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© alexan24 dreamstime.com Components | February 08, 2013
Samsung, SK Hynix take nearly 70% of Oligopoly market
As top-tier DRAM makers continued to lower commodity DRAM output in favor of more profitable mobile and server DRAM products and demand surged on China’s MID market, DRAM spot prices increased in the fourth quarter of 2012.
DDR3 1600Mhz 2Gb spot price rose from US$0.82 to US$1.05 in the fourth quarter, a nearly 30% increase. On the contract market, as PC OEMs’ inventory levels were relatively low, DRAM makers gradually raised contract prices as well. Significant price increases are already evident so far in the first quarter of 2013. Benefitting from spot price increases, the value of the DRAM industry increased by nearly 7% QoQ in the fourth quarter, and revenue figures were up across the board. TrendForce’s global DRAM brand manufacturer revenue ranking, Samsung and SK Hynix’s combined market share was 67%, up from 64.2% in the third quarter. The Korean suppliers continued to increase the production ratio of mobile DRAM products, which currently account for 28% of the Korean makers’ total output. Japanese supplier Elpida came in third place again with 14.4% of the market, an 11.3% QoQ increase. In addition to increased mobile DRAM production, higher DRAM spot prices contributed to Elpida’s revenue increase. Micron, in fourth, only took 3.6% less market share than Elpida. However, revenue calculations were based on September to November figures due to Micron’s fiscal quarter, when DRAM prices were low; DRAM price did not start picking up until December. Thus, Micron’s revenue for the quarter fell by 9.5% QoQ. As for Taiwanese makers, although Nanya has made the transition to a specialty DRAM manufacturer, the supplier still had commodity DRAM in production in the fourth quarter, and revenue increased by 9.7%. After Powerchip’s transition to foundry business, the maker ceased commodity DRAM production in the fourth quarter which resulted in a 54% decrease in DRAM revenue. Winbond remains focused on specialty DRAM sales, with revenue climbing by 0.4%. Samsung, SK Hynix Take Nearly 70% of Oligopoly Market Samsung Semiconductors’ market share reached 42% in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 1.1% QoQ increase. Benefitting from DRAM price increases, Samsung experienced nearly 10% revenue growth in the fourth quarter. Although commodity DRAM price is on an uptrend, Samsung is adhering to its initial plans to reduce output of commodity products in favor of mobile and server DRAM. Furthermore, with the popularity of Samsung’s Galaxy product series, the supplier’s mobile DRAM output ratio may exceed 40% this year, leaving commodity DRAM production at less than 20%. With market share rising from 23.3% to 25% as a result of the DRAM price rebound and revenue increasing by 15% QoQ, SK Hynix was the most impressive DRAM maker in the fourth quarter. Although the Korean maker has been increasing mobile DRAM production, commodity DRAM still accounted for nearly half of SK Hynix’s total output in the fourth quarter. Furthermore, as SK Hynix sells significantly on the spot market, the over 30% jump in spot market prices contributed to the supplier’s performance. 11% Revenue Growth for Elpida, Micron Group to Emerge in Latter Half of 2013 Also benefitting from additional mobile DRAM production and the commodity DRAM price increase, Japanese supplier Elpida was not far behind SK Hynix last quarter. However, due to the exchange rate, Elpida’s revenue only increased by 11% for the fourth quarter. As for the manufacturer’s product mix, mobile DRAM already accounts for over half of Elpida’s output, while their commodity DRAM ratio is down to 35%. As subsidiary Rexchip’s capacity returned to fully loaded status in January and commodity DRAM prices are on the rise, Elpida’s revenue will likely continue to grow in the first quarter of 2013. Due to fiscal quarter differences, Micron’s fourth quarter market share fell from 12.4% to 10.5%. As the new Micron group takes off in the second half of 2013; Inotera’s capacity has been in Micron’s hands since January, and discussion is underway regarding capacity at Elpida’s Hiroshima fab and Rexchip. New plans for Micron’s Singapore tech fab may also be in the works. Once everything is settled, Micron will be toe-to-toe with SK Hynix as one of the three major DRAM players. Taiwanese DRAM Makers Out of Commodity Market, Seeking New Opportunities Looking at Taiwanese suppliers, Nanya’s fourth quarter revenue increased by 10% QoQ. Although Nanya has already made the transition to specialty DRAM manufacturer, more than half of their capacity was still dedicated to commodity DRAM in the fourth quarter, making a significant contribution to the supplier’s revenue figures. Beginning in January, however, Nanya subsidiary Inotera’s capacity will be transferred to Micron, and any of Nanya’s capacity not allocated to specialty DRAM production will be used for foundry business. As a result, the supplier’s DRAM revenue ratio will change drastically in the first quarter of 2013. As Powerchip has turned to foundry business, the manufacturer gradually reduced commodity DRAM capacity throughout the fourth quarter and stopped new production entirely in December. Accordingly, Powerchip’s DRAM revenue fell by 54% QoQ. As the majority of equipment from the supplier’s P3 fab has been purchased by GlobalFoundries, Powerchip has officially withdrawn from the DRAM market. Like Nanya, Powerchip’s revenue ratios will see a radical change in the first quarter.
500 jobs lost as Molex decides to close facility Connectors and interconnect components manufacturer, Molex, has announced that it will shut down production and close its Shannon, Ireland, a decision that will affect about 500 employees.
NTU Singapore and GF to explore next-gen memory technology Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and GlobalFoundries will jointly be exploring the next-generation of embedded memory for smart systems.
EU Commission clears Infineon's acquisition of Cypress The European Commission has, under the EU Merger Regulation, approved the acquisition of US-based Cypress Semiconductor by German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies.
Sponsored content by Sourceability NA LLCComponent Aggregators vs E-Commerce Marketplaces What is the difference between electronic component aggregators and a marketplace?
67% of a buyer’s journey is now done digitally. Learn how marketplaces emerged as full-cycle procurement platforms and challenged the traditional component aggregators.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES buys Smartcom’s PDK team GLOBALFOUNDRIES has acquired the process design kit (PDK) engineering team from Smartcom Bulgaria AD to enhance GF’s scale and capabilities.
New head of Zeiss Research Microscopy Solutions Effective 1 October 2019, Dr. Michael Albiez became Head of the Research Microscopy Solutions strategic business unit (RMS SBU) at Zeiss and, with this appointment, a member of the management team for the Zeiss Industrial Quality & Research (IQR) segment. He has also been appointed Managing Director of Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH.
ams is not backing down – launches new offer for Osram The Austrian sensor manufacturer says that it intends to launch a new all-cash takeover offer for Osram Licht for EUR 41.00 per share.
Sivers IMA and NXP collaborate on 5G NXP Semiconductors and Sivers IMA Holding AB announces a collaboration to deliver a state-of-the-art solution for 5G-NR (New Radio), such as gigabit Fixed Wireless Access applications.
LEMO opens new facility in the Netherlands To support the unprecedented growth of its Benelux business, LEMO has invested in a new, purpose-built, hi-tech and eco-friendly facility near Amsterdam.
Wafer capacity by feature size shows rapid growth at <10nm Leading-edge processes (<28nm) took over as the largest portion in terms of monthly installed capacity available in 2015. By the end of 2019, <28nm capacity is forecast to represent about 49 percent of the IC industry’s total capacity.
Elatec USA appoints Paul Massey as CEO Elatec USA Inc., developer and manufacturer of RFID products, has named Paul K. Massey as Chief Executive Officer. In this newly created position, Massey will report to the Elatec Board of Directors and Managing Director Stefan Haertel.
Data Respons reports on record high quarterly results Data Respons presented figures for Q3 showing both solid revenue growth and a good margin increase. The company reports 35 percent growth in operating income and 68 percent growth in the operating profit, reaching an EBITA margin of 12.1 percent in the third quarter.
EC imposes interim measures on Broadcom The European Commission has ordered Broadcom to stop applying certain provisions contained in agreements with six of its main customers. This will "prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition likely to be caused by Broadcom's conduct, which prima facie (at first sight) infringes EU competition rules".
Specialisation kept Universal Robots agile through the years Universal Robots, the Danish robotics company that many analysts credit with both creating and taking over the collaborative robot space.
2Q/2019: Memory business is approaching bottom “Combined DRAM and NAND revenue was USD 25.4 billion in 2Q/2019, down 5% from Q1 and down 39% year-over-year as sluggish demand and elevated inventory levels continued to plague the memory markets”, says Simone Bertolazzi, Memory Technology & Market Analyst at Yole Développement.
Tridonic supplies new Beijing airport with light-on-demand Tridonic supplies the new mega airport Beijing Daxing International Airport with drivers, intelligent lighting control and light-on-demand with daylight tracking.
Infineon-radar technology in Google Pixel 4 Smartphone Whether for artificial intelligence, augmented reality or the Internet of Things – 5 billion people worldwide 1 will be using smart devices to sense their environment next year.
NVIDIA leads way but competition is intensifying Diversity is the name of the game when it comes to the edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) chipset industry. In 2019, the AI industry is witnessing the continual migration of AI workloads, particularly AI inference, to edge devices, including on-premise servers, gateways, and end-devices and sensors.
Nidec continues Polish investment Nidec Motors & Actuators continues to expand in Poland and decided to invest a further PLN 165.2 million (EUR 3.8 million) in Kraków's special economic zone in Niepołomic.
Phoenix Contact builds R&D centre in Skolkovo German electronics company Phoenix Contact is building a regional development and competence centre in Moscow's high-tech cluster Skolkovo.
Elektrobit opens software lab in Berlin Kickstarts the new office by signing a collaboration agreement with Daimler subsidiary MBition.
Smiths Detection scanners keep laptops and liquids in the bag Recent implementation of Smiths Detection’s checkpoint scanners at Melbourne Airport pave way for reduction of passenger journey time by 50 percent.
Murata develops Millimeter-Wave RF Module for Terragraph Murata Manufacturing is working to develop an RF module solution for Terragraph, a gigabit wireless technology developed by Facebook. The module solution aims at meeting the growing demand for reliable, high-speed internet access in urban and suburban environments.
Ynvisible Interactive enters manufacturing agreement with Invisense Ynvisible Interactive has entered into a partnership with Invisense AB, a developer of passive humidity sensors. The agreement between the companies establishes Ynvisible as the preferred manufacturing partner for Invisense’s growing range of humidity sensor products.Load more news


