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Apple’s (AAPL) fiscal Q2 report is due a week from today, April 27th, after market close, which means it’s time for analysts to raise the curtain on expectations.
The Street will be looking both to an update on the capital allocation plan, and also some commentary about initial Apple Watch sales.
Two individuals weighing in this morning are Wells Fargo’s Maynard Um and Pacific Crest’s Andy Hargreaves.
The Street is modeling Apple to turn in $55.66 billion in revenue and $2.14 per share in earnings in the quarter, and perhaps to forecast $46.75 billion and $1.69 for this quarter, Q3.
Um, reiterating a Market Perform rating on the shares, and a $120 to $130 “valuation range,” expects a beat last quarter, with perhaps $56.2 billion and $2.21 per share, which will be “driven by strength in iPhone sales plus channel inventory fill to build in roughly an extra 2 weeks.” Gross margin might exceed Apple’s own forecast for 38.5% to 39.5%, perhaps coming in at 40.2%, though that could be high, he writes, depending on mix of iPhone configurations.
He expects an in-line outlook for this quarter, and is anticipating sales of Watch of 2 million units in the June quarter.
Um is modeling iPhone sales of 56.7 million, noting that he’s above the Street. FactSet consensus for iPhone units is 55 million. While Apple raised some prices in some regions, perhaps offsetting foreign exchange issues, he’ll be watching to see if that hurt sales at all.
Regarding capital allocations, Um writes, “We also expect Apple to announce a higher three-year capital allocation plan to the current expiring $130b plan, including an 8.5% dividend increase to $0.51.”
Pac Crest’s Hargreaves, reiterating a Sector Weight rating on the shares, raised his estimates this morning for the iPhone given what he sees as “solid demand and the likelihood for building inventory.” He now models 58.1 million, up from a prior 56.8 million
Expecting Apple to gain share from phones running Google’s (GOOGL) Android, Hargreaves raises his estimates for this year and next, to 226.2 million and 206.9 million units, respectively, from a prior 221.7 million and 201.2 million.
Hargreaves also raised his estimates for Watch, given the almost immediate jump in lead times after pre-orders on April 10th. He now expects Apple to sell 5.5 million units in Q3, up from a prior forecast of 4 million.
Hargreaves thinks Apple can make more than that, but there are a number of questions about actual production:
Based on our supply checks, we believe Apple may have cumulative production capacity of over 8 million units by the end of June. We are not raising our estimates to this level because the product is new, which creates risk that our supply checks are not capturing yield issues, over-ordering to secure capacity, or delays in production or shipment that would affect reported results. In our model, each 1 million Apple Watch units adds approximately $0.03 to EPS. So, if demand continues to outstrip supply and our supply checks prove accurate, Apple Watch could drive nearly $0.10 of upside to our F2015 EPS estimate.
Mind you, Hargreaves writes it’s not certain Watch will become mass-market, writing “it remains unclear whether the product can generate sustained success at a level that will be meaningful at Apple’s growth profile, which we believe would require adoption by a large portion of rich mass-market consumers.”
Another person weighing in today regarding Watch is Cowen & Co.’s Tim Arcuri, who writes that his digging suggests Apple is boosting production:
Recent field work in Asia indicates AAPL has built enough supply to ship ~5-6MM Watch units in CQ2 with channel inventory build of ~7-10MM units. This suggests that our 4MM shipment number for June is likely conservative, but we continue to feel good about our 22MM number for the full CY2015.
Also out today is Citigroup‘s Jim Suva, who was on CNBC this morning talking with Carl Quintanilla and company. Said Suva, “we think they’re going to beat consensus on the iPhone by 5 million units, with 59 million units” in Q2.
Suva launched into a laudatory disquisition, saying “They’re rolling out with new products, and we believe there’s more new products to come.”
For Apple Watch, he’s modeling 20 million units in the first year of availability, and pointed out “That’s 5% of the company’s iPhone installed base [buying the device]; If you say there will be 10% to 20% [attach rate], that makes it much richer.” Suva’s modeling 3 million units in Q3. He thinks Watch will “allow the company to show they are not just a phone company.”
Suva thinks over time, Apple will get credit for services such as Apple Pay and its “Passbook” application, “and things like that.”
Asked whether Apple can deliver his 3 million-unit-target for Watch, Suva replied, “If demand is outstripping supply, that’s a good problem to have!”
For the capital returns boost, Suva expects Apple to increase its dividend by 10% “at least,” and to boost its buyback plan from $90 billion to $120 billion.” Suva said he thinks that his own numbers are about in line with what most investors expect.
Apple shares are up $2.25, or 1.8%, at $127.
Shares of storage giant EMC (EMC) are higher by 4 cents, or $26.22, but were earlier up as much as 44 cents, apparently fueled by rumors that yet another activist investment shop, Starboard Value, may join the throng already trying to tell the company what to do with itself.
As RBC Capital Markets‘s Amit Daryanani, who has an Outperform rating on the shares, and a $30 price target, notes this afternoon, there are already three activists with their hands in EMC, Elliott Management, which holds 33 million shares of stock; GreenLight Capital, which holds 8 million shares, and Third Point, with 7 million.
Daryanani notes that Elliott has called in past for a spin-out of EMC’s 80% stake in VMware (VMW), while the other two have been mum on their designs/intentions.
But Daryanani sees a continued press by such types:
We wouldn’t be surprised if there are more activist and regular investors that could push EMC to be more shareholder friendly and “pay” investors either via a large and consistent buyback or material uptick in dividend to wait for the 2018 timeframe, when the long-term model of – Mid single digit sales, double digit EPS growth should start to show up.
Daryanani notes investor frustration he’s observed:
Since the Analyst day on 3/10 we have sensed increased frustration among investors regarding EMC stock. The concerns are largely around 1) organic revenue and margin degradation assumed within EMC’s long-term road-map, 2) Discussion of large cost take-out centric deals, 3) The extent of EPS headwind from investments in the growth initiatives and 4) lack of desire by EMC to improve their FCF allocation to shareholders given they are asking investors to be patient through 2018 for the long-term model to transform.
Note that others on the Street have occupied themselves building a case for EMC making acquisitions of various tech peers.
Shares of Google (GOOGL) are up $11.22, or 2%, at $576.59, after the company this morning announced it has hired Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer of Morgan Stanley to be its new CFO, replacing Patrick Pichette.
Porat, 58, has been CFO at Morgan since 2010, and was vice chairman of investment banking from September 2003 to December 2009, and head of the firm’s Financial Institutions Group from 2006 through 2009.
Google CEO Larry Page remarked that “We’re tremendously fortunate to have found such a creative, experienced and operationally strong executive,” adding “I look forward to learning from Ruth as we continue to innovate in our core—from search and ads, to Android, Chrome and YouTube—as well as invest in a thoughtful, disciplined way in our next generation of big bets.”
He also thank Pichette for “his seven super successful years as CFO.”
An interesting question with this naming of a financial industry-CFO is whether it hints at something brewing for the capital returns program. My colleague Andrew Bary wrote three weeks ago in Barron’s print magazine that it’s time for the company to start paying a dividend and repurchasing stock. Could this be a sign something is imminent?
Shares of analog and mixed-signal chip maker Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM) closed down 14 cents, or 0.4%, at $36.05, despite an initiation of coverage today by Srini Sundararajan of Summit Research at Buy, with a $42 price target, based on its acquisition potential, financial improvement, and a “stellar” dividend yield of 3.1%.
Sundararajan’s focus is more on the fundamentals than on M&A, but he writes, In the current M&A season, MXIM makes for an attractive acquisition target given its financial heft plus its penetration into growing segments.”
Writes Sundararajan, the company has outlined a plan for cutting both product and operating costs:
1) Closure of San Jose fab: annual ~$40M/yr. savings to be realized in 1.5 years;
2) Streamlining of Opex to cut $10M/quarter to be realized by C2Q15; and
3) No R&D spending on consumer MEMS and touch businesses, $3M-$4M/Q.
He also sees a path to improving gross profit margin:
Rising utilization rates as well as lower capex levels to 3%-5% (from 8%-10%) of sales should also help in improving GM (as the depreciation component of COGS should be less). Net-net, GM could improve by 3%-4% closer to its long-term target of 61%-64% due to: a) improved utilization; and b) closure of its San Jose fab. On OM, the target is for 30%, by growing revenues while keeping costs at current levels. With restructuring initiatives, expenses will likely go down 7%-10%.
The result of all that is “we see a way for Maxim to have gross and operating leverage over the next 1.5 years, for a margin expansion story followed we think by a multiple expansion story.”
In past, the company was too reliant on Samsung Electronics‘s (005930KS) mobile business, but that’s changed, he writes, with a more balanced mix of business, including inclusion in Apple‘s (AAPL) forthcoming Apple Watch:
MXIM had a high dependence on Samsung, plus a too-high expectation on Samsung’s Galaxy Series. However, Samsung’s share of revenues has fallen from 28% to 13%-15%. Relatively, expectations are low for Samsung’s GS6 and Apple’s iWatch (for 2015, GS6: 55M to 60M units; Apple watch 20M units content $3 to $5 per watch), and any upside will help. In addition, MXIM likely has ~$2 of content per iPad, and an iPad Pro release in 2H15 will be a tailwind. In the future, as smartphones become interfaces for health metrics, a potential iPhone entry could be an upside. Furthermore, Internet of Things (IoT) proliferation will create additional opportunities.
Shares of Google (GOOGL) are down $4.81, or 0.8%, at $576.62, declining with the broader market despite getting a thumbs-up this morning from Citigroup’s Mark May, who reiterated a Buy rating and raised his price target to $682 from $629, writing that concerns about the company are “overblown.”
May’s note echoes several pieces put out earlier in the week by Piper Jaffray, UBS, and Merrill Lynch.
Writes May, “Google has become an enigma among investors as it arguably remains among the most important companies in TMT and its valuation remains reasonable, yet sentiment has soured as investors question its competitive position.”
May then digs into six issues for Google: the health of search; whether they should return capital (he likes the dividend idea); the valuation; the profit margin outlook; risk of being booted from Apple‘s (AAPL) Safari mobile browser; the threat from Facebook (FB).
On the matter of search, May sees Google making the best of its situation by having instituted “product-listing ads,” or PLAs, which have kept prices rising for desktop ads, offsetting flat traffic from desktop users:
Per data from RKG, desktop’s share of clicks has declined by 19% since 4Q12, while the share of spend has only declined by 14% (see Figure 8 below). This widening delta between desktop’s share of spend and share of clicks implies that in recent years improving desktop CPCs have been an important driver of growth in search spend. This is clearly evident given that desktop click growth has been basically flat in the U.S. in 2013 and 2014 (see Figure 8), while Google’s desktop search revenue has continued to grow. We believe this is due in large part to a higher percentage of desktop clicks coming from PLAs, which monetize at higher rates than standard text ads.
For mobile, where Google’s revenue rose 51% in 2014, he sees new opportunities such as taking a share of mobile application installations:
The most near-term opportunity, in our view, is for Google and other search players to take share of the mobile app install advertising market. Mobile app installs have been a key component of Facebook’s success on mobile; we estimated that this was over a $1.5bn business for the company in 2014. Google very recently entered this market, announcing on 2/26 that it will begin serving ads in its Google Play app store. Given the size of Google Play, with 46bn estimated app downloads in 2014, we see a revenue opportunity of over $2.5bn for Google.
On the point of capital returns, he thinks most investors think that’s the most important thing to get the stock moving after a 6% decline the last 12 months: “While the shares screen between attractive and fair for most investors, the most common question is ‘what is the catalyst’ to change sentiment and re-rate the shares. The most common response is a return of capital.”
May thinks a buyback is not the best idea, but rather a dividend or a large M&A deal:
While some investors have expressed a desire for Google to repurchase shares at scale, our analysis suggest that that could result in limited upside in the equity value (i.e., our price target, or the intrinsic value of the equity). As shown in Figure 17 below, we estimate that a $10 billion share repurchase would result in less than a 1% upside in intrinsic equity value. We believe that a better use of cash would be for large strategic M&A (see next section) – an area where Google has had great success historically – and/or to institute a 1-2% dividend. The dividend could comfortably be funded with annual excess FCF from operations, would put the company more in-line on a capital return basis with its large tech peers, and potentially help to bring in new classes of investors [...] While we hear it brought up far less than the return of capital, we believe another potential positive catalyst for Google this year could be another form of capital allocation – the use of its cash to complete a large strategic acquisition. We believe targets that ‘check boxes’ such as 1) improving its competitive position in mobile, 2) moving the ball forward on Nest/iOT initiatives, and 3) capitalizing on the video and video advertising opportunity (i.e., brand advertising) would be viewed positively by investors. Part of our reasoning is due to Google’s long track record of executing well with large, strategic acquisitions (e.g., DoubleClick, YouTube, Droid, etc.).
As far as Apple’s Safari browser, there’s $4 billion at risk for Google, May estimates, assuming it is paying 45% “traffic acquisition cost” to Apple.
May thinks the chances are greater than 50% that Google will lose the default position in Safari, but he also thinks losing it wouldn’t be so bad if enough people switch back, because Google would pay a much lower 5% TAC to Apple:
Given this disparity in TAC rates, we think that if enough iOS users were to switch their default search engine back to Google, it’s possible that a loss of default status could in fact prove to be accretive to Google’s net revenue. Assuming a current 45% TAC rate, we think the necessary switch-back ratio to create revenue accretion would be approximately 58%. Per the sensitivity analysis in Figures 28 & 29 above, if the TAC rate Google currently pays Apple is higher than our assumed 45%, the required switch-back ratio for Net Revenue accretion would be lower. That said, we do not believe Google’s TAC rate on the Apple Safari deal can be greater than 60% based on the total Website TAC payments reported and the likely gross revenue from this source. As far as the Facebook threat, May concedes that Facebook’s use of people’s profiles “does out-perform cookie-based approaches” used by Google.
May offes an infographic of the two companies’ ad technology assets:
Despite the real threat of Facebook, May points out Google continues to refine its own business, and also that many advertisers, having taken a long time to standardize on Google, will take a long time to move, if at all:
In attempting to consider what is at stake for Google in the event Facebook is able to leverage its people-based data and platform, we focus on Google’s third-party or network advertising business as well as its adtech-related revenues. As shown in Figure 33 below, we estimate that Google generates roughly $12 billion a year in gross revenue and ~$4 billion in net revenue (or ~6% of total company net revenue) from these third-party ad services and adtech solutions. Importantly, as mentioned above, we believe that 1) Google is not sitting idle and has the assets and potential to respond to and address these new opportunities in ad targeting, and 2) the transition, if any, by advertiser and agency customers is likely to be a relatively longer process than what we’re accustomed to with typical Internet ad spend as these customers have spent a lot of money and time standardizing on Google stack for many years. That said, we are not under-estimating the potential risk to Google longer term.
Among the points covered by IBM’s (IBM) CFO Martin Schroeter during the company’s analyst day meeting in New York this morning is the trend for free cash flow that will be “returned to shareholders” over time in the form of dividends and share repurchases.
On a slide from Schroeter’s talk, which is currently ongoing, the comparison is made between cash payout the last five years, which was “over 100% of free cash flow,” and the “longer-term” expectation, which is 75% to 85%.
Said Schroeter, “We see continued dividend increases within that cash flow model.” Schroeter emphasized that cash flow “continues to be very stable.”
Here’s the slide (click to see it larger):
IBM shares are down 32 cents at $162.49.
Shares of Apple (AAPL) are down 97 cents, or 0.8%, at $132.03, perhaps prompted by a note from UBS’s Steve Milunovich, who writes that although ”most appear to expect a large, multi-year program” of buybacks when the company updates its capital returns program in April, it could be less.
Instead, “a muted increase and shorter completion period are possible due to potential US tax reform, increased dependence on debt issuance for buyback funding, the stock’s higher multiple, and greater domestic capex requirements,” writes Milunovich, who has a Buy rating on Apple stock, and a $150 price target.
“The repurchase amount could be as low as $20bn over one year,” writes Milunovich, on top of the existing program of $130 billion in dividends and buybacks.
By his math, that would mean just $34 billion in buybacks this fiscal year ending in September, in contrast to a piece last week from Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets, who opined the company may do $49 billion in buybacks this year, up from $45 billion.
Milunovich notes that debt, existing cash, and U.S. cash generated each make up about a third of the capital returns program. He offers up this infographic on that, as well as his estimates for what Apple may do (click on the image to see it larger):
The main issue is that Apple has to weigh how much debt it wants to issue:
US cash drawdown, US cash generation, and debt issuance each have supported about one-third of the capital return program to date. However, the US cash drawdown is about complete. We expect US cash generation will be strong, generating about $25bn over the next three years after dividends and M&A to cover repurchases (non-US cash can’t be used). The swing factor is debt. Our analysis assumes Apple wants to protect its high-grade rating by keeping debt-to-EBITDA at 1x or less, in which case the share repurchase program could be increased by $50-70bn over the next three years. Of course, Apple could issue more debt in support of a larger program.
And, the company may be willing to wait to see what happens in the policy arena with the issue of repatriation of overseas cash, given 90% of its cash is domiciled outside the U.S.:
Apple may choose a shorter timeframe and lower amount for this return program in anticipation of tax relief. There are various proposals relating to repatriation of foreign profits, which could really benefit Apple given 90% of its cash is overseas. Just considering operating results, we figure FCF available for repurchases could double from $25bn to $50bn over three years. In addition, we would expect Apple to increase its leverage to optimize its tax efficiency.
Shares of Comcast (CMCSA) are down 24 cents, or 0.4%, at $57.97, in early trading, after the company this morning beat Q4 revenue expectations but missed by a penny on the bottom line, and increased its dividend and share repurchase programs.
Revenue in the three months ended in December rose almost 5%, year over year, to $17.73 billion, yielding EPS of 77 cents.
Analysts had been modeling $17.66 billion and 78 cents.
CEO Brian Roberts said it had been a “great year,” and added that the company’s interactive video package, “X1,” was “bearing fruit,” helping the company to add 358,000 customers.
Roberts noted video subscriber trends were “the best in 7 years.” Roberts added “We look forward to receiving regulatory approval for the Time Warner Cable (TWC) merger.”
Separately, the company announced it would raise its annual dividend by 11% to $1 per share. The company also upped its share repurchase program to $10 billion, from $5.25 billion that had been left at the end of the prior quarter.
Comcast bought back $4.25 billion of its stock in 2014, and said it would spent the same this year under the newly expanded program, though it might do more depending on whether it receives approval for the Time-Warner bid.
Said Roberts of the new program, “Underscoring our confidence in the continued success of our company, we are increasing our dividend to $1.00 per share on an annualized basis, marking the seventh consecutive annual increase, and plan to repurchase at least $4.25 billion of our stock this year.”
Comcast’s revenue from cable service rose by 6.1%, to 11.3 billion, with high-speed Internet service up almost 10%, and ad revenue up19%. Video customers rose by 6,000 to 22.38 million, while the company gained 375,000 Internet customers, on a net basis, for a total of 21.96 million.
Revenue from NBC Universal rose by 2.3% to $6.62 billion. The cable networks were up just a fraction at $2.33 billion, as ad revenue declined 5.6%, said Comcast. Broadcast revenue was up almost 5% at $2.34 billion, with a 3.1% rise in ad revenue and higher retransmission fees. The studio business declined by 10.6%, while theme parks was up almost 30% at $735 million.
The theme park revenue was driven by “reflecting higher guest attendance and per capita spending, driven by the continued success of Orlando’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ – Diagon Alley™, as well as Halloween Horror Nights at the Orlando and Hollywood parks,” said Disney.
Comcast will host a conference call with analysts at 8:30 am, Eastern time, this morning, and you can catch a Webcast of it on the company’s investor relations Web page.
Another day, another Apple (AAPL) price target increase.
The stock is up 2 cents at $128.48 after Goldman Sachs’s Bill Shope writes that he has greater confidence since his last “scenario analysis” of the company, back in December, and raised his price target to $145 from $130, while reiterating a Buy rating.
Specifically, “Tim Cook’s presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference has increased our confidence in Apple’s platform momentum (particularly on Apple Pay), the potential for the Apple Watch, and the prospects for sustained iPhone growth,” writes Shope.
Stepping through various factors at play for Apple, Shope writes that his original belief that there was little risk of “sharper than normal” drop in iPhone sales in the March quarter, after the big December quarter, is not only still intact, but Apple’s forecast for the quarter “appears to be remarkably conservative.”
Shope writes that even when he models a 26.5% quarter-to-quarter decline in iPhone shipments this quarter, which would be the worst such decline in the history of the product, “this still drives an overall revenue estimate that is above Apple’s guidance and consensus.” Apple needs to add to inventory, too, he thinks, so he thinks that should help Apple beat consensus.
Turning to foreign currency, Shope writes that he thinks it is “factored into the current expectation,” given that Apple gets favorable materials prices, which can help to defray the affect upon margins of the rising dollar.
Shope raises his estimate for Apple Watch, even though he’s “cautious” because it seems to be a smaller addressable market. He models the company selling 18.4 million units in the first 12 months of availability, up from his prior 15.5 million estimate. Shope thinks investor expectations is not too high yet for the product, although “some Street estimates seem to be remarkably high.”
Turning to capital returns, Shope notes there’s a lot of debate over how much Apple will add to its program of dividends and buybacks. Shope thinks Apple, when it discusses changes to the plan in April, could end up boosting buybacks to $50 billion annually, and raising its dividend by 15%. He thinks both would be a “hefty surprise” for investors.
Lastly, Shope thinks the end of the March quarter is no longer the “peak of uncertainty” for Apple. Instead, that’s been moved to the summer, he thinks.
That’s because by the end of the June quarter, there will be more information available to the Street about how the Apple watch is doing, and how fast Apple is ramping the iPhone “6S,” presumably.
Shope’s “base case” for Apple for calendar 2015 is for $231 billion in revenue, a gross profit margin of 39.5%, free cash flow of $63 billion, and EPS of $9.03. That assumes sales of b, 13.5 million Apple Watchs, 21 million Macs and 63.4 million iPads.
Data center hosting operator Equinix (EQIX) this afternoon reported Q4 revenue that beat analysts’ expectations, but missed on the bottom line, and forecast this quarter’s revenue and profit, and the full year, below consensus, with pressure coming from the rising dollar.
Revenue in the three months ended in December rose 13%, year over year, to $638.1 million, yielding EPS of 56 cents, excluding some costs.
Analysts had been modeling $630 million and $1.04 per share.
CEO Steve Smith remarked that the company “leveraged significant market momentum to deliver another year of strong financial results,” citing record bookings, “driven by strong performance across all three regions, new customer wins and continued expansion of our cloud ecosystem.”
The rapid growth of interconnection reflects the importance of Equinix as the place where leading companies come to connect to their customers and partners to accelerate the growth of their business. I am very pleased with our position going into this year.
Separately, the company announced its first ever quarterly dividend, of $1.69 per share. Smith remarked, “As we are now operating as a REIT, we will continue to balance profitable growth with dividend distributions to create meaningful long term value for our investors.”
For the current quarter, the company sees revenue in a range of $634 million to $638 million, including a foreign currency impact of $19 million, and adjusted Ebitda of $287 million to $291 million. The Street has been modeling $644 million and $302 million in Ebitda.
For the full year, the company sees revenue of greater than $2.63 billion, including a foreign currency impact of $100 million. Analysts have been modeling $2.68 billion.
Ebitda is projected at “greater than $1.22 billion” while “adjusted funds from operations,” or AFFO, is expected to be greater than $810 million.
Equinix’s report comes two days after a report from competitor Rackspace Hosting (RAX) that was well received by analysts but also weighed down by currency effects.
Equinix shares are off $8.41, or almost 4%, at $221 in late trading.
Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: firstname.lastname@example.org.


