profitable

Once again, goal does not have the best AI, but it is clearer than anyone the best business plan to make it profitable

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Mark Zuckerberg He was not happy with the advances in his companyso spent the whole summer signing the best talents for millionaire figures with the aim of creating a superintelligence. We do not know if you will get it, what we do know is that, although the goal is lagging in the AI ​​career, it is advanced in something more important: How to make it profitable. Zuckerberg’s last play is that all chats and interactions with goal AI will use to offer us personalized ads. December 16. It is the date on which Meta will start using the conversations that its users have with goal AI to customize ads and the content that will appear on its different platforms. This includes, not only conversations with your chatbot inside apps such as Instagram or WhatsApp, if you have a target Ray-Ban, all the interactions you have with the voice assistant will also be used. If, for example, we ask Meta AI a question about how to take care of a plant, it will show us advertisements of related items and suggest plants publications. Mandatory. In This article on your blogMeta states that the user still has control and that he can adjust the content and ads that he sees from the ‘advertisement preferences’ section. What they do not say is that there will be no way to prevent chats from being used to customize the ads and content that we will see in the feed. The only way to avoid it is not to use the finish line. Of course, the company states that it will not use sensitive information such as religious beliefs, sexual orientation, political, health or racial issues. Another approach. While other chatbots like chatgpt, claude or gemini They use conversations as training data For their AI, in the finish line they bet on an approach aimed at business. The great technology, They are dilapidating billions in AI. Google, Amazon and Microsoft are amortizing investment with their cloud services, while Meta relies on their strongest business: advertising. In the second quarter of the year Your income increased by 22%largely thanks to its advertising services. Risks. In statements a FortuneEmily Bender, co -author of I study the dangers of “stochastic parrots” On language models, he affirms that Meta is crossing a dangerous line: “It is customization disguise (…) The following obvious concern is whether Chatbot himself will begin to incite us to reveal information.” In addition, alert about the illusion of privacy that we feel when talking to a chatbot and that can lead us to reveal sensitive information that we would never say in public. Image | Goal In Xataka | Zuckerberg is willing to lose “hundreds of billions” of dollars in AI: not investing them would be worse for finishing

In the full boom of foreign tourism, Metro de Madrid has had an idea to make its brand profitable: luxury merchandising