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The Council has launched a new survey to find out if Hart businesses would be interested in a new e-commerce platform designed to bring traders and customers together.
Funding for the initiative would come from the Government’s Welcome Back Fund which is providing councils across England with a share of £56 million to support the safe return to high streets and help build back better from the pandemic.
The platform would be an online website enabling businesses to reach a wider pool of customers and extend their online visibility. Membership would be free for the first 12 months.
The platform will allow shoppers to browse, book and buy from their local businesses at their convenience. The aim of the site isn’t to generate more online customers but to create a community of local shoppers who can opt to buy locally in the way they choose.
The aim of our survey is to find out if businesses would be keen to be part of this online platform and to garner ideas on how the platform could be funded after the first free 12 months.
The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete and closes on Friday 24 September. You can complete the survey at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Z2ZPG8X
16 August 2021

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Holidaymakers are being warned to watch out for villa scams which have left tourists conned out thousands of pounds.
Barclays’ research found 37% of customers who reported being fleeced by a villa booking scam lost between £1,000 and £5,000.
Scams can happen when criminals use fake property details to trick holidaymakers into sending them money, or if they hijack the details of a real rental property and pretend they own it.
More than a third (36%) of victims were aged 30 to 44 years old.
Ross Martin, Barclays head of digital safety, said: “Trying to escape those January blues may seem like an appealing prospect, but fraudsters are preparing to take advantage of sun seekers at this time of year.
“We must all be aware of the risks and make sure we are carrying out proper safety checks to ensure our online security and enjoy a scam-free holiday.”
As well as looking at its own data on villa scams between April and October 2017, Barclays also surveyed more than 2,000 consumers.
Barclays says 43% of those quizzed would not be worried if they were asked to pay via a bank transfer. Usually, customers have less protection if they are tricked into a direct bank transfer, as the bank would be acting on their instruction.
Only 45% take steps to check their booking is protected by a consumer protection scheme body, like Abta, which leaves them with less security if something goes wrong.
A quarter (26%) were perfectly prepared to risk a dodgy booking if the price appeared to be a bargain.
Mark Tanzer, Abta chief executive said: “Abta sees at first-hand the damage caused by travel fraudsters with the many devastated customers who contact us for advice after they find out their much-anticipated holiday or trip to visit loved ones may not actually exist.
“The cost to them is not just financial; this crime causes very real disappointment and emotional distress.
“However this does not need to happen. Check and follow the tips and advice on abta.com and you will not fall victim to these unscrupulous individuals.
“But if you are unlucky enough to do so, always report it to Action Fraud so that they can put these crooks out of business.”
Barclays’ tips for staying safe while booking holidays
1. Is the offer too good to be true?
Do your research. If a villa is advertised at half the going rate and has great availability in peak season when everywhere else is full, this should tell you something. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
2. Do an internet search on the location.
If the villa in question appears to be advertised by other companies under another name, this may also be a warning sign. Be sure to do thorough research before making any booking.
3. Are they asking you to pay by transfer?
Scammers love bank transfers. The money goes straight from your account to theirs and then they take it straight out and it disappears. By the time you realise that something is wrong, they are long gone.
4. Look for companies that have a real location and real phone numbers.
Be suspicious of businesses that will only communicate via email and mobile phone. It is worth checking the address or even looking at the location through an online street map. Make sure you check that the travel agent and website is certified, and that your payment is going to the right people.
5. Before you commit to anything, stop and take time to think.
If it is a legitimate company, five minutes is not going to make any difference – and it could save you thousands of pounds and untold heartache.
Further tips for avoiding fraud can be found at barclays.co.uk/security.
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- 20 best multi-generational holidays for parents, grandparents and kids
- Why Sicily is Europe's greatest island for a family holiday (and now is the time to go)
- Shoppers scammed out of £6.5million due to gift card fraud – how to protect yourself
- The 40 best family holiday destinations for October half term
- What it's really like to stay in an overwater villa in the Maldives
- Kuoni launches new offers on dreamy luxury holidays from the Maldives to Cyprus
- 9 things you need to know before booking a holiday in the Maldives
- Where was the Love Island 2018 filmed, can you book to stay in the Majorca villa and what is the place like inside?
- Gardener conned out of £10k in bank transfer scam by fraudsters impersonating HMRC
- Almost half of UK's tired mums take holidays on 'mumshine breaks' to escape kids
- Hundreds of well-meaning Brits scammed out of thousands of pounds by bogus charity scam exposed by The Sun Online
How to avoid being scammed when booking a holiday villa have 845 words, post on www.chroniclelive.co.uk at January 16, 2019. This is cached page on Auto News. If you want remove this page, please contact us.


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'Shatter those glass ceilings': CT woman breaking barriers in world of craft beer
A New Haven woman is breaking barriers in the male-dominated world of craft beer.
"We are the first African American, and first African American woman-owned beer brand in the state of Connecticut,' says Alisa Bowens-Mercado, of Rhythm Brewing.
She says the brewing company represents a foot in the door for Black ownership in a booming business.
"When you're dealing with a $114 billion industry annually, and people of color are getting less than 0.005% of that - we can't just consume as people, we have to start owning," she says.
When she's not teaching private salsa lessons, Bowens-Mercado is crafting unfiltered lagers with the folks over at Black Hog Brewing. She says, "I will tell you, my Connecticut brew family has been amazing. They welcome diversity."
Rhythm Lager has been on store shelves for almost three years now. But Bowens-Mercado says for Black History Month 2021, she wanted to try something new. Rhythm Brewing is going dark for the first time with a vanilla porter called BGM -- "Typically known as Black Girl Magic, but it's Birthday Girl Magic," she says.
Bowens-Mercado says she's not just sealing cans - she's opening doors.
"And hopefully people that look like me can say, 'I can be a brewer. I can own a beer brand.' And shatter those glass ceilings," she says.


