Economy

Global smartphone market 2022 experienced its worst third quarter since 2014

Published

2 years ago

October 19, 2022

Global smartphone shipments fell 9% in the third quarter of 2022. The figure was the lowest in the global smartphone market 2022, in the last eight years and was due to the low purchasing power of most countries, Bloomberg reported, citing data from research firm Canalys.

“The global smartphone market experienced its worst third quarter since 2014 as economic woes forced consumers to put off discretionary purchases such as personal electronics. Global smartphone shipments fell 9% in the three months ended September, continuing a decline that lasted all of 2022,” the report said.

The global mobile phone market size was affected by several factors. Among the key ones are declining real incomes, lockdowns in China and an intensifying energy crisis that has forced citizens to spend more on various natural resources and electricity.

“Chinese players such as Xiaomi Corp., Vivo and Oppo registered double-digit drops in sales this year. Only Apple’s U.S. iPhones continue to show resilience in the market. Apple has increased its share of the global smartphone market to 18 percent in the past three months,” the article reported.

The market leader is still Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. It accounts for 22% of global sales. However, the figures can be adjusted after the end of the traditional tech sale season, according to Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia.

“In the run-up to the selling season, consumers who have been putting off purchases will expect steep discounts and package deals, as well as significant price reductions. Compared with the period of high demand in the previous year, a slow but steady holiday sale is expected in the fourth quarter,” he concluded.

On Oct. 7, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Corp. said it was preparing for its first profit decline in three years because of the crisis. Reducing the operating profit of the company may reach 32% in the third quarter of 2022.

Earlier we reported that gold is gaining popularity in Asian markets.

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

4 months ago

December 26, 2023

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.

The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.

Economy

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

Published

4 months ago

December 25, 2023

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.

With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.

The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.

“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.

The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.

($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

4 months ago

December 25, 2023

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.