Bloomberg BusinessWeek, July 27, 2015 (II)

choi

Bruce EinhornTim Culpan, The Smartphone Shields Are Down.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/ar ... uirm-as-sales-stall

Quote:

(a) "In 2014 the company [Xiaomi] shipped 57.7 million phones around the world, a more than 200 percent increase from the previous year. Xiaomi estimated its 2015 numbers would reach 80 million to 100 million phones. Then sales hit a wall.

"On July 2, Xiaomi Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun said shipments in the first half of 2015 totaled 34.7 million phones, a growth rate of 33 percent over the first six months of 2014. Plenty of smartphone makers would be delighted with that kind of increase, but it was a shocking slowdown for a company used to posting triple-digit gains, especially because it spent much of 2015 expanding into India. The reason was one familiar to almost every other company selling smartphones: Xiaomi’s home market 'is increasingly saturated,' according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Matthew Kanterman and John Butler.

(b) "To reduce the impact of the local slowdown, Xiaomi has begun working with Chinese appliance maker Midea Group on a smart air conditioner. Xiaomi may bring its smart air filter to India along with its phones, says Vice President Hugo Barra, and is also expanding beyond China and India, setting up shop in Brazil in July. Thailand, Vietnam, and Russia are coming within 12 months, Barra says, citing Indonesia as another focus. For now, though, Kanterman and Butler say, Xiaomi’s disappointing first-half results make the 2015 target of 100 million phones seem like 'a stretch.'

My comment:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: In China, phone makers are struggling as ownership shrinks
(b) I do not know what the title means.
(c) There is no need to read the rest of the text.

choi

(4) Luzi-Ann Javier, Debarati Roy and Joe Deaux, They Come to Bury Gold, Not to Praise It.
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... le-to-five-year-low

Quote:

“With gold prices tumbling to a five-year low, investors aren’t just getting out of gold, they’re betting against it.  Speculators in July amassed record short holdings in the metal, meaning they’re wagering that the price has further to fall.

‘One factor in the decline was Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen confirming that the US central bank will raise interest rates this year. Higher rates can draw investors toward bonds and away from gold. The prospect of higher rates is also boosting the dollar, and a strong dollar tends to keep a lid on inflation [because imports into US get cheaper], which also diminishes gold’s appeal as a hedge against rising prices.

“The low prices have yet to spur more buying in Asia

"The collapse in gold prices is part of a general commodities slump. * * * signaling inflation will probably stay subdued.  Unlike other commodities, gold typically benefits from uncertainty in the world economy. Yet neither the Greek bailout negotiations nor the Chinese stock rout that erased $4 trillion in wealth spurred investors to seek shelter in gold.

"Jim Tassoni, chief investment officer at Regal Investment Advisors in Kentwood, Michigan[:] 'Gold has no dividends and no yield, and that presents a lot of opportunity cost'

"Analysts predict more losses.

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Slumping for months, the price of bullion falls to a five-year low
(b) About “Luzi-Ann Javier.”
(i) Lucy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy
(section 1 Feminine name variants: Luzi (German))
(ii) Xavier (given name)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_(given_name)
(Spanish: Javier)
(c) Regarding the title. Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2, Page 4 (by Shakespeare). Sparknotes, undated
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/juliuscaesar/page_132.html
("ANTONY[:] Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.  I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him")