Super-smart robots will outnumber humans by FOUR BILLION within three decades, Softbank CEO says

• CEO Masayoshi Son made the prediction at the World Mobile Conference today
• Number of  computer chip 'brain cells' will overtake human neurons in 2018
• And 1 trillion Internet of Things chips are expected in homes by 2040 
• Concerns have been raised that hackers could cause havoc in homes if they were to access the IoT network

By Reuters and Harry Pettit For Mailonline

PUBLISHED: 07:25 EST, 27 February 2017 | UPDATED: 10:31 EST, 27 February 2017.

Masayoshi Son, CEO of mobile company Softbank, has predicted that there will be more smart robots helping humans than there will be people on Earth by 2040.

The Japanese businessman also claimed that 1 trillion microchips designed for the so-called internet of things (IoT) will be delivered around the world over the next 20 years.

Mr Son, also CEO of IoT software company ARM, made the comments at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona today.

He went on to say that the number of microchip 'brain cells' will overtake the number of human neurons in 2018.

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CEO and chairman of mobile company Softbank and its IoT subsidiary ARM Masayoshi Son (pictured here with Softbank robot 'Pepper' in 2014) announced at the World Mobile Congress that ARM will deliver a trillion microchips designed for the internet of things by 2040

DEFINING THE INTERNET OF THINGS

Although the term ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) first appeared in 2005, there is still no widely accepted definition.

The phrase 'IoT' often refers to devices or sensors - other than computers, smartphones, or tablets - that connect, communicate or transmit information over the web. 

IoT includes gadgets bought by consumers, as well as products and services designed for businesses to help machines ‘communicate’ with each other.

For example, the term IoT can include the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags businesses place on products in stores to track their inventory, or sensors that monitor electricity use in hotels. 

The Japanese businessman predicted that an army of 10 billion smart robots designed to help humans will grow over the next 25 years.

But Mr Son cautioned that these advances won't come without risks, and addressing cybersecurity issues will have to be part of the equation.

He said: 'There are about 500 ARM chips in a car today and none of them are secure.'

The business giant predicted that 64 per cent of cyber attacks will be through hacking IoT connected objects in the future.

Concerns have been raised that hackers could use IoT devices to attack or spy on users from within their homes.

Last year, for example, hackers attacked websites such as Twitter, Paypal and Spotify by targeting hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices from millions of internet addresses in one the largest attacks ever seen. 

Now, it appears that a trillion new 'smart' devices are on their way, such as door locks controlled from a smartphone or smart lights that flash when they sense an intruder.

The internet of things (IoT) refers to a smart, connected network of devices that can all 'speak' to one another through the internet.

The phrase 'IoT' often refers to devices or sensors - other than computers, smartphones, or tablets - that connect, communicate or transmit information over the web.

These devices all need microchips to function, and Softbank's semiconductor and software subsidiary ARM plans to deliver 1trillion over the next 20 years, the chairman and CEO of the Japanese company announced on Monday.

The Japanese businessman also claimed that 1 trillion microchips designed for the so-called internet of things (IoT) will be delivered around the world over the next 20 years. Illustrated in this graphic are some of the Internet of Things gadgets that are already in production

Mr Son said the growing number of microchip 'brain cells' opens up a huge opportunity for smart and connected objects.

'This is why I spent $32 billion (£26 billion) to acquire ARM,' Mr Son said, explaining his 30-year-vision of a world where the artificial computer brain will have 10,000 intelligence quotient (IQ) capabilities compared with 100 for the average human.

Jennifer Belissent, an analyst at Forrester Research who attended Son's keynote speech, said the numbers he mentioned were very dramatic.

'The greater connectivity and new artificial IQ capabilities offer so much potential. It sets the scene for a Marvel movie,' she said.

'Now, the key question is how to make that new technology available to everyone.

'It's not the number of new devices that is relevant but what you make out of it in terms of analytical capabilities.'

Faced with a secular decline in average revenue per user (ARPU) and a smartphone market only expected to grow by 5 per cent in the coming years, Mr Son stressed the need for mobile operators to invest in new technology.

Son and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund have created a technology investment fund that could grow as large as $100billion (£80billion) and become a kingpin in the high-tech industry.

QuickShop: What Do Customers Think about Walmart’s New C-Store?

22 Feb, 2017 Chris Medenwald, PhD

Walmart looks pretty determined: marching out a series of initiatives over the years—Neighborhood Market, Walmart Express, curbside pickup, in-store pickup—to make its low-price philosophy more accessible to value-minded, price-sensitive shoppers who, otherwise, may wish to avoid a time-consuming trek to a supercenter.

