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BEIJING: China's number of Internet users - already the world's largest - rose to 450 million this year, more than a third of the country's population, a senior official said.
Official statistics show that the number of users, as of the end of November, is an increase of 20.3% compared to last year, Wang Chen, head of China's State Council Information Office, told a news conference. China's population is more than 1.3 billion.
China's boom in Internet usage has come with the growth of an equally extensive policing system, from technical filters that block sites based on certain words to human monitors who scan bulletin boards and microblogging posts for political dissent.
Wang said a year-long government campaign to crack down on pornography, violence and other harmful material accessed on the Internet has resulted in the shutdown of more than 60,000 websites. In addition, government censors deleted 350 million entries of pornographic content, including text, images, and video clips, he said.
Chinese authorities investigated nearly 2,200 criminal cases, and courts handed down sentences in 1,164 cases, he said. More than 1,300 people were punished by the courts, while 58 people were given more than five years of prison time.
Wang said government censors have "made the Internet environment much cleaner than before."
And he warned China had no intention of ending its Internet crackdown: "Our campaign has not come to a stop. This will be a long battle."
Much of China's online growth has come as more people access the Internet through their mobile phones using popular services that support video and other web products.
A report earlier this year by the China Internet Network Information Centre said about 277 million Chinese go online via their phones. - AP
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Sometimes it seems that American consumers have been in a daze, blindly buying into flawed Food Pyramids and purchasing processed foods and produce without a thought to what lies within. And it isn't entirely our fault, either. Much of this behavior has to do with trust. We, as a country, simply didn't realize that the items churned out by big-name food manufacturers may actually do more harm than good. Now, though, consumers are becoming increasingly more mindful of what they put in their bodies, which has led to a surge in vegetarianism and veganism in mainstream culture.
If you're relatively new to the world of all-natural and organic goods, you may not be as familiar with how these offerings compare with their processed counterparts. Previously on this blog, we've discussed what these labels mean when it comes to produce, meat and dairy products. Today, we'll touch on its importance when buying eggs.
"While some say organic eggs are no higher in quality than conventional eggs, opponents argue that organic eggs are still worth the splurge because they can be more nutritious and free of dangerous chemicals and antibiotics," Health.com states.
You may have the option to purchase cage-free eggs, meaning that the chickens that produced them were allowed to roam free rather than remain in restrictive encasements. Health.com cites "one study found that, when given access to a grazing pasture, chickens produced eggs with more omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, and vitamin E."
Are you striving to protect your body from unnecessary pollutants and chemicals? If so, there are a wide array of all-natural products to choose from to meet your every need. In addition to organic produce and cosmetics, there are even natural intimate care products like arousing gel and personal lubricant available for your enjoyment.

domain: news


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PRESS RELEASE OF LIVESTOCK MYANMAR 2019
The biggest international exhibition for Agriculture, Livestock and Aqua Fisheries Industry in Myanmar, Agri – Livestock – Aqua Fisheries Myanmar 2019, is set to run from 26th to 28th September 2019, at Rose Garden Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar.
The exhibiton is organized by Minh Vi Exhibition & Advertisement Services Co., Ltd (VEAS), with strong support from related industry associations including Myanmar Livestock Federation, Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable producer and exporter association, Myanmar Fertilizer, Seed and Pesticide Entrepreneurs’ Association, Myanmar Ornamental Fish Association, Myanmar Fishery Federation, Myanmar Ornamental Fish Association.
Thanks to the favorable condition of a vast land, rich natural resource base and strategic location, Myanmar’s agriculture, livestock and fishery sector has showed its huge potential to both foreign and domestic investments. The agricultural sector accounts for 37.8 percent of the country’s GDP, employs 70 percent of its labour force and generates 25 to 30 percent of total export earnings, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Equally important, “Myanmar Agriculture Development Strategy And Investment Plan (2018-19 ~ 2022-23)” of Ministry Of Agriculture, Livestock And Irrigation revealed that livestock and fisheries contribute about 26% of total Myanmar's agricultural GDP. The livestock sector is growing and with rapidly growing income per capita, particularly in urban area, can be expected to increase in importance to meet growing domestic demand. With recent inter-government agreement to export up to 1.0 million cattle per year to China, a considerable impact on meat supply for the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) is expected to see.
Fisheries are already an important export sector since fish is second to rice in its contribution to the Myanmar diet and may be the most important source of protein for the people of Myanmar. Given the country’s long coastline that offers considerable potential, the sector contributes over $300 million per year to Myanmar’s positive foreign trade balance.
Recognizing the great prospect of Myanmar market, The International Exhibition & Conference on Agriculture, Livestock and Aqua Fisheries in Myanmar (Agri – Livestock - Aqua Fisheries Myanmar) was established to bring a connecting bridge for Burmese and International enterprises in the agriculture, livestock and aquaculture industry to forge linkages and expand business. Following the success of the last 5 editions, Agri – Livestock – Aqua Fisheries Myanmar 2019 continues attracting much attention from quality local and overseas participants, promising the best trade platform for industry players and potential buyers to exchange ideas and find business opportunities in the industries.
The exhibition includes three significant events: The 6th International Exhibition & Conference on Agriculture in Myanmar (Agri Myanmar 2019); The 6th International Exhibition & Conference on Livestock, Dairy, Feed and Meat Processing for Myanmar (Livestock Myanmar 2019); and The 6th International Exhibition & Conference on Aquaculture and Fisheries Industry in Myanmar (Aqua Fisheries Myanmar 2019).
With 300 brands being exhibited from different countries (Canada, Italy, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Myanmar, India, China, Israel…), the event provides a unique platform for businesses from around the world to share their latest industry technology, new products and services of agrochemicals, fertilizer, mechanical equipment, feed, veterinary and aquatic medicine and irrigation solutions. The 2019 exhibition welcomes presences of many big brands: Aggrowth, Aster Srl, Thai Plastic Net, JK Lighting Korea, Pic Plast, Pleodata Myanmar, Xinxiang Hexie and many more. The exhibition is expected to welcome 2.500 trade visitors who are importers, professional farmers, plantation owners, wholesalers/retailers, distributors, industry suppliers and many others.
The special highlight of this edition is Seminar Program where visitors can obtain new knowledge and update latest trends through many topics presented by top speakers and leading experts during the three days.
In addition, B2B Matching Program is planned as part of Agri – Livestock - Aqua Fisheries Myanmar 2019. This is a pre-schedule business matchmaking platform designed to expedite the meeting process between exhibitors and importers, distributiors, supplier, etc. This excellent platform offers participants a great chance to discuss new products and advanced technologies, exchange ideas and reach their desired buyers and suppliers.
During three days (26 – 28 September 2019) at Rose Garden Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar, Agri – Livestock - Aqua Fisheries Myanmar 2019 welcomes all participants and visitors who are interested in Myanmar’s agriculture, livestock and aquaculture markets as well as those searching for business opportunities with potential partners!
If you need further more information, feel free to contact us:
Minh Vi Exhibition & Advertisement Services Co., Ltd (VEAS)
Add: 08th Floor, Room 805, Ha Do Building, 02 Hong Ha Str., Ward 02, Tan Binh Dist., HCMC, Vietnam
Tel: +84 28 3848 8561 Email: email@example.com
Add: No.125, 1st Floor, 19th Street upper block, Lathar Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org (Mr. Brandon) Mobile phone: +95-9-799885547
For media: Ms Julia at email: email@example.com; Mobile phone: +84 971 540 962


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Is this Balan’s final bout?
I mean, once the demo hit a lot of people weren’t super enthusiastic about its success. Even when Square Enix announced that there would be changes based on demo feedback, folks weren’t hopeful that they’d essentially be able to overhaul the entire game. Cue the Ron Howard voice: “they didn’t.”
It’s a shame, because that lack of polish reflected in both the reviews for the game and in the sales figures, when Balanfailed to chart in pretty much every console’s top-seller list. Now, Square Enix is pulling the demo, presumably to put all of this behind them. Announced on the game’s official Twitter account, the demo will be pulled from consoles at 23:59 JST today, with the Steam version of the demo scheduled for execution on April 15 at 2AM JST.
If you recall, there was actually a small bonus included for demo players, which is going to be detached from the trial going forward. The account confirms that the “trial benefits” will be distributed “at a later date,” presumably as free DLC.
Again, it’s a shame it all turned out like this. We need more mascot platformers in the industry, and one coming up short like Balan Wonderworldcan deter others from creating more. At the end of the day though the quality spoke for itself.
Balan Wonderworld [Twitter] Thanks John!


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If you don’t have the perfect hat or fascinator to wear to Churchill Downs during Derby Week, you aren’t alone. “People will really put it off,” said milliner Jana Metcalfe of Jana’s Hat Box, an online hat retailer. “Some will plan, but most will put it off until now.”
Metcalfe’s busy season doesn’t start until two or three weeks before the Kentucky Derby. And she fills orders that come in a day or two before the Kentucky Oaks or Derby.
Many customers of Rodeo Drive, at Holiday Manor shopping center, waited until after the NCAA men’s basketball championship to do their Derby fashion shopping, said Michelle Tasman, one of the store’s marketing and advertising directors. Since then, “we’ve been completely slammed.”
Many Louisville shops, across the price spectrum, still have Derby hats available for procrastinators or Derby fans who secure tickets at the last minute.
Business First checked with a few hat retailers to find out what’s selling and what’s available just days before the big race.
Look good for less
Clothes Mentor, which buys used women’s clothing and accessories to resell, is a source of affordable Derby hats, general manager Elizabeth Leinenbach said.
Most of Clothes Mentor’s Derby hats range in price from $12 to $35. But one priced at $165 originally sold for $700, Leinenbach said.
Old hat, new look
Dee’s Crafts has pre-made hats available for purchase and will customize hats. But many customers choose to re-fashion the hats they already have with the store’s large supply of ribbons, feathers, silk flowers, netting and more.
“Some of these hats you can wear more than one year just by re-trimming the hat,” said co-owner Kelly Olliges.
Refashioning hats has been popular at Rodeo Drive in Holiday Manor shopping center, too.
The store brings in local milliner Britni Knable of Headcandi every couple of weeks to create custom orders and restyle customers’ hats, said Michelle Tasman, one of the store’s marketing and advertising directors.
Fascinators, bright colors are top trends
Fascinators have been a big seller this year at Rodeo Drive, said Michelle Tasman, one of the store’s marketing and advertising directors.
Many customers choose a fascinator for Oaks and a hat for Derby, Tasman said, adding that bright colors are in fashion this year.
Orange, coral, teal and turquoise are the most popular colors this year, said milliner Jana Metcalfe of Jana’s Hat Box, adding that she has sold twice as many fascinators this year as she did last year.


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California Tree Nut Report
Southeast Regional Ag News
The third-largest rail workers union in the country is the first to say "no" to a deal brokered in part by the Biden administration.
The Agribusiness Update
A team from the University of Georgia won the college division of the Advocacy in Action competition at the Sunbelt Ag Expo, and young consumers give healthy boost to organic produce sales.


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WWE Live will be coming to the Leeds Arena this November as part of a UK Tour. This is the first sporting event to be announced at the SMG Europe operated venue.
Speaking about the event, Director of Sales and Marketing Tony Watson said “We are very excited to be hosting WWE Live at the Leeds Arena. As an arena designed for delivering world class entertainment events, quite simply, it’ll be a wrestling experience that fans will never forget. Or, to put it into WWE language, this event will be “The Best There Is, The Best There Was and The Best There Ever Will Be”
To buy tickets for this event, visit leeds-arena.com, phone 0844 248 1585 or buy in person, without a booking fee, from the Leeds Arena pop up box office, located in Leeds Town Hall, from 9.00am Friday, April 26 (credit/debit card charges apply).


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The ever-changing face of Britain's High Street: One in seven stores are now empty after more than 14,000 retail outlets closed last year, with map showing North East of the UK the worst hit - as retail giants like Zara and Primark buck trend
High Streets that were once the pride of British communities are being gutted worrying new figures show, with shops sitting empty and the North East the worst hit by vacancies - while retail giants like Zara and Primark are bucking the trend.
Last week it was revealed that nearly 100 stores in one Suffolk seaside resort pulled down their shutters for good due to the growth of online shopping, with despairing locals describing the area as a 'zombie town'.
By the end of 2023, 17.7 per cent of shopping centre units, 14 per cent of High Street shops and 7.6 per cent of retail park space sat empty, according to statistics from the Local Data Company.
Meanwhile, across all shopping destinations, a whopping 55,514 shops, pubs, restaurants and other service businesses closed last year - the highest figure in more than 10 years and 6,820 more than in 2022.
On High Streets alone, 14,081 franchise retail outlets closed.
Stores such as Muji, whose European branch looks set to go into administration, and Ted Baker, who have also called in administrators to rescue 86 stores across the UK, are recent examples of the demise of the High Street - following the likes of Wilko and Paperchase.
Chains which saw the biggest fall in the number of outlets due to financial problems or restructures last year were fashion chains M&Co and Joules, stationers Paperchase, general store Wilko and pub group Stonegate which runs Slug & lettuce.
Geographically, the highest vacancy rates for high streets, Retail Parks and were in the North East, closely followed by Wales and then the West Midlands
The vacancy rate of the UK's high streets increased by 0.2 per cent in 2023 compared to the year before
Last year also saw the highest number of retail and leisure closures (55,514) in the last ten years, 6,820 more than in 2022
Pictured: An empty shop in Lowestoft, Suffolk where nearly 100 stores have pulled down their shutters for good
The chains which shut their doors or opened the most new ones in the UK in 2023
But, in contrast, multinational mass production retailers like Zara, Primark and H&M all reported sale increases last year - and are winning out as a dominant force in the changing landscape of Britain's ailing shopping districts.
There was also a rise in new stores opened by thriving UK chains including Greggs, Domino's and Costa last year, even if this has not been outweighed by the numbers of closures.
The firms which saw the most new locations open included discount retailer Aldi, coffee chains Costa and Starbucks - both of which built a lot of drive-throughs - and fast food chains Greggs and Domino's.
When it was revealed that a net total of 4,415 retail businesses and 555 accommodation and food firms disappeared in the first three months of 2023, business minister Kevin Hollinrake was insistent that the British High Street was not 'dead' but 'reshaping itself' after the collapse of Wilko, which closed 400 stores.
But vacancy rate statistics make for sombre reading as our graphic shows that 14% of high street retail stores are currently empty in the UK, as of the end of 2023, which is 3% higher than in 2017.
This comes after 55,514 retail and leisure units - which includes restaurants, bars and shops - closed last year compared to 47,744 which opened and you would need to go back to 2014 for there to be more store openings than closings.
Geographically, the highest vacancy rates were in the North East, closely followed by Wales and then the West Midlands.
Within the vacancies, shopping centres had the highest percentage at 17.7% compared to high street stores at 14% and retail parks at 7.6%.
The impact of online-only stores such as Asos and Boohoo have had an impact on high street brands
Primark was hard hit during lockdowns, but it also saw sales surge by 11% last year [Stock image]
Zara saw its sales jump 10% to an all-time high at the end of 2023 [Stock picture]
H&M sales also increased by 6% in 2023 and saw its profits nearly triple [Stock image]
After starting out as a menswear shop, Ted Baker exploded in the 90s, with womenswear sales flying thanks to floral dresses and chic work attire
Founder Ray Kelvin, who was born in London, dreamed the brand up while on a fishing trip and opened his first store in 1988 in Glasgow. However, he stepped away from Ted Baker in 2019, after his conduct in the workplace was questioned by staff, who said he was responsible for a 'hugging culture' (Kelvin pictured attending a special screening of The Gentlemen at The Curzon Mayfair in December 2019)
It all started with shirts; the brand was originally menswear, with mid-market shoppers loving the boutique style of the Ted Baker brand
The North East recorded a staggering 17.9% vacancy rate, while it was 17.4% in Wales and 16.2% in the West Midlands.
In comparison to Greater London's vacancy rate of 10.6%, Scotland (15.7%), Yorkshire (15.1%), East Midlands (14.9%) and the South West (13.7%) were all higher.
This echoes a previous report from April 2023 which found a fifth of shops in the North East stand empty compared to one in 10 in the South.
Towns such as Wigan have seen major high street chains including Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, BHS, H&M and Next all shutter outlets in recent years.
Margate in Kent has seen some empty stores turned into classrooms.
In another coastal community, Lowestoft in East Suffolk, shoppers have been warned to 'use it or lose it' by struggling business owners.
The number of boarded-up premises has seen it labelled a 'Zombie Town', with more than a quarter of commercial properties now permanently shuttered – almost double the national vacancy rate.
It is the latest business district suffering a seemingly irreversible decline caused by the growth of online shopping and out of town retail parks.
The cost of living crisis, along with soaring interest rates, has heaped further pressure on the retail sector
A former O2 shop, which now sits empty. More than a quarter of commercial properties in Lowestoft, Suffolk, are now permanently shuttered, almost double the national vacancy rate
Scenes in Lowestoft, Suffolk where a report to East Suffolk Council's strategic planning committee has highlighted how 96 out of 366 shops in Lowestoft are unoccupied
But it is not just the independent traders in smaller towns who are struggling as consumers opt to shop online.
Major brands including Topshop, Debenhams and House of Fraser have all closed branches in London.
This has seen many vacancies in the capital's West End are now filled with American candy stores on short term leases.
The European arm of Muji is also set to appoint administrators in another gloomy signal for the UK's struggling high street.
Muji stressed the administration process will have no immediate impact on shops, staff and the general running of the chain.
It follows in the footsteps of Ted Baker, which recently appointed administrations putting hundreds of jobs at risk across its 46 UK stores.
At the height of its fashion powers in the nineties, the brand had firmly mastered the art of upmarket mainstream.
But by 2019 bosses of the firm quit after profits plunged to less than £10million after its 'worst ever year of trading'.
In 2024, despite the company's best efforts to renew its spirit and entice shoppers back to its 86 stores, it finds itself facing closure.
Going into administration is likely to result in closures of stores and could lead to as many as 1,000 job losses.
The proliferation of empty stores is in no part thanks to the rise of online shopping and the upheaval caused by the pandemic and more recently the cost of living crisis.
But it appears not all of the UK's fashion and lifestyle industry is struggling.
Many expired businesses have painted scenes or drawings in their windows in a desperate attempt to distract passers-by from the empty space inside
WIGAN: Marketgate shopping centre, when it was open in 2016 (left) and now closed (right)
LONDON: Oxford Street's Mango store is pictured in 2020 (left) and boarded up now (right)
MARGATE, KENT: The town's old Primark store is seen as it was in 2013 (left) and now (right)
According to BDO, fashion sales have risen to 0.3% this January compared to -6.1% in December last year. Lifestyle sales are also at a stable 0.4% compared to -1.9% in October 2023.
Zara has been a major success story as its global pre-tax profit rocketed 28% to £4.7bn in its latest financial year.
Owned by Inditex, who also own Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius and Massimo Dutti, Zara saw its sales jump 10% to an all-time high.
Primark was hard hit during lockdowns due to a lack of online business, however it also saw sales surge by 11% last year.
With revenue topping £4.3bn over the period, the fashion retailer revealed it would expand the number of stores in its click-and-collect service to include 32 stores in and around London, as well as the existing branches in the north west and Wales.
H&M sales also increased by 6% in 2023 as well and saw its profits nearly triple.
Last year, there was also a report that the number of pop-up shops on the high street had increased by 18% in the past year.
But, with many sad cases such as Superdry, whose sales dropped by nearly a quarter in October last year, there are still victims in this ever changing world of Britain's high street.