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No matter where you go or who you ask. There are certain icons that everyone recognizes worldwide. They are part of a border -proof visual heritage. A clear example are The Olympic ringsthe symbol of peace or the dollarthe arroba or the Celebrate Smilethe smiling yellow face designed decades for Harvey Ball. If we probably did a survey most people would include in that list of universal symbols The subway logo from London. Madrid It seems determined The same thing happens with your suburban. What happened? What Metro de Madrid has surprised with A peculiar proposal. One that has little to do with trains, infrastructure and schedules. Or yes. The institution has just presented an official clock, a submersible Berbier piece, stainless steel and sapphire crystal ‘inspired’ in the capital’s suburban. The images that they have already been seen show the red, blue and white logo of Madrid in the sphere and how the marks of the hours are decorated with The colors of the different lines. One, light blue; two, red; three, yellow; four, brown … in another historical wink at the bottom of the sphere appears The figure “1919”the year in which the First Line Four Caminos-Sol was inaugurated. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Is more known? Yes. Sunday The world slid Some details of the launch. The idea is to create only 50 numbered units that will be sold for 395 euros. Too much money? No problem. In case the Limited Editing Berbier clock is exhausted or the client wants to pay less, Metro plans to market another, cheaper model, which will incorporate a similar sphere with interchangeable silicone straps in four colors. The price in that case will be 120 euros. However, there is much more interesting fact. Not by what he tells us about the clock itself, but of the Metro plans. According to Precise The worldthe new accessory can be bought unocidly in the store that the operator plans to release at the opera station. It will be The third (There is already one at the Sunstation and another in the Plaza de Castilla) and the idea is that not much to open its doors. In January He pointed to the second half of 2025 already early summer It was specified that the space is probably available in the last quarter of the year, which will allow you to take advantage (at least partly) the Christmas campaign. Metro stores? That’s how it is. In itself, stores are not a novelty. As Remember Europa Pressthe history of the Metro store can be traced at least 1984, when it opened its sun sales space. Several decades later, at the end of 2017, added the place of Plaza de Castilla. Today its catalog of items can be consulted (and buy) also in latientademetromadrid.com. In addition to selling merchandising Officer and pieces such as the new Berbier watch, the opera space will serve travelers as office Customer service. But … What do they sell? They don’t sell, better. His articles list It is amazing broad: bolis, bags and backpacks, cushions, sweatshirts, fans, bottles, socks, notebooks, toys, cups and even lames with stations posters such as Santiago Bernabéu or metropolitan state. All related in one way or another to the Madrid suburban. Most show the famous blue, red and white logo or incorporate the colors of the different lines. In the wide metro catalog there is also Bestsellers They have stood out for their commercial success. For example, Some shoes Sports designed in collaboration with Titocustoms to celebrate the company’s 105 years. They launched as a limited series, but given their “great reception” Metro decided to create a new edition. In total more than 1,000 pairs have been sold. Another product with pull is The Christmas sweater. It was released in 2023 and they have already been dispatch More than 3,000 units. Are there more figures? Yes. Not many more, but there is some that helps us understand the scope of the commercial stores of Metro de Madrid and especially its evolution. At the beginning of the year, when the plans to open the opera store were announced, the Europa Press agency wakefulness That in 2023 the volume of sales before taxes reached 127,470 euros, a record that exceeds the box of the previous year, which had been 81,619. That is, the billing shot more than 56% in a year. Most sales were channeled through physical stores (75%), highlighting above all sun, with almost 65,400 euros. Why do you do it? To understand Metro’s commitment you have to know your data, but also (and even more) the context. His decision to open a new opera store coincides with two clear trends. The first is the increase in travelers. In January the company estimated that in 2024 it had reached its “historical user record”, with 715.2 million trips8% more than in 2023. The data of fact improves those registered by the company in the years before the pandemic. The other trend is the increase in tourism. Especially that of foreign origin. Spain is close to passing the historical barrier of the 100 million of international visitors and there are those who believe that in not much time, By 2040will be the great tourist referent of the planet, surpassing France or the US. Much of that flow is directed to destinations of the Mediterranean coast, the Canary Islands or Northern regions, such as Cantabria either Galiciabut Madrid also plays a key role in the national tourist fabric. In 2024 Madrid received More than 11 million of visitors. It is estimated that the international market meant 56% and generated more than 16,000 million euros, 21% more than in 2023, with a key weight of the US, Italy and France, although the Chinese are the ones who have grown the most, 74%. And what is Metro? Everything indicates that taking advantage of that pull of visitors and users. After all, the new store will not open in any place. … Read more

OpenAi already enters 1,000 million dollars per month. They are crumbs compared to what you need to be profitable