The retail giant recently unveiled its latest effort to merge value and convenience: Walmart’s next generation convenience store. This new-concept c-store, currently being piloted in Rogers, AR and Crowley, TX, features a walk-in beer cooler, sprawling areas devoted to hot foods and fountain drinks, and—don’t miss this—Walmart prices.

QuickShop: What Do Customers Think about Walmart's New C-Store?

This weekend, mobile solutions firm Field Agent deployed 24 QuickShoppers to the new Walmart c-stores—14 to the Rogers, AR location and 10 to Crowley, TX. These agents captured photos and video, and they answered a series of questions about their experience with the new c-store format.

The video below offers an upclose look at the convenience store, complete with audio commentary from QuickShoppers. Further down we share the full, downloadable results from the study.

To participate in the study, agents were required to purchase at least $5 worth of gas and one hot food item. Field Agent verified these purchases by requiring QuickShoppers to submit receipts.

Walmart C-Store QuickShop from Field Agent

All in all, Field Agent’s QuickShoppers were particularly high on the next generation Walmart c-store, which they rated, overall, a 4.7 on a 5-point scale (i.e., 5 being very good). Moreover, 83% of participants said they’re completely or very likely to purchase food, snacks, and/or beverages from the convenience store in the future.

Good news for Walmart and its efforts to bring more accessibility and convenience to its EDLP philosophy.

Who Are Amazon Prime Members? No, Really. [Survey]

23 Feb, 2017 Chris Medenwald, PhD

Just a sliver of information about Amazon Prime members is enough to throw the business media into a frenzy.

Case-in-point: Last week my inbox blew up with reports that Amazon had finally revealed the total number of Amazon Prime members—well, kinda-sorta.

In truth, the online retailer had filed a form 10-K which, for the first time, detailed revenue from “retail subscription services,” a category encompassing Prime membership fees, digital video and music, audiobooks, and the like.

The company pegged this number at $6.4 billion for 2016. A bit of 3rd Grade division later—$6.4 billion divided by the conventional $99 Prime fee—and we at least know the ceiling for how many Prime accounts there may be: 65 million.

But Who are Amazon Prime Members? No, Really.

This weekend, mobile solutions firm Field Agent surveyed 587 bona fide Amazon Prime members to explore their shopping and spending behavior.

We knew we were surveying actual Prime members with active memberships because each respondent submitted a photo of their Prime membership status (as pictured). Respondents were also required to submit screenshots/photos of their Amazon purchase history from the preceding 6 months.

See also: Will shoppers ditch Amazon for Walmart's free, two-day shipping?

Based on the results, here are 5 important insights into Prime members that go well beyond what a basic 10-K filing can show.

 

 

1. What benefits do Prime members actually use?

Free two-day shipping, Prime Video, and Prime Music are clearly—and not surprisingly—the most-used benefits among Prime members, both overall and on a week-in, week-out basis. The chart shows how other Prime benefits stack up against the "big three."

 

2. How much did Prime members buy/spend over the last 6 months?

Overall, Prime members reported spending a total of $678 on 32 different purchases, or $21.19 per purchase, over the last six-month period (including the holiday season). The infographic below displays how much Prime members bought/spent both overall and in two specific categories: electronics and homes goods. 

Note: Respondents were instructed to count the total number of Amazon purchases associated with their Prime account over the past six months. As you'll see below, many Prime members say they share their accounts with other members of the household and even other households. Our agents also calculated the total amount (in $) of Amazon purchases from the previous six months. The figures in the infographic below describe the average Prime member in the survey. Numbers are based off the total number of respondents who made purchases in the category over the last six months.

3. How many monthly Prime members are there?

Amazon offers a $10.99 monthly Prime membership for customers who may not want the $99 fee and year-long commitment of an annual membership. In our survey, 11% of respondents identified themselves as monthly subscribers. 

See also: What do customers think about Walmart's "next generation" c-store? 

4. Do Prime members share their accounts?

Field Agent also asked respondents to identify all those who use their Prime account to make purchases (i.e., not just watch streaming movies or listen to music). Only 29% answered, "I'm the only one who uses this Prime account to make purchases." Who do the others share their account with?