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What we saw from an iPhone perspective, was the launch of the iPhone 8 & 8 Plus at a much lower starting price ($699) than expected. But no sign of an iPhone 7S or 7S Plus, and the number 9 was just skipped over. And a fleeting mention of iOS11.
The big reveal, was the iPhone X (pronounced ten for the 10th anniversary), which came with a hefty $999 price tag. The initial thoughts from the industry were – no new features that haven’t been seen on another device, aside from the Animoji! It’s nice looking, but don’t know anyone who will be rushing out to buy it (a full recap can be read here on The Inquirer).
For me, the most exciting announcement was the next generation Apple Watch (Series 3) – now with added cellular. With prices at $399 (UK pricing tbc) and available on September 22 in the UK from EE, it just has that touch of James Bond about it. The display acts as an antenna to transmit and receive data; there’s an electronic SIM; it has Siri that can speak out loud to you; and the mobile number is the same as your iPhone!
And second to that, the opening of the Steve Jobs Theater. I saw more photos on Instagram of the ultra-cool rotating lifts and stylish surroundings from attending UK media, than of the new products.
Oh, and there was the Apple TV 4K and the introduction of the new Apple Retail stores or ‘Town Squares’ as they will be known.
But did the event live up to expectations? Well, Apple (and most US companies) do ‘do’ launches. There’s always more pomp and circumstance than experienced in the Albert Hall at the Last Night of the Proms. But with one minor flaw – a failed device demo! (It happens to all the greats!).
But to be honest, there was nothing that wasn’t expected or revolutionary. And as Apple shares began to slide, after the details of the new iPhone were shared, it seems others may have thought so too. Apple still remains the ‘most valuable company in the world’, so I wonder how much it really cares!


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Leading autonomous vehicle company Nuro today unveiled its third-generation autonomous delivery vehicle.
TuSimple, a global autonomous driving technology company, successfully completed the world's first fully autonomous semi-truck run on open public roads without a human in the vehicle and without human intervention.
Gatik and Walmart Inc. announced today that Gatik is operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel on its delivery route for Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas, moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a Neighborhood Market in its fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks.
Pamela and Greg discuss Giumarra, AWG, and TuSimple's autonomous truck pilot, the pallet shortage, and Walmart's fresh new look.
The Giumarra Companies today announced a revolutionary new logistics project in the fresh produce industry, an autonomous trucking test completed in partnership with San Diego-based autonomous trucking leader, TuSimple, and the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
Nuro, the autonomous vehicle company piloting grocery delivery services with retailers like Kroger and Walmart, has acquired self-driving truck firm Ike.


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By Michael Carmichael
October 2, 2008
It’s a warm summer Saturday morning at the Farmers’ Market in Holland, Mich. Business at Hasselman’s Pure Michigan Honey booth is, to coin a phrase, buzzing. Shoppers from all over the area rely on Larry Hasselman and his bees to provide honey in a variety of flavors and forms, beeswax candles and the ever-popular “sippin’ strips” – thin, honey-filled straws that only serve to whet your appetite for more.
But Hasselman is not a “hobby farmer” who simply gathers honey from his hives and processes it for Saturday sale. He’s one of a large number of Michigan beekeepers who work at the business of bees full time. Although with Hasselman the goal is strictly honey, many Michigan beekeepers put their little charges to work doing what bees do best – pollinating Michigan’s vegetables, flowers and fruits.
Blueberries are typical of what bees pollinate
Michigan, according to retired Michigan State University professor and entomologist Dr. Roger Hoopingarner, is the country’s largest producer of highbush blueberries, with about 18,000 acres under cultivation. Most of that production comes from five Western Michigan counties: Van Buren, Ottawa, Allegan, Berrien and Muskegon. The predominately sandy soil and high water table in that part of the state contribute to bushes that produce as many as 2,000 to 3,000 blossoms per bush. At a planting density of 870 bushes per acre, that’s 1.75 to 2.6 million flowers. All those blossoms require a tremendous number of bees.
“Blueberry blossoms are really designed for bumble bees,” explains Hasselman. “There are a lot of situations like that, where the plant, flower and type of bee have evolved over thousands of years,” he continues. “On the other hand, honey bees are adaptable and just have to work harder to vibrate the blossom so that the pollen will shake off the flower and onto them.”
He continues: “Bees are drawn to flowers with a high sugar content. That’s why it’s sometimes difficult for the ‘rent-a-bee’ guys to get their hives to pollinate apple trees. Apple trees usually bloom when dandelions do and the dandelions have a naturally higher sugar content than the apple trees – so enough extra hives have to be brought in to make sure that there are too many bees for the dandelions and the excess bees have to settle for pollinating the apple trees as a second choice.”
Hasselman is asked if these apple tree pollinating bees are the source for apple blossom honey. “No,” he says, “varietal honey – the kind that specifies the predominant flower it came from – must be at least 80 percent from that flower. Agricultural inspectors examine the pollen grains on selected bees and if there aren’t enough to meet that standard the producer can be fined or even jailed for false labeling. Most of us Michigan honey producers don’t have the enormous supply of a single flower source needed to supply varietal honey. Instead, we talk more about ‘early spring’ honey or ‘wildflower’ honey – or my preference ‘pure honey made in Michigan by Michigan Bees.’”
Michigan’s “rent-a-bee” (or pollinating) beekeepers are busier than ever. One reason is that feral bees – the once-domesticated honey bees that swarm out of their original hive with a new queen and find a new place to hang their combs, usually in a hollow tree – have been dying off.
“The feral bees used to do more than half of the pollinating of Michigan crops for free,” according to MSU’s Hoopingarner. Partially, he continues, it’s “due to changes in our own blueberry production practices which remove bee forage and suitable habitat.” Additionally, about 20 years ago different types of mites started invading the feral colonies and killing them off.
The mites are a continuing challenge for both types of beekeepers. So are viruses and certain types of beetles. Last year a new danger arose as thousands of bee colonies just disappeared. Bees would fly off in the morning and never return. Called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD, the cause is still undecided, though there was less evidence of it in Michigan than had initially been reported.
A growing body of evidence, however, points to a common pesticide used in agriculture that was thought to be safe for honey and other bees. A pesticide called Merit, according to a column in the Detroit News by self-proclaimed “Yardener” Jeff Ball, “is a very common insecticide in agriculture because it is systemic and very effective in controlling tough to kill insects such as aphids. Many apple orchards are routinely sprayed with Merit early in the season and then when the honey bees come in to pollinate those trees, they disappear. Now we know that any plant that is treated with Merit and has blossoms that attract bees, those bees will receive a non-lethal shot of Merit.” He concludes: “But it will cause them to lose their ability to find their way back to the hive. It also weakens the bee’s immune system so the bee usually dies of some fungus or virus.”
Once a beekeeper, always one
Even with all of the difficulties they encounter beekeepers such as Hasselman say that bees are in their blood.
“When I was a kid I casually mentioned to my parents one year that I thought it would be fun to keep a hive or two of bees. Next thing I knew I started getting presents of things that I couldn’t imagine the use of – until I realized they were beekeeping supplies. The bees arrived in a package in a spring – and were dead by summer because I just didn’t know anything about beekeeping. I spent the next five years as an apprentice to a beekeeper who kept a thousand hives. I remained with beekeeping as a hobby throughout my working life and, after early retirement, I have somewhere between 100 and 150 hives. Each colony produces around 200 pounds of marketable honey,” Hasselman explains. “The rent-a-bee guys make their money taking the bees from field to field pollinating everything from blueberries and apples to cucumbers. All that travel results in actual honey production of only about 65 pounds.”
Bees and business
“Between 30 and 50 percent of Michigan’s pollinating beekeepers actually travel quite a bit because in the winter they’ll pack up their colonies in special containers and take them to Florida and other states that need more bees than live there year-round,” says Zachary Huang, associate professor of entomology at Michigan State. “That’s good eventually for Michigan consumers, I guess, but it doesn’t do much for our economy.” He’s asked how the contribution of Michigan bees to the state’s economy is measured. “Michigan beekeepers aren’t required to be registered,” he says, “so the bees aren’t either. It’s only when any of the beekeepers want to sell honey that the state takes much notice of them.” So, the best way to measure how Michigan bees are doing is by measuring their productivity – by how the crops they pollinate did over the past year. In the 2005 crop year – the latest for which we have complete reporting – “the value of the primary fruit and vegetable crops that depend on pollination (by honey bees) was approximately $422 million,”, said Huang. All important crops (such as apples, blueberries, cherries, cucumbers [for pickling] and pumpkins) in Michigan depend heavily on honey bees. Therefore,” he continues, “without honey bees to supply pollination services, most fruit and vegetable producers would be forced out of business and Michigan’s agricultural industry would be devastated.” And as for honey itself? 72,000 Michigan colonies produced about 3.96 million pounds, down 10 percent from 2005. Given the effects of weather and other variables, Michigan’s bees seem to be doing quite well.