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The launch of GPT-5 It has been rather disappointing for users at street level and has arrived accompanied by some problemssomething that has recognized the Sam AltmanCEO of OpenAi. However, it is sweeping a key sector: Companiesfor the quality of its reasoning models and its price. Not being a company that quotes in the stock market, the doubt is how much success translates into large income, and Sarah Friar, Financial Director of OpenAi has given a key fact: OpenAi has entered 1,000 million dollars in a month (July) for the first time in its history. Results as good as insufficient. Openai’s reality is that it is still early to celebrate a figure like that announced by Friar, especially when the executive recognized that artificial intelligence “right now is voracious in GPU and in a computational power.” In that sense, he affirmed that the biggest problem they face is “being constantly under computational capacity.” That is, the demand for the use of GPUs of its models is greater than the resources they have to cover it. The plan to cover your needs is clear, and Friar recalled it: “That is why we launch Stargate”, in reference to that Historical project In which partners such as Microsoft, Oracle, Nvidia and ARM participate, and in which they expect to spend 500,000 million. They expect, because There is still no single contract signedand find more sources of financing It is a huge challenge. With this financial context, the 1,000 million dollars that OpenAi already enters a month are totally insufficient. They look for solutions, but more complications arise along the way. The reality of artificial intelligence according to Sam Altman is that his demand will continue to grow, their training needs will continue to grow and spend “probably more aggressively than any company has done in something for progress.” Given this need, OpenAi seeks solutions, such as selling 6,000 million in shares with an assessment of 500,000 million dollars, after raise 40,000 million in a financing round at the end of Marchwith an assessment of 300,000 million. 18,000 million were going to dedicate themselves to the Stargate projector. The problem is that to get the last 30,000 million of that round, Openai had to become a “For-Profit” company, a path that He has recently abandoned. A problem structure of expenses. As much as Openai continues to have the confidence of large investors such as Softbank or Microsoft, the problem is that the company’s expenses are huge. Not being a quoted company we cannot know official figures, but estimates point to 8,000 million operating expenses per year (They do not count investments, infrastructure or other financial obligations). Even if it continues to enter the current rhythm (1 billion per month), in 2025 it would not go from 12,000 (the estimate they handled for this year, According to The Information). That is, only their operating expenses “eat” 66% of the operating expenses, which do not contemplate their higher volume investments. The cost scheme is very complicated, and Sam Altman came to affirm that They lost money even with chatgpt prothe subscription of 229 euros per month. And the profitability for when. According to An internal studyOpenai will lose 44,000 million dollars between 2023 and 2028, and 14,000 million only in 2026, the triple of those estimated by 2024. It will have to wait four more years, until 2029, so that the company exceeds the Break Even And I achieve The long -awaited profitability. It is something they estimate that they would get 100,000 million dollars annually. Right now, viral moments such as the generation of chatgpt ys imagesor explosion of images of Ghibli either help: “Derritate” servers with a huge cost. The good news is that Sarah Friar confirmed that they have seen acceleration in the adoption of payment subscriptions. But much remains to stop losing money. Image | Dima Solomin In Unspash, Village Global In Xataka | Google has finally revealed how much electricity and water consumes its AI. Estimates could not be more wrong

Cheap with ads is more profitable than expensive without ads

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Just a few days ago, Netflix announced that it completely eliminated The cheapest plan with ads, and is putting an uncomfortable but very profitable truth on the table: it compensates to lose the cheapest plans and without advertising and that the gentle moves to less friendly but more beneficial options for the platform. This change represents a fundamental transformation in streaming consumption, witnessing the triumphal return of a model that many believed obsolete: paying to see ads. There is no plan. Without issuing any media, the platform eliminated On July 30 the basic plan without ads. The subscription of 9.99 euros was so far the cheapest option to see content without advertising, but disappears: Users who paid for him will have to move to another. He did not admit several simultaneous devices, either extra subscribers, or downloads, or broadcast to Chromecast and the resolution was HD (720p). Netflix remains, therefore, with only three plans: Standard with ads (6.99 euros, ads, FullHD and limited catalog) Standard (13.99 euros, without advertisements, FullHD and the entire catalog) Premium (19.99 euros, without ads, 4K and the entire catalog). Netflix is doing well. This step of Return to the exit box And make us pay again to see ads may seem counterintuitive, but it is renting: the platform announced in May that had reached 94 million users of plans with advertisements, a remarkable increase with respect to the 70 million in November 2023. In this way, the initial aspiration of the digital ecosystem disappears, which bet on an aspirational model where the premium price was justified by the absence of ads, thus distancing itself from traditional television. The times change and the spectators demand, given the excess offer (and the general recession), cheap offers. Even with ads. It has trap. Because what is clear is that it is not about people wanting to see ads because they like them: they have no choice. The difference between the cheap and the next in the price staircase, already without ads, is almost double. Not all spectators can afford that leap. Therefore, what began as an alternative option for price -sensitive users has become an important growth engine for the industry. Compensate ups. Users of streaming They have been seeing how prices go up without stopping. Between 2020 and 2024, users saw how their monthly subscriptions increased between 30% and 50% on most platforms. Netflix passed From € 7.99 to € 12.99 in its standard plan and Disney+ its price rose up to 17%. It was unsustainable to continue with the increases, so now they arrive otherwise, camouflating “descents” with advertising, which are also economically more beneficial for platforms: advertising income exceeds the income lost due to price reduction. Ultra-Economy with advertising. Ads plans are no longer a secondary option or a “minor evil”, but a business pillar: now we accept advertising cuts as part of the price of accessibility. We contemplate a segmentation of the pill, which is divided into those that are willing to pay between 15 and 20 euros per month for an experience without interruptions and on the other, 70-80% of users They see the platforms with ads paying between 6 and 8 euros per month. This division does not catch us from new ones: it is a replica that we already saw in the nineties between those who paid on Canal+ and the first satellite teles and those who continued watching television in traditional open. Header | Xataka In Xataka | That Yurena is going to give a massive concert is the definitive proof of authentic power that Netflix has

