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U.S. and China got into a trade war — and Mexico walked away richer
The Trump administration’s trade war with China has turned out to be a windfall for another country the president frequently berates: Mexico.
Consider Fuling Global Inc., a Chinese maker of plastic utensils that developed a lucrative business making paper cups and straws for U.S. restaurants. President Trump upended all that with tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, including paper products. So the company found an alternative, opening a $4-million factory in Monterrey, Mexico, that will soon begin shipping millions of paper straws across the border.
“We had to look for other ways to do business,” said Fuling Chief Financial Officer Gilbert Lee, whose Wenling, China, company will avoid the tariffs and make up for pricier Mexican labor with lower shipping costs. “Mexico is a very logical and advantageous location for us.”
Fuling isn’t alone. Mexico has seen gains in shipments to the U.S. in categories in which competing Chinese goods were hit with tariffs, including poster board and air conditioner parts. In all, U.S. imports of goods from Mexico surged 10% to almost $350 billion last year, the fastest growth in seven years. That helped widen the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico by 15% to more than $80 billion, while the growth in shipments from China slowed by about a third.
A lot was happening last year other than the tariffs that could have played a part in boosting Mexican exports. Some companies may have upped orders to beat Trump’s threat to dismantle the North American Free Trade Agreement; he instead signed a renegotiated deal in November. Fluctuations in the value of the dollar and Trump’s global steel tariffs might have also played a role.
Still, Mexico’s bonanza underscores the difficulty in trying to win a trade war when companies can shift production or find new sources to avoid tariffs. Despite Trump’s vow to reduce it, the U.S. trade deficit for goods globally hit a record $891 billion last year as tax cuts boosted demand for imports and retaliatory tariffs weighed on American exports.
Given Trump’s early attacks on Mexico for taking U.S. jobs, it’s an ironic turn to observers such as factory consultant Alan Russell, who has never seen such interest by U.S. companies in opening facilities south of the border in his 35 years in the industry
“It’s a case of unintended consequences,” said Russell, chief executive of Tecma Group, an El Paso firm that helps companies open and run factories in Mexico. “Any company manufacturing in China has had a wake-up call.”
Much of the shift in companies sourcing from Mexico instead of China centers on low value-added items for which substitution is easier, said Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican ambassador to China.
For example, Taskmaster Components has for almost 20 years imported large wheels and tires from China, and assembled them for companies making trailers and recreational vehicles. But tariffs on many of those products pushed the Mount Pleasant, Texas, company to go hunting for new sourcing. That list now includes Mexico, where it wants to invest in a factory.
The U.S. isn’t being considered because Taskmaster hasn’t found a willing partner among the few remaining American manufacturers. “A lot of people are moving production down there,” said Amanda Walker, the company’s chief operating officer. The proximity, access to ports and an educated workforce make “everything about Mexico attractive.”
Mexico’s gain is evident across a diverse span of sectors. After the U.S. levied tariffs on metal ores and their byproducts, Mexico’s exports to the U.S. more than doubled, while China’s sank by a quarter. Tariffs on aluminum products helped wipe out almost $500 million in imports from China. Mexico saw a 20% increase in sales to the U.S.
The trade war also made the U.S. more reliant on produce from Mexico, already the biggest source of vegetables such as cauliflower, carrots and onions. In one stark example, imports of peeled garlic cloves from China sank by almost a quarter after receiving tariffs, while Mexican exports rose 54%.
Even small businesses in Mexico benefited. After the U.S. put 10% tariffs on silk yarn, one of China’s iconic exports, Mexico’s shipments to the U.S. jumped from basically nothing, just $5,500 in 2017, to $1.6 million last year. China’s imports of knitted and crocheted fabrics fell by about $3 million, almost the exact amount that Mexican imports rose.
Trump’s tariffs especially targeted the auto supply chain, which had already been expanding in Mexico and has continued to gain under Trump’s policies. One example: U.S. imports of Mexican passenger vehicles with gasoline engines jumped 17% to $32.6 billion, while shipments from China, Germany and Canada all declined.
Even before Trump’s presidency, Mexico was becoming more competitive with China, in part because of rising Chinese labor rates and Mexico’s proximity to the U.S., especially important in the e-commerce era of quick shipping.
Also, the Mexico bump could be short-lived if the U.S. and China strike their own trade deal, reducing the impetus to move production to Mexico. Another head wind might be new leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has rattled investors’ confidence by canceling a $13-billion airport after it was already one-third built and inspiring a more aggressive labor movement, including factory strikes.
But for now, paper-straw maker Fuling Global is all in. It will begin production in Monterrey by July, and if all goes well, Fuling will shift more work to Mexico and possibly start selling to the local market and then to South America.
“Changes spur opportunities,” CFO Lee said. “It’s just a matter of how you deal with it.”
Townsend and Martin write for Bloomberg


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Alibaba has invested $590 million in Chinese smartphone vendor Meizu for an undisclosed stake in the company, Reuters reports. The Chinese e-commerce giant, which has interests in other Internet businesses as well, had earlier planned to launch its own smartphone OS for the Chinese market to take on Android, which powers majority of smartphones in the country but doesn’t come with Google services, which are banned there. The OS was seen as a way for Alibaba to reach out to more users with its pre-installed services.The investment would give Alibaba a minority stake in the company, which started out as a maker of MP3 players and pivoted to smartphones in 2007. Its smartphones became popular initially but were run over by Xiaomi. Currently Meizu doesn’t have presence in international markets and is reported to have just 2 percent market share in China. However, in its latest flash sale 100,000 units of its entry-level M1 smartphone were sold in just one minute.
Alibaba has already prepped up Meizu MX4 device with their own YunOS. This deal will further help Alibaba to leverage its mobile operating system through the Meizu devices. Meizu, on the other hand, will gain access to the e-commerce giants sales channels and other resources. Alibaba had also recently acquired 25 percent stake in Paytm for $575 million

