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Globally, the blow molded plastic bottle market is expected to see a CAGR of around 4% in 2018-2022.
According to the Technavio (London) report published in September, a key factor in the growth of the market is the increasing acceptance of PET as a packaging solution. PET packaging is used around the world for the packaging of products such as beverages, food, perfumes and sprays, toiletries, foods and pharmaceuticals. In 2017, around 50% of beer bottles in Romania were made from PET, as consumers in this country found these bottles to be practical.
Another trend that Technavio identifies is the associated and growing demand for bio-PET worldwide. Technological advances in the manufacture of polymers are driving the demand for polyethylene packaging in various end-user segments. The global demand for biodegradable polyethylene terephthalate (Bio-PET) materials for various purposes, mainly packaging, is expected to be driven by the advent of biodegradable plastics such as polyvinyl alcohol, polylactic acid and polyanhydrides.
|PLASTEC Minneapolis 2018, which takes place from October 31st to November 1st, is part of the largest advanced design and manufacturing event in the Midwest, which also includes MinnPack, and brings you the latest in materials and additives, injection molding, rapid prototyping, coatings, automation , Packaging and more. For more information, see PLASTEC Minneapolis.|
“Microorganisms can easily break down bio-PET packaging solutions,” says a senior analyst at Technavio. “The disposal of this material is less toxic to the environment than conventional plastics. The environmental benefits of the bio-PET material will encourage its use in the packaging industry, which in turn should fuel the growth of the blow molded plastic bottle market. “
The food and beverage industry segment had the largest market share in 2017 with a market share of almost 66%. This end-user segment is expected to dominate the global market throughout the forecast period.
Consumers’ thirst for bottled water continues
The increasing demand for packaged beverages is a major factor that will positively influence the growth of the blow molded plastic bottle market. Global consumption of packaged beverages is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 5% over the forecast period, driven by urbanization and changing consumer lifestyles. The growth of the beverage packaging industry is driving beverage packaging companies to use plastic packaging solutions such as PET, polystyrene and polypropylene to package their products.
In addition to other packaging materials such as metal and glass, the demand for rigid plastic packaging is also increasing in the beverage industry. Rigid plastic packaging held a market share of nearly 36% in the global beverage packaging market and will grow at an annual growth rate of over 5% in the coming years.
In addition, the consumption of bottled water is increasing worldwide, which is contributing to the growth of the blow molded plastic bottle market. The global bottled water market will grow by over 32%, from $ 207.75 billion in 2017 to $ 274.75 billion in 2022. Thus, the increasing demand for packaged beverages and bottled water will drive the growth of the Blow molded plastic bottle market at a CAGR. contribute around 4% over the next five years.
In terms of geographic markets, APAC led the segment in 2017 with more than 38% of the market share, followed by EMEA and America. APAC is expected to continue to dominate the market over the 2018-2022 period.
Please visit the website for this report for more information.


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Google Reportedly Looking To Replace Third-Party Cookies With New AdID
USA Today is reporting that Google is looking to upend the way the industry tracks online activity for advertising purposes.
According to the newspaper, a source at Google says the company is developing an AdID, an anonymous identifier that would replace the third-party cookie as the industry’s primary tool for tracking browsing activity and gathering information about user interests for ad targeting. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Google has not made the plans public, told USA Today:
The AdID would be transmitted to advertisers and ad networks that have agreed to basic guidelines, giving consumers more privacy and control over how they browse the Web.
Apparently, Google plans to connect with industry and consumer groups and government entities to discuss the proposal in the coming months. The company may be met with its share of skepticism. Clark Fredricksen of digital advertising reporting firm, eMarketer, told USA Today, “There could be concern in the industry about a system that shifts more of the benefits and control to operators like Google or Apple.”
Furthermore, Mike Zaneis, general counsel for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, says of having a few corporate behemoths control advertising identifiers, “They could deprecate the use of that ID on a whim basically, and severely undermine billions of dollars in digital ad spending.”
Advertisers will need to adhere to Google’s terms of the program to get access to AdIDs. The source did say the tool will give users the ability to control ad tracking through browser settings and that users may be able exclude specific companies from the list of approved advertisers through the browser controls.
Google has declined to comment on the matter.

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The Daily Churn
Brazil’s dairy farmers embrace future opportunities
Brazil’s dairy farmers face challenges and embrace future opportunities
In the São Paulo region of southeastern Brazil, dairy farmer Roberto Jank Jr. has grown a successful, 5000-cow, vertically-integrated dairy business by embracing technology, high-production genetics and sustainable practices.
Jank is the director and president of Agrindus S/A, a family dairy operation that first started producing milk in 1945.
Agrindus is vertically integrated with a production factory and brand “Letti.” They produce and sell A2 milk – milk without the A2 protein, thought to be easier to digest – as well as butter, fresh cheese, yogurt and a classic South American milk-based treat, dulce de leche. They employ about 250 people across the operation.
Jank’s Holstein cow herd lives in a free-stall housing system equipped with fans, sprinklers and sand beds and are 100% fed with forages produced on 600 acres of land. Jank also breeds and raises all of their replacement heifers to make sure they restock their herd with healthy, high-producing cows.
It’s all part of a system in which “we control everything,” Jank says, noting that Agrindus has qualified for five certifications for good social and environmental practices. All this gives Agrindus the traceability to ensure a high-quality product for their consumers while controlling their costs and capturing high prices for their milk.
But while Jank’s success speaks to the potential of Brazil’s dairy industry, it’s not the current reality for most of Brazil’s dairy farmers. Only 2% of Brazilian estimated 350,000 to 400,000 dairy farmers produce more than 1100 pounds of milk a day, according to a November 2021 research article published in Animals.
Lack of education about good husbandry practices, high-interest rates and poor infrastructure, plus a fluctuating economy keeps Brazil’s dairy sector fragmented and not yet meeting its potential, Brazilian dairy industry experts told the Daily Churn.
“The thing that best defines Brazil is the presence of contrasts. Size, knowledge, equality, everything,” says Wagner Beskow, PhD., managing partner of Transpondo, a consulting company providing educational services and logistical assistance to the Brazilian dairy sector.
The state of Dairy in Brazil
Brazil is trending toward larger, more productive dairy herds, says Beskow, but herds are “still very small.”
About 30% of the milk produced in Brazil isn’t even recorded in official counts because it is produced in remote areas and sold directly to local consumers, avoiding inspection and dairy processing facilities, according to Beskow.
Precise numbers are hard to come by. Still, according to Marcelo Carvalho, CEO of Milkpoint, an online dairy market intelligence and educational platform, there are about 350,000 to 400,000 dairy farmers in Brazil selling to about 2000 dairy processors. By comparison, the United States has an estimated 32,000 dairy farms.
With so many dairy farms, Brazil has the third-largest dairy herd globally, with about 16.1 million cows in milk and 29 million dairy cows total as of an October 2021 report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Brazil is also the sixth largest milk producer worldwide, producing 27.39 million tons of milk annually. The U.S. is second, following the European Union.
Dairy is a significant economic contributor to the Brazilian economy. It is the country’s sixth-highest grossing sector and generates about 3.6 million jobs, according to the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock.
But compared to the dairy sectors in developed nations, Brazil’s production efficiencies are lagging. The U.S., for example, has a much smaller dairy herd than Brazil, with 9.5 million dairy cows, yet produces more than four times as much milk as Brazil does, at 113.09 million tons in 2021.
Per-cow production has been increasing in Brazil since 2012; still, Brazilian dairy cows average just 13.2 lbs of milk per day, less than the worldwide average. U.S. dairy cows produce an average of 65 lbs a day.
Milk consumption has room to grow
The Brazilian dairy sector enjoyed 15 years of growth between 2000 and 2015, directly related to a rapid rise in Brazil’s average income and dairy consumption, says Carvalho. However, that rise leveled off with a drop in economic growth during a 2016-16 economic recession.
Yet, there is an expectation that dairy consumption will take off once the Brazilian economy rights itself, according to both Carvalho and Jank.
This is a much different story compared to most developed nations, like the United Kingdom, that have experienced shrinking consumer consumption of dairy products for decades. In the U.S., per capita dairy consumption has declined for 70 years.
If the economy and buying power of Brazil’s consumers start ticking upwards again, the demand for Brazilian dairy will rise, Jank says. In addition to running Agrindus, Jank is the vice president of the Brazilian Farmers Dairy Association.
For instance, Brazilian consumers drink about the same amount of milk as U.S. consumers, but much less of the more expensive processed dairy products.
“When we get a better economy,” says Jank, “we will add a lot of cheese and yogurt that our consumers just cannot buy today.”.
Also, despite increasing milk production, Brazil is still importing roughly 3% of their annual total dairy consumption. That means there is still room for growth in dairy to meet the current demands of Brazilian consumers, Carvalho says.
With consumers’ preferences evolving, there is a future opportunity for Brazilian dairy processors willing to invest in sourcing from dairy farmers that can meet consumers’ demands for sustainable production and good animal welfare, Carvalho says.
“We have a lot of people that the main driver is price, but the next generation is much more concerned about where their food comes from,” Carvalho says. “That profile of consumer is not the same distribution as in Europe or the U.S., but those people are here.”
Brazil’s farmers are not the cause of rainforest destruction
Despite worldwide alarm over the increasing rate of destruction of the Brazilian rainforest and subsequent conversion to crop and cattle grazing land, that is not the doing of Brazil’s dairy farmers, Jank and the others interviewed by the Daily Churn say.
Brazil’s farmers follow strict land conservation rules or face the prospect of hefty fines or even criminal charges, according to Beskow.
In Brazil, farmers must set aside at least 20% to 35% of their land for native preservation.
In the most environmentally sensitive areas, like the Amazonian region, farmers have to put aside 80% of their land for native land preservation. Unlike in the U.S., there’s “no payment for preservation, it’s an obligation,” Beskow points out. Although legislation has been proposed to start compensating farmers for land preservation practices.
Jack says it’s frustrating the Brazilian farmers take the blame from the global community for environmental destruction that they don’t create and are actually actively working to preserve.
“It’s not farmers. It’s not agriculture. It’s not cattle farmers. It’s criminal people. Those people that want land that has no owner,” he says. “Selling the wood, the trees, is very good business. And they are getting land as an asset. Agriculture is just a consequence, what happens next.”
In reality, Brazil’s farmers “have a natural sense for preserving natural resources,” Beskow says. And it’s not just native habitat they are legally required to protect. For example, laws prevent farming alongside rivers or draining swamps and wetlands.
Carvalho agrees. Brazilian farmers are taking steps to improve sustainability practices, installing solar panels, pursuing regenerative agriculture practices and many dairy farmers, including Jank, have compost-bedded barns, a style of dairy housing that favors better cow health and produces compost that can be spread on the farm’s field.
Large pork and poultry farms in Brazil have led the way in manure management and capturing methane for renewable natural gas production, efforts the dairy sector is now starting to emulate, Carvalho adds.
However, there are still much more dairy farmers can do to adopt more sustainable practices.
Education for more sustainable dairy farming practices
Though current sustainability metrics for dairy production are poor with low yields per cow, the example of dairy farms like Jank’s that have developed highly productive, resource-efficient farms is testimony to the potential for Brazil’s dairy farms.
Many regions of Brazil can produce forages year-round and water is abundant. The country commands the world’s largest freshwater resource, 12% of the global total. But if production could increase, says Jank, Brazilian dairy farmers would use much less land for the same amount of milk.
Right now, Brazil’s dairy farms use 22 million hectares of land but with average milk production of an average of 1,700 liters (3474 lbs) of milk per hectare a year. Jank’s farm, however, produces 40,000 liters (88,184 lbs) of milk per hectare, nearly 25 times more than the average farm.
So, adds Jank, if Brazil’s dairy farms could increase their production per hectare by just 10 times, that would greatly reduce the amount of land needed for dairy production.
“We could borrow 20 million hectares for other crops, for other agricultural production, without cutting one tree,” he adds. “If we can just grow in average production per hectare, we can deliver a lot of open hectares.”
Beskow agrees. With better efforts to educate Brazilian dairy farmers about increasing their milk production, the sector has all the elements to improve its sustainability metrics significantly.
“We have sun. We have temperature. We have rain. We have the knowledge. It doesn’t matter if it is a confinement system or a pasture-based system, we know how to do it,” Beskow says. “But simply the information hasn’t been getting as it should to farmers.”
When dairy farmers do learn how to increase their production, it’s a light-bulb moment, Beskow says. “It’s like seeing milk coming out of the ears of the cows.”
Money and infrastructure are stumbling blocks
Beyond education, two big stumbling blocks for Brazil’s dairy farmers are poor infrastructure and high-interest rates.
While more populated regions like São Paolo, where Jank’s farm is, have made good strides in infrastructure investments, many poorer and remote areas of Brazil lack decent roads, electricity and internet services. For instance, notes Jank, farmers may not be able to run irrigation because they don’t have electricity for their pumps.
“Parts of Brazil are like California. Other parts are like India,” Jank says, categorizing the vast differences between regions of Brazil.
Beskow adds that in those less prosperous areas, roads are a significant detriment, especially for picking up milk from small producers.
“Some farms are so small it’s not viable to collect the milk,” Beskow says. “Imagine your truck traveling 50 kilometers (31 miles) to get 200 liters (440 lbs) of milk and it still gets stuck in the mud. That is very common here.”
Finding money to invest in operations is another major issue, according to Jank.
“Compared to the United States, you have a lot of cheap money to invest and long terms for investment capital. We don’t have that,” Jank says. Which means Brazil’s dairy farmers don’t have funds to invest in more efficient buildings, milking parlors or equipment.
“The credit card interest rate is above 300% per year,” he says. “You want to make money in Brazil, come as a banker.”
Bright future for dairy in Brazil
Unlike other agricultural sectors in Brazil, which are already becoming competitive internationally, dairy has yet to see the same success. But the potential is there, says Carvalho.
The Brazilian deregulation of dairy in the 1990s supported the free market.
This led to fragmentation in the marketplace, like much higher milk prices for larger, more efficient dairy farms with higher volume. That in turn has contributed to pushing smaller dairy farms that couldn’t compete out of business, according to Carvalho.
Labor has also become a problem as more Brazilians have left rural areas for better economic opportunities in the cities. Still, Brazil’s natural resources and potential economic growth point to a bright future for the dairy sector.
“Milk is a sector with the most profound transformation going on today. Many are leaving, which may be a social problem, but the production is not going down. Changing production systems and increasing scale of productivity is all happening at a fast pace,” Carvalho says.
“Challenges are still big, but I see there is potential to become a big (international) player and exporter at some point in the future.”