We thought the tourist floors were the most profitable. Amancio Ortega has found something better: headquarters and shops

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The rental market He has shot In recent years and with them the profitability that their owners They get them. Keeping this in mind, have you ever wondered how much must pay Inditex, Primark, Amazon or Apple for the rent of some of its offices or stores? Amancio Ortega, like homemade main From these companies has that answer: almost 1 billion a year together. Choose buildings without borrowing. In addition to the founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega is the creator of one of the greater real estate empires in Spain: Pontegadea. The basis of his fortune remains his participation of 59.29% in Inditex, which allows him to access Milmillonarios annual dividends which strategically reinveys premium buildings distributed throughout the world. All this without borrowing with third parties. However, instead of focusing your business on the sale of these properties to obtain surplus value, your goal is to make constant profitability through rentals. Since its buildings have been specifically selected by Its strategic location In the main capitals of the world, the big firms are tail To rent some of its premises. Millionaire rentals. Thanks to this strategy, Pontegadea registered in 2024 income linked to real estate of 977 million euros, According to data to those who have had access Digital economy. This figure represents a 20% increase with respect to the 657 million euros that Ortega’s real estate registered in its 2023 accounts. This increase means that, for the first time, Pontegadea has exceeded the joint revenues from rents of its main rivals in Spain: Merlin Properties and Colonial. Something that It already foresaw That could happen for some years. They always buy with tenants. Such and as he published Expansionin addition to making a strategic selection of its buildings, Pontegadea has as a guideline buy buildings already occupied by solvent tenants. This has been demonstrated in all its operations, such as the logistics center of Baldonnell Business Park of Dublin From which Amazon operates, the Amazon headquarters in Seattleor the Venlo distribution centerfrom which it serves as the operations center of the DSV parcel company, one of the largest in the world. Thus, the new properties that Pontegadea incorporates in its portfolio generates income from the first minute and ensures something very valuable for a landlord: a tenant that pays promptly. Inditex also pays for rent: A Pontegadea. It is paradoxical, but some of the dividends that Pontegadea de Inditex receives are invested in premises that are then rented to the different brands of the group to install their stores or stores in them. That Pontegadea is the owner of the main premises of Inditex is a strategic advantage (in addition to a fine irony), since thus the textile can better deal with the variations in the price of the real estate market and not shoot their operational costs. OK To what is published For the economic one Expansionin 2024, Inditex paid 46 million euros for real estate rental to Pontegadea. That figure represents 18% more than the previous year, when the figure reached 39 million. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega: the billionaire who lives as one more neighbor. Except for private jets and superyates Image | Gtres, Flickr (José Román)

OpenAI is already generating GDP size benefits from a small country. Follow light years of being profitable

