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TikTok is shutting down TikTok Noteswait, you didnt even know it existed? Well, that explains a lot. TikTok Notes, the platforms short-lived attempt to take on Instagram (just as Instagram Reels was built to mimic TikTok), is officially being retired. Launched in limited markets like Canada, Australia, and Vietnam last year, the photo-sharing app let users post images with captionssimple enough, but apparently not compelling enough. Users are now being notified that TikTok Notes will shut down on May 8, with TikTok instead shifting focus to another ByteDance-owned platform: Lemon8. Were excited to bring the feedback from TikTok Notes to Lemon8 as we continue building a dedicated space for our community to share and experience photo content, designed to complement and enhance the TikTok experience, a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. Lemon8think Instagram meets Pinteresthas quietly been gaining traction, tripling its U.S. user base since last summer and hitting 12 million downloads. It reportedly had around 12.5 million global monthly active users by December 2024. TikTok didnt spell out why Notes is getting the axe, but given how few people knew about it . . . the writing was on the wall. In a notice to users, TikTok is urging anyone who used Notes to download and save their content before the app disappears for good. Theyre also encouraging creators to continue their creative journey on Lemon8 instead. Unlike TikToks vertical video scroll, Lemon8 leans photo-first, allowing users to post curated carousels and slideshows. Still, it borrows TikToks dual-feed format, with both a Following and For You feed for discovery. Déj vu? Thats because TikTok already started plugging Lemon8 as a backup late last year when a potential U.S. ban first loomed. Now, with a fresh April 5 deadline hanging over TikToks head, the strategy looks familiarand unchanged. The short lesson of TikTok Notes: if it aint broke, dont fix it. And if the whole app banned, I guess everyone panic.
Category:
E-Commerce
On Wednesday, President Trump unveiled a series of sweeping tariffs that not only targeted major U.S. trading partners but also included small, remote islands and territories. Among the most unexpected entries on the list were the Heard and McDonald Islands, isolated sub-Antarctic volcanic islands located in the southern Indian Ocean, roughly halfway between Australia and South Africa. Though these islands are Australian territories, they are virtually uninhabited, with the only significant human presence occurring during Australian Antarctic Science expeditions. These expeditions generally take place every three years, lasting only a couple of months during the summer. For the majority of the time, the islands are left to their resident penguins and seals, with only occasional visits from commercial tourist groups, private expeditions, or fisheries and defense surveillance patrols. Despite their isolation, the islands appeared on a White House list of territories subject to new trade tariffs. According to the list, the Heard and McDonald Islands currently impose a 10 percent “Tariff to the U.S.A.,” with a small note specifying that this includes “currency manipulation and trade barriers.” In return, the U.S. has announced “discounted reciprocal tariffs” at the same 10% rate. A White House official explained that the inclusion of the Heard and McDonald Islands is due to their status as Australian territory, as reported by Axios. The islands reportedly had no trade with the U.S. last year, according to the most recent U.S. data. The export figures from the Heard and McDonald Islands are equally perplexing. Despite having no permanent human population and only a fishery, the islands were recorded as having exported $1.4 million worth of goods to the U.S. in 2022, mostly classified as “machinery and electrical” imports. The exact nature of these goods remains unclear. Over the previous five years, imports from the islands ranged between $15,000 and $325,000 annually, as reported by The Guardian. Another unusual entry on Trump’s tariff list is Jan Mayen, a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean. Like the Heard and McDonald Islands, Jan Mayen has no permanent human inhabitants and is grouped with Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago known for its polar bears and small human population. Trump has set a 10 percent tariff for both Svalbard and Jan Mayen, while Norway itself faces a 15 percent tax on imports from the U.S.
Category:
E-Commerce
Prices of Nike Jordan and Adidas Samba sneakers are likely to rise in the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed a raft of new tariffs on Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, key manufacturers of sportswear and apparel. Shares in Nike, Adidas and Puma dropped sharply on Thursday after Vietnam was targeted with a 46% tariff rate, Cambodia with 49%, Bangladesh with 37% and Indonesia with 32%, while Trump hiked tariffs on China by an extra 34 percentage points, following the earlier 20% tariffs. Fast-fashion retailers H&M, which sources from China and Bangladesh mainly, and Zara owner Inditex were also hit. “The April 2 tariffs seem purpose-built to hobble the apparel industry,” said Dylan Carden, an analyst at William Blair in Chicago. The new tariffs would increase the average U.S. import tariff rate on apparel from 14.5% in 2024 to 30.6%, according to calculations by Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. Based on 2024 import values, the new tariffs would result in a total of $26 billion in duties on apparel, more than double last year’s level, Lu said. In the past years, apparel and sportswear brands have shifted their sourcing away from China due to escalating political tensions between Washington and Beijing and have imported more from countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, and India. Retailers may not be able to fully offset these tariffs, as countering the impact of the levies on Vietnam alone would require price increases of 10% to 12%, according to UBS analysts. “With additional tariffs proposed across other key Asian sourcing hubs, the scenario of shifting production now looks far less viable, narrowing the set of effective mitigation levers available to brands,” the UBS analysts added. The U.S. imported more than $15 billion in textiles and garments from Vietnam in 2024, which was roughly about 10% of Vietnam’s total U.S. exports, according to a Jefferies note. Nike produced half its footwear and roughly 30% of its apparel in Vietnam in its 2024 financial year, while Adidas relied on the Asian nation for 39% of its footwear and 18% of its apparel last year. Shares of Nike tumbled about 8% in premarket trading, while Adidas dropped more than 10% to a one-year low. Puma’s shares fell 10.7% to hit their lowest level since November 2016. Rival sportswear makers, including Lululemon, Skechers, Under Armour, Hoka maker Deckers and On Holding were all down between 8% and 15% before the bell on Thursday. Nike, Adidas and Puma did not reply to requests for comment on the tariffs, while On said it was “constantly monitoring the evolving situation”. Helen Reid, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
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