Latest news with #Hume
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Labor's unrealised capital gains is a ‘terrible tax'
Liberal Senator Jane Hume slams Labor's unrealised capital gains tax. Ms Hume told Sky News Australia it is a 'terrible tax'. 'But clearly, this is stuff that they didn't want to talk about before the election, that they're going to have to face after.'
Daily Maverick
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Samsung SA digs in heels over foldables for premium market despite global slowdown
Samsung Mobile SA updated its pricing and model availability for its new folding phones as it moves to extract value from the premium market. Samsung declined to respond to questions about the recent price increases on the Galaxy Fold 7 and Flip 7 or the disappearance of the 256GB Fold 7 variant from its South African online store. That silence is telling, especially in a market where smartphone sales are slowing and consumers are squeezed. 'Fold users typically remain the most loyal… they upgrade more, and they upgrade faster,' Samsung Mobile SA's VP for Mobile Justin Hume told Daily Maverick at the local launch. 'The base is growing every year.' Samsung is banking, once again, on deep-pocketed loyalists, an expanding ecosystem and some health tech to keep its margins intact. Foldable flatline Globally, foldable smartphones are hitting turbulence. In the first quarter of this year, foldables made up just 1.5% of total smartphone sales in Europe, with year-on-year growth of only 4%, according to Counterpoint Research. That's a sharp slowdown from previous years, and some analysts are calling it a warning sign. 'Most consumers are still not sure what a foldable phone is for,' said Counterpoint's Jan Stryjak. 'And many still have concerns about durability and longevity.' Despite this, Samsung continues to dominate the category, but that lead is shrinking. In 2024, global foldable shipments rose 12% to 17.2 million units, yet Samsung's market share fell from 54% to 45%. And 2025 isn't looking much better, with 'no further growth' forecast. Hume acknowledges these headwinds, but argues that in South Africa's premium segment, what he calls the 'R1,000 market and above' (in terms of monthly contract spend), consumer spending is still resilient. 'That market is either corporate-driven, business owners and the like, and there's this imperviousness to some of the economic conditions.' Samsung's best-selling device in the country? The S25 Ultra, outperforming even the entry-level Galaxy S25. Flipping the market For those not willing to drop over R40,000 on a Galaxy Fold 7, Samsung has released the Flip 7 FE, a more affordable version of its clamshell foldable, aimed at making foldables more accessible. At least in theory. Priced at R22,800 (another mysterious price increase for the 256GB version, but the 128GB is curiously absent), it uses in-house silicon and borrows design cues from the Flip 6 to deliver a slimmed-down, but still premium experience. 'We can now land this product at R799 [on contract] for that customer,' Hume said, referring to users on older Flip 4 contracts. 'Yes, it's not as highly specced. But compared to somebody who's only seen the Flip 3 or 4, it's night and day.' The Flip 7 FE is a potential upgrade path for users in that pricing bracket, but its pricing still places it in the high-end category and that the narrow gap between the FE and full-spec Flip 7 may limit its appeal as a more affordable alternative. A data privacy play Samsung isn't just betting on specs. A key part of the Fold 7's value proposition is its integration of KEEP (Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection), which enables on-device encrypted storage that doesn't send sensitive user data to the cloud. 'Your smart toilet could become the point of vulnerability,' Hume quipped, highlighting Samsung's concern with AI-driven data access. 'We manage all that environment from your handset.' This is part of a broader push to challenge Apple's dominance in the privacy conversation. But convincing users that Samsung's approach is trustworthy, especially when it's 'free', is a work in progress. That free references Samsung South Africa's partnership with Aura to launch Samsung SOS+, a free 12-month emergency response service for owners of the Galaxy A56, A36, and A26 smartphones. Hume recounts a general reluctance in the target market to make use of the service. 'The market that hasn't been exposed to that is still trying to work out what exactly that means for them,' said Hume. 'It's good, but it's too good to be true.' It's all still a proof of concept, but Samsung is in a unique position to leverage its Knox platform to provide secure device tracking once users hit the panic button. Taking the fight to the wrist While Samsung leads the pack in wearables bundled with phone purchases with an estimated 80% share of network-based smartwatch sales in South Africa, the brand still struggles in standalone retail sales. 'In pure retail, we know it's an issue,' Hume admitted. 'Our competitors definitely do an incredible job.' Globally, the wearables market isn't growing as fast as it used to. In 2024, it grew just 5.4%, with projections dropping to 4.1% in 2025. Smartwatch sales declined by 4.5% in 2024 and are expected to recover only modestly this year. The big winners? Hearables, which grew by nearly 9% and remain the largest wearables category worldwide. Even so, Samsung is leaning into health as its killer wearable feature. The Galaxy Watch 8 features new sensors to measure vascular load and antioxidant levels. The Watch 8 Classic model also marks the return of the rotating bezel, and Samsung hopes to win over users by giving them full control over their health data. 'The empowerment sits with you,' Hume said. 'You control access. Not the third party.' But with all the sudden price increases and general market decline, the local market will show whether the now flat folding smartphones hit the right note. DM
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Not that unusual': Dire polling for the Coalition as support crashes to 40-year low
Liberal Senator Jane Hume has commented on a new Newspoll which revealed the Coalition's vote has collapsed to its lowest point in 40 years ahead of parliament's return on Tuesday. 'This is a poll that I think starts every parliamentary term – it's actually not that unusual for an opposition, a new opposition, to be well behind in the polls,' Ms Hume told Sky News Australia. 'And let's face it, Australians really haven't switched on to their politics again while Canberra has been you know hibernating up here.'
