FTI Consulting News Bytes – 5 January 2024

FTI Consulting News Bytes

Happy New Year and welcome to the first News Bytes summary of 2024. It promises to be another exciting year in the world of TMT and the first few days have shown us just that.

We start with the news that a warehouse near you could soon feature a basketball court or art space in a bid by providers to attract more workers amid the increasing e-commerce demand. Elsewhere, the latest set of quarterly electric vehicle sales revealed that publicly listed Chinese multinational manufacturing company,  BYD came out on top with a record amount of sales, with Tesla in second place. All eyes then turn to findings from the University of Cambridge showing almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media. On the international front, the UK government has placed additional restrictions on the exportation of semiconductor technology to China in the last 12 months according to official export control figures. Finally, we finish with TikTok who are planning to put billions behind expanding their e-commerce business across the US and Latin America.

This week’s news

E-commerce to get refurb as warehouse companies aim to attract more employees

According to the FT, warehouse providers like Prologis and DHL are among many making extensive changes to their facilities to become more hospitable for hiring staff in an effort to keep up with demands across the e-commerce supply chain. Features such as football and basketball courts and the introduction of green areas and urban art spaces are just a few of the amenities being introduced to break away from the ‘industrial factory’ connotation. The article added that according to findings about 43 per cent of employers face moderate or severe problems recruiting warehouse personnel. Unions have however maintained that such benefits will not address the primary concerns around pay and the intense demand on workers to get deliveries out. 

China’s BYD overtakes Tesla’s electric car sales in last quarter of 2023

BYD sold more electric vehicles than Tesla in the last three months of 2023 as the two battled for the top spot in the sector. BYD said on Monday it had sold a record 526,000 battery-only vehicles in the final quarter of 2023. It marked the first quarter its battery-only sales have outpaced Tesla’s, following the company seeing demand slow as borrowing costs climb. However, for the whole of 2023, Tesla still sold more. On Tuesday, Tesla said it delivered a record 484,500 electric vehicles in the last three months of 2023 and 1.8 million for the year as a whole. Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, quoted in the BBC said that “as BYD has accelerated into the fast lane, it’s fresh evidence of just how competitive the EV market has become and how hard it will be for Tesla to swerve back to head the pack.” 

Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media, according to study 

Almost half of British teenagers say they feel addicted to social media, according to findings reported in the Guardian, which come amid mounting pressure for big tech companies to be held accountable for the impact of their platforms on users. The Millennium Cohort study, adds to evidence that many people feel they have lost control over their use of digital interactive media. The latest research, by Dr Amy Orben’s team at the University of Cambridge, used data from the Millennium Cohort study which is tracking the lives of about 19,000 people born in 2000-2002 across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. When the cohort was aged 16-18 they were asked, for the first time, about social media use. Of the 7,000 people who responded, 48% said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I think I am addicted to social media”. A higher proportion of girls (57%) agreed compared to boys (37%).

Britain cracks down on semiconductor sales to China

The UK Government has cracked down on the export of semiconductor technology to China amid a joint Western push to restrict Beijing’s access to advanced microchips. The Telegraph reports that official export control figures show that the Department for Business and Trade blocked the vast majority of licence applications for companies seeking to export semiconductor technology to China in 2023. In previous years, the Government was far more lenient about approving exports, the figures suggest. Several countries including the US, the Netherlands and Japan have agreed to work together to restrict Chinese access to high-tech semiconductor technology. Britain has not formally joined the deal but the figures suggest it is taking a tougher line. Concerns range from Chinese companies copying Western technology to the chips ending up inside weapons or artificial intelligence systems.

TikTok shop set for exponential growth

TikTok is aiming to grow the size of its US e-commerce business tenfold to as much as $17.5 billion in 2024 according to Bloomberg. In recent months the company’s e-commerce offering has benefited from its extensive social media reach and the allure of viral content to capture the market. The platform has now set its sights on cementing its place in both the US and Latin America markets. Reportedly, there are plans to diversify its revenue streams in a bid to challenge the likes of retail powerhouses like Amazon and other social media companies growing their e-commerce platforms. TikTok also recently announced its acquisition of GoTo Group’s e-commerce entity Tokopedia in Indonesia in a deal said to be valued at around $1.5 billion.  

Top Tweets of the Week

• BBC: Microsoft announces AI key on Windows 11 PCs
• High Pay Centre: NEW 🚨 | We have estimated that FTSE 100 CEOs’ earnings for 2024 will surpass the median UK worker’s full time annual salary today (4th January) – less than 3 working days into the new year
• FT UK Politics: Starmer issues call to arms to Labour activists ahead of UK general election

Number of the Week

$45,000 – The price of bitcoin surged past the $45,000 mark, its highest since April 2022, on speculation that the US authorities are close to approving the first mainstream crypto-focused exchange-traded fund