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Winning 12,000 million dollars a year seems somewhat prodigious for any company, but not when that company is called Openai. The evolution of income is being remarkablewithout a doubt, but both her and others – and here Anthropic is another good example – something serious happens to them: that they continue to spend more than they win. 12,000 million for OpenAi in 2025. As indicated In The Informationa new estimate that Openai’s “annualized” revenues will be 12,000 million dollars in 2025. The figure is a projection, but it is significant taking into account that in 2024 the estimated revenues were according to various sources of 3.7 billion dollars, although In Reuters They talked about the fact that they had actually reached 5.5 billion dollars. And 4,000 for Anthropic. The same media also recently indicated how the estimate in the case of one of its great rivals, Anthropic, has also risen and now It is 4,000 million dollars. Just two months ago that figure had already been checked and was 3,000 million, which means one thing: both are growing in number of subscribers. 700 million “Chatgpteros”. Another of the data to which the information article points out refers to the number of weekly active users. According to their data, 700 million people use chatgpt at some point in the week, which marks a unique milestone for the company. It is true that the vast majority of them are users of the free version, but that base is what allows part of those who use the service for free They end up pointing out to any of the chatgpt subscription plans. Income growth is being unusual in OpenAi and Anthropic, but both companies are spending absolute fortunes to end up being profitable. Source: Reddit. It will win 12,000 million, how much will it spend? In Reuters indicate that the internal estimates of the company also point to higher expenses. According to those projections, OpenAI will spend 8,000 million dollars, but that figure is dentra on direct operational expenses. There are many more associated expenses – investments, infrastructure, other financial obligations – and that makes OpenAi not profitable for now. We do not have estimated spending data for Anthropic, but it has an identical problem: Spend more than you earn. Spectacular, but. Although this growth in income is certainly extraordinary, it must be taken into account that to achieve this, these companies carry “Burning money” for years. The investment rounds that Anthropic and especially OpenAi have captured have allowed them to have a lot of room for maneuver to lose huge amounts of money without that at the moment that worries too much. And they will continue to spend as possess. Especially in the case of Openai, which thanks to SoftBank support It has great plans that will make it necessary to spend true fortunes. They have done it to Buy the Jony Ive design study for 6,500 million dollars, but above all they will do it with the project Stargatewhich still seems like very difficult to complete. But no profitability until 2029. Those responsible for OpenAi do not seem too worried, and we knew what the company’s financial road map was known weeks. They will continue losing money until 2029when supposedly – all is a free estimate, not a promise – will earn 100,000 million dollars. It will be then when the company will begin to be really profitable, but again, All this is a promise (or maybe a hope). It could not perfectly be fulfilled … and even ending up falling short. Image | das | Fortune Brainstorm Tech In Xataka | Chatgpt takes the step to conquer students and teachers: their new mode does not give the answer, I build it with you