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What awaits the Fashion Sector After Coronary Virus?
What awaits the Fashion Sector After Coronary Virus?
Creation 02 June 2020 Update 15; 54
After Corona virus, the behavior of brands and consumers is changing in the fashion industry. Check out the detailed analysis of the fashion world.
The worst crisis seen in the fashion sector since 2008 is being experienced. So much so that it is estimated that 80% of fashion brands in Europe and America will be in financial trouble when this situation is over. All the players in the industry are trying to make predictions about the future while trying to make sense of the changes. First of all, it is necessary to consider the economic consequences of the crisis that is going on. According to McKinsey’s report, 56% of consumers say that they have reduced their spending, while 48% state that they do not buy the products they would prefer to buy under normal conditions due to economic uncertainties. As a result, the fashion sector, which includes clothing, shoes, bags and accessories, is expected to drop by 27-30% in 2020. The good news is that for 2021, his expectation is to grow by 2-4%.
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What awaits the luxury sector after coronavirus?
In addition, psychological factors are of great importance in determining the behavior of consumers after the crisis. Luxury consumption, which is not essential by nature, is basically a psychological consumption. And it is directly linked to people feeling safe. Trust in question covers many areas from economy to health. The global slowdown in the economy was already beginning to shake the trust of consumers. This epidemic deepened cracks and brought insecurity to another dimension. It is clear that such distrust will not go overnight, even if everything is under control. It is also necessary to accept that; The fashion sector has also been experiencing a crisis in itself in recent years. As John Idol, CEO of Capri, which includes brands such as Michael Kors and Versace, the change has already begun. The crisis experienced accelerated this change. While the weaknesses of the sector have emerged, brands have also realized how important the “change or die” rule is. The change in question goes far beyond being on social media or deciding to use sustainable fabric, and it involves extensive changes.
SALES AND MARKETING
Discount Culture Benefits Fashion or Harm?
As in every sector, one of the biggest problems faced by the fashion sector is overstock products. The value of every unsold item in this excess stock, which is mostly composed of seasonal products, decreases day by day. In addition, the warehouses where these products are put into the “last season” when the crisis is over, create another financial problem for brands.
Are Department Stores Confusing History?
The problems faced by department stores are long before the current crisis. Although the last time waiting for these stores that have a conservative attitude and have difficulty reading the spirit of the time has been clear, the crisis accelerates the arrival of this end. The declaration of bankruptcy in April 2020 after Neiman Marcus, which was established in 1907 after dealing with debts for many years, is a reflection of this situation.
The Future of Luxury Depends on Digitalization
They say, “Innovations arise from necessity”… By reading this crisis and its needs correctly; Companies that make the right innovations in many fields from production to marketing will emerge stronger from this period as seen in previous crises. For this, it is necessary to produce new perspectives in order to understand this change and turn it into a chance in the long run. Of course, the digital side is one of the areas where this change can be turned into luck.
What Will Be the Future of Fashion Week?
Armani, who held the Fall / Winter 2020 fashion show held in Milan Fashion Week in February 2020 due to the epidemic threat, gave the first clue about the future of fashion weeks. After that point, while most of the fashion weeks planned to be organized within the year are canceled, some of them were decided to be organized digitally. Shanghai Fashion Week was the first example of this practice.
Are the Winners of the Corona Period Luxury Luxury Brands?
One of the fastest growing markets of recent years has become second-hand. According to a report published by BCG in 2019, it was expected to reach $ 36 billion in 2021, forming 9% of the personal luxury products market. With the crisis, question marks began to appear about the future of the second-hand market, which is growing even faster than luxury itself. The figures are promising.
Is Revenge Exchange Lasting in Luxury?
With the beginning of life returning to normal in China, everyone’s eyes are turned there with the expectation of “revenge exchange”. So, what is this exchange of revenge? Interestingly, this term was first used for China in the 1980s. With the changes made within the scope of the Chinese Economic Reform, the country’s doors were opened to foreign investors and foreign brands entered China for the first time.
Luxury Without Logo Comes Back
Although it is thought that consumers will return to normal after the epidemic, it is obvious that this normal definition will be different from the old one. As in the 2008 economic crisis, after this crisis, together with the luxury shame, the concept that we call “silent luxury”, namely the brands and designs that do not shout logo, will come to the fore. Another of the main reasons why consumers will prefer products that have “investment” quality will be the increasing importance given to conscious and sustainable consumption.
Will E-Commerce Save Luxury Fashion?
Undoubtedly, the rise of e-commerce will be one of the issues that will mark the coming period. Aside from the question of whether luxury brands are ready for this, the biggest problem on the subject will be the high unemployment rates among the young generation who are accustomed to e-commerce. One of the biggest challenges for marketers will be accustoming the older generation to e-commerce, with the power to continue making luxury consumption.
Sustainable Fashion Now
Sustainability, which has become very popular in recent years with the increasing weight of Y and Z generations as consumers, will become a priority in many aspects. Change and transparency will be required in many areas, from supply chain to production techniques, from employee rights to waste management. It is clearer every day that the current system is not working and negatively affects the world.
Big Risk Awaiting Luxury: Problems in the Supply Chain
The crisis has brought many problems for both brands and suppliers. Luxury giants such as Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo, who canceled their orders one by one after their sales were interrupted all over the world, was a big blow for these suppliers. In many countries, especially in Italy, where more than 40% of luxury production takes place, producers face the threat of not being able to open their doors again.