Daily Mirror
15-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
MP criticises DWP as she accuses them of cutting off her own son's PIP
The Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of being 'at war' with the people it is supposed to protect The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing heavy criticism from an MP over her son's Personal Independence Payments (PIP). She said the department had cut his funds 'entirely' despite his health worsening. During a debate in the House of Commons about the government's latest benefit reform bill last week, the DWP came under heavy criticism from Labour MP Alison Hume. She criticised the department and suggested they were often antagonistic towards those they are meant to support. She said: "The DWP is too frequently at war with the people it is supposed to protect. Too frequently, it lets down the most vulnerable in our community, and it mostly gets away with it." A 'hostile' culture to disabled people She said there was a pressing need for change within the DWP. At this point, she shared her personal ordeal, highlighting what she said was the department's adversarial approach towards disabled claimants - but said the DWP offered to reinstate her son's benefits if she dropped a tribunal. She added: "That experience cemented in my mind something that I believe to this day: the culture of the DWP is hostile to disabled people. That culture must change if we are to have any chance of building a sustainable, fair and compassionate welfare system for the future." She then made the claim that despite a decline in her son's health, the DWP entirely stopped his benefits following the submission of new evidence for his reassessment. She said: "In May, after reporting a deterioration in his health, he submitted new evidence to support reassessment for a higher rate of PIP, which led to the DWP removing his award entirely. "He was left with no income or support despite his ongoing need for care." Less support for those returning to work Speaking on the challenges faced by those with fluctuating health conditions, Ms Hume pointed out that rejected PIP applicants often resort to the health component of Universal Credit. She drew attention to the fact that such people may return to work during brief improvements in their health. But she cautioned that when they experience another downturn in health and need to rely on Universal Credit again, under the government's proposed bill, their financial support would be diminished. She argued: "That completely ignores the realities faced by disabled people and their experience of their conditions. Without the protections provided for in amendment 38, we would create a two-tier system where people with unpredictable conditions would be valued less than those with more predictable ones." 'Genuine support' for disabled people A DWP spokesperson commented: "While we were not provided with the details to look into this specific case, we will consider all the available evidence when making decisions and people have the right to challenge them and provide additional information. "We're reforming the welfare system so people are genuinely supported into work while putting it on a sustainable footing. We are putting disabled people at the heart of a ministerial review of the PIP assessment to make sure it is fit and fair for the future, and we will work with them and key organisations representing them, to consider how best to do this."