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Food, family, fireworks, an abundance of red and gold, more food: all things that mark that the Year of the Snake is almost here. This year, Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival) takes place on Feb. 10, and although the U.S. only recognizes a single day, the celebration lasts much longer for those in China and other Asian countries.
“Traditionally it’s about 10 days or 15 days leading to the Chinese New Year and then 10 days after that,” said Jean Wu, senior instructor of Chinese.
Wu compared the holiday to Thanksgiving and Christmas where families take time to prepare in advance, such as buying a turkey or a tree. To continue the analogy, Wu equated Chinese New Year is what Christmas is to the West – the largest and most important holiday of the year, especially for families.
“A lot of my friends are going home. I know one family that’s getting their hair cut, because their tradition is that you have to get your hair cut before the New Year,” said Elizabeth Luh, a junior majoring in economics who is also the director of the Asian Pacific American Student Union.
Luh says that the idea behind getting a haircut is that it’s a new look, a fresh start for the New Year. The same goes for the practice of cleaning your house.
“You clean your house to get rid of last year’s troubles, last year’s bad things and you start anew,” Luh said.
Kun Li, an international student from Zhumadian laughed, said he decided to clean his room for holiday, but it was so messy it took him two days.
Despite the huge emphasis on family, some international students like Fengyi Zhang whose hometown is Dalian, aren’t as bothered by the separation thanks to technology. However, although Zhang talks to his parents regularly, one thing he will miss is playing mahjong with his relatives during the holiday.
Jinyuan Liu, an international student from Weifang who is spending his first year abroad says that he’ll miss a tradition practiced by some families where they visit the graves of deceased loved ones and ask for protection, luck and success in the new year.
To celebrate, Zhang is thinking about hosting a dinner for the holiday. For Zhang, Liu and Li, sticky sweet rice dumplings (tangyuan) are the most important – puns and symbolism are huge factors when it comes to deciding what to eat for New Year’s.
“The names of the food sound similar to lucky words in the culture. So that’s why when they are having this it sounds like a blessing,” Wu said.
According to Wu, “yuan” in tangyuan sounds similar to the word for “reunion,” reinforcing the importance of family during the holiday. Another example of a food that Wu believes is crucial is fish.
“The pronunciation for ‘fish’ in Chinese sounds exactly the same as surplus,” Wu said.
She elaborated with a saying – “Nian Nian You Yu,” that literally translates to “every year you have surplus.” Or in this case, fish.
“I mean it’s like if you have the fish, your job is half done. If you don’t have the fish, then it’s like Thanksgiving without turkey,” Wu said.


text: Headlines NCS’ Freight Forwarder training, berth of the renewed hope mantra -NAGAFF President, Ezisi By maritimemag March 23, 2024 ShareTweet 0 By Abiodun OBA The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) organised freight forwarders’ training is a confirmation of the advent of the renewed hope mantra of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on freight forwarding practice in Nigeria. The President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Mr. Tochukwu Ezisi, posited while commending and expressing confidence in the leadership of the NCS at the closing ceremony of the weeklong training on emerging trends in customs clearance processes in Lagos. Ezisi, expressed gratitude to the NCS for the executive training of NAGAFF members and other sister associations, noting that the training was long overdue. NAGAFF President said, “I can’t remember when last freight forwarders got this kind of training from the NCS. The current CGC has renewed freight forwarders’ hope in the ability of Customs to act with a sense of social responsibility. “The event, which was very informative, educative and interactive, give freight forwarders opportunity to discuss and address operational challenges with key players in the NCS. “Some of the topics discussed include new cargo clearance procedures, cargo inspection, fast track, the new CEMA Act amongst others. “The training gave deep insight into customs dispute resolution mechanisms and export processes. It also addressed reasons for delays in the operations of terminal operators and shipping companies which leads to demurrage.” The Deputy Comptroller General, AG Saidu, appreciated the Comptroller General of Customs, Comptroller Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, for giving the Service the guidance to organise the workshop and appreciated freight forwarders for showing up for the event. © 2024, maritimemag. All rights reserved.