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RICHMOND HILL, ON, March 12, 2019 /CNW/ – Mazda Canada Inc. (MCI) currently announced a appointment of David Klan as President and Chief Executive Officer of MCI, effective April 1, 2019. David will attain Masaharu “Massey” Kondo, who has been promoted to General Manager, Global Sales and Marketing Division during Mazda Motor Corporation (MC) in Japan.
David assumes shortcoming for Mazda’s business operations in Canada, and will news to Masahiro Moro, Mazda Motor Corporation Senior Managing Executive Officer with Oversight of Operations in North America; Chairman and CEO, Mazda North American Operations.
“I’m celebrated to assume a purpose of boss of Mazda Canada and offer a good group of employees and play partners. Mazda is entering an sparkling duration as we launch a new era of vehicles, and a North American marketplace will play a pivotal purpose in Mazda’s tellurian vital plans. we demeanour brazen to heading Canada’s assign during this critical time.”
A 27-year maestro of Mazda, David has hold countless executive positions globally given he started in 1992, including Director of Marketing for Mazda Canada; General Manager of Global Brand Marketing during Mazda Motor Corporation in Japan; and Director of Marketing and Regional General Manager during Mazda North American Operations in the United States. Since returning to Canada in 2009, David has led a company’s inhabitant sales, selling and informal operations as Senior Director. David will be a initial Canadian to be allocated boss of Mazda Canada given 2006.
David binds a Master of Business Administration grade from York University’s Schulich School of Business, and a Bachelor of Business Administration grade in Business Management from Stetson University.
About Mazda Canada Inc.
Mazda Canada Inc. is obliged for a sales and marketing, patron use and tools support of Mazda vehicles in Canada. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Mazda Canada has a national network of 164 dealerships. For additional information revisit Mazda Canada’s media website during www.media.mazda.ca.
SOURCE Mazda Canada Inc.


