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Global TV shipments to grow 15% on year to 242 million units in 2010, says DisplaySearch
Press release, July 2; Yvonne Yu, DIGITIMES
Global TV shipments are expected to exceed 242 million in 2010, a 15% growth on year, a much significant growth compared to the 2% growth in 2009, according to DisplaySearch. Not only does the level of demand for LCD TVs look strong, rising 29% to 188...
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Amid bleak outlook for downstream vendors, uncertainties surrounding the US-China trade tension, factory relocation and exchange rate volatility, global smartphone AP shipments may experience further decline in 2019, down two years in row, according to Digitimes Research estimates.
According to Digitimes Research, Taiwan-based server vendors, including suppliers of motherboards, end systems, storage devices and related network equipment, continue to enjoy growth in 2018. In terms of volume, global server shipments will show continuing growth throughout 2018 and 2019.
This Digitimes Research Special Report offers global shipment forecasts for three major mobile device market segments - smartphones, notebooks and tablets - for the year 2019 and beyond. It gives in-depth analyses of their respective market outlooks, with shipment forecasts extending to 2023.


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In the latest FHA Insider Special report ‘Experiential trends in hospitality: Behind the scenes’ published by FHA-HoReCa, industry experts shared their insights on what makes for a successful hospitality experience.
With the expected growth of the global luxury travel market by US$2.5 trillion in the next five years and increasing demand for more personalisation and experiences among travellers, Asian hospitality industry players have the opportunity to offer unique concepts and enhanced services to grow their markets. The report highlighted the growing importance of storytelling and how authentic and creatively crafted stories can contribute significantly to the success of a F&B or hospitality establishment. It also delved into the growing number of millennial travellers and their influence on the hospitality industry.
Serving up authenticity and memorable experiences
Noting that just serving a delicious meal is no longer the end of an experience, Ben Gregoire, Vice-President of CKP Hospitality Consultants, explained that, “Good hospitality is all about providing memorable experiences for guests. Today’s consumers are more discerning than ever.” He adds that establishments must consider every single aspect of the guest experience — from the initial contact point to the moment they leave.
Agreeing, Anurag Bali, Assistant Vice-President, Food and Beverage, South East Asia & Australasia of the Shangri-La Group says, “It’s all about the guest experience and well-established, well-run concepts — a strong story.” Pointing out the dining trends now making “a strong story” across the region, Bali shared that restaurants and eateries that incorporate other elements such as décor or music, in addition to a strong menu, are also attracting diners in Asia.

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Amazon to Collect Sales Tax in New Jersey Beginning July 1, 2013
May 31, 2012 3:31 PM
comment(s) - last by
These two new facilities will add up to $130 million in capital investment, and will create over 1,500 full-time jobs for New Jersey residents
Amazon has agreed to collect sales tax on purchases made by New Jersey customers starting July 1, 2013, or whenever federal legislation is passed.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made two Amazon-related announcements today, one of which included the collection of sales taxes beginning next summer.
This is a huge step for Amazon, considering the e-tailer fought many states that attempted to press tax collection on Amazon purchases. For instance, Amazon said it was closing one of its distribution centers and canceling operation expansions in the state of Texas last year because of a tax dispute with Texas Comptroller Susan Combs. According to Combs, Amazon was
responsible for $269 million in uncollected sales taxes
on online purchases.
Amazon fled many other states that attempted to force tax collection on the company as well, such as
and Illinois. Amazon has said that it
does not have to collect sales tax
because of a 1992 Supreme Court decision that excuses Amazon and other remote sellers from having to collect taxes in U.S. states that do not have the company's employees or warehouses operating within those states. But between states looking for ways to offset large financial deficits and brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy complaining about Amazon being unfair competition, Amazon is being pushed between a rock and a hard place.
However, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos did say that his company would agree to collect taxes if there were some sort of federal legislation. This has not occurred yet, but Amazon continues to push for it while slowly agreeing to tax collection in certain states. Just last month, Amazon finally agreed to
collect sales tax in Texas starting July 1, 2012
. Amazon also agreed to start collecting sales tax on online items in California starting next year, and in Arizona in 2014.
Gov. Christie's second announcement was the construction of two Amazon distribution centers within the state of New Jersey. These two new facilities will add up to $130 million in capital investment, and will create over 1,500 full-time jobs for New Jersey residents.
"In yet another positive sign in our state's economic and job growth, I'm pleased Amazon is committed to helping New Jersey grow and create quality jobs," said Christie. "After months of hard work and collaboration, Amazon has joined the long list of companies that recognize New Jersey's economic and business climate is improving. We've created an atmosphere of job creation, growth and investment, which is why we've taken another important step toward placing quality, good-paying job opportunities within reach of our families."
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: Not stupid
6/1/2012 10:37:18 AM
Not only that, but I think Amazon would have been a lot more amenable towards some sales taxes if they were given a fair chance.
In Texas, they weren't given the opportunity to start collecting by a certain date. Instead, it was like, you've been doing business here for the last 5 years and owe us close to 300million. Now pay up.
RE: Not stupid
6/1/2012 3:26:15 PM
Amazon has been playing this "catch me if you can" game for a while. The Government is realizing that billions of dollars are being spent online whereas, back in the day, mail order was a relatively small affair.
Ultimately the Government will get their pound of flesh.
"Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town." -- Charlie Miller
Amazon to Collect Online Sales Taxes in Texas Starting July 1, 2012
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Former pro NFL-er Warren Sapp may have a chance to get some of his repossessed belongings back!
Earlier this year, the
broke football legend nearly lost it all in a bankruptcy case. After claiming that he was MILLIONS of dollars in debt, Sapp filed for Chapter 7 and was forced to hand over all of his possessions to a trustee. The trustee was then told to sell the items to pay off Sapp’s creditors.
But now, according to new legal docs filed in the bankruptcy case, Sapp has made a deal which allows him to BUY BACK most of his old items from the trustee. These items include, furniture, jewelry, miscellaneous items in storage…and the rights to his, still “missing”, 2002 Super Bowl ring.
The catch is, Sapp has to get a judge to sign off on the deal…and come up with $69,284.58 in one lump sum.
Unfortunately for Sapp, his massive Air Jordan collection was NOT on the list of things he was eligible to buy back. Those shoes, estimated to be worth $50K, are already set to be sold.


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TOKYO — Japan and the U.S. are struggling to lay out a timeline for negotiations toward a bilateral trade agreement as Washington focuses its energies on securing a deal with Beijing.
Both sides were originally eager to conclude a trade agreement on goods, or TAG, as soon as possible to maximize the political benefits. But when high-level talks will even start is now unclear, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer once again pushing back a meeting with Japanese point man Toshimitsu Motegi.
At a September 2018 summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump, the two sides had agreed to begin trade talks.
Tokyo wanted Lighthizer and Motegi to meet this April so that they could make progress before Trump’s visit to Japan in late May. But Lighthizer’s office replied that it was not possible to arrange the meeting at this time.
This is not the first delay. The lead negotiators were originally supposed to meet as early as January, but the U.S. decided to focus first on trade talks with China. Lighthizer later hinted that he could meet with Motegi in March, though that also failed to materialize.
Given Trump’s initial deadline of March 1 to raise punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, Japan was hopeful that Washington and Beijing would reach some kind of deal by late March and clear the way for the TAG talks. But a senior Trump administration official says this now may not happen until April.
Trump said Wednesday that he is in “no rush” to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a deal.
Both Motegi and Lighthizer have far-ranging duties, and it usually takes about a month for officials in their position to arrange a meeting. Since they have yet to begin preparations, their first meeting will likely not come until at least early May — only weeks before Trump’s Japan trip.
Some voices in the Japanese government favor starting negotiations as soon as possible. They believe that if Motegi and Lighthizer get on the same page fast, the U.S. will be more likely to accept Japan’s position: that it cannot lower agricultural tariffs further than it did under the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, which the U.S. exited long before it took effect late last year.
Japan has begun lowering duties on beef and other goods from TPP member countries and the European Union, with which it has an economic partnership agreement that took effect in February. American farm interests are growing concerned that their products are losing their edge, adding to pressure for a quick bilateral agreement.
Lighthizer told lawmakers on Tuesday that he aims to conclude talks with Japan swiftly, especially on agricultural products. If the countries can finalize a TAG before the U.S. presidential election in 2020, Trump could claim it as a success. Tokyo is optimistic about the odds.
An accelerated timeline would help Japan as well. Negotiations in such areas as drug pricing and food safety standards normally take years, including needed legal revisions. If the U.S. wants a deal soon, Japan could keep many of these politically sensitive issues off the table.
It could also mean less pressure on export limits and currency policy. When renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, the Trump administration called for auto export caps and restrictions on competitive devaluation. It is expected to make similar demands to Japan, which Tokyo plans to reject.
But if U.S. negotiations with China drag on, talks with Japan may get pushed back too far for them to reach an agreement before the 2020 election. Washington would be more likely to press unfavorable conditions on Tokyo if it has no strict timeline to follow.


