19 Nov AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES SING THE SUPPLY CHAIN BLUES; THERE GOES THE ART COLLECTION
Welcome to this week’s business and media intelligence update.
AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES SING THE SUPPLY CHAIN BLUES
If you think you’ve been hearing a lot about supply chains of late, you’d be right.
As the Australian Financial Review’s Chanticleer columnist wrote, the list of ASX-listed companies adversely affected by global supply chain woes is long.
Everyone from farmers to the Seven Group’s Westrac have been affected and the threat of a fifth pandemic wave in Europe means that there’s no end in sight – none of the companies impacted can give much of an indication as to when the problems will be resolved – or how.
So, when will the global supply chain untie themselves? According to Bloomberg, not until 2022.
THERE GOES THE ART COLLECTION
Some of Australia’s oldest companies have over the decades built an art collection. The now-defunct John Fairfax Group, for instance, or more recently, the Macquarie Group.
So, too, National Australia Bank (NAB), which has announced that it is selling its $10 million art collection and will invest the money raised into its philanthropic arm, the NAB Foundation. The foundation supports projects that help communities prepare for natural disasters in the face of climate change.
NAB’s collection started in the 1970s and contains more than 2,500 artworks, which will be sold through a series of auctions starting early next year. This will be the largest corporate collection to be sold since 2005.
The banks move reflects a global trend whereby corporations, particularly banks, are selling their art collections as their physical footprint decreases with more branches moving online and staff choosing to work from home.
HEAR THIS: THE COMEBACK KID
Vinyl players, Patagonia vests, Polaroid cameras, Sony Walkmans, and Fila sneakers.
What do they all have in common? Answer: They’re all cool again.
Now, we can add wired headphones to that list.
Since Apple launched the Bluetooth-enabled wireless Airpods in 2016, they have become an inescapable feature of daily life, generating USD $38.3 billion in net sales globally in the 12 months to September 2021.
Even Jake Gyllenhall made the swap to Airpods, despite being photographed several times enjoying the non-nutritional value of corded headphones.
But with everyone from your next-door neighbour to your dog having a pair of the white little knobs, Airpods have become “uncool”, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It seems anyone who is anyone is reverting to, you guess it, the ancient technology of corded headphones.
So, this weekend, dust off those relics because nothing says “do not disturb” quite like over the ears corded headphones.
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