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There is a lot of speculation right now about whether India will make good on its promise to cap third-party payment providers’ market share on the United Payments Interface (UPI) at 30%. We argued when the idea was first proposed several years ago that it did not make a lot of sense and would be hard to implement. Now, with December 2022 deadline looming, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates UPI, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are considering extending the deadline.
BNPL, or buy now pay later, is a type of payment option that allows customers to purchase items now and pay for them later in installments. This type of payment option has been gaining popularity in recent years, especially among younger shoppers. In fact, a recent study showed that BNPL usage has increased by 400% among millennials in the past two years.
BNPL first emerged in Asia in 2014 and has since become extremely popular in countries like China, South Korea, and Singapore. In China, for example, the BNPL market is expected to grow from $30 billion in 2020 to $750 billion by 2025. It could be argued that Australia was the epicentre of BNPL in Asia with such previous market leaders including Afterpay and Zip. So, what is driving this massive growth? Let's take a closer look at BNPL in Asia and how it works.
Paytm’s path to profitability has always been a bit convoluted given the company’s labyrinthine business lines and its determination to compete in so many retail segments that require regular subsidizing of customers. That said, it enjoys a scale that few – if any – of its competitors can boast, the backing of some very deep-pocketed investors and the ability to raise cash cheaply on India’s stock exchange.
A commentary in collaboration with Banking Circle.
Cross-border payments are increasingly characterized by a dynamic and challenging market environment. On the one hand, the market is booming and expected to reach US$156 trillion this year. On the other, traditional international correspondent banking networks are shrinking at the same time that alternative rails that execute payments in real time are increasingly common. Thus, financial institutions (FIs) have more choice than ever, but being able to connect seamlessly to all the rails is not straightforward.
Razorpay is the rare fintech unicorn with discipline and focus, as well as a sky-high valuation. Last valued at US$7.5 billion in December 2021, the Bengaluru-based payments gateway is notable for growing through strategic acquisitions and sticking to its B2B focus despite pressure to foray into retail. It is now poised to expand beyond its home market into Southeast Asia.
China’s largest ever tech crackdown has failed to dethrone Alipay and WeChat Pay from their dominance of the country’s fintech sector, even if it has reduced their profitability. For better or worse, the duopoly seems to have staying power, especially in payments, the stickiness of the respective super apps evident. However, there has long been a line of thinking that payments interoperability and the digital renminbi together will pose a threat to the duopoly. Following recent comments by a senior People’s Bank of China (PBoC) official about the need to standardize QR codes, there is renewed speculation that the payments hegemony of China’s fintech juggernauts could be waning.
A commentary in collaboration with Banking Circle.
Cross-border payments in Asia Pacific have made significant strides in recent years, buoyed by strong economic growth and steady digitization of financial services. Estimated by McKinsey & Co. to have grown at 6% annually from 2011-2019, the region’s cross-border payments account for an increasingly large share of a global market expected to reach US$156 trillion globally this year.
Singapore-based B2B payments firm Thunes is stepping up its global expansion. Following its securing of a major payment institution license in France in late 2021, Thunes has continued to grow its global footprint. This has included partnering with Alipay, broad expansion in Greater China and establishing operations in Saudi Arabia.
The National Payment Corporation of India’s (NPCI) United Payment Interface (UPI) payment rail is the most successful initiative of its kind globally, proof that government-led digital financial inclusion efforts can bear fruit when they are implemented well. In the second quarter of the year, UPI recorded over 17.4 billion transactions in volume and Rs 30.4 trillion in terms of value, up 118% and 98% respectively over the same period a year ago. While India remains UPI’s paramount market for now, the company is increasingly targeting global expansion.
Southeast Asian countries have for several years been interested in establishing a regional cross-border payments system. Full payments interoperability could be possible in Southeast Asia as early as November 2022, Fitch Solutions Risk and Industry Research said in a recent research note, citing comments made by Southeast Asian central bankers in July. Yet if we take a closer look, we find that the linkages are predominantly bilateral and there are still some kinks to be ironed out before a truly multilateral system of real-time retail payment rails can be established.
We remember a time, before China’s tech crackdown, when Ant Group seemed keen on building its own cross-border payments ecosystem in Southeast Asia. The Chinese fintech giant’s shopping spree took it to nearly every Asean country, while it has also rolled out wholly-owned digital banks in the Asian financial centers of Hong Kong and Singapore. Then, as now, the question was always how Ant could connect the disparate components of its non-mainland China ecosystem. If it cannot, the whole will never amount to a sum greater than the individual parts.
It has been a long time since we heard anything from Dana, the Indonesian Ant Group-backed e-wallet. In the past few years as many big Asian tech firms have invested in incumbent Indonesian banks, intending to refashion them as digital lenders, standalone e-wallets, lacking banking licenses, have been at a disadvantage. Yet Dana may be able to carve out a niche within the ecosystem of Alibaba and the local conglomerate Sinar Mas following the purchase by Lazada of US$304.5 million worth of its shares from existing shareholder Emtek Group and its receipt of a fresh US$250 million investment from Sinar Mas.
For the past few years, the biggest credit story in India has been buy now, pay later (BNPL). Tremendous demand for credit has driven the BNPL boom in the subcontinent, but tighter regulation and slower growth are both now inevitable. After all, you cannot act as a credit provider without being regulated like one forever. As BNPL slows down in India, there may be an opportunity for the overlooked – but better regulated and steadily growing – credit card segment to build market share.
Can you think of any Western fintech firms that are dominant in Asia Pacific? Somewhat dominant? Neither can we. That may be because the region has no shortage of homegrown fintech options, especially in the ultra-competitive payments segment. That is not deterring Stripe though. As one of the most valuable startups in history, the U.S. payments giant thinks big, and sees significant market opportunities across the APAC region, including through strategic partnerships.
Paytm is in high spirits. Its stock has risen 45% over the past three months, making it an outlier among fintechs. Paytm is even feeling pretty good about losing 6.44 billion rupees (US$81 million) in the first quarter of FY2023, an increase of 70% from a loss of 3.8 billion rupees a year earlier. Paytm attributed the higher loss to increased operating costs and said it is on track to reach operating profitability by the second quarter of the fiscal year.
Looking at the recent earnings statement of Australia’s Zip, we have to give the company credit for being able to put a positive spin on a troubled story. As a buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm that overextended itself, Zip now faces double trouble: a problematic business model and resources that are stretched too thin. But the fourth fiscal quarter earnings statement (April to June) highlights Zip’s revenue rising 27% year-on-year to AU$160.1 million and a 20% increase in transaction volume. Losses, however, represented 2.7% of the value of transactions.
India’s fintech unicorn club has a new member, the credit provider OneCard. In mid-July, OneCard announced it had raised US$100 million in fresh funding at a valuation of US$1.4 billion, nearly double its January valuation of US$750 million. Leading the round was Singapore’s Temasek. Other key participating investors existing backers QED, Sequoia Capital India and Hummingbird Ventures. To date, OneCard has raised US$225 million and says it has over 250,000 customers spending about US$60 million with its cards each month.
India’s UPI real-time payments platform has achieved impressive growth since its inception just over six years ago, with expansion being especially turbo-charged during the long coronavirus pandemic. The acceleration of India’s overall digital economy over the past 2.5 years has helped UPI become the most dominant platform of its kind on the subcontinent and even begin nascent international expansion: to the UAE, Bhutan, Singapore, Nepal and now France. The question now is if UPI can build meaningful market share outside of its home country, where it enjoys some inherent advantages.
What goes up, must come down, especially in fintech. We know that buy now, pay later (BNPL) firms have grown organically at a torrid pace in India due to low credit card penetration and strong demand for credit products, and we also know they could not have grown so fast if they had been properly regulated. At the same time, there is a certain systemic financial risk that comes with the possibility of bad consumer debt accruing fast, a likely scenario when BNPL is allowed free rein. With that in mind, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent decision to ban nonbanks from loading prepaid instruments (PPI) — digital wallets, or stored-value cards — using credit lines does not come as a big surprise.
Walmart-backed PhonePe is one of the most prominent payment firms in India. It holds the largest share of India’s paramount UPI payments platform of any company, with 47% of the market compared to Google Pay’s 34%. PhonePe says it has 380 million registered users, which means that one in four Indians use its services. The company also serves 30 million offline merchants. With pressure to achieve profitability increasing and investors eager for a successful exit, speculation is mounting about when PhonePe will decide to go public.
We would say that the gravy train has been derailed for Australia’s cash-incinerating buy now, pay later (BNPL) firms, but they may not be exactly right. After all, “gravy train” implies making easy money and most of these companies never made money in the first place – if our key metric is profitability. The problems for these firms are manifest, from intense competition – and especially the arrival of deep-pocketed incumbents and tech firms to the market – to looming regulation and widening losses.
India’s United Payments Interface (UPI) is a bit of an anomaly in the world of fintech, which is typically dominated by high-flying startups and deep-pocketed venture capitalists. UPI was launched in 2016 by a specialized division of the Reserve Bank of India, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to create a unified real-time payments platform for the subcontinent’s retail payments. Governments are usually not seen as leading fintech innovators, but in this case, UPI has been so successful that other countries are keen to learn from its success; it is expanding internationally and India’s leading e-wallets compete for the largest share of UPI payments.
China’s fintech crackdown has slowed the domestic growth of the country’s biggest platform companies, but they remain committed to international expansion through strategic investments. Tencent has a number of key investments in Southeast Asia, Australia and UK that are worth watching, including its stakes in Sea Group, Voyager Innovations, Airwallex, Afterpay and most recently the UK fintech Previse.
It is important to take what Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma says with a grain of salt. For many years, he has talked up Paytm’s potential and deep-pocketed backers like SoftBank and Alibaba have bought it. Yet Sharma’s bullishness has not been borne out by Paytm’s stock performance. Though Paytm’s IPO was India’s largest of all time, it nonetheless plummeted on the first day of trading in November 2021 and has since lost about 60% of its value.
In December 2021, Razorpay became India’s most valuable private fintech as it reached a valuation of US$7.5 billion, more than double the US$3 billion milestone it hit last April. Razorpay’s US$375 million Series F financing round raised more than all of its previous rounds combined. By eschewing India’s hyper-competitive retail payments market – dominated by the likes of Google Pay and PhonePe, with Paytm a distant third – Razorpay can best capitalize on opportunities in the fast-growing merchant payments segment.
Home to about 70 fintech startups, Nepal is a nascent market for digital finance. That said, the pace of adoption in the Himalayan nation of 30 million is picking up amid the Covid-19 pandemic and with about 55% of the population unbanked, there is a need for fintech solutions that can boost financial inclusion. In the past few months, there have been several key developments that could speed up the digitization of Nepal’s financial sector.
The performance of Australian neobanks so far has been a bit underwhelming. Of the best known four (not to be confused with the big four), only Judo Bank has been an unequivocal success. Xinja collapsed about a year after receiving its banking license; 86 400 threw in the towel when it received an offer from National Australia Bank (NAB) it could not refuse, and Volt is pivoting to banking as a service. Given that it is targeting a similar SME customer demographic to Judo, the ascendant Aussie fintech Zeller could be more successful than the digital lenders focusing on the retail market.
What goes up must come down, right? Usually, yes, but with fintech startups the "up" can sometimes go on for so long that one wonders if the "down" is inevitable. This holds especially true for the buy now, pay later (BNPL) segment, which is now ascendant in India. The scale of BNPL’s growth in the subcontinent is something to behold. Indian research firm Redseer predicts that the market will reach US$45 billion to US$50 billion by 2026, an exponential increase from US$3 billion to US$3.5 billion now.
For an aspiring super app, PayPal’s performance over the past six months has been underwhelming. There is nothing “super” about its 59% decline in its share price to about US$110.50 during that period, nor the revelation that it had removed 4.5 million fraudulent user accounts. Though they were just a fraction of the company’s 425 million overall accounts, they represented a significant potential fraud risk.
Next to Indonesia, the Philippines is perhaps the most exciting emerging market for fintech investment in Southeast Asia right now. Like Indonesia, the Philippines is an island archipelago nation with a large unbanked population – 47% of the adult population – and geography that makes physical bank branches impractical in many cases. The Covid-19 pandemic has meanwhile accelerated digitization of financial services in the Philippines, a trend that looks to be irreversible. All these factors have converged to facilitate rising investment in the country’s fintech sector, with several key big-ticket deals already closed just a month into 2022.
India’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) market had a cracking 2021 and is charging full speed ahead into 2022. According to RazorPay’s The Covid Era of Rising Fintech report, the India BNPL market grew more than 637% in 2021, even better than 2020’s 569% growth. For its part, India BNPL firm ZestMoney found in a recent survey that BNPL is the top payment option for Indian consumers across all age groups – though most users of the service in subcontinent are ages 23-26. ZestMoney said that its BNPL transactions rose 300% annually in 2021.
Across Asia, new ground is being covered daily in product personalization by fintech disruptors. Superapps like China's Alipay and India's Paytm are delivering hyper-personalised offerings that can specifically target their customers’ ever-changing needs. Digital finance players are using data to meet unique customer challenges and create seamless, omnichannel experiences, taking a lesson from E-commerce platforms that have introduced live streaming of unique products and continued to put a heavy emphasis on personal discovery and curation. However you look at it, consumer data is on a new playing field.
India’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector is red hot and expected to grow exponentially over the next few years. India is certainly not the first country to experience a BNPL surge and it is tempting to say that we have seen this movie before, and that tough regulation is on the way that will curb BNPL’s growth as in Australia and the UK. But that may not be the case in India given the subcontinent’s low level of credit card penetration and the ability for BNPL to play a genuine financial inclusion role in the economy.
The Philippines is accelerating digitization of payments, both domestically and cross-border, in line with a goal of the country’s central bank (BSP) for 50% of retail payments to be cashless by 2023. One of the most important new developments in this space is the link-up between the respective real-time and QR payments systems of the Philippines and Singapore.