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William J. Weisz, 70, who spent nearly 50 years working at Motorola Inc., where he rose to the highest executive ranks, died Wednesday at his home in the Phoenix area.
Mr. Weisz, who retired as Motorola chairman last January, joined the company as a junior development engineer in 1948 after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became president of the firm in 1970 and was part of the chief executive office that led Motorola's transformation from a relatively small consumer electronics company into a global leader in high-technology communications.
He often served as a spokesman for the industry to promote free trade, free enterprise and American competitiveness.
"An individual of immense personal integrity, Bill always had the best interests of Motorola and our employees foremost in his thoughts," said Christopher Galvin, Motorola's chief executive officer. "His loyalty and objectivity were two of his superordinate qualities. Bill's superb, devoted and unselfish service to Motorola has left an invaluable legacy to us all."
Mr. Weisz's early work at Motorola centered on the Handie-Talkie FM radiophone, which resulted in several patents. He was credited with helping the firm's small two-way communications business become the first to incorporate solid-state technology and eventually to become the world leader.
"Bill had a remarkable knowledge and understanding of technology, combined with an ability to communicate the possibilities of that technology to customers and decision makers," said Gary Tooker, Motorola's board chairman. "His efforts to improve use of the radio frequency spectrum helped to set the stage for global wireless communications."
Mr. Weisz won several industry honors, including the Medal of Honor from the Electronic Industries Association in 1981 for his contributions to the advancement of the electronics industry.
Mr. Weisz is survived by his wife, Barbara; two sons, George and David; a daughter, Terri; and four grandchildren. The family was preparing to mark the Weiszes' 50th wedding anniversary.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in Weinstein Family Services Wilmette Chapel, 111 Skokie Blvd., Skokie.


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Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut its holdings in Mobile Mini Inc (NASDAQ:MINI) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,600 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.22% of Mobile Mini worth $3,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Mobile Mini in the third quarter valued at $41,000. First Mercantile Trust Co. acquired a new position in Mobile Mini during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Advisor Group Inc. increased its position in Mobile Mini by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Mobile Mini by 3,603.8% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Mobile Mini during the 4th quarter worth approximately $175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.57% of the company’s stock.
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MINI shares. BidaskClub lowered shares of Mobile Mini from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Sidoti increased their price objective on shares of Mobile Mini from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Mobile Mini from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Mobile Mini from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.
Mobile Mini (NASDAQ:MINI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $159.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.63 million. Mobile Mini had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 13.67%. Mobile Mini’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mobile Mini Inc will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.303 per share. This is a boost from Mobile Mini’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. Mobile Mini’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.90%.
About Mobile Mini
Mobile Mini, Inc provides portable storage and specialty containment solutions. It operates through three segments: Storage Solutions North America, Storage Solutions United Kingdom, and Tank & Pump Solutions. The company offers various portable storage and office products, including steel storage containers and steel ground level offices serving construction companies, large and small retailers, medical centers, schools, utilities, distributors, the military, hotels, restaurants, entertainment complexes, and households for application in the storage of construction materials and equipment, retail and manufacturing inventory, documents and records, and other goods.
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MINI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mobile Mini Inc (NASDAQ:MINI).
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Illicit liquor (1.46 lakh litres), country liquor (2.28 lakh bottles) and over 60,000 kg lahan (raw material for manufacturing liquor) were seized, the DGP said.
A leading gur trader at the mandi said the demand, which is typically 4 lakh kg per day, increased by around 20%-25% during March–April.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently notified new norms that require bottlers to disclose ingredients used in a drink.
There are several businesses that flourish during the election season; one such business that no insider wants to talk about in the open is that of country liquor.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% to 2,033.93 points. The CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings also advanced 0.5%.
The owner of a liquor retail chain said each of his shops is saving at least Rs 1,000 a day now, money which used to be spent earlier to procure coins.
With EC tying up with IT authorities to tighten the screws on black money flow, cash seizures too have touched Rs 320 crore.
DGCA would shortly issue showcause notices to both the companies owing the aircraft asking them the explain the violations.
Focusing on infrastructure growth and welfare schemes, Odisha government today presented a Rs 80,139.58 crore budget for 2014-15.
Gujarat together with Daman and Diu, ranks next to Andhra Pradesh for seizure of liquor during polls, with 23 lakh litres confiscated so far.


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A assortment of merchandise from Estonian journey-hailing start off-up Bolt.
LONDON — The competitiveness is obtaining more durable for Uber in Europe.
Estonia-primarily based ride-hailing commence-up Bolt said Tuesday it has raised 628 million euros ($711 million) in a new funding spherical led by Sequoia Cash and Fidelity.
The financial investment, which was also backed by Whale Rock, Owl Rock and some of Bolt’s present investors, values the eight-calendar year-old company at 7.4 billion euros — or about $8.4 billion — up from approximately $4.8 billion just 5 months in the past.
“Cities more and more see that they want to switch above from personal car possession” to experience-hailing and other “shared mobility” possibilities like electric powered scooters and motor vehicle-sharing, Bolt CEO and co-founder Markus Villig explained to CNBC in an interview.
Established in 2013, Bolt has come to be a fierce competitor to Uber, hard the U.S. experience-hailing big in key markets this sort of as London and Paris. It has because expanded into numerous other traces of business enterprise, which include on-line food stuff and grocery supply and e-scooters.
Villig reported traders are beginning to see the value of the “super app,” a principle that encompasses many solutions put together into one particular platform. The development is notably common in elements of Asia but has been slower to take off in Europe and North The us. Bolt suggests it now has 100 million buyers throughout 45 nations in Europe and Africa.
‘No urgency’ for IPO
It really is been practically 3 years since Uber went general public, and the inventory has been on a whirlwind due to the fact, hitting all-time highs in 2021 just before slumping again down down below its debut rate. Questioned whether Bolt could follow accommodate in trying to find an initial public providing, Villig stated there is certainly far more than enough revenue readily available in the personal markets.
“In the lengthy time period? Most probable, certainly, we will go public,” he explained. But, he additional, “there’s no urgency for us at the second.”
Villig sees on-need grocery as a critical spot of focus for the corporation in the coming several years. The sector has develop into intensely crowded, with an influx of begin-ups from Getir to Gorillas hunting to lure individuals away from usefulness outlets and supermarkets with the promise of ultrafast shipping and delivery periods.
Bolt released its very own 15-minute grocery shipping and delivery provider, identified as Bolt Sector, in Estonia final calendar year. Related to competing solutions, the firm relies on so-termed darkish grocery suppliers which only fulfill on the internet orders and you should not serve clients in-store. It is now reside in 10 international locations, with dozens of dim shops set up. The company is viewing noteworthy traction in Central and Eastern Europe, Villig reported, adding it programs to open up hundreds of new websites this calendar year.
Bolt’s CEO reported the firm was possible to commit “hundreds of tens of millions” on making out its grocery organization above the several years. He questioned the sustainability of rapid grocery shipping and delivery companies, noting the marketplace operates on slender earnings margins.
“This is not the application company,” Villig said. “This is likely to be a greatly competitive operational small business. Most of these providers that are anticipating this to be some huge earnings driver are all likely to be be very upset in a couple many years.”
Bolt usually touts its functioning model as leaner and extra cost-productive compared to Uber’s. The firm misplaced 44.9 million euros in 2020, according to its most new financial report, down marginally from losses of 85.5 million euros a year earlier. Revenues surged almost 75% to 221.4 million euros.
Uber, which has extended been dogged by fears about whether it can turn out to be a financially rewarding business, reported its initially altered EBITDA financial gain (earnings prior to interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in the 3rd quarter of 2021.
Bolt’s company was to begin with hit tricky early into the coronavirus pandemic, with revenues plunging as significantly as 80% in 2020. The enterprise seemed to food items delivery and other spots to strengthen its enterprise when occasions acquired difficult and has benefited from surging need for ride-hailing publish-lockdown. In accordance to Villig, Bolt’s ride-hailing small business a lot more than doubled in 2021.
On the other hand, Uber and its rivals have struggled to match that demand from customers with a source of drivers amid ongoing labor shortages. That has led to higher fares and unusually prolonged wait periods in big metropolitan areas like London and New York.
“Everybody’s battling for motorists,” Villig explained to CNBC. “We’ve normally been positioned as the most driver-welcoming system out there, in conditions of much better earnings, much better cure, and so on.”
In November, Uber mentioned it would hike rates in London in an energy to draw in more motorists, though Bolt has permitted drivers to established their personal fares in a few U.K. metropolitan areas.
However, Bolt faces much of the regulatory danger that Uber has encountered above the decades, from a landmark U.K. court docket ruling previous 12 months that Uber’s motorists should really be treated as staff, to incoming European restrictions which threaten to upend the business enterprise product of gig financial state platforms.
Villig stated most of Bolt’s motorists prefer the overall flexibility that will come with gig function and do not desire to be taken care of like staff members — a designation that would give them important gains these as a minimum amount wage and holiday break fork out.
“We believe that typical perception in the extended expression is going to prevail,” Villig said. “I will not consider that it can make feeling to power all of them into a design that they will not in fact frankly want.” Most international locations are probable to uncover a “flexible procedure” that permits both total-time and versatile working hours, he added.


