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☆ Samsung shows off its fifth generation foldable smartphones
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Samsung is doubling down on its foldable smartphones with a range of new features, but it’s not updating what’s arguably been the single biggest deterrent for customers: the high price tag. At its annual Unpacked event on Wednesday, held in Samsung’s home country of South Korea for the first time, the company announced updates to its tablets, smartwatches and foldable devices. The event focused on the arrival of Samsung’s fifth generation foldable smartphones: the 6.7-inch Z Flip5, which folds into a 3.4- inch device; and the 6.2-inch Galaxy Z Fold, which opens like a book into a 7.6 inch device. Drew Blackard, vice president of mobile product manager at Samsung, said he believes prices will fall and foldable devices will one day become flagship devices. The Samsung Galaxy Fold5.

Persons: What’s, Drew Blackard, ” Organizations: CNN, Samsung, Samsung Samsung, Counterpoint Research, iDC, Samsung Galaxy, Galaxy Locations: South Korea, foldables

☆ The strong earnings of US big banks are not sustainable over the next two quarters: Analyst
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe strong earnings of US big banks are not sustainable over the next two quarters: AnalystCyrus Daruwala of IDC Financial Insights shares his view on U.S. big banks' earnings and explains why he is almost certain that many mid-sized banks will take a hit.

Persons: Cyrus Daruwala Organizations: IDC

☆ GlobalFoundries scraps plan to appoint former top Amazon executive as CFO
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 11 (Reuters) - Chipmaker GlobalFoundries (GFS.O) has shelved its plan to appoint former Amazon executive Tim Stone as chief financial officer, it said on Tuesday, two months after choosing him. It said current CFO David Reeder will remain in the role through the end of the year as it looks for a new candidate. GlobalFoundries had in May named Stone, who was at Amazon (AMZN.O) for more than 20 years and served as CFO for AWS and Devices businesses. The chipmaker counts companies including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), STMicroelectronics (STMPA.PA), Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) among its customers. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tim Stone, David Reeder, GlobalFoundries, Stone, Lockheed Martin, Chavi Mehta, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Amazon, AWS, Ford Motor, Devices, Qualcomm, Lockheed, Global, IDC, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Apple's Mac market share jumped even though PC sales fell for the sixth consecutive quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple saw a sharp uptick in global PC market share for the second quarter of 2023, recovering from weak delivery numbers in the preceding period, according to data from IDC. The news comes amid a broadly weakening PC market. Apple's Mac computers now account for 8.6% of global market share, as the company shipped 5.3 million Mac units in the second quarter alone. That number is still markedly down relative to the quarter a year ago, which had 4.8 million Mac shipments total. It's a decline mirrored by the broader market, which experienced a total fall of 13.4% in PC shipments year over year, from 71.1 million units to 61.6 million units, according to IDC.

Organizations: Apple, IDC, Mac Pro, Intel, Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer

☆ A $12 phone is opening doors for rural India to get on the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

All that could change with a new $12 phone from Reliance Jio this week. India is already the world's second-largest smartphone market and is likely to add 300 million new internet users, making it the fastest country to provide internet services to those who remain unconnected, Mishra said. "However, screen size can limit the experience a bit, but still good for first-time internet users." Reliance Jio has rolled out 5G services in 406 cities in India. Additionally, Singh highlighted that Reliance Jio hopes first-time internet users who purchase the Jio Bharat will eventually upgrade to more advanced phones down the road.

Persons: Mukherjee, Akash Ambani, Jio Bharat, Varun Mishra, Mishra, Navkendar Singh, Singh, Jio, Bharat, There's, Nikhil Batra, Batra, Research's Mishra Organizations: International Data Corporation, Afp, Getty, Reliance, Reliance Industries, Counterpoint Research, CNBC, Vodafone, Aditya Birla Group, Vodafone Group —, BSNL, IDC, Nurphoto, Macquarie Research, Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, Macquarie, Jio, Airtel Locations: India, Jio, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bihar, Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh

But in a statement on April 8 last year, the company said: "Due to recent developments, Acer has decided to suspend its business in Russia." Asked about subsequent exports to Russia via Swiss subsidiary Acer Sales International SA, Acer in Taiwan said in a statement that "we strictly adhere to applicable international regulations and trade laws regarding exports to Russia". Acer did not say why it continued shipping its goods to Russia despite saying it would suspend business there. Reuters was unable to establish where some Acer goods that can still be found on sale in Russia had originated from nor when they had arrived in the country. There were no deliveries of the newly prohibited items by Acer to Russia from Switzerland after that date.