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Scientists are investigating potential methods to remove carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions. The emissions would then be used to make a raw material that could be used in the production of products made from polycarbonate plastics such as DVDs, CD-ROMS and beverage bottles.
Aside from the obvious benefit (reduction of CO2 released into the atmosphere to combat climate change), by using CO2 as a feedstock for the chemical industry; countless plastic products could be turned into a sort of “carbon sink”. According to experts this “could offer consumers less expensive, and safer than current production methods.
According to chemist Thomas E. Müller, Ph.D, it may only be a few years “before CO2-derived polymers are available to the public.”


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Episode 144: I am considering buying an electric vehicle, should I?
Electric vehicles are gaining popularity because of perceived benefits to the environment. Nick Muller, a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon, explains how to know if an electric vehicle is right for you.
Analysing environmental benefits from driving electric vehicles by Stephen P. Holland, Erin T. Mansur, Nicholas Z. Muller, Andrew J. Yates
All-Electric Vehicles from FuelEconomy.gov
HOST: Should you buy that electric vehicle you’ve been considering? On this week’s Energy Bite, Nick Muller, a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
MULLER: The motivation for purchasing an electric vehicle may stem from a variety of sources. These include environmental values, costs of operation, and national security due to decreased reliance on imported fossil fuels. Recent research calls into question whether electric vehicles actually produce tangible environmental benefits.
HOST: Why is that?
MULLER: The environmental impacts from electric vehicles tend to outweigh impacts from conventional vehicles mostly due to battery manufacturing. Additionally, when an electric vehicle is charged, emissions depend on what fuels are used to generate electricity. In areas of the U.S. where power is generated mostly by burning coal, electric vehicles tend to be worse for the environment than gasoline vehicles
The electricity grid in the U.S. has changed considerably over the past decade. Given the current and likely future regulatory landscape it is expected that coal will continue to fall lower as a share of total power produced in the U.S. This means that the environmental benefits of electric vehicles will likely rise over time.
HOST: Are you considering buying an electric vehicle? If so, why? Take our poll, see the results, and ask your energy questions at Energy Bite dot org.
ANNOUNCER: Energy Bite is a co-production between 90.5 WESA and Carnegie Mellon’s’ Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.


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Apple will set up in the Danish cities Aabenraa and Viborg. In Odense, Facebook is building a data centre, and in Fredericia, Google has bought territory which may be used as a new powerhouse for IT consumers.
Now, Berlingske Business reports that Amazon, the last remaining IT giant, is also considering a data centre in Denmark. While Facebook and Apple have long had their eye on expanding their businesses on Danish soil, Amazon has a somewhat more broader attitude to expansion.
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FARMINGTON, CT– Detail Garage has arrived in Farmington, offering classes, educational demonstrations and events to the local car community.
Michael Thadieo said he has been passionate about cars since he was a teenager.
As a stay-at-home dad for a few years, Thadieo, originally from Meriden, chose to pursue his passion and began detailing cars out of his garage.
Thadieo began his career in the local community by opening a Blimpie location before selling the franchise to spend more time with his family.
He then went into the insurance industry where he stayed for 10 years.
Taking time to stay at home with his children, Thadieo began to detail cars in his garage as a hobby that he has now turned into a business.
Looking for products for his customers, he came across the Chemical Guys brand, a product sold by Detail Garage.
While researching the company and its products, he discovered franchising opportunities with Detail Garage, a nationwide 80-unit car detailing brand.
He opened Farmington’s first location in the spring at 353 Scott Swamp Road and has plans to expand in the local community.
Thadieo’s Detail Garage location offers hands-on training sessions and demonstrations for those looking to take their hobby to the next level or those looking to get started in the professional detailing industry.
Locals can also come out to the monthly “Rides & Coffee” event to see the latest in cool rides, sip some coffee and try new products straight from the Detail Garage.
With more than 90 locations around the country, Detail Garage is a leading retail brand for automotive detailing enthusiasts.
For more information on Detail Garage, click on this link.


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The pandemic has caused much economic instability, but not for top executives at major North America-based companies.
Among select ecommerce businesses, Amazon CEO Andy Jesse led the list in 2021 with a salary package of $212.7 million, according to the company’s proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in April. Shopify’s Tobias Lutke made $20 million.
Since 2011, Equilar (a recruitment and compensation-consulting firm) and the Associated Press have jointly produced an annual CEO compensation. report good, The current edition, published in May 2022, evaluated compensation for CEOs at S&P 500 companies who have held office for at least two years, as of December 31, 2021. The companies involved were required to submit an SEC proxy between January 1 and April 30. 2022.
According to the report, Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern had a salary of $296.3 million in 2021, making him America’s highest-paid CEO from this year’s research. David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery was second with $246.6 million.
According to the Equilar study, the median CEO salary in the communications services sector in 2021 was $20.3 million, the highest of any US industry. The technology sector was in second place with a median salary of $16.6 million.
Cruise Consulting is a US-focused provider of accounting, finance and tax services for seed and venture capital-funded startups. In May 2022, the company published Its “2022 Startup CEO Salary Report.” The information, according to the report, “comes from an undisclosed dataset that includes more than 250 venture-funded startups spanning multiple industries including biotech, e-commerce, edtech, fintech, healthtech, hardware, SaaS, and more.”
According to the Cruz report, the salary of the average startup CEO in 2022 increased 2.7% from 2021 to $150,000, while the average increased to $140,000.
Cruise’s vice president Healy Jones said, “What’s interesting here is that companies that have raised more capital (and are confident they can continue to access capital) are paying CEO salaries. However, lightly.” Funded startups – where founders have more control over salaries than VCs – are paying less as founders begin to react to a more conservative funding environment.”