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Williams-Sonoma in Woeful Slump
September 1, 2008-- Home Textiles Today,
Williams-Sonoma Inc. experienced progressively declining comp-store sales throughout the second quarter, as well as net revenues declining by greater-than-expected rates, the six-nameplate upscale home furnishings retailer reported during its earnings call last week.
Pottery Barn proved the poorest performer and Williams-Sonoma the best.
Howard Lester, chairman and ceo, outlined the results. Among the company's brands, net revenues decreased 7.6% — "this decline driven by an 11.5% decrease in the Pottery Barn brand and an 8.1% decrease in the Pottery Barn Kids brand, partially offset by a 1% increase in the Williams-Sonoma brand," he said.
On the flip side, at Williams-Sonoma Inc.'s emerging brands — West Elm, Williams-Sonoma Home and PB Teen — net revenues increased 15.9%, "despite the softening in overall economy," he added.
Overall, diluted earnings per share for the quarter ended Aug. 3 fell 26.1% to 17 cents (including a 9 cent benefit on the sale of a corporate aircraft), vs. 23 cents in the same period one year ago. Excluding the one-time benefit, EPS plunged 65.2%.
Quarterly net revenues fell 4.6% to $819.6 million from $859.4 million last year. Comps were down 11.7%, and worsened through the quarter: "To put this in perspective," said Lester, "comparable-store sales declined from negative 8.6% in May to negative 14.0% in July."
In August, Pottery Barn suffered a continuation of the trend in declining comp-store sales, which in July came in at -18.6%, "noticeably weaker than other months in the quarter," said Laura Alber, president.
Pottery Barn's merchandising suffered with year-over-year sales declines across all major categories. "Interestingly, no one category was significantly better or worse than another, with the exception of furniture, which benefited from the success of new product introductions and strong upholstery business," she said.
The related Pottery Barn Kids brand proved another sore spot for the period. "We continue to believe the macro-economic environment is having a significant impact on this brand, particularly in discretionary categories like textiles and decorative accessories," Alber explained.
Only the PB Teen segment boasted a healthy increase in net revenues, 25.1% in the quarter, "delivering the best year-over-year growth in the company," she said, adding that all of its key merchandising categories — furniture, textiles and decorative accessories — saw strong growth.
Alber said, "Even PB Teen saw deterioration in growth rate at the beginning and end of quarter."
To reverse the trend, the brand is undertaking several initiatives: leveraging the August launch of its upgraded ecommerce website; testing PB Teen merchandise for the first time in one Pottery Barn Kids store in November; and expanding its selection of holiday gifts to serve a broader range of teens' interests.
At Williams-Sonoma Home, softness in textiles and furniture offset strength in home furnishings and tabletop, said Dave DeMattei, group president — Williams-Sonoma, Williams-Sonoma Home and West Elm.
"Still, [the Williams-Sonoma Home brand] is expected to be more resilient than our other home furnishing brands due to its target demographic and relatively small store space," he continued, adding that the brand going forward will be leveraging the strength of the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen brand to include a cross-branding of the two catalogs and the testing of a store-within-store in New York City in the near future.
While West Elm saw net revenue up, driven by incremental growth from new stores and increased traffic in e-commerce, this was partially offset by weaker sales in existing stores of which about 30% are located in "housing-affected" markets, namely Florida, Nevada and California, DeMattei said.
West Elm's expanded offerings in textiles, decorative accessories and furniture generally performed well. By yearend, West Elm plans to expand with 10 new units, including its first in Canada. The nameplate will also enhance its e-commerce and refine its merchandise assortment.
The corporation has restated its 2008 earnings outlook.
"We are projecting net revenues for the year on a 52-week to 53-week basis to decline in the range of 7.8% to 9.5% and diluted earnings per share to decline in the range of 34.7% to 41.5%, resulting in annual earnings in the range of $1.03 to $1.15 per share," Lester stated.
The previous guidance had called for EPS of $1.45 to $1.58; in 2007 EPS was $1.76.
Looking to 2009, Williams Sonoma Inc. expects a continued softness in the economy, and is bracing for it.
"Our approach in this environment is not and will not be business as usual, and we are not expecting a quick turnaround," he said. "Consistent with our economic perspective on 2008, we are looking forward to 2009 with a very cautious outlook. Accordingly, decisions we are making today are reflective of that sentiment, particularly on the areas of retail lease square footage growth, capital spending and inventory."
The supporting efforts to this outlook include: a reduction in retail lease square footage from 7% in 2008 to a 4%-to-5% range in 2009; a reduction in capital spending from as much as $220 million in 2008 to as much as $170 million in 2009; and a continuing reduction in inventory levels through managed receipt flow and turn-optimization initiatives.
"We believe we are in a cycle, somewhat like the '80s and early '90s," Lester said. "But like those cycles, we believe it will pass and people's homes are still their most material assets. So they are going to want to continue to invest in them. We also believe it is only a matter of time before housing demand catches up with supply, and when it does there will be a revitalization in the home furnishings market again."
Williams-Sonoma Store Count
End of second quarter 2008
|Source: Williams-Sonoma Inc.
|Pottery Barn Kids||95|
|Qtr. 8/3 ($millions)||2008||2007||%change|
a. Includes one-time benefit of $0.09 on sale of corporate aircraft.
|Oper. Income (EBIT)||25.4||42.9||(40.8)|
|Per share (diluted)||0.17a||0.23||(26.1)|
|Average gross margin||34.0%||37.2%||—|
|Oper. Income (EBIT)||42.3||71.3||(40.7)|
|Per share (diluted)||0.27||0.39||(30.8)|
|Average gross margin||34.7%||37.1%||—|
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Twitch revealed that the platform could have new prompts to curate content material offerings starting October 18.
While Twitch is best known for its game content feed, the platform also has its fair share of creators who produce content feeds through entirely different categories.
There has been an uptick in the number of people participating in the supply of content material on the Amazon-owned platform in recent times, and it all came into a detonation here after a streamer named ItsSliker just recently disclosed his reliance. stage.
Twitch’s new tips ban streaming sites Slot, Rollbit, and more
Twitch made an announcement on Twitter on Tuesday, September 20, disclosing possible steps to curb streamers participating in the supply of content material.
“Playing content on Twitch has been a huge topic of local debate, and one thing we’ve been actively reviewing since our final coverage in this space took over,” The platform revealed in its statement.
“Right now, we want to replace you in our program. Although we prohibit sharing hyperlinks or referral codes with all sites that contain slot machines, roulette or cube video games, we’ve seen some people circumvent these guidelines and expose our team
potential harm. “
The Amazon-owned platform announced that it will implement a security change starting October 18, informing its potential customers that streaming sites such as “Stake.com, Rollbit.com, Duelbits.com and Roobet.com” will be banned.
Twitch will make it possible to stream from internet sites centered on sports action betting, fantasy sports action and poker, despite the introduction of new engagement-related tips, the statement revealed.
ItsSliker admits to being involved in dependency
After the drama surrounding ItsSliker, Twitch chose to introduce new tricks gained by participating.
Sliker, popular for his love of playing video video games brave and Counter Strike: World Offensive On the platform, he admitted in each of his latest Twitch streams that he gambled with donations from viewers and cash from colleagues.
Content creators who were seen sobbing in the stream began saying, “I’ll come out and say, I don’t know what to do, I lied to a lot of people.”
“So if you haven’t heard, I borrow money from individuals,” he said of explaining the situation to those who didn’t know.
He revealed that he started attending after Counter Strike: World Offensive Get the proper rights here. He claims he was initially involved in the skins, but it snowballed into cash and loans from colleagues.
“I used to bet a lot of money. Mostly all my Twitch cash,” ItsSliker said. “I might be streaming and asking them if they can borrow cash. I won’t explain it to them clearly. Since it’s playing, I might mislead them.”
Dexerto pointed out that the anchor also remarked: “This is what playing has brought me…. s**t is harmful. This is the epitome of a game addict. I used to mislead my audience and say ‘I used to gamble in the past’ a long time. “It’s a lie. I used to gamble a lot.”
“My initial thought was that I could pay for them again,” he said on the stream, revealing that he definitely wasn’t trying to be dishonest to his fellow creators. The streamer added that he still intends to pay extra soon.
Streamers need Twitch to ban participation in content material supply
Streamers are known to have been involved with certain video video games.
“Twitch has guidelines for anyone selling or streaming self-destructive behavior,” Streamer Ranboo tweeted“The undeniable fact that promoting ACTUAL engagement shouldn’t be part of it is ridiculous because it’s a self-destructive habit, if not the entire time.
“Must be banned from streaming.”
Twitch has revealed that the new tips could be made available to potential customers before October 18.


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FMCG giant Unilever has announced it will not attempt a new bid for GlaxoSmithKline‘s consumer division, after its previous bid worth sixty billion euros was refused.
IPO next summer?
Unilever has made three unsuccessful bids on GSK’s consumer division, which owns brands like Sensodyne, Aquafresh and Panadol. The pharmaceutical giant thought none of the bids reflected the true value of its consumer division and its potential for the future.
GSK also affirmed it will stick to the plan to float its consumer division on the stock exchange this summer, citing its expectations the division will have an annual growth of 4 to 6 %. Last year, GSK’s consumer division managed 11.5 billion euros in sales, Reuters reports.
Unilever has already responded, saying that its point of view regarding the division’s fundamental value has remained unchanged, and that it will therefore not raise its bid any more.


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Neeses, S.C., October 8, 2012 — After 44 years of equipping the weekend farmer, Fogle’s Farm Machinery in Neeses is closing.
“I am 66,” owner Coker Fogle said. “It is time. It was not an economical decision or due to the slowdown we have had. We are not closing because we’ve got to.”
Fogle, who has been married to his wife, Margaret Ann, for about 48 years, says he has some interests that he would like to devote more of his time to.
His three grandchildren, all under the age of 11, are the biggest interest.
“Since we are farm-related people, I want my grandchildren to know where food comes from and clothes,” Fogle said. “I take them around to chicken houses and the dairies. I like to show them how feeder combines work and cotton pickers.”
Fogle said he may still putter around with farm equipment in retirement, though on a part-time basis and on a much smaller scale.
After unsuccessfully looking for a buyer, Fogle said preliminary plans are to rent out the building on U.S. 321. He is uncertain who or what business may be in the building’s future.
Fogle’s Farm Machinery has been geared to the hunter, weekend farmers and gardeners and was a one-stop shop where equipment and attachments could be purchased.
Business has not always been easy, but serving a niche market has been a hallmark of Fogle’s.
The business has sold tractors, cotton pickers and combines and has provided parts and service work on farm equipment.
Fogle says the business was successful because of the personal touch, good employees, knowledge about the business and advertising. The business has sold products as far as Mexico City, Mexico.
“We have had a good run,” he said. “I don’t have any regrets. We were able to get our share of the market.”
Fogle has been working with farm equipment since 1968, when he and his father, Manning Fogle Sr., began repairing old tractors for resale.
The business had its beginnings on the family farm about a couple of miles from where the store is located.
“We pulled these old tractors out of the weeds, fixed them up, painted and would sell them,” Fogle said. “We would do that on the weekends when we had time.”
“Daddy had a big garden,” he said. “He would be out there with his tractor farming his garden and had people stop by asking him if they could buy it. He said he did not want to sell it.”
But Fogle said if the money was right, his daddy would sell the tractor and then purchase another one.
“It kind of grew in that respect,” he said.
Following the death of his father in 1978, Fogle continued the business on a part-time basis until about 1989.
Fogle’s was located at the family farm until about 1996 when it moved out to U.S. 321. The business had another location in Barnwell but consolidated the operation in 2000.
Fogle does not plan to leave Norway where he was born and raised, except to enjoy some retirement traveling time.
“I have moved eight times in my life and never moved out of Norway,” he said.
Fogle says he will miss some things about being in business.
“I will miss the people,” he said. “Our customers have a way of letting us know what is happening all around us. They have been companions to us.
“They come in and are able to share political views or whatever is on your mind. If a man’s got something on his mind other than this, we listened to that too.”
Fogle is having a closing auction starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, featuring trailers, tractors and other items.
Contact the writer: email@example.com or 803-533-5551.


