The Summer Mixtape Issue The handelot times issue 09 2 Hello, everyone. Your friendly neighborhood author here. Welcome to the Summer Mixtape issue of The Handelot Times. A mixtape, for those uninitiated, is a set of songs carefully selected by one for packaging to another. Perhaps between siblings, perhaps between new love interests, perhaps as a Secret Santa gift to an unsuspecting recipient. For the maker, it’s important to get the song selection just right. Not too much of one kind of music, not too many songs by the same artist. Not too many old, and not too many new. And the flow of the music is absolutely everything. For the listener, it’s the chance to have their world expanded through new sounds and new ideas. I believe the articles in this edition, while dealing with a wide array of issues, fit together like that perfect mixtape. We’ve got old favorites like Takeaways From The East and The Old Hand, hot stories such as the release of the OnePlus 6, all together with brand new territory for the Times - a feature on the mushrooming smart home appliances market and a peek at how e-residency in Estonia could help your business gain a foothold in Europe. All for your leisure, all for your information. Summer, for inexplicable reasons, is the time when music sounds best coming out of car stereos and Bluetooth boomboxes. As you enjoy your summers, The Handelot Times has you locked down with informative and engaging content that will help propel your business long after the summer heat has passed. This mixtape is for you, the trader. Enjoy! Stay safe out there this summer. Brendan 3 2. Intro 3. Index 4. Quick hits 5. Sound Business 6-7- E-nation: Estonia 8-12. Taha’s Company Interview: Yukatel 14-16. OnePlus 3 17. Uniqbe 18-19. ZTE: Cought in the Middle 20-21. Najibs Corner- Hope is on the rise 22-23. VIP Gold Members 24-27. The Old Hand- Don’t be silly!!! 28. Top 10 Trades in July- Mobility & Inhome 29. Logistics and Services on handelot.com 30-31. The History of Smartphones 32. Advertise with us! 33. H-asia 34-35. Brendan's TECH GOLD RUSH 36-37. Takeaways From The East 38. VIP Stamps 39. RationalFX 40-41. Mobile Tech Missteps 42. handelot offices 4 QUICK HITS Important news from around the tech world. The United States Department of Commerce announces deal with Chinese mobile manufacturer ZTE to lift its ban on trade with American tech firms. For more on this story, see page __ of this issue. TechCrunch reports that Martin Tripp has filed a whistleblower claim against Tesla Inc., who allegedly manufactured defective batteries and used waste materials in production of their vehicles. Tripp is a former Tesla employee who was fired earlier this year for leaking sensitive information about company operations. Concurrently, Forbes reports that Elon Musk has unveiled plans to open a Tesla plant in Shanghai’s Lingang industrial zone. Dubbed “Gigafactory 3”, it will be a multi-billion dollar undertaking, following in the footsteps of the Gigafactories which preceded it. Cloud security firm Netskope has announced that it has acquired startup Sift Security, per a report from TechCrunch. The two will work together to secure cloud infrastructure services for the likes of Amazon and Google, with Sift CEO Neil King leading the Netskope product management team from here on. Blockchain is the technology that fuels cryptocurrency, which The Handelot Times has touched on in the past. However, it is going to be used for much more: a blockchain-powered information registry called Dirt Protocol, who Forbes calls “the Wikipedia of data,” has raised USD $3 million in startup funding from 26 investors. Apple has spruced up its MacBook Pro laptop line, continuing to cater to their professional-minded consumers ahead of their typical fall product unveilings. The new MacBooks include faster Intel chips, screens updated with True Tone technology, and expanded support for their previously-unveiled Hey Siri function. Two weeks after its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Bloomberg Financial reports that Xiaomi’s value increased 13 percent above its initial stock offering, from HK $17 to $19. The Handelot Times: Design: Adam Mieloszynski Chief Copywriter: Brendan James Copywriter: HANDELOT AMBASSADOR Kazi Najib Ashraf Copywriter: The Old Hand Associates of the organisation: Taha Tuzuner - Business Consultant Team Leader
 Dima Malovanyi - Business Consultant Team Leader 
Alicja Lipka - Business Consultant
 Omar Benabdellah - Business Consultant Koushik Deka– Business Consultant
 Jon Rodriguez - Business Consultant Jack Serdak - Business Consultant
 Iryna Mats – Customer Service/Sales Assistant Administration Katarzyna Mroczkowska – Customer Service Paulina Franikowska - Franikowska Julita Lech - Customer Service Basak Senturk – Customer Service