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Cargill announces that it will invest more than $15 million in a new piglet feed production line in Tianjin, China. The expansion will provide early life nutrition options for Chinese customers and their animals.
Germany said any escalation of U.S. tariffs on metal imports into a full-blown trade war could cause tangible damage to the global recovery, although the tariffs themselves should have only a limited effect.
Germany's swine herd numbers are reaching near 20-year lows, resulting in a decline in pig feed demand. This causes challenges for the U.S. as it’s currently the top exporter of commodity soybeans to Germany.


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After suffering badly from enforced closures through the pandemic, spiraling inflation has put hair and beauty salons back in the crosshairs. With rising prices impacting spending, will salon owners need to take a haircut?
While many can’t live without haircuts and beauty glow-ups, this need will be tested in the coming months. Will customers forego these treatments to save money, or will they prioritize looking their best?
To find out, we used a social listening tool to gather conversations where people talked about both salon treatments and their cost/the impact of inflation. We took these discussions from two 90-day periods: February to April (as inflation started to become an issue) and August to October (after price rises had set in). Once we had the data, we uploaded both to our text analytics platform.
Relative Insight Explore uncovers customer insights found within text by comparing multiple data sets and pinpointing the differences between them. Our consumer research tool highlights the nuances contained in text data. In this example, what appear to be simple complaints about the price of salon treatments actually contain valuable, actionable insights into consumer sentiment.
Are we likely to see more DIY haircuts and drug store stick-on nails? Or do salons make the cut for consumers?
Inflation’s impact on hair and beauty salons: Nasty surprises and beauty treatments dominate early-year discussions
As inflation began to have an impact earlier this year, our consumer research highlighted people’s shock at the rising cost of hair and beauty sessions.
Discussions were 3.0x more likely to include words and emojis relating to ‘surprise’ at price rises, with consumers often using the ‘🥴’ emoji to demonstrate their astonishment. Emoji use also extended to ‘😂’, sarcastically illustrating their disbelief at what haircuts, manicures and pedicures cost.
“That time of the year when ur haircut price doubles 🥴”
“Every time I go to the nail salon it’s a new price increase for gel 😂”
Customers were also infinitely more likely to use the word ‘silence’ – this means the word didn’t appear in the other data set. Much of the usage consisted of consumers recounting how they’d fallen silent when the salon had told them the price.
Beauty treatments were more likely to appear in conversations at the start of the year. The phrase ‘gel mani’ was 14.0x more likely to appear, while consumers also talked about getting a ‘mani’ (1.4x), new ‘lashes’ (2.0x) and ‘nails’ (1.3x) done more often.
While most people complained about the rise in prices, other aspects of the conversation focused on advice. One of the main pieces of advice was that others can save money and almost replicate salon nails by using stick-on products – illustrated by the word ‘glue’ appearing 8.5x.
“Check those out! I think my sister uses the glue-ons too. She seems to like them. ☺ she was one of those people getting her nails done at least monthly for a long time but I think she finally decided the cost, when added up, was just too high for her lifestyle.“
Inflation’s impact on hair and beauty salons: Consumers now have inflation fatigue and focus on haircare
After a few months of rising prices, consumer discussions have changed drastically. While people initially greeted the impact of inflation with dark humor and a roll of the eyes, now they’re getting angry and demanding action.
However, for hair salons, these rants come with a silver lining. Our consumer analysis found that people are listing ‘haircuts’ and ‘hairdressers’ alongside other essentials, such as groceries and taxes. People aren’t looking to replicate their lockdown looks; they’re treating haircare as a vital expenditure.
“Carbon tax effects more than fuel, if you go to your dentist, hairdresser, mechanic, groceries, contractors it causes everything to cost more. You think businesses are eating the added costs it costs them to operate? No their not, they up the rates to cover it. Plain and simple.“
Where hair salons need to be careful is their explanation for price increases. While our consumer research indicates that customers are willing to pay higher prices at salons in preference to DIY haircuts, they aren’t happy about it. Conversations have evolved from shock at the prices to questioning why they’re so high.
Specific prices, such as ‘$40′ and ’20 dollars’ are infinitely more likely to appear in discussions between August and October. Dissatisfaction with cost has led consumers to accuse hairdressers of ‘price gouging’, with the phrase appearing 9.3x more over the past 90 days.
“So I shopped around price-wise for a haircut today… 1. $30 + tax 2. $28 + tax 3. $25 + tax 4. $18 + tax. I took option #4. The 1st 3 had increased their prices – they said ‘due to inflation’. I told them they’re price gouging.“
Inflation’s impact on hair and beauty salons: How hair and beauty salons can use research to adapt
By using text analytics to conduct consumer research, we’ve found mixed fortunes for hair and beauty salons.
Haircare customers have grudgingly accepted having to pay more for their haircuts, treating them as essential. However, as inflation continues to bite, they’re starting the question the rationale behind price increases – rather than just being shocked by it. Hair salons raising their prices should be able to justify the increases, otherwise, customers may begin to vote with their feet.
Beauty salons should be more concerned. While consumers aren’t currently complaining about their prices, this could be because they’re not paying them. When this is paired with conversations from early 2022 offering advice about replicating salon treatments, customers could be resorting to DIY beauty regimes with prices so high. In that case, beauty salons need to highlight why their treatments are worth the money when compared with the band-aid beauty solutions customers may be attempting.
These findings on inflation’s impact on hair and beauty salons would be almost impossible to discern by manually analyzing social media conversations. By highlighting the nuances in how people are discussing price rises in hair and beauty salons, our text analysis platform offers market research insights that can help firms to optimize their offerings through challenging times.


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Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Corporation selected 25 entrepreneurs last Friday to operate its first batch of cannabis stores. From these 25 entrepreneurs, 5 of them will be operating in the East region. This area includes Barrie, the city of Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough, Belleville, Ottawa, and Kingston. In order for the community to have their own store, they should have a population of at least 50,000 people and to agree to have their own cannabis stores. Of all the 6 communities in the East Region that qualified on the criteria, only Kingston, Ottawa, and Peterborough opted in.
Serious Cannabis Supply Issues
The government has decided to set a cap of 25 on the number of stores that will be opening in spring because of what they call the serious cannabis supply issues that the federal government has to address. They believe that putting out 25 stores is the best way to go although this will only be temporary. As soon as the federal government can guarantee better supply, then they’re going to issue more licenses as the cannabis industry continues to grow.
As of now, recreational cannabis can be bought legally in Ontario from a website run by the government. The first private stores are expected to start operating on April 1st and they have initially said that they’re not going to put a cap on the number of outlets that they will be opening.
Applying for Cannabis Retail Licences
Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission, which regulates the retail cannabis outlets of the province, is accepting applications from business owners who plan on investing in the cannabis industry. There will be a $75 fee to submit their expression of interest and businesses owners who are selected through the lottery will be given 5 business days to submit their application and pay a $6,000 fee.
Those who will be receiving licenses will be chosen randomly. These licenses are divided regionally and five will go to the Ontario East Region. Those who will be luckily chosen will have to pass the ACGO license screening that includes a criminal background check. They will also be asked to undergo an examination of connection to organized crime.
Indicating the Region to Operate
The businesses and entrepreneurs that will submit their intent to operate must indicate in their application the region in which they want to operate their store. There’s not a need to include the actual address of the location.
Those who will be selected in the draw will be given five days to start their application to obtain a Retail Operator license. Applicants must also file an application for the authorization of a retail store and this is when they have to indicate the complete address of the store that they’re proposing to open. Applicants can wait until January 22 and there will be a 15-day period for the municipal and public officials to comment on their request for authorization.


