Uncertain gas supply will create negative confidence effects and put the region’s fiscal capabilities to the test to cushion the impact of high electricity prices on firms and households. After record gas storage and energy efficiency gains helped avoid a blackout scenario in 2022, prospects for next winter (2023-2024) are limited as substitution of Russian gas imports will not suffice. The energy gap will continue to pose concerns in Europe. In 2024, we anticipate a recovery in the US while the Eurozone could be stuck in a muddle-through scenario because of the energy stop-and-go. In the emerging world, growth is expected to remain stable in 2023. Stronger balance sheets, demand backlog and fiscal support will help limit the damage. This triaging recession will test resilience. In 2023, we continue to forecast a mild recession in Europe, on the back of the energy crisis, and in the US due to the abrupt normalization of monetary and financial conditions. For next year, we have identified eight songs and themes to keep your ear to the ground during the great energy quarantine: And that could still be quite some time.įor now Apple fanboys, keep calm and carry on.Since our last quarterly economic update, the deteriorating energy crisis and policy mix have confirmed our forecast of slowing growth, sticky inflation and rising interest rates. One thing I’m sure of is that Cupertino won’t sanction an iWatch until the technology’s shortcomings - not least battery life and the UI of a smartwatch - can be addressed. Or that Cook hasn’t seen it brewing in Apple’s R&D labs either. Of course, “I haven’t seen it” could mean that it doesn’t exist on the market yet from Apple’s numerous competitors (sorry Pebble, Sony and countless others). Speaking at the D11 conference, Cook said on the topic of Apple potentially doing a smartwatch or other wearable tech: “There’s nothing that’s going to convince a kid who has never worn glasses or a band or a watch to wear one, or at least I haven’t seen it.” Likewise, the iPad wasn’t the first tablet computer by any measure, but we all know how that worked out. This is a company that has built its second coming on the ability to say “no”.Ĭue recent comments from Apple’s CEO. The iPhone wasn’t the first touchscreen smartphone either, though it utilised capacitive technology and a UI that ensured it was finger-friendly and crucially bundled a data connection at the point of sale. The iPod wasn’t the first MP3 player, though it was the first to utilise that crucial 1.8inch hard drive (“a thousand songs in your pocket”). ![]() Cupertino may well be known as the great innovator, which in hindsight it invariably proves to be, but Apple’s definition of innovation is rarely to be first. ![]() Besides, if or when Apple does release a smartwatch, timing will be everything.ĭespite the tech media’s current Apple narrative that frames the company as desperately needing a new breakthrough product category, unless Tim Cook’s Apple is deviating drastically from the Jobs playbook, the company is/has been likely taking a wait and see approach to an iWatch. So, Apple is definitely making this thing, right? Well, maybe, though for now I’m inclined to file this away in rumorware. Trademarks for speculative products are registered by large consumer electronics companies all the time - products that are in a very long pipeline or exist in a PowerPoint presentation only. It follows an unconfirmed report by a Russian newspaper that Cupertino had filed the iWatch trademark in Russia last month. ![]() This time Japan is the territory, while the trademark covering “products including a handheld computer or watch device” was actually filed with the Japan Patent Office on the 3rd of June but was only made public last week. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple has trademarked the name iWatch - again. Let the speculation merry-go-round continue.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |