Retail News CRM

Tag: Gadget

  • Apple appoints former Microsoft executive

    Apple appoints former Microsoft executive

    Apple has appointed Microsoft’s former Corporate Vice President Sam Jadallah to lead the “Home” products category at Apple. Even though Apple has not officially announced the appointment, Jadallah updated his LinkedIn bio to read – “Working on Home at Apple”, reflecting his new role with the iPhone-maker. However, along with Apple, Jadallah has also been tight-lipped over his hiring by the company.

    After Microsoft, Jadallah ran a smart lock start-up called ‘Otto’ that shut down in January 2018.

    “Hiring Jadallah is the latest signal that Apple plans to get serious about its own efforts in the ‘Home’ category,” the report said.

    Apple has a range of “Home’ products including HomeKit — its software service that connects with a variety of third-party products; and HomePod — a smart speaker for the home with voice recognition and music.

    Currently, Apple’s HomePod constitutes a small share of the home products market as compared to Amazon’s Echo and Google Home.

    Recently, Apple acquired a voicetech start-up called Pullstring to strengthen Siri against Amazon’s Alexa.

    “That purchase could help the smartphone-maker become the centre of a connected living room,” the report added.

    Lees ook:

  • Apple sales plummet in Greater China

    Apple sales plummet in Greater China

    Plummeting Apple sales in China have prompted the company to warn shareholders of a US$5 billion hole in its first-quarter revenue forecast. “While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter to investors.

    “In fact, most of our revenue shortfall to our guidance, and over 100 per cent of our year-over-year worldwide revenue decline, occurred in Greater China across iPhone, Mac and iPad,” he said.

    The Apple sales decline in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan would most likely exceed $4.3 billion, roughly equal to the company’s overall drop in revenue.

    Previously, Apple had forecast revenue of between $89 billion and $93 billion. Now it expects the figure will be closer to $84 billion, but notes final figures will not be calculated for several weeks.

    Cook said the rising tension between the US and China played a part in the declining sales, with traffic to Apple stores in the region declining as the quarter progressed. This, in turn, led to lower than expected iPhone revenue in the region, which was compounded by the stalling iPhone upgrades seen in other markets.

    “We believe there are other factors broadly impacting our iPhone performance, including consumers adapting to a world with fewer carrier subsidies, US dollar strength-related price increases, and some consumers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements,” Cook explained.

    In response to these trends, the business is seeking to make it easier to trade in used iPhones at Apple stores, as well as allow payments to be made over a longer period.

    “This is not only great for the environment, it is great for the customer, as their existing phone acts as a subsidy for their new phone,” Cook said.

    Despite the slowing traffic, Apple’s other categories grew over the period, with the company’s wearables category growing by almost 50 per cent due to the popularity of Apple Watch and AirPods.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Korea e-commerce hits high of 10.62 trillion won in November

    Korea e-commerce hits high of 10.62 trillion won in November

    The total value of online shopping in Korea reached a record high in November, government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of Koreans are using computers or mobile devices to buy things ranging from clothes to electronic goods. Total online transactions reached 10.62 trillion won ($9.5 billion) in November, up 22.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

    The reading marked the highest amount since January 2001 when the statistics office started collecting data on online shopping.

    Sales of electronic goods and computers rose 22.7 percent on year to 1.68 trillion won, and demand for clothes jumped 10.4 percent to 1.45 trillion won in November, while online sales of food and beverages surged 32.3 percent to 911.4 billion won.

    Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets soared 28 percent on year to a record 6.59 trillion won, accounting for 62.1 percent of all online sales in November.

    Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world, with one of the highest smartphone penetration rates.

    The number of smartphones in Korea came to 50.5 million as of October, compared with 48.3 million a year earlier, according to separate government data.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gaming gadget New Razer Phone 2 is launched

    Gaming gadget New Razer Phone 2 is launched

    Razer, a Singaporean gaming gadget company, unveiled the Razer Phone 2 – a smartphone specifically designed for gaming – on Friday in Seoul. Korea is the fourth-largest gaming market in the world with more than 28 million game users, according to the company.

    The Razer Phone 2 is equipped with a 5.7-inch display and offers a 120 Hz refresh rate, allowing users to enjoy mobile game with less delays and disconnections. The upgraded refresh rate helps the touch screen to react more precisely to user demands, according to the company.

    The screen is 50 percent larger than its previous version – the Razer Phone 1 – which launched last year.

    The Razer Phone 2 comes with a 400mAH battery which allows the phone to play games for 10 hours.

    Playing mobile games is not the only entertainment available on the Razer Phone 2. It is also optimized for watching videos.

    The company said the new phone includes Dolby Atmos technology in its dual speakers that are equipped on bezels both on the top and bottom of the devcie, providing a richer sound.

    In terms of camera, the Razer Phone 2 is equipped with a dual camera on the back – a wide-angle lens and telephoto lens – that offer 12 megapixels each. The front of the phone has an 8 megapixel camera.

