Netherlands Archives - Gizmochina

Smartphones Banned from Schools in Bid to Improve Learning

Oğuz Çakır — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 20:24:03 +0000

Smartphone addiction is a major problem in our society. Many of us are constantly checking our phones, even when we should be focusing on other things. This is especially true for children and teenagers, who are often more interested in their phones than their schoolwork. The Dutch government is taking steps to address this problem. Starting in January 2024, smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches will be largely banned from classrooms in the Netherlands. This is a positive step that will help students focus on their studies and learn more effectively.

Dutch Government Takes Steps to Protect Students from Smartphones

The Dutch government has announced that smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches will be largely banned from classrooms in the Netherlands from January 1, 2024. The ban is the result of an agreement between the ministry, schools, and related organizations. Education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf said in a statement that the ban is necessary to protect students from distractions and to help them focus on their studies. “Mobile phones are a disturbance, scientific research shows,” he said. “We need to protect students against this.”

The ban will only apply to smartphones that are not specifically needed for lessons. For example, smartphones can still be used for lessons on digital skills, or by students with medical conditions or disabilities. Schools will be responsible for enforcing the ban. However, if the ban does not yield enough results by the summer of 2024, legal rules will follow.

The rule banning phones in Dutch schools may be new, but it’s already common in many other parts of the world. When I was in high school, phones were also prohibited where I lived. And since then, the use of phones and social media has only increased. According to Common Sense Media, the average teenager now spends about 7 hours and 22 minutes on their phone every day. That includes time spent on social media, texting, gaming, watching videos, and using apps. The CDC recommends that children and adolescents aged 5-17 limit their screen time to 2 hours per day.

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Apple fines reach €50 million in the Dutch dating apps dispute

Sean — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 09:32:46 +0000

Earlier this week, we had reported on Apple facing additional fines in the Netherlands for failing to comply with orders from the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). While the company had almost hit the fines upper limit of 50 million EUR (roughly 55 million US Dollars), now the cumulative fines have reached this point.

For those unaware, the Cupertino based giant was facing the fines for failing to provide the mandated alternative payment system for Dutch dating apps. Since this rule came into effect, the iPhone maker would face 5 million EUR in fines each week till the fines hit 50 million EUR. However, due to its failure to provide adequate measures, Apple kept receiving the fines for 10 weeks in a row.

So far, the company has chosen to offer Dutch dating apps to use external payment methods, but developers that opt for this system will have to submit a separate app binary and will not be able to offer 3rd payment options and in app purchases simultaneously. However, the ACM did not approve of the brand’s attempt at making developers choose between using either alternative payments or in app payments and required Apple to offer both options.

Furthermore, the company had even reduced its commission on purchases using 3rd party payment systems down to 27 percent instead of the usual 30 percent, but developers would again have to submit a monthly record of sales so Apple can track its commission. With the upper limit of the fines being hit, its unknown what actions the ACM will take against the tech giant, although, it is likely that it would face stricter punishment in the form of higher fines. As of right now, the ACM is currently in the process of reviewing Apple’s latest proposal for compliance and said that it “should result in definitive conditions for dating app providers that wish to use the App Store.”

XPENG expands presence in Europe, with sales and service partners in Netherlands and Sweden

Sean — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:06:36 +0000

Earlier this week, XPENG announced that it has signed strategic partnership deals in the Netherlands and Sweden. Through this deal, the company will now be able to open its self operated experience stores in Europe.

In other words, the Chinese EV maker is expanding its presence in the European region, and has collaborated with Emil Frey Nederland NV for the market in the Netherlands. Emil Frey has been brought in to develop XPENG’s sales and service network and will also manage its branded stores throughout the country. Through this partnership, XPENG is seeking to widen its footprint in the region and also marks the first agency retail collaboration for the Chinese company in Europe.

Emil Frey is one of Europe’s largest automobile retail organizations. So, XPENG’s retail stores will benefit from this partnership with customers getting consistent pricing, online and offline, along with access to Emil Frey’s established services and distribution network as well. The XPENG retail experience store will be located in the Westfield Mall of the Netherlands near The Hague and will open sometime in March 2022. On the other hand, the brand has entered into an agreement with Bilia for the Swedish market.

Bilia is the largest automobile dealer and distributor in Sweden. This means that XPENG customers will also benefit from Bilia’s well established network, which consists of 58 dealers and 66 service centers in Sweden. He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPENG stated that “Our global journey starts from Europe, propelled by our commitment to increase smart EV penetration. We strongly support the EV development strategy in Europe and are forging partnerships with top tier local players to accelerate energy conservation, emission reduction and electrification in Europe.”

