v.19 n. 19 – Released May 4, 2015
This Week’s Headlines:
- First Quarter Growth Disappoints
- Spending Improves but Real Incomes Decline
- Events of Interest
- June 03, 2015: International Trade Outlook
Category: News and Views
Samsung claws back dominance from Apple, yet still struggling | Mashable
Samsung has clawed back its crown from Apple as the world’s biggest smartphone seller by volume, but it still has a long way to go to reclaim its golden years.
While still on top of the industry, the Korea-based tech giant posted yet another profit decline on Wednesday, its fourth-consecutive quarter of declines. The $4.3 billion it made in the first quarter of 2015 is 39% lower than the same period in 2014.
Samsung has been hit by what Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics, called a “pincer movement.” Competition on the high end of the market from Apple and the low end from Chinese upstarts like Huawei have pinched Samsung’s business.
“It’s taken several quarters for Samsung to react to [the competition] and to create products to slow down that attack,” Mawston said. “Samsung probably has another year or two of work to say they’ve recovered.”
To do this, Samsung is banking on its new high-end products — notably the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge — to compete with Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6+ and help get the company back on track.
Having Mom in the Car Changes Teen Driver’s Brain | Live Science
In a bittersweet rite of passage, each year a new crop of parents buckles up for their teens’ first time behind the wheel. Now, a new study suggests that their mother’s watchful eye helps teens learn to make safer decisions while driving.
In the study, researchers designed a driving simulation test that actually encouraged risk-taking behavior, and asked 25 teens to complete the simulation as quickly as possible. At each of the 26 intersections in the simulation, the teens had the option to stop for a yellow light, which would cause a three-second delay, or speed through the light — which was the fastest option — if they didn’t crash. If they did crash, it caused a six-second delay in their total time. The teens went through the course once each on their own, and once under the gaze of mom.
Amazon Launches Amazon Business Marketplace, Will Close AmazonSupply | Forbes
In 2012, Amazon.com AMZN -1.01% quietly launched AmazonSupply, the e-commerce company’s foray into the unsexy but hugely lucrative world of B2B wholesale.
By 2014, when Forbes covered the burgeoning business, AmazonSupply was already offering 2.2 million products for sale in 17 categories, from tools and home improvement to janitorial supplies, stocking everything from 12-packs of Hawaiian Punch to schedule-40 stainless steel pipe.
Industry insiders were already concerned about the potential impact of AmazonSupply on America’s 35,000 distribution companies, almost all of which are regional and family-run. Could they compete with AmazonSupply’s infrastructure and deep cache of consumer data?
Now Amazon is taking its quest to win over the $7.2 trillion B2B sector a step further. On Tuesday, the Seattle-based web giant is launching Amazon Business, a new platform aiming to do for business customers what Amazon.com has done for everyday shoppers.
ESPN Sues Verizon Over Its TV Packages Aimed At Cord Cutters | TechCrunch
Verizon has apparently hit a snag with regard to its efforts aimed at cord cutters. The cable TV provider recently introduced a way to purchase TV channel packages via à la carte bundles. But today, ESPN filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against which argues that Verizon’s move to break out ESPN’s channels into a separate sports tier that isn’t a part of the core package is not authorized by existing contracts.
ESPN had previously declared its unhappiness with Verizon’s new channel packages earlier this month, shortly after they went live for Verizon’s cable customers. The network a little over a week ago released a statement which claimed that Verizon didn’t have the right to release packages that removed ESPN from the core lineup.
With its new “cord cutter” bundles, Verizon is offering a $59.99 base package which consumers can add extra content on top of, as they choose.
According to Verizon, these TV packages are aimed at offering traditional cable subscribers more options when it comes to constructing the sort of channel lineup they want. It’s meant to stave off those who would otherwise want to drop their cable TV subscriptions entirely, or drop down to basic cable in an effort to save money.
Google Is About to Make Your Wireless Carrier a Lot Less Relevant | WIRED
GOOGLE’S NEW WIRELESS phone service, Project Fi, offers a long list of modern day perks. It automatically moves phones between traditional cellular networks and the WiFi wireless networks inside homes and businesses. Once on WiFi, you can still make calls and send texts. And you can pay for all this in small, flat, monthly fees—avoiding the sort of inflated, strings-attached pricing that so often accompanies our cell services.
Comcast abandons $45bn Time Warner Cable deal | BBC News
“Today, we move on,” said Comcast chairman Brian L Roberts.
“We structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away.”
In March last year, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched an antitrust probe into the deal.
“The companies’ decision to abandon this deal is the best outcome for American consumers,” said Attorney General Eric Holder in a statement.
“This is a victory not only for the Department of Justice, but also for providers of content and streaming services who work to bring innovative products to consumers across America and around the world.”
The deal was also being scrutinised by the Federal Communications Commission, and had been criticised by some politicians and various consumer and industry groups.
Shares in Comcast declined slightly on the news, whereas Time Warner Cable’s were up slightly.
Mobile Ads Skyrocketed 76% in 2014, Making Digital Advertising a $50 Billion Business | Adweek
The digital advertising space grew 16 percent last year compared to 2013 and totaled $49.5 billion in sales, according to an Interactive Advertising Bureau report released today.
A key driver in that growth was the burgeoning mobile space, which the IAB found to have skyrocketed by 76 percent—from $7.1 billion in 2013 to $12.5 billion last year.
“High double-digit growth in mobile advertising is a reflection of the continued shift in consumer behavior away from desktop and towards mobile devices,” stated David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S., which prepared the data for the IAB
Weekly Economic Update | LAEDC
v.19 n. 17 – Released April 22, 2015
This Week’s Headlines:
- Port Activity Soars in March
- March State and Local Employment Report
- Retail Sales Bounce Back in March
- SoCal Home Sales and Median Prices in March
- Events of Interest
- June 03, 2015: International Trade Outlook
Google, Microsoft Join Obama to Fight Climate Health Woes | Bloomberg
President Barack Obama is warning that climate change will start affecting Americans’ health in the near future and he’s recruiting top technology companies to help prepare the nation’s health systems.
The administration unveiled a series of initiatives Tuesday to help moderate the effects it says a warming planet will have on increasing smog, lengthening allergy seasons and increasing risks of extreme weather-related injuries.
“The challenges we face are real, and they are clear and present in people’s daily lives,” said senior presidential adviser Brian Deese in a telephone conference call with reporters on Tuesday. Seven in 10 doctors are seeing effects on their patients’ health from climate change that is “posing a threat to more people in more places,” Deese said.
The White House plans meetings this week with medical professionals, academics and other stakeholders. Later this spring, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will host a climate change and
Dispatches From The Front 