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The Renault Duster which was once a very popular car in India slowly saw a decline in sales, due to the new entrants in the same segment. To lock horns with its competitors, the French car manufacturer is planning to update the Duster and the car was spotted earlier in camouflage. Now a the Duster has been spotted again testing in the Himalayan mountain region without any camouflage cover.
The new updated model will get only a few cosmetic changes along with the new BSVI compliant engine. The update will also see, upgrades in safety systems as per Government mandate and newly formed crash tests which meet the new pedestrian safety norms. In the international market, the new generation Duster has already been launched and it is expected to skip the Indian market, only to see the 3rd generation Duster, which is expected to go in the development phase in 2021 and will be launched by the year 2023.
The spied model has a chrome-accented winged front grille, refreshed headlights, bigger fog lamp surrounds, silver-finished faux skid plate, redesigned bumper in the front, revised bonnet design and the car also sports roof rails with Duster badging.
The engine on the Duster is likely to be available in two fuel options, same as the current model. The Diesel engine comes in two states of tune and the specifications are as follows.
Petrol – 1,498cc, 4- cylinder motor that makes 106 PS of power @ 5600 RPM coupled to a manual transmission or an X-Tronic CVT automatic.
Diesel – 1,461cc, engine with 85 PS of power @ 3750 RPM and a 1,461cc with 110 PS of power @ 4000 RPM. The 110 PS variant also gets a 4-wheel-drive system.
The price on the facelift model is likely to increase as the new BSVI engine will be implemented. The new Duster will rival the Hyundai Creta and the upcoming Kia Seltos.


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AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to millions of articles from top publications available through your library.
Textbooks and teaching materials are still the core of the Latin market, but American-style how-to titles are gaining fast
Textbook publishers form the foundation of the book business in almost every Latin American country. The biggest and most powerful operators in the industry, these companies have the best distribution systems and the deepest pockets. Some are linked to and some compete with their U.S. counterparts--like McGraw-Hill, a powerful force in the region for several decades.
Many of these publishers are now looking beyond their traditionally defined markets for new opportunities. Home educational products are growing in importance, as are practical educational titles for adults, sold in street corner kiosks and door-to-door.
The peso crisis in Mexico at the end of 1994 got everybody's attention, and forced textbook publishers to rethink their strategies. Fred Perkins, who has been in charge of the Ibero-American operations at McGraw-Hill for many years, told PW that "in 1994, we forgot Latin America is Latin America. The collapse in Mexico was a tremendous blow to us all. So we are seeing now a typical Latin American scenario, with a long, slow recovery."
While he admits that overall progress has been made in Mexico-- and in Venezuela, the other problem economy in the region--he worries that recent guerrilla developments in Mexico and Colombia could hurt that recovery. "In general, though" he continues, "Latin American governments are more responsive to people's needs and to the value of private enterprise than they were."
For McGraw-Hill, original publishing is the fastest-growing sector and now constitutes a significant percentage of total sales. "We are very proud of this," says Perkins. "We want to be part of the Latin American community of authors, a real Spanish-world publisher, not just a translation agency."
While McGraw-Hill remains among the top three secondary school book suppliers, all the textbook publishers in Mexico complain about the monopoly the government has held on primary school publishing since the 1950s. The damage is evident. "More than 50 million Mexicans never read a book," Jose Angel Quintanilla, director general of Longman de Mexico says glumly. "That's why we publishers …


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On the heels of a successful PixelMaster Master Class campaign, ASUS Philippines on March 6 launched the ASUS PixelMaster Grand Prix. It is a marathon in collaboration with the ZenFone PixelMaster Master Class students, ZenFans and ZenFone mobile photographers.
The PixelMaster GrandPrix is a nationwide photo marathon led by celebrated ZenFone PixelMasters Ricky Ladia for Travel Photography, Arlene Donaire for Visual Storytelling, Jasper Tejano for Street Photograpjy, Emir Kahn Bautista for Wedding Photography, Dail Deri for Conceptual Photography, Ken Go for Portraiture, Jay Ermitano for Documentary Photography, and Nicco Valenzuela for Landscape Photography.
The Grand Prix is slated for upcoming events in Luzon (April 27), Visayas (May 4), and Mindanao (May 5) and is open to all ZenFone users from first generation to the current series.
ASUS Philippines says it is the biggest ZenFone mobile photography event in the Philippines. Registration is free and includes a marathon kit merchandise for chosen participants. Winning participants will take home over PHP 50,000 worth of prizes.
For more information on the PixelMaster Grand Prix and the PixelMaster Master Class, head over to ASUS Philippines’ Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages for thier ZenTalk forum.


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The nation's major retailers reported Thursday that retail sales, especially those of apparel, picked up in October, as stores heavily promoted leftover fall merchandise that had not sold in the previous month because of unseasonably warm weather.
"Sales were good," said Jeffrey Edelman, a retail analyst with the investment company Drexel Burnham Lambert. "It suggests the economy is still moving along."
Jeffrey Feiner, an analyst with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, said: "They reflect a little more of an aggressive attitude on the part of many retailing companies."
Walter Loeb, an analyst with Morgan Stanley & Co., said the pickup "indicates that we will have a pretty good Christmas season."
Sears, Roebuck, the largest retailer, said its sales for the four weeks ended Nov. 1 edged up 0.3% over the same period a year ago.
K mart, the second-largest retailer, reported an 11.2% spurt in sales, while third-ranked J. C. Penney Co. had an 8.7% gain.
Sales jumped 10.5% at May Department Stores, No. 4, and 8.6% at Federated Department Stores.
Carter Hawley Hale Stores said its sales for the four weeks increased 5%.
Retailers tried to make up for disappointing sales in the latter part of September--when hot weather affected various parts of the country--by stepping up their promotions and markdowns last month, the analysts said.
"That's what drove the sales," said Edelman, adding that all geographic areas saw an improvement.
But sales a year ago were soft, which made this year's gains look slightly better than they actually were, Edelman added.
Sales of big-ticket durable goods, those items expected to last three years or more, did not fare as well, the analysts said.
Such sales have been inhibited by consumers' high levels of debt and by the surge in new-car buying, they said. Car sales soared after the nation's auto makers offered cut-rate financing in September to clear lots of 1986 models.
Analysts are forecasting that retail sales during the Christmas season will rise 6% over last year, with profit increases in the low double digits. Christmas sales account for a major share of the sales and profits of retailers.
Chicago-based Sears said its October sales came to $2.312 billion, compared to $2.305 billion a year earlier. For the first nine months of the year, Sears said sales rose 2% to $20.8 billion from $20.4 billion a year earlier.
K mart, with headquarters in Troy, Mich., said its sales for the month increased to $1.774 billion from $1.595 billion last year. For the 39 weeks, K mart's sales rose 7.7% to $16.88 billion from $15.67 billion.
Major Retailers' Sales in October
In millions Year % of dollars 1986 ago change Sears 2,312 2,305 +0.3 Kmart 1,774 1,595 +11.2 J.C.Penney 989 910 +8.7 MayDept.Stores 765 692 +10.5 Federated* 815 750 +8.6 DaytonHudson 717 638 +12.4 Wal-MartStores 1,032 727 +42.0 Woolworth 269 254 +6.2 MontgomeryWard 327 317 +3.5 CarterHawleyHale 333 318 +5.0
*Excludes super market sales. Excludes foreign sales.