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Taipei Fashion Week Spring Summer 2024 opened with a celebration of streetwear and the influence of youth culture.
Taipei Fashion Week SS24 kicked off with an opening showcase, on October 11, 2023, inspired by ‘Youth Culture.’ The event celebrated the latest trends and innovations coming out of Taiwan’s streetwear scene, along with the cultural diversity and creativity of the younger generation.Taipei Fashion Week has always been dedicated to emphasising the significance of cultural crossovers. Previous seasons have shed light on indigenous cultures and traditional crafts, while the current season is committed to highlighting youth culture and how it is shaping fashion locally.
The global fashion industry has always been enraptured by the different ways in which youth subcultures around the world start trends and invent a ‘uniform.’ The unique influence young people have on cultural trends cannot be understated, youth culture is the pulse to which the fashion industry listens closely.
The brands Presented SS24 Collection:
(A)crypsis®, 67ARROW, ANOWHEREMAN, JUST IN XX, PLATEAU STUDIO, and oqLiq, all mechanised the desire for uniqueness derivative of youth to create an incredible array of innovative fashion that blended experimental styling with popular fashion concepts to create an astonishing opening show.
Taipei Fashion Week SS24 opening show successfully highlighted the influence of youth culture on the fashion industry, showcasing the freedom and experimentation encouraged by younger generations. Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Deputy Minister, Sue Wang, noted that globally, culture has entered a significant period of diversification.
With elements such as AI, music, local street style, and subcultural art incorporated into the collections showcased, this event fully celebrated the significance of looking to the youth to lead us into a future of individualism, inclusion, experimentation and technological momentum.


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Ancestry.com LLC reported financial results today for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2015.
“Ancestry delivered a milestone year in 2015, including outstanding financial performance and key strategic achievements across the company,” said Tim Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry.com. “Our performance was highlighted by strong, profitable growth throughout the year, featuring double-digit increases in revenue and adjusted EBITDA. On the strategic front, we delivered a greatly enhanced customer experience, launched major new content collections, grew AncestryDNA into the largest consumer genomic database and progressed on important growth initiatives internationally and in our emerging businesses. We’re off to a great start in 2016, a year in which we will be focused on continuing to diversify and expand the growth profile of the company, executing well in our core businesses and investing in our future.”
Amongst the highlights of today’s report:
- Total revenues for the fourth quarter 2015 were $177.6 million. Revenues increased 14.5% from $155.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, driven by growth in revenues from AncestryDNA and the Company’s core Ancestry websites.
- Net income (loss) for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $13.5 million compared to a net loss of $(7.5) million in the fourth quarter of 2014. For the full year 2015, net income was $29.4 million compared to a net loss of $(18.7) million for the full year of 2014.
The full report from Ancestry.com LLC may be found at http://goo.gl/4TeyVb.


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Renowned Pakistani Actress, Fashion Model and Designer Armeena Rana Khan launched ARK Lawn Spring Summer Collection 2014 with the collaboration of Gohar Textile Mills Karachi. The brand launched this collection on March 12, 2014 and now this collection is ready for sale at all leading stores all over Pakistan, U.A.E, UK, Abu Dhabi and Europe. The launching event was attended by various famous Pakistani celebrities like Juggan Kazim and many others.
Gohar Textile Mills Armeena Rana Khan Lawn Collection 2014 includes beautiful flowery print patterns over the finest quality lawn fabric which is paired with embroidered necklines and dyed shalwar piece. The price range of this collection is between Rs. 3000/- to Rs. 4000/- which is affordable but the quality of fabric and digital prints are in precious quality. This collection makes you smart, confident and attractive in this spring summer season.
Let’s have a look on Armeena Rana Khan Lawn Collection by Gohar Textile Mills:-
The fashion brand Armeena Rana Khan congratulates to everyone who has made their latest ARK Spring Summer Lawn Collection 2014 such a success. The demand has been unbelievable with most distribution channels selling out. They are encouraging people to send out their latest pictures you are wearing Armeena Rana Khan Lawn dresses.
Twenty Six years old Armeena Rana Khan is a Canadian film actress and international fashion model. She is based in London and Dubai from where she transport between projects in Europe and South Asia. Armeena Rana Khan has been featured in the list of the top 10 most beautiful female models in the UK and also top 50 sexiest south Asian women in the world.


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The global investment paradigm is shifting from "should one invest in Africa" to "managing the risk of not being in Africa". With South Africa, now part of the BRICS group of countries, India is more than well positioned to take advantage of the array of opportunities on offer in Africa, a continent with a population of one billion, which include several thousands of Indian immigrants. Indian businesses are using the expatriate Indian network to tap the business opportunities in Africa.
Sugan Palanee, Senior Managing Partner, Ernst & Young, Africa
Africa appeals to potential investors for a host of reasons, as demonstrated by numerous studies. Not surprisingly, natural resources have been the catalyst for Africa's growth. The continent has the widest range of minerals, from gold, platinum and diamond to chrome, coal, cassiterite and coltan.
The continent has grown steadily at about 5.6 per cent between 2001 and 2008, thanks to a combination of structural economic and political reforms, stable macroeconomic conditions and increased foreign direct investment, or FDI, inflows - which quadrupled from just over $50 billion in 2003 to over $200 billion in 2008 - mainly from emerging economies.
At the World Economic Forum, discussions revolved around how 40 African multinational corporations, labelled together as African Challengers, outperformed the Nikkei 225, DAX 30 and the S&P 500 on revenue and profit margins from 2003 to 2008. The African Challengers came from sectors in which Africa is least developed. The largest proportion of these fast growing companies are in information and communications technology, financial services and logistics, besides mining and natural resources. In short, where there are challenges in Africa, there are also investment opportunities - and not just in natural resources.
Where most people see problems, the African Challengers saw opportunity. For example, even in Africa's largest economy, South Africa, at least 40 per cent of the population has no access to banking. In Nigeria and Kenya - the powerhouses of west and east Africa, respectively - the figure is much higher, over 70 per cent. So, in Kenya, for instance, Safaricom, as Vodafone is known there, developed an innovative product to distribute banking services, called M-Pesa, which enabled customers without bank accounts to pay for goods and services using their cell phones. The service has since been introduced in South Africa and Tanzania.
With less than 5 per cent of Africa's population having access to the Internet, innovative investors took full advantage of the lacuna to grow multinational mobile communication brands such as Celtel, which was taken over by Zain. Bharti Airtel subsequently bought the Africa operations of Zain. Another African success story is South African mobile phone operator MTN, which grew into a pan-Middle East and Africa player. Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, RwandaAir and Air Namibia are growing airlines, purchasing several aircraft and introducing new routes among African countries, and between Africa and Europe.
Other sectors ready for investment in Africa include infrastructure, energy, agriculture, real estate, tourism, construction, education and health care services. Infrastructure alone - in particular road and rail construction - is expected to attract billions of dollars per annum over the next 10 years to enable Africa to catch up. In agriculture, poor food security in Africa has seen many companies investing in innovative farming technologies and agro-processing. For instance, Rwanda benefited from the collaboration with Starbucks to assist coffee farmers.
The poor infrastructure in some of the African countries has meant an increasing preference for value-adding investments - that is, investment that brings benefits to the locals as opposed to extraction and export of raw material. However, countries such as China have successfully increased their presence in Africa through a careful alignment of their own interests with the challenges facing African governments. Most of China's FDI in Africa is led by state-owned enterprises, and involve an exchange of infrastructure development in return for mineral rights. In some instances, however, China has been criticised for violating labour laws in some of the countries in which it has made investments. For instance, some rail infrastructure partnerships in Namibia were stalled due to disagreements over the treatment of workers and/or the failure of China to develop skills among the locals. Similar challenges were faced by Chinese oil companies in Nigeria.
For all its challenges, Africa presents the most sustainable economic outlook for the future. It is not surprising, therefore, that Ernst & Young's Africa Attractiveness Survey (March 2011) found that the continent's improved business environment had made it more attractive in the past three years.
These are some of the many reasons why it is important for growing businesses to be in Africa. Whereas China came into Africa via government intervention and led by state-owned enterprises, Indian private sector giants like Bharti Airtel, HCL and the Tata group have begun exploring opportunities in Africa proving the receptiveness of Africa to foreign investors. Things can only get better as the Indian government steps up trade relations with Africa.
What has worked in India must certainly work in Africa. It is a continent with a large population, spread over arable land, with little or no infrastructure, much like India was 20 years ago. A billion people slowly being economically emancipated, will be a big business opportunity - just as the India growth story over the last couple of decades provided a big opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs and corporates.(The author is Senior Managing Partner, Ernst & Young, Africa


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Microsoft Teams Up With Walmart in Bid to Acquire TikTok’s US Business
Microsoft is working with Walmart on its efforts to buy TikTok’s US business from China’s ByteDance.
Walmart said it believes TikTok’s integration of e-commerce and advertising in the popular video-sharing app would be a valuable fit for its business. The idea would be to help turn TikTok into more of an e-commerce app for creators and users, much like what TikTok parent company ByteDance does with a similar app in China.
Walmart said in a statement to CNBC that it believes TikTok’s integration with advertising “is a clear benefit to creators and users in those markets,” and offers an opportunity to bring a new spin to e-commerce. “We believe a potential relationship with TikTok US in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve [its different types of] customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses,” Walmart said.
Walmart added, “We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of U.S. TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators.”
A Walmart and Microsoft partnership wouldn’t be the first both companies. Microsoft and Walmart teamed up to take on Amazon a couple of years ago. The deal has led to Walmart using Azure and Microsoft 365 across its business, alongside new projects focused on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data platforms.
The latest development for TikTok comes after CEO Kevin Mayer said Wednesday that he would resign, a little over three months after leaving Disney. His exit comes after the Trump’s administration ordered ByteDance to sell the TikTok app business in the US, citing national-security fears, no later than November 12.