Apple to charge 27% commission on 3rd party payments in Dutch dating apps

Sean — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 13:29:43 +0000

Following the dating app dispute in Netherlands, Apple has announced that it will be charging 27 percent commission on purchases through a third party payment systems in the application.

Back in October 2021, we had reported on the Dutch authority labeling the Cupertino based giant’s in app purchase rules as anti competitive. Netherland’s Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) had ordered the iPhone maker to make changes in order to not face a fine. However, Apple had failed to comply in time and faced a 5 million US Dollars fine per week till it eventually made the changes. Now, it seems that the brand is finally moving to comply with the Dutch authority.

The company further added that “Consistent with the ACM’s order, dating apps that are granted an entitlement to link out or use a third-party in-app payment provider will pay Apple a commission on transactions. Apple will charge a 27% commission on the price paid by the user, net of value-added taxes. This is a reduced rate that excludes value related to payment processing and related activities. Developers will be responsible for the collection and remittance of any applicable taxes, such as the Netherlands’ value-added tax (VAT), for sales processed by a third-party payment provider.”

On its developer support site (Via MacRumors), the company shared an update that revealed that Apple would take a 27 percent commission, which is lower than its usual 30 percent commission rate that it charges on payments made through alternative payment methods in dating apps. It also warned that it will not be aware of any purchases made through other methods, so it won’t be able to assist users with refunds, purchase history, subscription management, and other issues that it usually keeps track of. Despite complying with the original order, Apple is still appealing the ACM ruling.

Apple faces over $5 million in weekly fines over Dutch dating app dispute

Sean — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 12:28:51 +0000

Apple is facing a sizeable fine from the Dutch competition regulator, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). The company is being hit with 5 million Euros fine (roughly 5.6 million US Dollars).

According to the ACM (Via TheVerge), the Cupertino based giant is facing the fine for failing to allow dating app developers to use third party payments methods. It further added that the iPhone maker will continue to face additional 5 million Euros fine every week if they do not comply with the order, which was first issued back on 24th of December 2021. While the fine of more than 5 million US Dollars is a large amount, it likely won’t impact the multi trillion dollar company.

However, failing to meet the new standards might have Apple face stricter actions. On the other hand, the move from the ACM would also encourage similar agencies from different nations to also take such actions against the brand. An example of this is South Korea, which has already mandated third party payment systems being allowed on applications on the company’s App Store.

Apple had initially announced that it will be making changes ahead of its 15th January 2022 deadline, in accordance to ACM’s order. However, it has yet to roll out support for the third party payment providers in the Dutch App Store. ACM stated that “Apple has failed to adjust its conditions, as a result of which dating-app providers are still unable to use other payment systems.”

Smartphone market recovers in Netherlands, Finland, Denmark in Q4 2020, 5G handset shipments rise by 50%

Sean — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 10:01:34 +0000

The smartphone shipments in the Netherlands, Demark, and Finland have shown signs of positive growth quarter on quarter in the fourth and final quarter of last year. The primary reason for the growth was the launch of Apple’s iPhone 12 series.

According to a CounterPoint Research report, that the rebound arrived despite a few regions still remaining under partial lockdown. Furthermore, Netherlands recorded the highest degree of recovery with a 19 percent quarter on quarter rise in smartphone shipments, over the other regions, followed by Finland and Denmark with 14 percent and 10 percent QoQ growth respectively. Notably, 5G enabled handset’s shipments also grew by 50 percent during this time in all three nations.

This was higher than the overall European average. Meanwhile, the iPhone 12 lineup was the most popular 5G device in these regions, which is also what led to the positive growth in Q4 of 2020. Similarly, the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Note 20 lineup also performed well in the countries, while the mid tier segment had the OnePlus Nord emerged as the highest selling 5G Android device in Finland and Denmark.

Interestingly, popular Chinese brands also played a role in the markets. With Oppo being the third largest brand in the Dutch market, recording great performance thanks to its Reno 4 series. This also marked a 123 percent year on year growth of the brand. Samsung was also one of the major players in the mid range segments, with its A series seeing strong sales, but Apple still led the 5G handset market overall.

OnePlus records strong growth in Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands with the Nord

Sean — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 10:23:29 +0000

OnePlus saw strong growth in Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands in the third quarter of this year. This growth arrived as its smartphone shipments more than doubled thanks to its upper mid range handset offerings.

The Chinese smartphone maker recorded its highest ever shipments in a quarter, which was backed by its smartphone range within the 250 to 399 US Dollars price. The company saw great success through this range, which was mostly accredited to the OnePlus Nord. According to a CounterointResearch report, the company saw the fastest growth in Finland during Q3 2020, noting a 209 percent sequential growth. Notably, it was the only brand apart from Xiaomi to also record positive growth within the declining market. This even had the company become the top 5G smartphone brand in terms of units in the region with a 53 percent market share, beating Samsung with its 35 percent market share.

