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Google Introduces Pixel 8A: A High-End Smartphone Masquerading at a Mid-Range Price

Ramon T. Llamas — Wed, 08 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday, May 7 Google announced the upcoming availability of its Pixel 8A smartphone. Sharing much of the same hardware and many of the same camera and AI features as its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro cousins, the Pixel 8A looks and feels like a high-end smartphone hiding behind a mid-range price ($499). Given Google’s history with the ‘A’ series, it can look forward to selling millions of units once again, but it faces a shrinking sub-$500 market where historically it has collected less than 1% market share. Still, with its compelling value proposition, the Pixel 8A – like its ‘A’ predecessors – should appeal to users looking to save money without sacrificing functionality.

SAP Q12024 Earnings: Solid Start as Cloud Continues Momentum

Mickey North Rizza, Daniel-Zoe Jimenez, Robert Parker, Bo Lykkegaard — Wed, 08 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Fujitsu ActivateNow 2024: Technological Innovations for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Lapo Fioretti — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective explores Fujitsu's strategic advancements in leveraging technology for sustainability and digital transformation. It highlights the significance of computing power and network enhancements in driving AI innovation, the development of the world's first 2nm processor for energy-efficient datacenters, and Fujitsu's road map in quantum computing. It also delves into the challenges and prospects of AI research, emphasizing the role of generative AI, the importance of computing in AI applications, and Fujitsu's efforts in AI-driven transformation initiatives.

"Fujitsu's vision for a sustainable future intertwines AI and quantum computing, driving innovation to tackle global challenges and redefine societal progress," said Lapo Fioretti, senior research analyst, Emerging Technologies and Macroeconomics at IDC.

IBM Maintains Momentum and Extends Its Hybrid Cloud and Automation Reach as AI Becomes the Next Strategic Workload

Rick Villars, Robert Parker, Ritu Jyoti, Jason Bremner, Stephen Elliot — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

IBM's earnings release for 1Q24 reported revenue of $14.5 billion (+3% y/y @ cc, +1% y/y as reported) – the balance of this document will use constant currency growth unless otherwise noted. IBM generated free cash flow of $1.9 billion for the quarter. Concurrent with its earnings release, IBM announced its intent to acquire HashiCorp Inc., a provider of multicloud infrastructure automation software, for $6.4 billion. IBM expects to close by the end of 2024, with HashiCorp operating as a division inside IBM.

Other important company metrics align with the currently positive, but uncertain outlook for 2024. Consulting signings were up 4% y/y, which yielded a current annual book to bill ratio of 1.15. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) on the software-side ARR (after removing The Weather Company and security services that were sold during the quarter) is now $13.9 billion, up over 8% y/y. In comments on the AI Pivot, CEO Arvind Krishna reported, "Book of business related to watsonx and generative AI (since launching in May 2023) is greater than $1 billion, with sequential quarter-over-quarter growth. Like last quarter, this remains heavily weighted toward consulting."

IDC MarketScape Criteria: Worldwide Cloud Managed Print and Document Services Hardcopy 2024 Vendor Assessment

Robert Palmer — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective provides a description of the market definitions and assessment criteria for IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud MPDS Hardcopy 2024 Vendor Assessment (forthcoming).

"Printing is a legacy process that has evolved very little over the past few decades," says Robert Palmer, research VP, Imaging, Printing, and Document Solutions at IDC. "Through cloud-based MPDS programs, organizations can shift print infrastructure to the cloud and modernize the printing experience, simplifying print management while making print, more scalable, secure, and cost-efficient for the hybrid work environment."

IDC Survey Spotlight: Sustainability Survey

Robert Palmer — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey Spotlight examines data collected from IDC's 2024 Print Sustainability End-User Survey. The survey was designed to identify how companies view the implementation and deployment of sustainability initiatives within the print and document infrastructure. This IDC Survey Spotlight looks specifically at the motivations for and challenges of being more sustainable.