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Many investors and analysts have increasingly lowered their expectations for the U.S. and China to find a quick resolution.World Economyread more
Billionaire investor Howard Marks, the co-chairman of Oaktree Capital, predicts there won't be a recession in the U.S. for another two years.US Economyread more
Network officials also said voters should expect more of a Koch focus on grassroots activism throughout the 2020 election cycle.Politicsread more
One person was killed and five others wounded on Thursday in a shooting on the streets of Washington, D.C., not far from the White House, police said.U.S. Newsread more
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The supermarket chain announced Friday morning that it's launching an apparel brand in the fall of next year.
Kroger shares were climbing about 2 percent in early trade on the news.
This news comes after the Ohio-based company outlined its "Kroger Restock" initiative at an investor day last month.
The plan will consist of heavy capital investments — $9 billion over the next three years. Meantime, Kroger is exploring strategic alternatives, with the help of Goldman Sachs, for its convenience-store business, including a potential sale.
A move into apparel is part of "Kroger Restock," the company said Friday.
"This new [apparel] brand gives Kroger a chance to inspire and connect with our customers, offering effortless style every day — from elevated basics to fashionable highlights," Robert Clark, Kroger's senior vice president of merchandising, said in a statement.
"This new offering is on-trend, convenient, and right in line with our customers' needs," Clark added.
The brand will first roll out across Fred Meyer and Kroger Marketplace stores, which account for 300 locations nationwide, in late 2018.
Kroger described the line as "modern," "playful" and "simple," and there will initially be sizes for children, young men, juniors, men and women. There will also be a focus on activewear, the company said.
Kroger aims to drive more shoppers to its stores as competition intensifies among supermarkets, and Amazon is growing quickly with Whole Foods.
Lidl, a German-based grocer that's expanding rapidly across the U.S., also sells apparel and recently launched an exclusive line with celebrity designer Heidi Klum.
Another example of this, big-box chains Wal-Mart and Target are known for offering both groceries and clothing to customers within the same stores. The overlap is one way to make up for slimmer margins within the grocery aisles.
Kroger shares have fallen around 38 percent this year.


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NEW STUDENTS who are attending Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) had their first induction through the online virtual world, Second Life, on September 8th.
DIT invited first year students to attend the virtual induction early this month. Students were able to meet lecturers and other first year students online prior to the main induction events which took place during the week of 15th September.
The online campus, which was created earlier this year, allows prospective and international students to explore the campus and obtain information about the college from the vantage point of the internet. The Second Life website allows its visitors to view presentations and videos about student life in DIT.
It is hoped that those who have disabilities or mobility issues will be able to explore the virtual campus without any restrictions.
The project was funded by an eLearning grant and was designed to help develop and explore the resources needed to support the use of Virtual Learning Environments.
UCD created a virtual version of the James Joyce Library in July 2007 where members can search web resources using a virtual PC, consult e-books, view library presentations and watch Sky News. Other possibilities for expansion on the Second Life forum include the option for lecturers to deliver notes and podcasts in a more interactive way to students using this resource.
UCD was the first Irish university to hold a lecture in Second Life where Professor Mary Burke from the School of Information and Library Studies conducted a presentation to students from the virtual James Joyce Library.
Those managing the UCD’s Second Life library have expressed the hope that eventually, they will have a regular staff presence in the virtual library, where they can help visitors to avail of services.
Second Life was launched in June 2003 by developers Linden Research Inc. It is a 3D virtual world that is populated by ‘residents’. It currently has 15 million members from around the world. Members are able to buy virtual houses, land and can buy and trade goods and services through its own virtual currency. Many companies have established themselves in Second Life including Sony and IBM.


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It has called in law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and is in the process of commissioning a firm of accountants to investigate what has been going on.
In a statement to the Stock Exchange, the company said that “the board believes that any adjustment to inventory value will have no cash impact and will relate to prior years”. It added that the review would be completed in “an efficient and transparent manner” and the market would be kept informed as appropriate. Beyond that, it would not be commenting.
KPMG, Ted Baker’s auditors for the past 15 years, declined to comment. However, the value of inventory was one of the risks the firm highlighted in its auditor’s report on the 2018 financial statements.
The Big Four firm explained that the valuation was a risk because it was subjective. “Inventory is carried in the financial statements at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Sales in the fashion industry can be extremely volatile with consumer demand changing significantly based on current trends. As a result, there is a risk that the carrying value of inventory exceeds its net realisable value.”
The inventory had been valued at £225.8m which was substantially higher than the figure of £187.2m in 2018. KPMG goes on to explain that the procedures it followed were designed to challenge the adequacy of Ted Baker’s provisions against inventory by seasonal collection.
These included testing on a sample basis the design and operation of controls related to inventory stock counts and purchases, and the appropriateness of the classification of items on the stock ageing listing by season.
The auditors also evaluated the current year provision by assessing historical trends, including the group’s historical trading patterns of inventory sold at full price and inventory sold below full price through alternative clearance routes, together with the related margins achieved for each channel.
KPMG added that it had used its business understanding, based on its knowledge of Ted Baker and its market, to assess “the appropriateness of the provision percentages applied by challenging the assumptions made by the directors on the extent to which older season inventory can be sold through various channels”.
After considering the evidence it had gathered, the firm decided that the level of provisioning was acceptable.
Like many other retail chains, Ted Baker has been in the doldrums recently: not only was it forced to issue profit warnings ahead of the publication of its 2018 financial statements, but it lost its founder and chief executive, Ray Kelvin, in March after allegations of misconduct, including “forced hugging”.
In August, its CFO of 17 years, Charles Anderson, resigned to join Mulberry and was replaced by former Debenhams CFO Rachel Osborne at the beginning of November.
She arrived shortly after the group announced a pre-tax loss of £23m in the first six months of the financial year, following a 2.9% fall in in-store sales and a 1.3% fall in online sales.
The value of the group’s shares have plummeted from 1,876p to 360p (down 83%) since the beginning of the year.
KPMG earned £445,000 from Ted Baker’s audit and other assurance services in 2018.


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We knew it wouldn’t be too long before we started hearing about a startup accelerator for the Cannabis industry. We also were pretty certain that we’d find that accelerator in Colorado. Low and behold we were right.
The Daily Camera reports that CanopyBoulder has raised $1.2 million dollars for a Cannabis startup accelerator.
CanopyBoulder, is located in Boulder and takes the same approach is Techstars, which was also launched in Boulder. The $1.2 million dollars is for their inaugural session. The accelerator launched late last year in partnership with the ArcView group.
Patrick Rea, the co-founder, CEO and Managing Director of CanopyBuilder is not looking for companies with new strains of marijuana but rather the ancillary businesses used to support the industry. This would include software developers, nutrient and support services and supply chain management.
CanopyBoulder received 115 applications for it’s first of two 13 week programs in 2015 which starts March 1st. Their second session will begin September 1st.
The Cannabis Industry is booming. The legal Cannabis industry generated $2.7 billion in sales in 2014. Naturally, the industry continues to grow, ArcView, who tracks the legalized Cannabis industry says that it could eclipse $10 billion by 2019.
Rea plans to start raising funds for CanopyBoulder 2016 shortly and also hopes to implement a similar program in San Francisco. California is getting close to passing recreational Cannabis laws.


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By Lex Greensill, special to The Australian
Every business has a unique set of challenges but one issue is common to all — getting easy access to capital at affordable rates.
For smaller businesses, in particular, this is often the difference between success and failure. I’ve experienced it first hand in our businesses here in Australia, including our family farm near Bundaberg in Queensland, and overseas.
That is why I created Greensill seven years ago.
And that is why I was pleased to see this month’s moves by the Australian government firstly to recognise the burden that lack of affordable funding is placing on small businesses and, more importantly, to come up with some solutions to tackle the issue.
The government’s proposal is two-fold: the creation of a $2 billion fund to securitise loans to small businesses, providing them with cheaper access to capital away from the big four Australian banks; and the creation of a “growth fund” that would provide passive equity investments to small business to enable them to grow without taking on too much debt or giving up control of their business.
Modelled on similar funds in Britain and Canada, this proposal requires the approval of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
Both ideas are embryonic and the announcement has triggered an entirely reasonable debate about the need for government intervention in this space. But the government’s driving principle of providing cheaper access to capital, while encouraging innovation and competition and reducing the sector’s reliance on the big banks is something everyone can get behind.
Small and medium-sized businesses are a vital component of the Australian economy. According to the federal government, Australian companies with fewer than 200 workers account for almost two-thirds of the private sector workforce.
They are a font of innovation and the heart of many communities. In short, when SMEs prosper, the Australian economy prospers. It is little wonder that both sides of parliament are united in the commitment to ensure any cuts to the corporate tax rate flow first to smaller businesses.
But the move to a 25 per cent tax rate for companies with less than $50 million in turnover addresses just one factor holding them back. Another big one is the cost of capital.
The challenge is to avoid the trap of simply loading up companies with debt just because it is cheaper and more readily available. This may work for some businesses; for others it could be disastrous.
We need to use technology to level the playing field for small businesses, to give them access to services and borrowing rates that until now have been available only to giant corporates. One of these technologies is supply-chain finance.
Supply-chain finance is simple. When a small business is owed money by a large company for goods and services they often have to wait months to be paid.
Greensill steps in to pay those bills on the day they are issued so the small company does not have to wait and can get on with business as usual.
The rates at which the cash is advanced are kept low by using the credit rating of the larger company, which signs up to a promise to pay Greensill later.
The result is healthier suppliers, healthier supply chains and healthier economies.
Greensill is the world’s leading non-bank provider of SCF, having made available some $US50bn ($69bn) of financing to a pool of 1.7 million SMEs across 60 countries, including Australia.
It is heartening that the Australian government wants to encourage more non-bank lenders to enter the SME market. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the big banks are responsible for writing 80 per cent of business loans of less than $2m. Clearly competition is needed.
One barely tapped source of direct business lending is the $2.6 trillion Australian superannuation sector.
Some funds are moving tentatively in this direction. Others will need more convincing they can do so safely without unduly risking their superannuants’ nest eggs. Models such as the government’s proposed syndicated small business loan scheme and supply-chain financing may provide that comfort.
I welcome the opportunity to work with all participants in this space — the government, regulators, industry groups, potential lenders and the companies themselves — to ensure the lessons of similar proposals overseas are learned and that the final shape of any package matches the needs of Australian businesses.
For more, read the full article at The Australian.