 Afiana Yuliasari - Customer Service Team Leader Elzbieta Kajdzik – Customer Service Olha Golovata - Administration Agnieszka Pulawska – CFO Valentyn Petruchek – Head of Development Cesar Gonzalez Patryk Skowron Advertising: For quotes please email times@handelot.com or call us at +48717152600. 05. Sound BUsiness 06-07. Estonia ESTONIA: THE E-NATION Earlier, in our article about smart appliances, we mentioned that major telecom companies would begin offering 5G connectivity by the end of the year. What we didn’t reveal is that there is a place on Earth where the new connectivity standard is already in force. As of June 2018, mobile provider Elisa is offering 5G in the Finnish city of Tampere, as well as Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The fact that the Estonian capital is at the vanguard of a breaking technology may not be news to those in the know. For those uninitiated, the tiny country in the western corner of the former USSR has spent the past fifteen years building its tech credibility by giving the world Skype, the most widely-used teleconferencing tool on the planet. Under the government’s e-Estonia initiative, they have established wifi hotspots everywhere from city centers to castles to forests to islands, as well as set up a heavily-encrypted smart-ID card network that lets citizens access their medical records, check out library books, and even vote online. You wish you were born here, don’t you? Well, guess what? You, too, can become a citizen of Estonia. Well...an e-citizen, at least. In late 2014, the Estonian government branched out to offer its e-Residency program to anyone who wishes to have a connection to the Baltic state. While not giving an individual the right to physically enter or reside on Estonian territory, it allows a unique opportunity for business owners to establish themselves in a European country. The Estonian e-Residency program allows for company formation and access to banking and payment processing services. Once an applicant submits a scan of their passport and a motivational statement, they are invited to Tallinn (or an Estonian embassy) for an interview, with the ID card (pictured above) issued upon its successful completion. Since going online four years ago, over 30,000 people have applied to become e-Residents. The most promising success stories tell tales of fledgling entrepreneurs who were able to keep their business afloat through this initiative, being given easier access to operating licenses and permits. What’s more, e-Residency has been a blessing to business in places where the political and economic situation stifles the ability to turn a profit. If you are looking for your firm to establish a foothold in a European country, at a cost of fifty euros, you practically can’t afford to not take a chance for yourself! The Handelot Times looks forward to bringing you more on the evolution of Estonia’s digital society in future issues. Photo by Masayuki (Yuki) Kawagishi https://www.flickr.com/photos/_yuki_k_/20812882633, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66408025 08-12. Yukatel - Pioneer in Dropshipping 121. How did you start with mobile phones? I have always been interested in in new technologies and I also studied telecommunications. When the mobile business was born, I decided to put more focus on this industry taking into account my my vision. I was a fresh graduate with more technical skills rather than commercial, but I was not willing to give up. 2. The system that you have built is impressive. Who is the author of it? And could you give me more information about the system? There are two authors: theory and practice. For sure, experience and ideas from others are super important. Once you have got them in place be ready to invest, but the most important aspect except of having an idea is the drive to succeed, then the IT base will come. 3. Where did the idea come from? Who started to buy in bulk and split it into smaller quantities to sell in shops? We started as a retail shop before becoming a B2B business. Meanwhile, we had a chance to understand market needs. Also, we are one of the oldest companies in the market and it’s an advantage. 4. Was it hard in Germany as a foreigner to succeed? Absolutely no. Germany is a social country. 5. Is it easy to run a business in Germany? We can all say there are some countries that are more easy to run a business in than others. But in Germany there is a stable system and every person has the same rights. 