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Fortune Magazine has compiled its 2017 “Fortune 500,” and once again there are a number of NAED members on the list. There are also a number of corporations that that compete with NAED members on the list.
For the fifth straight year, Wal-Mart sits at the top of the Fortune 500 with $485.9 billion in revenue last year. According Fortune president, Alan Murray, Wal-Mart earned double the revenue of the company that finished second on the list, Berkshire Hathaway.
Online giant Amazon came in 12th on the Fortune 500 with $136 billion in revenue during its fiscal year. That's a 27% increase in revenue from the previous year.
DIY chain stores Home Depot and Lowe's finished 23rd and 40th this year. Both are actively pursuing the pro contractor market as a way to increase revenue, and both have reported growing success stories with pro customers.
Grainger is 282 on the Fortune 500 with more than $10 billion in revenue. Last year, Grainger was 285 on the list.
Anixter is the first NAED member company on the Fortune 500. It reported $7.6 billion in revenue, placing it 359th on the Fortune 500. Last year, Anixter was listed as 391st.
HD Supply is 364th on the Fortune 500 with $7.5 billion in revenue. Last year, HD Supply was 320th, marking a 44 spot drop this year.
WESCO International is 373rd on the Fortune 500 for 2017 with $7.3 billion in revenue. It was 357th last year.
Graybar is 420th with $6.385 billion in revenue. It jumps up three places from last year's 423rd spot.
And Rockwell Automation makes the Fortune 500 in the 442nd spot after earning $5.88 billion in revenue. It dropped from 412th in 2016.
For the complete list of the 2017 Fortune 500, you can click here.
Tagged with tED


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Online sales increased by 16% last month as retailers get ready for a festive season in which one in five non-food products will be sold over the internet.
Faster delivery times and the popularity of click and collect services mean shoppers will be more prepared to leave ordering online closer to Christmas, the British Retail Consortium said.
The whole retail sector reported sales growth of 2.3% in November compared with a year earlier.
Fashion categories performed best as a period of colder weather at the end of the month finally triggered spending on winter clothes and footwear.
Homeware also produced a strong showing, especially on the dining and decorative side, as thoughts turned to giving homes a festive refresh.
More top news
Police in San Diego have released two sets of video footage showing the shooting of an unarmed black man by officers.
Mostly dry across the north of the UK today, with spells of sunshine and isolated heavy showers for some.
Huntingdon's, autism and congenital heart conditions are among those likely to be exempt from reassessment.


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Toronto, Canada -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/29/2010 -- EcoGear the brand for ecofriendly consumer products today introduced a new fundraising tee shirt for the humanitarian group Operation Smile.
In making the announcement, general manager Robert Hii said the company was extremely happy to collaborate with the US based group.” We have been criticised of working with too many environmental groups and animal welfare groups so to be able to hook up with a humanitarian group like Operation Smile is amazing.” He explains that the company wanted to create a new shirt that would carry a positive message. Citing the stressed out environment that we all face today with people being out of work, strange new diseases like the H1N1 flu that has everyone being wary of contact with people, the company decided on the simple message to encourage people to smile more often.
“Its free and it gives your facial muscles a work out that it may not be used to! Most importantly, that one simple little gesture can do so much to create positive vibes from everyone you meet,whether it’s a friend or stranger.” Said Robert Hii.
By pure coincidence or good karmic vibes as Robert prefers to call it, as they were working on the graphics for the new tee shirt, an obscure friend brought up the good work being done by Operation Smile in correcting cleft palates for children in poor nations. This created a perfect match for a tee shirt that encourages smiling and a group that creates beautiful smiles.
ecoGear has been using their tee shirt products as a way of raising funds for non profit groups.The core fabric that is used in its clothing products are from 100% recycled fibres containing cotton clippings from clothing factories and recycled plastic bottles. In its third year in business, this eco brand that started out with simple tee shirts in 2 colors is now launching a full collection of casual lifestyle clothing for the Fall of 2010.
Operation Smile is a US based non profit group that believes all children deserve to live their lives with dignity. And for those suffering from cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities, dignity begins with a smile. At Operation Smile, their medical volunteers provide safe, effective and free cleft lip and cleft palate repair surgery for children born all over the world.


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The U.S. economy expanded by just 1.2 percent in Q2 2016 after growing by 0.8 percent (revised) in Q1, according to the advance estimate released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The figure came in much below the 2.6 percent GDP growth anticipated by economists.
Robust consumer spending and positive net exports were nearly offset by weak investment and a decline in government spending. In particular, a sharp reduction in inventories subtracted 1.16 percentage points from GDP. Despite a firming labor market and strong consumer spending, this quarter’s disappointing report could make the Fed less likely to raise interest rates in 2016.
For more analysis, see The Top Line below and online here.


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Details of the application for anti-dumping duties against Brazil and four European Union countries – Denmark, Ireland, Poland and Spain – have been published by South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC).
ITAC will investigate and assess the voluminous evidence produced by the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) in support of its application. ITAC will then make recommendations to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, who will make the final decision. The process could take a year to 18 months.
For anti-dumping duties to be granted, the applicant must prove that chicken was imported at dumped prices, and that those imports caused material injury to the local industry.
A non-confidential version of the application, together with multiple supporting documents, has been made available. Details of the financial performance of the companies involved in the application, and the material injury suffered by each of them, have been kept confidential.
The application focuses solely on imports of frozen bone-in portions, and it relies on extensive evidence and calculations based on imports from the five named countries over three financial years from July 2017 to June 2020.
Over those three years, it says dumped imports from the five countries named in the application totalled nearly 426 000 tonnes of frozen bone-in chicken, with a total landed import value of R6.4 billion.
The application says these dumped imports have caused material injury to the South African industry, and they will cause continued injury unless action is taken. It says anti-dumping duties are needed to “stem the flood of unfairly priced dumped imports”.
The application seeks anti-dumping duties based on dumping margins – the difference between what frozen chicken portions are sold for in the producer country and the lower export price of frozen chicken portions to South Africa. SAPA has calculated significant dumping margins of 110.76% (Brazil), 177.67% (Denmark), 158.42% (Ireland) 35.0% (Poland) and 91.58% (Spain).
“There would be no price undercutting or price disadvantage if dumped imports were sold at the price they are sold at in the dumping countries,” the application says.
The “material injury” caused or likely to be caused is dealt with at considerable length. This is done under a number of headings, including price depression (price decreases), price suppression (inability to raise prices), reduced gross and net profits, reduced market share and significant unused production capacity due to dumped imports. Details of the injury suffered were not published because they are in the confidential portion of the application.
Local producers had managed a slight increase in sales volumes over the period under investigation, but not enough to prevent a loss of market share as local demand increased. The reduction in market share denied local producers the opportunity to achieve economies of scale, which would improve efficiency and increase profit margins.
The application said the reduction in profits correlates with an increase in the import volume and market share of dumped imports and continued price undercutting, and had forced producers to reduce production volumes, worsening economies of scale and reducing profits.
Reduced production had resulted in “significant unutilised production capacity”. This limited capacity utilisation, profitability and the sustainability of operations.
Despite continuing to suffer injury caused by dumped imports, the participating producers had managed to increase employment in in 2019 and 2020, demonstrating their commitment to sustainable employment.
“If no action is taken to remedy the material injury caused by dumped imports, then the participating producers may be forced to consider reductions in employees, as they were forced to do in 2016 and 2017.”
The same consideration applied to investment in future expansion projects.
The application says the lower volumes of chicken imports during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 is “likely to be temporary” and “is expected to reverse as the pandemic abates and the global economy returns to pre-pandemic levels and practices.”
The application also notes that Brazil and the European Union have excess production and a considerable oversupply of chicken. They are likely to target South Africa with volumes of dumped brown chicken meat.
Brazil is the second largest global producer and the largest exporter of chicken meat. Brazilian chicken meat production is expected to grow by 2.5% and export by 5% in 2020.
Broiler meat production in the EU is growing and has exceeded consumption over the last few years.
“The EU poultry industry has excess capacity of undesired frozen brown meat. EU exports of dumped poultry meat, which consists mainly of frozen brown meat portions, are growing and will probably continue to grow at the expense of SACU chicken producers.”
The local industry has been shown to be globally competitive. “The material injury suffered by the industry is not caused by the industry not being competitive with dumped imports”.
Dealing with the industry’s export potential, the application said there were limited export opportunities for frozen bone-in chicken, with little or no demand in North America and Europe. Exporting boneless chicken was extremely difficult.
“Despite enjoying tariff preferences, SACU producers are excluded from exporting boneless products to North America or Europe by sanitary and phytosanitary standards that the SACU producers cannot comply with without the co-operation of agricultural producers in other industries (for example nearby farms) and the SACU governments, which has not been provided.
“This may change with the implementation of the poultry master plan,” the application said.
The participating producers named in the application are Astral County Fair, Astral Festive, Astral Gold, Daybreak, Grain Field, RCL Foods and Supreme. Poultry producers from other countries in the South African Customs Union (SACU) have joined in the application as interested parties.