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Suzhou City-based AI and speech technology company AISpeech announced today it had raised CN¥500 million (US$76 million) in Series D Funding led by Oriza Holdings and China Minsheng Investment Group. Chinese media reports the company is also planning an IPO on a local stock exchange.
AISpeech was founded in 2007 by University of Cambridge graduates CEO Shixing Gao and Chief scientist Kai Yu. The company develops human-machine interaction technologies with a specific research interest in natural language, speech recognition and synthesis, and voiceprints.
While Google and Amazon market their own smart speakers, AISpeech plays its role in the underlying technologies. The company boasts that over 100 million devices — speakers, home appliances, cars, robots — have accessed its APIs. AISpeech has also developed an enterprise version of a Siri-like AI business assistant.
AISpeech is also said to be exploring the AI chip sector. According to Chinese media 36Kr, the company is expected to announce a joint venture with an as yet undisclosed chip giant for the development of embedded AI chips for IoT devices. The aim is to strengthen smart voice capability, noise reduction, intelligent awakening, semantic understanding, etc.
CEO Gao says the company balanced its books in 2017 and is expected to achieve profitability in 2018.
Journalist: Tony Peng | Editor: Michael Sarazen


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The Lego Takeover exhibit is coming to The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens this spring, and shoppers can enjoy the display and activities for FREE, according to the mall’s website.
The exhibit runs from Friday, April 28 through Monday, May, 15, 2017. It is open to the public and admission-free during all mall hours, the website said.
RELATED: Deal Alert: This store is closing in PB Outlets
This is the first time the exhibit, which includes life-sized figures made entirely of Lego bricks, has been on display in Florida, the website said.
“There will be nearly 50 Lego models throughout the mall, including characters from The Lego Batman Movie, Marvel Comics and DC Comics Super Heroes, Lego Ninjago, and Disney princesses,” the website says.
Mall visitors (both kids and adults) can also build their own creations in the shopping hub’s Nordstrom Court.
There will be an area where Lego lovers can make a race car out of bricks, and then race it down special ramps. Shoppers can also put their Lego creations on display in a special art gallery, the website said.


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In an advanced statement, the Bank for International Settlements and the Bank of England announced the completion of Project Rosalind. The financial watchdogs revealed plans to release soon the central bank digital currency (CBDC), commonly known as Britcoin.
After analyzing the development of Britcoin, the developers agreed to integrate peer-to-peer payments to reduce transaction costs. In July 2022, the BIS and BoE entered into a partnership agreement to work towards developing an application programming interface (API) that blends with the Rosalind requirements.
Reportedly the joint effort aimed at exploring various API prototypes that support CBDC use in the retail sector.
Scope of Project Rosalind CBDC Test
Following the launch of project Rosalind, the financial watchdogs agreed to subdivide the projects into two main phases. In the primary phase, the project team integrated revolutionary tools to support developers in building new financial tools crucial to addressing financial crimes.
Additionally, in phase two of project Rosalind, the regulators invested in improving the payment system to improve efficiency and reduce transaction costs.
Subsequently, the regulators engage in testing the functionality of 33 APIs to be integrated into the retail CBDC. During the trials of the APIs, the CBDC use was experimented to around 30 retailers.
Furthermore, the developers examined effective strategies to launch the CBDC on mobile phones, retail vendor machines, and other online stores. It was observed that the regulators conducted extensive research to strengthen the programmability of the digital currency.
Programmability is the latest development used in the customization of digital money, which trains the fiat to behave according to the set conditions.Recently market critics questioned whether CBDC programmability could act against the instructions provided.
BoE Expands CBDC Use Case
Per the BIS and BoE observation, the API technologies have enormous potential to improve the relationship between most apex banks and private financial institutions in providing CBDC for retail use. They noted that the Rosalind project supported the central bank to improve its financial tools.
In a press release, the head of the BIS London Innovation Hub, Francesca Road, restated that the Rosalind project enabled the regulators to explore ways to integrate API protocol on the retail CBDC. Road noted that through the Rosalind project, the financial regulators introduced a range of various use cases of the CBDC to support the security and safety of the platform.
In a separate report, the Deputy Governor of BoE, Jon Cunliffe, stated that despite project Rosalind’s completion, the proposed CBDC launch might take much longer.Speaking at the Politico Global Tech Day event, Cunliffe confirmed that the CBDC launch was seven out of ten towards completion.


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Vinyl records show resurgence in UK
November 27 , 2014
Over a million vinyl records have been sold in Britain this year, for the first time since 1996, according to media reports.
The figure was reached in November.
The Endless River by Pink Floyd has become the fastest-selling vinyl release in 17 years.
The popularity is surprising considering most music is digital now. However, industry experts say vinyl will continue to remain a niche market.
Vinyl is not just another form of listening to music, but considered as an art form by fans.


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(ZDNet) — Wonder Workshop has released Wonder, a new app that aims to introduce a robotics coding language for kids that “turns computer science into every day child’s play.” The app released a May announcement that Wonder Workshop raised $6.9 million from new investor WI Harper Group and several existing investors, including Madrona Venture Group, and Maven Ventures. That investment brought total funding to around $16 million, and Wonder Workshop said it would use the cash to continue expanding into new markets.
Wonder Workshop is seeking to create a new product category. In order to survive and build exposure, it’s vital that it brings credibility to claims that its robots provide significant educational benefits. Wonder Workshop has been particularly successful, positioning its Dash & Dot programmable robot system for kids as a tool for early STEM education, a focal point in recent conversations about curriculum development and national competitiveness.Tags: Madrona Venture Group, Maven Ventures, robotics, STEM, Wonder Workshop


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The automotive sector will change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 50. And the world is heading towards a cleaner transport system with benefits for the environment and for consumers as vehicles leave fossil fuels behind and go electric, argues Colin McKerracher, head of advanced transport at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Also, ownership patterns are set to change as a number of people opt to buy kilometres of mobility rather than secure a vehicle of their own – autonomous vehicles are set to debut in the 2020s and would accelerate this trend.
“At high utilisation rates, electric vehicles have much lower costs per kilometre and could be ideal for these types of applications,” McKerracher points out.
Automakers are pushing this along too. Volkswagen’s MOIA, future mobility subsidiary recently showed off a new electric vehicle designed explicitly for ridesharing. The EV, plus key supporting sharing infrastructure, will launch first in Hamburg. It boasts a range of over 300 km and can be charged to 80% in around half an hour.
There’s still work to be done to encourage adoption, with charging infrastructure still a major barrier, particularly in urban areas with limited off-street parking. Plus supply constraints for key battery materials such as cobalt, lithium and graphite could still slow down a continuation of the cost declines seen in recent years.