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Destinations need data to know how to help their hotels, restaurants, and attractions market themselves. While they don't need to know anything too intimate about travelers, they're still making sure all their t's are crossed as more privacy rights laws take effect.
Tourism boards ask a lot of their websites: They must include updated, accurate information. They have to show off a destination in the best light. And they need to cater to diverse audiences while increasingly making each visitor feel like a site was designed specifically for them.
Even as the trend toward more personalized websites has taken root, concern about data security is growing around the world. Despite near-constant news cycles of data breaches and cybersecurity threats, many tourism boards are still betting that travelers want to share information about themselves on destination websites to help plan their trips — and more websites are being redesigned accordingly.
Most of the information that some newly redesigned tourism board websites ask travelers to share isn’t too personal, such as whether they prefer sun over snow or adrenaline to relaxation. But cookies, for example, are used to track how travelers engage with a site and analyze their online behaviors.
Skift has tracked the world’s best tourism websites since we launched six years ago. Our past coverage has focused on sites that add new bells and whistles as they get redesigned but continue to make it simple to plan a trip. As consumer technology gets more advanced, tourism boards are trying to keep up with redesigned websites and content that prioritizes personalization. Skift examined a handful of sites that were redesigned this year – and talked to one group developing a brand new site – to explore the latest trends and the way privacy is playing a part in redesign conversations.
The Miami Model
The Greater Miami Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, Miami’s tourism board, said its newly redesigned website, which went live earlier this month, considers its new site as an “experience engine” that will personalize the site for each individual traveler and each part of a trip.
“Our new site will allow for hyper-customization,” said Rolando Aedo, chief operating officer of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Beyond using typical cookies, we will then empower the user to go deeper and let them tell us a little bit about themselves so that content they’re served, the visuals they see, and the mapping they see will be driven by their customization.”
If a site isn’t mobile-friendly, or images are dated, or answers take too many clicks to get to, it’s virtually game over for a tourism website.
Miami last redesigned its website about six years ago. Considering nearly 60 percent of site visitors are on a mobile device, the site was long overdue for an upgrade. “When you look at a destination, you want to ensure that the experience you’re paying significant dollars to have aligns with your expectations,” said Aedo.
The new site has chatbots for meeting planners to message the organization, and the bots could be available for leisure travel depending on how travelers use the new site.
The organization shot video and photos in 43 locations around the destination and leveraged its ongoing #FoundInMiami campaign in doing so. Some 20 writers are also writing articles for the site.
Part of the website’s redesign is a “Personalize Your Experience” feature that lets travelers decide how much 10 categories, such as family-friendliness and nightlife, apply to them by dragging a dot along a scale under each category (pictured below). Travelers then submit their results and can create an account on the site to get their personalized itinerary results.
Discover Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico’s month-old tourism board, is an anomaly as Puerto Rico is a mature destination and the tourism board is creating a brand new destination website — a rarity in 2018. Puerto Rico is still trying to overcome the devastation of Hurricane Maria as it marks the one-year anniversary of the storm in September.
After Puerto Rico’s tourism industry was restructured earlier this year, the new tourism board inherited two sites, one for leisure and another for meetings and events, that had both been underperforming. Discover Puerto Rico is in the early stages of integrating both sites and cleaning up the back ends while the current version of discoverpuertorico.com is a placeholder.
Due to high executive turnover and lack of consistency, the old websites hadn’t been updated since 2010, said Leah Chandler, chief marketing officer of Discover Puerto Rico. The organization essentially had no insight into how travelers used the old sites. Its research shows that about 30 percent of visitors to Puerto Rico currently visit discoverpuertorico.com.
The old websites were directly run by the government, which led to lots of political tussling over what they should include, Chandler said. “Research that we’ve done so far showed that there was no equity in the old sites and the bounce rate was 87 percent because of lack of content,” she said. “We had no Google authority whatsoever.”
Personalization will be a cornerstone of the user experience for the new site.
“There are many tools that allow DMOs to assess information about consumers without directly asking them for personal information, and we intend to explore those,” she said. “Certainly, if we decide to pursue a route in which we ask consumers to supply the DMO with personal data, we would take every precaution to ensure that information was protected and secure.”
Visit Bend, the tourism board for Bend, Oregon, did a soft launch for its redesigned website in May and has since seen a 15 percent increase on returning site visitors, said Nate Wyeth, vice president of sales and marketing for the organization.
Wyeth said part of the redesign also involved some personalization for Bend’s hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Local tourism businesses can create their own branded landing page within visitbend.com for the first time, and the site currently has about 3,700 branded pages.
“One of the nice things about being a non-membership organization is that we’re not beholden to our members,” said Wyeth. “We can really promote what’s best for the user and not what’s best for members.”
Bend is working with Boston-based [customer data platform] agency BlueConic on making its site compliant with current and future privacy legislation. “BlueConic’s tool allows us to collect and manage all user profiles in one database,” said Wyeth. “This tool also will allow us to deliver personalized sessions on our website.”
“Our soon-to-be beefed up privacy page will cover everything from how we collect and use their data, to what we collect, who we share it with (no one right now), how long we keep it, and who they can contact with any privacy questions,” said Wyeth.
Visit Philadelphia, the city’s tourism board, took its own approach to personalization when it launched its uwishunu blog in 2007, which is designed specifically for Philadelphians and people who live in the region.
The organization created a blog specifically for locals because half of its main visitphilly.com site traffic has historically been local. “So unlike other places where it’s all visitor, locals look at our stuff,” said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia. “So VisitPhilly.com is a little more visitor-focused. Then the blog is more locals and what to do this week.”
The website was redesigned earlier this year with new elements such as better responsive design for mobile devices, simplified navigation, and more blog integration. In 2017, visitphilly.com had 29 million page views, 3.5 million clicks to restaurant, hotel, and attractions partners, and generated some 35,000 new email subscribers.
Travelers want to know where the rooftop bars are, new brunch spots, and how to eat famous Philly foods, said Levitz. “At first, I thought, that’s news? she said. “And so our team had to educate our hotels and restaurants on that. People want to know the ten most popular ice cream flavors in Philadelphia right now. The most popular video viewed on our site is how to eat a Philly cheese steak.”
For Puerto Rico’s new tourism website, Chandler feels the organization has some advantages by building from the ground up. She said just 30 percent of visitors to Puerto Rico currently visit discoverpuertorico.com before they arrive. “We’re not having to overcome a site people use in a certain way,” she said. “We don’t want to get too far out in the realm of what will be cool and what will be relevant to the user. Generally, you land somewhere in the middle.”
Puerto Rico is considering testing voice-activated interfaces, still in experimental mode with many brands, for its new site.
The organization also worked with Miles Partnership, a marketing company, to visit 50 places around the island to capture photos and videos for new content. “When you’re in clay, you get to try some things like this,” said Chandler.
Destination D.C., Washington, D.C.’s tourism board, is automatically targeting its New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles markets. Washington.org visitors with IP addresses from those four cities currently get customized content to inspire them to use some summer vacation time on a trip to D.C.
When someone from New York City visits the site, they’re shown a box that tells them to click to view the ultimate summer D.C. guide for New Yorkers. While it’s not individually personalized, it makes New Yorkers feel like valued customers and the site includes content such as “what to do this weekend” since Washington, D.C. is an ideal weekend trip from New York City. D.C. also created customized landing pages for the four markets, such as showing Los Angeles travelers D.C.’s waterfronts.
Getting Google on Board
Another challenge tourism boards continue to face is keeping their websites and content in the good graces of Google.
Keeping up with Google’s algorithms is never-ending, said Aedo, but it’s often beneficial for tourism boards to work with the search giant. More destinations are supplying content to Google Destinations, a product rolled out in 2016 that puts destination content such as local attractions high up in Google results.
If a tourism board has an ace SEO strategy, its own website should be one of the first Google results to appear for general destination search terms. But a link alone isn’t enticing enough for some travelers who are visually stimulated, which is where Google comes into play.
For a generic “Miami” Google search, travelers click on the destination guide like the one for Miami, one of the top results, and navigate to a page with current photos, flights, hotels, articles, and videos of the destination, all of which are uploaded by a tourism board. Google doesn’t charge for the content.
“I’ve been a little suspect of Google in the past, but now they’re allowing DMOs to understand how relevant content is even if it’s not on their websites,” said Aedo. “We are proud of where we rank in almost all combination of various search terms. We’ve partnered with them now on a few different programs, which doesn’t hurt to bump us up.”
websites setting the bar
Here are some other tourism sites from different regions that we think represent a trend and speak to how destinations want to get more data from travelers:
MyHelsinki: The website of Helsinki Marketing, the city’s tourism board, lets travelers save events and things to do that they like and also prioritizes locals and reads more like a site that people who live in Helsinki would use. Travelers who want to get a glimpse of what local life is like have found their portal.
Chile.travel: This is a visually compelling site that demonstrates how Chile has grown up as a destination on the world stage. Beautiful images and video capture your attention and show how diverse the country is. It’s unclear how useful the site actually is to plan a trip or quickly access pertinent information. But for a destination still building name recognition in markets like North America, it’s pulling us in.
For Africa, we’ll include Zimbabwe and Rwanda together to highlight how more countries in sub-Saharan Africa are turning to tourism to grow their economies. Zimbabwe is still dealing with political unrest and Rwanda continues to overcome images of ethnic cleansing from 20 years ago, but both countries are maturing as destinations. Both sites also have some elements of personalization and highlight how to do business and invest in the country as well.
Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch
Photo credit: Miami recently redesigned its site to let users hyper-personalize their experience. Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau


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Freight rates jump up to 700%
The transportation cost of containerised cargo across the world, including Pakistan, has increased by up to 700% due to an abnormal growth in imports following the reopening of global economies from partial lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The surge in international freight charges for sea, rail and air routes has offset the positive impact of incentives provided by the government for some imports during the pandemic and may lead to imported inflation in the country.
To control the situation, the government may ask international shipping companies to rationalise freight charges during these testing times. Some experts believe freight charges may go back to pre-Covid levels in four to six months. “International freight charges have surged by up to 500-700% over the past couple of months,” said Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association former chairman Malik Moin while talking to The Express Tribune.
Freight charges for cargo in a 20-feet container arriving from China to Pakistan increased to $2,000-3,000 compared to around $700 in June 2020 and before, he said.
The abnormal growth in demand for the containerised cargo sent international freight charges soaring.
“Freight charges have surged crazily. I had not seen such a big jump in rates over the past 25-30 years throughout the world,” said Moin, who is also the CEO of Agility Pakistan.
Pakistan mostly imported cargo through the Far Eastern countries like Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Singapore, he mentioned.
Pakistan Ships Agents Association Chairman Mohammed Rajpar said the pandemic had badly disrupted the cargo supply chain around the world, which came to almost complete standstill. When countries reopened following lockdowns, they were almost empty as they had consumed all the goods imported during the pre-pandemic days. Besides, the containers remained stuck in many countries due to lockdowns.
“The situation widened the gap between demand and supply (of imported cargo). The gap was filled by price equaliser,” he said.
The basic rule of economics suggests once you have shortage of something, the price goes up, so that demand matches supply. “It will take another four to six months before the situation normalises,” he said.
“International freight charges have increased by 100-200% since December 2020,” Rajpar said. “They may fall over the next four to six months.”
The situation emerged post-Covid due to imbalances in the number of ships and more importantly the number of containers for global trade, he added.
Covid-19 provided an opportunity for international shipping companies to increase freight charges compared to the pre-pandemic times when they were running in losses. “Shipping companies are overbooked now,” Moin said.
“Pakistan government is not responsible for the situation in international trade. Nor can it (alone) do anything to control it,” he lamented.
He stressed that there was no short-term solution for the government. “In the long run, however, it should increase the number of shipping companies in Pakistan, so that it could intervene.”
International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association outgoing president Babar Badat believes that freight charges would stay at current levels and if they actually came down, they would not fall as low as they were during the pre-pandemic times.
He highlighted that many shipping companies had gone bankrupt around the world and many others had been operating in losses for about three to four years. “The world had enjoyed trade at a low freight in the pre-pandemic days.”
The number of top international shipping companies has come down to three to four only as many companies were either acquired by others or merged to survive during the crisis.
“Government should support freight forwarders and logistics companies if it wants to control such a situation in future as they can collectively … make an impact,” he emphasised.
Shedding light on the impact of increase in freight charges, Pakistan Business Council CEO Ehsan Malik said freight rates had gone up across the world as shipping lines had curtailed their fleet movements due to lower demand. “It affects all the countries, so Pakistan is not uniquely impacted,” he said.
“However, as demand for textiles from Pakistan is higher than other countries (more impacted by Covid), delays in shipments are unfortunate and can result in lost opportunity if others step up production as Covid subsides.”
Malik highlighted that PNSC unfortunately did not have enough container capacity to fill the void. “There is little the government can do. However, if other countries enhance their export rebates, Pakistan should match to remain competitive.”
FPCCI President Mian Nasser Hyatt Magoo highlighted that regional and international shipping companies had apparently formed a cartel to impose exorbitantly high freight charges in a bid to cash in on the post-Covid situation. Pakistan’s importers and exporters pay $5-6 billion every year in international freight charges to the shipping companies.
“National flag carrier PNSC should acquire containerised ships on wet lease (rent) to facilitate the traders,” he suggested, adding that the strategy would help the government keep freight charges under control, make exports competitive, imports cheaper and counter inflation.
He suggested that the state-owned shipping company may operate ships on the China and Middle East routes as Pakistan made most of its imports from those destinations. Besides, the ships could be utilised to transport export goods. At present, PNSC has around 11 ships, but it does not own a single containerised cargo ship.
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) former president Zubair Tufail said the spike in international freight charges had increased the cost of doing business in Pakistan.
Source: The Express Tribune