Persons: Dell, Artem Zhavoronkov, Acer, Filipp Lebedev, Gleb Stolyarov, Ben Blanchard, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Mike Collett, White, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Reuters, Dell, HP, Acer, Russia, European Union, Acer Sales International SA, PC, IDC Russia, Nordic Star, Economy Ministry, Economic Affairs, Russia's Ministry of Industry, Trade, Thomson Locations: Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, Acer's, Switzerland, Swiss, St . Petersburg, Japan, Bioggio, WhatsApp, Switzerland's, Tbilisi, Taipei, Geneva

☆ The rivalry between Meta and Apple is moving to a new playing field: virtual reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Months after Apple unveiled a privacy change that threatened Facebook’s core advertising business, the social networking company rebranded as Meta and shifted its focus to virtual reality. Apple (AAPL) on Monday unveiled its mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, in one of its most ambitious product launches in years. On Thursday, just days before WWDC, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to preempt the expected Apple headset announcement by teasing the Meta Quest 3. Apple on Monday unveiled its first-ever virtual reality headset, challenging Facebook-owner Meta in a market that has yet to gain widespread consumer adoption. Apple chose not to focus on the term “virtual reality,” nor did it show off disembodied avatars without legs inhabiting a virtual world, as Meta did initially.

Persons: Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Meta, Josh Edelson, Morgan Stanley, “ We’re, ” Sheeva, ” Eric Alexander, Apple, ”, Julie, Forrester, Zuckerberg, that’s, Alexander, ’ ”, It’s, D.A, Davidson, Tom Forte, Forte, Blackberry, ” Forte Organizations: New, New York CNN, Apple, Meta, Vision, Microsoft, Google, VR, Facebook, Getty, Street, IDC, ” Sheeva Slovan, Reality Labs, CNN, Apple's, WWDC, Disney Locations: New York, AFP, ’

We also see knock-on benefits for rival Club name Meta Platforms (META), which unveiled its latest headset last week. Overall, Vision Pro, which debuted at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference Monday, should prove to be a net win for the Club portfolio. The stock market appears to be less impressed, with Apple stock under pressure since CEO Tim Cook presented the new devic e in a pre-recorded presentation Monday. Implications for Meta Vision Pro shouldn't be seen as a detriment to Meta's products , which currently dominant the AR/VR headset market. Apple CEO Tim Cook stands next to the new Apple Vision Pro headset is displayed during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 05, 2023 in Cupertino, California.

Persons: Tim Cook, it's, We're, Goldman Sachs, Davidson, That's, Jim Cramer, Morgan Stanley, Jim Cramer's, Jim, Justin Sullivan Organizations: Apple, holding's, Apple Watch, Club, Meta, Vision, Developers, Pro, D.A, Bank of America, IDC, Meta Vision, Unity Software, CNBC, Apple Vision, Apple Worldwide Locations: Cupertino , California

☆ Apple to sell Vision Pro AR headset for triple Meta's top-line price
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/4] People use cameras as Apple's Vision Pro headsets are on display at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. June 5, 2023. Apple's headset will be available early next year in the U.S. with more countries coming later in 2024. The Vision Pro has two hours of use with an external battery, which Apple said would reduce the weight on the user's head. Investors and tech fans alike are focused on how much Apple's view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta's. In addition to Meta, Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices.

Persons: Loren Elliott CUPERTINO, Apple, Alan Dye, Tim Cook, Walt Disney's, Mark Zuckerberg, there's, John Ternus, Apple's, Craig Federighi, Stephen Nellis, Yuvraj Malik, Dawn Chmielewski, Katie Paul, Peter Henderson, Aditya Soni, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Developers, REUTERS, Apple Inc, Pro, Apple, Vision, Reuters, Adobe, Microsoft, Unity, Meta, Sony Group Corp, Pico, Research, IDC, Mac Pro, Mac, Intel, Thomson Locations: Cupertino , California, U.S, Loren Elliott CUPERTINO , California, Bengaluru, Dawn, Los Angeles, New York

☆ Apple expected to reveal mixed-reality headset at developer conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CUPERTINO, California, June 5 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is expected to unveil a mixed-reality headset at its annual software developer conference on Monday, its first big move into a new product category since the introduction of the Apple Watch nine years ago. Like Meta's Quest Pro from last year and Quest 3 announced last week, Apple's device is likely to blend a video feed from the outside world with a virtual world displayed on screens inside the headset. Investors and tech fans alike will be focusing on how much Apple's view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta's. In addition to Meta, Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices. Investors will also look for updates on CarPlay, Apple's software for vehicles, which the company said last year would start to power more dashboard functions.

