1 First time in six years, China smartphone market
shrinks (BBC) Smartphone shipments to the world's biggest market, China, have
contracted for the first time in six years, according to market research firm
IDC. The number of smartphones shipped fell by 4% from a year ago to 98.8
million units in the January to March period. A build up of unsold stock is
leading to a slowdown in the maturing Chinese mobile market, the firm said.
"China is often thought of as an emerging
market but the reality is that the vast majority of phones sold in China today
are smartphones, similar to other mature markets like the US, UK, Australia,
and Japan," said Kitty Fok, managing director at IDC China. China
surpassed the US to become the world's largest smartphone market in 2011.
IDC expects flat growth in Chinese market this year,
adding that as the country's growth slows, Chinese manufacturers will focus on
expanding in global markets such as India and South East Asia. US tech giant
Apple overtook China's Xiaomi in the first quarter to be the top smartphone
provider in the country thanks to consumers' preferences for the larger screens
of the latest iPhone models, according to IDC. Apple now accounts for 14.7% of
the market, compared with 13.7% for Xiaomi.
2 How rich countries can make a difference about
inequality (Kenneth Rogoff in The Guardian) Europe’s migration crisis exposes a
fundamental flaw, if not towering hypocrisy, in the ongoing debate about
economic inequality. Wouldn’t a true progressive support equal opportunity for
all people on the planet, rather than just for those lucky enough to have been
born and raised in rich countries?
Many thought leaders in advanced economies advocate
an entitlement mentality. But the entitlement stops at the border. If current
concerns about inequality were cast entirely in political terms, this
inward-looking focus would be understandable; after all, citizens of poor
countries cannot vote in rich ones. But the rhetoric of the inequality debate
in rich countries betrays a moral certitude that conveniently ignores the
billions of people elsewhere who are far worse off.
Only about 15% of the world’s population lives in
developed economies. Yet advanced countries still account for more than 40% of
global consumption and resource depletion. Yes, higher taxes on the wealthy
make sense as a way to alleviate inequality within a country. But that will not
solve the problem of deep poverty in the developing world.
Economic pressures are a potent force for migration.
Unfortunately, most of the debate in rich countries today, on both the left and
the right, centers on how to keep other people out. That may be practical, but
it certainly is not morally defensible. And migration pressure will increase
markedly if global warming unfolds according to climatologists’ baseline
predictions.
As the world becomes richer, inequality inevitably
will loom as a much larger issue relative to poverty. Regrettably, however, the
inequality debate has focused so intensely on domestic inequality that the far
larger issue of global inequality has been overshadowed. That is a pity,
because there are many ways rich countries can make a difference.
They can provide free online medical and education
support, more development aid, debt write-downs, market access, and greater
contributions to global security. The arrival of desperate boat people on
Europe’s shores is a symptom of their failure to do so.
3 Picasso painting sets auction record (Straits
Times) A Picasso masterpiece fetched more than $179 million in New York,
smashing the world record for the most expensive art sold at auction in what was
dubbed the sale of the century. The oil painting, “The Women of Algiers
(Version 0),” sold for $179,365,000 after more than 11 minutes of furious
bidding from telephone buyers at a packed auction room at Christie’s.
The previous world record for a painting sold at
auction was $142.4 million, set for British painter Francis Bacon’s “Three
Studies of Lucian Freud,” which was sold by Christie’s in New York in
2013. The 1955 painting by Pablo Picasso
is one of the last major paintings by the Spanish master still in private
hands. He painted several versions until he settled on the nearly 121-by-152-cm
canvas.
A rival highlight of the evening sale was a bronze
statue by Alberto Giacometti called “Man Pointing,” estimated to be worth $130
million, which has also been tipped as a potential record breaker. Swiss
sculptor Giacometti already holds the record for the most expensive sculpture
sold at auction with his “Walking Man I” fetching $104.3 million in London in
2010.
Exponential growth in the art market, particularly
for modern and contemporary works, is attributed to a growing number of private
investors around the world and burgeoning interest in Asia and the Gulf. The
proceeds from public art auctions rose 26 per cent from $12.05 billion in 2013
to $15.2 billion in 2014, and grew 422 per cent between 2000 and 2014,
according to Artprice, a leader in art market information.
Artprice CEO Thierry Ehrmann said interest would be
particularly strong for the Giacometti statue, which it believed could go as
high as $175 to $200 million and eclipse the Picasso. “This will be the sale of
the century,” said Ehrmann. “It’s a tipping point in the history of art.”
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