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It would seem that unlike Apple’s flagship iPhone models, the company does not have plans to refresh its iPhone SE series on an annual basis. A tweet by Ross Young of DisplaySearch and DSCC, he claims that the earliest we might be able to expect an iPhone SE refresh would be in 2022.
While Apple’s Face ID pretty much works as advertised, there are times when using one’s fingerprint is much more efficient. This has led to some wondering if Apple could potentially implement both solutions in future iPhones. While Touch ID did not return in the iPhone 12, it has been rumored that this is a feature Apple is still looking to bring back.
When the iPhone 12s were announced, Apple broke up the phones into two phases – the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro would be going on sale first, followed by the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max that will be coming in November. Over in Taiwan, it seems that local telcos have started accepting pre-orders and they sold out in minutes.
Obviously with every iPhone upgrade, we expect that performance will improve over its predecessor. With the iPhone 12, Apple has equipped it with the A14 Bionic chipset that many expect will also make an appearance in the company’s Apple Silicon powered Mac computers, so the question is, is the iPhone 12 potentially as powerful as a laptop or desktop?
When Apple announced the iPhone 12, they confirmed that they will not be bundling a power adapter for its new iPhones. It did not take long for Apple’s long-time rival Samsung to say something about it, which they did in a post on Facebook where they mocked the lack of a power adapter in the new iPhones.
Ahead of the iPhone 12’s launch, it was rumored that Apple would not be bundling accessories with the iPhone 12 lineup save for a USB-C to Lightning cable. It was also rumored that this could be applied to Apple’s existing lineup, and it turns out that the rumors were right on the money.
During Apple’s iPhone 12 announcement, they also revealed a new wireless charging system for the iPhone 12 where the company decided to reuse its MagSafe branding. They also revealed that third-party accessory makers such as Belkin would be working on similar accessories for those who wanted more options.
If you’re looking for a new Android smartphone, you’re probably spoilt for choice, but in case you wanted to look at some newer alternatives, you might want to take a look at the OnePlus 8T. This is the company’s second flagship smartphone of 2020 and comes with several improvements over its predecessor.
Just recently, we looked back at ten years of iPhone camera hardware data. Following yesterday’s launch of the iPhone 12 family, Apple released enough information to paint a first picture of how the new iPhone 12 camera stacks up to the iPhone 11 and the competition, especially Samsung and Huawei. (photo credit: Apple)
When Apple confirmed their brand new iPhone 12 series, they also revealed that the phones will not be shipping with the EarPods or power adapter. Instead, it will come with a USB-C to Lightning cable. Apple claims that this was done to help improve the environment, although we imagine that some people might not be too thrilled at the idea of having to spend more money.
We had recently heard the rumors that Apple was looking to revive the MagSafe branding, which in the past was typically reserved for the company’s laptop chargers. Turns out the rumors were correct because at Apple’s iPhone 12 event, the company has announced a new magnetic wireless charging system for the iPhone 12 which they are calling MagSafe as well.
At Apple’s event today, the company has taken the wraps off their brand new iPhone 12 lineup. It seems that the rumors were right because Apple has indeed announced four new models in the iPhone 12 series, which includes the iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 Pro, and last but not least, the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
It has been rumored that Apple is expected to not bundle accessories with its iPhone 12 like the EarPods and the power adapter. However, a tweet by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has revealed that this will not only apply to the iPhone 12, but it is also expected to be applied to Apple’s already available iPhones.
It is almost safe to assume that the iPhone 12 this year will not come with a 120Hz display. It is rather disappointing given that many other Android phones are starting to use 90Hz displays or higher, so it is strange that Apple is choosing not to include the technology given how popular it is.


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BUSINESS owner Gary Aboud has accused the Government of discrimination in its phased reopening of businesses.
"It is hypocritical and discriminatory the manner in which they are crippling multiple small business and self-employed (people)...(and) the vast majority are being crippled or have already been crippled."
He was commenting on the start of the second phase of the reopening of the economy this Thursday which includes the full reopening of the manufacturing and construction sectors. Aboud claimed Government has discriminated against the vast majority of companies that are the backbone of the country and thereby crippling the life blood of the national economy.
"It is absolute nonsense that only certain places are open. What's the difference between those places and other places? What makes one service essential and another non-essential? What is so essential about KFC or Bhagwansingh's?"
Aboud asked what was so safe and "covid free" about crowds of people going to Bhagwansingh or to Massy Stores.
"So there is a disproportionate imbalance in the manner in which the economy is being managed. Because covid is not discriminatory whether you go to Massy and buy a shower curtain or you go to Mode Alive (Aboud's business) and buy a shower curtain. It's an equal risk."
He also said that people lining up to buy KFC or the workers in the company would also be at risk of contracting covid19.
"Why should they be so favoured when a hairdresser cannot function?"
He questioned why a shoe or clothing company which was practising all safeguards and safety measures was not allowed to open at a time when they have no income. Aboud said the companies have received no relief from Government or from landlords in malls charging middle class people exorbitant rents.
He said for his about 100 employees will be maintaining salary levels for four months but he knew of companies that had sent home about 80 employees. One of his friends, a garment store owner, had to vacate his premises in three shopping malls.
Aboud said conversely the essential businesses were enjoying runaway sales in areas that were not their core business. He questioned why a hardware was able to sell a bath mat or a bicycle but Kenny's Sports Centre cannot be open to sell a bicycle. He also questioned how a supermarket, which was supposed to be selling food, could be selling electronics when electronics stores were not open.
He advised that Government should have a consultative, holistic approach and meet with the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Owners and Merchants Association and the San Juan Business Association to come up with a formula for small businesses. He said this was preferred to the current "dictatorial approach."
"But how we are being treated is the same way that (late Venezuelan president Hugo) Chavez treated his population when he just determined and declared national decrees. And we are being treated like fleas on a pig's back."
He stressed that his company appreciated the critical importance of keeping the covid19 curve flat and recalled that Mode Alive called for a shut down six days before the Government lockdown due to new cases in the country. But he pointed out that there have been no new cases in almost a month.
"If a business operates with safeguards should they not be entitled to reopen as well? A broad range of businesses are willing to implement safety protocols."
Asked about Government saying the phased reopening is based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Aboud claimed the CMO "could be under the gun of the political directorate".


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Porsche plans to increase sales in the United States and Canada to 50,000 units within a few years.
The growth - from sales of about 29,000 units this year - will be achieved with the current lineup of three models, says Peter Schwarzenbauer, CEO of Porsche Cars North America. Porsche has said it is considering adding a fourth model.
The added sales will require more dealers and a big marketing push. Schwarzenbauer says Porsche will appoint 10 to 15 new dealers in the next two years in some smaller markets. It now has 204 dealers in the United States and Canada.
"We plan to double our sales in the next few years with the current model range," he said, adding that's "about 50,000" units in North America. He says that would be about twice as much as Porsche's best sales year before the arrival of the Cayenne SUV last March. Porsche sold 22,511 cars in North America in 2002.
"We are shooting to exceed 29,000 sales in the 2003 calendar year," he says.
Schwarzenbauer expects North America to contribute about 35,000 of the 70,000 to 75,000 units Porsche will sell worldwide in the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2004.
The Cayenne has helped offset sharp sales declines for the aging 911 and Boxster in the United States this year. Porsche has sold more than 12,000 Cayennes this year - about 45 percent of the brand's total volume.
Schwarzenbauer, who took over at Porsche Cars North America in March, plans to increase the company's marketing budget by 15 percent in 2004. He did not disclose spending figures.
"We will invest a lot more money into regionalized marketing," he says. "We want to get closer to the customer. We will do many more local and regional events than we did in the past."
The focus will be on driving programs such as the Porsche Driving Experience conducted in recent years at a test track in Birmingham, Ala. The program, which calls for professional race drivers to teach driving skills, is sold out for the next nine months.
"We want to move this program around the country," Schwarzenbauer says.
As part of its regional emphasis, Porsche Cars North America has also restructured its national sales organization. The company has divided its market area into three regions: South, West and Northeast, including Canada. Starting in January, Schwarzenbauer says field area managers will be responsible for each section of the country. The three field area managers are Doug Battie, responsible for western states; Dave Kurtz in the South; and Tim Heffernan in the Northeast and Canada. All three are former Porsche regional managers. Porsche's regional managers will report to the new area managers rather than Porsche Cars North America headquarters in Atlanta.
Schwarzenbauer says the company will increase its staff from about 250 to about 300 in the next two years, mostly by adding to the field organization.
Porsche also is counting heavily on a certified used-vehicle program launched last summer to help its dealers sell more used cars. Schwarzenbauer says about 42,000 used Porsches are sold annually in the United States, but Porsche dealers sell only 6,000 to 7,000 of them.
"That's bad if you want to help control residual values," he says. "We are looking to increase that to around 12,000 cars for our dealers, 50 percent of which would be certified."
Certified cars are inspected and come with a factory warranty.