6. How is business at the moment? Can you say a little bit about the past, present, and the future of mobile phones? The mobile business is still growing. The phone replacement cycle is getting narrower but it’s not just related to broken devices. It's also related to technology changes. The mobile sector is like a bakery: people won’t stop buying bread! Of course there are some changes, but there are always opportunities due to having a lot of consumption and customers wanting to stay with the newest trends. 7. What would you advise to the new generation of traders on how to become successful? To be an entrepreneur is really important. There are a lot of opportunities in our market. For example our sector is not like the construction business, where you build and sell. We do buy and sell. If you have good and reliable sources, especially in the wholesale market, you can always be successful. Moreover, honesty, taking responsibility and capability are the most important. 8. Are you happy with the investment in handelot, and would you recommend the advertising campaign to other people? Everyone should use marketing methods even they have different strategies which suits them. We prefer to work with Handelot to put advertisements on the web and in the magazine. 9. Just a few questions about our relationship: a. Why did you join Handelot originally? Handelot is one of the leading platforms in B2B market. We always work with companies which are beneficial for us. b. How Handelot influenced your growth? We want to keep our position and well-known name in the market. After all, we also want to expand our business to every possible point. This is our purpose, and I think Handelot has a very good business partner to achieve this. c. What is the best about Handelot in your opinion? They are honest, competitive and a well-known platform in the market. d. How would you describe your relationship with our team? Serious, sympathetic and competitive. 10. Thanks for your kind and honest answers, would like to add something? Our name, market reputation and quality are so important for Yukatel. We always have various stocks, an experienced team and amazing credit and feasibility reports if needed, we can prove it. Our turnover in 2010 was 52 million, and last year it was 500 million. 13. Yukatel Pioneer in Distribution 14-16 OnePlus 3 17. Uniqbe 18-19. ZTE Cought in the Middle CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE: ZTE Chinese tech firms find their futures on the line in today’s global market. The United States and China are in a good old-fashioned trade war with each other in the year 2018. As the US is seeking to recover from alleged intellectual property theft and unfair trading practices, the White House is leveraging tariffs against all manner of imported Chinese goods. The trade war is stoking fears of the other side, making Americans generally reluctant to engage with the other side through both consumption and business. Most of all, it is having a disastrous impact on the mobile industry, and the fallout for one firm has been particularly devastating. Chinese mobile device manufacturer ZTE was recently forced out of business, shuttering global operations after targeted sanctions were put in place stopping American firms from doing business with them. As ZTE was being denied components to manufacture their phones such as Qualcomm chipsets and open-source Android software, the only alternative left was to disappear. The ban is rooted in ZTE’s guilty admission that they had sold American mobile technology to Iran and North Korea, two states with which the US has historically had tense and cold relations. Although the mobile manufacturer fessed up, agreeing to reprimand executives and pay a hefty fine of USD $890 million, the US continued to accuse them of deception and not following through on their agreed punishment. The trading ban swiftly came down on April 15, and ZTE announced its shut down of operations in early May. It appears that all is not lost, however. In early July, TechCrunch reported that the US Department of Commerce announced it had reached a deal with ZTE to lift the ban. So long as a deposit in excess of USD $400 million is made, a new security monitor is brought on board, and a further USD $400 million transfer is arranged, ZTE will be allowed to get its technology from the US once again. The deal also required a complete turnover of the firm’s executive board, which as of the time of printing had been completed. The story of ZTE’s trials and tribulations has a happy ending, or at least a happy pause. The trade ban has been one of the most pointed and ferocious ever levied by the US government. Even though it has been lifted, it is by no means the end of the potential troubles for Chinese mobile firms. Ars Technica reports that Huawei has had trouble locking down mobile carrier deals with American providers due to deep suspicions about their