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AT&T will become the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device recognition technology. Microsoft Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft. Beginning April 17, customers can experience Microsoft Surface in select AT&T retail locations, including stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. Based on the success and learning from these initial pilot deployments, plans for further expansion across AT&T's 2,200 U.S. retail stores will be determined.
Microsoft Surface is a 30-inch table-like display that gives individuals or multiple people the opportunity to interact with devices and content in a way that feels familiar — by using touch, gestures and placement of devices on the display. In essence, it's a surface come to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more.


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In the fall of 2015, research firm eMarketer predicted the wearables market among U.S. adults to increase by over 60 percent in 2016. In the most recent report from the organization, that figure fell sharply, down to 24.7 percent.
Early adopters aside, the wristband technology has not taken off the way many had anticipated. Though initial hype for the wearable devices from companies such as Apple and Fitbit was high, intent to purchase has since dropped.
Nearly 25 million fewer adults than originally predicted will use a wearable device this year, according to eMarketer. The company pointed to two reasons: no clear usage and high prices.
"They also reported high price-sensitivity," said eMarketer analyst Cathy Boyle. "Without a clear use case for smart watches - which have more features than fitness trackers, but significant overlap with smartphone functionality - the more sophisticated, expensive devices have not caught on as quickly as expected."
PC Magazine reported that wearables are most marketable among the younger consumer audience. While only 17 percent of all people wear and use a smart watch or fitness tracker, 30 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34 do.


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Memorial Hospital celebrates Starbucks grand opening
Memorial Hospital President Larry Tracy knows it’s important to provide a comfortable and familiar place where people can gather. He considered this heavily while looking for a business partner for a new hospital restaurant.
“Most people are coming to us at their worst, and anything we can do to reduce their stress, fear and anxiety while creating a warm and welcoming environment all goes into the patient experience,” Tracy said. “Starbucks has that same belief in terms of the environment it wants to create, so it is a nice marriage for both of us.”
Hospital staff, patients and hospital visitors gathered to watch Tracy and Starbucks Manager Pattie Holland cut a ceremonial ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of the well-known coffee retailer in the main lobby of the hospital.
“With Memorial Hospital and Beacon Health System being the largest provider in the region, we get a lot of traffic that comes through our doors,” Tracy said. “We wanted to make sure our patients, visitors, physicians and other associates have access to a premium brand.”
The new location offers the same premium hot and cold coffees, pastries and sandwiches found at other locations. Customers may also place orders via a mobile app for convenient pickup, as well as check current store hours.
Gail Weismann, Director, Nutritional Services, believes the new coffee shop isn’t just another retail store, but rather a symbolic representation of Beacon’s commitment to the community.
“One of the reasons I’m so excited about this Starbucks is because their mission aligns so well with Beacon’s mission,” she said. “Starbucks’ mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. It’s just like our mission to deliver outstanding care, inspire health and connect with heart to each patient. They pair really nicely together.”


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Irish incumbent Eircom announced Wednesday that it will accept the 3G licence offered to it by ComReg following the regulator’s decision to revoke the licence from Smart Telecom.
Announcing its Q3 results, Eircom said it is on target to reach 500,000 DSL subscribers this year. Ireland has a population of around 4million. Meteor, Eircom’s recently acquired mobile arm, reported 69,000 new subscribers bringing its total up to 819,000.
Eircom chief executive Rex Comb said: “Eircom is delighted to announce its acceptance of the 3G licence offered recently by ComReg on the understanding that the necessary financing arrangements will be in place ahead of 12 March 2007.
“Eircom has repeatedly stated its commitment to provide 3G services in the Irish market and today’s announcement confirms the company’s view that accepting the licence is the best way to ensure that Eircom delivers a high quality mobile offering to our customers,” Comb said.
With Amazon and Google launching smart home initiatives, have the telcos missed out on their chance to cash in on this market?
Total Voters: 62


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iNVEZZ.com, Monday 17 March:
In an interview with CNBC last Friday, legendary investor and multi-billionaire Warren Buffett described bitcoin as “a mirage” because of his view that the crypto-currency’s intrinsic value as a means of payment is grossly overhyped.
The ‘Oracle of Omaha’ acknowledged that e-currencies offer an efficient way to transfer value but warned investors to “stay away” from bitcoin. He accepted that bitcoin was a “very effective way of transmitting money” but sees a major flaw in the product’s valuation.
As Buffett put it: “A check is a way of transmitting money, too. Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money? Are money orders? You can transmit money by money orders. People do it. I hope bitcoin becomes a better way of doing it, but you can replicate it [money transmission] a bunch of different ways.”
In a major putdown, Buffett concluded: “The idea that [bitcoin] has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke in my view.”
This is not the first time the Berkshire Hathaway founder has commented on what is arguably now the world’s best known e-currency.At the beginning of March, Buffet dismissed the notion that bitcoin is a currency, adding that he “wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t around in the next 10-20 years”.
Buffet earned his billions by being extremely conservative, basing his financial plays on investments with a high degree of certainty. Bitcoin isn’t for the conservative investor, given its colossal price volatility.


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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of railroad Genesee & Wyoming rose more than 7 percent on four times the normal trading volume Monday amid market speculation that the company could be acquired or spin off its business in Australia.
Matthew Walsh, vice president of finance for the company, declined to comment on any possible deals, but said a financial news commentator's pick over the weekend of Genesee & Wyoming's stock as a favorite investment might have sent shares rising.
Genesee & Wyoming
The railroad operates short lines and regional freight lines in North America, Bolivia and Australia that typically cater to the needs of paper, petroleum, grain, and other bulk commodity producers.
Bigger, Class 1 railroads like CSX Corp.
"There's really no natural buyers for these railroad holding companies," Morgan Keegan analyst Art Hatfield said.
Dean Gullis, head of Loomis Sayles Small Cap Value investments and a holder of Genesee & Wyoming stock, also said it was unlikely a larger railroad would acquire the company.
"It was a good day in the market for transports in general," Gullis said, and that might have boosted the shares.
A likelier scenario, Hatfield suggested, is that Genesee & Wyoming could be contemplating a spin-off or divestiture of its 50 percent equity stake in its Australian Railroad Group.
Rail America, Genesee & Wyoming's principal competitor, in August unloaded its Freight Australia line to Pacific National for $204 million, almost twice its purchase price in 1999.
Analysts and traders said the flurry in market activity could also be related to the railroad's Nov. 15 announcement of its closing of $257 million in debt financing, which left about $157 million available to the company.
Genesee & Wyoming earned $10.1 million in the third quarter, an improvement over the $7.6 million a year ago.