Persons: It's, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Nellis, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Apple Inc, Apple Watch, Apple, Facebook, Meta, Meta's, Quest, Sony Group Corp, Pico, Research, IDC, Apple Park, Thomson Locations: CUPERTINO , California, San Francisco

☆ In challenge to Meta, Apple expected to unveil mixed-reality headset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Meta and Apple are competing with each other. The difference is that Meta is doing it publicly, while Apple is doing it privately," said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. Analysts say that the Apple device, which Bloomberg has reported could cost near $3,000 and look like a pair of ski goggles, is a place holder of sorts. While Meta has products on the market, Apple has major advantages in defining the emerging field among software developers, said Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager who tracks the XR market at IDC. "And Apple is in a much better position to give you an experience that works across devices than Meta is."

Persons: Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Greg Joswiak, iPhones, Sag, Ben Bajarin, Meta, Jitesh Ubrani, Ubrani, Stephen Nellis, Peter Henderson, Matthew Lewis Organizations: FRANCISCO, Apple Inc, Apple, Worldwide Developers, Meta, Moor, Strategy, Analysts, Bloomberg, Sony Group Corp, Quest, Creative, IDC, San, Thomson Locations: California, Cupertino , California, Silicon Valley, San Francisco

☆ Apple may soon show off its biggest and riskiest new hardware product in years
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Next week, Apple may unveil its most ambitious new hardware product in years, but it’s in a product category that is anything but a proven winner. The highly-anticipated release of an AR/VR headset would be Apple’s biggest hardware product launch since the debut of the Apple Watch in 2015. “So it is great timing for that market.”An uncertain marketFor now, the overall headset market remains small. There were 8.8 million AR/VR headsets shipped globally last year, according to data from market research firm IDC. Unlike almost any other company, however, Apple can create demand for an experimental new product or category.

Persons: ”, Ramon, –, Tim Cook, Cook, “, Siri, Eric Abbruzzese, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Abbruzzese, don’t, ” Abbruzzese Organizations: CNN, Apple, Apple Watch, VR, IDC, Washington Post, GQ, Ikea, Bloomberg, ABI Research, Facebook, Street, Meta, Google

☆ Meta unveils Quest 3 mixed reality headset ahead of Apple's VR debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday revealed the company's next generation mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, as it braces for Apple to potentially reshape the nascent market that Meta has dominated so far. Priced starting at $499, the device will be 40% thinner than the company's previous headset and feature color mixed reality, which combines augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) elements, Zuckerberg said in an Instagram post. Zuckerberg's announcement came less than a week before tech rival Apple (AAPL.O) was expected to unveil its first mixed reality device. Meta's devices comprised nearly 80% of the 8.8 million virtual reality headsets sold in 2022, according to an estimate by market research firm IDC. Its high-end Meta Quest Pro now retails for about $1,000, down from a launch price of $1,500, and the Quest 2's 256 GB version now starts at about $430, down from $500.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Pico, Meta, Katie Paul, Yuvraj Malik, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: YORK, Apple, Meta, Qualcomm, IDC, TikTok, Thomson

SHANGHAI, May 31 (Reuters) - China Telecom (0728.HK) has invested 3 billion yuan ($434 million) to establish the China Telecom Quantum Information Technology Group Co., it said in a statement on its official WeChat account Tuesday. The investment marks the latest move by a Chinese telecommunications giant to try to tap into quantum technology and reflects Beijing's ambition to pull ahead in the global race to harness the power of quantum computing. "[This] is a practical action to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on the development of quantum technology," China Telecom said in its statement. China Telecom's move comes after China Mobile, the world's largest telecom carrier with 900 million mobile subscribers, last December signed a deal with Chinese startup Origin Quantum looking to use quantum computing to overcome computational bottlenecks facing 5G and 6G technologies. Current real-world applications in quantum computing are still very basic and limited to a small group of clients.

Persons: Xi, China Telecom's, Casey Hall, Sonali Paul Organizations: China Telecom, HK, China Telecom Quantum Information Technology, Co, China Mobile, Global, IDC, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Anhui

☆ HP misses revenue estimates as inflation saps PC demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Global PC shipments declined nearly 30% in the January-March period to levels lower than before the pandemic, according to data from research firm IDC. Sales for HP's Personal Systems segment - home to its desktop and notebook PCs - dropped 29% in the reported quarter, while the company's printing segment recorded a 5% fall. HP said it expects second-half revenue to be higher than the first half, even though the year-on-year comparison will still be negative. California-based HP's second-quarter revenue was $12.91 billion. On an adjusted basis, HP earned 80 cents per share, compared with expectations of 76 cents.