    To optimize the display, Razer teamed up with popular games including PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Rival: Crimson x Chaos and Marvel’s Future Fight, among others.

    The Razer Phone 2 will go on sale on Dec. 4 in Korea in partnership with local distributors All Life Technology and CJ Hello.

    The phone sells for 990,000 won ($882.87). With subsidies from CJ Hello’s payment plan, the price can go down to as low as 599,000 won.

    “Razer was able to pull off a huge success last year with Razer Phone 1 by paving a new sector in the smartphone industry,” said Min-Liang Tan, CEO of Razer in a written statement Friday. “The new Razer Phone 2 will help us set a new standard in the gaming industry.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Samsung is still top smartphone producer

    Samsung is still top smartphone producer

    Samsung Electronics managed to retain its position as the No. 1 smartphone maker in the world in the third quarter, but it may have a fight on its hands in the fourth quarter as Apple is expected to lower prices and increase production, according to a recent report from TrendForce.

    The report said Samsung was the top smartphone vendor in the third quarter with quarterly shipments of 74.5 million units, or almost 20 percent of the market.

    “While Samsung grew its sales by releasing its flagship Galaxy Note 9 ahead of schedule, the device was not a significant upgrade from last year’s Note 8 and made limited contribution to the brand’s total volume in Q3,” said the report.

    The Galaxy J series, on the other hand, was still instrumental in sustaining the brand’s overall production, the report noted. Samsung has also been promoting the Galaxy A devices, emphasizing their improved cost-to-performance ratios and cameras since the beginning of the fourth quarter.

    In the fourth quarter, however, iPhone production is estimated to reach around 76 million units, which would see it surpass Huawei and compete with Samsung for the top position, the report noted. Samsung’s volume in the last quarter is estimated to reach around 75 million units, in line with the company’s target for the period.

    Huawei was the world’s second largest smartphone producer in the third quarter, beating Apple for the second consecutive quarter. The firm’s production volume stood at a new high of 55.5 million units. iPhone production for the third quarter totaled 47.1 million units.

    “Huawei’s in-house research and development capabilities and extensive product lines across all market segments have benefitted its expansions in overseas markets during the recent years,” the report said.

  • Brydge to expand channel reach in South East Asia

    Brydge to expand channel reach in South East Asia

    Brydge, an award-winning leader in premium and innovative tablet accessories, is participating at next month’s DISTREE APAC in Singapore, to meet and build business relationships with some of the region’s top consumer tech distributors and retailers. , said: “We are performing really well in the US market and we’re keen to replicate this success within Asia-Pacific, especially the markets of South East Asia.”

    “In APAC we have already experienced some success in Japan, Korea and Australia with consumers keen to purchase premium accessories for iPads,” he added. “We currently work with Ingram Micro in Australia and New Zealand, and are ready to recruit additional distributors and retail partners across South East Asia, which is one of the reasons why we are attending DISTREE APAC.”

    Smith continued: “We offer products that excel in their category, which have achieved strong channel sell through. We’re keen to increase our channel reach in Japan and Hong Kong and also want to build relationships with Apple Premium Resellers (APRs) across the region.”

    Brydge has strong consumer channel credentials, having just expanded its online partnership with Best Buy to a US-wide rollout in Best Buy retail locations. The company’s retail sales have soared tenfold year-on-year to date in calendar 2016.

    “We are selling through more than Best Buy stores now in the US and also have agreements with some key carriers and important APRs such as Simply Mac. We’re available in nearly 1,600 stores in the US market alone, as well as 2,000 more across the globe,” said Smith.

    Announcing the Best Buy partnership, Smith stated: “Brydge is dedicated to becoming the market leader in premium and innovative devices that deliver the ultimate experience in mobility and productivity, and this partnership [with Best Buy] is a further step towards that goal.”

    Brydge iPad keyboards are precision-engineered to provide users an unrivalled experience that combines the convenience and functionality of the iPad with the productivity of a MacBook. All Brydge keyboards boast a sophisticated, minimalistic design that includes adjustable brightness backlit keys, Brydge’s patented 180-degree hinge system for premium viewing angles and adjustments, Bluetooth connectivity, and a powerful rechargeable battery that lasts up to three months.

    “We’re now looking to leverage our success in iPad keyboards and expand our portfolio into some new exciting areas, which we will be able to talk about with distributors and retailers at DISTREE APAC,” explained Smith.

    “We are in a crowded product category with hundreds of competing products, so we know we have to work hard to achieve differentiation in the market and ensure Brydge offers a compelling proposition to the consumer,” he added.

    This year Brydge has been included on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list as one of the ‘Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America’. Each year, business publication Inc. ranks the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America by sales growth over a three-year period. Brydge was ranked 1542 overall and ninth in the computer hardware category.

    Brydge is receiving positive reviews in the press and is also looking beyond retail towards opportunities in the enterprise and education markets as well. Retailers and distributors attending DISTREE APAC 2016 can pre-schedule one-on-one meetings with the Brydge team through their web account.

    Lees ook: