits, vegetables, fish and marine products, would boost exports of processed food and raise income of small and marginal landholders and small fish farmers.
- With global trade in organic products estimated to be around $90 billion, there is a huge opportunity for exports of value-added organic products from India, which exported $689 million worth of organic food in 2019-20. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, the North Eastern Region (NER), Uttarakhand and Goa are major producers of organic products. It’s desirable to create Organic Product Export Zones (OPEZs) in these states and the NER, with common infrastructure for processing, standardisation, storage, logistics, and connectivity to ports and airports. Branding of products and registration as GI could further facilitate exports of value-added organic products. FPOs of organic farmers could be formed and linked to the OPEZs, to ensure higher income for farmers.
- Economic diplomacy and promotion of Brand India can play an effective role in increasing agri-exports.
- The AEP has recommended the establishment of Agriculture Export Zones (AEZs), to facilitate value addition of agri-commodities for increasing exports in a WTO-compatible manner. In order to ensure higher income for farmers, FPOs need to be linked to AEZs to supply SPS-compliant agri-products.
- Higher investments in R&D and technology, viz. the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and blockchain, for improving agricultural productivity, resource-use efficiency and export competitiveness.
- Linking farmers/FPOs to the export market and skilling of surplus farmers for their absorption in agri-export value chains could be an important strategy to sustainably raise farmers’ income.
Concerted efforts by the central and state governments, Indian embassies, APEDA, EXIM Bank, NABARD, and all other stakeholders in the agri-export value chains are needed to address a whole range of issues pertaining to promotion of agri-exports, which could potentially propel India into the top bracket of agricultural exporters, and in the process facilitate doubling of farmers’ income within a reasonable time-frame.
Connecting the dots:
- By setting a goal to gradually open up all agri-produce to exports, the country can set an inspiring and exciting new horizon for itself. Do you agree? Elucidate.
- In India, organic farming has got huge export potential. Do you agree? Comment.