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The survey was conducted online in December and drew responses from 587 search engine marketing agencies and advertisers.
While organic search was the most popular form of search engine marketing, with close to three-quarters of advertisers using it, most of the dollars ($8 billion) were spent on paid search. Organic search, also called search engine optimization, garnered $1.10 billion. Paid inclusion accounted for $94.0 million of the overall spend.
"SEM has started to become a mainstream marketing platform," said Marissa Gluck, managing partner at Radar Research, the company that conducted the survey for SEMPO. "Based on capital as well as organizational effort within marketing companies, it's no longer a side thing at all," she said. "Marketers are putting their money behind it."
Money poached from offline
According to the survey results, the biggest change in 2006 was that search marketing poached budget dollars from offline marketing channels, according to SEMPO. That is in contrast with 2005, when money was shifted to search engine marketing mostly from online media.
Twenty percent of advertisers surveyed by SEMPO said they are shifting money to search from print magazine ads, 16% are moving direct mail dollars, 13% are shifting TV spot dollars and 13% are moving funds from their print newspaper ad budget.
"Marketers in the past were shifting budget from their online initiatives, like Web site development, or affiliate marketing," Gluck said. "We really saw a flip in the data this year."
Kevin Lee, a SEMPO board member and co-chairman of its research committee, as well as executive chairman of agency Did-it.com, said the budget shifts make sense.
"It's a realization among marketers that customers' behaviors are changing and they are relying on online in general," Lee said. "When someone has a question these days or a curiosity about something, whether it's a product or service, the search engine is where you go for that information. As that sinks in for marketers, they will follow those customers with the money. As the behavior moves online, the money will follow it."
SEM part of overall strategy
Craig Cooperman, director of acquisition marketing for Register.com, a domain name registrar, said search is an important component of his company's overall marketing strategy.
"It speaks to the needs of your customers, who are actively searching on branded terms and industry-related keywords," said Cooperman, who has shifted offline spending to search in the past year. While he would not cite an exact figure, he said Register.com spends millions of dollars a year on search advertising.
"We shifted significant portions of TV and radio spend to paid search," he said. "When you look at some of the less measurable channels, like TV and radio, we were able to turn down some of the spend in those areas and increase it in paid search, where we could do more testing, expand it, see the results and continue to track it. It's highly measurable."
More than half (58%) of respondents said they use search engine marketing to sell products, services or content directly online; 57% use it to increase or enhance brand awareness. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they use search marketing for lead generation.
"It's interesting how high branding ranks as a top objective, because search engine marketing is so clearly driven by direct sales and direct marketing, and the science around it is all derived from direct marketing," Gluck said.
SEMPO projects spending for search will grow to $11.50 billion this year, $13.30 billion in 2008, and $18.60 billion by 2011, driven by strong advertiser demand, rising keyword pricing, a second wave of small-to-midsize busi-nesses turning to search, better search technology and increased local search inventory.


