Watchmakers fret over China sales slump

By Silke Koltrowitz

BASEL (Reuters) - Luxury watchmakers expect sales growth to slow this year as a recovery in the United States and buoyant Middle East demand fail to offset a China slump more deep-rooted than a temporary blip caused by anti-corruption moves.

The heads of Swatch Group's biggest brand Omega and LVMH flagship brand TAG Heuer as well as high-end independents Patek Philippe and Ulysse Nardin all said demand in Greater China had tumbled, particularly for high-end models.

A weaker gold price, which hit a two-year low this month after gaining 52 percent over the last three years, was no help as most manufacturers had hedged their purchases.

"I bought my gold a year in advance," Walter von Kaenel, head of Swatch's midrange brand Longines told Reuters at the Baselworld watch fair this week.

Omega chief Stephen Urquhart said a lower gold price also made gold watches less appealing, particularly for those consumers who were buying them as an investment.

Luxury watch makers have expanded at breakneck speed in recent years in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as the mainland - and enjoyed double-digit sales growth rates there until last summer.

But their latest comments reinforce the view that the region, to which luxury group Richemont is the most exposed, is being hit by more than the government's crackdown on gifts for favours, which often involve watches, and is feeling the draught from a wider slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

"All watches costing more than 1,800 francs are having difficulties in China at the moment," said TAG Heuer Chief Executive Jean-Christophe Babin, soon to be head of LVMH's jewelery brand Bulgari.

TAG Heuer's watches sell for an average price of 4,500 Swiss francs and Omega's and Patek's price tags are well above that.

"We have felt the impact of the anti-corruption campaign in China," Patek Philippe's Thierry Stern said in an interview.

He said Patek had introduced new models at lower prices in Asia to address the drop in demand for pricey items.

But the head of Omega, one of the most popular luxury watches in China, said he was confident sales to Chinese customers worldwide would grow in 2013 - albeit at a slower pace than in 2012 - as they still bought a lot of watches abroad.

One bright note, Urquhart said, was that consumer confidence in mainland China had picked up after this year's leadership transition, meaning single-digit growth should be possible.

Patrik Schwendimann, analylst at Zuercher Kantonalbank, said: "It's a positive surprise that Omega still expects sales growth in single digits in mainland China this year."

Longines's von Kaenel said the midrange price category -- Longines is leader in the 800-3,000 franc segment-- was not affected by China's current frugality and slower sales in mainland China were compensated by strong demand in Hong Kong.

Swiss watch exports to China fell by more than 25 percent in the first quarter of 2013. Sales to Hong Kong, the biggest market for Swiss watches where mainland Chinese buy timepieces to avoid high taxes, were down 9.1 percent.

"We believe China's new President Xi Jinping's tough stance on corruption practices and extravagant spending are likely to limit the recovery of the illegitimate component of luxury demand this year ("gifting")," Citi said in a note.

"This is perhaps likely to have a greater impact on high-end watches as compared to the mid-range segment."

Consultancy Bain & Co is confident about demand for watches costing over 10,000 Swiss francs, forecasting their exports to rise about 9 percent annually until 2015 but high inventories in Greater China may hold back exports this year.

"We did interviews in China with retailers and it seems that in 2012 the sell-out (sales to end customers) rates were growing more slowly than the exports rates from Switzerland," said Gyorgy Konda, a partner at Bain & Co in Milan.

Longines' von Kaenel said Chinese retailers had excessive stock levels for some brands, but not for Longines, whose more affordable watches were not targeted by the anti-corruption drive.

Omega, Longines and Hublot executives agreed a healthy recovery in the United States and buoyant growth in the Middle East, particularly Dubai, would generate single-digit growth this year, a marked slowdown versus 11 percent growth in 2012.

(Editing by Astrid Wendlandt and David Cowell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/watchmakers-fret-over-china-sales-slump-154932919--sector.html

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Sheriff: 5 snowboarders killed in Colo. avalanche

GEORGETOWN, Colo. (AP) ? Authorities have recovered the bodies of five snowboarders who were killed in a backcountry avalanche on Colorado's Loveland Pass.

Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger said multiple search and rescue crews located the bodies Saturday. A sixth snowboarder was caught in the slide. That person's condition was unknown.

Krueger said authorities are pretty certain the snowboarders triggered the avalanche, which he said was about 600 yards wide and eight feet deep.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sheriff-5-snowboarders-killed-colo-avalanche-223833422.html

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'Married To Jonas' Doesn't Gloss Over Kevin And Danielle's 'Tough Times'

'I think the show itself has really taught us how to connect,' Kevin told MTV News.
By Christina Garibaldi

Joe and Kevin on "Jonas Brothers: Live From MTV"
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705993/married-to-jonas-new-season-preview.jhtml

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Some Calgary Families Are Finding the Mental Health Care System ...

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Source: http://mental-health.fitnessthroughfasting.com/sexual-gender-disorders/some-calgary-families-are-finding-the-mental-health-care-system-for-youth-hard-to-navigate.php

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Local Business Video Marketing Myth Busting | My Local Business ...

We Brits are continuing our love affair with video.? With 323 million hours watching online videos in February 2013, I?m surprised our eyes aren?t square!

When I discuss creating videos and video marketing with local businesses, I often get the same replies?

• Video marketing is too expensive
• My business doesn?t lend itself well to video
• I don?t have the equipment or technical know-how
• I don?t look good on camera (I can relate to that!)
• Oh, we?ll get a video made when? (insert event that never comes off here)

Let?s address the two main issues and look at how easily you can use video in your business.

1. Creating a video is expensive

The cost of video creation is perhaps the number one reason many businesses do not use video in their local online marketing mix.? I?m not saying that you shouldn?t save for a professional video shoot.? Often, small businesses are on a very tight budget ? do shop around.

The great thing is that viewers aren?t looking for something that looks like a multi-million pound blockbuster.? Your potential customers are looking for basic information about your products or services such as:

• before and after examples,
• testimonials,
• your product in action,
• how-to?s
• the people behind your business

All simple stuff.? By using video as well as images, you can connect with your potential customer on a much deeper level.

You can do that with a smartphone?

Even basic video cameras cost less than ?200 these days ? I have my eye on this Kodak Pocket Video Camera when I get over myself and talk on camera!? Oh, and if you go down buying a camera route, do get one that accepts an external mic.

You don?t need a video camera to create videos for your business.? I get traffic from YouTube daily from my screencast videos.? Ok, I?m not specifically a local business. Any consultant, coach or similar service can use the same technique.

I use Camtasia (admittedly not to its full potential!) and you can try it free for 30 days.? If the budget isn?t stretching to Camtasia, there is free screencast software available.? Try Camstudio or Ezvid.

You can take things even simpler and produce video slideshows of your images set to music.? You don?t even need to speak!? Windows has Movie Maker bundled in or if you want drag and drop, click a few buttons simple, try Animoto.

And, if you want some eye candy, well you can always do something like this?

Try Sparkol free for 7 days.

I think the key take away is don?t let a limited budget stop you from tapping into the video market.

?2.? My Business Isn?t Suited To Video

This excuse makes me chuckle.? I honestly can?t think of a business that could not use video as part of their marketing mix (if you can, please shout out in the comments!)

Video isn?t just about ads and how-to?s.? It can be used in so many ways and really humanises your business.

Entertainment

I think we?ve all heard of the ?Will it blend? videos from Blendtec.? It?s a blender ? can?t get much more unexciting.?

Yet, for six years they?ve been producing ?Will it blend? videos, destroying everything from glow sticks to iPhones and Justin Beiber to show how good their blenders are.? A bit of fun that caught the imagination of many and no doubt put their blender in front of people who wouldn?t have previously considered it.

Take a look at some of their early videos, they?re not as swishly produced as this Blending of Beiber?

Staying in the fun mode, down the road from me Warrington Market jumped in on the Harlem Shake craze and produced their own.? It even got them air-time on local TV too, that?s free publicity.? In the midst of a horse meat crisis, it tickled me to spot the panto horse dancing by the butchers?