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It's now been a few months since Tencent Music (TME -5.29%) went public, after a slight delay due to market volatility last year. The Chinese music platform just reported its first earnings release as a public company -- and it wasn't music to investors' ears. Tencent Music had already braced investors for a net loss in the fourth quarter, noting in its prospectus that it issued roughly $220 million in shares to music label partners. "As a result of this material one-off, non-cash accounting charge, we expect to record a net loss for the three months ending December 31, 2018," Tencent Music wrote. Despite the warning, the stock is getting crushed today.
Here's how the rest of the release played out.
More paying users but rising costs
Revenue in the fourth quarter jumped 51% to $785 million, which translated into a net loss of $127 million, or $0.08 per American depository share (ADS). The company primarily attributed the red ink to the aforementioned share issuances, which ended up costing the company $221 million after issuing the shares to Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. On a non-IFRS basis, Tencent Music reported a profit of $133 million, or $0.08 per ADS.
In terms of key operating metrics, mobile monthly active users (MAUs) in the online music segment came in at 644 million, up from 603 million a year ago but down from 655 million in the third quarter. Mobile MAUs on the social entertainment side of the business were 228 million. There are now 27 million paying users in online music, and 10.2 million paying users in social entertainment. That represents a sequential uptick in the paying ratio for online music (4.2%).
Monthly average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) was 8.6 yuan ($1.28) in online music and 126.7 yuan ($18.93) in social entertainment. Monetization of social entertainment remains far stronger than online music -- and is rapidly improving.
Check out the latest earnings call transcript for Tencent Music.
However, investors appear concerned about rising costs. Cost of revenue jumped 63% -- outpacing top-line growth -- to $518 million, as Tencent Music invested heavily in original music content and licensing costs rose. Revenue-sharing fees, which relate to Tencent Music's cut of virtual gifts to live-streaming performers, also increased.
"During the fourth quarter of 2018, we recorded strong growth across our business lines, including both online music and social entertainment services, and solidified our market leadership," CEO Cussion Kar Shun Pang said in a statement. "To fuel our growth for the years to come, we are firmly committed to continue investing in premium content offering, innovative products and proprietary technology."
Total operating expenses increased 58% to $197 million, driven in part by increased spending on promotional activity. That all led to an operating loss of $141 million after including the share issuance charges. On the earnings call, Chief Strategy Officer Cheuk Tung Yip said that Tencent Music hopes to continue improving its paying ratio of users going forward, which is relatively low when compared to peer streaming services like Spotify.


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Abacus International has announced its entry into the Afghanistan market through a partnership with Kabul Star Technologies to create a local presence through its Abacus Afghanistan representative office.
Afghanistan, the 31st market for Abacus, is part of the rapid growth Abacus has been experiencing throughout Asia Pacific, especially in key growth regions such as Central Asia.
Afghanistan has seen a great deal of travel growth and potential, with both outbound international departures and tourism expenditure expected to rise 150 per cent from 2011 to 2014.
Inbound arrivals, which experienced a 17 per cent increase from 2008 to 2009, are also expected to rise 155 per cent from 2011 to 2014.
Airlines can look forward to a 43 per cent sales escalation during the same period.
With Abacus’ presence in the country, travel agents will now be able to purchase airline tickets and book travel directly unlike previously, where it had to be done through external markets such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan and India.
Robert Bailey, president and chief executive, Abacus International, said: “Abacus International recognises the vast growth potential of the Afghan travel industry and is delighted to be part of this market to help improve the travel services for local residents as well as visitors to the country.
“Through our presence in Afghanistan, we hope to not only help to develop the country’s travel industry but also to help achieve its potential in the global travel marketplace.”
Abacus Afghanistan increases Abacus’ extensive distribution network with more than 100 travel agencies in Afghanistan as well as demonstrating its commitment to marketing, sales and distribution support to the Afghan travel market.
Its establishment in Afghanistan will allow Abacus to have consistent feedback and insights into the market, establish a commercial presence and build key relations with the government to help in its travel and tourism growth objectives.


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India's GDP grew sharply from 1.6% in the previous quarter (Q4FY21) and from a record contraction of 24.4% in the same quarter a year earlier (Q1FY21)
India's gross domestic product (GDP) surged 20.1% in the April-June quarter of FY22, its best-ever fiscal-quarter numbers, according to the data released by the government's statistics office on Tuesday.
“GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q1 of 2021-22 is estimated at ₹ 32.38 lakh crore, as against ₹ 26.95 lakh crore in Q1 of 2020-21, showing a growth of 20.1 percent as compared to a contraction of 24.4 percent in Q1 2020-21," the data from MoSPI stated.
This is the fastest growth since the mid-1990s when official quarterly data was available, and up sharply from 1.6% in the previous quarter and from a record contraction of 24.4% in the same quarter a year earlier. The growth in the current quarter is mainly on low-base effect.
The growth marks a significant improvement from a deep slump last year helped by accelerated manufacturing in spite of a devastating second wave of COVID-19.
Furthermore, the quarterly gross value added (GVA) grew 18.8% at ₹ 30.48 lakh crore, as against ₹ 25.66 lakh crore in the year-ag period.
“The GDP figures for the first quarter came in marginally weaker than our expectations (21.7% growth). However, economic activity has been reviving since July and has picked up momentum. As vaccination pace picks up we expect the momentum to pickup further, although remain wary on the evolution of delta variant cases," said Upasna Bhardwaj, senior economist, Kotak Mahindra Bank.
“GDP growth recorded at 20.1% for Q1FY22, was largely in-line with expectations of 18-22%. However, the double-digit growth is slightly deceptive given the low base effect when the economy had contracted by 24.4% in the corresponding quarter last year. Visibility of revival in consumer demand increases with household consumption up by 19%, compared to contraction in FY21. Pick-up in construction by 68% also shows signs of green shoots. Though the general traction is still below pre-Covid levels, the severity of lockdowns is clearly lower this year compared to last year," said Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities.
Asia's third-largest economy suffered one of the biggest hits among major economies, contracting 7.3% in the full financial year 2020-2021, after a nationwide lockdown early last year. But the economy has not been as badly affected from the second wave in April-May this year due to less stringent lockdowns by state governments. In the March quarter, the Indian economy had grown 1.3% for the second time since novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Reserve Bank of India's estimate had revised down from its earlier projection of 26.2% in the first quarter to 21.4%, according to its latest Monetary Policy Committee (PC) resolution of August 6.
Further, RBI also has forecast annual growth of 9.5% in the current fiscal year, although it has warned about the possibility of a third wave of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the country's April-July fiscal deficit came at 21.3% of ₹15.07 lakh crore of FY22 target. The eight core sector growth came at 9.4% in July, against (-) 7.6% in year-ago period.
The production of coal, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity industries increased in July 2021 over the corresponding period of last year, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data.
Crude oil production, however, dropped by 3.2 per cent.
Core sectors had recorded a 7.6 per cent decline in output in July 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions.
The infrastructure sectors had expanded by 9.3 per cent in June 2021. For April-July 2021-22, the sectors grew by 21.2 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last financial year.
Many sectors like retail, auto sales, farm output, construction and exports have picked up since June, supporting the government's claim of a fast recovery, but some sectors such as transport, tourism and consumer spending remain weak.
Unlike advanced economies, which announced massive stimulus to support consumers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi opted for raising spending on infrastructure, privatisation said to bolster mid-term growth prospects, while providing free foodgrains to the poor.
Meanwhile, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection, an indicator of consumption in the economy, has remained healthy except for a temporary blip in June which represented sales achieved by businesses in May when parts of the country were under regional mobility restrictions. GST receipts of central and state governments have in July recovered to ₹1.16 trillion, suggesting recovery of economic activity in June.
Industrial output has jumped 45% in the April-June period of this fiscal, although on a low base of a 35.6% contraction in the same period a year ago.
Index of industrial production (IIP) data showed that mining, manufacturing and electricity generation have all expanded in double digits in the June quarter. Capital goods output has shown 110% growth while consumer durables have shown 132.6% in the June quarter compared to the year ago period when the full national lockdown had pushed these into contraction.
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New Greenville restaurant honors owner's father
GREENVILLE — Stephanie Dixon is a one-woman-shop behind the counter of her new restaurant, Al's on Main.
The new restaurant in Greenville's shopping center on U.S. 11 opened almost nine weeks ago and was seeing a good number of customers.
"We had a really good first few weeks, we were doing really well," Dixon said. "Then, the snow came and then more snow."
Only open for lunch, Dixon serves up homemade sandwiches, soup and chili. With a convection oven, panini grill and a crockpot, she is the only person making and serving the food for now.
Dixon named the restaurant for her father, Albert Beverly, who died in 2012 from emphysema.
"It's nice to carry on his name," she said. "It means a lot when people come in and ask about it."
Dixon has more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry, taking her first restaurant job at Shoney's in Staunton when she was in high school.
"I just loved meeting the locals and the travelers and hearing their stories," she said. Dixon is looking forward to meeting more locals and travelers with her new business venture.
Dixon grew up in Swoope and moved to Greenville from Waynesboro a year and a half ago. By opening her business, she has been able to grow her social network with the community.
"We're right on a scenic byway which is good," she said. "Once the local ball fields open up, we should be getting more business."
Sharon Clay, of Verona, said her and her family have made the trek out to Greenville for Dixon's food.
"I am so excited to have a local home grown eatery serving the finest and freshest foods," Clay said. "(Dixon) has a creative and unique menu that just can't be found in any other area restaurant's. Her food tickles the taste buds. I have high hopes that Greenville will support this local eatery and make it their favorite."
Although she's hit a snag with getting more customers, she hopes with warmer weather and more activity out in Greenville, her business with catch on.
"I think when the weather stays consistently warm, the locals will be more apt to come out," she said.
Dixon invested $10,000 in her business through credit and loans, and rents the space in the shopping center. Located across the highway from Greenville Grocery and Deli, Dixon doesn't want to step on the established business' toes.
By serving different food and only being open for lunch, Dixon doesn't see direct competition.
"I just want to offer something different in the area," Dixon said.
The owner of the grocery doesn't see it as competition either.
"I don't feel like it'll hurt us," Jeff Coffey, owner of Greenville Grocery and Deli said. Coffey and regulars see the grocery as a huge landmark in Greenville that has been around for decades.
"I welcome it," he said.
Moving forward, Dixon hopes to get more business in order to be able to serve breakfast and bring on family members to help run the place.
Al's on Main is located at 4171 Lee Jackson Highway in Greenville. Check out its Facebook page here.


