Oddly Relevant (Jul-21-2013)

Growth of smartphone sales in the US is over: For the first time since 2008, computer-equipped phone upgrades dropped. This year, only 68 million Americans upgraded their phones, down 9% from the year before. At this point, ~70% of the country have a “smart phone”…[Note: will smartwatch & glasses deliver the next wowing upgrade cycle?]…Source: http://qz.com/105287/growth-of-smartphone-sales-in-the-us-is-over/

Steve Ells, Chipotle Founder, Reflects On McDonald's, GMOs And The First 20 Years Of His Chain: “Never in our 20-year history have I set a goal of becoming a national chain…like that”, said Steve Ells. By 1997, he had 14 stores running, needed more fund to expand, and approached McDonalds. Although Chipotle was minuscule compared to the fast-food behemoth, its executives were intrigued and bought a small minority stake in 1998, became its majority owner in 1999, and owned > 90% of the company’s stock by 2002. Their concepts on attitude towards employee and ethically raised food eventually drove them apart—CMG was carved and split in 2006.The rest is history…Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/steve-ells-chipotle-20th-anniversary_n_3583927.html

America Is Flat: Within the US, people are moving a lot less (down 50% over the past 20 years). Greg Kaplan argue that this is in part because regions have become more similar; and this argument is similar to what the new economic geography literature says, that regional specialization peaked around a century ago, and has been declining ever since. [Note: he himself said it: not much policy relevant, just him having a bit of fun]…Source: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/america-is-flat/

Where have all the burglars gone: Crime rates. In America the fall began around 1991; in Britain it began around 1995, though the murder rate followed only in the mid-2000s. In France, property crime rose until 2001—but it has fallen by a third since. Some crimes are all but disappearing. In 1997, some 400,000 cars were reported stolen in England and Wales: in 2012, just 86,000. Reasons? Many wide guesses, no satisfactory answer…source: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21582041-rich-world-seeing-less-and-less-crime-even-face-high-unemployment-and-economic

Forecast for Microsoft: Shareholder activism: Sherlund posits that Value Act may seek a seat on Microsoft’s board and try to convince independent directors that shareholders want to see change. Value Act holds a 1 percent position — it’s probably the 17th largest shareholder — so alone it doesn’t have enough sway, but Sherlund believes it is talking to other shareholders and former Microsoft executives in preparation for seeking a seat at the table. [Note: maybe, but besides a break-up story, what else can a hedg fund do? Steering a tech conglomerate in the right way is arguably much harder]…Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/07/19/forecast-for-microsoft-shareholder-activism/