Improve communication

On a more serious note, video can really help with your customer service and inspire trust in your business.? I watched a webinar by SEOMoz a few weeks back about using video in local marketing.? The example they gave was so simple, yet effective.

It was a construction based company, they installed windows, fascias and the like.? With an iPhone and an app to draw arrows (no fancy production) the contractor kept the client informed of where work was up to.? Just simple shots of their house and him chatting ? today we did this and this, tomorrow we?re finishing off that?

The videos were uploaded to YouTube, and the company has built a nice video portfolio of work that can be found in local searches as well as highlighting their communication.? How simple is that?? Watch the webinar here.

Support your clients

A couple of months ago, I was looking up some info on grief and I came across a video series on a funeral directors website.? It took a little while for me to dig the site back out.? Chandler Funeral Services Ltd are in Liverpool, Nova Scotia ? that explains how I found the site in the first place, obviously looking for something in Liverpool down the road?

On their website they have a grief video series, which provides a support service to their clients.? What I also discovered when I found the site again last night were the videos on the obituary pages.? They were really simple, tasteful slideshows of photos, ?Remembering the life of??? I thought it was a lovely touch.

Whatever line of business you?re in you can use simple videos to entertain, educate, inform and support.? These are not ads.? You?re not directly selling anything.

You are expanding your reach, providing information in a format people want to see and driving targeted traffic to your website.

Video Marketing Helps Sell Too

The Experian stats referred to right at the beginning of this blog post also found that online retailers benefited most from our love of video.? 16% of video viewers left to go directly to a transactional page.

Even a local business can expand reach by selling online, either through your own website or building a store on large sites such as Amazon, eBay, Folksy or Etsy and more.

Citation Building

As part of my Google Local package, I create a short slideshow video for my clients and upload it to a YouTube channel (also created for them).?

Both the video description and the channel have the business name, address and telephone details ? providing another simple citation source ? not to mention the videos also rank well in video search and with a bit of a prod rank well in local searches too.

Find out more about my Google Local packages

Local business video marketing needn?t be difficult or overwhelming. Simple videos really work well to drive traffic to your website and are fairly straight-forward to rank locally too.? I?ll cover that in another post.

Over to you?

Do you use video to expand your online reach and drive traffic to your website?? I?d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

Source: http://www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk/local-business-video-marketing/

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Strong quake hits China; 156 dead, more than 5,500 injured

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - A strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit a remote, mostly rural and mountainous area of southwestern China's Sichuan province on Saturday, killing at least 156 people and injuring about 5,500 close to where a big quake killed almost 70,000 people in 2008.

The earthquake, China's worst in three years, occurred at 8.02 a.m. (0002 GMT) in Lushan county near Ya'an city and the epicenter had a depth of 12 km (7.5 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake was felt by residents in neighboring provinces and in the provincial capital of Chengdu, causing many people to rush out of buildings, according to accounts on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging service.

State media said 156 people had been confirmed dead with more than 5,500 injured.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang said all efforts must be put into rescuing victims to limit the death toll.

After arriving at the disaster zone by helicopter, Li directed earthquake relief efforts from a plaza in Longmen township in Lushan, Xinhua said.

Li asked that a road be opened to Baoxing county, one of the most affected by the earthquake, and that rescuers "act quickly" in their efforts, Xinhua quoted Li as saying.

"The current most urgent issue is grasping the first 24 hours since the quake's occurrence, the golden time for saving lives," Xinhua news agency quoted Li as saying earlier.

Xinhua said 6,000 troops were heading to the area to help with rescue efforts. State television CCTV said only emergency vehicles were being allowed into Ya'an, though Chengdu airport had reopened.

Most of the deaths were concentrated in Lushan, where water and electricity were cut off. Pictures on Chinese news sites showed toppled buildings and people in bloodied bandages being treated in tents outside the hospital, which appeared only lightly damaged.