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With the business world becoming more competitive, it is critical that organisations have a Web 2.0 strategy to communicate their message to employees and customers, an industry player has said.
Web 2.0 tools, encompassing second-generation web applications, such as social-networking sites and blogs, aim to facilitate information-sharing and collaboration among users.
Bill Kearney, general manager of enterprise content management at Oracle Asia-Pacific, noted Web 2.0's commercial appeal: "It's fun and entertaining, which is great for advertisers to try and target a particular audience."
Web 2.0 and web content management facilitate collaborative communication, Kearney said in an interview. "The industry is looking at deploying Web 2.0 to empower the user community, to create a collaborative workspace where people who are not experts at using technology can very easily go online and start to work together," he said.
"If anything, it's almost an imperative for many organisations because this world has become more competitive," Kearney noted.
Kearney added that businesses that use their corporate sites to sell to customers can also gain from deploying Web 2.0 tools.
To drive more traffic to their corporate sites, vendors can create forums for online users to chat or blog about a product, or provide an editorial space for people to discuss topical subjects on the web. This could then generate product sales for the company, said Kearney.
He added that implementing a web content management program can help businesses simplify processes and tasks needed to publish web content. The key, Kearney said, is to have a mechanism in place that makes it easy for users to enter information into the system.
"The scenario where you have to go back to the webmaster [each time you need] to get anything [added or changed] on the site creates a barrier [for users]," Kearney said.


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“When we ask the consumer questions we must be ready to react, to give answers, otherwise obsolescence is just around the corner”. With this warning from Massimiliano Donapresident ofItalian Consumers Union, the conference “Driving the ecological transition” ended. The event, called in Rome by Aniasaunderlined the central role of car rental in this phase of profound change in the world of four wheels, as it is capable of responding with greater flexibility to the needs of the consumer-motorist, facilitating the hoped-for democratization of electric mobility in the future.
Electrics more suitable for rentals. “More than democratization, I would speak of convenient accessibility: rental has a competitive cost of use and allows the motorist not to have to bear the uncertainty due to the fact that electric technology is not yet mature”, he explained. Alberto Vianopresident of Aniasa. “What curbs demand today is the uncertainty that used vehicles have a value. The renter has a greater ability to absorb it: the more a person is able to exploit the vehicle, the more quickly it reaches break-even. (break-even point, ed) even on vehicles that have higher investment values. “Just like the electric ones: already today the mix of vehicles registered in the range from 0 to 60 g / km of CO2, characterized by full electric and plug-in hybrid cars, represents 30% of cars destined for long-term rental among private individuals, against 6% of those in purchase. And even car sharing, which is getting closer to the more encouraging numbers of 2019, can do its part: “Who driving a vehicle in his fleet is more easily persuaded that, at least in an urban environment, the electric is already the best solution “.
Price lists too expensive. The price, as it is easy to guess, represents a fundamental factor in the choice of electrified cars: according to the report “The mobility of Italians rekindles the engines”, created by Aniasa in collaboration with Bain & Company, 55% of the motorists interviewed declared that they did not consider purchasing a hybrid or electric car due to the uncertainty of the purchase, maintenance and refueling costs, followed by 33% of people who consider the capillarity of the recharge network. And among all those who have not yet considered the purchase of a new car, even if not electrified, that is 55% of the interviewees, more than half (51%) consider economic incentives as a prerequisite for deciding whether or not to change the car.
Unnecessary bonuses. One aspect, that of the habit of incentives, capable of generating frequent arrests and restarts in orders, such as the car bonus 2022already sold out in the widest range, is demonstrating. “There was a promise of incentives made very early (in December 2021, ed) and in a generic way. The result was to generate a wait ”, which lasted until May and rather useless, at least according to Viano:“ a demand that already exists in the face of a rigid offer has been stimulated ”. Not surprisingly, as the Bain & Company study recalls, the share of electricity registered in the first quarter of 2022 fell to 3.3% compared to 4.6% in the same period of 2021. And among private customers we have seen a real collapse, since from 3.7% in the first three months of last year, the full electric went to 1.8% of the registered.
Columns are better. And the phenomenon is destined to repeat itself: “The incentives were provided with finite budgets over three years, which generates a saw-toothed demand (fluctuating, ed), with dealers who will have (cyclically) drawers full of orders” . Better to use these funds differently, perhaps for charging points: “Nobody buys, even if incentivized, a car if they do not find a recharging point in the Apennines”. Precisely in the provincial areas, moreover, electric cars have less appeal: in municipalities with up to 400,000 inhabitants they represent 3.9% of registrations in 2021, against 5.3% in cities with over 1 million inhabitants.
Prices up. The higher costs in the sector, however, do not help: “The increase in the prices of raw materials was accompanied by inflation dictated by the higher cost of car components, as well as a contraction in supply that puts pressure on demand “. An offer that is reduced especially for the cheaper categories: “If the components are scarce and cost more, it is preferable to use them on a car with higher margins: all this continues to generate more and more inflation, which among the components is close to 30%. This factor affects both new and rental forms, although the latter has the ability to better absorb inflationary pressures “. A problem destined to grow in the coming years, especially for the Italian market, which is more inclined to purchase compact vehicles: if the A segment share represented 20% of Italian registrations in 2021, by 2025 this value could already drop to 6 %, according to the industrial plans of the car manufacturers: he underlined this Gianluca Di Loretopartner of Bain & Company, citing as an example the future goodbye to the Renault Twingo. As our readers already know, it will not be the only victim of a model offering increasingly geared towards vehicles with higher margins.
#Aniasa #Renting #ecological #transition #purchase #incentives


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A recent global survey of how large companies use social media ROI metrics reveals a decidedly mixed picture.
In North America, nearly half of large business-to-consumer companies don't measure social media ROI at all. In Europe, a 52% majority do not.
It's only in Asia-Pacific and Latin America where ROI is a popular yardstick, and where a positive result is more common than not measuring it at all.
- 55% of companies based in Asia-Pacific said their businesses have realized positive returns on their investment in social media. Only one-third said they do not measure ROI, and only 13% say they see negative ROI.
- 41% of companies in Latin America reported positive returns on social media, while 28% said they do not measure it, and 31% reported negative ROI.
- In North America and Europe, more companies do not measure social media ROI than those that do. Although in both regions, companies measuring ROI tend to see a positive return.
These findings were based on Tata Consulting Services, which surveyed 655 representatives, mostly from consumer-focused companies with $1 billion or more in revenue. The June and July 2013 survey was meant to discover how social media is being used in large businesses.
Some of the reasons a company would invest in social media, other than to drive quantifiable returns on investment, would be to:
- Increase consumer awareness and brand affinity
- Measure consumer sentiment
- Better understand consumer trends
My colleague John Heggestuen recently discussed social media ROI and how marketers are opting for more basic, no-frills metrics instead.
Download the chart and data in Excel.


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Another Big Year For The Yakima Valley Apple Crop
That's a lot of apples. The forecast is out for the 2021 Washington State fresh apple crop from the Washington State Tree Fruit Association and it's up from last year.
THIS YEAR THE CROP IS 2.3% LARGER THAN LAST YEAR
Fruit association officials say the crop is forecasted at just under 125 million standard forty-pound boxes of fresh apples. That's a 2.3% increase from 2020’s 122 million box crop, but down 7.2% from the 2019 crop of 134.5 million boxes.
THE WSTFA PRESIDENT SAYS THE HEAT THIS SUMMER IMPACTED THE CROP
Jon DeVaney, The Washington State Tree Fruit Association President says "the 2021 Washington state apple crop looks to be similar in size to last year’s crop. Growing seasons are never the same, and currently many WSTFA members are still evaluating the impact of this summer’s adverse and variable weather conditions. Members have made their best attempt to incorporate these factors, but with harvest just beginning and several months of unknown weather ahead, further reductions in the size of the forecasted crop are possible.” “In spite of these challenges, our growers anticipate meeting strong consumer demand with an ample and high-quality harvest. This crop reflects the continued growth of new varieties to delight all consumer tastes combined with the high standards of quality that domestic and international consumers have come to expect.”
IF YOU LOVE GALA THERE'S LOTS COMING ON THE TREES
DeVaney says Gala, for the third year in a row is the most numerous variety at 21%. Red Delicious is projected at 16%, followed by Honeycrisp and Granny Smith at 14%, and Fuji at 13% of total production. This year, Cosmic Crisp is forecast to come in at 3% of the total crop, a 114% increase from the 2020-21 crop, and Cripps Pink at 6%.
As for organic apple production? The forecast is 15.36 million boxes which is unchanged from the 15.6 million boxes in the 2020 apple crop.