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Ethan Lou writes a regular column in The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business. His latest book is Once a Bitcoin Miner: Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West.
In 2010, the company now known as Sphero was founded in Boulder, Colo., with the mission of making a nice robotic ball. You might have heard of it. Sphero was hired by Disney to bring to life the BB-8 droid from the Star Wars films, so that the snowman-shaped, orange-accented robot could be sold as a toy. The company’s founders were both tinkerers. They loved this ball stuff.
But the market thought differently. Sphero didn’t make as much as money as expected. The company faced a problem: After you’ve sold people a ball, and everyone who wants a ball has a ball, how do you keep the lights on and the bills paid?
In other words, how do you make people keep paying you for the one ball for which they’ve already paid?
So, at the beginning of 2018, the company laid off 45 people and pivoted hard into a different area of its business: tying a recurring educational package to its ball and selling that to schools. The company had no doubt looked around, seen what everyone else was doing, and realized the key to survival: Its ball needed to be a subscription.
Subscriptions are not new. Gym memberships are subscriptions. The product that you’re reading at this very moment is a subscription. But these days, everything else is also a subscription, whether songs, video games or Microsoft Word. In one way or another, Tesla cars and Peloton exercise bicycles do not have their full functions available unless you pay for a special membership. There are now subscriptions for razors, watches, clothing and bamboo toilet paper. There are even services that help people build and sell subscriptions, some of which charge a monthly fee – a subscription-subscription. In certain markets, BMW has made its heated car seats a subscription. Canada’s EQ Bank recently put out a note asking if customers have “hit subscription overload.”
As with Sphero, which had been nudged along by investors, a company has an obvious financial case for pursuing the subscription model. The episode description for one business-to-business influencer’s podcast reads: “If you sell an apron, a pacifier, or a pool cover, how do you create recurring revenue?” Dive deep into the minds of business folks, and you will see – from self-styled gurus to big-name tech executives, people talk up subscriptions as if they’ve just discovered the cure for cancer.
Many of these new subscriptions are unremarkable. Taco Bell’s taco subscription, for example, is really just a clever discount for tacos. But there’s also a new, different type of subscription: the type that, in order to exist, changes the very nature of what is being sold – is Sphero’s actual product the ball that you’ve bought, or is it the constantly updating software inside it that you rent?
That ball-and-education-chain is hardly the only example. In the world of technology, this increasing subscriptionization is having a particular impact on the products underneath.
As we increasingly rely on that world, it might be time to look deeper into what else changes when everything morphs into a subscription.
At the turn of the millennium, the world got to know Apple’s iPod and the iTunes music downloads that came with it. While downloading MP3s was already a thing, it was still largely an insular activity pursued by pirates. Apple made it legal and, more importantly, mainstream. Downloading songs then became a natural bridge to streaming them – from iTunes to Apple Music and Spotify, a transition of great significance.
While there have long been membership-type elements to music, such as Columbia House’s recurring CD-mailing system, they never really caught on as much. With these new streaming services, music, as a whole, became a subscription.
This evolution reflects a major shift in the nature of the underlying product: What was once an object on a physical device like a CD, a corporeal item to retain, has become something intangible and ethereal, like a thought – and an item that can only be consumed and not stored.
Of course, maybe the product is not actually the product. In the subscriptionizing of music, as with Sphero’s ball, the following question pops up: What really is the item being sold? Is it any specific piece of music, or is it really the temporary access to an intuitive music library and the endless choices it offers?
As with any philosophical riddle, there’s no right answer. Large parts of tech, and particularly the parts that drive its value, are intangible – like software, data, ideas and digital milestones. Therefore, the concept of identity – what the underlying product is, and the implications of that – can be quite subjective. Therefore, it is malleable.
And so, as music became available by subscription, it shifted from being a product to a service.
That reflects the new significance that an old industry buzz-term has gained: “software as a service” – or, what it really means, “software as a subscription.” The term was originally for business-to-business applications, but now it essentially describes the entire digital economy. As with the move away from CDs, what used to be software that people effectively bought and could use for life, such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop, is now increasingly being offered via subscription. In many cases, entire video games or apps now rest on servers, like with the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. A server is essentially a whole other computer, and when you use software that is hosted on one, you’re streaming from that other computer – these days, many items you don’t expect to be are, at their heart, all Netflix subscriptions.
This transition is a phenomenon that extends beyond software. With the Internet of Things trend of the past years – in which all appliances and previously non-tech products are becoming “smart” – everything is tech now. Peloton’s real product, for example, isn’t its overpriced bicycle. It’s the operating system inside it that delivers recurring fitness lessons.
I once heard a venture capitalist firmly dismissing the idea of investing in any hardware company if the founders also do not come up with a subscription aspect. This isn’t a Sphero investor, but clearly such tech backers all think alike. One day, literally everything could become a subscription.
In many ways, all of this is wonderful. The subscription-based software on smart appliances brings many conveniences. Hewlett-Packard’s smart printers, for example, if hooked on to an Instant Ink plan, sense when your cartridges are running out and automatically tell the company to send new ones. Products becoming services also means new features are more easily delivered, without having to buy a new device. For media, you don’t need to wait for movies and songs to finish downloading and then find space to store large collections. For software, month-to-month subscriptions are a lot more bearable than buying these programs outright. And with certain subscription-based software actually running on a server, you no longer need an expensive, powerful device.
Subscriptions, by granting companies more – and more stable – revenue, also make possible products and services that might not otherwise be sustainable. Only a subscription model is what makes available to anyone an endless library of not just existing movies and television shows on Netflix but also its original content, some of which is not even bad.
But while parts of this subscription life are certainly attractive, it’s easy to forget that, if we closely examined the motivations of its peddlers, peeled back all the layers, we’d find only the yellow avarice of profit underneath. As much as all these conveniences distract from the naked greed fuelling the trend, they also hide the growing price of what we lose when everything becomes a subscription.
There is the obvious. Even if software subscriptions cost less upfront than buying outright, they end up more expensive over the long run. And streaming media entails not downloading the file once but repeatedly with every watch or listen. The resultant data flow is staggering, and so is the energy use. By the end of 2018, streaming just the song Desposito, for example, had used the equivalent of five African countries’ annual electricity consumption, according to a researcher from a European Commission project.
The greater issue, though, goes back to how subscriptions have warped the nature of the product underneath. That’s significant not just in itself but also in how it’s changed our thinking.
The British tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker recently summed up that shift from buying CDs to music-streaming subscriptions: “Now, we’re so used to not physically owning an object. We just kind of rent them in cloud computing space.”
A purchased CD belongs to us. An album on a streaming service – we’ve come to accept that it does not. And our acceptance pushes technology further down this road. In a preview for a conference presentation last year, the then-chief commercial officer of HP, Christoph Schell, said: “Customers are not necessarily interested to own technology … and so it has a profound impact on products that we design.”
What this compounding cycle of cause and effect would lead toward is laid out pithily in part of the title of Mr. Schell’s presentation: “The End of Ownership.” In embracing subscriptions, in which products become services, we’re losing something important.
A 2016 book by two American academics, incidentally, is also called The End of Ownership, and while the book is not itself about subscriptions, it charts the effects of a similar evolution as that of the business model of music: the same shift in parts of the publishing industry.
First comes the transition from buying a physical version to downloading a virtual one.
Contrary to popular belief, an ebook is often no cheaper than a physical title. But with an ebook, not only can you not give it to a friend or sell it, Amazon can remotely delete Kindle books for its own arbitrary reasons, as it has done for some editions of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and one Norwegian woman’s entire library.
Then, as with music, comes the shift from downloads to subscriptions, and companies start exerting more undue power over customers. In 2014, when Scholastic made that leap for its educational titles, the publisher told users: “The switch to streaming means that ebooks you’ve previously purchased may soon no longer be accessible.”
From completely owning an object physically, to partially owning it digitally, and then to only renting it – such is the subscription transition inherent in all corners of the digital economy, whether it is a song, a book or a piece of software. And as we rent instead of own, as the authors of The End of Ownership put it, we lose our privacy and our autonomy – “the sense of self-direction, that our behaviors reflect our own preferences and choices rather than the dictates of some external authority.”
In other words, alongside laws, whose writers we can somewhat hold accountable if we live in a democracy, our lives are also increasingly governed by the tiny-print gobbledygook of end-user agreements – unequal terms by an unaccountable private company that we have been effectively forced to accept.
While such a phenomenon might be most apparent in the intangible, digital economy, it is not confined to it. As subscriptions spread into hardware along with the Internet of Things trend, so, too, will the end of ownership creep further into our lives.
Amid the war in Ukraine, people on Twitter urged Tesla chief executive Elon Musk to remotely turn off the company’s cars in Russia. Tesla’s ability to do that is not unique. Even the petrol-based cars being made now depend on the on-board computer for ignition, and many other manufacturers can remotely shut off their newer vehicles.
Of course, Mr. Musk didn’t end up doing it. What a silly notion! But consider the fact that people on Twitter even asked. That is a reflection of how we are, perhaps, already approaching a day when that idea is no longer so fanciful, when, like software and media, we enjoy our hardware only by the good grace of the company that provides it.
Many cars already come with subscriber-only features, from remote locking to navigation assistance. Now, some automakers, Tesla most prominent among them, are trying to push so-called “self-driving” subscriptions.
Bit by bit, cars are becoming a little less metal machine and a little more software – a subscription for which the car is just a conduit.
We are not there yet, to be sure. And Tesla, to its credit, does offer a buy-for-life version of its assisted-driving subscription, currently priced at US$10,000. But Tesla has already once revoked the Autopilot feature from a car that was purchased second-hand, saying that those functions, paid for by the previous owner, are not transferrable.
That is essentially the situation with downloaded ebooks, which are not the customer’s to sell or pass on. And these depreciated property rights of digital ownership, let’s not forget, are the midway point between the complete ownership of physical media and the complete rental of subscriptions.
When this transition is compressed, it becomes apparent that it is almost straight-up robbery. Think of what BMW’s seat-warmer or heated-steering-wheel subscription entails: It’s for a feature already installed in the car, but the manufacturer wants to lock it through software and then make you pay a monthly fee to unlock it.
As we surrender more of ourselves to this expanding subscription life, each new development might by itself seem incremental and insignificant. But they compound. One day, in a world that we rent, we might look back at all that we used to own and realize that we’ve gone to sleep one night and then woken up in the future.
Just as the pandemic, and now the Ukraine war, disrupted supply chains and brought to fore the idea that we have become too dependent on international business relationships, it is now time to realize that we have become too dependent on this subscription-based life.
The solution to the supply chain problem is not to stop manufacturing products altogether, and this here is not an argument to reject all subscriptions. After all, just as Netflix might not be sustainable without a subscription model, maybe to recoup the research costs of its fancy artificial-intelligence software, Tesla does indeed need the extra money a subscription will bring.
Rather, the solution is the same as with the issue of supply chains: to build more resilient systems and to not let our dependency go too far.
Like the “right to repair” laws that stipulate companies must not go out of their way to make products difficult to repair by the end consumer, we should have “right to own” laws. For hardware such as cars, companies should be legally barred from having a mechanism that can turn them off remotely, and from using software to hold hostage already installed features, as with BMW’s seat warmers. Whatever subscription packages that companies offer with their hardware, they should also be mandated to offer a basic level of functionality that is independent of that.
For every software subscription a company sells, it should also offer an own-for-life alternative. Many companies do make available some of that, such as Tesla, Microsoft and even BMW. But we should enshrine such alternatives in law before they start doing away with them, as Adobe has done with Photoshop and nearly every other product.
In terms of values-based investing, investors should keep in mind ownership rights as one of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Subscriptionizing everything might be the path to profit, but the rise of the ESG movement in the past few years has shown that profit is not everything.
Customers should keep ownership rights in mind as well with respect to the businesses they support. After all, it is not just companies that have pushed this trend of subscriptions along, but also our normalization of it that pushed the companies.
Otherwise, more and more, we will lose ourselves to the cloud.
Consider another example about cars. Italian media reported in May that Ferrari had banned the singer Justin Bieber from buying any more vehicles, after he had painted his speedster neon blue and resold it without authorization.
Mr. Bieber had bought the car, and it was his property. But Ferrari, to maintain the brand’s prestige, has a litany of rules for owners that really drives home the message that they don’t actually own what they’ve bought. It’s a bit like the analog version of a downloaded ebook.
You can probably see where this is going. Ferrari actively opposes its customers’ property rights. And the trend in the auto world is toward fancy software and subscriptionizing everything. It might not be long before those like Mr. Bieber, who foolishly think they can paint their own cars, face a more serious punishment, like having important features taken away. Or other carmakers, who have subscriptionized everything, might start imposing Ferrari-like rules because they have easy and effective means to enforce them.
A subscription is inherently an unequal relationship. As more items get swallowed by that business model, more of our lives end up ruled by what is in the best-case scenario a benevolent dictator. Absent any recognition of that, this tyranny of subscriptions points toward a future in which we lose all concept of ownership and property rights and become, effectively, digital serfs.
Subscriptions and their discontents: More from The Globe
Why are streaming services and subscription-based businesses losing so many customers at this stage of the pandemic, after gaining so many in its early days? Mahdis Habibinia investigated for Report on Business and spoke with The Decibel about what she found. Subscribe for more episodes.
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Pasig City (March 2, 2017) – Starting and experienced entrepreneurs are expected to fill in the Megatrade Hall of SM Megamall once again for the 8th Philippine Business and Entrepreneurs’ Expo (PBEX) this July 28 to 30.
The annual PBEX gathers businessmen and students of business-related courses for a weekend filled with knowledge and business opportunities. Last year’s Expo is a success, gathering 5,000 visitors for the whole three-day event, and has been featured in the media.
This year’s event is expected to be relevant, according to Orly Ballesteros, Chief Operating Officer of business event organizer Ex-Link Events. “We expect this year’s expo to be more in tune to the needs of upcoming and existing entrepreneurs.” Meetups between businesses and knowledge-sharing discussions are planned to complement the Expo’s activities.
Check out the previous Business and Entrepreneurs’ Expo:
The 8th Philippine Business and Entrepreneurs’ Expo will be held at the Megatrade Hall 1 of SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City from Friday to Sunday, July 28 to 30, 2017. Exhibitors can book booth spaces by calling Ex-Link at (02) 633-0153 or 643-3887, through SMS at 0920-924-2532 or 0920-981-4376, or through email at email@example.com.


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Lumen Technologies has expanded its network-as-a-service (NaaS) capability to 136 data centers and on-net locations in North America. The service initially was available in 23 data centers.
Lumen said that its data center partners are offering the service in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Ashburn, Va.
Lumen Internet On-Demand offers service providers or on-net enterprises a dedicated connection to Lumen’s network that can quickly scale capacity up to 10 Gbps; consumption-based billing starting at hourly rates; real-time visibility into service performance and network usage; and quick enablement of new capabilities. The service is available through a digital portal or as an application programming interface (API).
“We’ve created a brand-new customer experience. In just a few clicks and minutes, businesses are getting an on-demand service in a simplified and differentiated way,” Lumen CTO Andrew Dugan said in a press release.
“With every new data center and on-net enabled business location, we continue to build on our vision to cloudify traditional telecom and disrupt the industry. We’re seeing customers across key verticals turning to our consumption-based Network-as-a-Service model to help solve their most pressing business challenges.”
Lumen identified healthcare providers, technology companies and government agencies as early customers of the service. The company said that next year the features and services that will be added include port activation, automation activation, private IPVPN, Ethernet cloud connect services, and security services including distributed denial of service (DDoS) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
The service was introduced in late July.


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Apple announced the results of the quarter between January and March, resulting in a profit of over 94% compared with the same period.
The announcement from Apple was higher than expected by analysts, who did not expect much in the second quarter of the manufacturer (Apple began its fiscal year in October).
Apple reported revenue of 39.2 billion dollars, up 59% over the same period, which recorded 24,670 million dollars. Profits were brutal, almost doubled profits (+94%) over the same period. While in 2011 achieved 5980 million in the year 2012 reached 11.6 billion U.S. dollars.
This substantial increase in profits is due to sales of the iPhone and the iPad. Apple sold 35.1 million units, an increase of 88% compared to last year, which sold 18.65 million. The iPad, the increase was 151%, selling 11.8 million iPad, while last year sold 4.69 million. Apple has become the 3rd largest mobile phone manufacturer.
Sales of Mac computers has also increased 7%, sold 4 million, while the iPod continues to decline, losing 15%.
Shares of Apple are, as is clear on the rise. After the announcement of the results, as expected that the shares would appreciate, and so the U.S. opened bag that`s what happened. There is time this article, Apple had the action of the value of $ 612, but it was worth $ 617 during the day yesterday.