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Case Great Rebate Runaround Essay Sample
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Case Great Rebate Runaround Essay Sample
Ah, the holiday shopping season: Santa Claus, reindeer-and rebate hell. Those annoying mail-in offers are everywhere these days. Shoppers hate col lecting all the paperwork, filling out the forms, and mailing it all in to claim their $10 or $100. But no matter how annoying rebates are for consumers, the country’s retailers and manufacturers love them. From PC powerhouse Dell to national chains Circuit City and OfficeMax to the Listerine mouth wash sold at Rite Aid drugstores, rebates are prolifer ating. Nearly one-third of all computer gear is now sold with some form of rebate, along with more than 20% of digital cameras, camcorders, and LCD TVs, says market researcher NPD Group. Hal Stinchfield, a 30-year veteran of the rebate business, calculates that some 400 million rebates are offered each year. Their total face value: $6 billion, he estimates. Office-products retailer Staples says it and its vendors alone pay $3.5 million in rebates each week. TAX ON THE DISORGANIZED Why the rage for rebates? The industry’s open secret is that fully 40% of all rebates never get redeemed because consumers fail to apply for them or their applications are rejected, estimates Peter S. Kastner, a director of consulting firm Vericours. That trans lates into more than $2 billion of extra revenue for retailers and their suppliers each year.
What rebates do is get consumers to focus on the discounted price of a product, then buy it at full price. “The game is obviously that anything less than 100% redemption is free money,” says Paula Rosenblum, director of retail research at consulting firm Aberdeen Group. The impact on a company’s bottom line can be startling. Consider TiVo. The company caught Wall Street off guard by sharply reducing its first-quarter loss to $857,000, from $9.1 million in the same period last year. One reason: About 50,000 of TiVo’s 104,000 new subscribers failed to redeem mail-in rebate offers, reducing the company’s expected rebate expense by $5 million. TiVo says it generally sees lower redemption rates during the Christmas shopping season, when consumers may be too dis tracted to file for rebates on time. Credit this bonanza for retailers and suppliers partly to human nature. Many consumers are just too lazy, forgetful, or busy to apply for rebates: Call it a tax on the disorganized. Others think the 50 cents, $50-or even $200—is just not worth the hassle of collecting. “I WAS FROSTED” But many consumers-and state and federal authorities-suspect that companies design the rules to keep redemption rates down. They say companies count on complex rules, filing periods of as little as a week, repeated requests for copies of receipts, and long delays in sending out checks to discourage consumers from even attempting to retrieve their money.
When the check does arrive, it sometimes gets tossed in the trash because it looks like junk mail. These obstacles don’t stop Chuck Gleason. A rebate junkie, he has redeemed dozens of rebates on the high-tech and electronics gizmos he buys. But get ting his money, he says, sometimes drives him crazy. On Nov. 7, 2004, for example, the 57-year-old director of operations for a Portland (Ore.) metal recycling company bought a TiVo digital video recorder for $300. TiVo promised that a $100 rebate would arrive in six to eight weeks if Gleason mailed in his receipt and the universal product code on the box and kept his TiVo subscription for at least 30 days. Gleason sent in the paperwork the very next day, and nothing happened. By February there was still no sign of his $100, despite repeated follow-ups, so he threatened to file complaints with state and fed eral officials. But TiVo’s rebate processor, Parago, left him even more exasperated: “Because your issue requires further research, your e-mail has been for warded to a special team,” said an e-mail from a cus tomer-service agent named Sophie. Finally, on Mar. 29, more than 14 weeks after he bought his DVR, his check arrived.
“I was frosted,” he says. Source: Brian Grow, BusinessWeek Online, November 23,2005. CHAPTER 13: SMART PRICING “BREAKAGE” AND “SLIPPAGE” Citing privacy restrictions, TiVo officials declined to discuss the case. But the company says it regrets any inconvenience and recently changed its rebate pro cess to include a printable sign-up form at tivo.com to cut down on handwriting errors. Parago also declined to discuss the incident but said errors are rare among the “tens of millions” of rebates it pro cesses each year. Indeed, processors and companies offering rebates insist that there is no intentional effort to deny them, a move that Stinchfield, who is the chief executive of Orono (Minn.) consulting firm Promotional Marketing Insights, says would be akin to “brand suicide.” Rather, companies say, the rules are aimed at stopping fraud. Rebate processors won’t provide estimates for the amount of fraud they encounter, but Young America Corp., the nation’s largest processor, says it now moni tors lO,OOO addresses suspected of submitting bogus rebates.
The quest for buyers who don’t end up collecting a rebate has spawned special industry lingo. Purchases by consumers who never file for their rebates are called “breakage.” Wireless companies that pay lOO% rebates on some cell phones, for example, rely in part on “breakage” to make money. Rebate checks that are never cashed are called “slippage.” COMPLAINTS HAVE SOARED One processor, TCA Fulfillment Services in New Rochelle, N.Y., published a “Rebate Redemption Guide” for its corporate customers several years ago. It cited the low redemption rates that companies could expect after hiring TCA: just 10% for a $10 rebate on a $100 product, and just 35 % for a $50 rebate on a $200 product. “If you are using another fulfillment company, add 20% to these redemption rates,” says the chart. Lewisville (Tex.)-based Parago bought TCA’s customer list last December and disavows that guide. It says it can’t estimate current rates because clients don’t provide the company with sales data. TCA founder Frank Giordano did not respond to several calls and a letter requesting comment. Consumer-product makers such as Procter & Gamble pioneered rebates in the 1970s as a nifty way to advertise small discounts without actually marking the products down.
In the’ 90s, their popUlarity soared as computer makers and consumer-electronics com panies pitched them as a way to move piles of PCs, 403 cell phones, and televisions before they became obso lete. The value of rebates jumped, too, from a couple of bucks to $100 or more. With more companies plugging rebates-and more dollars at stake for consumers-complaints have soared. Gripes filed with the Council of Better Business Bureaus have tripled since 2001, from 964 to 3,641 last year. But processors say that number is still tiny com pared with the vast number of claims they handle. REGULATORY SCRUTINY David S. Bookbinder files many of the complaints. Each year the 40-year-old computer technician claims more than 100 mail-in rebates. He figures those deals save him-and customers of his computer-repair business, Total PC Support, in Revere, Mass.-as much as $2,500. After eight weeks of waiting, he usually calls customer-service numbers to hunt down his check. If the representative alleges that paperwork was wrong or asks for more time, he automatically files complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the state attorney general.
Regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of the industry. In October, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer settled a case with Samsung Electronics America. The company agreed to pay $200,000 to 4,100 consumers who were denied rebates because they lived in apartment buildings. Samsung’s rebate program, according to Spitzer’s office, allowed only one rebate per address, and the form didn’t have a space to list apartment numbers. Samsung did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, officials are investigat ing ads that list prices only after rebates-a marketing scheme prohibited in the state. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal won’t disclose the names of the retailers. “If consumers are compelled to jump through hoops to receive the rebate, or are denied rebates for illogical or arbitrary reasons, that adds fuel to our investigation,” he says. “NO INCENTIVE” Some regulators are using novel tactics. On Nov. 7, Massachusetts officials filed suit against Young America to demand that it submit to an audit of $43 million in uncashed rebate checks.
The com pany, headquartered in Young America, Minn., kept that amount of money from 1995 to mid-2002 in return for charging its clients lower fees, it says. 404 DESIGNING AND MANAGING THE SUPPLY CHAIN Massachusetts officials believe that keeping uncashed checks could be an incentive to deny legitimate redemption claims. “It’s almost like the old bait and switch,” says Massachusetts State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill. Young America is fighting back. In written responses to questions from BusinessWeek, CEO Roger D. Andersen stands by the company’s policy and says retailers and suppliers sometimes prefer that it keep uncashed checks. That keeps Young America from having to send them back and then tum around and collect its fee from clients. “Young America receives the same fees whether a submission is valid or invalid,” he says. “We have no incentive to increase invalid rates.” UNIFORM RULES The backlash against mail-in rebates is pushing some companies to drop them. Best Buy plans to phase them out in two years.
At Staples, mail-in rebates were the No.1 customer complaint for years, says Jim Sherlock, director of sales and merchandising. So a year ago, the Framingham (Mass.) company switched to an online system called EasyRebates that customers use to file for rebates and track their progress. Staples says waiting times for payments have been cut from about 10 weeks to as little as four, and rebate complaints dropped by 25%. “Breakage” also dropped by as much as 10%, but that decline in unclaimed rebates is offset by better fraud prevention, it says. The fulfillment houses are also overhauling their systems. While it won’t disclose figures, Parago says it has invested “tens of millions” of dollars in com puter technology. So now, computers, not customer service agents, validate most of the claims. Then consumers receive e-mail updates and can check Web sites such as RebatesHQ.com to monitor claims. Before, says Parago Chief Financial Officer Juli C. Spottiswood, getting a rebate update was a “big black hole.”
With billions of dollars at stake, bids to set uni form rules for rebates have met a ferocious response. Last year, California State Senator Liz Figueroa introduced a bill requiring companies to grant cus tomers at least 30 days to apply for a rebate, mail checks within 60 days of receiving an application, and standardize the paperwork and personal data needed for a claim. “REGULATION IS WARRANTED” Telecom giants SBC Communications and T-Mobile and the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn. quickly mobilized. They argued that Figueroa’s bill would drive up costs and increase fraud by cutting down on the proof required for a rebate. After pass ing the California House and Senate, the bill was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger. Now, Figueroa, a Democrat, is evaluating whether to reintroduce the bill in January. “This is an area where regulation is warranted,” she maintains.
Despite the crackdowns and efforts at reforms, redeeming rebates will probably never be much fun. “In a perfect world, consumers would love mail-in rebates to go away,” says Stephen Baker, director of industry analysis at NPD. “However, they want the best price that they can get. Those two things are fundamentally going to be at odds.” CASE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. This article describes one reason manufacturers might want to offer rebates rather than decrease wholesale price. Explain why this can be viewed as an example of customized pricing. 2. Even if all rebates were redeemed, why might manufacturers still want to offer rebates rather than decrease wholesale prices? 3. Why do you suppose that Best Buy, rather than one of Best Buy’s big suppliers such as Sony or Panasonic, is considering eliminating rebates?


