Global smartphone shipments drop sharply
The US “National Interest” reported on November 4
that in the third quarter of 2022, global smartphone shipments plummeted by 9%, below 300 million units. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of smartphone decline, Strategy Analytics said in a Nov. 4 report. Among them, although Samsung’s shipments fell by 7.1% year-on-year, it still occupied 21.7% of the market share with 64.4 million shipments, ranking first. Strategy Analytics believes that Samsung’s performance is still slightly better than the overall level of the market. “Samsung’s consumer demand is skewed towards the low-cost Galaxy A and M series, while the newly launched Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 strengthen Samsung’s leadership in the folding screen field.”
In contrast, Apple’s shipments The volume was 48.5 million units, accounting for 16.3% of the market, an increase of 6.4%. This is Apple’s highest third-quarter market share in the past 12 years. Apple had a good quarter thanks to the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro Max. It’s worth noting that demand for the iPhone 14 remains shaky.
On the other hand, Xiaomi shipped 40.5 million units, ranking third, accounting for 13.6% of the market; OPPO and Vivo ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Other brands including Transsion, Honor, Realme, Lenovo Motorola and Huawei accounted for 20.5 percent of the market. With the exception of Apple and Samsung, the other eight top brands are all Chinese companies.
The world would be better off without billionaires
US “Newsweek” November 10
Research shows that if there were fewer billionaires in the world, the environment would be much better. According to Forbes, there are currently approximately 2,668 billionaires in the world. The 125 billionaires studied for the report invested a combined $2.4 trillion in 183 fossil fuel and cement companies. However, only one of those billionaires has invested in renewable energy companies. Asfhaq Khalfan, Oxfam’s climate justice director, told Newsweek: “We found that these 125 billionaires alone are responsible for the CO2 emissions of the entire France.” In 2021, France’s population is 67.5 million.
Japan’s ‘sense of honor’ lost amid pandemic
Japan’s “Toyo Keizai Weekly” on November 9
Researchers analyzed questionnaires from 10,000 respondents from the Nomura Research Institute and pointed out that Japanese consumers have lost trust in the country during the new crown epidemic. From 2009 to 2012, the number of people who hold the value of “proud of Japan” increased by 11%, and the increase was particularly pronounced among young people aged 30 and under. It is worth noting that the survey was conducted in August 2021, when the Tokyo Olympics’ epidemic prevention measures attracted a lot of criticism.
Japanese and Korean workers rely on “imports”
The Economist, November 13
From 2009 to 2019, the number of foreign residents in Japan rose from 2.1 million to 2.9 million; the foreign population in South Korea increased from 1.1 million to 2.5 million. The influx of people into these two countries has slowed during the epidemic, but will pick up in the future. The number of foreign residents in Japan rose by 200,000 in the first half of this year—with work visa holders accounting for more than half of the increase. The South Korean government also announced on October 27 that it will welcome about 110,000 foreign workers in 2023—twice the annual average for the past eight years. By 2050, Japan’s population is expected to drop from 125 million today to 104 million; South Korea’s population is also expected to drop from 52 million to 46 million. In both Japan and South Korea, the ratio of the population over 64 to the working-age population will rise sharply. The study pointed out that even if Japan invests heavily in automation technology, it will need at least 6.7 million foreign workers by 2040 to achieve the government’s annual GDP growth target of 1% to 1.5%, while South Korea will need about 4 million foreign workers by 2030 to maintain this level. country’s working-age population.
When will the “climate promise” be fulfilled?
US “Foreign Policy” November 9
Africa contributes the least carbon emissions in the world – less than 4%, but Africans are experiencing extreme weather events: floods have washed away hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in Nigeria; The worst drought in East Africa in 40 years has turned into famine; the temperature in Tunisia hit a 40-year high in July, reaching 118°F (≈48°C). According to the African Development Bank, the continent will lose up to 15% of per capita GDP growth each year to climate change. According to a 2018 study, losses and damages in developing countries are projected to reach $290-580 billion per year by 2030. Now, African countries are demanding that rich countries fulfill previous financial commitments. Twelve years ago, rich countries pledged to provide $100 billion a year in climate aid to poor countries by 2020, which has so far remained unfulfilled. In September, Denmark was the first to pledge around $13 million to assist vulnerable countries suffering “loss and damage” from climate change.