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During his Conservative Party leadership campaign, Rishi Sunak has made several claims about UK trade and agriculture that show that he doesn’t understand a range of relevant factors: the type and quantity of produce that can be grown in the UK; the size of UK domestic demand; how much UK food manufacturers rely on imported ingredients; nor even the point of international trade itself.
Some of Sunak’s ill-informed comments even have a whiff of communist central planning to them such as creating a new statutory duty to report on the proportion of imports or setting targets to increase self-sufficiency.
Other comments show a complete lack of knowledge of the UK climate, soil, agricultural production and consumer tastes: such as his reiteration of a pledge to boost fruit and vegetable production. The UK is unlikely to be growing bananas, oranges, mangoes or pineapples commercially nor will the UK suddenly be able to grow avocados, beans, chickpeas or summer vegetables out of season. Even with a statutory government target!
Mr Sunak also criticised the UK Australia trade deal for letting down British farmers by encouraging cheaper imports of meat and other produce also made in the UK. Here Sunak displays an alarming lack of knowledge of the point of trade, the size of the UK population and the limits of UK agricultural productivity.
UK farmers simply don’t have spare paddocks that they could bring into production at his command. 72% of UK land is already used for Agriculture and our farmers are doing the best they can under the current regulations. The UK’s Basic Payment Subsidy keeps all UK farmland in some sort of production regardless of commodity prices or profitability. Unlike in unsubsidised Australia or New Zealand where contiguous low international commodity prices would take land out of production as farmers need to make a profit to survive.
As for Sunak’s statement about ‘encouraging cheaper imports’ well that is actually the whole point of trade. The UK already imports cheaper meat from Ireland, which undercuts UK beef by about 20%. So why does Sunak believe that imported Australian meat would hurt UK farmers, but remain unconcerned about cost and choice for UK consumers? Or as a vegetarian, is he unconcerned about the price of meat, an excellent source of protein, Vitamin B12 and Omega 3 fatty acids if the animals are grass fed as they are in Australia and New Zealand.
Instead, Sunak tells us that he will make farmers a priority in trade deals. Here it becomes obvious that Sunak has never read the Australian trade deal: the only industry it protects is UK farmers. Even the hopeless ones…
Protections for farmers included in the UK Australia Trade deal.
The UK’s new Australian and New Zealand trade deals are, if anything, overly protective of UK farmers to the detriment of UK consumers.
The point of a trade deal is to liberate trade by removing tariffs, quotas and non-tariff barriers. Trade liberation for goods in the UK Australia Trade deal is covered in Chapter 2 of the FTA, and the protections (i.e. items where trade barriers have not been removed fully or even in some cases not removed at all), are listed in Annexes 2A and 2B.
Annex 2A contains Australian retained protections. It is very short, only one and a half pages. They are only lifting their 5% tariffs on various UK steel products, such as coils and pipes, over 5 years, and they will only lift their $1220 per tonne (£700/tonne) tariffs on UK cheese over 6 years, with the exception of Stilton and goat cheeses, which like all of the other products in the 280 page Schedule of Tariff Commitments will see trade protections eliminated in full. Australia has no additional quotas or product specific safeguards. This could be a bonanza for exporting UK farmers – but it won’t be as I explain below.
The UK version however, Annex 2B, runs to 14 pages and retains protections on agricultural products as follows:
UK NFM tariffs on Australian beef of 12% plus £1180 to £2530 per tonne will only be removed over 11 years and tariff free quotas and ‘safeguard’ import limits in place for 15 years. After 15 years the UK will be able to buy as much Australian beef, tariff free, as they presently import from Ireland.
UK Sheepmeat tariffs of 12% plus £750 to £2600 per tonne will only be removed over 11 years, tariff free quotas and ‘safeguard’ import limits will be in place for 15 years.
Tariffs on Australian dairy products will only be removed over 6 years and tariff free quotas will be retained for 5 years. UK MFN tariffs on dairy products are: milk tariffs £100 per tonne; cream tariffs are up to £1520 per tonne; flavoured yogurt tariffs are as high as 8% plus £1410 per tonne; powdered whey tariffs are £1390 per tonne; butter tariffs range from £1580 to £1930 per tonne; and Cheese tariffs range from £1160 to £1850 per tonne.
UK tariffs on Australian Wheat are £79 per tonne, which presently adds 33% to the price of imported wheat, and will only be reduced over 5 years with a fixed tariff free quota of 80,000 tonnes in place for 4 years. (To put this in context, the UK imported over 2 million tonnes of wheat in 2021. This continued tariff protection is going to look particularly stupid if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues into next year and European wheat supplies are limited by high fuel and fertiliser costs or poor weather. Sunak can’t worry about food security if he is willing to limit the countries from whom the UK can buy tariff free and quota free produce.)
UK Barley tariffs of £77 per tonne will be reduced over 5 years and a fixed tariff free quota of only 7,000 tonnes will be in place for 4 years.
UK Sugar tariffs of between £280 and £350 per tonne, which presently adds between 90% and 110% to the price of imported sugar, will be reduced over nine years and quotas will be in pace for 8 years.
There are many more protections for various vegetables and fruit whose tariffs will only be reduced over 4 or 8 years, including the tariffs on shelled dried beans that are not really grown commercially in the UK. The Australian trade deal also completely excludes pork, chicken, and eggs and all products made with them, as well as milled long grain rice – even though rice isn’t grown in the UK.
All of these tariffs protect UK farmers. But they benefit heavily subsidised EU farmers far more, because UK farmers simply cannot produce sufficient food for the population. Food has to be imported from somewhere. These very high tariffs are intended to discourage imports from countries outside the EU. Unlike Australia or New Zealand – the EU was granted completely free access to UK markets in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement: no tariffs, no quotas and no protection for UK farmers. But also, no complaints from the NFU or Mr Sunak…
It is very hard to see how Sunak could possibly view this trade deal as not protecting UK farmers. – unless of course he hasn’t read it.
Sunak’s proposed statutory duty to report on the proportion of imports and targets for becoming more self-sufficient
Self-sufficiency sounds good, but in the UK’s case it isn’t possible. The UK weather allows the UK to produce only 5 types of fruit commercially: apples both dessert and culinary, pears, raspberries and strawberries. The UK imports 85% of the fruit is consumes each year. Although this includes tropical fruit and citrus fruit, the UK also imports apples and pears – they are seasonal after all. However, despite not having a seasonal advantage and competing directly with UK farmers, the UK still imports apples from France – tariff and quota free. France is the UK’s largest apple supplier by value, while the UK’s largest supplier by volume is South Africa; but South African apples are only tariff free outside the European apple season. Similarly, many vegetables don’t grow in the UK – avocados for example, or else don’t grow all year round –asparagus, or simply can’t be grown in sufficient quantities to feed the UK population – potatoes.
Although many Brits like the image of the UK is as le roast beef, that isn’t the reality. The world’s most efficient beef and sheep producers do so at scale on massive grassy plains non-existent in the UK. UK beef producers are trying to compete internationally even though the average beef herd size in England has only 28 cows. (Beef cows produce only one calf a year, so the number of cows in a herd determine the maximum return from animal sales after 30 months of feeding them.) UK beef farmers only survive by almost doubling the price of imported beef from more efficient producers such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Uruguay or the US. But while this is a nice life for the UK’s 45,000 graziers, it makes life more expensive for the UK’s 67 million consumers who are subsiding graziers’ lifestyles through their taxes, then paying higher prices for meat at the supermarket.
50 years of protection under the EU did not improve the UK agricultural industry
The problem with protection is that it doesn’t encourage UK farmers to improve their productivity or concentrate on the products that they can produce most efficiently. Something that both Australian and New Zealand farmers have had to do.
After 50 years in the EU, the UK now has a generation of farmers who have only ever farmed while receiving subsidies for their production or for their land holdings, as well as protection from more efficient farmers outside of the EU’s Customs Union. This protection has done nothing for farm productivity, nor have the many EU regulations enforcing crop diversity or banning the use of technology such as gene editing.
Meanwhile the amount of farmland in the UK has not increased, in fact it has dropped from 77% in 1973 to 72%, while the population has increased from 56 million in 1973 to 67.5 million in 2021 and is increasing daily. Admittedly, this is mostly due to immigration, but still – whether imported temporary farm labourers, wealthy bankers or people arriving on rubber dinghies, they all require feeding. And many want to eat the same type of food they consumed in their country of origin. This obviously requires more imported food. Put simply, the population has outgrown the country’s ability to produce food. Protecting farmers from competition is not going to change this. It is just going to push up prices for everyone.
UK agricultural production
Defra publishes information on UK farm production, exports and imports each year. The edition for 2021 was released last week. Little has changed in terms of UK raw food production. The UK still only supplies 15% of the fruit it consumes, 73% of the potatoes, 57% of other vegetables, 66% of sugar, 76% of Milling wheat (but 89% of total wheat – we feed green wheat to animals), 70% of the pigs, 82% of the beef, 97% of the chicken and 92% of the eggs. Although we produce 105% of the dairy products we consume – in truth the UK exports milk and imports vast quantities of cheese, butter and yogurt. In sheep meat, we export more than we import – but lamb is seasonal, so our exports are countercyclical to our imports.
The main fall in output in 2021 has been in oilseed rape production, which has fallen from being an export crop pre-2018 to the UK now needing to import 48% of its consumption, while oats and barley are still small net export crops.
These are still provisional estimates, but they are mostly similar to previous years and show that UK farmers do not supply enough food to feed the nation. It is ludicrous for Sunak to suggest that with more protection (except from the EU) UK farmers could increase their pork production by 80% to supply all of the UK’s requirements, or that UK wheat farmers and sugar farmers could increase their production by a third (wheat) or by 50% (sugar), if they wanted to. UK farmers simply don’t have the extra land nor the weather to do this. Sunak’s proposed targets or trade protections won’t alter geography or the climate.
It is all very well for politicians to imagine a great future of export sales for UK farmers – but if farmers can’t supply the UK’s domestic market (67 million), they are hardly going to be able to supply growing demand from the Asian and Pacific middle classes.
The latest Defra farm income figures are damming
And it is not just that UK farmers can’t supply enough produce to feed the population. Many of them would not be in business now without government subsidies. Another Defra publication worth reading is their latest edition of Farm business income by type of farm.
Figure 3.1 shows income sources by type of farm. It is obvious from this chart that some UK farmers, such as dairy farmers, are very efficient, well-run and make the majority of their income from agriculture. This really should be how all UK farms make their income, but it isn’t. While other farms, such as grazing – that is the production of cattle for beef and sheep for meat, lose money from agriculture.
Both lowland grazing and Less Favoured Area (LFA) grazing get most of their money from BPS income, also known as government subsidies. And 2021 was not an unusually bad year. Grazing farmers and Mixed farmers, which generally includes grazing, have lost money on their agriculture every year for the last 8 years. Without the generous support of UK taxpayers and extortionate tariffs restricting consumer choice to domestic or EU beef, these farmers would have had to improve their productivity or go out of business – a fate that awaits all other small businesses in the UK.
Improving the productivity of UK grazing farms is not impossible. Grazing responds well to economies of scale: one herdsman can look after 56 cattle as easily as 28. However, to increase their herd size, the UK needs fewer grazing farmers each with larger farms. If the UK is to compete with Australia, the UK’s 45,000 very small grazing farms will need to consolidate: the average size of UK lowland grazing farm was only 43.1 hectares in 2021 and the average LFA grazing farm was only 96.2 hectares.
Defra’s numbers on Farm Business Income mentioned above are averages, but Table 2.1 in the same document on the distribution of Farm Business income is equally damming. Almost half (48%) of UK dairy farmers are in the top income bracket, making over £75,000 in net profits in 2020/21, but only 4% of lowland grazing farms are – even though Farm Business Income includes environmental and basic subsidy payments as well as agricultural and non-agricultural income.
How protecting non-viable farmers is hurting the UK’s capable farmers
So how could the UK Australia trade deal have let down UK farmers as Sunak claims? Well, it has prevented the UK’s efficient dairy farmers from selling their cheese into Australia tariff free for 6 years, purely as a tit-for-tat on the extensive 15 years of protections that the UK has given to its inefficient, loss-making beef and sheep producers. And the losses on agricultural income shown in the Income from Agriculture table above, were all made while the sector was protected from real international competition by the EU’s Customs Union.
It is ridiculous for Sunak, or a source close to him or the NFU president, to claim that UK farmers would go out of business because of the Australian trade deal. Meat producers in the UK have been losing money on their agriculture for at least 8 years! They are already technically ‘out of business’. They survive by non-farming income and government handouts. This parrot is dead. Sunak apparently had some experience in finance before going into politics, however his grasp of basic accounting seems to be as lacking as his knowledge of UK farm production.
Protecting a bad business model (UK grazing) to the detriment of a good business such as UK dairy farming is economic madness. Australia has a natural advantage in beef production (massive grasslands), just as the UK has a natural advantage in dairy production (steady rainfall on its grassy rolling hills).
The NFU president likes to claim that the UK food manufacturing industry is worth £140 billion – more than the car industry or the aerospace industry. What she neglects to mention is that UK agriculture only contributes £6 billion to that figure. Defra calculates the Gross Value Added of Agriculture to be £10.3 billion, but food manufacturing’s GVA is almost 3x as much at £28.8 billion. Food manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing and non-residential catering – all involve imported food products as well as home grown ones. Including agriculture, the food industry adds £115 billion (roughly 6%) to the UK’s national GVA. But agriculture is only 9% of this, or 0.54% of the UKs national GVA. So why are we agreeing to Australia only slowly lowering its tariffs on UK steel springs or UK produced cheese so we can protect the UK’s zombie beef farmers that really need to be encouraged to sell their farms to more profitable farmers?
The purpose of Free Trade
The UK used to be a master of trade – importing raw ingredients produced more efficiently elsewhere and using its technology to export manufactured goods in return. In the 1800s, UK companies realised the benefits of importing ingredients from all over the world and using them to make products that they would eventually sell internationally. My favourite example is chocolate: Cadburys multinational business was founded in the early 1800s, by making a product in the UK whose basic ingredients – coca beans and cane sugar, could not be grown in the UK. Manufacturing sugar from beets did not start in the UK until the 1920s about 100 years after Cadburys started making chocolate. The idea that UK food manufacturers only use local ingredients was false then and is still false today.
The UK economy has a lot to sell Australia and New Zealand and the other nations in the transpacific partnership: from financial services; legal, accounting and advertising services; media, film, television, and music; whisky and gin; biscuits; cars; chemicals and pharmaceuticals; raincoats and umbrellas; defence equipment; new technology such as sodium batteries; even steel coils and springs. But none of these industries are being protected in this trade deal, all their product tariffs are being eliminated in full by the UK under this trade deal – except of course for agriculture. I doubt any of the other industries asked to be protected. It is just the inefficient whingeing NFU who would prefer to block trade with a more efficient supplier and remain governed by costly EU protectionism, than improve their productivity.
The power of vested interests in the UK – who is this helping? Who is it hurting?
Trade benefits the whole economy. The point of trade is to sell what you produce efficiently and import what you can’t produce at all; or can’t produce efficiently; or can’t produce all year round; or can’t produce in large enough quantities to feed your population or meet domestic demand. The UK’s agricultural imports fall into all four of these import categories.
Australia can produce many food stuffs more efficiently that the UK, most notably beef and sheep meat, but not all of them, most notably dairy products and manufactured foods. Ideally the UK should be selling cheese to Australia and buying Australian beef. But the protectionists have preventing both from happening for many years – Australia 6, UK 15. This is how protectionism begins – with tit-for-tat trade exclusions.
As a Treasury captive, Sunak could possibly claim that the UK needs the money from the continued tariffs, but this excuse won’t fly either. The UK’s tariffs are so high that they simply prevent any products from being imported beyond the tariff-free quotas. When the UK was part of the EU, 80% of any tariffs collected had to be given to Brussels. In truth little was collected from agricultural goods because the trade barriers were so restrictive, they prevented imports outside the quota. For example, Brazil is the world’s largest sugar exporter, but the UK’s largest sugar supplier was traditionally France until the UK introduced a 260,000-tonne tariff free sugar quota last year. You will be unsurprised to learn that the UK imported 258,000 tonnes of sugar from Brazil in 2021. Ten times the amount they imported from Brazil five years ago. While the UK’s sugar imports from France in 2021 were half of the 2020 quantity and a third of 2019 imports. But as the UK’s annual sugar imports are between 700,000 and 1 million tonnes, French farmers still have a captured, if somewhat smaller, market in the UK.
If Sunak is to be an effective Prime Minister, he will have to learn to do his own homework and stand up to vested interests and lobbyists – like the NFU. Agriculture represents a tiny part of the UK economy, adding a mere half of one percent to the UK national GVA. UK beef farmers have shown no interest in improving their productivity despite years of protection from competition. While UK dairy farmers have shown no interest in exporting higher value products such as butter as Irish and Danish butter producers have done. UK farmers have relied on supplying their captive domestic market for years, without even attempting to build up an export trade as UK food and drink manufacturers have done extremely successfully and without government support. Yet now the NFU hopes to be able to sell to the Pacific nations while protecting their domestic markets from more efficient imports.
It is beyond parody that Sunak would want to be associated with such a lazy, entitled bunch as the NFU. But however this has happened, they seem to have him under control. I would urge him to read at least chapter 2 of the UK’s trade deals with Australia and New Zealand and make up his own mind about trade protectionism.