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Coinciding with the Berlin Fashion Week, the Spanish footwear brand opened a space of over 200m2 in Mitte in July.
With over 300 stores in 50 countries and a versatile retail concept in keeping with its brand image, based on diversity and innovation, Camper continues to surprise in one of the most vital, creative and cosmopolitan capitals in the world.
In the framework of Berlin Fashion Week, it inaugurated its first showroom in this city. With over 200m2 and located in the heart of Mitte, the central district in Berlin, close to the store in Rosenthaler Strasse 38, and the Casa Camper Hotel opened in 2009, it joins the spaces for professionals in the industry that the firm already had in Düsseldorf and Munich.
Camper entered Germany in January 2001 and today it is its fourth European market, behind Spain, France and Italy. In the GASP area, comprising Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland, Camper has 14 own stores in Berlin, Krakóew, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Warsaw, Vienna and Zurich, plus 350 points of sale.
Camper’s priority markets in 2014 are China and the United States, but Europe is still important, thanks to the repositioning of the brand and the new collection that will be in stores from August/September 2014 under the new creative direction of Romain Kremer.
Barcelona – El Prat closed July with a new record. For the first time ever over 4 million passengers, namely 4,027,585, passed through its facilities in one month. The previous record is to be found in August 2013 when 3, 9 million users were reached.
This figure represents an annual increase of 4,9%, while the cumulative growth for the whole year stands at plus 6,4%, at 21,261,217 passengers.
EU passengers are the ones that grew most in the last month with an increase of 8,8% followed by users of international flights from countries outside the European Union who rose 2,6%, with the increase of intercontinental passengers standing out at 8,9%. Meanwhile, domestic passengers recorded negative figures during July with a drop of 0, 6%.
Operations also recorded positive figures in July, continuing the trend of recent months. Over the last month, 29.191 take – off and landing movements were carried out, 4% more than in 2013. These figures are close to those achieved in July 2008 when there were 29.733; in fact, on 22th 1,018 operations were recorded, a figure which had not been reached since that same year. On a cumulative bases, 163,295 operations have been performed, which means an increase of 2, 6%.
Finally, 9,061,624 kg of air cargo was transported, representing an increase of 9% compared to 2013. There was notable growth of 12, 6% on non-EU International flights and 7, 7% on EU flights. So far this year 59.418,410 kg of cargo has been transported, up 4, 1%.
Source: aerobarcelona.com; 2014-08-22
Posted by flytobarcelona.org
Barcelona Air Route Development Committee
promotes Barcelona Airport intercontinental flights
Barcelona-El Prat Airport was the most widely used by low cost airlines in the first seven months of the year in Spain, with 4.5 million passengers, an increase of 17.5% over the previous year, according to data released on Monday by the General Department of Knowledge and Tourism Studies under the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.
Barcelona is followed by Malaga airport with 2.3 million passengers, up 10.9%; Alicante airport, with more than 2 million passengers and a rise of 6.6%; Palma de Mallorca airport, which received 1.9 million travellers, up 6.7%, and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport, with 293,716 passengers, an increase of 21.8%.
By region, Catalonia, Andalusia and the Balearics lead the ranking of entries in low cost airlines in the first seven months of the year: Catalonia leads the list, with 28.5% of entries and 5.2 million passengers, up 10%.
Nationally, low cost airlines transported 18.3 million passengers in the first seven months of the year, representing an increase of 10% over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, traditional companies moved more than 20.3 million travellers through July, up 2.5% on the same period in 2013.
Thus, low cost airlines accounted for 47.5% of air traffic from January to July, as opposed to traditional companies which accounted for 52.5% of travellers.
In July, low cost companies increased their passengers by 9.7%, up to 3.9 million passengers – 49.5% of the total air traffic for the month, which rose 4.8% to 8 million travellers – compared to the more than 4 million people who chose traditional companies, an 0.5% increase.
Among the low-cost airlines (CBC), Ryanair, EasyJet and Vueling were the ones to carry the greatest volume of international passengers, about 66 percent altogether, covering 33% of total international air traffic received in Spain.
Thai Air Asia is planning more rapid expansion in 2014 despite the challenging market conditions in Thailand. The carrier aims to grow passenger traffic by 27% in 2014 to 13.3 million as eight A320s are added to its fleet for a total of 43 aircraft.
Thai Air Asia plans to continue growing in both the domestic and international markets with a combination of new routes and additional frequencies. The domestic expansion comes amid increasing competition while the international market expansion comes despite sagging demand due to the civil unrest in Bangkok.
Among all the existing Air Asia short-haul affiliates, Thai Air Asia is pursuing the fastest growth in 2014 and is alone in opting against slowing down fleet expansion. The decision to continue with rapid expansion is strategic as Air Asia seeks to maintain its leading position in Thailand’s low-cost sector as competition increases.
The Port of Barcelona transported a total of 4.5 million tonnes (+15%) of goods during the month of July, which makes it the fifth best month in freight traffic in the history of the Catalan infrastructure.
The accumulated traffic in this segment of cargo during the first 7 months of the year was 26.5 million tonnes, i.e., 8% more than in the same period last year.
As regards container traffic, the enclave channelled a total of 173,508 TEUs (one TEU equals one 20-foot container) during the month of July, a figure that represents an increase of 13% over the same month last year. The accumulated traffic in this category also grew significantly (+ 8%) with 1,060,883 TEUs handled.
This growth was driven by the momentum of foreign trade, especially import containers, which increased by 24% in July, to 43,137 TEUs and a cumulative amount of 257,381 TEUs (+ 13%). Notably, the increase in imports has consolidated in the last three months with an average growth of 19%. As for exports, they continue to represent the most outstanding container volume, with 333,759 TEUs (+ 1%).
By country, the first recipient of exports transported through the Catalan infrastructure was China, which increased the volume of containers received from Barcelona by 25%.
Other markets where the Port intensified the export of containerized goods are the United States (8.2%), Morocco (10.4%), Mexico (+ 4%), Saudi Arabia (+ 5%) and South Africa (9%).
Moreover, the most dynamic countries of origin in terms of imports arriving at the facility are China (+ 19%), Algeria (+ 32%), Turkey (+18%), Vietnam (+19%), Saudi Arabia (+12%) and South Korea (+ 71%).
Source: puertosynavieras.es; 2014-08-23
Posted by flytobarcelona.org
Barcelona Air Route Development Committee
promotes Barcelona Airport intercontinental flights
Comdifil the textile business group continues its internationalization process. The company owner of Shana is soon to open a subsidiary in the United States. The latest launch of Comdifil group is called Double Agent which a look aimed at young audiences, will open its doors in the city of Los Angeles.
With this opening in the United States, the chain will strengthen is Californian style brand. The fashion firm will introduce the production of its image campaigns to American city.
In addition to its shop in Los Angeles, Double Agent scheduled to open in Rome, Paris and London throughout the year with the idea of gaining positioning and so be able to carry out franchises in these cities.
Last year the new chain closed the year with a turnover amounting to 130 million euros, an increase of 30%. For 2014, the prevision is for of the company to reach 200 million euros.
The first chain in this group, Shana, already has 300 shops including department stores, franchises and single-brand outlets. Earlier this year, they made a deal with the Chinese group Yueda to enter the Asian market.
The Comdifil Group is the holding company for the chains Shana and Double Agent, and Condipunt, the company that manages the supply found in countries like Portugal, Morocco, Bangladesh and China.
Four major Spanish ports (Bay of Gibraltar, Valencia, Barcelona and Las Palmas) appear in the Top 120 in the world and confirm the strategic position played by Spain in the context of global shipping. Of the 11,401,834 containers moved by these four ports, close to 7 million, 61%, were in transit, which means that the Spanish port-logistics supply continues to be important in the major shipping routes.
The 11.4 million containers moved by the Bay of Gibraltar, Valencia, Barcelona and Las Palmas represent 82% of the total moved by all Spanish ports (13.9 million), and 2.1% of the 529.4 million TEUs moved in 120 major ports worldwide. Only three of the 52 countries listed in the ranking, China and the USA with 15 ports each, and Japan with 6 ports, have managed to rank more enclaves than Spain, which with its four ports ranks fourth by number of ports. According to the number of containers moved, the sum of the Spanish ports puts us in 11th place in the world and third in Europe behind Germany and the Netherlands. Spain is the EU country with most ports, ahead of Germany, Italy and the UK which have 3.
Zitro, the Barcelona firm that manufactures, develops and controls electronic bingo machines, is already present in 17 countries. According to the data, the company employs over 1,000 people and achieves an annual turnover of 76 million euros. So far it has produced around 20,000 machines which are already installed in casinos and arcades in Latin America, Europe and also the Philippines. It now has a clear commitment: to enter the U.S market and double its turnover.
Since its inception in 2007, Zitro has invested 11 million euros. Ortiz is confident that Spain is a potential market, “we can say that Spain leads the field of animation and specifically, this sector, vide bingo”.
With cutting-edge technology, Zitro works with the latest 3D animation tools and has recently incorporated a new recording studio to comprehensively produce, the music and voices of each of the games that are produced, also adapting them to the countries where those games will be present making each and every one of their games a short animated film 100% their own production.
AC Hotels by Marriott is the brand created by the collaboration of the Spanish hotel group AC Hotels, chaired by Antonio Catalán, and the U.S group Marriott International, Inc. It has recently signed contracts for 22 new openings in the United States as well as seven others in Paris, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico and Panama.
Statics show that the Hispanic population is the fastest growing in the U.S market and so says Bobby Finvard, Miami real estate entrepreneur who is handling the development of the hotel in this city, “the fastest growing population in the United States is Hispanic, and a lot of products are being launched to serve this community.”
The company is present almost all over the world, its president Antonio Catalán explains that there are “more than 3.600 hotels in over 72 countries because it is practically inconceivable to have a city without an AC an because we want to continue offering, for a long time, the highest quality and the same level of innovative, unique details in each of our hotels. Quality, innovation and design. Avant-garde, technology and freedom”
This ship usually carries out itineraries around the Caribbean with a crew of 2,394 members and more than 6,000 passengers.
The citizens of Barcelona, Malaga and Vigo are in luck, since, during the month of September, Royal Caribbean International plans to dock in these ports with the Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, along with the Allure of the Seas, which from May 2015 will be based in Barcelona for its Mediterranean routes.
As regards its technical features, it weighs more than 225,282 tonnes; is 361.8 metres in length; it took STX Europe a little less than a year to build it in Finland; and is usually moored in the port of Nassau, from where it explores the Caribbean at a speed of 22.6 knots.