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Our Start-up of the Week is Titans24, a security-as-a-service platform designed to protect SME enterprise data.
Based in Wrocław, Poland, Titans24 is a cybersecurity start-up co-founded by CEO Mateusz Romanów. Prior to starting the infosec business, Romanów was head of business at a creative agency called 25wat.
With a portfolio of 240 clients in six countries, Romanów quickly became aware of the need for accessible cybersecurity for those clients and other businesses that use the internet to communicate with existing and potential customers.
“In 10 years of leading my creative agency, I’ve seen enough neglect in the digital security sphere among the clients we served in Poland and abroad,” he told Siliconrepublic.com.
“I spoke to CEOs and many admitted that they [would] fortify their cybersecurity if somebody could do that for them at a good price. It just wasn’t an immediate priority for them.”
As well as his creative and cybersecurity ventures, Romanów also co-founded Arbuzz, which is one of Poland’s first augmented reality applications.
‘My challenge is to bring the human-centred design aspect into the technology we produce, so the platform is seen as adaptable regardless of the confusion that the subject of cybersecurity might bring to some’
– MATEUSZ ROMANÓW
When asked to described Titans24 in a nutshell, Romanów said that, first and foremost, the start-up was founded to protect businesses from cyberattacks.
“Titans24 is a security-as-a-service platform for SMEs that host web services, data and documents. [We protect these files] in containers with 11 active protection layers. Think of it as a digital bank vault.”
For now, the start-up is targeting European businesses. “Our niche in the $4.5bn e-commerce market is where SMEs require enterprise-level data protection that costs less than single cloud solutions from AWS, Azure or IBM Security,” Romanów continued.
“Titans24 was designed for those responsible for maintaining web services and web applications – non-technical business owners and also system admins, web developers and freelancers. There are at least 23m companies in the European Union that we can connect with.”
However, he added that it can be challenging to be present in two dimensions at once – the user dimension and the technological dimension. “Our users, who are often non-technical company owners, would rather stay away from the technological world.
“My everyday challenge is to bring the human-centred design aspect into the technology we produce, so that the platform is seen as adaptable regardless of the confusion that the subject of cybersecurity might bring to some.”
The technology behind Titans24
Romanów believes that “everyone has digital resources that must be secured”, and that Titans24 will be able to stand out from other cybersecurity start-ups.
“The shared responsibility model employed by almost every large cloud and hosting service provider is deeply flawed. Providers only secure their parts of the software stack and the customer is obliged to make sure that their applications are used in a secure and compliant manner.
“Our platform was designed to secure assets in a fail-safe environment with all-year-round technology updates that do the heavy lifting. Each project is placed in a container, which is protected by 11 active security layers. These include swarm intelligence, multi-level firewall and risk mitigation, among others.”
Each data container is stored on three different servers, which are connected to each other in real time. To keep costs down, these servers are rented.
“The underlying infrastructure consists of hardware located in EU countries within server hubs from Ataman, OVH and GCE,” Romanów explained. “Titans24 tech stack includes Cloudflare, GitHub, Drone, CoreOS, Docker, Swarm, Elasticsearch and Prometheus.”
Plans for the future
The company has a number of ongoing commercial projects at the moment and plans to finalise another version of its client panel, which will allow the start-up to connect with a larger audience. “Our next milestone is to service more than 200 projects,” Romanów said.
Titans24 is currently on the lookout for investment, with the goal of raising $5m to $6m in the next three years. “The focus here is also on acquiring a business mentor with a network of tech contacts. We’d use the funding to expand the team, launch an internal R&D lab, run further penetration tests and to crank up marketing,” Romanów added.
“In two to three years from funding, we’d like to scale our platform to cover smart devices for intelligent houses, IoT hardware, drones, AR and VR devices and autonomous vehicle software.”
Romanów joked: “Further on, we aim to cover all the gimmicks from Blade Runner – software for artificial limbs and biomechanical components, autonomous assembly lines and chip implants.”
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February 2018 Eurozone consumer confidence flash 20 February 2018
- Prior 1.3. Revised to 1.4
Apparently stock market jitters are to blame for the drop. Who’d have thought it?
I don’t know what’s more worrying, the fall in sentiment or that the majority of European’s are all long stocks.
- Catch the all new Flow Show starting Monday 16th May - May 13, 2022
- Has the EUR worm turned? - April 21, 2022
- Exclusive – Large natural gas field discovered in France could ease Europe’s dependency on Russian supplies - April 1, 2022


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There’s a new, easy-breezy way to get around the Walt Disney World Resort. Starting Sunday, Sept. 29, guests can ride the Disney Skyliner from four Disney resort hotels to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Dubbed “the most magical flight on Earth,” the Disney Skyliner whisks guests away in colorful gondolas above the treetops, giving a bird’s-eye view of the parks and hotels below. The new transportation system connects Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios with Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and the new Disney’s Riviera Resort, a Disney Vacation Club property opening on Dec. 16.
Additionally, the five resorts in the Epcot Resort area are within walking distance of the transportation system: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Walt Disney World Swan and Walt Disney World Dolphin.
“You get a whole new appreciation of Walt Disney World when you see it from up there,” said Thomas Mazloum, senior vice president at the Walt Disney World Resort, at a dedication ceremony for the Disney Skyliner this morning. He noted that cast members have coined the term “Disney Skyliner hair” for the ruffled hairdos guests experience while riding in the breezy gondolas.
Disney Skyliner’s nearly 300 cabins were “specifically designed for the type of weather in Central Florida,” said Trevor Ocock, director of transportation operations at Walt Disney World Resort. Covered with a protective film to keep out direct sunlight, the cabins feature vented windows and floors that maximize airflow, resulting in a cool, breezy ride with comfortable seating.
Each of the vibrantly colored cabins—many with exterior character theming—seats up to 10. Recorded announcements describe the sights below—noting, for example, when guests are gliding over the headwaters to the Everglades or along Buena Vista Drive, “named after Buena Vista Street in Burbank, California, where the Walt Disney Company’s headquarters are still located today.” Epcot’s Spaceship Earth and the Hollywood Tower Hotel, home to Tower of Terror, are among the iconic locations visible from the gondolas.
Guests board Disney Skyliner at five boarding stations, each with a design that reflects its surroundings. In addition to the stations at Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Caribbean Beach Resort and Riviera Resort, a shared station on Hourglass Lake serves the Pop Century Resort and Art of Animation Resort.
All Walt Disney World guests are welcome to ride Disney Skyliner, not just those staying in the connected resorts.
“And we hope that they do, because it is such a great experience,” said Ocock. He noted the beautiful rooftops and pools visible above the Caribbean Beach Resort, for example. “It’s such a different vantage point, and each line has a unique perspective and view.”
The Disney Skyliner’s debut “is really part of our continuous investment in truly transforming Walt Disney World and getting us ready for our 50th anniversary in 2021,” said Mazloum, pointing to such recent expansions as the July opening of Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, the new NBA Experience at Disney Springs, and the recently opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. “This is a wonderful new addition to Walt Disney World Resort as we constantly change and evolve to improve our guest experience all the time.”
Source: Read Full Article


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The National Board of Revenue is likely to reduce source tax on proceeds from all export items, including apparels, to 0.25 percent to help increase competitiveness of local products in international markets.
An NBR annual report mentioned that the tax authority got Tk 2,136 crore in fiscal 2016-17 from the source, up 17 percent from Tk 1,811 crore a year ago. The tax cut will cause a loss of quite a good amount of revenue.
However, it is considered to cut the tax at source so that entrepreneurs can implement the new wages for garment workers.
Basically, the move came followed the demands from garments and knitwear manufacturers and exporters after the withholding tax on export earnings went up to 1 percent on the first day of July because of expiry of reduced source tax benefit on June 30 this year.
The tax authority reduced advance or source tax on export earnings of readymade garments twice last fiscal year — from 1 percent to 0.60 percent to 0.25 percent– in the face of demands from apparel markers.
Apart from garments, jute goods were enjoying 0.60 percent withholding tax on export proceeds since July 1, 2016. The reduced rate ended on June 30, 2019.
The source tax on export proceeds from jute goods is also likely to be reduced to 0.25 percent for the current fiscal year. A notification in this regard will be published soon.


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Year-on-year, food prices slowed to 8.1 percent from 8.8 percent in January mainly due to a deceleration of vegetable prices (3.99 percent from 16.6 percent in the previous month). Cost of onions fell 20 percent on the year, but milk and food prices accelerated to 8.45 percent and 9.92 percent, respectively.
Cost of non-food articles rose at a fastest 5.13 percent year-on-year; prices of manufactured goods were unchanged at 2.76 percent and cost of fuel and power slowed by 1.28 percentage point to 8.75 percent.
On a monthly basis, prices were flat. The index for food declined by 0.3 percent due to lower price of poultry chicken, eggs, gram and fruits and vegetables, maize and barley and ragi, tea, bajra and arhar.
While prices of minerals and fuel and power declined by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, cost of non-food and manufactured products increased 0.6 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
Core WPI inflation, which strips out prices of volatile food and fuel, accelerated to 3.15 percent from 3 percent in January.


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$19 billion supermarket chain Sainsbury’s Christmas advertisement entitled “The Greatest Gift” is trending to be one of the most popular ads from major retailers and supermarkets globally this year, with over 12.5 million views on YouTube already. The Sainsbury’s advertisement production team recently stated in an interview that 3D printing technology was utilized as one of the core technologies during the development process of their stop frame animation.
Featuring vocals by James Corden, one of the most successful late-night television talk show hosts in Europe, the stop frame advertisement from Sainsbury’s has garnered positive feedback from its consumers and global audience. Various popularity polls suggested that Sainsbury’s “The Greatest Gift” is catching up to fellow retail giant John Lewis’ Christmas advert entitled “Buster the Boxer,” in terms of impressions and audience feedback.
Sam Fell, the director of Passion Animation Studios, a film production company contracted to develop Sainsbury’s stop frame short film, explained that in the old days, each puppet, toy and prop featured in films had to be made by hand. Traditional manufacturing methods of puppets made it increasingly difficult to add complexity into the characters and impart a particular vibe or aura to the film.
“When I started, you could use clay or sculpt plasticine under a camera or you could build mechanisms within the faces. As charming as they are, both of them have some limitations,” said Fell. “You can’t quite get the range of expressions you want to get to bring the character alive.”
To add a variety of facial expressions, complex features and more intensity into the characteristics of the figurines, Fell and his team utilized 3D printing technology to create figures layer by layer. Fell explained that the precision of 3D printing allowed the team to create figurines and puppets with diversity and unique characteristics.
“So, what we did was use this new method and technology called rapid prototype 3D printing. So with Dave (one of the main characters of the stop frame film), we probably made around 800 different expressions for him in a computer,” said Fell.
More importantly, the behind the scenes interview with Fell and the rest of the filmmakers revealed that a highly advanced 3D scanning and imaging tool was used to accurately portray the various emotions of Dave. The 3D scanning and visualization tool further enabled the team to integrate a wider color scheme.
Almost immediately after the 3D scanning tool finalized the proportions, a 3D printer was able to print out rapid prototypes or, in this particular case, the final product within a matter of minutes. Through 3D printing, the team led by Fell was able to produce hundreds of different emotions per every character, which would have been impossible with traditional manufacturing methods.
The difficulty in hand crafting these emotions goes beyond time consumption. Sculptures have a limit of expressions and variety of characters they can envision. Thus, it will be nonviable to create facial expressions based on the sculptor’s imagination. With 3D scanning software in place, the entire team was able to weigh in on the development of characters, without having to place the burden on the sculptors.
“There are a lot of different emotions he goes through. Small changes in the face are the most powerful thing,” added Fell.
With various 3D printing technologies, Sainsbury’s and its filmmakers were able to produce some of the most beautiful stop frame shots and animation work of 2016. You can take a behind-the-scenes look at the video’s production below:
Discuss in the Sainsbury’s forum at 3DPB.com.[All images/video: Sainsbury’s/Passion Animation Studios]
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As thousands travelled to Brighton Pride this weekend to see a certain pop superstar, demand for accommodation skyrocketed in the city.
A record-breaking 57,000 people watched Britney Spears perform her Piece of Me set in Preston Park on Saturday evening, rounding off a day full of LGBTQ celebrations.
That influx had a direct effect on local residents renting out their homes, according to Airbnb’s latest data.
They reported that their hosts welcomed more than 5,000 guests across the weekend, as people spilled into the seaside city for the Pride parade and festivities.
Airbnb have estimated that local residents have earned a combined total of £50,000 due to the influx of demand, which is based on the average daily rate of £110 per room per night.
Brighton Pride…. all 57,000 of you are perfectly beautiful. Heard it was a record breaking turnout!!! Thank you for a fabulous show…my fabulous fans. I love you all 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈 pic.twitter.com/Os1dxf5R52
— Britney Spears (@britneyspears) August 4, 2018
Most of the guests arriving into Brighton were from London, with Dublin, Bristol, Manchester and Portsmouth all following.
While Britney certainly helped give the city a surge in popularity over Pride weekend, Brighton was already ranked the fourth most popular destination on Airbnb in the UK this summer.
With accommodation and Airbnb Experiences available to book, Brits have been busy taking advantage of the hotter-than-usual weather we have been experiencing.
As for Britney, she took time to thank all of her British fans for an incredible weekend.
“I’ve always loved the UK and this night just made me love it even more,” she tweeted.


