Transcripts For BBCNEWS Business Today 20240829

Of this one company is such a market mover. Yes, this is really the story of the week, driving the market action. First of all, it is really about its waiting in the index, it accounts For about 6. 7 of the index, that makes it the second large company behind apple. Their expectations are high going into this and it could have a lot of market sway. The Share Price is almost triple over the last year, expectations are high here and any disappointments could be punished by investors. So it could bring a lot of volatility. And it has seen as a big ai play, investors will be watching if this ai induced money could have more momentum or will it start to lose steam . Give us a flavour of the details that investors are looking out For. Details that investors are looking out For. Details that investors are lookin out For. ,. Looking out For. Nvidia has had a stron looking out For. Nvidia has had a strong perFormance looking out For. Nvidia has had a strong perFormance over looking out For. Nvidia has had a strong perFormance over the| a strong perFormance over the last five quarters, there is high expectations going into this and some tough comparisons, analysts are expecting revenues to come in at 29 billion, that is more than double what it reported a year ago and they are also expecting Forward positive sales guidance. There are some wrinkles, watch out For an update on the Production Delays of the Blackwell Chip that could volatility in the market several weeks ago. That could impact the Forward guidance For 2025. The company did say in august that it is expecting to mmp august that it is expecting to ramp up their production in the second half of the year. The other Issue And Concern is about sustainability and demand. This is all about customers, particularly big ones such as alphabet and metta, are these companies going to continue to invest heavily in al and these products until it starts to see some of those returns. Thank ou some of those returns. Thank you very some of those returns. Thank you very much some of those returns. Thank you very much For some of those returns. Thank you very much For that. British prime Minister Keir Starmer has wrapped up his visit to germany where he held talks with chancellor olaf scholz. The uk and germany hope to sign a new bilateral treaty by early next year in hopes of deepening and enhancing relations and boosting trade. Mr starmer said the visit was part Mr Starmer said the visit was part of a wider reset of relations with the european union. Germany, of course, is already the uks second largest Trading Partner in the world. And through that, a chance To Create jobs, in this year and in the united kingdom. And deliver that most precious of goods For both our countries, economic growth. Let me be clear, growth is the number one of my government, and what we understand clearly is that building relationships with our partners, here in germany and across europe is vital to achieving it. Keir starmer is now on his way from berlin to paris where he will meet his french counterpart. The question that remains is how much each side is willing to concede to make that reset significant enough to achieve growth. Keir starmer ruled out rejoining the eus single market, Customs Union Orfreedom of Movement Agreements although he was more circumspect when it came to a scheme to allow young people emigrate For short periods. Jill rutter, is a senior Research Fellow at uk in a changing europe and she says the uks red lines limit the potential of any reset. He wants to make it easier For british firms to access the german market, but that is an area where you think that is really quite difficult because germany is operating on single market rules, Eu Custom Code rules and if the uk is ruling out rejoining the single market and the customs union, and Keir Starmer was absolutely clear again that he was doing that, then there may be some slight admin changes that the germans can make, but nothing that will make a huge difference. Similarly, things like british citizens having to do hassles at the border which will come up in november again and next year when we have to pay to get our Entry Permit into the eu, that is not in Germanys Gift to do anything with. That is eu rules, those are schengen rules and germany has to go with the collective there rather than being able to do a bilateral deal with the uk. Lego, the worlds biggest toy maker, is outperForming the wider toy market. In its half year results out today, revenue climbed by 13 between january and june reaching the equivalent of 4. 65 billion. Well Niels Christiansen is the ceo of lego and earlier he told me what sets his Retail Strategy apart from competitiors. No, i think theres probably not one silver bullet. It is the combination of a very, very strong Lego Brand right now, combined with a broad portfolio of products that really caters For different ages and different interests. And then, of course, as you say on the retail side, we are still opening stores. We are investing heavily behind also online sales. So i think the combination of that really has worked really well For us. Yeah, there arent many other toy brands out there that have their own stores in the way that lego does. You are, though, slowing down the pace of opening new stores in china, refocusing your efForts on Europe And North america. How concerned are you about the outlook For the consumer in china . I think it depends on the time horizon youre looking at. Weve. I mean, we have enjoyed very high growth in china over the last 4 or 5 years. So in a very different place than we were this year then looks more flattish. If i look a couple of years Forward, i actually think the potential For the Lego Brand in china is still very large. And the opportunity For us to bring the Lego Brand out to smaller or cities around where its not yet strong is still there. So so were still investing in china. We are investing behind the brand. We are opening stores. But to your point, at a slightly lower pace right now, given that we see the market is rather flattish this year. Mentioned earlier creating toys For all ages and some of your biggest growth has been in your sets that are perhaps For more advanced builders, perhaps