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Tag: Electronics

  • Pervasive Displays collaborates with Energia IDE to add ultra-low power e-paper

    Pervasive Displays collaborates with Energia IDE to add ultra-low power e-paper

    Pervasive Displays (PDi), a world leader in e-paper displays today announced the results of its collaboration with community-driven and open source electronics prototyping platform provider Energia. The Energia integrated development environment (IDE) provides similar support for the Texas Instruments (TI) family of LaunchPad development platforms as the Arduino and Wiring IDE.

    Designed to bring the same Arduino-style application development simplicity to the LaunchPad ecosystem, the Energia IDE provides support across the range of MSP430™ microcontroller(MCU)-, MSP432™ MCU, SimpleLink™ Wi-Fi® CC3200 wireless MCU- and TM4C microcontroller boards.

    Within Energia IDE’s Library Manager all the necessary driver libraries for the range of Pervasive Displays 1.44 to 4.2 inch e-paper displays are built in. In addition, support for future three-color displays is accommodated. Full support is also provisioned for the recently announced EPD Extension Kit Gen (EXT2) extension board that is constructed in a TI LaunchPad kit and BoosterPack™ plug-in module-compliant format.

    By incorporating native IDE driver support, both Pervasive Displays and Energia are easing the development of designs that use e-paper displays. E-paper displays are ideal where power budget restrictions mean that driving an LCD display is not possible. E‑paper only requires energy to change the information displayed. Once changed, the power source can be removed and the information last displayed remains. This approach yields exceptionally long battery life; a single coin cell will power some applications for many years.

    Adrian Fernandez, microcontroller customer experience manager at TI commented, “Integrating ease of access to e-paper displays by providing full library support through our LaunchPad kit ecosystem and the Energia IDE gives developers every opportunity to trial their capabilities and incorporate them into their next design. Energia support for the e-paper BoosterPack module will enable the maker community in their various endeavours.”

    Robert Wessels, Founder of Energia said, “The LaunchPad kit is an ideal development environment ecosystem from which to prototype a wide range of applications and these advancements will enable rapid future prototyping. The addition of native Energia IDE support for Pervasive Displays’ range of e-paper displays further broadens the possible range of applications and expands into a number of sectors where extremely low power consumption and/or energy harvesting techniques are essential. The fact that the display continues to show an image after the power has been disconnected facilitates display-based developments not previously possible and we are getting very positive reviews on the second generation of the Pervasive Displays e‑paper extension kit with support for new screens and new LaunchPad kits.”

  • Myanmar consumers go on spending spree

    Myanmar consumers go on spending spree

    Myanmar consumers are buying more and more flat-screen TVs, refrigerators and washing machines each month as the country’s economy strengthens following its liberalisation.

    In a study in the Mandalay and Yangon regions, commissioned by market information company GFK Asia, nearly 152,000 TVs were bought in the first quarter of 2016, generating sales totalling more than US$36 million.

    While 49 per cent of market demand was skewed toward 32” LED TV models in the quarter, the 40-43” segment grew from 12 per cent in January to 20 per cent of total sales in March. The trend was similar for the full-HD and UHD segments, in a market largely made up of HD ready-only models (55 per cent).

    GFK Southeast Asia MD Stanley Kee says there was “robust” buying in the months leading up to the Burmese new year last month. “This is an important period for retailers as aggressive efforts to drive sales are in full force.”

    While 38 per cent of TV units sold were in the $200-300 price range, GFK found a consecutive monthly incremental demand for TVs priced $400 and above, with the volume share nearly tripling from 5 per cent in January to 15 per cent in March. In value terms, the segment accounted for 36 per cent of entire TV sales that month alone. Overall, smart TVs made up less than 7 per cent of TV sets sold.

    In the refrigerator market, the number sold in March more than doubled the combined total sales in January and February, netting $6.9 million within a single month. One-door fridges dominated (65 per cent of sales volume), while 34 per cent were two-door, freezer-top models. Consumers spent $21.5 million on nearly 116,000 units in the quarter.

    Meanwhile, more than 59,000 washing machines worth nearly $10.5 million were bought in the period – 70 per cent single-tub washers and the rest double-tub models.

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  • Mobile World crossing borders

    Mobile World crossing borders

    As well as electronics and mobile phones, its usual products, Vietnamese chain Mobile World is planning to distribute groceries in its first stores in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

    CEO Tran Kinh Doanh says the stores will open early next year.

    Meanwhile, he has revealed two goals – to become one of the biggest eCommerce firms in Vietnam, and to bring in revenue of about VND34,000 billion (US$1.51 billion) this year. This would provide an after-tax profit of VND1400 billion – up VND400 billion on the past financial year.

