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Co byste chtěli od Windows 12? Napište vzkaz Microsoftu
Casio UK online store hacked to steal customer credit cards
IT budgets unlikely to suffer full effect of Trump’s 10% tariff on Chinese goods
US President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese-made computing equipment are slated to go into effect tonight — but at a much lower rate than he initially threatened.
The 10% tariff will do much less damage than the 100% version that had been touted — and there are other factors that will mitigate its impact on enterprise IT budgets.
Ranjit Atwal , Gartner senior director analyst, has been modelling the likely evolution of PC prices this year. Even without the tariffs, he was forecasting average PC prices would rise by around 4% because of inflation and a move to AI PCs; those models typically include more expensive processors with neural processing units (NPUs) and a minimum of 16GB of memory to support generative AI (genAI) models running locally.
Effect of the tariffs on enterprise PC pricesThe planned tariff is unlikely to add a full 10% to prices on top of the inflationary increase, he said. The supply chain is likely to absorb some of the increase in the form of narrower margins and still more by offering new PCs with lower specifications at lower price points. Without those kinds of measures, some have forecast demand for laptops in the US could fall by as much as 68%.
Overall, Atwal said, he expects average PC prices to rise by between 9% and 9.5% this year after taking into account inflation, changes in typical specifications, and the new tariffs.
Timing of the increasesGoods imported into the US or released from bonded warehouses there before 12:01 a.m. ET on Feb. 4 — or loaded aboard a ship bound for the US before 12:01 a.m. ET on Feb. 1, are exempt from the tariff. But anything arriving or shipping from China after those dates will be hit by the new tariff, according to Trump’s Executive Order and a fact sheet published by the White House.
Inventory already in the sales channel in the US is unaffected, but price increases on PCs will likely soon flow through to enterprises.
That’s because PC inventories are low at the moment, as sales have been slow and risk-averse resellers are reluctant to hold large stocks in case the introduction of newer models makes them obsolete, according to Atwal. He estimated there are perhaps 30 days’ PC inventory in the US channel.
Small share of IT spendWhen the tariffs do start hitting IT equipment deliveries, the effect on already-stretched enterprise IT budgets might not be as pronounced because companies are now spending less on hardware and more on software and services.
“Three quarters of enterprise and government tech spend in the US comes from software and IT services,” said Michael O’Grady, a forecast analyst at Forrester Research.
Computer and communication equipment together make up just 13% of US technology spending, he said, “so although tariffs will impact the price of imported goods, most of the software and IT services spend would not come from China.”
Consequences for the rest of the world, tooWhile Trump can only impose tariffs on goods imported into the US, his order could have repercussions on IT equipment prices globally, too.
China produces about three-quarters of the world’s PCs, Atwal said, and there is little room for vendors to move production capacity away from China to avoid the tariffs — at least in the short term. “There has been a steady shift to other countries, but trying to rebuild that on the same scale somewhere else has not been straightforward,” he said.
There won’t necessarily be bargains available from vendors already making PCs and components in countries not subject to the tariffs, as the temptation for them will be to increase their prices across the board, just behind those hit with tariffs.
The US represents about 27% of the global PC market by units sold, Atwal said, so if demand here falls due to the tariffs, vendors will be looking to make up lost revenue from sales in other countries. How exactly they do that is one of the many unknowns: Will they raise prices to lift revenue, or cut them to boost sales volumes?
The tariffs Trump has imposed on Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian products could upset global trade ba;ances in other ways, too, Atwal suggested: The move could cause currency swings that will influence the cost of imported goods, including IT equipment in other countries.
With so many variables, he said, “We’re calculating this through. It’s not a straightforward exercise.”
Vybrali jsme nejlepší telefony, které si v únoru 2025 můžete koupit
Microsoft creates a new department to review how AI affects society
As part of Microsoft’s big push into AI services, the company has created a new department called the Advanced Planning Unit (APU). Employees of the APU will, among other things, study the effects of AI on society and make recommendations about which products are worth investing resources in.
According to Silicon Angle, Microsoft is now looking for technologists, economists and psychologists who can contribute with their expertise.
Microsoft just last week created another AI department called Core AI — Platform and Tools. Its focus is on developing technical solutions for products such as Github Copilot.
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Why second-user smartphone sales are good for Apple
Apple’s iPhone business isn’t just about new product sales. The second-user and services markets need to be considered, too. Not only does the company command the first market, but it continues to generate healthy services-related revenue on every iPhone used — an estimated $72 per user, per year, according to Morgan Stanley.