• My spouse/"significant other" (in the household): 56%
• My kids (in the household): 19%
• Other households: 17%
• My business/company: 5%

One Prime account does not equal one individual. Thus, the whole question of "How many Prime members are out there?" may need clarification. What do we mean by "Prime member" anyway?

5. Are Prime members making food and beverage purchases through Amazon?

Just how common are food, snack, and beverage purchases among Prime members? In the Field Agent survey, a modest-yet-attention-worthy 33% said they had purchased food and/or beverages from Amazon over the past six months. Compare this to 78% who made electronic/electronic accessory purchases and 54% who purchased home goods.  

The 10 most powerful brands in the world

• Julien Rath
 

• Feb. 25, 2017, 9:32 AM
 

Lego's film properties helped the toy brand become the most powerful brand in 2016.Warner Bros.

Lego topped this year's ranking of the world's most powerful brands, according to a survey compiled by the business valuation consultancy Brand Finance.

Six of the top ten most valuable companies in the 500-strong ranking were technology companies. Google led the pack of most valuable companies, overtaking the 2016 leader Apple.

The survey ranks brands by their monetary value and also calculates the most "powerful" brands  – companies whose financial value is most impacted by their branding. 

10. McKinsey & Co

dragonpreneur/flickr

Brand strength: 92.7 

Brand value: $4.3 billion

Brand value rank: 392

What happened: McKinsey's global network is home to 10,000 consultants, 2,000 researchers and 1,400 partners from a variety of backgrounds. Former McKinsey employees have gone on to lead a number companies with revenues in the billions, such Boeing, Vodafone, and Credit Suisse. 

9. Johnson & Johnson

Reuters

Brand strength: 90.1

Brand value: $9,1 billion

Brand value rank: 154

What happened: The CPG company agreed to buy the Swiss biotech firm Actelion for $30 billion at the end of 2016. 

8. PricewaterhouseCoopers

AP

Brand strength: 90.9

Brand value: $18.5 billion

Brand value rank: 66

What happened: The consulting firm has 21,000 employees across 64 offices in the world. In 2016, it expanded its activities into the burgeoning tech disciplines blockchain and virtual reality.

7. NBC

Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Brand strength: 91.3

Brand value: $13.7 billion

Brand value rank: 93

What happened: 26.7 million people watched the summer Olympics on NBC, for which the network topped $1 billion in ad sales. The media company paid $7.8 billion to extend its broadcasting rights of the Olympics until 2032.

6. Disney

Lucasfilm

Brand strength: 91.3

Brand value: $34.4 billion

Brand value rank: 24

What happened: Disney slipped down from its top spot despite a strong financial year. It failed to convince Wall Street with an increasingly costly ESPN and uncertainty surrounding the succession of its CEO Bob Iger. Nonetheless, it opened the world's biggest Disneyland park in Shanghai and its "Star Wars" films exceeded expectations. 

5. Visa

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Brand strength: 91.5

Brand value: $20.6 billion

Brand value rank: 57

What happened: The financial services company saw an 81% increase in brand value, as its core markets move towards a cashless society. The company also completed its merger with Visa Europe in June, allowing it to reach a greater scale while cutting costs. It continues to dominate the payment services market, ahead of rival Mastercard. 

4. Ferrari

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Brand strength: 91.9

Brand value: $6.1 billion

Brand value rank: 258

What happened: The company concluded 2015 with an IPO in October. 2016 was the biggest year in terms of sales for the sports car brand, shipping 8,014 cars, and, along with that, its profits grew $116 million in 2016 to a total of $432 million.

3. Nike

Jay LaPrete/AP Photo

Brand strength: 92.1

Brand value: $31.7 billion

Brand value rank: 28

What happened: The sports apparel brand had a rough financial 2016 with its stock dropping by 19% compared to the previous year and an increase in competition from Under Armour and Adidas. It is facing off the competition with the launch of new products like self lacing shoes and growing its relationships with star athletes – it signed lifetime deals with LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo, both reportedly worth $1 billion.

2. Google

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Brand strength: 92.1

Brand value:$109.4 billion

Brand value rank: 1

What happened: The tech company became the most valuable brand in 2016, in which its ad revenues grew 20% year-on-year. It also took big steps into artificial intelligence for consumers and virtual reality with the launch of its Pixel phone line, the Google Home speaker, and its Daydream VR headset.

1. Lego

Warner Bros.

Brand strength: 92.7

Brand value:$7.5 billion

Brand value rank: 196

What happened: After near bankruptcy in 2000, Lego is back at the top as the most powerful brand in the world. BrandFinance said Lego scored high in key metrics "familiarity, loyalty, promotion, marketing investment, staff satisfaction and corporate reputation."