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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's nearly two-year antitrust probe into Google will come to a close Thursday, according to a report. After 20 months, the search giant will end the case with a "voluntary agreement and a consent decree" on its alleged abuse of patents, Bloomberg said. Launched in June 2011, the investigation focused on whether Google uses its search dominance -- as the world's most popular search engine -- to drive traffic to its products, disadvantaging competitors in the process. Microsoft, Yelp and Expedia are among the companies that have accused Google of engaging in antitrust practices....
More Suggested Content:
Bing Attacks Google Shopping With ‘Scroogled’ Campaign, Forgets it’s Guilty of Same Problems
November 30, 2012
From Search Engine Land
Bing is attacking Google over its shift to a pay-for-play shopping search engine through a new "Scroogled" site, pledging that Bing has "honest search." Great campaign, if it were true. It's not. Bing does the same things it accuses Google of. It's also another indictment of how little the FTC is doing to protect consumers from "search results" they might not realize are ads.
Google Faces Ultimatum From FTC in Antitrust Talks
November 13, 2012
Google is being pressed by U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz to offer to resolve the agency's antitrust probe in the next few days or face a lawsuit, two people familiar with the matter said. Google has been in discussions with the agency for about two weeks and hasn't put any remedy proposals on the table, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private.


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The EU recently passed a new set of privacy regulations protecting the rights of individuals and giving them control over the PII held by companies operating in the EU. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new regulation created by the European Parliament. It was adopted on 27 April 2016 and applies from 25 May 2018, with the next two years declared a transitional period for businesses to get ready.
The GDPR harmonises the regulations of different EU member countries. In theory, this makes it easier for companies operating in the EU not breach their obligations. But the number of rules businesses will need to comply with, and the nature of those rules, will mean some companies will need to shell out plenty of money to get their systems and processes up to snuff.
And if a company gets caught being non-compliant, the penalties are stiff. There’s no fixed penalty. Instead, the EU has opted to fine businesses up to 4% of their global revenue.
Who does the GDPR apply to?
Any organisation that collect data from EU residents (the GDPR calls them data controllers) and organisations that process data on behalf of data controllers are subject to the GDPR. If you collect an EU citizen’s data and use a cloud service to store and manage that data then all those parties are subject to the GDPR.
The GDPR sets its focus on the rights of individuals over companies.
Data portability – the ability for an individual to take their data from one company to another is also part of the GDPR. I suspect this will spawn a cottage industry for data migration services.
Individuals can object to the use of their data. There’s a designated process for dealing with objections but if you’re in the direct marketing business then you must stop using that data as soon as you receive that objection. Businesses must only collect data they need (this is termed “data minimisation”) and support pseudonymisation.
Enter the DPO
The EU suggests companies designated someone as a data protection officer. This is someone who will oversee GDPR compliance. That means ensuring internal data protection policies are documented and updated, staff training is conducted and you maintain relevant documentation on processing activities.
Data protection officers also continually review processes and assist the business with creating and improving security features and conducting data protection impact assessments.
The issue of PII protection and privacy is a big deal around the world. Australia has the updated Australian Privacy Principles. However, the situation is quite fluid in the United States where changes in government seem to cause changes in the balance between the needs of business and rights of individuals. For example, the ability for ISPs to collate and use browser history information for marketing has swung around depending on whether Democrats or Republicans are pulling the strings.


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Just recently at the WWDC in early June, Apple introduced the second generation of its in-house ARM processors. The M2 should therefore bring more performance in many areas than the M1 chip announced a year and a half earlier. At the developer conference, Apple also showed the first Macs to be equipped with the new System on Chip (SoC): On the one hand, this is an extensively revised MacBook Air 2022 with, among other things, a larger Retina display with less bezel, MagSafe for charging, new colors (Midnight and North Star alongside Space Gray and Silver), move away from the wedge case and 1080p webcam.
On the other hand, it is a MacBook Pro 13″ 2022, which has no changes apart from the new chip. Originally, it was said that both notebooks would not be launched until July. Now the MacBook Pro will start shipping on June 24th. Apple provided us with a test device in advance.
M2 processor with more CPU power
Although the M2 processor from TSMC is still being manufactured with a 5-nanometer structure width in what is now the second generation of the process, it has 25 percent more transistors. Apple has accepted an increase in die area for this. The number of CPU cores has not increased, four high-performance and four efficiency cores remain. According to Apple, they should work up to 18 percent faster.
In our test with Cinebench 23 it was a 12.7 percent increase in performance and with Geekbench 5 18.42 percent. The program reported a clock rate of 3.37 GHz, the Powermetrics tool indicated 3.504 GHz and 2.86 GHz for the energy-saving cores. The values for the M1 are 3.2 and 2.06 GHz.
More cores and more power for the Apple GPU
Instead of 8, the GPU of the MacBook Pro M2 now has 10 GPU cores, which according to Apple should deliver 35 percent more graphics performance. In our test with the Geekbench 5 synthetic metal benchmark, it even achieved 39 percent more, in the games Rise and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which are not yet optimized for ARM, it was 38 and 48 percent more.
Improved media engine in M2
The video unit contained in the SoC now also decodes and encodes the ProRes format in the MacBook Pro M2 in addition to H.264 and H.265 (HEVC) in 8K resolution. The increased performance can eliminate a bottleneck in some video formats: The rendering of our 4K project in Final Cut Pro accelerated by a whopping 343 percent, with Full HD it was “only” 71 percent more and with 8K ProRes there was an additional 56 percent . Nevertheless, the M2 still lags behind the performance of the M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra in MacBook Pro 14 and 16 inches and the Mac Studio.
The higher performance of the Apple M2 is also due to a level 2 cache that has been increased from 12 to 16 MB, a bandwidth of the 128-bit wide memory interface that has been increased by 50 percent to 102 GB/s and the use of LPDDR5-6400 instead of LPDDR4X -4266 modules as main memory. Another new feature is that the MacBook Pro 13″ can be ordered with 24 instead of a maximum of 16 GB of RAM. However, these models currently have a longer delivery time. Our test device came with 16 GB, the basic model only has 8 GB of RAM. That for AI calculations According to Apple, the responsible neural engine should work 40 percent faster, but still has 16 cores.
Tag: macbook issue, macbook pro, macbook release, macbook macos