devices being used to spy on US citizens, leading to an unofficial blacklist of Huawei products from being sold there. What’s more, the current presidential administration has blocked multiple deals for Chinese companies to by American semiconductor manufacturers. These pieces of news do not bode well for the future. As Xiaomi attempts its inroads into the American market, they too will likely be met with resistance and reluctance, despite having a clean record and are every bit as ambitious and dynamic as an American firm. The current trade climate ensures that, sadly, like will not recognize like. 20-21. Najib's Corner Hope is on the rise We are all waiting for the new iPhone to arrive, but something must be up - the CPO for the iPhone X has already hit store shelves. These are strange events that have never before happened in the world of mobile phones. The iPhone 8 has been strangely dropped from the CPO line, and has been boosted to the top of the line. The Middle East trading scenario has been bumpy since the beginning of the year with the inclusion of the VAT in the UAE. Here’s the whole picture: the trade barriers that came with the implementation of the IMEI number law in Iran had initially choked the trading game. Adding to this has been the restriction on all mobile imports from Saudi Arabia through grey channels. One can clear goods in Saudi only if they have the official, stamped letter from the manufacturer and relevant authorities from the country of origin. With Iran and Saudi off, trading on the grey lines is a difficult proposition. Qatar has been blocked due to the regional situation, so no stock is currently flowing there, and Iraq’s major stock intake used to be for Iran. In country UAE business has been decreasing due to the VAT law, as well as vagueness on rules for hand carry passengers at the airport. Traders have been moving to the Freezone, but then where to sell? This is the current challenge that has been haunting the local trade, and a new wave is upon the region to redefine the overall game of mobile trading and retail. Adding to this, the USED trade isn’t faring that well either due to shortage of supplies and US players are finding it more lucrative to either sell the products in country or send them to Europe. Prices in the Middle East are being compared to the refurbished stock locally, and that is not going to disappear quickly. Used stock must be positioned and sold as-is to the end consumer rather than being repacked and sold as new. What is the new wave and the alternatives at this stage? For the end users, online stores have been doing great with true value for money. Organized retailers on the top and low end are faring well to some extent, but the mid-tier ones are truly struggling. So, where does this whole situation bring the region to? There is an enormous potential and opportunity in smart retail. As the region rapidly moves towards normalization as in Western Europe and the US, there is a growing need from the handset manufacturers, network operators and retailers to join hands and bring forth the offering to the end users. The focus should now shift to the user rather than their wallet. The manufacturers should seriously strive to investigate the need of the end users. Earlier, the user was simply handed over to the point of sale; sellers had no interest other than to make a sale, not recognizing the needs of the end user. Retailers should move beyond just offering loyalty programmes and should go the extra mile to cater to the customer needs. As the mobile market gets more and more commoditized, what offerings can there be for the consumers? Can anything be learned from the Consumer Electronics business? The move towards online stores is unstoppable now; for brick and mortar stores to continue, they would need a local value proposition to stay afloat. The new generation neither has the time or the attention span to wait. For traders this is a wake-up call. The region is changing swiftly. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. For tips regarding smart retail you can always contact me at kazi.najib@playtorium.com 2. MOBILITY PLATFORM: ABC Data S.A. Bluefin Century s.r.o. BM Electronics FZCO Cell-Tel MIDDLE EAST LLC Central point Europe s.r.o. Domo Trading Limited Eurostar Global Electronics Ltd GERSIM IMPEX HTP Intrade d.o.o. Jupiter GSM Komputronik S.A. LMD Telecom Ltd NOVAPHONE sp. z.o.o S.K Parktel Sp. z o.o. Phone Parts Express PPA International AG Prestige Group Srl Q-Conn GmbH Rixos FZE SELTE SPA SG SPA SGM Socher Inc Sound Business Tekpoint GmbH Telpur Srl XTG sp. z o.o. Yukatel GmbH ------------------ INHOME PLATFORM: BM ELEctronics FZCO Domo Trading Limited Intrade d.o.o. LMD Telecom Ltd] Q-CONN GmbH SELTE SPA SG SPA Segment Bilgisayar Dış Tic. Ltd.