    With 70 stores and a distribution network covering 42 provinces and cities, Mobile World last year earned VND25,000 billion, giving an after-tax profit of VND1000 billion. Both revenue and profit grew by 60 to 70 per cent. Online sales contributed less than 10 per cent of total revenue.

    Mobile World opened more than 200 cellphone stores last year, taking its total to 550, and this year it plans to expand its network to all 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam to become the second-largest electronic and mobile phone retail chain in the nation.

    It decision to join the food market with 13 stores was announced late last year. The corporation has 17,000 employees, expecting to grow this to about 26,000 people.

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  • Reliance retail business thrives

    Reliance retail business thrives

    Indian retailer Reliance Industries has reported a 50 per cent growth in sales in its consumer electronics category for the quarter to December 31.

    Reliance Retail also consolidated its leadership in the grocery category, optimising its network to enhance profitability. Several private-label products were launched in the grocery and general merchandise categories during the quarter. The contribution of private-label sales to overall sales increased to 14.6 per cent from 8.6 per cent in the same period the previous year.

    There are now more than 2 million registered members across 37 countries for Reliance Mart stores. These 1537 outlets specialise in consumer electronics. Strong year-on-year growth in this category was helped by Digital Express Mini rapidly scaling up during the quarter to reach more than 1250 outlets across the country in a short time since launch.

    Also delivering a strong performance, the fashion and lifestyle category was 16 stores opened byReliance Trends during the quarter.

    A Reliance Retail joint venture with Marks & Spencer continued to grow with new store openings, whileReliance Brands launched Dutch lingerie brand Hunkemöller, and also opened the first airport store in India for UK games and toys retailer Hamleys, in Delhi.

    Initiatives encompassing fashion and lifestyle e-commerce are also proceeding through beta testing. The development of a marketplace platform and distribution ecosystem for 4G devices are on track and being rolled out. It will be the largest distribution reach for devices in India, says the company.

    Meanwhile, the company is training 4G sales specialists while integrating supply chain and service centres. Reliance Retail also launched its own brand of 4G LTE smartphones, under the brand LYF, during the quarter.

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  • Nojima commences Vietnam rollout

    Nojima commences Vietnam rollout

    Japanese consumer electronics retailer Nojima is about to commence its store rollout program in Vietnam, following its acquisition of an additional  21 per cent of local chain Tran Anh Digital Worldlast June.

    The first of the new stores will carry both retailer’s brands when it opens in October inside the new Aeon shopping centre, currently under completion on the outskirts of the capital city Hanoi.

    Like the Nojima stores in Japan, the Hanoi shop will feature wide aisles and LED lighting, and stock a range of Japanese brand appliances. It will also stock Nojima’s house brand Elsonic.

    Tran Anh is based in Hanoi and has 15 stores in the northern regions of Vietnam. It is on track to open as many as nine more stores this year.

    Research house GfK reports home electronics sales in Vietnam exceeded US$5.5 billion last year, the second year in a row growth in the category has exceeded 20 per cent year on year.

    Nojima had held 10 per cent of the shares in Tran Anh before June and now owns about 31 per cent of the business.

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  • Fortress Hong Kong flagship opens

    Fortress Hong Kong flagship opens

    Electronics chain Fortress has opened a 10,000 sqft flagship at Times Square.

    The AS Watson Group subsidiary, sells mobile phones and consumer electronics across Hong Kong and Macau. Its new Times Square store is spread over two floors – eight and nine – and split into themed areas.

    Fortress Times Square Hong Kong2

    A dedicated home theatre and TV zone is dominant and there is an area dedicated to demonstrating 3D printing technologies.

    There is also a dedicated Apple space.

    Fortress Times Square Hong Kong1

    Another unique feature of this Fortress Hong Kong store is a cafe serving fresh coffee and offering free WiFi.

    The store was opened by Hong Kong actor and singer Andy Hui.

    It’s been likened to “a digital theme park”.

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  • Courts struggles in “weak” setting

    Courts struggles in “weak” setting

    Singapore-based electronics and homewares retailer Courts has reported a quarterly revenue dip of 16.four per cent in what it describes as a “weak retail surroundings”.

    The listed firm posted a quarterly revenue of S$6.56 million within the three months to March 31, down from $7.84 million in the identical interval a yr in the past.

    Gross sales for the quarter fell seven per cent to S$192.5 million and for the yr to March 31, income fell a pointy 38.7 per cent to S$17.36 million, on gross sales down eight.6 per cent to S$758.5 million.

    “Singapore’s gross sales, which contributed to 66 per cent of the group’s gross sales, registered 11 per cent lower in FY14/15,” the corporate stated in a press release.