IDC：2024 年第一季全球平板電腦出貨出現復甦跡象

Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

臺北，2024年05月07 日 ─ 根據IDC(國際數據資訊) 《全球個人運算裝置季度追蹤報告》（Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker ）的初步數據，在經歷了兩年多的衰退之後，2024 年第一季（1Q24）全球平板電腦出貨量較去年小幅成長0.5%，總量達3,080 萬台。市場上一次出現成長是在 2021 年第二季，此後由於飽和，出貨量開始放緩。雖然總體經濟問題依然存在，但本季出貨量的反彈是由更新週期的開始推動的，儘管長期的出貨量不太可能相較疫情期間的激增。不過，隨著消費者尋求以生產力為導向的設備，轉向高階平板電腦的轉變也帶來了一線希望。

Managed Hybrid Cloud Services Buyer Needs and Requirements

David Tapper — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective provides insight into the value enterprises place on using private and public clouds as part of hybrid cloud engagements and as part of using managed cloud services. This document also provides a strategy for managed service providers (SPs) in creating an optimal model for hybrid cloud that can support critical customer requirements when utilizing these services.

"The combination of enterprises utilizing hybrid clouds to meet an array of business and IT needs as part of managed cloud services with increased competitive pressures from cloud service providers' ability to provision their own hybrid clouds is placing pressure on managed SPs to deliver an optimized hybrid cloud set of capabilities," says David Tapper, program VP, Outsourcing and Managed Cloud Services at IDC. "Optimizing opportunities with managed cloud services that support provisioning of hybrid clouds will require managed SPs to develop a value proposition that emphasizes an end-to-end, pay-as-you-go hybrid cloud service; build a delivery infrastructure for the private cloud portion of hybrid cloud by creating a private landing zone structure that provisions a pool of common private cloud infrastructure; ensure operational excellence of hybrid clouds through deployment of a business operations center and multicloud management platform; establish critical partnerships involving public cloud providers, OEMs, and colocation (hosting) providers; and enable use of key technologies and capabilities such as IoT, 5G, sovereign cloud, and edge computing as part of hybrid clouds."

Microsoft's Release of Phi-3 Expands Developer Options for the Use of Foundation Models for Edge-Native Use Cases and Resource-Constrained Devices

Arnal Dayaratna — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

On April 23, 2024, Microsoft announced the release of Phi-3, a family of small language models (SLMs) that constitutes the successor to Phi-2, the previous version of the same family of models. The April 23 release features Phi-3-Mini-4K-instruct and Phi-3-Mini-128K-instruct. In addition, Microsoft's announcement of Phi-3 revealed the forthcoming availability of larger and more powerful variations of the Phi-3 model in the form of Phi-3-small and Phi-3-medium.

NRF 2024 Big Show: Top 5 Retail Supply Chain Takeaways

Jordan K. Speer — Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective distills five key supply chain takeaways from the NRF 2024 Big Show, reflecting the retail industry's current priorities and innovations. These focus on:

Returns
Product life-cycle management
Tracking and tracing
Visibility across the omni-channel supply chain
Operationalizing sustainability

The NRF 2024 Big Show highlighted the relentless pace of digital transformation in the retail sector, emphasizing that it is a continuous journey rather than a destination. This year's event, marked by record attendance, showcased a strong focus on addressing specific retail challenges through technology, with data serving as the critical link across various themes.

Overall, the NRF 2024 Big Show underscored the critical role of technology in addressing retail challenges, from managing returns and optimizing the supply chain to enhancing customer experiences and advancing sustainability. Retailers are encouraged to leverage these insights and technologies to navigate the evolving landscape and drive efficiency, profitability, and sustainability in their operations.

"The NRF 2024 Big Show highlighted the ongoing journey of digital transformation in retail, emphasizing the importance of a data-driven supply chain," said Jordan K. Speer, research director, Worldwide Retail Product Sourcing, Fulfillment and Sustainability Strategies at IDC. "Some of the key focuses at the event dealt with tackling the returns problem with innovative solutions, the critical role of product life-cycle management, the benefits of advanced asset tracking and tracing, the necessity of end-to-end visibility in omni-channel supply chains, and the benefits of digital transformation in operationalizing sustainability. These insights aim to guide retailers toward greater efficiency, profitability, and sustainable practices."