It is more profitable than Inditex

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International expansion and diversification strategy of Amancio Ortega investor arm He is marking a milestone in the European real estate sector. So much so that the latest financial information places its real estate, Pontegadea, surpassing Inditex in profitability. The strategic turn of Ortega Empire The magnitude of the Pontegadea assets has already raised that it has already become the Real estate with greater value in Spainand has settled the foundations to become the most powerful in Europe in the coming years. Pontegadea: the new Lencio Ortega locomotive The founder of Inditex has taken less than two decades to convert his second company into A real estate empire. His modus operandi is relatively simple: use The annual dividends which provides you with 59.29% of Inditex shares, to buy office buildings, premises in strategic locations for Inditex stores, luxury residential buildings, logistics and logistics centers Even hotels. Since Inditex dividends ascend Several billions Annual, Pontegadea has dedicated the last decades to Buy strategic buildings all over the world. The key to everything is that, upon receiving every year A generous check Inditex, Pontegadea does not need to depend on bank loans to make your real estate purchases. 0% debt 100% advantages. In what we have been in 2025, the company has invested 800 million dollars in acquiring new buildings. However, unlike Investment fundsPontegadea does not base your business on obtaining profitability of the surplus value of the sale of these properties, but of becoming the landlord of companies such as Apple, AmazonSpotify and even the main competitor of your textile empire: Primark. Profitability record in 2024 According The published by The economistAmancio Ortega’s holding registered a net benefit of 9,322 million euros in the exercise of 2024. This increase represents a increase of 17.3% with respect to the previous year, placing the group at the head of Spanish patrimonial societies. According to data of Expansion, Obtained from the accounts deposited in the Mercantile Registry, Pontegadea declared consolidated income of 43,125 million euros, growing 8.7% compared to 2023. Total assets, that is, the value of the buildings owned by Pontegadea, its renewable energy business and of Inditex’s shares, exceed 110,615 million euros, which represents an annual increase of 9.3%. For its part, Inditex has also presented historical figuresalthough a little more contained than their investors expected. The company directed by Marta Ortegayoungest daughter of the founder, He scored a benefit Net of 5,866 million euros In 2024, which is 9% more than the previous year. Although the good results of both companies in 2024 were excellent, the benefit of Pontegadea was 62.9% higher than the total that Inditex obtained, which shows Cycle change and the strength of the patrimonial sector in the investment portfolio of Amancio Ortega. Next objective: Europe During the last two decades, Pontegadea has been managing the properties he was buying around the world from the local subsidiaries that the company has created in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, France, France, USA or luxembourg. However, a complete redesign of its structure has just executed to centralize all assets management of Europe, Canada and the USA In his Luxembourg subsidiarywhich becomes the control center of all assets. The only exception is the assets that manage the subsidiaries of Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom, which continue to be independent. This process aims Banke Hotel Purchases from Paris for 97 million euros and the Banco Sabadell offices building in Miami for 235 million euros more. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega: the billionaire who lives as one more neighbor (except for private jets and superyates) Image | Gtres, Inditex

Younger millionaires have found a more profitable investment than the S&P500: Pokémon’s letters

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Some years ago, YouTuber Logan Paul hit the nail With a formula for financial success: nostalgia + business = the new art. Take an element of your childhood, add a collecting component and the Business is assured. Ask Nintendo with their Pokémon cards. More and more young millionaires are betting on Pokémon cards as a form of investment away from the whims of bags and values that, to date They were considered refuge. It is a trend that we already saw with the Hermès bagsand now he is also emerging with the letters Pokémon collectibles. The power of nostalgia. The attractiveness of these letters not only lies in nostalgia, but also in their ability to generate benefits that exceed those of large stock market rates. Pokémon card fever is sweeping and leaving record figures in its path, such and As publishes Fortune. Collectible articles have always been likely to achieve surprising quotes, especially when they evoke memories of childhood. Pokémon’s letters, which are already approaching their thirtieth anniversary, have conquered young investors looking for more than investing in traditional actions. According to Cardder data, collectible card assessment portal published by Fortunethe annual average profitability of Pokémon letters is increasing almost 46%, exceeding the profitability of very powerful actions such as Nvidia or the average annual profitability of the S&P 500 stock market index, which is 12%. A consolidated and booming market. Since its launch in 1999, They have been manufactured more than 75,000 million pokémon cards. After a first decade of settlement, the market began to value these cards as authentic collectible assets, comparable to classic comics. According to Cardder data, the Japanese animation series cards have been revalued at 3,261% in the last 20 years. Only during the pandemic, the boredom of collectors caused the profitability of the letters to increase by 500%, as published by what was published by Business Insider. AND, according to The AthleticPokémon and Magic letters would have displaced part of the business of collectible sports cards. Almost three decades later, this business model continues to generate about 1,000 million dollars a year. Shortage increases the price. The success of Pokémon letters has generated unusual situations in retail trade. Great chains like Walmart and Target were forced toimitate the number of units By user due to high demand and violent incidents related to the purchase of cards. Pokémon’s letters have reached be the objective of theftwith thieves sneaking in stores and floors in the purest mission style impossible to get a booty of letters valued at several thousand dollars. The last one, without going any further, happened on July 12 at a Massachusetts store, where A thief took pokémon letters valued at $ 100,000. Celebrities and the attractiveness of investment. The fever for investment in Pokémon cards between millennials and the Z generation has grown even more thanks to the interest of celebrities Like elrubius either Justin Bieberwho have paid thousands of dollars for some of them. Famous youtubers such as Logan Paul have brought this passion to the extreme. In 2022, Paul He got the Guinness record When buying the most expensive Pokémon letter in history, for which paid 5.27 million dollars. “This card cost me more than my ranch. My 84 acres ranch,” Paul said. Capital and organized crime The value of Pokémon letters has reached such magnitude that even organized crime groups in Japan have used them To bleach capitalssimilar to what happens with works of art. The ease of transporting and selling these letters abroad makes them an attractive instrument for illegal activities, confirming that the phenomenon of Pokémon cards transcends Simple collecting And it has become A financial asset With global impact. In Xataka | Millionaires found in the luxury watches a refuge value. Now the bubble has exploded Image | Wikimedia Commons (Romer Jed Medina), Unspash (Omid Armin)