    “The lower in gross sales was primarily because of a lacklustre retail surroundings resulting in the autumn in gross sales of all product classes, decrease bulk gross sales of digital merchandise and lowered participation in commerce present days,” Courts stated.

    Malaysia accounted for 33 per cent of group gross sales, however fell by 5.eight per cent largely because of the weaker ringgit and regardless of some panic shopping for earlier than the introduction of gross sales tax on April 1.

    However the firm expressed optimism for the yr forward.

    Two new shops are quickly to open in Indonesia, its latest market, offering essential mass to realize operational effectivity.

    Courts additionally plans to launch right into a fourth market with Singapore media tipping Mauritius because the most certainly risk.

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  • Mobile wallet outshines credit cards in India

    Mobile wallet outshines credit cards in India

    Mobile wallet may be a new concept, but Indians seemed to have adopted the mechanism faster than credit cards. While there are about 10-12 companies operating in the mobile wallet space, Noida-based Paytm has more than 20 million active users. The number is actually higher than the cumulative number of credit cards in India.

    According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the total number of credit cards issued by 55 scheduled commercial banks in India is 19.9 million as of October 2014. HDFC Bank issued the highest number of credit cards – 5.6 million – followed by 3.3 million by ICICI Bank.

    On the other hand, banks have issued as many as 441 million debit cards in India so far.

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  • Apple’s strategic ‘luxury move’

    Apple’s strategic ‘luxury move’

    According to social analytics company NetBase’s most recent Brand Passion Report, Apple ranks second among top luxury brands in the world, behind only Louis Vuitton and ahead of brands such as Chanel, Burberry, Hermes and Gucci. “Consumers’ definition of luxury brands are ever-changing,” Pernille Bruun-Jensen, chief marketing officer of NetBase, tellsMarketing Daily.

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  • Tablet sales slow down

    Tablet sales slow down

    Demand for tablets will continue to be slow in 2015, with sales reaching 233 million units for the year, or only an 8 percent increase from 2014, research firm Gartner said.

    Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said global sales have been growing in double digits prior to 2014.

    “The steep drop can be explained by several factors. One is that the lifetime of tablets is being extended – they are shared out among family members and software upgrades, especially for iOS devices, keep the tablets current. Another factor includes the lack of innovation in hardware, which refrains consumers from upgrading,” he said.

    The Tablets category includes devices such as, iPad, iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, Nexus 7 and Acer Iconia Tab 8. Other Hybrids/Clamshells include devices such as HP Pavilion 11, Lenovo Yoga 2 11 and Dell Inspiron 13.

    At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, Gartner analysts expect the vendors in the devices space to announce new partnerships that lead to innovative apps that use personal data to tailor the user experience.

    Meanwhile, the mobile phone segment is on pace to grow 3.7 percent in 2015 and reach two billion units in 2016.

    In the operating system (OS) market, Android surpassed a billion shipments of devices in 2014, and will continue to grow at a double-digit pace in 2015, with a 26 percent increase year over year.

  • LINE introduces mobile payment service

    LINE introduces mobile payment service

    Mobile platform LINE recently introduced a mobile money and transfer purchasing service called Line Pay, which is a new feature included in its 4.8 version update.

    With 170 million monthly active global users, LINE said the platform will provide a means through which shoppers can make make secure and convenient payments anytime, anywhere, straight from their smartphone.

    In the first phase of its release, LINE Pay will support only payments on LINE store. Users can register their credit cards to purchase paid content such as stickers and apps.
    All charges on the LINE Store made via LINE Pay will receive discounts of up to 25 percent for a limited time.

    In the future, the company said more offline shops and additional features such as money transfers between LINE users will be included.

    To ensure security in transactions, a LINE Pay-exclusive passwords is required, which prevents features from being used even if the account is logged in to by a third party. LINE said it also utilizes a monitoring system to detect and report accounts that are suspected of illicit activity and will work to ensure a safe and secure payment service for its users.

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  • Rise in the market for video surveillance

    Rise in the market for video surveillance

    The growing use of video surveillance systems in sectors such as hospitality, banking and financial, government, transportation, education and retail has created huge growth opportunities for the manufacturers, distributors and system integrators in this industry.

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  • Vietnam’s largest mobile phone retail chain Mobile World’s profits up

    Vietnam’s largest mobile phone retail chain Mobile World’s profits up

    The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World) Joint Stock Company, Vietnam’s largest mobile phone retail chain, has reached a post-tax profit of VND609 billion (USD29 million) after 11 months, 140 percent of the annual target, the company has announced.

    The revenue during this period was more than VND14 trillion (USD666 million), as much as 108 percent of the annual target.

    The company also announced that it will reach the target to open 350 outlets nationwide by the end of the month.