Visit our other websites:    On CE ... eSP ... Mobile Channels ... ECI news ... rAVe Europe ... Digital Signage News EMEA

Dixons Carphone Plans Zero Contact Retail

E-mail Print PDF

Dixons Carphone prepares for zero-contact retail in the age of the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) pandemic with the launch of ShopLive, a personal shopping service to connect customers with employees in Currys PC World outlets.

Currys PCWorld

ShopLive allows customers browsing the currys.co.uk website to chat with store employees via popup video link on select webpages. The service provides advice on laptops, TVs, washing machines and refrigerators, and the retailer says everyone, including vulnerable customers, can benefit from in-store expertise remotely. The dedicated shopping experience will be available within stores once the government eases restrictions on shop closures.

Services Drive Apple Fiscal Q2

E-mail Print PDF

Apple announces the financial results for fiscal Q2 2020 (ending 28 March 2020)-- revenues for the quarter total $58.3 billion, a 1% Y-o-Y increase, with international sales accounting for 62% of the quarterly total.

Apple store

“Despite Covid-19’s unprecedented global impact, we’re proud to report that Apple grew for the quarter, driven by an all-time record in Services and a quarterly record for Wearables,” CEO Tim Cook says. “In this difficult environment, our users are depending on Apple products in renewed ways to stay connected, informed, creative, and productive. We feel motivated and inspired to not only keep meeting these needs in innovative ways, but to continue giving back to support the global response, from the tens of millions of face masks and custom-built face shields we’ve sent to medical professionals around the world, to the millions we’ve donated to organizations like Global Citizen and America’s Food Fund.”

IDC: Channel Cannot Handle EMEA Mobile PC Demand

E-mail Print PDF

EMEA traditional PC (desktops, notebooks and workstations) shipments are down by -3.1% Y-o-Y to 16.4 million units in Q1 2020, IDC reports, as near-flat commercial growth (0.7% Y-o-Y) fails to offset heavy consumer decline (-8.5% Y-o-Y).

The W. European PC market is down by -1.2% Y-o-Y, with the commercial segment seeing "modest" 3% Y-o-Y while the consumer segment drops by -8.9% Y-o-Y. CEMA sees a "very challenging" Q1 2020 across all sectors, with consumers prioritising devices such as notebooks and tablets, while CEE records a "relatively small" -3.1% Y-o-Y decline as the commercial segment sees strong 4.2% Y-o-Y growth thanks to the fulfillment of some public and corporate tenders in the region.

IDC EMEA Q1 2020 PCs

On the other hand, MEA fails to sustain any growth in Q1 2020, leading to shipments falling by -10.8% Y-o-Y. Markets across the region have been badly affected by both supply chain constraints and prices. The commercial segment is worst hit as it contracts by -13.7% Y-o-Y, while the consumer segment sees a -7.9% Y-o-Y decline.

Intel Beats Expectations in Q1 2020

E-mail Print PDF

Intel reports strong performance for Q1 2020, with revenues reaching $19.8 billion, a 23% Y-o-Y increase-- results the company says demonstrate the technology industry is "more essential now than it has ever been."

Intel results

Chipzilla profits total $5.7bn, a 43% Y-o-Y increase, while gross margins reach 60.6%. Driving such results is the Datacentre Group (DCG), with revenues growing by 43% Y-o-Y to $7bn. The memory business emerges as a surprise champion, with 46% Y-o-Y growth on $1.3bn in revenues, while ADAS adoption leads to a record quarter for the Mobileye business. The rest of the Intel IoT business does see a -3% Y-o-Y drop in revenue, however.

XPG Takes on Gaming Notebooks With Xenia

E-mail Print PDF

XPG, the gaming division of Taiwanese memory and storage maker Adata, announces a take on gaming laptops-- the Xenia, a 15.6-inch machine based on the Intel 9th Gen Core platform paired with an Nvidia graphics card.

XPG Xenia

Designed in collaboration with Intel, the Xenia promises "xtreme" gaming performance with a Core i7-9706H processor and a choice of Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q or GTX 1660Ti GPU. It also includes a selection of XPG high-end storage and memory components, with 32GB of DDR4-266 memory and an XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD rated at read/write speeds of 3500/3000MB/s. Powering the machine is a 6-cell 94Wh battery the company claims offers up to 10 hours of use on a single charge.

Page 8 of 932