even older builders. The icon series, im thinking of in particular, i mean, For you, is the Toy Business really no longer just about children . No, its a good question. And it, uh. Basically we serve everybody that really would like to get into the universe of, of lego bricks. And it does cater For both kids and, and adults very often, of course, adults and kids are building together. The family is building together. So it may actually say 18 plus. And i said it may be quite complicated to build, but you would be amazed how, how, how good kids are even at ten, 11, 12 or into the teens, how capable they are of building. So its fantastic the way it caters For everybody. And it brings also families together. So were super happy with this development. In other news. Sony is raising the price of its flagship Playstation 5 in japan by 19 percent. Starting from september the 2nd, the console will be sold For around 550 dollars. The company says it has been hit by a severe external environment. The Playstation 5 is around four years old and sales of the device fell in most recent quarter. But sonys Gaming Division is still doing well, with revenue growing by I2 in the year tojune. American Weight Loss Drug Maker Eli lilly says it will sell new vials of the Zepbound Drug at around half the price. The drug was previously only available as injector pens. Supply chain constraints have stopped the company from filling its pens, leading to widespread shortages of the drug earlier this year. Eli lilly said the move would increase us Consumers Access to zepbound. Last summer, barbie, the movie dominated the Box Office and popular culture. Now, makers of the nokia phone, hmd global, have teamed up with toymaker mattel, To Create, a barbie Flip Phone, as many parents grapple with how to give their children our technology editor, Zoe Kleinman has been taking a look. Barbie, a 65 year old brand which was given a new lease of life last summer when the star studded film hit cinemas, is back again. Hi, barbie this time its in the Form of a Flip Phone made by the Mobile Phone Company hmd, the same Budget Brand behind nokia. Its a feature phone, also sometimes called a dumb phone, meaning theres no access to Social Media and it can only perForm basic functions like Texting And Calling. As concerns about the pressures of digital life on young people grows, hmd hopes devices like this might prove popular with children and indeed adults looking For a digital detox. I asked the firm whether the handset will live up to expectations among young people as it tries to compete with smartphones. We are very clear when we say, like, this phone comes without Social Media, and because weve seen this surge in actually young people wanting to have a digital detox, no, this is actually delivering on what theyre demanding right now. I think when we are talking about barbie, thats also like theres a lot of good values with barbie. It convinces the parents about, like, yes, you believe in the brand. I made this my phone For one day, and it certainly was an effective digital detox because there really isnt a lot you can do on it. You can get online, but its impossible to read. Theres no app store, no front facing camera, and only one game. And while you can text, the Barbie Phone doesnt recognise the Default Message setting thats on plenty of smartphones, so you might not get any replies. While this will undoubtedly appeal to some parents, some Industry Experts question its broader appeal. Perhaps in that kind of 7 to 10 year old beFore you go to secondary school, and theres an expectation that smartphones are almost a birthright, thats an opportunity. However, the grim reality is when i talk to people whove got smartphones and explain to them the implications of giving up their smartphone For something much more basic, its a pretty tough sell. Yeah, i already have tiktok. We decided to put the phone to the test with its key target audience. So id like if there was things like google and you could take pictures, and more games. I probably wouldnt use a phone like that because it doesnt have all the apps that i usually like to use. I personally, its something that im really worried about For my daughter. In terms of introducing children to using a phone with restricted kind of access to Social Media, i get on board with that. Hmd says it would welcome apps like whatsapp on board with barbie, but whatsapp says not all Operating Systems work with its service. For now, Texting And Calling is going to have to be kenough. That is the business news today. Stay with us year on bbc news. You are watching bbc news. Now to the us politics, the next big test in this Election Race is the debate between Karmala Harris and Donald Trump lodged in the diary For september the 10th. If it goes ahead. I say if because theyre still wrangling over the exact rules For the encounter. Karmala Harriss Team want the microphones left live throughout the debate Donald Trumps team want them muted when the other contender is talking a repeat of the rules used during the biden Trump Debate on cnn. Only this weekend, Donald Trump Cast Doubt about whether he would take part talking about about abc being biased against him. Ive ben talking to ameshia cross, a democratic Strategist And Brad todd, a republican strategist about the debate and tstarted with that argument about microphones. Whether or not the mics are muted. Thats going to be a conversation that both campaigns have to agree on. It seemed as though trump was all in to have the mics unmuted or to do whatever. According to his commentary on Truth Social, his campaign is a little bit more on, the Wiggle Line of not wanting that to happen at all, partially because they know who their candidate is. Trump is known For insults. Hes known For saying derogatory commentary specifically against women. But weve seen what he said across Truth Social about black women. Weve seen what he said about women in general. He cannot stop being racist, misogynist and sexist, so having the mics open would actually be a disadvantage For Donald Trump because Hes Somebody who cannot control his rhetoric. I think that For the harris campaign, theyre looking Forward to him jeering and being who he is and want the american public to see the Donald Trump