There’s little doubt the revenue generated by these services can help the company navigate challenging economic times, and it doesn’t matter if the device itself is first- or second-hand, so long as users sign up for services.
Gone but not forgottenTo get an idea of the scale of the second-user market, I turned to Circana. In data provided by B-Stock and Samsung Electronics America, I found that 11% of US consumers owned a purchased pre-owned device in 2024 as recession-wary consumers seek to acquire high-quality devices at prices they can afford.
IDC last year predicted that the used smartphone market will grow 5% a year — a stronger rate of growth than for new devices. It’s a global trend as acceptance of refurbished and second user smartphones grows.
It’s not just about money; consumers are increasingly aware of the link between electronic waste and the environment and choose devices that contribute to a more balanced circular economy.
That means the second-user market is very large. IDC estimates it was worth $72.9 billion in 2023, when more than 195 million used devices shipped. (It predicts 257 mllion used smartphones will ship worldwide by 2028.) That’s all smartphones, with the lion’s share coming from Apple and Samsung, reflecting demand in the new device market.
When it comes to new, “Apple and Samsung remained resilient amid strong flagship demand, reflecting the continued premiumization trend of the market,” said Sanyam Chaurasia, senior analyst at Canalys. “In the high-end, consumers are increasingly opting for the premium version of the flagship series, helped by vendors’ clearer differentiating models within their flagship series in an already price-inelastic segment. In Apple’s case, shipments of the 16 Pro and Pro Max in 2024 were 11% higher than the 15 Pro and Pro Max in 2023, reaching over 55 million units.”
B-Stock indicated that the second-user market also sees customers purchase the best available devices, relying on the growing availability of easy credit to do so.
What do people want?Craig Feely, Samsung Electronics America’s Head of Certified Renewed/Trade-in, explains that when it comes to the secondary market, consumers care about price, battery life, and the residual value of the device. “Customers are looking more and more for an affordable smartphone option,” he said. “We design our products to be easily repaired or recycled.”
Citing data from Circana, Joe Dube, director for mobile accounts at B-Stock, recently explained that the current market is defined by about 30% of devices sold. That means for every 10 devices, just three reach the second user market.
“There’s room to grow,” he said. “There’s a ton of devices out there we want to get back into the circular economy.”
The economic benefits of second-user devices are clear. They enable consumers to access premium technology at a fraction of the original price. This affordability extends the lifecycle of devices, making technology accessible to a broader audience and reducing the financial burden on consumers.
At the Apple StoreIt wasn’t terribly long ago that people purchasing new smartphones would primarily do so via their cellular provider. That’s no longer how it is. In the UK, for example, recent CCS Insights data shows more than 20% of UK consumers now purchase directly from Apple or Samsung, up from 5% in 2018. Apple’s online or high-street retail have become more popular destinations for new device purchases than carriers’ own shops.
It now appears that the secondary device market is arcing along the same trajectory, with B-Stock saying people increasingly prefer manufacturer trade-ins to those offered by carriers.
This benefits manufacturers, as it means they can pick up older devices at trade in, then recondition and resell them through their own outlets (such as Apple’s refurbished store) or via partners. That’s a good business, which — put bluntly — means Apple and Samsung get to sell the same device twice, generating additional income as they do.
Another thing that might be of interest to iPhone users: B-Stock’s data suggests November to be the very worst time to sell or trade-in an older iPhone, as that’s when the secondary market value of those devices declines at the steepest rate, 9.8%.
That decline I think reflects the introduction of new Apple devices, which always dent existing second user prices, not least because so many older devices are traded in at that time.
Why second-user smartphone sales are good for AppleNot only does the second-user market act as a gateway through which a wider range of customers can begin to use Apple’s platforms, it also provides Apple with a strong opportunity to attract new customers to its high-margin services.
Increasingly, as shoppers choose to trade-in old devices for new, this also gives Apple a chance to renew and resell older iPhones, creating another income stream and adding a few more dollars to the actual revenue it realizes through new device sales.
Later, of course, the customer satisfaction levels Apple’s devices foster also suggests that those coming to its platforms via second-user channels will stay with Apple’s ecosystem in future, purchasing new hardware when they get the chance.
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More Apple coverage by Jonny Evans:
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Download the Agentic AI Enterprise Spotlight
Download the February 2025 issue of the Enterprise Spotlight from the editors of CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World.
Download the Agentic AI Enterprise Spotlight
Download the February 2025 issue of the Enterprise Spotlight from the editors of CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World.
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