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Google’s 2022 hardware line-up kicks off in a matter of weeks, with Google’s Pixel 6a and Pixel Buds Pro set to be available for pre-orders in the coming months. Based on what we’ve learned far, do you planning on purchasing either of them?
Pixel 6a looks like a stellar mid-ranger
In the past, Google’s flagship phones did poorly in sales, while the less expensive A-Series kept the A-Series on the minds of many. Although last year’s Pixel 5a was a bit mediocre, the Pixel 6a may be unique.
It’s the same price as its predecessor. Pixel 6a costs the same price of $449 and is positioned at the bottom of the price ladder. It’s promising to be a steal at that price.
The heart of the Pixel 6a is the exact Google Tensor processor that powered the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro earlier this year, only coupled with a little less RAM, with just 6GB. However, this is a massive improvement compared to the Pixel 4a and 5a. Tensor might not be able to compete with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1; however, it can hold its own concerning performance, even with less RAM. This could result in a “budget” phone that outpowers the competition in its price class.
That’s not enough to mention all the details of the specs sheet. We’re excited to check the smaller size of the 6a, especially in light of the massive Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The battery’s 4,300 mAh capacity, 12.2MP rear camera, and 128GB of memory make up the specs, which, from a paper perspective, looks to be an excellent experience.
Additionally, the phone is expected to have the highest level of support available in the price range offering three years of significant Android updates and five years of security upgrades. Samsung has made much progress through Android upgrades in the last few years; however, even the largest smartphone maker hasn’t been able to match Google’s price performance.
The Pixel 6a goes up for pre-order via Google Store, Google Store, and other major retailers on July 21st (Source).
Pixel Buds Pro could be one of the most popular.
I’m incredibly delighted with this Pixel Buds Pro and everything they say they will deliver.
The features the Pixel Buds brought to the table in 2020 far outweighed the shortcomings of the earbuds. They already had an excellent audio quality cut down compared to Pixel Buds A-Series last year.
Premium features Google’s suite of intelligent features, including the Assistant.
And on top of it is the battery’s 11-hour life, which is phenomenal. That alone is something that I can’t help thinking about because nobody else has achieved it in the last three years.
Pixel Buds Pro looks very appealing at the price of $199 Google has set. This is why I’m planning to submit the pre-order by July 21st.
Which color will you choose?
Do you plan to buy one of them?
Google has stepped up its game for 2022’s hardware lineup. The Pixel 6a and Pixel Buds Pro are only the beginning of it. We’ll see Google’s Pixel 7 series and the Pixel Watch in the coming year.
With all the new Pixel coming releases, Are you planning to order the Pixel 6a and Pixel Buds Pro? Please vote in the poll below, and then let’s discuss it in the comments!


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WSJ: 40 percent of device thefts in NYC are Apple, including a jaw-busting iPad from our own reporter[tweet https://twitter.com/SuzanneKellyCNN]
The Federal Communications Commission revealed last spring that 40 percent of all major city robberies now involve smartphones, but New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said over the weekend that same figure now applies to Apple product-related thefts in New York City, and the Wall Street Journal’s Rolfe Winkler should know first hand, as he was attacked recently while toting an iPad in Brooklyn.
According to the Winkler:
We were buried in an e-book when the subway doors opened at the Bergen Street stop in Brooklyn. In a flash, a pair of hands dove into my date’s lap and ripped away her iPad. Chasing the guy was instinctive. But he had a crew backing him up that I never saw. Instead of winning back the iPad, I found myself lying on the platform bleeding, my jaw split in half.
Winkler then cited a 2011 report from the New York Police Department to detail what he dubbed as “iCrime wave” statistics:
How big is the iCrime wave? National data aren’t available, but in New York, there were more than 26,000 incidents of electronics theft in the first 10 months of 2011—81% involving mobile phones—according to an internal police-department document. In Washington, D.C., cellphone-related robberies jumped 54% from 2007 to 2011, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. And the data may drastically undercount thefts. Since many don’t involve violence, many victims don’t bother reporting them.
Major theft of Apple devices is not limited to New York, however. In May, one notable woman, now known as the “iThief,” stole over 100 iPads across Texas-based Walmarts. The retail giant even caught her on video—check it out.
Retail crime is not as menacing as violent ones, though, such as the case from earlier this month, where several masked assailants carrying assault rifles overtook a truckload of Apple products passing through Aulnay-sous-Bois in Paris.


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SIR Fruit story
South African juice company, Sir Fruit, is dedicated to serving ‘People, Planet and Prosperity’ - and to show how serious they are to their commitment to the Planet they have implemented a number of initiatives to ensure the production of an energy efficient, sustainable and low carbon product.
Assisting them in this journey is the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA). The Soweto-based fruit juice plant signed up to participate in the national programme in (2016??) and are a recipient of support to upgrade their heating and cooling equipment.
“The Soweto-based fruit juice plant has identified appropriate technology that will not only use less energy to cool their product but will replace an efficient geyser as the technology also cools and heats water,” explains Mashudu Madzivhandila, National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA), Project Manager.
“With the support of the programme, Sir Fruit has assessed their current technology and identified more environmentally sustainable technologies that will result in them using far less energy to cool their product and heat water,” explains NCPC-SA project manager, Mashudu Madzivhandila.
The Sir Fruit technology upgrade will reduce the plant energy consumption by an estimated 40%.
This was made possible through a clean technology project funded by the government of Japan, who invested $1.7mil US dollars from 2014 to 2018 in the Low Carbon and Climate Resilient (LCCR) Industrial Development in Africa project in partnership with the United Nations Development Organization (UNIDO).
The project aimed to “apply Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) practices to address associated risks from climate change in vulnerable industries by introducing appropriate mitigation and adaptation technologies as well as approaching governments to adopt relevant national policies and strategies to support climate vulnerable industry. RECP techniques are an improvement process that can be utilized to identify the technology intervention for mitigation and adaptation,” according to the UNIDO.
The Sir Fruit team is motivated by the boost to their sustainability efforts.
“As a business we are on a sustainability journey with the focus being on ‘reinvesting and doing better.’ Even though the LCCR Industrial Development Project focused on the implementation of new technology and not on optimisation, we are now focusing on optimising the existing production process in order to save even more, and make a positive impact on the environment,” says Andreas Janse van Rensburg, Production Manager.
Sir Fruit is not only taking the necessary steps to produce energy efficient fruit juice but ensure their product is bottle is made up of 50% recycled plastic and have started installing solar panels to reduce the plants energy consumption even further.
The LCCR project was implemented by UNIDO internationally and the NCPC-SA locally. Madzivhandila adds that the LCCR was also implemented in Kenya, Senegal and Egypt. To view the full project report, please click here.