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A major player in the world of financial technology, Apple Inc. (AAPL) has chosen to end its credit card collaboration with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS). This decision is a major setback for Apple’s growing services business and a turning point in Goldman Sachs’ consumer lending operation.
In 2019, the digital giant and the Wall Street bank launched a relationship that brought a savings account and, more recently, a credit card. At first glance, this partnership seemed like a long-term commitment that would last until 2029 and be an integral part of Goldman Sachs’ plan to attract a wider range of clients.
People familiar with the situation have said that Apple has suggested getting out of the deal within the next twelve to fifteen months, which would include any consumer-related partnerships. The tech giant’s decision comes as a surprise, especially given the partnership’s recent extension.
Problems Facing Goldman Sachs
Following heavy losses incurred while establishing a full-service consumer business, the investment firm started to pull back towards the end of last year. With Apple continuing to play a major controlling role in this decision, the bank announced its desire to sell the alliance earlier this year.
Loss rates were one of the issues that stymied talks between the program’s current administrators and American Express regarding a possible takeover. At the same time, the scheme has piqued the interest of Synchrony Financial, a prominent issuer of retail credit cards. Synchrony, today synonymous with tech companies like PayPal and Amazon, was an early rival of Goldman Sachs in the race to launch Apple’s credit card program.
The change will have an effect on Apple since it will test the company’s services division, which is becoming more important as iPhone sales level off. Even still, Apple’s revenue from the Goldman collaboration is negligible. Although total revenues fell little last quarter, the company’s services revenue surged.
Strategic Shift at Goldman Sachs
The breakup of this cooperation marks the final chapter for Goldman’s ambitious but ill-fated foray into consumer services diversity. Bank customers, especially corporations and ultra-wealthy people, are once again the center of attention. After selling home improvement loan specialist GreenSky and ending a credit card association with General Motors, Goldman decided to realign.
Right from the start, the partnership had problems with operations. Increased loan losses for Goldman were the result of disagreements over advertising techniques and acceptance rates. Customer service issues also stemmed from Apple’s billing policies. Internal reorganization was necessary for Goldman Sachs to resolve regulatory concerns raised by its credit card practices.
Looking ahead, Apple will keep looking for a new partner as Goldman Sachs deals with the challenge of keeping credit card personnel through the transition. With the cooperation coming to an end, other financial actors now have a better chance of collaborating with one of the most powerful tech corporations in the world.
Collaborations at the crossroads of technology and finance are dynamic and difficult, as the breakup of the Apple-Goldman Sachs cooperation demonstrates. In anticipation of this monumental change, the financial technology industry is bracing itself as the two corporations readjust their approaches.


