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.
European disties see PC revenues soar
Europe’s largest disties have seen year-on-year rises in PC revenues. According to data published by Context, the European IT market is proving profitable for Western European distributors.
Revenues from PC sales were up by 11 per cent year-on-year – to just over €1 billion – during October, throughout Europe. Norwegian disties have seen the biggest profit increase with revenue up 25.9 per cent. Portuguese disties have also posted strong revenue with figures up 20.7 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile the UK distributors saw PC revenue growth of 12.8 per cent.
Small retailers looking to get in on Black Friday 2017
Black Friday has long been the near-exclusive territory of big-box retailers and online giants, but 2017 will see a greater number of small retailers making the most of the sales day than ever before.
According to research from YouGov, 23 per cent of Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in retail are looking to participate in Black Friday this year, up from 14 per cent last year. More than a third (35 per cent) say that Black Friday is one of the most important days of trading each year, with 82 per cent of those participating expecting to sell more stock on Black Friday than on an average day.
Cyber security scheme launches in UK schools
Schoolchildren will be encouraged to take up cyber security as a career in a government scheme. The initiative called ‘Cyber Discovery’ aims to ‘find the next generation of cyber security talent. With some £20 million worth of investment, the program is aimed at young people in years 10 to 13.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Karen Bradley, said: “This Government is committed to improving the skills of the next generation and encouraging the best young minds into cyber security. Cyber Discovery will help inspire the digital talent of tomorrow and give thousands of young people the opportunity to develop cutting-edge cyber security skills and fast-track future careers. This important programme is part of our £1.9 billion investment to protect from online threats and make Britain the safest place to be online."
Qualcomm board rejects Broadcom’s $100 billion takeover bid
Qualcomm’s board of directors has thrown out Broadcom’s $103 billion takeover bid. A statement release by Qualcomm said that the board had ‘unanimously rejected the unsolicited proposal announced by Broadcom’. The chairman of the board, Paul Jacobs, said that Qualcomm felt the bid massively undervalued its true value.
“It is the Board’s unanimous belief that Broadcom’s proposal significantly undervalues Qualcomm relative to the Company’s leadership position in mobile technology and our future growth prospects,” Jacobs said.
Apple reclaims lead in wearables market
Apple has reclaimed top spot on the wearables food chain as it once again became the biggest vendor in the space, according to market research firm Canalys.
The iPhone-maker had previously conceded first place in the second quarter of the year to China’s Xiaomi, but thanks to the launch of the Watch Series 3 (the first by the company to connect to the internet without being tethered to a phone) Apple was able to ship 3.9 million units. Xiaomi and Fitbit sit in second and third, with 3.6 million and 3.5 million wearable bands respectively.