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The Slate 7 has a "pretty sweet price point," said Lorrie Jollimore, a creative designer in Canada who has an Android tablet and an iPad.
"Using Android still bothers me. I just don't think the user interface design is intuitive. Not one for me, but it should give Samsung a run for its money in the same category," Jollimore said.
The 7-inch tablet is a very hot commodity right now, so the company chose an easy entry point, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
HP put a lot of research and development into the TouchPad, but took a lightning approach and spent less time and money on Slate 7.
"A guerilla development and marketing model -- throwing products out there and seeing whether they stick -- is a valuable approach for them to take," King said.
An aggressively priced product is an indication that HP is hungry to get back into the space, but it will make less money per each Slate 7, King said. HP is not shipping tablets in volume like Apple, so it also may be spending more on components and distribution.
The Slate 7 is also important for HP to retain existing customers and attract new buyers, analysts said. Much like Apple, HP can build a set of services and content around its tablets. However, HP has said it will not offer cloud services with the tablet, though it has the infrastructure in place to offer such a service.
"If you are trying to establish yourself, you should expect to take some lumps for a few months or years and see how things go," King said.
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Photographer: Bikeporland.org (CC),
If you live in Portland, chances are you’re a bike loving, tree hugging, raincoat wearing, beer guzzling pale faced greenie. I see you shaking your heads. But lets not generalize, or anything, lets just look at the facts. Portland has more beer pubs than Starbucks, more bike lanes, than highways, and more rain than, well anywhere on earth.
My guess is that there are no limits to loving your bike if you live in Portland, am I right? For example, it would be completely normal to say, use bikes as moving vans, or ride around in big groups completely naked. (naked Portlanders on bikes after the jump)
The media definitely makes the rest of us feel that way, when we hear things like, Portland has more bike commuters than any other U.S. city. Portland’s city officials even encourage their citizens to stop driving completely, by giving them bike lanes, bike traffic lights and even bike parking. Oh yeah, not to mention the light rail trains with bike friendly spots inside the trains. Green freak land is really the only good description I can think of for this place.
All of this encouragement to get on a bike has had a major effect on the cities economy. In addition to growing the number of riders, Portland has developed a thriving bike industry. There are independent bike frame builders, bike shops, and local cycle clothing companies. Of course, there are also Portland-headquartered national companies such as Nike and Columbia Sportswear that contribute to the city’s bicycling interests, but a recent New York Times piece focused on local businesses like Team Estrogen, an online retailer that sells cycling clothing for women.


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Corn has risen in price by more than 45% in less than 30 days, while feeder cattle have fallen by nearly $25/cwt. or nearly $200/head. Fed-cattle losses are swelling, and calf prices are shrinking, as liquidation has once again been triggered, distorting the historical placement patterns. What was initially a very optimistic outlook for 2012 has definitely soured.
These are all short-term effects, but last year’s drought in the Southwest had already depleted feed reserves and decreased whatever cushion was available in the system. Today’s prices are declining while input costs are skyrocketing, and demand continues to weaken as a result of an anemic domestic economy.
These conditions are certainly no recipe for expansion. The focus now becomes just how far the industry can contract without beginning to lose major infrastructure, which would affect its ability to ever return to the size and scope it once was.
Our federal deficit shows no signs of abating, but still Congress continues to maintain price-distorting policies that mandate that the ground that used to feed the world be converted into an expensive and inefficient means to produce energy – ethanol. How long will consumers be content to shoulder the long-term debt of the current federal deficit, as well as pay through the nose at the retail case, to support this system? Will beef ever regain the market share it will lose as the industry continues to consolidate?
There are a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers at this point. When the subsidization of ethanol began, it was assumed that the beef industry would have to shrink by 10% or more, but the addition of drought has magnified the impact and risks.
Now, the question that everyone is asking is: “How small will our industry have to go to return to some level of economic balance?” All that can be said right now is that it must become smaller than it is today.


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Cold news from the East
about 2 months ago
– Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 03:20:49 PM
I hope you are all well and staying healthy.
We have received updates from our Chinese shipper and they are not very optimistic. The congestion on the railway still hasn't been resolved and the Khorgas loading station has its hands full, while we still haven't been able to get on a container and send components on their way. We have informed you that shipments to backers will take place in October 2021 and we hope that this date will not change. In the meantime, we are looking for alternative transport routes - in case of any changes or new information, we will keep you informed.
The shipper has informed us that they have sent us a shipment of plastic components and mouldings by courier. For now we have only received photos, but when we receive the product we will try to show you in more detail.
Adrian & PHALANX Team
A logistical puzzle on a hard level
3 months ago
– Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 11:01:32 PM
I hope you are all keeping safe and remain in good health.
Finally we managed to get detailed information from the forwarder. It turns out that the shipment of our components has moved back even further and still has not left, which is not very good information either for us or for you. We thought that packing would take place soon and that shipments to backers would be made at the end of May/beginning of June. Apparently, these were overly optimistic expectations.
Due to the lack of metals, manufacturers still do not have the material to build new containers, so the few that are present are being used for transportation. In addition, Chinese New Year caused another delay, which also affected our transport. With too many things being postponed from one day to the next and the queues on the railways still very long, it is difficult for us to predict whether we will still be able to start transporting components this month, or when next month's transport could start - our freight forwarder is also having trouble with this. So much is happening and so much is changing from day to day.
This is what has forced us into an uneasy decision. We have to postpone shipping to backers until October 2021. It may be possible to start shipments sooner. This time we don't want to repeat the situation where we have to postpone shipping from month to month for external reasons. We know that hope deceives, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that this will be the final postponement of the shipment date to backers. Should anything change, we will keep you updated.
We are currently testing a new solo variant (with a revised map that will be on the other side of the board).
Adrian & PHALANX Team
Ice covered railroads
4 months ago
– Thu, Feb 11, 2021 at 12:02:42 PM
The game has been produced. All the components have been manufactured, and most of them are already waiting in the warehouse of the company that will complete the games. What is holding us up is the delivery of the components made in China. This is very unfortunate.
In recent updates we have reported that the logistics industry is experiencing huge queues, delays and shortages of equipment that prevent transportation from functioning properly. Last week we were informed that there have been some issues with the shipping of the components. We have been investigating the situation over the last few days and have been in contact with our forwarding agent - it appears that the situation is now very serious.
There is a shortage of transport space at loading and unloading stations and the queues are enormous. All companies - including electronics and clothing giants - want to be in time for the Chinese New Year. There is also a shortage of people to carry out the work while maintaining health and safety. And, more importantly, there is a shortage of containers for transporting goods. There is serious congestion on the route from China to Europe, with waiting times for transport having increased by 50-90%, and this is not helped by the fact that loading stations have reduced capacity, further delaying the process. The city of Khorgas, which lies on the route of our transport, is also facing such circumstances, which may affect the date of our delivery.
The freight forwarder has informed us that, although everything has been ready for a long time, our shipment has again been moved backwards in the shipping queue. We now know that the shipment will not leave China before Chinese New Year. This means that our planned and agreed packing will not take place at the end of February or even in March. Optimistically, we can expect the game to be completed in April, with the first shipments starting to reach backers in late April/early May.
We are very sorry about that. We are unfortunately hit but is happening at the moment in the world, in the logistics and transport industry. We can only hope that everything will soon be back to normal and that we can return to our working as we used to.
We have managed to get information about shipping to the United Kingdom. The good news is that our product is mostly made in Europe, with only a few components coming from China. We won’t bore you with all the details here - the important thing is that shipping to the United Kingdom will run just as it would have before Brexit, with no additional costs for the backers. Some good news at least.
We know that the additional months of waiting are far from ideal for all of us. The game should have hit backers some time ago, but the global situation, which is negatively impacting many industries, has scuppered our original plans. But we would like to reward you for your patience during the months of waiting, so as soon as we received the message from the shipper we decided to prepare something special for backers - the game board will now be double-sided and on the other side there will be a new layout enabling players to play the game in an improved solo mode. This will require the creation of the board from scratch, but as it will be developed locally we will be able to do it in time for the arrival of the components from China.
The game will be sent out to backers in June 2021.
Adrian & PHALANX Team
Freezing Eastern Front
5 months ago
– Thu, Jan 14, 2021 at 04:10:20 PM
I hope that you all you remain safe and healthy.
We recently realised that we have not yet presented the packaging design for the Axis Aircraft Expansion. It will contain a set of three Ju87 and one S.boat miniatures. What do you think of the box layout?
The news from the producers is moderately optimistic. A week ago we've learned that the game components will ship later than planned just. Thus and due to the still ongoing global delays, we cannot promise that the game will be completed in February, which means that shipments will start in March at the earliest. We'd prefer to prepare you for the possibility that the game might eventually reach backers in April 2021. We don't know for sure yet, but from experience we can estimate that some of the final steps will take longer, or there will be further delays or problems beyond our control.
Adrian & PHALANX Team
Logistic puzzle to solve
7 months ago
– Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 03:41:04 PM
I hope you are all safe and okay.
We received samples of ship models from the manufacturers, but it turned out that one of them has a different color than the one we chose. So, we asked the manufacturers to send us new samples - this time in the correct color. Unfortunately, it may turn out that this oversight on the part of the manufacturers may delay the delivery to backers.
We prefer to let you know in advance that the games may not reach you in December. We are still receiving information that many industries and our suppliers simply have too much work and too few employees. In addition, new restrictions are being introduced, which is causing additional delays above what we expected. Therefore, it is better to prepare you for 1941: Race to Moscow only reaching you in January or February 2021.
We received some mass production samples. The others are waiting for transport.
We have been cursed. One could say... a logistics game facing logistic problems. We have received information from the manufacturers today that there is currently a shortage of containers for the shipping of game components. This is a serious inconvenience, as the pre-Christmas period is approaching, with production and shipments being more intensive than at other times of the year.
As in 1941: Race to Moscow we have the supplies, but we do not have the supply lines to deliver everything to where we will eventually complete the games and ready them to be sent to backers.
Lots of backers of 1941: Race to Moscow placed an order for Fire in the Sky and are perhaps wondering what will happen with this game too. If you don't follow our social media, you may have missed a major update on Fire in the Sky. Please read the following note about this.
We would also like to remind you that you can try out 1941: Race to Moscow on Tabletopia.
Stay safe and take care of yourself!
Adrian & PHALANX Team


