in the evening. this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. 8 billion dollar takeaway. just eat on the menu as the global food delivery wars heat up. plus, the shape of things to come. but will smartphone users ever come round to the cyrcle phone? and on the markets, the global relief rally continues as the us and iran de—escalate tensions. wall street hits new record highs, sending asian shares higher. australia also at a new record. safe havens such as gold continue to slip

we start with takeaway food deliveries. they are becoming a huge global business, as smartphone apps transform the way we order in. today uk—based just eat will become the latest takeaway app to find itself on the menu, as the food delivery wars heat up. just eat looks set to be bought by dutch rival takeaway. com, after a fierce takeover battle. the deal would valuejust eat at getting on for $8 billion. within the next five years we could be spending $200 billion a year on takeaway food deliveries, according to one estimate. sales are increasing

by around 14% a year, with uber eats and deliveroo among the dozens of companies around the world competing for a slice of the pie. and it's younger customers who are driving the rise of takeaway apps. here in the uk, half of all 18 to sa year olds use an app to order food, while less than a third will pick up the phone. our reporter colletta smith took a closer look at the industry last year, when she spoke to some young delivery app devotees. its lunchtime at the office, and grabs up. in the last year, 773 million deliveries were made to homes and offices like helena, isabel, and martin's. it's quite normal, isn't it? i don't know what they want, by the time a look at at.

ages look at what can come fastest. i would never pick up the phone. interesting! will hawkley is global head of leisure and hospitality at the consultants kpmg. interesting, all those people collett was talking to there. a wonder whether we are in danger as a result of the rise of these apps as a kind cook won't cook generation, are we deskilling as a generation? my are we deskilling as a generation? my children still do food technology at school, my son came home having cooked. what did they cook? needed croq monsieur. we did some research

and 43% of people said it was still and 43% of people said it was still a treat to order a takeaway. so it is convenient but it is also a treat so is convenient but it is also a treat so that is what is driving people to order, friday, end of the working week, i will order a takeaway and relax. it's in that sweet spot, isn't it? it seems to work for consumers but hey wonder if anyone is able to make any big money in this industry? at the moment it seems to be working really well, because he would have seen the retail figures yesterday about the high street and how hard it is for everyone, the restaurant industry has found it hard as well. but restau ra nts has found it hard as well. but restaurants are surviving because of the delivery market as well because it is working well for both at the moment and we are also getting a whole new industry coming around where kitchens are being built to service their delivery market. i just want to pick up on those word,

at the moment it seems to work, but it strikes me that there are two things going on. we are living through a false market of artificially suppressed prices copy what happens when those prices rise? what happens to those restaurants, and what happens if we have more and more dark kitchens and it puts the restau ra nts more dark kitchens and it puts the restaurants out of business? the restau ra nts restaurants out of business? the restaurants are setting up their own dark kitchens because you get too many people coming into the restau ra nt many people coming into the restaurant at the moment for delivery and it slows down the service in the restaurant so they are moving into that as well. prices will have two... they will have to work out the pricing. at the moment, they are charging 20 to 30% on top, and the restaurant can take that hit oi’ and the restaurant can take that hit or pass it on and as they move for they will have to work out the pricing metrics to make sure it is a win—win because they have to survive together otherwise it doesn't work. when you walk into a restaurant on the doors you have the stars, you

know what you are getting, you know whether it has been recommended, good safety, good hygiene. do customers still have that kind of assurance when they are ordering online? i think they do. it is a concern and i have seen some reports where there has been issues around food hygiene, buti where there has been issues around food hygiene, but i guess it is down to the consumer in terms of, are they comfortable with the brand? so often these dark kitchens will still be sending out the big brands' food, but other companies are setting up brands that are for delivery only, like any brand you have got to build the trust otherwise people won't order. we could talk all day about this, couldn't we! it's a very popular topic. everyone loves a takeaway. if you are interested in this, please dojoin our conversation on twitter, it is

#bbcthebusiness. let's stay with the tech world, all this week we've been reporting from the consumer electronics show in las vegas. smartphones have looked pretty much the same since the launch of the original iphone more than 12 years ago. now the big manufacturers are looking at various folding technology to take the gadgets to the next level. but one us startup is taking a more rounded view, have a look at this. this is called the circle phone, it is just this is called the circle phone, it isjust a this is called the circle phone, it is just a prototype this is called the circle phone, it isjust a prototype but this is called the circle phone, it is just a prototype but you will be able to make phone calls and you will be able to take selfies. i've got the owner here, tell me about the cyrcle phone. it is for people looking for something different, recta ngles looking for something different, rectangles have served us for years and he has, but we are looking for something that it's better in the hand or the pockets? how many tests have you done to make sure it fits