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Aug 18, 2020 (LBO) – CEAT Kelani Holdings has announced that in response to the Government’s policies to develop domestic industry, it has stepped up capacity utilisation across all its manufacturing plants to supply the full domestic requirement of truck and bus tyres, thereby helping to conserve much-needed foreign currency for the country.
Rising to the challenge of the temporary import restrictions in place, the Company which already manufactures the majority of Sri Lanka’s tyre requirements said it could supply 100 per cent of the passenger bus and goods transport sectors’ tyre needs through domestic production.
This would represent a saving of Rs 11 billion a year in foreign exchange through import substitution, the Company said.
“The role of local industry is primarily to supply domestic needs and export surplus production, which CEAT Kelani Holdings has done very successfully for many years,” the Company’s Managing Director Mr Ravi Dadlani said. “We have periodically invested in expanding capacity and product range and now export to 16 countries. However, although we can supply 100% of the Truck and Bus tyre requirement with current production, we also have the option if the need arises, to shift some of our export volumes of markets that have not yet opened up to cater to the domestic market and support the government’s effort to reduce foreign exchange outflows.”
Elaborating on the Company’s capacity to meet additional domestic demand created by the restriction of imports, Mr Dadlani disclosed that CEAT Kelani can currently produce two million tyres annually in many categories with an imminent addition within next few of weeks of a further 200,000 Car and Van Radial tyres since new machinery is being installed pending the arrival of foreign technologists to commission the new capacity.
“It is also our opinion that in many applications it is cost-beneficial and a viable alternative to replace imported 10.00 R20 Radial Truck and Bus tyres with locally produced 10.00-20 Heavy Duty 18 PR Bias-ply tyres,” Mr Dadlani said, pointing out that with its ability to be re-treaded multiple times in a lifespan due to its robust heavy duty nylon construction, users can enjoy a lower cost per km from CEAT Truck and Bus tyres. He said this alternative, in addition to saving much-needed foreign exchange to the country, would also support the local tyre re-treading industry which currently is in need of more good quality nylon tyre casings for its growth.
Truck Bus tyres that fit 20-inch rims are among those that have been categorised as restricted for import at present, along with Car radial tyres that fit rims of 12, 13 and 14 inches.
CEAT Kelani has also announced that it has kept the prices of its tyres unchanged since December 2019 to support customers and the economy.
In July the Company launched ‘CEAT LYFMAX’ – a heavy-duty 10.
buy nolvadex online buy nolvadex online no prescription
00 R-20 size Bias-ply tyre for trucks, engineered and built specifically for users who consider heavy load-carrying capability with higher mileage a priority. Each tyre weighs a solid 52kgs (115 pounds) and has been extensively tested and benchmarked against two of the top imported brands attributed with load-carrying credentials in the local market.
CEAT Kelani Holdings is considered one of the most successful India – Sri Lanka joint ventures in the manufacturing sector. The joint venture’s cumulative investment in Sri Lanka to date totals Rs 8 billion, inclusive of Rs 3 billion committed in January 2018 for expansion of volumes, technology upgrades and new product development. The company’s manufacturing operations in Sri Lanka encompass pneumatic tyres in the radial (passenger cars, vans and SUVs), commercial (Bias-ply and radial), motorcycle, three-wheeler and agricultural vehicle segments.


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Revenue slid but profits improved for Little Rock-based retailer Dillard’s. The mall and internet retailer posted profits of $55.2 million on quarterly sales of $1.499 billion in its most recent quarter.
One year ago, Dillard’s posted net income of $50.9 million on revenue of $1.507 billion. Same-store sales declined one percent for Dillard’s.
Dillard’s third quarter profits were boosted by a net after-tax credit of $3.8 million related to the sale of a store location.
The company also completed a share repurchase program, spending $224.5 million for approximately 2 million shares of Class A Common Stock at an average price of $109.89 per share.
Other financial highlights for the quarter included:
• Gross margin from retail operations (which excludes CDI) improved 69 basis points of sales for the 13 weeks ended Nov. 1, 2014 compared to the prior year third quarter. The improvement resulted primarily from increased markups combined with decreased markdowns.
• Consolidated gross margin for the 13 weeks ended Nov. 1, 2014 improved 50 basis points of sales compared to the prior year third quarter.
• Inventory remained unchanged on a percentage basis at Nov. 1, 2014 compared to Nov. 2, 2013.
“Returning cash to shareholders was a high priority during the quarter, and we completed the remaining $224.5 million of share repurchase authorization. Although comparable sales declined 1%, we were pleased with a 69 basis point merchandise gross margin improvement, with our inventory control and with our strong operating cash flow. We believe we are positioned very well for the holiday season, and we look forward to providing premium Dillard’s service to our customers,” said Dillard’s CEO Bill Dillard.
Dillard’s shares (NYSE: DDS) closed trading on Wednesday at $105.43 and were trading nearly 4% higher in pre-market activity. During the past year, the company’s stock has traded between $82.75 and $125.17 per share.


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August 21, 2012
Publishers Press, a family-owned printing company that ranks as North America's fourth-largest publication printer, recently launched a flexographic division. Executive Vice President Michael Simon naturally turned to SCREEN USA for a new flexo digital imaging device. Says Simon: "Our experience with SCREEN is nothing short of extraordinary."
When everything is perfect before you go to press, you know it’s SCREEN.
SCREEN Americas announces that its customer, Data-Mail Inc., of Newington, Connecticut, printed a total of one billion linear feet solely on SCREEN’s technology in the first ten months of 2021.
SCREEN Americas announces the promotion of Paul Chandonnet to vice president of sales for the company’s High-Speed Inkjet Solutions division.


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In last week’s blog post, we wrote about disposable glove thickness, which can be a source of confusion for end users (and sometimes even distributors). This week we examine how to choose the right glove material for the job.
When the coronavirus went global in early 2020, the disposable glove market was turned upside down. Inventory of nitrile gloves—far and away the most popular—soon dropped as pricing rose substantially. Now, a year later, nitrile inventory is coming back, prices are coming down, and the amount of available gloves is working its way back to pre-pandemic levels.


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The U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries in the world that allow drug companies to advertise directly to consumers. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows just how powerful that opportunity is for Big Pharma.
Direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S. increased substantially from 2009 to 2013. The study focused on the marketing of testosterone replacement therapies, the biggest selling product being AndroGel manufactured by AbbVie.
Testosterone therapy is intended for men with hypogonadism, a condition in which the body does not produce enough of the male hormone due to defect or disease. It is not intended for men with age-related hypogonadism.
However, drug companies like AbbVie heavily marketed AndroGel to consumers, coining the phrase “Low T,” and encouraging men to ask their doctors if they were candidates for hormone replacement therapy. The products, the ads promised, would help increase sex drive and muscle mass, and even help improve mood.
For the study, researchers found that among 75 designated markets where testosterone products were advertised, there was an increase in testosterone tests and new initiation of therapy as well as initiation of therapy without testing. The highest intensity of testosterone ads was seen in the southeastern U.S., the researchers noted.
As a result, in 2012, sales of AndroGel jumped more than 55 percent, driven largely by the off-label use of the product for so-called Low T. The hormone treatment became AbbVie’s second highest money maker behind its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira.
Beginning in 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began cracking down on manufacturers of testosterone treatments, more notably after studies revealed that use of the drugs were linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots, some of which could be fatal.
AbbVie and other testosterone manufacturers face a growing number of lawsuits alleging the companies aggressively marketed the drug directly to consumers for off-label use while failing to warn of potential cardiovascular risks.
Source: BioPharma Dive


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It's the kind of move that could put Mexican food fans in the pits.
More than 40 Dallas-Fort Worth Chipotle Mexican Grill locations might soon be missing guacamole from their menus.
The Denver-based company said that factors such as the weather are driving up costs and may cause it to remove the item from its menu, according to the Denver Business Journal.
The company uses 97,000 pounds of avocados daily to make its guacamole, the Journal reported, for which it already charges additional money.
Cost increases of other ingredients are also fueling the issue, according to PBS NewsHour. And in that case, the company could either raise prices or nix portions of its menu. The company could consider removing guacamole or one or more salsas, according to its annual report.
Chipotle said the removal of any items would be temporary, the Denver Business Journal reported.
Keep your eyes peeled. With numerous Dallas-Fort Worth Tex-Mex chains also serving up dishes slathered with the green stuff, Chipotle may not be the only one considering the change.


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Updated from April 8th to reflect launch date has been moved up to April 9.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you really want to watch the new season of Game of Thrones without a cable subscription, Time Warner's (TWX) HBO and Dish Network's (DISH) - Get Free ReportSling TV are doing everything they can to make that possible.
Sling TV, which has taken the cord-cutting world by storm, announced that HBO will be available on its over-the-top (OTT) service starting April 11, prior to the Game of Thrones season 5 debut, set for April 12.
UPDATE: Sling has announced that HBO will actually launch April 9 and not April 11 as originally indicated.
The original launch date was supposed to be April 8, but the company decided to combine the launch along with an app update, which includes enhancements to reduce load on the company's servers, as well as parental controls and the ability to find shows easier on certain devices, including ones from Amazon, Roku and the Xbox One.
Sling TV has been busy adding packages and add-ons to its core $20-a-month service. Sling has been one of the more high-profile OTT services, which allow users to watch live television without subscribing to cable. The company has not disclosed how many subscribers it has, but it's thought to have at least 100,000 users.
The addition of HBO (including its on-demand content) for an extra $15 a month, which Sling announced last month, is one of the more high-profile offerings Sling has added in recent weeks. HBO will be available via every device and platform that supports Sling TV, including Amazon (AMZN) - Get Free Report Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku players, Roku TV models, the Xbox One, Android, iOS, Mac and PC.
The other high-profile addition was AMC (AMCX) - Get Free Report, home of the zombie phenomenon The Walking Dead, as well as Better Call Saul and the upcoming Walking Dead spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead.
In addition to its core package, Sling TV also offers packages that cater towards sports, entertainment, kids, news or lifestyles for an additional $5 a month each.
Sling TV, which was was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, has been singled out as a landmark in OTT video services for several reasons. Not only is the service relatively inexpensive, it also gives watchers access to channels such as CNN, TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Cartoon Network, and perhaps most importantly, ESPN and ESPN2. Those two sports channels, owned by Walt Disney (DIS) - Get Free Report, have never been available via this type of service. Disney CEO Bob Iger recently called the deal to allow Sling to carry them an "experiment" to gauge consumer interest.
On Dish's Feb. 23 conference call, Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch said the service was going about as expected. Lynch noted Sling TV is catering more toward a younger crowd that skews male, at least initially.
"It is a little early to tell, sort of long term, what this means, but we are encouraged by it," Lynch said.
One question is whether Sling can handle the additional traffic HBO is sure to bring. Over the weekend, some Sling TV users received error messages when trying to stream the NCAA Tournament Final Four games. In a statement, Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch blamed it on higher-than-expected traffic.
"Despite our best planning, we experienced an unprecedented combination of new customer signups and high levels of viewership," Lynch said in a written statement.