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EBay India revenue growth falters even as rivals thrive3 min read . Updated: 15 Jan 2016, 01:24 AM IST
EBay's revenue grew 23% to `132.10 crore in FY15. Its revenue had grown 33% to `107.60 crore in FY14 from `81 crore the year before
Bengaluru: EBay India Pvt. Ltd, the Indian arm of California-headquartered e-commerce firm eBay Inc., saw a slowdown in growth for the year ended 31 March 2015, at a time when rivals such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon are more than doubling their sales annually.
According to documents available with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), eBay’s revenue grew 23% to ₹ 132.10 crore in FY15. Its revenue had grown 33% to ₹ 107.60 crore in FY14 from ₹ 81 crore the year before.
In comparison, Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd, the entity which runs Flipkart’s marketplace business, posted a revenue of ₹ 772.49 crore in FY15, up from ₹ 179 crore the year before, according to documents available with RoC.
EBay’s revenue reflects the commission earned by the company from sellers and not the value of goods sold. E-commere firms charge sellers anything between 5% and 20% of the value of goods as commission, said industry experts. By that measure, gross annual sales at eBay could be in the range of ₹ 1,500-2,000 crore.
EBay entered India in 2004 by acquiring Bazee.com, an auction site, much before the likes of Flipkart and Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) saw the light of day and Amazon set up shop in India. Flipkart was started in 2007, Snapdeal in 2010 and Amazon launched its India operations in 2013.
EBay ceded its early-mover advantage to local rivals who went on a fund-raising spree and spent heavily on customer acquisition. It’s growth in India was crippled by multiple exits at the top management level and limited infusion of funds by the parent.
For instance, the RoC documents show that eBay Inc. pumped in about ₹ 650 crore into the India business last year. In comparison, Flipkart raised about $1.4 billion from institutional investors in the last 13 months, while Snapdeal mopped up $1.1 billion in about the same time.
Amazon (Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd) chief executive Jeff Bezos announced in July 2014 that the firm will pump in $2 billion into India. According to documents filed with RoC, Amazon has infused ₹ 2,437 crore into its India arm since June.
Such aggressive investment, much of it on customer acquisition and inorganic expansion, has helped these firms drive past eBay. “EBay behaves like a pure platform while the others (Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal) behave like retailers. They are going after specific categories and new product launches, so their growth rates are bound to be higher," said Pinakiranjan Mishra, head of the retail and consumer products practice at EY India, a consultancy firm.
“Hence, for the others, you see more focus on category management, brand building, advertisement and hiring of domain experts, say somebody from an apparel brand. The fundamental philosophy is different, because of which eBay may be growing at a slower pace," he added.
EBay declined to comment.
“We are in our quiet period till 27 January and therefore not at liberty to respond to your queries," a company spokesperson said in an email response.
Flipkart reported a 150% year-on-year increase in unit sales in August, while Snapdeal’s gross merchandise value, or value of goods sold on the site, surged 222% in the April-June quarter, Mint reported on 11 August. The e-tailers also made a killing during the festive season. Flipkart claimed gross sales of $300 million during the Big Billion Day sales in October, while Amazon said last Diwali was the “largest ever" since its entry into India, without giving out numbers.
To be sure, Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal’s growth has come on a much higher base than eBay’s.
The company tried to firm up its position in India by investing in Snapdeal. Its stake purchase in Snapdeal in April 2013 was seen as eBay’s best bet for building a meaningful presence in India. It held close to a 9% stake in Snapdeal when Japan’s SoftBank Group announced a $627 million investment in the Indian company in October 2014.
EBay sold a third of its stake in Snapdeal for about $50 million to Taiwan-based phone parts manufacturer Foxconn Technology group when Snapdeal raised $500 million last August, Mint reported on 19 August.


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Tesla Motors, days after announcing upgrades to its semi-autonomous Autopilot driving system, confirmed that it’s reviewing an accident involving a Model S sedan in China that killed the son of the car’s owner early this year.
The crash occurred in January, according to a report by Reuters. The driver was identified by China’s CCTV as Gao Yaning, 23, and it posted footage of the Model S striking a road-cleaning vehicle on a highway in Heibei province. Gao’s family is suing Tesla and the dealer that sold the vehicle, according to Reuters.
CCTV’s report said Autopilot was engaged at the time of the accident. The company said that hasn’t been determined.
“We were saddened to learn of the death of our customer’s son,” Tesla said in a statement. “We take any incident with our vehicles very seriously and immediately reached out to our customer when we learned of the crash.”
Owing to the severity of the accident, “the car was physically incapable of transmitting log data to our servers and we therefore have no way of knowing whether or not Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash,” Tesla said. “We have tried repeatedly to work with our customer to investigate the cause of the crash, but he has not provided us with any additional information that would allow us to do so.”
The timing of the accident puts it months before Tesla owner Joshua Brown was killed in a fatal collision in Florida in May. U.S. safety officials have confirmed that Brown, 40, was using Autopilot when his car struck a truck that turned in front of him. The accident is still being reviewed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Despite the name of the feature, Tesla warns drivers that they must keep their hands on the wheel while using Autopilot before it can be engaged the first time. The company has said Autopilot is designed to assist drivers, rather than functioning as a fully autonomous driving system.
On Sept. 11, Tesla CEO detailed changes to the feature to make much greater use of its radar system to help the vehicle “see” its environment and potential hazards with more clarity. That upgrade to Autopilot rolls out in weeks.
Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica, California-based safety advocacy group, issued a statement late Wednesday blasting Tesla for not disclosing the earlier accident in China.
“Tesla’s failure to report the death of another of its human guinea pigs in a timely manner is unconscionable,” John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director. “It also makes it clear that autonomous vehicle technologies must be subject to safety regulations that are enforceable by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”
NHTSA has said it’s preparing initial guidelines for auto and tech companies to oversee the testing and use of automated driving systems and plans to share the information soon.


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Commerce to Lead First Department-led Trade Mission since Pandemic
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2022
Contact: Office of Public Affairs
WASHINGTON – Between March 2-10, 2022, the Department of Commerce will lead more than 140 American businesses to the Middle East and Africa region for Trade Winds, the U.S. government’s flagship trade mission and business development forum. It is also the Department’s first in-person trade mission since the onset of the global pandemic.
Organized by the Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA), Trade Winds is designed to help U.S. businesses seeking to expand into new markets. American companies in attendance have a unique opportunity to meet in-person with prospective distributors, sales and government representatives, or partners that have been vetted by Commerce as interested in pursuing business. As in past Trade Winds missions, it is anticipated that nearly 600 government-to-business meetings and over 400 business-to-business engagements will occur.
This year’s Trade Winds centers around a three-day business forum (March 6-8) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that features meetings with U.S. commercial diplomats and trade experts from over 20 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, plenary sessions and networking events. Companies can also join Commerce officials for optional trade mission stops in Algeria, Israel, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. At each mission stop, attending companies will meet directly with foreign government leaders, market experts and pre-vetted potential business partners.
“The Middle East and Africa are regions of significant growth with immense opportunities for collaboration in investment and development as we build back better through trade,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago, who is leading the U.S. delegation to Dubai. “Our goal at the Department of Commerce is to help American companies, including small and medium sized firms, as well as women and minority-owned enterprises, compete and win globally. The Trade Winds mission and forum are vital components of these efforts.”
Additionally, the inaugural Women Empowered Leave Legacies through Trade and Investment (WELLTI) Summit will be taking place alongside the Trade Winds business forum. The WELLTI Summit will feature panels and events to provide women-owned businesses and entrepreneurs with data, knowledge, contacts, and financing to increase trade.
Since its inception in 2008, Trade Winds has directly supported more than $3.4 billion in U.S. exports in over 40 countries, with the participation of over 1,000 U.S. companies and sponsors. The flagship trade mission has helped U.S. businesses conduct over 4,500 pre-vetted business-to-business meetings around the world. Learn more about Trade Winds.
About the International Trade Administration
The International Trade Administration (ITA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce is the premier resource for American companies competing in the global marketplace. ITA has more than 2,200 employees assisting U.S. exporters in more than 100 U.S. cities and 75 markets worldwide. For more information on ITA visit www.trade.gov.


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Mobile 6.5 was just introduced as
into the market, it's known that Microsoft is already working on its follower.
And now, WMExperts and pocketnow.com have received screenshot mock-ups of a
Windows Mobile version which is said to represent
7. As a matter of fact, the general look and feel, with battery and signal
indicator at the bottom, still look like what we have seen from
earlier Windows Mobile 7 leaks already, and therefore the comparison between
today's Windows Mobile 6.5 applications and the expected Windows Mobile 7
applications is even more interesting.
According to WMExperts and pocketnow.com's anonymous tipster, Windows Mobile
7 will feature reworked applications as well as dialog boxes and menus and he
just send a couple of examples to both websites:
It's noticeable that the so called Windows Mobile 7 screenshots lack the
Windows Mobile Professional typical Windows menu flag and close button. On the
other hand, there's no Today screen mock-up available yet. And if you think
about Windows Mobile Standard smartphones, there's also a Windows Start menu
flag in the Home screen only. This could be in-line with some info Microsoft
confirmed use at the recent Windows Mobile 6.5 launch. While the Start and back
hardware keys are not required for current Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones, both
hardware keys will become a requirement from early next year which means there
will be a similar button layout as Windows Mobile Standard phones have it today
Again, we should take the info above with the typical grain of salt but it's
quite obvious, that the show the direction Windows Mobile will go to.
Cheers ~ Arne


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I realized that Masco could breakout a couple days ago, but never posted it because I didn't know how far it could run up. I'm still not sure, but considering home building is making a strong rebound, it could continue to break its all time highs.
Toyota has been trading in a channel, potentially rising wedge. It sits in a strong industry with Tesla currently bringing up technicals for a lot of autos. It is currently at $125 and will hit resistance around $136 if it stays in the channel. On the downside, $120 looks like an area of support and an indication that our trade is not functioning the way we...
DLTR has set itself up in a wedge formation, which is indicating a potentially big move to either side. With COVID-19 positively impacting the discount stores because of the struggling consumer focusing on essential products, I see this going to the upside. Current price is around $91 and I see this potentially testing the resistance level of $106 in the future if...
Strong support to the downside. There is a long term resistance level around $290 and if investors can break free of that, then price will rocket 🚀
I wouldn't go long until we see a break at least above $291 level on higher volume than normal.
TWOU is part of the continuing virtual education trend that will continue to be traded during the coronavirus. This play sees TWOU moving from $37.74 up to around $43 in mid-July. The stop loss is below the support line for the channel, which indicates that the trade idea is not working. The upside is around 14% and the downside is around 10%.
SPWR is in a strong industry group from the past few months. It has been trading in a channel since March and is at it's low point. I would get in at these levels until it reaches the top end around $9.40. I would set a stop loss at $6.70, which would indicate that the stock has left its trend.
Upside is around 27% and downside is about 9%, which is attractive.