There was a day when buying a luxury watch was a very profitable business. The US tariffs are getting it again

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The second -hand luxury watch market has lived a roller coaster in recent years. After a record time promoted by New millionaires of cryptocurrencies and of the bag, the bubble of luxury watches exploded. Now, factors such as the rebound of cryptocurrencies and changes in the commercial war initiated by the US are reconfiguring the recovery panorama of this exclusive market. 2020: cryptocurrency boom and stock market. Interest in luxury watches not only reflects a passenger fashion. The nature of luxury watches, considered as much as works of engineering art as An alternative investment form which sometimes exceeds the stock markets in profitability, also responds to global economic movements and the search for shelter assets. During the pandemic and the later years, the rise of cryptocurrencies and the good moment of the bag generated a new wave of millionaires. Many of them, driven by the need to invest their earnings in tangible assets, launched a tropel to buy luxury watches. This trend especially affected brands Like RolexAudemars Piguet or Patek Philippe, whose most coveted models were difficult to get in traditional stores due to their limited production. That dramatically increased demand by exceeding the supply. The result: a bubble that led to the second -hand market of these exclusive watches to shoot reaching Duplicate the price They cost new. The collapse of the bubble. This bubble It soon exploded. When financial markets began to show signs of weakness, many of the investors who had acquired luxury watches They decided to sell themsaturating the second -hand market with the pieces that had bought at a price inflated a few months before. The oversight and the lack of buyers caused the watches that were previously sold for twice their original price now barely had a way out, making prices fall to historical minimum values. Stabilization and recovery factors. At present, although the second -hand luxury watches market still remains at modest levels, begins to show signs of moderate recovery. Such and as they highlight in Bloombergalthough the figures are far from the levels reached after the pandemic, the sector begins to recover, partly driven by the renewed interest of cryptocurrency investors after The rebound that has experienced In recent months. The uncertainty about tariffs To European luxury products imposed by the US, including Swiss watches, may be braking that boom, since they affect both the final prices of sale in store, and the availability of products in key markets such as the American. Tariff impact. After the announcement of the tariffs that the US was going to impose on Europe, American luxury watches suppliers reacted immediately. According to published data By Bloomberg, after the “Day of Liberation”, in which the beginning of the Trump’s commercial warthere was an increase in the purchase volume in the North American market of 150% as anticipation at the entrance of tariffs. A reaction that Not even Apple could avoid. However, the next month, purchases fell 25% because simply, suppliers had already bought everything they could and the tariff sanctions of Trump had not appliedwhich caused the supply of new watches in stores to cover the demand. So second -hand market prices have remained stable. The diversification of luxury. At the same time, the stagnation of Sales of luxury products in Asiaespecially in China, it has made luxury watches manufacturers have more stock for European and North American markets. That also contributes to stabilized second -hand prices because there is not so much pressure on the availability of new stores in store. In addition, the rise of high jewelry for men is also contributing to the recovery of the second -hand market of luxury watches develop without shocks. Until relatively recently, watches were the only remarkable jewel in male fashion. However, in recent years The trend has changed and necklaces, bracelets and other jewels are part of male outfits. Not even Mark Zuckerberg He has been able to resist. In 2023, the volume of that market was 8,500 million dollars, but by 2025 it is estimated that it will grow to 9,410 million dollars, indicating that male jewelry is gaining ground and watches are no longer the only option for high purchasing power investors. In Xataka | Casio for Gates, Omega Lunar for Bezos, Patek Philippe for Arnault: What the clock of each billionaire says about him In Xataka | Mark Zuckerberg has put on brown and gold chains to grind more. Surveys say it still falls badly Image | Rolex