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Wincanton has won an eFulfiment contract with Homebase to provide what it describes as “a fully managed customer delivery service”. The deal is part of Wincanton’s eFulfilment proposition. It involves the provision of a carrier management service, which is the result of collaboration between Wincanton and software company Sorted. The service will go live in July 2019, and it is estimated will involve more than 300,000 customer deliveries from Homebase DCs during its first year of operation. Read more Wincanton […]
Amazon is to open a fulfilment centre in Daventry, Northamptonshire next year. It is the third new site the company has announced plans for in recent months.
Customers’ willingness to shake up the status quo will stand Wincanton in good stead whatever challenges lie ahead, according to its boss.


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A team from Hugh James, led by partners Gerallt Jones and Peter Hurn, has advised longstanding client Walters Group on the sale of its Land Rover dealership in Hay-on-Wye. The business was acquired by the Sinclair Group, Wales’s largest franchised car retailer.
The acquisition adds another premium brand to Sinclair Group’s portfolio which includes Audi, Mercedes-Benz, SEAT, Skoda, smart, Volkswagen Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in 20 dealership locations across South Wales. All 35 staff from Likes have transferred into the Sinclair Group, adding to its already 950 strong workforce.
Dai Walters, chairman of the Walters Group, said:
“Since purchasing Likes in 2009, we have established it as one of the top ranking Land Rover dealerships in the UK. We are delighted that Sinclair, as a local family run Welsh-based company, has acquired the business and we know that their expertise will ensure the business goes from strength to strength.
“I wish Andy Sinclair and his team all the very best for the future.”
He added “I would also like to thank our team from Hugh James for their support in helping us to conclude this deal. As always, their advice and guidance was invaluable.”
“We are very proud to have worked with Dai and his team at Walters Group for many years across their diverse portfolio of commercial activities. We are also delighted to have been part of a deal between two fantastic Welsh businesses which will see both of them benefit in terms of their respective commercial strategies.”


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01 Mar 1996
Britain s ad industry is to press the Government to relieve the Home
Office of its remaining...Britain s ad industry is to press the Government to relieve the Home
Office of its remaining controls on advertising and hand them over to
the Independent Television Commission and the Advertising Standards
Authority. The move follows this week s relaxation of controls on gaming
advertising. Andrew ...
28 Mar 1996
| by PATRICK BARRETT
of millions of British cows?
The government has come under fire for its reluctance to take a tough ...
chief medical officer stating the government s policy on the issue.
Christopherson says the government will launch a press campaign,
probably through Ogilvy s and Tesco are reviewing their product ...
28 Mar 1996
can leave it stronger than it was before.
Consider the government. If it had ordered ...
is not the scientific
facts but what the public considers to be true.
Once the government retreated so much ...
08 Mar 1996
in New York, with a view to a probable spring launch.
The Government plans to tighten its ...
, plus Y s
decision by the Government to preserve top sporting events on
terrestrial TV ...


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The Taiwan-based Electronics giant, Foxconn, admitted on Tuesday that a plant investigation discovered underage residents as young as 14 years of age in its manufacturing plant situated in Yantai city, China.
The underage interns were brought back to their respective schools, as only people aged 16 and above are considered legal workers in China.
The company is a property of the Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Corporation, and is popular for being the maker of the Apple iPhone, but the company denies the Yantai plant being affiliated with Apple.
School investigations to determine how the underage workers entered the factory are currently being conducted. The number of underage workers found, however remain undisclosed.
Foxconn, in a released statement, says that they would take full responsibility for the violations, and that they have issued an apology to the students involved.
Also, Foxconn workers found to be accountable for the law breach would be fired promptly. A group for labor rights, China Labor Watch claims that the intern’s schools are primarily accountable for the incident, but Foxconn is at fault for not double-checking the ages of the interns.
Foxconn is a manufacturer of Apple iPhones and iPads, and is also a product assembler for Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. The said company did not state the products manufactured in the place the underage interns worked.


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As history is our witness, those that don’t innovate with the times often get left behind. Previously, people questioned whether the internet would take off and thought that mobile phones would never replace landlines. But, as most of us can see, these, and other technologies, have revolutionized the way businesses work and changed our lives.
We’re in an age of rapid innovation. You may be familiar with today’s buzzwords: blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G. But how will these technologies, and others, like hybrid cloud, change the way we do business in 2020? If you’re on the frontline of innovation, here’s what to look out for.
The start of a decade, the beginning of new tech
Here are five tech trends that will affect the way we do business in 2020.
Trend #1: 5G
The fifth generation of mobile internet connectivity. Think super-fast downloads of your favorite box sets, low latency cloud computing and social robots. 5G was introduced in 2019, but 2020 will be the year of super-fast. As we increase available bandwidth, industrial machines, robots and autonomous vehicles will be able to collect and transfer more data than ever, meaning they’ll integrate into our workflows and lives sooner.
The latter, driverless vehicles, is particularly important. Volkswagen has optimized traffic flow for 10,000 taxis in Beijing for 2020, while Google’s sister company Waymo has recently completed a trial of autonomous taxis in California, where it transported 6,200 people in its first month.
But don’t get too comfortable – China has already started developing a 6G network.
Trend #2: Quantum computing
Following on from 5G, quantum computing – supercomputers, mostly – are on the cusp of becoming a reality. It’s vital for the next generation of AI, especially when research shows the amount of computing power needed to train today’s AI devices is rising seven times faster than before. Quantum computing can have positive business effects; Google and Volkswagen are already experimenting with it to accelerate battery development in self-driving vehicles.
Other firms are making moves. Airbus is experimenting with quantum computing to improve fuel efficiency for its fleet, while NASA is using it to improve the way they solve aeronautic problems. A marker that if a business invests in quantum computing wholesale – which will take some time – we’ll be able to innovate new technologies at hyperspeed.
Trend #3: Blockchain
You’ve no doubt heard about it, but it’s not the easiest technology to understand. Blockchain is essentially a digital ledger that securely records and stores transactions, which are encrypted and can’t easily be changed. We’ll probably start to see the results of industry-wide investment in blockchain sooner rather than later: corporates leading the way include FedEx, IBM, Walmart and MasterCard. According to a Gartner survey, 60 percent of chief information officers (CIOs) are expecting to deliver blockchain development in their company between now and 2022.
Admittedly, adoption remains relatively low at the enterprise level, but that’ll soon change. Especially with the arrival of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra. The real trend, however, could be the power of blockchain to protect the internet of things (IoT) connected devices.
IoT means numerous devices will become connected sooner than we think, which could lead to a myriad of security challenges. But blockchain could be its secret guardian. It will help devices make automated micro-exchanges. For example, you could set up a scheduled payment to a video streaming service, and blockchain tech will make the payment quickly and safely.
Who knows, we might even see brand new job openings; as blockchain uptake increases, designated crypto-traders (tasked with forex trading cryptocurrencies for companies) or crypto community managers (managers for blockchain projects) could become hot new roles in tech.
Trend #4: Data policing
More of a heads up, this one. As businesses become more digital, and exposed to more data, laws and policing will become tighter than today. According to Gartner, by 2020, the backup and archiving of personal data will represent the most significant privacy risk for 70 percent of organizations. If your business is one of them, it’s time to think about how you can best protect that data. Why? Because you probably don’t want to end up on lists of data breaches like this.
Trend #5: The distributed cloud
The research is in: by 2022, 75 percent of data will be created outside of a centralized cloud system, which has no location and is accessible by those who have the right credentials. However, the distributed cloud is more localized. It’s at an early stage, but mostly it means cloud services in specific locations will benefit from quicker connections where cloud systems are closer to the point of contact.
All that glitters is not gold
Evolving technologies bring ground-breaking possibilities and new ideas but also new security vulnerabilities and threats. Amongst these are cyberattacks that will leverage training-data poisoning (when hackers cause an AI system to fail by feeding it incorrect data), AI model theft or adversarial samples to attack AI-powered systems.
Two key elements will be needed to protect business innovations as AI becomes more commonplace. You’ll need to invest in critical employee cybersecurity training and machine learning will be used to automate the cybersecurity process which will, in turn, identify cyberattacks and defend against them.


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Reynaers has taken its marketing to the next level by investing in a series of radio ads to underpin its latest campaign.
The adverts will run throughout October and November on LBC and Smooth, popular stations in the South-East, and will support Reynaers’ Quality is Nothing campaign. Listen to the advert here.
The campaign focuses on Reynaers’ commitment to quality and delivering outstanding products that customers can rely on. A new website has been set up where architects and specifiers can find out how Reynaers products can enable them to achieve the same level of quality in their projects:
Hugh Moss, Reynaers’ Head of Marketing, said: “This year we have moved our marketing to a new level, to help fabricators, specifiers and installers realise the benefits of Reynaers’ products and customer support.
“We’re celebrating 50 successful years this month, a half-century milestone that wouldn’t have been possible without continuous investment in areas such as research and development. We believe this latest investment will help pave the way for continued future growth.”
The latest investment follows on from a series of high end R-Cuisine events, which featured an exquisite 10-course tasting menu and overnight stay in a luxurious hotel. Participants got the chance to take part in the Top Gear 'Star in a reasonably priced car' track experience.