Şti. SGM Socher Inc 24. The End Times Are Near? Don’t Be Silly! Having been in the business of smartphone distribution for many years (28 in fact), I get rather bored of hearing the cynics beating on the same drum over and over again. Will we ever do another deal? There’s no profit anymore! Its over! Well it’s not over! In fact it’s just started. Let me tell you why. The latest figures released show that in the first quarter of 2018, there was a global distribution reduction across the whole manufacturing spectrum by an average of 29%. Now that’s big! It’s only big because what we now have in place is a mature market and not an emerging market, or rather, one that is growing. Its taken over 30 years to grow, but it finally got there. Now that its fully grown up, we as traders and entrepreneurs should be in is a position to capitalise on that mature market. It didn’t disappear, its still there! It’s just changed into something else. Smartphones are embedded into our DNA. There are seven billion people in the world today, and approximately 2.5 billion are smartphone users. Most people would pay their smartphone bill before putting food on their table. So don’t worry guys, people will still be purchasing smartphones for a long time to come. Do you seriously think you won’t make any money from the game? Shortly there will be many casualties coming down the road. Big hitters and famous names alike. I personally think Samsung will suffer in this new environment. I, for one, won’t shed a tear for them. They have had their day, made their loot and now they must graciously give up the ghost and allow others to have a share. In my day I have seen the top spot jump from Motorola to Nokia, from Nokia to Rim, from Rim back to Nokia, from Nokia to Apple and from Apple to Samsung. Now we have rising up from the Far East many young companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi, for which an Android system offers much better value for exactly the same product as produced by the top spot players. So hey Samsung, maybe it’s time to step down graciously and allow someone else to have a bit of glory. Of course, that won’t happen! Anticipating the drop in distribution figures, Apple announced that they had reduced their future orders on components and parts by 20%. Saying that, I think Apple will remain in vogue for a time to come, after all they still have their IOS system, most people feel that changing from IOS to Android would be the same as needing a brain transplant. However this is most certainly not the case - if you think that, then maybe a brain transplant should be an option for you. So where do we go from here guys? More importantly, and due to the vendor’s reduction in volume, what will the vendors do to try to rectify the situation? The first thing they will do is panic. This will be due to the fact that their shareholders will be well and truly banging on their doors for their share of the diminishing profits. So I guess that for a start they will make rash decisions. After all, desperate people always do desperate things. It’s very possible that they will relax their distribution model and allow easier access to their product through less controlled channels. What does that mean for us? Well, what that means for us is that we will have easier access to the product at better prices. We will first get access to it, most importantly, and if we are very clever we will be able to sell it. After all guys, isn’t that what we are good at? During the vendors moments of despair they will irrationally attack anyone who they think is taking a margin away from them. Beware the used market! Non-genuine parts will become a major issue, so unless you are selling used smartphones that are recycled from harvested parts off original products, or you are selling graded handsets that have never been tampered with, you may be in for a shock! To scare us off, the vendors will blame us for their market depreciation and attack us with litigation and legislation. If all we are left with is recycled smartphones using harvested parts along with original graded handsets, I for one say “now that’s a real business.” We can surely and safely make some loot out of that. Its preferable to trying to surf our way through the abundance and availability of some of the suspect and poor quality used product available in the marketplace today. Don’t worry guys, the used market is still growing by an average of 7% annually, and if we play our cards right it’s not going anywhere in the short- to medium-term future. At least that’s what the analysts are saying! Of course the vendors don’t like the used business. They don’t like any business if it involves someone else making