PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Five for Friday is a weekly feature to give a brief roundup of our top five stories from the week that you might have missed. Think we left anything out? Let us know your favourite stories of the week by pinging us a tweet @pcr_online.
Brands shunned by disloyal consumers
The era of the ‘disloyal consumer’ is upon us, a new study has concluded. Research has found that brand loyalty is tumbling as consumers increasingly prioritise speed, innovation and convenience when they shop.
A new study of over 6,000 consumers across the UK, US and Benelux conducted by global ecommerce consultancy Salmon, showed that 88 per cent of consumers believe speed of delivery is more important to them than the brand being ordered (78 per cent).
The study also found that consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with new and innovative ways to shop, with 45 per cent currently using or likely to use digital assistants such as Amazon Echo’s Alexa or Google Home in the next 12 months. They are more likely to use these devices than smart lighting (42 per cent), smart fridges and other white goods (42 per cent), Virtual Reality (40 per cent) and Apple Home (37 per cent). As these services look to control the products shoppers buy, brand loyalty looks set to decline even more.
What’s behind the continued growth of security spend?
Cyber security has been a hot button topic for the past several months, and that is set to continue with security spend growing exponentially over the next couple of years.
According to Gartner, worldwide spending on information security products and services will reach $86.4 billion in 2017, an increase of 7 per cent over 2016, with spending expected to grow to $93 billion in 2018.
The infrastructure protection segment will see fast growth, particularly in the security testing market which, despite only having a small base, will see increased demand due to continued data breaches. Emerging application security testing cools will also contribute to the segment’s growth.
However, it is the security services segment that will continue to be the fastest growing. Gartner highlights IT outsourcing, consulting and implementation services as being key contributors. Hardware support services will however see growth slowing, as we see increased adoption of virtual appliances, public cloud and software as a service (SaaS) solutions, which reduces the need for attached hardware support overall.
Toshiba takes another blow as US court rules in Western Digital’s favour
Toshiba attempts to sell-off its valuable memory business have hit yet another roadblock. After months of legal wrangling with its partner Western Digital, a California Court has now ordered Toshiba to give Western Digital access to joint-venture assets that it was previously withholding.
The Superior Court of California granted motion for preliminary injunctive relief made by Western Digital subsidiary SanDisk, allowing it access to certain information stored on databases owned by Toshiba. It will be celebrated as a victory for Western Digital who itself is attempting to buy up the memory business either alone or as part of a group bid.
Toshiba however has been close to tying up a more lucrative deal with third party bidders, with a figure of around $18 billion reportedly the asking price. A deal was all but ready to go ahead with a consortium headed up by Bain Capital but that appears to have hit the buffers due to the legal on goings with Western Digital. Toshiba has instead opened up dialogue with a number of other prospective buyers, with Foxconn now believed to be leading the way.
Comparison Creator launches UK’s first gadget insurance comparison site
Cwmbran-based product comparision software development company Comparison Creator has today announced the launch of Protect Your Gadget .
Protect Your Gadget is the UK’s first and only gadget insurance comparison website. The service compares multiple brands and allows consumers to review policies based on the cover provided – including accidental damage, multi-gadget cover, mechanical breakdown and whether or not family cover is provided. The service has already been taken up by GoCompare, which links to the website from their gadget insurance homepage.
CEO of Protect Your Gadget and Comparison Creator, Steve Jones, said: "We are thrilled to launch Protect Your Gadget, it’s our first direct proposition and we’re excited about the opportunities that this presents for our insurance partners as well as consumers looking to cover their prized tech possessions. A survey* found that the worldwide mobile phone insurance market alone is worth in the region of £10 billion in 2015 and will reach £14 billion by the end of 2019.
Amazon reaffirms UK efforts with new distribution centre
Amazon has reiterated its commitment to the UK with the announcement of a new fulfilment centre in Bristol that will create over 1,000 jobs.
The online retailer, who recently came under scrutiny over a tax bill that saw it paying just £7.4 million in spite of UK profits of in excess of £7 billion, currently has 13 fulfilment centres in the country.
The company said that these newly created jobs in Bristol are in addition to the 5,000 jobs that it is creating this year. Those new roles that were announced in July are to be based across three other new fulfillment centres in Tilbury, Doncaster and Daventry, in addition to being based at its offices in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London.