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Becoming Shein: Chinese Retailers Eye the Global Fast-Fashion Market
Everyone wants to be Shein: the $15 billion Chinese fast-fashion retailer that successfully cracked overseas Gen-Z markets by churning out trending apparel at ultra-low prices.
The firm has come to be seen as a paradigm for successful cross-border e-commerce, after overtaking Zara and H&M as the U.S.’s top-selling fast-fashion retailer earlier this year. Now, the Shein imitators are here.
Sixth Tone has found at least 10 Chinese fast-fashion companies similarly chasing global consumers, including Cider, Urbanic, ChicV, Doublefs, Cupshe, JollyChic. Five have been founded since the start of 2019, and three since the start of this year.
These fast-fashion brands mainly direct overseas Gen-Z and millennial shoppers to their independent e-commerce websites via advertisements on Instagram, mostly targeting the feeds of young female users. On YouTube and TikTok, hundreds of influencers post shopping hauls that range from 10 to 20 pieces per video featuring these brands. Zaful, a swimwear brand and one of the largest of the crop, has over 5 million followers on its main Instagram account, and a few thousand on each of its several country-specific accounts, including Russia and Australia.
According to an estimate from global consultancy Deloitte, Shein and its imitators will sell 150 to 200 billion yuan ($23.5 to 31.4 billion) in apparel in 2021. “Shein takes up the largest share with 100 billion yuan gross merchandise value (GMV), companies in the second echelon are sized at around 1 to 5 billion yuan, and there are many more with a GMV under 1 billion,” Pu Qinglu, a partner at Deloitte and one of the authors of a 2020 report on China Fashion E-Commerce Global Growth, told Sixth Tone.
The flock of new companies all boast affordable prices and rely on social media influencers for marketing. Companies like these attracted at least $300 million in investment in 2021, based on deals reported in the media. The one-year-old Doublefs, which sells sportswear in the $30 to $50 range under the name Halara, recently closed its latest round of investment, worth $100 million, from venture capital firms including Capital Today and Hike Capital.
Chinese tech giants have also jumped on the brandwagon. Alibaba started selling women’s clothes via an independent website called allyLikes for the U.K., Europe, the United States, and Canada in June. The site is pitched at a low price point, with “9.99 and under” featured at the top of the site a week before Black Friday. TikTok owner Bytedance invested an undisclosed amount in the fast-fashion start-up Infinite Waves in June. The latter start-up has not yielded any publicly known products.
It is clear to Anna Xu, a partner at Hike Capital, why so many startups and investors want to enter the fast-fashion market: When she sees Doublefs, the veteran investor said, she doesn’t see a fashion company, but an opportunity that is driven by “digitalization.”
Modeled after Shein’s data and algorithm-driven supply chain, many similar companies can usually churn out clothing from design to delivery in seven days, according to domestic media reports.
“The honeymoon era for the internet industry is almost over. As the growth fades, people have to go into industries to digitize physical economies,” Xu said. “China’s production capability can support world-class products.”
Xu’s thoughts are echoed in Deloitte’s report, which says it is a great time for domestic fashion e-commerce merchants to go overseas given that China’s e-commerce market, which is dominated by giants like Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, leaves limited space for growth.
Increasingly, Chinese manufacturers are moving from the wholesale trade to direct sales to consumers around the world. In the first half of 2021, the trading volume of Chinese cross-border e-commerce accounted for around one-third of China’s import and export volume, reaching 600 million yuan in total, according to a recent report by the China-based market research platform 100EC.com.
However, cheap manufacturing comes at a cost, especially when these companies’ production is outsourced to thousands of workshops scattered across China. Earlier this year, a Sixth Tone investigation found that many Shein products are made at contract factories that flout labor and fire safety regulations. Swiss advocacy group Public Eye also recently reported that workers at certain Shein suppliers work up to 75 hours a week in poor conditions, which violate numerous Chinese labor laws.
In a statement, the company replied that it works with the factories that manfuacture its goods to improve working conditions. Factories that work with Shein, it wrote, "see significant improvments in everything from competitiveness to worker compensation. In addition to providing technology, we also offer guidance on operations and management, and make investments in their working environment and conditions. As a lawful company, all of our partnerships are based on fair and equitable market principles."
The company also argues that its targeted manufacturing strategy reduces waste and improves sustainability. “Using real-time analysis of fashion trends, all of our products start from small orders of 100 to 200, while the industry standard is at least a few thousands or tens of thousands,” a Shein spokesperson said. “That way, we have little waste.”
Nevertheless, sustainability experts say fast-fashion companies need to do much more. “To become sustainable, they need to overhaul their business model,” said Karen Du, the head of Shanghai-based sustainable fashion organization R.I.S.E. Lab. “They need to make sustainability something that all consumers can participate in with ease and convenience.”
This story has been updated to add a statement from Shein in response to the allegations of poor working conditions described above.
Editor: David Cohen.
(Header image: A screenshot of Alibaba's Shein-like e-commerce platform, which started selling female clothes to the U.K., Europe, the United States, and Canada in recent months. From allyLikes)


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T-Mobile on the attack: plans 4G LTE Denver launch in mid-2013, may acquire MetroPCS
T-Mobile USA’s top officials, including recently appointed chief executive John Legere, gathered in Denver last week for the second stop of a nine-city tour promoting the company’s “challenger strategy.”
As part of that effort, the nation’s fourth largest wireless carrier is aiming to “shake up the industry,” T-Mobile interim chief marketing officer Andrew Sherrard said in an interview after the employee and reseller rally that attracted about 400 attendees.
The company, which has 33 million subscribers, must take an aggressive approach after losing its focus during the failed merger with AT&T. It is also the only national carrier left out of the iPhone 5 bonanza.
As such, T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, is reportedly close to acquiring regional carrier MetroPCS, the nation’s sixth largest wireless service provider.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile is heavily promoting its unlimited 4G service plan and slamming shared mobile data plans offered by Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
“That is just a recipe for disaster for the average family,” Sherrard said of the shared data plans. “I think it’s going to be really difficult for families to understand who’s using how much.”
Sprint also offers unlimited data, but its average speeds are slower than T-Mobile’s, according to a study by RootMetrics.
As for 4G LTE service, Denver will be part of the carrier’s mid-2013 nationwide rollout of the high-speed mobile Internet service, Sherrard said.
“First, we’re modernizing the network and improving it, and then we’re going to launch LTE,” he said.
Verizon already has LTE coverage in Denver and AT&T plans to launch the service by year’s end. Sprint hasn’t said when it will offer LTE in the area.
The modernization of the T-Mobile network – which should reduce the number of dropped calls and improve network data speeds – will cover the company’s nearly 500 cell sites along the Front Range, said Greg Post, general manager of the carrier’s Mountain Plains Region.
The company is pushing hard to attract the estimated 9 million AT&T iPhone customers that are off contract, billing itself as the network for data hogs.
T-Mobile executives say Denver is one of the company’s key markets in the nation, as shown by its decision to include the city among the nine stops on the challenger tour. Data usage on the T-Mobile network in the Denver area has increased 70 percent over the past year, Post said.
There are about 50 company-owned T-Mobile stores in metro Denver, and the carrier plans to add nine more by the first quarter of 2013. Many of the stores will receive a redesign that features an open atmosphere and allows visitors to easily test out the latest gadgets.
T-Mobile has 400 employees in the area and is looking to fill about 40 open call center positions.
As for its rumored plans to acquire MetroPCS, UBS analyst John Hodulik said the deal could make sense for T-Mobile because it would give the company public currency, additional scale in the prepaid market and complementary spectrum.
“We believe integration would be straightforward despite technology differences as (T-Mobile) would simply shut down the (MetroPCS) network over time while spending appropriately to retain the customers and reuse the spectrum,” he wrote in research note.
Hodulik said Douglas County-based Dish Network, which recently acquired large blocks of spectrum with plans to launch a nationwide mobile broadband network, could benefit from the deal because Sprint and T-Mobile would both still need spectrum in the next few years and remain potential partners.