In Denmark, the company was again one of the fastest growing OEM, marking another doubling growth over the previous quarter. However, Samsung managed to still stay ahead of the Chinese brand in this market with a 38 percent market share for Android smartphones compared to the 25 percent market share of OnePlus. The Nord helped make the brand the second largest 5G smartphone brand in Q3 2020 in the region.

Arriving to the Netherlands, the positive trend continues as the company recorded strong growth in another declining market. Here, OnePlus marked an impressive 412 percent annual growth in Q3 2020 despite the Dutch market falling by 8 percent. The region is dominated by the South Korean tech giant with a 52 percent market share, while Oppo and Apple arrived second and third respectively. Despite not making the top 3 spots, the Nord still managed to become the third most popular smartphone in the region, accounting for 11 percent of the total shipments during this period. Looking at these results, we can only expect the brand to grow further in all of the three regions.

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[Update: Response] OnePlus Lays off Employees in Europe, Might shift Headquarters to Helsinki

Sudarshan Ravichandran — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 08:49:31 +0000

UPDATE:

In response to the news about OnePlus’ layoffs in Europe, the company clarified that it was a strategic restructuring move limited to its European division. In an official forum post, Tuomas L., head of OnePlus’ Strategy in Europe, revealed that around 20 employees were affected by this restructuring in Germany, France, and the UK.

You can read the forum post here. An excerpt from the post has been added below.

“As part of our strategy, we are looking to capitalize on opportunities in the Nordic region and Benelux by hiring for new positions, relocating some existing European staff and further enhancing our capabilities in these strategic markets. At the same time, we are making organizational changes in some existing markets, specifically Germany, France and the UK.”

“We are doing everything we can to support the approximately 20 total employees in these three markets who will be affected by this restructuring, including offering redundancy packages per local regulations. We highly value the contributions of these staff members and will do our best to ensure a smooth transition through this process.”

OnePlus just launched the OnePlus 8 series, consisting of OnePlus 8 Pro, the company’s most ambitious smartphone till date. However, the same cannot be said for its employees. According to a report by Engadget, the Chinese smartphone company has reportedly laid off several workers in Europe.

It is not the first time OnePlus has downsized in Europe. Last year, staffs in Spain and Italy had to face the same and as of now, the company has not a single worker in those regions.

The current lay-off includes removing up to 80% of employees (around 20 employees) in the regional offices of France, Germany, and the UK. To this, OnePlus responded that it is carrying out some strategic restructuring in Europe and even confirmed to be hiring in the region.

According to a source close to the matter, the teams in Denmark, Finland, Netherlands and Belgium seem to be unaffected. The company considers these markets to have more potential and thus even asked some of its employees to relocate to Helsinki, which is expected to replace London as OnePlus’ European headquarters.

The primary reason for OnePlus to make such decisions lies in its new philosophy. As the company raced towards premium 5G smartphones, carriers like O2 and EE discontinued their partnerships with the brand in the UK. The new OnePlus 8 series is only available on 3 in the region.

As per Ben Wood, Chief Analyst at CCS Insight, ‘OnePlus has fallen into the trap of over-promising and under-delivering’. The company is struggling hard to maintain relationships with carriers in Europe and has even turned back on core fans by stepping into the premium range.

Anyway, before the recent layoff, OnePlus had over 2,000 employees worldwide. The current tally of workes is unknown at the moment.

(Source)

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Huawei donates 800,000 masks to the Netherlands

Sudarshan Ravichandran — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 08:39:37 +0000

Huawei has been helping countries around the world affected by the coronavirus outbreak by donating necessary aids for the past few weeks. The new country added to this increasing list is the Netherlands, which has so far received 200,000 masks from the Chiese telecom giant out of 800,000 proposed units.

Ever since the US Government imposed a ban on Huawei, Huawei has been utilizing every possible opportunity to win the hearts of the countries where they are present. As COVID-19 is taking over the world, they have been donating necessary aids like masks to the severely affected regions over the course of the last few weeks.

This time around, the Chinese smartphone maker has planned to donate a total of 800,000 FFP2 masks to the Netherlands. The first batch of 200,000 masks has already reached the country by air on Sunday, March 22nd. The masks (over million in numbers) donated by different companies are being incorporated in a single place from where they are being supplied to hospitals, home care organizations, nursing homes, mental health and mental health institutions, disability care organizations and other care institutions based on requirements.

Huawei has been busy sending out aid whenever possible amidst the global pandemic especially to the European countries where they have a long history of partnership in establishing mobile networks and selling phones.

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