Electronics

Korean technology company Samsung published record results for its past quarter thanks to its successful Galaxy S8 launch. The flagship product and an increased chip demand helped the company soar.

The European Parliament accepted a resolution to lengthen consumer goods and software’s longevity, a counter to the alleged planned obsolescence process built into a lot of products.

Anyone who has a smartphone, tablet or laptop from Samsung, Apple or Microsoft, will probably not be able to repair the device themselves. Even seasoned repairmen have trouble fixing them, getting spare parts or to upgrade them, Greenpeace and iFixit say.

Apple once again sold fewer iPads and iPhones in the second quarter of its fiscal year, but despite that, the American technology company increased its turnover and profit results.

The store as an amusement park: an elaborate experience strategy is how Media Markt will counter its online competitors. The new pilot stores in Wilrijk and Eindhoven give shoppers an overview of all the latest electronic gadgets.

Google intends to invest 1 billion won (830 million euro) in technology firm LG’s OLED screen production. These are used in smartphones, but are often in short supply.

Korean electronics company Samsung’s preliminary results for its first quarter of 2017 were better than analysts had forecast. According to the company, the past quarter was its best in three years' time.

Swiss Swatch Group is currently developing its own smartwatch OS to rival Apple and Google’s operating systems, requiring less battery power and better data protection.

Content provided by EuroCommerce - Retailers and wholesalers are pleased with the simplification of energy labelling rules agreed by the European Parliament and the Council. Yet they warn that inconsistent or too rigid application of the rules could cause confusion and uncertainty.

Fnac's merger with Darty, which owns Belgian Vanden Borre and Dutch BCC, is starting to pay off, but there is unrest brewing in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

Motorola has announced it will implement Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa, in a number of its smartphones. The company also said it would add Alexa to nearly all of its devices in the future.

Samsung vice chairman Jay Y. Lee has officially been indicted for corruption in the same case that saw the country's president Park Guen-hye impeached for her involvement last December.

The major smartphone companies will need to consider a new competitor, the “dumbphone”. These have fewer capabilities, but their sales have skyrocketed over the past few months.

While Android (81.7 %) and iOS (17.9 %) have absolute control over the smartphone market, Blackberry’s percentage is now officially 0.0 %. Windows came crashing down from 1.1 % to a mere 0.3 %.

Chinese electronics manufacturer Lenovo's 2016 ended with a difficult quarter, where both its turnover and profit dropped despite an increased number of (tablet) computers sold.

Dutch web shop group Coolblue is looking for translators to “make sure we are ready to conquer the world”. On its job site the company is not only looking for a translator French, but also mentions other languages.

Facebook has been sentenced to a 500 million dollar (460 million euro) fine after it lost a case about virtual reality headset Oculus Rift's technology, allegedly stolen from ZeniMax.

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic expects the weaker yen to positively affect the operating income for its current fiscal year. For the third quarter, investments did have a negative impact on its profit.