PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Five for Friday is a weekly feature to give a brief roundup of our top five stories from the week that you might have missed. Think we left anything out? Let us know your favourite stories of the week by pinging us a tweet @pcr_online.
‘Much more to come’: Channel reacts to ex-Enta boss Jason Tsai’s jail sentence
Crooked ex-Enta boss Jason Tsai’s 18 month jail sentence is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ according to many within the Channel. The Former Enta boss was jailed for 18 months, late last week. Found guilty of breaching a passport order, Tsai was also convicted for hiding assets from HMRC during Changtel’s insolvency. In total the High Court found Tsai guilty of 30 of the 53 alleged breaches that he was being tried for. Offences included hiding various bank accounts and properties from HMRC during its investigation, and also breaching orders preventing him leaving the country.
Dave Stevinson – the man left with the near impossible task of clearing up the mess at Enta, before it finally folded earlier this year – believes that Tsai’s sentence is just the beginning of this ‘sorry saga’. "Contempt of Court is a serious crime and a custodial sentence is not uncommon," he said. "Evidently there will be much more to come in relation to the VAT investigation of Enta Technologies and Changtel. So this is far from the end of the sorry saga."
‘Basket anxiety’ driving shoppers offline
Almost three quarters of British shoppers have abandoned their shopping baskets over security concerns or tedious payment processing, a new study has found.
According to new research from Visa, ‘basket anxiety’ is sweeping the nation, with 72 per cent of 1,000 Brits saying that they have deserted their prospective purchase. 76 per cent cite concerns over sharing personal information with unfamilar sites, while 59 per cent say that the rigamarole of additional payment steps has put them off their purchase.
In spite of these concerns, figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index earlier this year show that more than £130 billion was spent online in the UK over the past year. This is a figure that has been increasing year-on-year, with 66 per cent of millennials (people aged 18-34) now spend as much on websites and apps as they do on the high street.
Toshiba sale likely to drag on despite Western Digital agreement
Toshiba and Western Digital have reached a (sort of) agreement over the sale of the Japanese conglomerate’s chip business. Toshiba has agreed to give Western Digital two weeks’ notice before closing any sale of a memory chip unit that would involve transferring joint venture shares that Western Digital claims give it a say in the $18 billion sale of the unit.
And while it would appear that the much-anticipated sale of Toshiba’s valuable chip business is one step closer to finally going ahead, it will in reality drag on for a while longer yet. Notice from Toshiba to Western Digital will give the US firm the opportunity to come back to the court or an arbitration panel to argue for a chance to stop the deal.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix and Japanese-government backed banks that offered $18 billion and are reportedly Toshiba’s favoured offer. But that deal has not come together, so Toshiba’s board met last week to consider other bidders.
Exertis acquires service provider MTR Group
Exertis has expanded its portfolio by adding refurbishment and reverse logistics to its list of services. Acquiring MTR Group, Exertis will hope to build on the firm’s experience in second-generation lifecycle extension of mobile, wearable and tablet devices.
Exertis UK and Ireland managing director Gerry O’Keeffe believes that the strong relationship that MTR has with Samsung will enable Exertis to deepen its business entanglement with this key strategic brand as well as providing the opportunity to leverage MTR’s refurbishment and reverse logistics capabilities, and jointly expand these services to a wider range of potential partners.
Smaller cities fuel niche tech innovation with Reading and Liverpool IoT leaders
Smaller cities across the UK are fueling technology innovation in niche areas such as manufacturing, virtual reality and IoT production. London is still the UK’s technology hub, according to the fifth UK Tech Innovation Index compiled by the Open Data Institute and the Digital Catapult organisation. However areas outside the capital are showing signs of growth.
The survey, which takes in data from 36 of the largest UK cities across seven disciplines – IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), VR, data, health, creative and manufacturing – found that while London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Brighton and Southampton are the top five cities for data innovation, Reading and Liverpool are leaders in the internet of things (IoT).