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Brooklyn Finally Gets a Japanese Market of Its OwnThe expansive Japan Village in Sunset Park combines a grocery store with an array of street-style food stalls
Saying that Brooklyn is a food destination is, at the end of 2018, a full-on platitude. Yet, despite the worldwide culinary experience the borough has been offering, Japanese cuisine has had a shortage of representation. At least until now.
Since mid November, the 20,000-sq.-ft. Japan Village in Sunset Park’s Industry City has been in soft-opening mode (a grand-opening date remains to be announced), with offerings ranging from an outpost of Manhattan’s Japanese supermarket Sunrise Mart to back-alley-style stalls that celebrate the wide variety of Japanese comfort food ranging from ramen to okonomiyaki, the decadent savory pancakes. Opening soon are an izakaya-style pub, a Japanese liquor store and, eventually, a dry-goods store offering pottery, stationery and cosmetics.
“We first started looking at this concept two years ago,” said Jim Somoza, Industry City’s director of development. “We realized that there was no Japanese market in Brooklyn at all.” He recalls that, when he was living in Manhattan before relocating to Brooklyn, he frequently visited Katagiri, a storied Japanese grocery.
“I moved to Brooklyn and I realized Japanese food really resonates with people because it’s an exotic Asian food that is also accessible and healthy.” It’s the healthy component that, he believes, sets Japanese food apart from what Americans normally associate with Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean fare.
Looking for a partner to develop the idea, Industry City reached out to Sunrise Mart and Katagiri, getting an enthusiastic response from Tony Yoshida, whose family owns several businesses including Sunrise Market and the Michelin-starred Kyo Ya. Somoza recalls a lot of “What if we did this?” and “What if we did that?” as the two parties planned the new Brooklyn marketplace. “It’s the best when that happens,” said Somoza, “because I am not just trying to sell them Industry City, and they’re not just trying to sell me on the concept. We both married right away.”
The food stalls offer a gamut of Japanese styles including bento, ramen, rice bowls, Japanese appetizers and Teppanyaki griddle-cooked steak and lobster. The stalls share an aesthetic that, thankfully, eschews a Disneyland-like idea of a Japanese food hall. In other words, they’re clean but not culturally sterile.
The grocery-store component of the marketplace contains a selection of locally hard-to-find items including the green-tea matcha KitKat candy bar; Milky yogurt in a collagen-and-honey flavor; and Tamari Shoyu Sekigahara soy sauce, containing licorice root. The forthcoming dry-goods store will also feature Japanese cosmetics, which tend to offer high quality and moderate prices. “We don’t want to lose the crafts, the small-scale producers, and we can give them an American audience,” Yoshida told the New York Times.
Industry City’s Somoza wants the 6-million-sq.-ft. complex to be a hub for cuisines from all around the world, where people can stroll for a whole afternoon and take a bite at one place, then one at another. Japan Village joins the ranks of such vendors as Yaso Tangbao (Shanghai-style street food), Bangkok B.A.R. (Thai), Ejen (Korean) and Table 87 (pizza). Garnering enough foot traffic does not seem to be an issue: 7,500 people work at Industry City, up from 2,000 four years ago and heading for an estimated 15,000 in the next two years.
On the weekends, Industry City is evolving into a leisure-time destination. “It’s a place for people to come and hang out, especially in the wintertime, because it’s a lot of heated, big space,” said Somoza. “People can come with their kids, who can run around without breaking anything, and you can try all the cuisines.” An estimated 15,000 people per weekend have bought into that proposition. Adventuresome tourists have too, drawn by the post-industrial vibe of the giant buildings, mostly constructed in the early 20th century. “People love seeing buildings like this that have an authentic industrial past being reused for things like this,” said Samoza.


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Publishers sue Google over copyright dispute - Yahoo! News: "The suit seeks a declaration that Google infringes on the publishers' copyrights when the Web search leader scans entire books without permission of copyright owners.
'If Google can make...copies, then anyone can,' Patricia Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers, said in a phone interview. 'Anybody could go into a library and start making digital copies of anything,' she said."
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Netflix is a movie rental company first and foremost but it’s also developing a very strong online video streaming strategy, with its Watch Instantly video-on-demand a huge hit. It has now added ABC shows to its line-up and could soon be available as an iPhone app.
Netflix Watch Instantly
Netflix’s business is built on delivering rented movies to people’s doors and charging them a monthly fee for doing so. And it’s a pretty damn successful business. However, Netflix knows that the days of physical media are coming to an end, with streaming music and video, as well as software and games delivered via the Internet becoming standard.
Therefore, it offers its subscribers the chance to stream video via its ‘Watch Instantly’ service. Those paying the monthly fees required to rent DVDs get access to over 12,000 movies and episodes of popular television series. Not just available on a computer, Netflix’s ‘Watch Instantly’ has been added to a number of devices, from set-top-boxes to the Xbox 360.
ABC Shows Now Available
Netflix has today announced the inclusion of several high profile ABC shows on ‘Watch Instantly’. Viewers will now be able to catch up on the first five seasons of Lost, and previous seasons of Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Legend of the Seeker. This is another indication of ABC’s intentions to open up its content to online video offerings, with shows already on Hulu.
These kinds of drama serials are the perfect fodder for online video services such as Netflix’s ‘Watch Instantly’ offerings. Episodic and addictive, people can now catch up with previous seasons before getting hooked on the current ones playing on mainstream television. Everyone’s a winner, except maybe Apple where iTunes sales are concerned.
Netflix iPhone App
This comes on the back of speculation that a Netflix iPhone app could be on its way to iTunes. That is if Apple allows it, because it is bound to further harm sales of downloads. Regardless, Multichannel claims Netflix will soon be coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Nintendo Wii games console.
There are already iPhone apps that allow Netflix customers to manage their content but the one now being developed would allow them to actually watch content on the mobile devices. AT&T wouldn’t be happy with the bandwidth requirements for this over the Internet so it will probably be restricted to local networks via Wi-Fi just like the SlingPlayer iPhone app.
Netflix has a very strong and aggressive strategy for its ‘Watch Instantly’ service, getting it on as many devices as possible. However, to truly reach a wider audience it needs to introduce a streaming-only subscription rather than require people to pay for the DVD deliveries. Luckily, the company has already suggested this is a possibility.
If and when that happens, Netflix could then try to break out of the U.S. and launch its service in Europe and beyond. I’d certainly be interested because I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.


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South Korean entertainment giants Nexon Korea Corp. and Hybe Co. are leveraging on their game and artist riches to broaden their media and audience outreach.
Nexon listed in Tokyo has become the largest single shareholder of American film studio AGBO founded by “Avengers Endgame” creators through an additional equity purchase of 11.21 percent in the first half of this year, Maeil Business Newspaper learned Sunday.
The $100 million investment in addition to the 38 percent it acquired in January puts Nexon ownership to 49.21 percent in the U.S. film and television company AGBO founded by “Avengers: Endgame” directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo.
Nexon has been on a quest to expand its presence overseas by enhancing its own IP in film and TV contents, benchmarking Disney that expanded business from animation to film and games.
Nexon has been keen in recent years to enrich IP coffers while carrying out investments in American toy firm Hasbro Inc., Japan’s game and entertainment firms Konami Holdings Corp. and Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. The company set up Nexon Film & Television in July with a goal to expand existing IP influence and value.
Nexon also scouted talents experts in the entertainment field, such as Nick van Dyk, a former executive at Walt Disney Company who played a key role in Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. At Nexon, Dyk is in responsible for establishing global strategy and carrying out merger and acquisitions. He is expected to play bigger role in strengthening various IPs.
K-pop powerhouse Hybe has turned to IP employment to games and transmedia as it must sustain operations until the return of flagship superstar BTS after the septet takes turns to complete military service in Korea.
Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk on Saturday appeared for a press conference on the sidelines of Korea’s largest annual gaming exhibition G-Star, outlining the company’s plan to promote gaming business for new profit model and become an IP creator.
“When we launched BTS, we only had the goal of trying our best, and many luck followed,” Bang told reporters. “Game industry has big potential.”
Hybe has been diversifying its business focusing on BTS-led music to new sectors like game, webtoon, metaverse, and non-fungible token.
Hybe in 2019 acquired rhythm game developer Superb. It also spun off its game unit Hybe IM early this year. The company also released a self-made mobile game “BTS Island: In the SEOM” in June. Hybe also recruited former Nexon CEO Park Ji-won as new CEO in 2020.
Hybe’s moves are creating a stir in the gaming industry as content manufacturers are accelerating cross-media convergence.
Korean game publisher Com2uS Corp. has recently acquired a 4.2 percent stake in SM Entertainment in a move to integrate its game IP with entertainment sector and advance into new business areas related to NFT and blockchain.
Another gaming entity Smilegate is also introducing video contents like film and drama based on its own game IP. It joined hands with Chinese drama production company Youhug Media in 2020 to create a joint drama CrossFire for starring in China’s biggest over-the-top platform Tencent Videos.
Game developer Krafton Inc. released “Ground Zero” short film last year starring actor Ma Dong-seok and documentary “Mysteries Unknown: Birth of the Battlegrounds.”
Krafton is also making webtoons using its game IP with webtoon creator YLAB.
NCSoft has also launched a new character brand “Doguri” based on a character that appears on “Lineage2M” game.
The IP-based commerce market is also striving as it allows companies to maximize profit from various genres from game, animation to publishing and character business. It can save marketing cost through doubled brand marketing.
By Kim Dae-gi, Ko Min-suh, Hwang Soon-min, and Lee Eun-joo
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]