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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up a case that could affect exclusive licensing deals between major sports leagues and manufacturers such as Reebok International that have made millions of dollars through licensing deals for apparel and accessories bearing team trademarks.
The Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to American Needle Inc., a manufacturer based in Buffalo Grove, Ill., which sued the National Football League, National Football League Properties, its 32 teams and Reebok in 2004 alleging a violation of antitrust laws when the NFL entered into an exclusive, 10-year licensing deal with Reebok in 2001.
At the center of the case is whether the league is a single entity that collectively enters into exclusive licensing deals without having an anticompetitive effect on the market or whether its 32 teams operate independently.
American Needle, which manufactured apparel and footwear for the NFL for 20 years, argued that “because each of the individual teams separately owned their team logos and trademarks, their collective agreement” with Reebok was “a conspiracy to restrict other vendors’ ability to obtain licenses for the team’s intellectual property,” court documents said.
In essence, American Needle charged the NFL, NFL Properties, the teams and Reebok with intending “to create a monopoly.” However, American Needle lost its case last year in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, which ruled in favor of the NFL.
The league, citing a 1984 Supreme Court decision that a “parent-subsidiary relationship did not yield anticompetitive risks,” argued that it functioned as a single entity when “collectively promoting NFL football by licensing the NFL teams’ intellectual property and were thus immune from liability,” an argument the appeals court upheld. The NFL and other professional sports leagues also act as one entity in negotiating players’ union collective bargaining agreements.
“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case,” an NFL spokesman said. “We look forward to the opportunity to explain why the court should confirm and extend on a nationwide basis the favorable rulings of the Court of Appeals on the application of the antitrust laws to the unique structure of a sports league.”
The National Basketball Association and National Hockey League filed “friend of the court” briefs in support of the NFL.
Reebok declined to comment on the case and referred all media inquiries to the NFL.
American Needle is hoping to persuade the high court that the NFL teams are independently owned businesses, not a single entity, and thus subject to antitrust law.
“The issue in this case is less about exclusive licenses than it is about when and what circumstances an independently owned business can agree not to compete and not be subject to antitrust law,” said Glen Nager, an attorney representing American Needle. “What the teams have done here through the league is agreed not to compete with each other. That creates antitrust problems.”
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)
Not only does #TheProfit return to CNBC tonight, but @marcuslemonis has launched @shopmarcus, a new shopping and lifestyle retail experience in Aspen and Chicago, with more locations to come. The retail stores offer in-store stylists and a variety of contemporary womenswear selections.
“It’s life, I’m going to face it,” @mingxi11 sighed. “I fell, but you know, I think the most important thing is that I get back up. I had the love, the help from my sister — the girl next to me Gizele [Oliveira] — she’s so nice. When I went backstage everybody was trying to comfort me like ‘Oh Ming, it’s OK.’ I’m really, really touched. I think it’s them who gave me the courage to go back on stage for the finale,” Xi told WWD of her fall at the @victoriassecret fashion show. (📷: David Fisher) #wwdfashion #vsfashionshow #victoriassecret
@louisvuitton tapped @therealpeterlindbergh for its latest city-centric photo book, which is part of a series called Fashion Eye. The primarily black and white book captures the spirit of Berlin in 57 images shot between 1989 and 2019. “Berlin is an inspiration for me, more than a city. I mean @millajovovich is simply Berlin!” said Lindbergh. #wwdfashion
“You know, I think audiences expect a certain performance so I have to deliver to them what they’re expecting to a certain degree. But I’m also a different actor and a different person, I have my own spin on the character,” says @noahegalvin of his takeover of the leading role in “Dear Evan Hansen” following the departure of @bensplatt, who originated the role. Read WWD’s interview with the 23-year-old actor on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
For pre-fall 2018, @etro created richly-colored wonderland, using tapestries, textiles and wallpapers from the Eastern world at large. The line featured floral and graphic prints and jacquard motifs, like this two-piece look featured here. #wwdfashion (📷: Giovanna Pavesi)
@kith is moving into children’s. The men’s and women’s streetwear brand has launched Kidset, a Kith kids line located in New York at 64 Bleecker Street. The line includes mini versions of staple Kith pieces like the Astor bomber jacket and the Kith box logo sweatshirts, along with a wall that can display up to 120 pairs of shoes from @adidas, @newbalance, @timberland and more. #wwdfashion
“I just wanted to create this fully rounded character, but I do think what excited me most was just the opportunity to give a group of people representation that I feel needs it. I like to do characters in projects that stand for something and Karolina definitely does, so that was really exciting to me,” @ginnygardner says of her new role in @hulu’s “The Runaways.” Gardner plays Karolina Dean, a queer superhero, which is a rarity for @marvel. Read more about Gardner’s character on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @dandoperalski)


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However, the rollable display isn't the only impressive feature of the TV R. The base station, which holds the display is also a powerhouse for audio consumption, equipped with a 100-watt Dolby Atmos speaker for impressive built-in audio.
LG's Signature OLED TV R is the world's first rollable TV.
It also introduced a 12.3-inch transparent OLED for potential use in the automobile sector, a concept 27-inch Neo Art display, and 27-inch 4K monitor with 0.11-inch thin bezels, and a 13.3-inch 4K screen for laptops.
"The "R" in the new Signature OLED TV R is about creating a revolution in home entertainment and redefining space through its ability to rise and roll-up at the touch of a button".
Defining the next generation of television, the signature OLED TV R gives home television viewers infinite possibilities in designing their ideal viewing space with its innovative rollable display.More news: United Nations urges Australia to take in fleeing Saudi girl as refugee
More news: Surviving R Kelly sheds light on an enabled sexual predator
More news: Congo's Catholic bishops and USA demand release of accurate election results
LG hasn't disclosed a price or debut date for the LG Signature OLED TV R yet, however, there's more information on the company's website here on specs and other key features.
LG has not announced pricing or availability for the OLED TV R or either new 8K TV, but they are expected to hit the market in the second half of 2019. All of the company's new flagship TV lines will have Amazon Alexa support, accessible through the microphone on the TV's remote with the press of a button, like on most Amazon Fire TV products besides the Fire TV Cube (which supports hands-free Alexa).
The TV runs on LG's webOS which is integrated with Google Assistant.


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Mumbai: Lemma, an independent supply-side platform for digital out-of-home, announced the appointment of Puneet Biyan
Mumbai: Outdoor advertising company Times Innovative Media Ltd (Times OOH), a part of Times of India Group has been a
NEW DELHI: Times OOH has acquired exclusive media rights over Chennai’s central and southern billboards.
Somany Ceramics Limited, an internationally acclaimed organization that specializes in ceramics and allied products s
NEW DELHI: As airports resume functioning, Times OOH has started airport advertising with a new campaign The Runway R
MUMBAI: India’s largest outdoor Advertising agency, Times OOH has helped Godrej Interio in setting up a first-of-its-
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Huawei is about to introduce a massive 6.1-inch 1080p Android smartphone at CES.
Engadget has first spotted a video in which a huge hybrid phone/tablet appears. According to the author of the video, the device features a 6.1-inch 1080p LTPS display, 2GB of RAM, and it is powered by an 1.8GHz quad-core processor made by Huawei. Of course ,we can't be sure on the accuracy of This report so we'll have to wait a little bit more for CES for more information.
More giant phones are said to be coming, including an 6.3-inch screen model developed by Samsung as a successor to the Galaxy Note II.


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LEGO is combining bricks with clicks in a new partnership with Facebook to promote the creativity of imaginative play among kids.
The campaign, titled Kronkiwongi, challenges young LEGO fans to build without rules or instructions to interpret the non-definable term with the use of their own imagination.
With a series of videos – each directed by M.O.D. of RSA – launching on Facebook today, the four-week campaign is designed to engage parents and relay the importance of ‘free play.’
The video campaign sees LEGO share the results of an unscripted creative experience in which children from across the globe interpret and build their own Kronkiwongi from LEGO bricks.
The LEGO Group has collaborated with Facebook’s Creative Shop over the past year to bring the Kronkiwongi campaign to the social media platform.
The result of the partnership is a series of three documentary style videos, one for each week of the campaign, culminating in the fourth week with a celebration of user-generated content from uploaded images and videos of LEGO fans’ home made Kronkiwongis.
“Our hope with this project is to inspire and engage parents all over the world, through an unscripted experience that sees children from different countries and cultures doing what they do best, using their creativity,” said Lars Silberbauer, director of global social media and search at The LEGO Group.
“There is no right or wrong when it comes to building a Krnkiwongi, you can build a rocket and fly to the moon without even getting out from underneath the dining table, and parents everywhere witness these imaginative adventures every day.
“We are proud to share this series of powerful videos with parents on Facebook and collectively celebrate the amazing creativity that takes place when kids just build.”
Rob Newlan, head of Facebook’s Creative Shop believes that the partnership has developed an end product that will resonate with parents across the social media landscape.
“We are incredibly proud of what we have created together,” he said. “today, brands are under more pressure than ever to develop engaging, relevant content that can cut through online noise, which is why the endearing authenticity of these films is so powerful.”
Parentss and kids can share their own Kronkiwongi creations on the LEGO Facebook page, with images and videos being used to create a final showreel to celebrate the campaign’s creativity.


