Read this Wednesday’s edition of the FolhaMercado newsletter (17) – 01/17/2024 – Market

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New leader in cell phones

Apple surpassed Samsung last year as the largest global cellphone manufacturer, according to data from research group IDC.

The South Korean company led the market in production volume for 12 years.

In numbers:

• 234.6 million of iPhones were manufactured by the apple company in 2023, in an annual increase of 3.7%;

• 226.6 million of devices were delivered by Samsung, in a fall of 13.6% before 2022;

• 1.17 billion of cell phones were manufactured last year, a decrease of 3.2% compared to the previous year.

– Apple was the only one among major manufacturers to record annual growth in device production.

Which explains: Looking to increase its profit margin in the face of last year’s high interest rate scenario, Samsung prioritized its medium and high-end models.

• In this way, the manufacturer lost share in the popular versions segment, says Amber Liu, manager of the analysis company Canalys.

• In this segment, the highlight is the Chinese Transsion, which grew 30.8% last year and became the leader in the African market.

As five biggest Global Manufacturers by Market Share:

• Apple (USA) – 20.1%;
• Samsung (South Korea) – 19.4%;
• Xiaomi (China) – 12.5%;
• Oppo (China) – 8.8%;
• Transsion (China) – 8.1%.

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Speaking of Apple…

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Apple and Epic Games’ appeals over the outcome of the game producer’s trial against the Apple app store.

Understand: the developer of the popular “Fortnite” questions the fee charged by Apple – which can reach 30% – on purchases made within the games. The game has been unavailable to App Store users since 2020.

• In a 2021 decision, a federal judge argued that Epic failed to prove any violation of antitrust laws, but ordered Apple to release apps to provide alternative payment methods.

And now? Apple has already changed its app store policy so that developers include links for payments outside the App Store.

Yes but… The company will continue to charge a fee for each transaction made. The maximum commission for anyone using an alternative payment link will be 27% –instead of 30%–, while apps from small developers will be charged 12%.

It’s not just the apple. At the end of last year, Epic itself won an antitrust case against Google in which it also questioned the fees charged by big tech and the lack of an alternative for payments beyond the Android system.

Google denies wrongdoing and says it will appeal the decision.

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Richest elite

The 15,000 richest people in the country, who represent 0.01% of the population, saw their income grow up to three times the rate observed among the rest of the population between 2017 and 2022.

The earnings of the vast majority of adult Brazilians (the poorest 95%) have not advanced more than 33% —a little above the inflation of the period (31%).

This is what the technical note prepared by economist Sérgio Gobetti, published by the FGV Ibre Fiscal Policy Observatory, points out. The study was carried out based on IR declarations and used IBGE data on the evolution of the income of all Brazilians.

In numbers:

• R$ 2,169,741 was the average monthly income of the 15 thousand richest Brazilians in 2022; in 2017, it was R$ 1,106,710.

• In the richest 0.1% (154 thousand people), income grew on average 87% between 2017 and 2022, already among the 5% with more gains, the increase was 51%.

• More than 3 percentage points (from 20.4% to 23.7%) was the increase in the share of national income that was appropriated by the richest 1% of Brazilian society in the period.

What explains the increase in income concentration in these years? There are two main factors, says Gobetti:

• Earnings from rural activity (partially exempt), which grew especially among the richest;

The economist states that the concentration of income at the top has reached record levels.

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The taxation of bets

Taxation on sports bettors’ winnings will be lower than that of Mega Sena winners, while companies will be charged a higher rate than that applied in other countries.

This is what tax lawyers interviewed by reporter Eduardo Cucolo explain in relation to the law that regulates fixed-rate betting, sanctioned by President Lula at the end of 2023.

How the taxation will be:

↳ For bettors: 15% Income Tax on the amount obtained from the prize – in Mega Sena, the charge is 30%.

↳ For bets: 12% on the total value of bets collected from players, excluding the value of prizes paid.

• They are also subject to IRPJ/CSLL, PIS/Cofins and ISS charges.

• There is also an annual fee of up to R$1.94 million and a grant of R$30 million to operate for up to five years.

How it works in other countries:

↳ For bettors: in the USA there is only 24% federal tax on the prize, in Germany 5% on each bet and in the United Kingdom individuals are exempt.

↳ For bets: the rate of charge on the value of bets deducted from the prize paid to bettors varies between 5% to 25%.

• In most other countries, however, companies do not have to pay taxes common to other companies, as is the case in Brazil.