airlines are not profitable on a 1,300 km trip

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Usain Bolt bending seven rivals, letting go in the last 15 meters and, despite everything, running faster of what no human had done until then. Is there any better metaphor to explain the launch of Chinese high speed trains? That year, while Usain Bolt flew inside the nestthe stadium in which the Beijing Olympic GamesChina took the opportunity to show the world that it was already a modern country. And part of that modernity passed, of course, through high -speed lines that came into operation that same year. 17 years later, China is the First country in the world With more kilometers on high -speed roads. Like Bolt in 2008, growth has run at such a devilish speed that it has left powers such as France, Japan and, Spain, because We are the second country in the world with more kilometers of high speed. In less than two decades, the impact of Chinese high speed has been very high. The railway framework in a country of the size of China is very important for long displacements. And, for the moment, they are convincing people. So much that their airlines have given an alarm voice: the train is stealing customers. Better by train While Europe is still trying to bet on the train but the low flight prices are still competitive enough to opt for them mostly when it comes to making a long journey, the incorporation of bullet trains in China has completely changed the way of understanding trips in the Asian country. At the end of 2024 They presented their most advanced traincapable of reaching 450 km/h. CR450AF is only the last example of Chinese development. This year it should come into operation on the high -speed roads already built, so its maximum speed will be 350 km/h. However, the intention is to have finished in 2027 the railways that will hold the more than 400 km/h mentioned. Then, travelers will have one more reason to opt for the train on the Beijing-Shangai route, a journey to which according to South China Morning Post 52 million passengers were uploaded last year, for just 8.6 million travelers that the airlines added. This figure served at the service to grow 3.62% in its income, until adding more than 42,000 million yuan (about 5.8 billion dollars). And net earnings increased by 10%, raising to 12.8 billion yuan (near 1.8 billion dollars). Traffic is so intense that 100 trains circulate daily between both cities. To understand why the train has triumphed in front of the plane, you just have to understand its figures. Just over 1,300 kilometers separate Beijing from Shanghai but the current Chinese train is able to reduce that distance to four hours and 18 minutes of journey. In the worst case, adding all the stops, the trip stays in less than eight hours. At the high frequency and reduced time of the journey, we must add that, according to SCMP For many it is essential to stay connected while traveling. While in a plane it is impossible to maintain this digital connection (At least for the moment)on the train it seems to be assured. In fact, if something made us clear to us Beijing Winter Olympic Games The latter was one of the great concerns. They highlight in the environment that the Chinese Air Transport Association defines as “eroded” the competition between both means of transport that are seeing how even the upper classes are opting for the train. China Eastern Airlines and Air China have recently linked forces, with the aim of sealing this passenger leak. Both companies total 55 flights between cities and had one of their most faithful groups in the upper class. However, leaving and arriving from the city center and the punctuality of the train (in addition to connectivity) is attracting more and more customers. Airlines have tried to stop this offering their clients facilities to change flight schedule or even putting limousines to bring them closer to the center of the cities. Airlines warn that if this does not work, they will have no choice but to lower prices but maintaining the line is, less and less viable. On the other side of the railway currency, SCMP It also emphasizes that the success of the line between Beijing and Shanghai is not repeated in much of the country where the interior lines are deficit. Something that as Spaniards already sounds more? Photo | N509FZ In Xataka | China has the “most difficult in the world” railway tunnel: 34 kilometers crossing a hostile mountain

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