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Burda International CZ has acquired Extra Online Media (EOM), one of the leading digital media companies in the Czech Republic. With the acquisition, the media company significantly strengthens its position in the onlin…
2,400 employees, 11 countries, 250 media brands: That's BurdaInternational in figures. But who exactly are the colleagues and what is it that keeps them busy? Whether it’s Asia, Africa or Europe – we regularly provide an insight into the different areas and topics of Burda's international colleagues. Join us on a world tour!
BI's Asian division BurdaLuxury is partnering with India's leading carrier Air India to bring innovative, quality content to Air India's premium travellers through the relaunch of the airline's in-flight magazine. The partnership reflects Air India's plans for significant brand evolution and expansion and will leverage BurdaLuxury's expertise in content creation to align its new in-flight magazine with the airline's refreshed brand ethos. The new magazine will launch in June 2023 with all the attributes of a leading newsstand magazine and will deliver quality content across the travel, lifestyle and luxury segments.
“At BurdaLuxury, our passion is the creation of media products that truly thrill and engage readers. High quality content, coupled with a dynamic, contemporary design aesthetic are our watch words. We’re excited to be partnering with the Air India team and are looking forward to delivering new levels of content quality to Air India’s 2.5 million monthly passengers, through their monthly in-flight magazine."
Simon Clays, Director of Print Operations and Strategy, Asia at BurdaLuxury
Esprit D'ici is an authentic, uniquely positioned magazine covering a broad range of topics from tourism, culture, heritage, crafts, and gardening to gastronomy. The title by the French division Burda Bleu is an adaptation of the German Burda magazine Mein schönes Land. Esprit D'ici has been constantly successful since its launch in 2012 and its special mix has now paid off: The magazine was elected as the 'Member’s Favourite' during the Trophées Magazines 2023 award by Maison de la Presse. Maison de la Presse offers a complete range of cultural products such as books, games, toys, newspapers, and stationery, and is part of the NAP group – the leading network of local cultural shops in France.
In late 2021, British media company Immediate Media launched the Radio Times Podcast inviting the biggest stars from the world of television and entertainment to talk about their favourite TV programmes past and present. The podcast just recently celebrated one million downloads since its launch. Its third series brings listeners weekly interviews with television's biggest names, finding out about their TV viewing habits and delving into their careers. Previous guests include Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe, British rapper KSI, and actor and writer Stephen Fry. Radio Times also produces a weekly companion podcast, Smart TV, giving bite-size expert guidance to the best TV and streaming recommendations for the coming week.
“Achieving one million downloads in 18 months is a fantastic achievement. With the explosion of streaming platforms, the choice of programmes is richer than it’s ever been before, so launching a podcast to hear from the biggest stars from the world of entertainment and offering the best guidance made perfect sense. The success of our award-winning podcast has enabled Radio Times to connect with a new generation of fans, expanding our brand’s footprint beyond traditional print, digital, and live events and into the audio realm. We’re eager to see where this journey takes us next!”
Zoe Helme, Publishing Director Radio Times


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The Ultimate Pok?mon Adventure is a team-based real-time strategy game called Pok?mon Unite. The game was developed by Tencent’s TiMi Studios, the same studios that created hugely popular free-to-play online games such as Honor of Kings and Call of Duty: Mobile. The game looks a lot like MOBAs, especially League of Legends, with teams of five Pok?mon battlings against each other and leveling up over the course of a match while completing objectives.?
The multi-lane map is reminiscent of existing team strategy games and each player will play a Pok?mon. It will be a free game on both Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, with crossplay for multiplayer.
If you’re interested in trying Pok?mon Unite, you’re in luck because today, the Pok?mon Company announced that it will be organizing a regional beta test for Pok?mon Unite in Canada in March. The beta test will be exclusive to Android users and registration will be available on the Google Play Store. Initially announced at the unveiling of Pok?mon Presents last June, Pok?mon Unite is a free-to-play MOBA.
It goes without saying that thanks to a VPN (a service that masks the user’s internet access point), geographic limits will not be a problem, just set the geolocation of your device to Canada and you will have access to the beta.
Similar to other games in the genre, such as League of Legends, Pok?mon Unite pits two teams of five players against each other with the ultimate goal of taking control of more points on the map. This year is a pivotal year for Pok?mon as the series celebrates its 25th anniversary. Nintendo has big plans to commemorate this milestone: from a sequel to Pok?mon Snap, which will arrive on April 30 for Nintendo Switch, to concerts like Post Malone, scheduled for February 28, and Katy Parry’s with a date yet to be. to define.


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After Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) released a fiscal second-quarter report Thursday morning showing sales and adjusted net income that were lower year over year, shares of the drugstore chain tumbled, and were off 11.2% at 12:30 p.m. EDT.
Rite Aid spent a lot of time focusing on its now-failed merger plans with Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA), and according to management, that combined with pricing pressure to take a toll on its financial performance.
The company reported that its sales for the period, which ended Sept. 2, slipped 4.4% to $7.68 billion, and that after adjusting for one-time items, including a $325 million termination fee paid to it by Walgreens, it lost $0.01 per share. Last year, Rite Aid reported earnings of $0.03 per share in its Q2.
Rite Aid's poor performance was driven in part by lower prescription volume, which in turn, reduced front-of-store sales due to lower foot traffic. Same-store sales fell 3.4% year over year, with a 4.6% drop in pharmacy sales and a 0.9% decrease in front-end sales. Revenue from its pharmacy benefit manager unit, EnvisionRx, slipped as expected, but a better proportion of higher-margin clients kept its adjusted EBITDA flat.
Said Rite Aid Chairman and CEO John Standley:
While our performance for the quarter reflects a challenging reimbursement rate environment and the effects of an extended merger and asset sale process, securing regulatory clearance for the amended asset sale agreement with Walgreens Boots Alliance gives us a clear path forward to realize the benefits of the transaction and implement our plans to deliver improved results.
After regulators blocked its planned merger with Walgreens, Rite Aid cut a deal to sell 1,932 stores and three distribution centers to its former suitor for $4.375 billion in cash. That deal got a regulatory green light, and is expected to be completed by early next year.
The sale should leave Rite Aid leaner, but financially healthier. It built up a mountain of debt via earlier acquisitions, which it plans to use proceeds from the divestiture to shrink. That in turn will lower its interest expenses, which last quarter eclipsed $220 million.
This sell-off could be viewed as an intriguing entry for risk-tolerant investors. Assuming that Rite Aid can rejuvenate its balance sheet and refocus on winning back customers, its weak results from this year should offer easier comparisons in 2018, and if margin improves thanks to lower interest expense, then profits should too.


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Three-dimensional (3D) printing may be the future for the world and the common household.
The process of making a three-dimensional object straight from a digital file seems futuristic, but it is a fairly simple procedure. A 3D printer creates by layering, adding materials until an entire object is created. Simple objects such as toys, rings, and kitchen utilities have been created with 3D printing. World-wide shoe brand Nike has begun to manufacture custom shoes using the technology, and SpaceX has just sent a 3D printer to the International Space Station so that astronauts can print components and tools in the station.
However, 3D printing can be extremely costly. Plastic filaments, the material commonly used in the devices, can cost $45 for a kilogram. A consumer-grade printer can cost anywhere from $1,400 to $3,000, whereas industry-size 3-D printers, used by NASA, can be much more expensive.
Kevin Jeong, a high school student who aspires to be a 3D engineer, told JSR in an interview, “I’ve done 3D [design] at home, but I’ve never had the chance to print my design because the material was too expensive.”
However, this another student has pointed out that the cost is likely to come down.
“We always manage to lower the cost of new technologies eventually,” said Daniel Rhyoo, who recently took a summer highs chool 3D printing and design course at the University of Southern California (USC), to JSR. “I think we can say the same for 3D printing and that eventually it will become a common household item.”
Indeed, the 3D printing process has evolved and become much less expensive since it was first prototyped in the mid-1980s. Today, the company Printrbot even offers entry-level kits that that cost around $350 and include everything a beginner will need to build a 3D printer. Thanks to lower prices, several people have been able to get their hands on their own devices.
“It’s really only a matter of time until 3D printing can be used by anybody to create their own designs,” concluded Jeong.