Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ
18 Mai 2017 - 12:57PM
Dow Jones News
By Brian Baskin
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The first iPhone assembled in India has rolled off the
production line. Apple Inc. is making some of its lower-priced
handsets in Bangalore for sale domestically, part of a strategy to
gain a bigger share of a fast-growing smartphone market, the WSJ's
Rajesh Roy, Newley Purnell and Tripp Mickle write. Apple is making
sweeping changes to how it manufactures and sells its flagship
devices, as cooling sales growth in China forces the company to
press into new markets. India presents some unique challenges; even
Apple's cheapest smartphones are priced above what many potential
buyers can afford, and the Cupertino, Calif.-based firm has been
engaged in long-running negotiations with India's government to
reduce taxes on imported components. But with smartphone shipments
in India rising 18% last year - compared with 3% globally - Apple
can't afford to stay on the sidelines.
A legal fight between Apple and Qualcomm Inc. over some of the
technology that powers iPhones and iPads is moving up the supply
chain. Qualcomm is suing a bevy of Apple's contract manufacturers,
including Foxconn Technology Group, Compal Electronics Inc. and
Wistron Corp., the Taiwanese manufacturer overseeing Apple's new
production in India, the WSJ's Ted Greenwald writes. The chip
maker's main beef is with Apple, which stopped reimbursing its
contract manufacturers for licensing fees after negotiations with
Qualcomm broke down. It's the contract manufacturers that hold the
licenses to use Qualcomm patents. The stakes are high for both
companies: patent-licensing made up about 80% of Qualcomm's pretax
profits last year, and the company's technology is found in nearly
every smartphone.
Amazon.com Inc. is preparing a full-scale invasion of
Australia's retail sector. The e-commerce giant will build
warehouses and could test deliveries via autonomous drones and
vehicles, in its first major foray into the country, the WSJ's Mike
Cherney and Laura Stevens report. Australia's retail sector has
remained relatively insulated from the upheaval e-commerce has
unleashed across much of the rest of the world. Shoppers there
prefer to visit stores rather than pay higher prices and endure
long waits for delivery from online marketplaces shipping in
merchandise from overseas. Amazon's entry could change that,
threatening brick-and-mortar retailers and forcing them to step up
their online presence. A healthy presence in Australia would also
add another continent to Amazon's planned global transportation
network. It won't come cheap though, as Amazon will need to build
massive fulfillment centers and develop shipping operations to move
goods across a land mass nearly the size of the continental U.S.
but containing just 10% of the population.
ECONOMY & TRADE
A Trump administration proposal to add rules barring currency
manipulation to future trade deals is generating controversy along
familiar fault lines. The currency rules would prevent members of
the North American Free Trade Agreement, or future U.S. trade
partners in Europe and Asia, from nudging the value of their
currencies higher or lower for economic gain, the WSJ's William
Mauldin writes. The plan has support from U.S. manufacturers who
believe they've lost global market share to competitors in
countries with artificially weak exchange rates that make their
goods more competitive abroad. Multinational corporations fear a
new fight over currency will distract from more pressing concerns
over tariffs and commercial rules. Allegations of manipulation are
common, though proving it is harder. President Donald Trump
frequently attacked China for weakening the yuan, even as the
Treasury Department declined to label Beijing a currency
manipulator. Canada and Mexico allow their currencies to float
freely. U.S. automakers say Japan weakened the yen in recent years,
but the tactics the government used, an economic stimulus known as
quantitative easing, likely wouldn't be prohibited under new trade
rules.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
CSX Corp. Chief Executive Hunter Harrison has been spotted using
a portable oxygen system, sparking investor questions about his
health. (WSJ)
Target Corp. will invest billions in redesigning stores and
lowering prices after sales fell in its most recent quarter.
(WSJ)
Home Depot is benefiting from a strong U.S. housing market and
operating online and brick-and-mortar operations as one unit, the
company's CFO says in an interview. (WSJ)
U.S. household debt hit a record high in the first quarter.
(WSJ)
Mexico's Grupo Lala is the lead bidder for organic yogurt maker
Stonyfield Farm Inc. (WSJ)
Nearly half of European Union businesses are looking to cut ties
with U.K. suppliers following Brexit, a survey shows.
(Independent)
The number of containership orders as a share of global fleets
fell to a record low, according to Alphaliner. (Splash 24/7)
General Electric Co. and the Port of Los Angeles began a pilot
program to digitize shipping data. (DC Velocity)
A creditor dropped objections to the sale of Rickmers Maritime's
fleet. (Seatrade-Maritime)
Freight forwarders are expanding partnerships with cargo
airlines as they add fast-fashion customers. (The Loadstar)
Manufacturers created 27,000 more jobs in the U.S. than they
moved offshore last year, a reshoring advocacy group says. (Global
Trade)
Geodis is equipping staff in a Dutch warehouse with
"exoskeletons" to protect their backs as they lift and carry
objects. (Material Handling & Logistics)
Suicide rates on commercial shipping vessels have more than
tripled in the past year and make up 15% of deaths at sea, an
insurance group says. (Lloyd's List)
Swiss startup Teleretail AG is building a delivery robot it says
can travel 50 miles. (TechCrunch)
ABOUT US
Brian Baskin is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him at
@brianjbaskin, and follow the entire WSJ Logistics Report team:
@PaulPage, @jensmithWSJ and @EEPhillips_WSJ and follow the WSJ
Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.
Write to Brian Baskin at brian.baskin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2017 06:42 ET (10:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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