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Lenovo sees IoT as the next big thing, and is developing products for deployment at the edge and in backend systems.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 is the foundation for digital transformation, according to Red Hat APAC office of technology director of product portfolio, Brendan Paget.
Android tablets never took off the same way iPads did, and while Chromebooks have had success in education, Google wants its latest batch to become a massive consumer hit.
Does it do Apple TV yet?They won't get any money from me until it does.
Well, the company launched, and prices look good!https :// www . itwire . com /telecoms-and-nbn/circles-life-launches-on-optus-network-with-no-cost-4-month-trial-and-great-pricing.htmlJust remove the spaces.
It is all about the money.Don't try to make these online publishing entities take responsibility for fake news published on[…]
Not only Murduch, try Gina Rhinehart, George Pell, Tony Abbott - then Liberal Opposition LeaderMichael Kroger - then President of[…]
Well, 5G can be used, most definitely - just in very few places at the moment. Apple's competitors did this[…]


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Retail sales in the 19 European countries that use the euro came in far weaker than expected in December, the same month that saw inflation in the region spike to a record high, with the biggest retail sales drops concentrated in countries with the strictest COVID-19 measures.
Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency, reported Friday that retail sales declined by 3 percent month-over-month in December, with consensus forecasts expecting a far more modest decline of 0.5 percent. On an annual basis, euro area retail sales rose 2 percent, versus projections for a 5.1 percent gain.
“Ugly, and services spending certainly slumped further,” said Senior Europe Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, Melanie Debono, in a tweet commenting on the downside surprise in the retail sales numbers.
While the declines were noted across the board, euro area countries with the most stringent COVID-19 measures saw the sharpest drops.
“The decline in retail sales does not come as a surprise as the impact of the 4th wave of the coronavirus negatively became bigger towards the end of the quarter,” ING analysts said in a note. “Countries with the most restrictive measures in place saw the largest drops–think of Germany and Netherlands for example.”
Leading the declines on a monthly basis were the Netherlands (-9.2 percent), Spain (-5.7 percent), Germany (-5.5 percent), and Denmark (-4.8 percent), the Eurostat figures showed.
Some eurozone countries saw their retail sales numbers grow month-over-month, namely Latvia (7.2 percent), Slovenia (2.1 percent), and Portugal (0.9 percent).
Facing an economic slowdown, a number of European countries have begun easing their COVID-19 restrictions amid hopes the Omicron wave is waning. Denmark on Tuesday took the lead among European Union members by scrapping most restrictions, while France and the Netherlands moved to end or loosen COVID-19 curbs.
In Germany, however, where infections continue to set daily records, restrictions on private gatherings and requirements for people to show proof of vaccination or recovery to enter nonessential stores remain in place.
“I think that the moment we have the feeling that we can loosen responsibly, federal and state governments will take that step,” German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Monday. “But at the moment, it is still a bit premature.”
While analysts generally expect a retail sales recovery in the eurozone once the Omicron wave abates and curbs are removed, headwinds remain.
“Even though we do expect a bounce-back once restrictions are lifted, we do expect retail sales to take a hit from high energy prices,” ING analysts predicted. “As wage growth remains very modest at the moment, real wages are being hit hard by the soaring inflation rate, which dampens the outlook for household consumption.”
Eurozone consumer inflation in December rose 5.1 percent year-on-year, largely on the back of a 28.6 percent surge in energy prices. Still, even without energy, prices were 2.8 percent higher than a year earlier, eroding consumers’ purchasing power.
The stark inflation numbers in the eurozone fed into what some analysts described as a “hawkish pivot” on the part of European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde at the central bank’s meeting on Thursday.
Lagarde acknowledged mounting inflation risks and declined to repeat her previous guidance that an increase in the ECB’s key interest rate this year was “very unlikely.”


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An Akron software developer has created a smartphone app that he hopes will revolutionize the way shoppers use coupons.
It has taken 11 years for Jim Wilson of Insight Market Data to bring his idea to fruition. He hopes to continue to build upon it for improvements and with more capital investments.
The Ringside Shopper, a free app available for iPhones and Android phones, allows shoppers to scan the barcode of a product. If a coupon is available for that item, it would be customized and appear on the smartphone. Additionally, customized coupons from competing brands in that same category, such as chips, also would appear to try to entice the shopper to buy that product instead.
The Ringside Shopper name refers to the fact “we’re giving you a front-row seat for manufacturers to fight over you,” Wilson said. While there are several companies offering mobile coupons, Wilson said, “No one is doing anything like this.”
It’s a bit like swimming upstream in a world accustomed to clipped newspaper coupons, mobile coupons and grocery store loyalty cards.
“But it’s coming,” he said.
“I filed the patent for this in 2002, and it was issued in 2009,” said Wilson, who came up with the idea when his ex-wife was looking for diaper coupons for their daughter, who is now 14.
“I thought. ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to stand in the store and scan for coupons?’ ” Wilson said. “I’ve been waiting for technology to catch up and waiting around for smartphones to show up.
“It makes it much more fun for the shopper. It’s like a scratch-off lottery ticket,” he said.
For now, the app is being piloted at an independently owned IGA store in LaGrange, about an hour’s drive from Akron in Lorain County. Wilson said he worked with the cash-register vendor for several IGA stores and chose LaGrange for his launch. He has interest from other stores and hopes to expand.
The big break, of course, would be if Ringside Shopper can punch its way into larger grocery chains or national big-box retailers. For now, finances limit Wilson. He has landed a few investors and is using his own funds to offer the coupons at the IGA store during his pilot.
The Lorain County Community Innovation Fund supported the company early on with some grant money and helped conduct a trial of the prototype system.
Wilson said the app will let manufacturers know how brand-loyal a shopper is versus price-sensitive. Or, possibly more important, at what price point or discount savings a shopper is willing to break their loyalty to try a competitor.
With paper coupons, manufacturers are just “throwing them out to the whole countryside. They don’t know who is using them. This [app] gives them a chance to target” specific shoppers, Wilson said.
While Ringside Shopper’s benefit to consumers is to yield savings on the purchase, the data that Wilson’s company will collect from what people buy is the potentially lucrative part for him.
“This is like a real-time survey of which item you picked up and decided to buy. You put your money where your mouth is,” he said. “This is shopper behavior at a granular level of data that no one has. I will know to a nickel what your favorite product is and [at] what price you are willing to buy it.
“You can’t find data on what it will cost to get people to buy your product,” he said.
Wilson said he’s very sensitive about the coveted data he’s looking to collect and people’s need for privacy. The only demographic data Wilson asks in his app are a person’s year of birth, ZIP code, gender and level of education completed.
Depending on what’s purchased, Wilson said he can make some conclusions.
“If you buy diapers, you’ve got a kid,” he said.
Similarly, Wilson said, he’s not interested in his app bothering people while they are shopping.
“It will not badger you as you go along the aisle,” he said, referring to technology that can send messages to your smartphone when you pass certain items.
Eventually, Wilson would like to design the app to help shoppers create a list of things they buy regularly and automatically populate the list with the coupons available.
Wilson hopes to make money on the app by charging manufacturers a small percentage of the value of the coupons, as well as selling the data collected. He has spoken to a few local manufacturers of regional brands, who have shown some interest.
“I’ve got a chicken-and-egg challenge. Shoppers won’t use it if manufacturers aren’t offering coupons, and manufacturers won’t offer coupons if there are no customers,” he said.
Eager partner at IGA
For now, Wilson said he’s targeting the smaller mom-and-pop stores because they are excited to have something to differentiate themselves from their big-box competitors.
Shoppers, especially ones with kids, are using the app, said Erika Stanley, store manager at the LaGrange IGA.
“People either love it or they are scared of it,” she said. The store has three loaner smartphones for people who don’t have one to use, and Stanley also has walked around with some shoppers, including senior citizens, helping them learn how to use the app.
“The nice thing is there’s not a lot to it,” Wilson said.
Once the phone scans the barcode, a coupon good for 120 minutes (which gives a sense of urgency) is stored in the phone. When the shopper gets to the register and scans another barcode, the register automatically takes the savings off the phone.
“To be fair, [the LaGrange IGA] may not be the best store to test this in because of demographics, but if we can use it here, we can do it anywhere,” Wilson said.
When asked about the Ringside Shopper and the concept, Jim Trout, Acme Fresh Market’s executive vice president, said: “Everybody is seeking the best way to approach a consumer. Acme is doing the same thing. I think this gentleman has figured a method he wants to use.”
Wilson’s challenge will be to get the manufacturer support, Trout said.
“His challenge will be how does he solicit the manufacturers to buy into his program? It’s innovative, but there’s certainly other applications out there that will accomplish that,” Trout said.
Acme is evaluating two software applications that will increase the store’s mobile marketing to its customers, he said.
“Ringside is very simple for shoppers to use,” said Pamela Grimm, chair of the Marketing and Entrepreneurship program at Kent State University, which is helping Wilson with data mining and analytics support. “It captures incredibly precise information about shopper behavior and their individual preferences, all while maintaining the shopper’s anonymity.”
Wilson also received systems work for the app from Cleveland’s Lean Dog Software Studio.
Still, he acknowledges his app isn’t for everyone.
“It’s totally up to the shopper. You are letting the manufacturer know, ‘I am open to this conversation.’ ”
Wilson, a computer programmer by trade, is hoping he can stay in his native Ohio and find investors for his idea.
“If this thing could be a fraction of what I think it could be, why not here?
“This is a very big idea,” he said. “If we get investors, I think this could be huge with the way it changes the game.”