The Citizen
09-07-2025
- The Citizen
Battle of the bulge: Samsung unveils new thinner Galaxy Z Fold 7
The quest to be the thinnest foldable smartphone is hotting up. The quest to be the thinnest is hotting up after Samsung launched its latest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and new Galaxy Flips including an FE edition that is easy on the pocket. The seventh generation of its book-style Galaxy Z Fold, which debuted at its Unpacked event on Wednesday redefines foldable phone design as the competition to beat the battle of the bulge takes centre stage. Launch – Galaxy Z Fold 7 Samsung first teased bringing 'an Ultra-experience' to 'a smaller and more portable form factor' weeks ahead of the launch, pointing to a more advanced camera and plenty of AI. It then noted that its 'newest Galaxy Z series is the thinnest, lightest and most advanced foldable yet'. On launch night, Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and the more budget-friendly Z Flip 7 FE in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, for those who want a foldable phone at a more cost-friendly price. No race Justin Hume, vice president for mobile at Samsung Electronics in South Africa told The Citizen that the company is not racing to be the thinnest. 'As much as we might be the thinnest right now, the purpose was about the form factor for the customer to utilise, because if you go thinner than this significantly, it does lose that ability to actually open the device properly, it feels a bit unnatural,' Hume said. By comparison, Huawei's triple fold Mate XT is 3.6mm thick when fully unfolded, while Honor's recently unveiled Magic V5 measures 4.1mm thick when unfolded. Between the first generation of the Galaxy Z Fold, which debuted in 2019, and last year's Z Fold 6, the phone became about 29% thinner and around 37 grams lighter, according to Samsung. Hume said they could have gone thinner with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. 'So, right now, it opens at just 4mm thick, that is basically the size of a USB-C port. I think we are close, maybe it could go a little thinner. Whether that's practical or not, I don't know. But now it is very much about making sure that I'm not compromising any of the other hardware.' ALSO READ: Samsung unveils Galaxy A series smartphones with 'awesome' AI [VIDEO] 'Excited' Hume said they are excited about the Galaxy Z Fold 7. 'This is effectively the Galaxy S25 Ultra that is being split in half going to a 4mm wide device when opened, that's the size of a USB-C port. 'It's got a 200MP camera on board, full 8-inch display on the inside, unrivalled in terms of AI capability and camera quality display is available on these products,' Hume said. In addition to being thin, the Z Fold 7 offers Samsung's best phone camera to date. The foldable has a massive 200-megapixel main sensor. Camera It also comes with a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 12MP ultrawide. The company has once again tweaked the inside camera. It's no longer under the screen and offers a wider 100-degree field of view with 10MP of resolution. For selfies, Samsung has once again gone with a 10MP sensor above the phone's cover screen. Rounding things out, the company has updated its visual engine to support 10-bit HDR capture. No pen Internally, the new phone features Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and a 4,400mAh battery. Samsung has dropped S Pen support, claiming stylus use on the Z Fold 6 was 'really low' and part of the reason the new foldable is so slim. Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 foldable phones will launch with Android 16, becoming the first Samsung devices to run the new OS. Making the Z Fold 7 feel as close to a standard phone as possible, with the added perk of a spacious screen when you open it, could help lure new customers who are hesitant to step outside of their comfort zone. Galaxy Flip 7 Samsung also launched an upgraded clamshell foldable. The new Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a 4.1-inch edge-to-edge FlexWindow display with 1.25mm bezels. That's good enough to give it the thinnest display bezel on any Samsung phone. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 boasts a 6.9-inch main screen, a 120Hz refresh rate, Exynos 2500 chipset, and a 50MP main camera. It also works with Google Gemini, along with Samsung's own suite of AI features, including Now Bar and Now Brief. Galaxy Flip FE While foldable phone are still very pricey, Samsung's Flip FE is expected to appeal to those who want a foldable phone at the price of a midrange device. The design of the new model doesn't include any of the flourishes found on the Z Flip 7, including the edge-to-edge Flex Window display or the larger internal screen. Foldable phones The thinness of a foldable phone has become a battleground for smartphone makers to appeal to consumers who want the large screen size the device has to offer without extra weight. Foldables represented less than 2% of the overall smartphone market in 2024, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). Samsung was the biggest player with 34% market share followed by Huawei with just under 24%, IDC added. Honor took the fourth spot with a nearly 11% share. Availability and pricing A major barrier for people wanting to make the leap to foldables is price. Last year's Galaxy Z Fold 6 cost R44 000 while the Z Flip 6 was marked at R26 000. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 will retail at R42 999 for the 256GB model, R45 999 for 512GB and R49 999 for 1TB. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 will retail at: Galaxy Z Flip 7 512GB – R27 499 Galaxy Z Flip 7 256GB – R24 999 Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE 256GB – R21 499 Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE 128GB – R18 499 Watches Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Watch 8 series during the Unpacked event, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra. The Galaxy Watch 8 now features a thinner design reminiscent of last year's Galaxy Watch Ultra. [REVIEW] Huawei Mate XT: No tri-fold gimmick smartphone, but it's pricey