in the pockets? would you like to try it now. would traditional android or i0s work on the cyrcle phone? we need to modify the system uijust phone? we need to modify the system ui just slightly so that apps open up ui just slightly so that apps open up within the circular interface. right now they are opening up as a square. the cyrcle has two headphone jacks! why two? we noticed that lindsay and millennial‘s were buying headphone jack splitters and it was convenient for me to put on notjust one headphone jack but two headphone jacks. how much of what we're seeing now will be of the final product? you will see an edge on one side. a lot of our users were asking whether top and bottom is and that helps with that. on the top we will have to build around the camera because we love this 13 megapixel camera. what do you make of that? let's stay with smartphones,

because apple enjoyed a surge in iphone sales in china last month, according to chinese government figures. that has boosted shares in the tech sector around the world. rico hizon is following the story for us. rico, good to see you! hello! yeah, this is my mouth phone. rico! what's going on?! i thought we had to pick iphones in 2015? it seems like many more chinese consumers wanted to get their hands on the iphone i! more chinese consumers wanted to get their hands on the iphone 11 during their hands on the iphone 11 during the holiday season and that is compared to the local brand smart phones in china. so as a result, we saw a spike in demand for the iphones once again on the mainland. a year after, apple warned investors

it was looking at a slowdown. let's have a look at the numbers, soaring 80% in december from have a look at the numbers, soaring 80% in decemberfrom the same month earlier and an even better performance than wall street had projected. apple shipped 3.2 million of these devices during the month competitor 2.7 million over the same period in 2018. and with all this good news, apple stock rising more than 2% to an all—time high. and there is anticipation that the u pwa rd there is anticipation that the upward trend will continue until the chinese holidays which is a major giftgiving holiday at the end of january. now let's brief you on some other business stories: chlorine—washed chicken and hormone—treated beef will be kept out of the uk under any trade deal with the us, the environment secretary has promised. theresa villiers told the bbc the current european union ban on the two foods will be carried over into uk legislation after brexit. until now the uk has been wavering on the issue, despite huge pressure

from british farmers. brexit is no longer the chief concern for british finance directors for the first time since the 2016 referendum, according to a regular survey from accountants deloitte. chief financial officers at some of the uk's biggest companies still think brexit will be bad for the business environment. but they are now more concerned about weak demand and geopoplitical risks than the impact of leaving the eu. i've got lots more coming up in terms of papers, but for now that is your business. see you soon. a young singerfrom brighton has topped the bbc‘s sound of 2020.

celeste, who's 25, follows in the footsteps of previous winners like adele and ellie goulding. lizo mzimba reports. the soulful sound of celeste. the young singer raised in brighton who has been named the bbc‘s sound of 2020. i can't wait now to see what the rest of the year looks like. i think you can never predict, even though sometimes you really want to look into a glass ball and see what is going to happen, but i am just so thrilled and so excited. i can't wait. she's already made appearances

on shows like later withjools holland, now she is following in the footsteps of previous winners, the likes of which include adel, ellie goulding and sam smith. one of the most important things for me is that more people will hear my music and are aware that i'm making music. confident live performer who played western very‘s introducing stage in 2019, 2020 will bring different pressures . 2019, 2020 will bring different pressures. there is a heightened expectation now potentially that you really wa nt expectation now potentially that you really want to make sure that you live up to, but ultimately like i've said it is encouraging. the new year will bring new music that she hopes will bring new music that she hopes will justify the will bring new music that she hopes willjustify the industry's will bring new music that she hopes will justify the industry's faith will bring new music that she hopes willjustify the industry's faith in her.

this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the us, canada and britian say there's evidence that iranian forces brought down a ukrainian airliner in tehran by accident. iran denies the accusations. the bbc has confirmed that the duchess of sussex has left the uk for canada. the news came as the queen summoned an urgent family conference to find a way to accommodate prince harry and meghan‘s wish to step back from royal life. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the guardian who say according to western officials the passengerjet that crashed shortly after takeoff from tehran on wednesday was accidentally shot down by aniranian anti—aircraft missile. the royal family take center stage on the front of the telegraph as the queen intervenes in the row

over the future role of the duke and duchess of sussex. the papers says the couple face a backlash over their plan to step back as senior members of the royal family. meanwhile in the washington post, madame tussauds has removed its wax figures of prince harry and meghan, duchess of sussex, from its display of britain's royal family. the move came less than 2a hours after the announcement the couple would be "stepping back" from their roles as senior royals and splitting their time between britain and north america. the independent reports the government bill paving the way for the uk's exit from the european union on 31 january has completed its passage through the house of commons. the japan times says former nissan—renault boss carlos ghosn‘s recent news conference will have done little to turn the tide of public opinion injapan and restore his reputation