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Thanks to advances in LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lighting, producing crops indoors is now a reality. But will indoor agriculture replace outdoor farming as the technology progresses?
Speakers at a forum on indoor production systems or controlled environmental agriculture held at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C., agreed that the new technology is just one more tool needed to feed a growing world population, but it will never replace conventional outdoor agriculture. However, they all see great promise for the technology.
“I’m excited about controlled environment agriculture. There is a lot of potential now that we can control these environments and cater to what the plants really need. We can focus a lot more on quality traits, on flavor and nutrition,” said Dr. Matt DiLeo, director of Elo Life Systems, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
DiLeo said controlled environment agriculture combined with a suite of new technologies that includes gene editing, genotyping and gene discovery will drive forward improvements in crops faster than has been possible with previous generations of technology.
AeroFarms is a Newark, N.J.,-based company that produces greens in a converted steel warehouse that does not require sunlight or soil. The company has built indoor farms that can produce food using a technology called “aeroponics.” Plants are not grown in soil, but in air canals spayed with water mist. This provides the roots with the necessary water to grow.
AeroFarms is marketing Dream Greens, a retail brand of blends of baby greens that feature baby kale, arugula, ruby streaks and baby watercress produced through the indoor farming system.
Michael Barron, director of research and development for AeroFarms, emphasized the technology is not designed to replace conventional agriculture, but to add to it.
“It is one more step in feeding more people. We don’t see ourselves replacing field faming. It’s more of a complement to current systems. There are a lot of innovations that are needed to address food security worldwide, and this is just one of many advances that will be taking place,” he said.
“With the increased control you can produce more, and you can also have it be higher quality. You can change the nutrition of it. There is lot more you can do. It gives you a lot more control over the crop and the production of the crop,” Barron said.
In fact, Barron notes that with the advances AeroFarms has made in its production system, the growing cycle of producing baby greens has been reduced from 30 to 45 days in the field to two weeks under controlled environment conditions.
Meanwhile, DiLeo points to the benefits-controlled environment agriculture can offer to plant breeding, particular in improving the quality, flavor and nutrition of produce.
“For those involved in breeding, it’s a pretty tough environment out there for plants. Breeders first focus on yield because wherever you are growing your crop, you need to have it survive and produce enough so farmers can make money,” DiLeo said.
“After that you have to have storage and shipping traits because you may be sending your fruits and vegetables 2,000 miles away. They might have to sit in storage for six months or longer. And only after that is quality, flavor, nutrition. As important as that is that comes way below these other practical concerns.”
Through controlled environment agriculture, food can now be grown right next to where the consumer lives and at any time of the year. “That’s going to give us on the breeding and genetics side the ability really to focus on quality in a way that was never really possible before” he said.
DiLeo said controlled environment agriculture will make the breeding cycle faster and produce crops that offer the diversity of flavors and nutritional qualities consumers demand.
At North Carolina State University, Dr. Ricardo Hernández, associate professor in the Department of Horticultural Science, is leading research efforts on controlled environment horticulture. His work focuses on indoor production systems, including greenhouses, vertical farms/plant factories and tissue culture.
Hernandez notes that improvements in LEDs allow scientists to focus on the effect of light quality or spectrum, light intensity and the interaction of light with other environmental factors to produce crops indoors.
“Controlled environment agriculture increases the amount of product you can get for every kilowatt hour of energy,” Hernández explains.
“By doing this, we like to see the interaction between the different components that compromise plant growth such as light, light quality, air velocity, C02, humidity and temperature and then see through a combination of these if we can actually reduce the amount of light needed and increase the amount of grams produced for every kilowatt hour.”
Like Barron and DiLeo, Hernandez emphasizes that indoor farming or controlled environment agriculture is just one more tool to increase global food production and will not replace, but complement conventional agriculture.


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Pigs in covers and occasional hams could be off the menu this Christmas in the midst of a lack of butchers.
The English Meat Processors Affiliation (BMPA) said the business is short around 15,000 specialists, which has constrained its individuals to zero in on keeping stores supplied with essential cuts of meat, The Occasions announced.
The BMPA said the business had fallen a very long time behind common creation plans and that conventional Christmas food sources would almost certainly be pressed therefore.
"We definitely should have been creating Christmas food from about June or July onwards this year thus far we haven't, so there'll be deficiencies of party food sources and things like pigs in covers. Whatever is work escalated work could see deficiencies," a BMPA representative told The Occasions.
Priests are thinking about plans to ease visa limitations for up to 1,000 unfamiliar butchers to ease supply issues.
A representative for the Division For Climate, Food and Rustic Issues said it knew about work deficiencies.
"We comprehend the significance of occasional work and we know about the difficulties that the pig business has looked lately in light of the Coronavirus pandemic and work deficiencies, and Defra has been working intimately with the pig and handling areas during this time," he said.
"We are holding the market under close audit and proceeding to work intimately with the area to investigate choices to address the tensions business is right now confronting."
The paper said Home Secretary Priti Patel has opposed the transition to select unfamiliar butchers.
A Work space representative said: "We are intently observing work supply and working with area pioneers to see how we can best simplicity specific squeeze focuses. Comparative difficulties are being looked by different nations all throughout the planet.
"We need to see bosses make long haul interests in the UK homegrown labor force as opposed to depending on work from abroad. Our Arrangement for Occupations is helping individuals the nation over retrain, assemble new abilities and get once more into work.
"The public authority urges all areas to make business more alluring to UK homegrown laborers through offering preparing, vocations choices wage increments and venture."
The UK economy has been disturbed by a few factors that have been gurgling away for quite a long time, including work deficiencies, new migration rules influencing HGV drivers and the waiting impacts of the pandemic.


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Tom Clancy’s The Division trailer reveals the power of Ubisoft’s Snowdrop Engine
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