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It seems more and more boaters are braving the colder months to make the most of the waterways – or just bunker down in grim conditions
The number of winter mooring permits sold in 2016 has risen to 522, compared to 194 the previous year, making for a 169% rise year-on-year.
The increased popularity comes after boaters gave feedback on last year’s winter mooring spots, and a subsequent move by the Canal & River Trust to pick a larger range of sites to offer as wide a choice as possible.
This year, there are 104 locations for winter moorings, rising from 71 in 2015.
“While the canals in winter can be extremely beautiful, the conditions can turn challenging and some boaters want the assurance of a particular mooring to keep their boat,” said Mike Grimes, head of boating at the CRT.
“I’m pleased the moorings have proved so popular. There are still some spots available.”
Winter moorings are available until 31 March 2017. Details on sites and prices can be found on the CRT website.
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The Passion Pro i3S, which has been spotted at some dealerships in the country, has finally been launched ahead of the festive season. The silently launched motorcycle carries a price tag of Rs 51,653, ex-showroom, Thane.
The Passion Pro i3S uses the same start-stop technology, which is also equipped on the Splendor i3S and was introduced on the new i3S technology back in 2014. With the help of the technology, the motorcycle’s engine switches off automatically when idling and when the rider applies the clutch, the engine switches on.
The new Hero Passion Pro i3S looks similar to the standard Passion Pro, but features an i3S moniker, a start-stop button, electric start button in red colour, new exhaust, tail lamp, etc.
The Passion Pro i3S is powered by a 100 cc, TOD (torque-on-demand), air-cooled, single-cylinder engine that makes around 8.24 hp of power and 8.05 Nm of peak torque and is paired to a 4-speed gearbox. The two-wheeler maker has offered the motorcycle with both kick and electric start variants.
The company is also planning to launch the new Achiever 150 this month along with the new Super Splendor. Both the models are also expected to get the same i3S technology.
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Marriott International Inc. is splitting into two publicly traded companies.
The company said as it reported on its earnings yesterday that it will spin off its timeshare development and management company later this year. The remaining business will concentrate on its lodging management and franchising business.
Marriott said the move will help both companies focus on opportunities in their respective industries. It also helps the hotel chain shed the less-profitable timeshare business. Marriott will continue to receive franchise fees from the timeshare company’s use of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands.
The company said day-to-day operations should not be affected by the transaction, it does not expect the decision to result in any job cuts.
The Marriott family will hold a roughly 21 percent stake in each company. Stephen P. Weisz, president of Marriott’s timeshare business since 1997, will become chief executive of the new company. William J. Shaw, who recently announced his retirement as vice chairman of Marriott International and resigned from its board, will be chairman of the new timeshare company’s board.
The company reported a 63 percent increase in its fourth-quarter net income to $173 million, up from $106 million a year earlier.


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The first batch of this pioneering feed will be fed to 360,000 salmon fry at a facility operated by Nordlaks.
"We expect it to be as good as our regular feed and hope that the commercial test will show the same good results as Skretting has seen in its efforts to improve feed intake," said Eirik Welde, freshwater director at Nordlaks.
Insect meal offers an alternative to fish meal and soya, and Siri Tømmerås, responsible for feed for land-based farming in Skretting Norway, said that experiments show fish have the same growth performance with feeds using insect meal as with traditional protein sources.
"Insects are an important food for the wild salmon, and we see that insect meal can increase the appetite in the fish. This is an interesting find, and we continue to take advantage of this,” said Tømmerås.
Skretting believes insect meal will be an important raw material in the future and is helping producers scale-up production. Skretting says that they have the knowledge to do this and have chosen to do so due to the belief that insect meal will be an important protein source for aquaculture feeds moving forward.
"The challenge has been to find manufacturers that can produce enough volume with consistent, good quality. We have seen more than thirty manufacturers, and ended up with a handful of suppliers that we have moved on. After a close cooperation for a long time, we have now obtained the raw material at a quality level that we can count on in the future,” said Tømmerås.
The feed produced by the Skretting Norway factory contains insect meal made from the larvae of the black soldier fly - an EU-approved commodity. Surveys show that Norwegian consumers are more positive to eating salmon that has had insect meal in the feed than other Europeans.
"People who have grown up near a salmon river know that insects are natural foods for the salmon. People who have not thought so much about what a salmon eats is positive to insect meal when they hear that this is a good and sustainable raw material,” Welde said.
In the European market, there is now little available insect meal for use on a large scale, and Skretting is working with manufacturers who wish to come up at a commercial level. Ideally, by 2022 there will be at least five different European suppliers, each producing 20,000 tonnes of insect meal per year. That is, two thirds of the amount of soybean concentrate Skretting Norway uses today.
"Our goal is that in the future, ingredients used for aquaculture feed do not compete with food for human consumption. For us it's important to invest in alternatives like insect meal," said Mads Martinsen, Skretting Norway's product development director, who has several new commodity projects in progress.
More novel raw materials
"Insect meal seems to taste good for the salmon, which in nature is used to insects. We are also currently testing the plankton Calanus which is a natural part of the wild salmon diet. When we explore further down the food chain, in fact, the Nordic waters have as much Calanus as the total biomass of all wild fish and sea mammals combined. The authorities have opened for regulated fishing, and Skretting is already commencing commercial trials with Calanus. Initial results show that salmon also like the taste of this plankton, so here we have a fantastic new resource in addition to insect meal," said Martinsen.


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Dynamite is getting fans ready for the newest season of The Boys by releasing new collections of the comic series in an oversized format.
Thanks to Dynamite Entertainment‘s newly announced oversized omnibuses, The Boys are back in town. Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s landmark series has been collected in multiple formats before, but the new release will put the 90-issue run in three giant books. The news comes as the successful Amazon adaptation prepares to release its third season this summer.
The Boys is the story of Hugh “Wee Hughie” Campbell, who joins a clandestine CIA team tasked with monitoring the community of superpowered humans or “supes.” Initially published under DC’s Wildstorm imprint, the series was moved to Dynamite after DC canceled the series over its anti-superhero themes. Aside from its frank commentary on the comics industry, The Boys was also notable for its graphic violence, sexual content and stark nihilism. Amazon premiered an adaptation in 2019 to critical acclaim, and it seems like Dynamite is taking the new love of the franchise into account.
As revealed by ICv2, Dynamite is releasing a new line of deluxe collected editions for the The Boys. Not only will the release of the new omnibuses lead up to the upcoming season of the Amazon series, but the new collection arrives just in time to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic. The books will come in a 7.4 by 11 inch format and include a dust jacket. Aside from collecting the first 30 issues of The Boys over 800 pages, the first collection will also come with extra features such as script excerpts and a variant cover gallery. The book will sell for $99.99 but premium editions signed by Ennis and Robertson will also be available.
While far from the largest omnibus ever published, the new line is the densest collection for the series so far. Aside from the twelve trade paperbacks collecting the initial run, The Boys received a “Definitive Edition” of six omnibuses published from 2008 to 2014. The new release demonstrates the confidence Dynamite has in the series now that the adaptation has brought in numbers that rival Netflix’s best shows.
Despite the more nuanced and less extreme take of Amazon’s live-action version, it’s a smart move for Dynamite to capitalize on the overall popularity of the franchise. Dynamite also brought Ennis back to create the epilogue miniseries The Boys: Dear Becky in anticipation for the series’ second season. While the new collections don’t add anything new to the world of The Boys, they provide an opportunity for fans of the adaptation to check out the source material in one giant, convenient location. The first oversized volume of The Boys will be available in stores April 27 from Dynamite Entertainment.
The Witcher Fans Who Want More Geralt Need to Read the Graphic Novels
About The Author


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Five cards for every purchase, a vision board of their next “free” vacation destinations--these are the hallmarks of the rewards points lifestyle, one that requires as much dedication to shopping as it does saving.
Matthew Irwin is not about that life. As a self-proclaimed “casual collector,” he has spent eight years collecting Air Miles from purchases at Metro, Shell and the LCBO in the hopes of collecting a well-deserved reward for himself.
“It was mainly out of convenience,” he says. “They would ask if I wanted the card every purchase and finally I said ‘why not?’”
Matthew got his answer late last year, when Air Miles announced they would be expiring the points of many longtime users starting in early 2017.
“It was very surprising,” says Matthew of the announcement. “They say they’ve been mentioning it for years, but most of us weren’t aware until recently.”
Since the announcement, he says the frustration has only grown. There is no option online to check his expiring balance, and when he called the company he was told they could only tell him how many points would expire in the next three months. After that he will have to call again--and every three months--to know how many points he is losing. Rewards Canada note: Collectors can submit an online request form asking about expiring miles. The collector should then get an email within about 24 hours with the amount of miles expiring over the next few quarters. Admittedly it should be automatically displayed when one logs in.
Matthew says he stands to lose 300 of his approximately 2000 points at the end of December, and has no reason to believe the subsequent expiries will be any different. His balance just reached the bottom threshold for cashing in; he’d had his eye on a concert deal or a new blender in the coming months.
It doesn’t take much math to see that Matthew stands to lose points far quicker than he is earning them. To him, it’s a pretty clear message Air Miles is sending to customers: buy in or get out.
“The people affected by (the expiry) aren’t paying the premium for credit cards,” he says. “(Air Miles) want you to pay for the credit card and get hooked into the program.”
While such a move may make sense from a business standpoint, Matthew is skeptical that it will help Air Miles or the rewards industry in general.
“I'm so turned off at this point, I'm not going to bother with another program like this for a while,” he says. “I'll just decide where and when I shop for myself.”
Matthew also has a message to other customers who may feel tempted to double down on Air Miles or other programs now that there’s a deadline: the rewards lifestyle is a slippery slope that blurs the line between saving and spending.
“If you really want to (join a rewards program), do your research and pick one card that works for your current lifestyle,” he advises. “Don’t jump in on a whole new credit card just because they offer 5000 points for signing up.”