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were among technology's losers Tuesday, plunging 19% after the wireless communications company slashed its first-quarter revenue projection.
The company estimates sales of $190 million to $200 million, down from an earlier view of $240 million to $250 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call project sales of $246.7 million.
"For the first quarter, we have experienced stronger seasonality than we expected, which has resulted in a slower start to the year than we were anticipating," Powerwave said. "Coupled with this stronger seasonality, we have experienced slower-than-expected demand from a major North American wireless network operator, which has also significantly impacted our first quarter." The company plans to post earnings on May 2. Shares were trading down $2.57 to $10.71.
Several other tech outfits were lower after cutting their first-quarter outlooks.
fell 6% after the software company lowered its earnings projection. The company now sees earnings of 5 cents to 7 cents a share. On an adjusted basis, which excludes items, the company projects earnings of 14 cents to 16 cents a share.
Previously, Manhattan Associates forecast net earnings of 11 cents to 15 cents a share, and adjusted earnings of 19 cents to 23 cents a share. Analysts project adjusted earnings of 22 cents a share. "Our results in the quarter were impacted by delays in closing software sales," the company said. Shares were trading down $1.35 to $19.97.
slumped 9% after the chipmaker lowered its first-quarter sales guidance. The company now sees sales of $35 million to $36 million, down from an earlier forecast of $39 million to $43 million. Analysts project sales of $40.4 million. The company blamed the shortfall on weaker-than-expected sales into the advanced television market. "We did not fully anticipate the weak market conditions we experienced during the quarter for advanced televisions in Europe and China," the company said. Shares were trading down 46 cents to $4.43.
Check Point Software
fell 6% after the software company warned that first-quarter results missed its expectations. The company now sees earnings, before items, of 30 cents to 31 cents a share. Check Point projects revenue of $133 million to $134 million. Analysts project earnings of 33 cents a share and revenue of $149.2 million.
Previously, the company forecast earnings of 32 cents to 34 cents a share, with revenue of $145 million to $155 million. The company said that it was hurt by its decision to not acquire Sourcefire, a shift in its product mix and slower growth in the industry. Shares were trading down $1.11 to $18.72.
rose 3% after the software company named Scott Cruickshank president and chief operating officer. The company also named David Hansen as president of its BidPay.com unit, which was acquired in March.
"Both of these individuals bring with them a powerful combination of deep payment industry experience, management skill and passion for CyberSource and its business," the company said. Cruickshank most recently served as president and COO of Qsent, a privately held company that provides data authentication services. Hansen most recently served as vice president and general manager of BidPay. CyberSource shares were trading up 27 cents to $10.73.
Other technology movers included
, down 15 cents to $3.93;
, down 5 cents to $3.03;
, up 6 cents to $19.41;
, down 22 cents to $5;
, up 10 cents to $3.68;
, up 2 cents to $5.11;
, down 4 cents to $21.55;
, down $1.06 to $61.59;
, up 18 cents to $27.74; and
Level 3 Communications
, up 10 cents to $4.97.


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Moonshine Sweet Tea is excited to announce that effective October 1, 2015, Alternative Distributing will become part of the MST network of distributor partners. Alternative Distributing has been in business for over 25 years and distributes beverages and grocery items to over 600 Chain Grocery Accounts from West Texas to Louisiana. Some of Alternative’s top…Details
Moonshine Sweet Tea has a deep-rooted commitment to donating a portion of our sweet tea sales to children’s charities. We are proud to say that drinking Moonshine Sweet Tea can help a child in need, and our goal is to bring that hope to children everywhere, one bottle at a time.
The owners of Moonshine are passionate about giving back—and have donated millions of dollars in the past to dozens of worthwhile organizations like Dell Children’s Hospital, Make-a-Wish, and Big Brothers/ Big Sisters, just to name a few.
So now, for all of us here at Moonshine, “Helping Children’s Charities” is much more than just a saying that tops our bottles. It is a promise that a portion of the proceeds from every bottle of Moonshine Sweet Tea will go toward continuing our efforts to help children live healthier, reach their potential and lead more fulfilling lives.
Join us! And be part of something that will bring about the kind of change that allows more kids to shine and enjoy the finer things in life—one sweet sip at a time.


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OrganiGram (CVE:OGI) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Canaccord Genuity from C$8.50 to C$7.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, BayStreet.CA reports.
Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. AltaCorp Capital lowered their target price on shares of OrganiGram from C$13.15 to C$6.50 in a report on Tuesday. CIBC set a C$9.00 target price on shares of OrganiGram and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of OrganiGram from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from C$10.50 to C$8.20 in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. OrganiGram has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$8.60.
The stock has a market capitalization of $661.23 million and a P/E ratio of 28.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$6.22 and a 200-day moving average price of C$7.97. The company has a current ratio of 9.06, a quick ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.71. OrganiGram has a fifty-two week low of C$4.11 and a fifty-two week high of C$11.30.
OrganiGram Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, produces and sells dried cannabis and cannabis oil in Canada. It also offers wholesale shipping of cannabis plant cuttings, dried flowers, blends, pre-rolls, and cannabis oils to retailers and wholesalers. The company also exports its products. It sells its products online, as well as through phone orders.
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Gaussian Robotics, a solutions provider of AI-based autonomous cleaning and service robots, has changed its brand name to Gausium.
According to Peter Kwestro, overseas BD director of Gausium, the new brand name represents the company’s positioning of 3 “I”s — “Innovative”, “Intelligent”, “Industry leader”, and that the Gausium autonomous solutions are developed under a “3S Principle” — “Smarter”, “Safer” and “Simpler”.
Founded in 2013, Gausium built its autonomous navigation based on advanced SLAM technology and integrated it into cleaning machines in 2017.
Over the past few years, Gausium has ramped up its efforts in robotic cleaning and servicing, offering a comprehensive line of autonomous cleaning robots.
In 2021 and 2022, Gausium launched its first autonomous delivery robot X1 and the new cleaning product line Phantas.
Currently, Gausium’s products and services include commercial floor cleaning robots, indoor delivery robots and supplementary accessories like docking stations, cloud platform, and application software.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
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Palmer Holland Inc. has launched a new website dedicated to the implementation of sales and marketing programs for chemical manufacturers.
“There is no longer one standard approach,” said Mark Riemann, vice president of marketing. “Today’s buyer interacts with suppliers and prospective suppliers through communication avenues that did not exist a few years ago. Unlike our competition, we combine multiple sales channels with in-depth market intelligence to give clients actionable data on market trends and opportunities.”
For more information, visit the new site at www.palmerholland.com/work-with-us.


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Bratislava, October 12 (TASR) – A ban on gatherings of more than six people will come into force in Slovakia as of Tuesday (October 13), according to a decision made by the Government at its special session on Monday.
he reason for this move is a deterioration in the coronavirus situation in the country. The only exception will be for people living within a single household.
“In this situation we realise the need to reduce mobility and social contacts between people in places where this isn’t necessary,” said Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) following a meeting of the Government’s Central Crisis Management Team on Sunday (October 11). He added that people will still be able to go to work and school, but other activities must be limited to a minimum.
Under the current state of emergency declared in response to a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, the Government can, to the necessary extent and for the necessary time, restrict or ban exercising the right to peaceful gatherings or make public gatherings conditional on permission.
Stricter measures to combat novel coronavirus were adopted in Slovakia on Sunday. As of Monday, secondary schools are switching to remote education. As of Thursday (October 15), the obligation to wear face masks outdoors and a ban on mass events will come into force. Restaurants will only be able to serve packaged food, and consumers will only be able to eat the food outdoors. Fitness and wellness centres, aquaparks, swimming pools and saunas will be closed. Food and drug stores will have to earmark special shopping hours for pensioners. The number of people in shops and in shopping centres will be limited.
According to Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO), the stricter rules will be in effect until the seven-day median for new cases per day drops below 500. Meanwhile, he stressed that Slovakia is trying to apply the final emergency brake, and, if this doesn’t work, Slovakia can expect a lockdown like the one in Israel.


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Checking rates online for a room at a Sheraton or Westin hotel is no longer a fingerdrumming experience. And Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the owner and operator of that online reservations system, gives credit in large part to a humble little object database from Progress Software Corp.
For the past year, Starwood — which also operates W Hotels along with the Le Meredian, St. Regis and Four Points chains — has been slowly offloading its rates and availability system from an aging mainframe to a distributed set of applications running on Linux servers, said Song Park, director of pricing and availability technologies at Starwood’s White Plains, N.Y. headquarters.
Embedded in 10 of those applications are copies of the ObjectStore Enterprise real-time database from Bedford, Mass.-based Progress. While those applications still exchange data in real-time with a central Oracle 10g database, they can run faster queries with the embedded ObjectStore database.
“Our throughput [with Oracle] used to be hundreds of transactions per minute,” Park said. “Now, it’s hundreds per second. And the way it can scale — it doesn’t even compare.”
Park chose ObjectStore over caching solutions such as Coherence from Tangosol Inc. “With caching technologies, you have to pop things into memory and then take it back out,” he said. “ObjectStore is more integrated into your application. You don’t have to worry about the vendor’s supplied container. You build your own container. Modeling and development is more seamless.”
The increased speed will allow Starwood in the future to do more complicated yield management — industry-speak for how airlines and hotels adjust room prices in real-time as supply and demand fluctuates. And that helps maximize revenue.
The change will also allow Starwood to offer better features to customers, reservations systems such as Sabre or travel Web sites like Expedia, including the ability to check prices and availability of a specific room in a particular hotel.
Park expects to have the rates and availabilty system completely running on the ObjectStore-embedded applications by year’s end. The main issue he has encountered with ObjectStore is deciding how deeply to integrate it into applications.
Tweaking Objectstore or the data it holds can mean asking his developers to rewrite the application. “With better performance, you lose a degree of flexibility,” Park said.