a profit off of their intellectual property. Now that we have the decline on new products, they will undoubtedly blame someone else for it. That will inevitably be the parallel trade. But hey, I purchased it and I’ll do what I want with it. Try and stop me if you dare! Keep The Faith The Old Hand 28. Mobility Top 10 1. Apple 1717 Trades 2. Samsung 1657 Trades 3. Xiaomi 632 Trades 4. Huawei 429 Trades 5. Samsung LCD 375 Trades 6. Nokia 286 Trades 7. Sony 187 Trades 8. Motorola 181 Trades 9. LG 177 Trades 10. Blackberry 91 Trades Inhome Top 10 1. Samsung 280Trades 2. LG 278 Trades 3. Sony 194 Trades 4. Canon 122 Trades 5. Microsoft 62 Trades 6. Nintendo 58 Trades 7. GoPro 28 Trades 8. Philips 25 Trades 9. Toshiba 17 Trades 10. Hitachi 14 Trades 30. THE SMARTPHONE: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? The mobile phone turns 35 this year. Without meaning to belabor the point too much, it has come a long way since the release of Motorola’s DynaTAC, which had been in development since the mid-1960s, but finally released to the public in 1983. Devices from these early days are referred to as “bricks” due to their bulky size. Indeed, one could do worse to shield themselves against the elements than to make a shelter out of discarded DynaTACs. Ever since manufacturers made phones portable, it was always the goal to make them pint-sized - a goal achieved in spades. By the late 90s, these mobile manufacturers got the form factor down to the size of a candy bar. Further innovations to the core concept however came slowly; text messaging capabilities were added to supplement voice calls, and cameras began to be a staple after the turn of the millennium. Still, these devices were relatively lacking in tech specs, but the next decade’s leap in technology gave phones the power that we now value them for. Upon the release of the first iPhone by Apple, whose adverts touted the ability to look at the “actual internet” on the device as a major selling point, the smartphone unlodged the long dreamed-of “smart watch” (more on this in a moment) as the device of the future. The rest is a history that we’re living. MMS came along as SMS became its own kind of communication entirely, further bolstered by the advent of emojis. With respect to cameras, there haven’t just been more megapixels or more lens options, but more cameras altogether! Dual-camera setups are now the norm. Messaging, photography and videography innovations integrated into mobile phones have ballasted social media and shaped the instantaneous sharing culture of the present day, with the newest innovation being the addition of augmented reality and virtual reality technologies into device firmware, making use of those dual cameras. Whether doing tasks for ourselves, engaging with others or sharing with the world, we turn to our smartphones for everything. So what now? YouTube channel Unbox Therapy, renowned for its reviews of smart devices (as well as the packaging itself), released a video essay about the state of the market entitled “The TRUTH About Smartphones in 2018”. In the piece, host and channel founder Lewis Hilsenteger discusses the possibility that there isn’t much more than manufacturers can pack into devices (especially if they continue to get smaller), and that releasing the next edition of their top-of-the-line smartphones every year is becoming unnecessary. He notes that “all smartphones seem to be pretty good.” By which he means to say that innovations in key phone components such as the camera and the phone have become more and more slight which each passing year. Smartphones are all pretty good, but they’re also all pretty much the same. Hilsenteger brings up the example of the iPhone X and its notorious “notch” at the top of its screen. It serves no functional purpose, yet many manufacturers have introduced as an aesthetic component in their newest flagship devices (yes, even our champion, the Plus One 6). As a result in this reduction of innovation, he posits, consumers have less of an appetite for yearly phone upgrades, which he believes has led do the decline in overall smartphone shipments in China (a trend previously covered by The Handelot Times). Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Xiaomi may not be the only firm keeping its head above water, but it is the only firm thriving in spite of this trend. Yes, they are on the notch bandwagon, but the firm also produces an aesthetically pleasing phone with just about every release. It’s about more than the physical with Xiaomi - it’s all about the social as well. They are a firm that is becoming known for their interaction with customers; it would be easy to say that they are building a rabid fanbase, but really they are fostering a community. This approach makes for a better product (the company does take feedback from Xiaomi diehards and incorporates it) and a satisfied community (who are plied with exclusives and deals on the newest devices). Without retreading ground that the Handelot Times has already covered, it is evident that Xiaomi will be powered by this symbiotic relationship into the next decade and possibly beyond. The future of the smartphone is not a heretofore unseen innovation, nor is it innovation for innovation’s sake - one can only stuff so much tech into a tiny box. The open, busy lines of communication between manufacturer and customer, as Xiaomi demonstrates, is. 34. Brendans Tech crunch A TECH GOLD RUSH: SMART HOME APPLIANCES With 5G internet connectivity just around the corner, smart household appliances are a ballooning market that’s a wellspring of untold potential. The Internet of Things. Or IoT for short. Are you familiar with that term? If not, no matter. When opportunities to trade these new-fangled objects of desire present themselves - and they will, given that the market started with one million appliances shipped in 2014 and will blossom to hundreds of millions in just a few short years! - you will make it part of your everyday vocabulary and be singing its praises. The IoT, referring to a network of computers, devices, and objects that help them work together in a home or business, is a concept that will become more self-evident once 5G mobile technologies become available. The moment of their release is imminent, with the world’s largest telecom companies promising availability by the end of 2018. Once in place, the wide-open smart appliances market will be a mad dash for prestige, profitability, and pursuit of the sale. What appliances will make up the IoT? Look around your home, and what you see is what it will be. Daily staples such as refrigerators, stoves, ovens, and washing machines will coexist on home networks alongside other essentials such as thermostats, lights, and your car. Even your running gear is currently being designed to connect with the internet! IoT-connected smart home appliances are about more than just being able to control your home from your phone, even though this is a key feature. Smart devices of the near future will also be able to communicate with each other through machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, acting in tandem to keep the status quo of a given environment. And though a lot of focus is on home appliances right now, businesses - those particularly in the field of logistics - also stand to profit a great deal from M2M tech. It will soon be a feature of public infrastructure, from traffic control to highway construction to public works utility monitoring. Of course, security systems also stand to benefit from M2M. This vision of the future is much closer than you think, and the opportunities for cashing in on it are here and now. The market is growing so quickly that time is making a fool of analysts, who can’t make accurate predictions on the potential at hand! For example, Statista reported that 223 million million smart home appliances would be shipped by the year 2020, their numbers coming from data conjured up in 2015. However, a March report by IDC said that the number of devices shipped in 2017 alone topped 434 million! They further forecast that this number will grow by 18.5% a year to reach 939.7 million devices shipped in the year 2022. What’s interesting to note, though, is that the boom of smart home appliances is having a stifling impact on the sales of traditional home appliances. Retail Insight Network writes that the “do it for me” trend, in which time-strapped consumers are eager to buy automated devices such as the Roomba to help them with chores, will be instrumental in a market downshift. The traditional appliances market is forecast to suffer a 0.7% drop in sales for 2018, with smart floor cleaners that cannot connect to the IoT predicted to undergo a two percent drop. Back to the bottom line: zero to a billion in under ten years. That means there is virtually limitless potential for your firm to add smart appliances to your shipping mix for a great reward. With success all but guaranteed, it’s reminiscent of the gold rush days of the Wild Wild West, when promises of fortune drove adventurous souls into new territory to strike it big. You’d best get after it! As 19th century prospectors used to say, “there’s gold in them there hills!” 38. Pricelist handelot 39. Logistics and Services on handelot 40. Offices Handelot FZC E LOB office no E-42G-12 Hamriyah Freezone Sharjah United arabic emirates PO BOX 53224 Poland HECC Sp. z o.o. A. Ostrowskiego 30/ 327 53-238 Wroclaw NIP: 8971756584 www.handelot.com