Rescuers in Lushan had pulled 32 survivors out of rubble, Xinhua said. In villages closest to the epicenter, almost all low rise houses and buildings had collapsed, according to footage broadcast on state television.

This aerial photo released by China's Xinhua news agency shows destroyed houses after a powerful earthquake hit Taiping town of Lushan County in Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, ... more? This aerial photo released by China's Xinhua news agency shows destroyed houses after a powerful earthquake hit Taiping town of Lushan County in Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Saturday, April 20, 2013. The powerful earthquake jolted Sichuan province Saturday near where a devastating quake struck five years ago. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Liu Yinghua) NO SALES less? ?

"We are very busy right now, there are about eight or nine injured people, the doctors are handling the cases," said a doctor at a Ya'an hospital who gave her family name as Liu.

The hospital was seeing head and leg injuries, she added.

"SHAKES AND TREMORS"

The China Meteorological Association warned of a possibility of landslides occurring in Lushan county on Saturday and Sunday, the agency said in a statement on its website.

A resident in Chengdu, 140 km (85 miles) from Ya'an city, told Xinhua he was on the 13th floor of a building when he felt the quake. The building shook for about 20 seconds and he saw tiles fall from nearby buildings.

Ya'an is a city of 1.5 million people and is considered one of the birthplaces of Chinese tea culture. It is also the home to one of China's main centers for protecting the giant panda.

"There are still shakes and tremors and our area is safe. The pandas are safe," said a spokesman with Ya'an's Bifengxia nature park, a tourism park that houses more than 100 pandas.

Shouts and screams were heard in the background while Reuters was on the telephone with the spokesman.

"There was just an aftershock, an aftershock, our office is safe," he said.

Numerous aftershocks jolted the area, the largest of which was magnitude 5.1.

Sichuan is one of the four major natural-gas-producing provinces in China, and its output accounts for about 14 percent of the nation's total.

Sinopec Group, Asia's largest oil refiner, said its huge Puguang gas field was unaffected.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially put the magnitude at 7, but later revised it down.

The devastating May 2008 quake was 7.9 magnitude.

(Additional reporting by Melanie Lee and Lu Jianxin in SHANGHAI and Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING; Editing by Jonathan Standing and Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/magnitude-6-9-quake-strikes-sichuan-region-china-002702079.html

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How long does Apple keep Siri user data? Two years.

But Apple says that six months after a Siri request or command is made, the phone number of the user is 'disassociated' with the audio clip in question.?

By Matthew Shaer / April 19, 2013

A user enters a command for Siri, Apple's voice-activated personal assistant.

Reuters

Enlarge

According to the privacy agreement for Apple's Siri service, Apple is authorized to collect and store data from user commands. But how long can Apple keep that data? This was the question posed earlier this week by a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, who registered her concerns in an interview with?Robert McMillan of Wired.

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And now we have an answer, courtesy of Apple spokeswoman?Trudy Muller: Two years. "If a user turns Siri off, both identifiers are deleted immediately along with any associated data," Ms. Muller told Wired.

In addition, she explained, six months after you issue a command or query to Siri, your phone number will be "disassociated" from the audio recording (although it will not be fully scrubbed from Apple servers for another 18 months after that). Apple says it uses all that data to help improve the Siri platform, and to better understand how consumers use the service. ?

As Darrell Etherington notes over at TechCrunch, Apple isn't exactly doing anything new here.?

"The bottom line is that if an app or service requires a data connection, in all likelihood there?s a back and forth transmission of information going on, and if privacy is one of your top-of-mind concerns, you should be cautious in any such situation," Etherington writes. "Apple?s policies with Siri seem no more or less egregious than any other, but it is nice to see the company spell it out in no uncertain terms."?

Monitor readers may remember that back in March of last year, IBM revealed that it had?banned employees from using Siri on company iPhones. The reason was simple: IBM has no control over (and not much information on) what Apple does with the data. ?

"We're just extraordinarily conservative," an IBM exec said at the time. "It's the nature of our business."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/4AsxPSBf4IM/How-long-does-Apple-keep-Siri-user-data-Two-years.

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