In 2016 Lego announced a Brit with the name, Bali Padda, would become CEO. The promotional effect from the Lego movie series was a significant force in driving up its brand strength.

Is The US Restaurant Recession Becoming Structural?

by Tyler Durden

Feb 26, 2017 8:17 AM

ebookSubmitted by Wolf Richter of WolfStreet.com

“Flat sales” are now a “welcome change.” The New Normal.

National restaurant data and anecdotal evidence has been piling up. “T Vogel,” a commenter on WOLF STREET, put it this way:

My wife and I make almost 30k more than the median family income in my town (northern CA) with no kids. Our rent just went up by 1k a month – landlord selling – starter houses are selling at 500k.

We are not spending a dime more than needed. I plan to skip our weekly night eating out now.

They’re not the only ones to skip restaurants. Costs are going up, not just of restaurant meals, but of life in general. Incomes are lagging behind. And consumers are adjusting…. That’s what a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll of more than 4,200 U.S. adults confirmed today.

One-third of the respondents said they were eating in restaurants less often than three months ago. The poll was conducted in the second half of January. Of them, 62% cited cost as the primary reason.

Restaurant prices have been rising. The price index for “food away from home,” a subcategory in the Consumer Price Index, increased between 2% and 3% every year since 2012. In January, it rose 2.4% year-over-year. Those price increases are cumulative, and they add up after a while.

It’s not just that eating out is getting more expensive; it’s that stretched households are pushed by price increases elsewhere to divert some of their limited means from eating out to other expenditures.

Yet grocery stores aren’t reporting blockbuster numbers either, Bob Goldin, partner at food industry strategy firm Pentallect, told Reuters. “There’s more splintering of the food dollar, and the pie isn’t growing,” he said. “Where you spend has changed more than the amount you spend.”

The national averages, as seen from the restaurant’s point of view, bear that out.

In its most recent Restaurant Performance Index, the National Restaurant Association lamented “soft same-store sales and customer traffic readings” in December, which kept the Current Situation Index (tracking same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures) in contraction mode for the third month in a row:

• 42% of operators said their same-store sales declined year-over-year.
• 47% of operators said their customer traffic declined year-over-year.

This sort of data has been coming out for a while. It got to the point where TDn2K titled its most recent Restaurant Industry Snapshot: “Flat Sales, Welcome Change for Restaurant Industry in January.”

And more specifically:

While same-store sales growth was flat (zero percent) in January, it represented a welcome break from the ten consecutive months of negative sales growth experienced by the industry through the end of last year.

These flat sales were a function of slightly higher per-person average spending and fewer people going to restaurants: same store traffic was down 2.5% monthly and 4.1% on a rolling three-month basis. As the report put it: “Although still negative, this was the best month for the industry since last May.”

On a two-year basis, same-store sales were down 0.8% from January of 2015.

There were some winners in January, with growing same-store sales: Upscale casual, family dining, and quick service. Casual dining “was able to achieve flat results in January,” hallelujah, thus breaking a streak of 13 months in a row of falling same-store sales.

And there were some losers with same-store sales declines, according to the TDn2K report: fine dining and fast casual.

You get the idea: It’s been so tough out there for restaurants that any sort of flat spot or even a smaller down-tick in the averages is welcome news for the industry. And it looks like it’s becoming a structural feature of the US economy, though not nearly as bad as the downward spiral of brick-and-mortar retail.

This of course contradicts the theory or hopes that millennials – who are said to prefer splurging money on “experiences,” such as eating out, rather than on products, such as clothes – would pull the restaurant business out of its funk.

That said, you wouldn’t necessary know this by walking around San Francisco. Yelp lists nearly 8,000 eating establishments in the City, many of them recent creations, including 500 cafés and 3,000 delis. A lot of the places are packed. Some can be impossible to get into on a Friday or Saturday night without a reservation days or weeks in advance. Others are nearly impossible to get into no matter when or what.

But then other restaurants are nearly empty. There has been a slew of recent restaurant closures, amid talk of a big shakeout, including something called the “Mid-Market Massacre” in an area around Market St., where restaurant after restaurant closes, done in by exorbitant rents, not enough traffic, too much competition, a finicky public that might have lost interest, and insufficient sales. So yes, it’s tough out there, even in San Francisco, in what must be one of the toughest businesses on earth.