Planet Business

Compiled by Laura Slattery

In numbers

Phone = Hand extension

45

Percentage of young people who check their phones while on the loo, the Irish Mobile Youth Report survey by communications agency Thinkhouse has found. You think that’s bad, wait until you hear the next one.

20

Percentage of people who check their phones while at the cinema – thereby breaking the code of conduct by which all self-respecting movie-goers abide – according to the survey of 661 people aged 15-35.

17

Percentage of people who check their mobiles while on a date. This one is more understandable. If you don’t check your phone while on a date, how can you receive that “Oh my God, it’s an emergency, I must leave immediately” call?

17

Percentage of people who check their phones while exercising. Except, presumably, if that exercise is pool-based.

The Lexicon: Instascam

The dark side of Instagram circled towards the light this week as the photo-sharing social network changed its terms and conditions. Users embarked on a huff so big that they very nearly stopped randomly snapping random pictures of random objects, lest Instagram and its newish owner Facebook sell the images onto third parties. The Twitter hashtag of choice was “Instascam” as photographers weighed up their appreciation of Instagram’s retro-filters versus their desire not to cede all control of their images. Instagram later claimed it had all been a terrible misunderstanding: “To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos.”

Getting to know: The Lindt teddy

There he is, so innocent looking. But the “Lindt teddy” made by the eponymous Swiss chocolatier was this week defeated in a legal bear fight. His victorious opponent was German confectioner Haribo’s multi-coloured gummy bear, on sale since 1967. Haribo, the holder of the global trademark for use of the term “Gold-Bears” in confectionery since 1975, but not the 3D shape, successfully argued in a Cologne court that shoppers confused between foil-wrapped milk chocolate and gelatin-based sweets would naturally refer to Lindt’s chocolate teddy as “Gold Bear” because of its packaging. The regional German court banned future sales of the chocolate bears, but Lindt, which said it had called its product the “Lindt teddy” in order to comply with Haribo’s trademark, can appeal the decision. This may not be teddy’s last Christmas.

There’s no frosted window panes or candles gleaming inside this Tokyo skyscraper as window cleaners dressed as Santa Claus work during an event promoting Christmas in the Japanese capital’s business district.

The List: Christmas Cheer

Trade group Retail Excellence Ireland will release the second of its Christmas trading updates today, when we will find out if consumers have managed to shake off the “confidence crusher” of budget 2013 and if REI’s reported low levels of seasonal “self-gifting” have increased. In the meantime, here’s a list of some of the companies that appear to be doing rather nicely thank you. (This list does not include HMV.)

1 Apple: Sales of the iPad and iPad Mini are ticking over as might be expected – the latter are about as easy to find as myrrh.

2 Grove Turkeys: The Monaghan-based farmers are feeling festive, exporting €3 million worth of Irish turkeys to 300 Tesco stores in the UK this year.

3 Nintendo: Its new Wii U did the trick, selling out shortly after its November launch, and for a while consoles changed hands online at inflated prices.

4 Lego: It’s too soon to say if new products such as Lego Friends: Olivia’s House have made Christmas trading a success, but the year to date has already been kind for the Danish toymaker.

5 McDonald’s: The fast food chain is busy convincing its US franchisees to keep the deep fat fryer hot on Christmas Day – restaurants that stayed open last year took in an average of $5,500.