February Round Up
Where tech goes to be reborn and I'll go for cocktails at 15:30...
Items of interest that are on the periphery or weren’t quite meaty enough to write a single post about (yet) include:
Foxway's Q4 results landed1 and it appears my crystal ball needs refurbishing2. I based my revenue prediction on Foxway’s Q4 2023 results which proved to be too bullish. They ended up recording SEK 1,814.2m (EUR 156m) in revenue, a 7.5% decrease on Q4 2023 and 14.9% down on Q3 2024. For the full year, they managed SEK 7,804.6m (EUR 672.1m), which fell well short of my projected SEK 8,175m (EUR 703m). The negative growth reflects the ongoing segment volatility that I highlighted. I’ll publish a short update next week with more details.
The Retech Days Europe conference agenda3 was published this month and caught my attention for asking some of the questions I’ve been pondering: “What is behind the refurbished boom: value for money, environmental awareness?”; “European refurbished smartphones market: can it continue to rise?”; “Supply challenges: is there enough volume to match the demand?”. Despite feeling a bit like a self-help course for the sector, I think the agenda is spot on and if you’re a bit down after the sessions, there’s always cocktails at 15:30. Nice.
Once upon a time, I travelled often to India on business. I miss it sometimes, although not the 50% hit rate on the stomach issues. During one of those trips back in 2017, the buzz began when Apple began assembling entry phones and legacy models through contract partners. Fast forward to 2021-22 when the iPhone 14 models were produced and to today with Foxconn now producing the iPhone16 Pro in Tamil Nadu. An excellent FT article4 this month covers the ongoing transition from China. Currently about 15% of Apple’s phones are produced in India, a number which is expected to rise to 25% by 2027. That’s a lot of kit. You’ll need a subscription to read the full article, or some decent glasses for the reddit ripoff.
Reconext, the combined Teleplan and Clover Wireless rebranded entities5 announced an expansion of UK facilities6. According to their post, the new facility in Havant “provides in-country repair, refurbishment, and recovery services—maximizing asset value, streamlining reverse logistics, and supporting sustainability goals”. Looking at the latest filed accounts from Teleplan (FY2023), the principle activity for the firm is the “return management and repair and refurbishment of electronic devices and recycling”. Management also indicate that despite being dormant, the company is expected to resume operations in the 4th quarter of 2024.
All eyes are peeled for the upcoming changes at Eurostar Global Electronics. Name change or something bigger7? The distribution firm posted FY2024 results (for YE 30/04/2024) at the end of January with a drop in sales of just over 12% from £133.7m in 2023 to £117.3m in 2024. Slight gains in European sales were entirely eaten up by larger reductions in UK and RoW sales. Cost of goods sold declined at a very slightly higher rate giving gross profit a bit of a bump. I noted that management have employed additional sales staff over the year which has probably contributed to the increase in administrative expenses and therefore the decrease in profit. Sounds like good news as that feels like investment.
The one area that really intrigues me right now is recycling and particularly materials reclamation. It’s partly because I’m just not seeing enough about it and I’d like to understand this fundamental aspect of the circular economy in far more detail. So it was good to read that Toronto based rare earth element (REE) recycling provider Cyclic Materials extended its series B funding round to $55 million with an additional $2 million from InMotion Ventures. I’m probably not hanging around the right LinkedIn groups. If anyone can highlight some decent groups to join or companies to follow, please let me know.
There was an announcement on MacRumours8 that Apple are withdrawing single premium AppleCare+ policies from their U.S. retail stores. Monthly subscriptions are set to continue however and there was no announcements specific to other countries. Any changes to AppleCare could be meaningful, so I’ll continue to keep an eye out. The only change I noted on the UK store this month was the introduction of pricing for the iPhone16e at £159 or £7.99/mo for AppleCare Plus with Theft and Loss and £99 or £4.99/mo for the accidental damage only version.
Glow Financial Services announced that they’ve secured a new funding line to the tune of $200m from Citi and Pollen Street Capital9. Glow are the “leading vertical SaaS, all digital solution for mobile operators, OEMs and consumer electronics retailers” providing three dynamic platforms: the FinTech, the InsurTech, the GreenTech, or financing, insurance and trade-in for the plain English speakers amongst us.
Apparently, things are moving fast for Servify. Following on from my note in the January Round Up, the IPO is full steam ahead for August10 with valuation of $1.5bn and a target raise of $400m to $600m.
It’s always good to get some validation. In my quick survey for the New and Refurbished Device Insurance article last September, I was surprised by the number of people purchasing their devices directly from manufacturers. It turns out that CCS Insight have landed on the same conclusion11. Their survey identified that more than a fifth of people now buy their personal device directly from Apple or Samsung. I got 23%, so we’re in the same ball park. There are all sorts of implications, some of which I discuss in the UK Mobile Trade-in Market Analysis.
For those of that were interested in the Carbon Emissions article I wrote, I missed this announcement on from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on emissions accounting in January: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ghg-emissions-accounting
And finally, for anyone going to #MWC2025, feel free to ping me for a catch up.
Peace,
sb