Persons: Enrique Lores, Tiyashi Datta, Jeffery Dastin, Devika Organizations: HP Inc, Companies, HP, Lenovo, HK, Dell Technologies Inc, Global, IDC, Reuters, Thomson Locations: California, Bengaluru, Palo Alto

☆ Why foldable phones are so incredibly expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“I’ve owned practically every Pixel device,” said Pantons, 33, who has posted hundreds of YouTube videos about Pixel phones and other tech products. Premium partsThe flexible screen found on foldable phones is one of the biggest reasons why they cost so much. And the Google Pixel Fold has two: a 5.8-inch cover display and a 7.6-inch inner display. The new Google Pixel Fold phone Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesOther components unique to foldables also drive up the cost. Foldable phones are also notoriously fragile.

☆ 3 of our tech stocks are in the news. Here are the takeaways from the headlines
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Here's a breakdown of the news, and how the headlines impact our investment approaches to the companies. Morgan Stanley likes PANW PANW YTD mountain Palo Alto Networks' year-to-date stock performance. Despite concerns around overall tech spending, Morgan Stanley said that companies still want to streamline their cybersecurity spending. Meta's stock has, of course, been on a tear since bottoming under $89 per share back in November. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long PANW, META, GOOGL and AAPL.

☆ Tencent cuts cloud service prices up to 40% to fend off rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) said last month it would slash prices for some cloud products by up to 50%. Wei Yunfeng, a researcher at data firm IDC, said the price cuts were triggered in part by high sales targets despite slowing growth for the market. Alibaba's cloud revenue accounts for about 9% of its total revenue. James Mitchell, Tencent's chief strategy officer, told analysts on a call: "The impact of price cuts on Tencent as a whole is not notable." Moreover, price cuts only apply to its infrastructure-as-a-service business, which represent only a portion of Tencent's cloud services.

☆ Tencent slashes cloud service prices by up to 40% as price war intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, May 17 (Reuters) - Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) is cutting prices for cloud services by up to 40% from June amid similar moves from rivals that have plunged the sector into a price war. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) said last month it will slash prices for some cloud products by up to 50%. Charlie Chai, an analyst at 86Research, said Chinese cloud service providers had in the past made efforts to avert a price war but "at the end of the day they still went down this path". Alibaba's cloud revenue accounts for about 9% of its total revenue. Tencent does not break out separate figures for cloud revenue.

☆ Microsoft releases update that allows iPhone users to text from Windows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft announced Monday that the latest version of Phone Link for Windows 11 PCs can receive notifications, send texts and answer calls from a user's paired iPhone. Most Americans use iPhones, and Apple's integration across its products has helped its Mac business take market share from Windows PCs in recent years. It works through Bluetooth, according to The Verge, and requires the iPhone to have Microsoft's "Link to Windows" app installed. A Phone Link-enabled Windows PC gets notifications from the user's iPhone and shows the messages in Windows. It doesn't support group texts through iMessage and doesn't allow users to send photos or videos, either.

The company’s revenue was slightly better than what Wall Street had expected, but it nonetheless represented the second consecutive quarterly revenue decline for the iPhone maker. Despite the continued revenue decline, there were bright spots in the report. Apple also posted an all-time services sales record of $20.9 billion for the quarter. The services business — which includes Apple Music and Apple TV+ — is an increasingly important revenue driver for Apple that is less cyclical than hardware sales. Apple’s latest quarterly earnings report comes amid a sharp decline in PC and smartphone sales globally after a surge earlier in the pandemic.

☆ Apple set to report quarterly earnings after the bell
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter results after the close of regular trading on Thursday. Here's what analysts are expecting:EPS: $1.43 per share, according to Refinitiv$1.43 per share, according to Refinitiv Revenue: $92.96 billion, according to RefinitivRevenue is expected to decrease 4.4% from $97.28 billion in the same quarter a year ago. The information it provided earlier this year suggested that sales would drop for a second straight quarter by roughly 5%. In the first quarter, PC shipments decreased almost 30%, according to IDC, while smartphone shipments were off 14%. Apple's report wraps up earnings season for tech's mega-cap companies, after Alphabet , Amazon , Meta and Microsoft all issued results last week.

☆ Qualcomm gives light forecast, phone chip sales fall 17%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts were expecting current-quarter earnings guidance of $2.16 per share, but Qualcomm said it expected it that to be around $1.80. Qualcomm reported second-quarter earnings on Wednesday that were in line with analyst expectations but saw sales from handset chips, a core business for the company, decline 17% on an annual basis. The biggest part of QCT's sales come from handset chips, which are the processors at the heart of most Android phones. Qualcomm reported $6.11 billion in handset sales, down 17% from last year. Qualcomm said it made $900 million in share repurchases and paid $800 million in dividends during the quarter.

Hardware sales are set to decline over 7% to $71.93 billion in the second quarter, according to 23 analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Mac sales, which account for nearly a tenth of Apple's revenue, likely fell by a quarter, while revenue from flagship iPhone is estimated to have declined by over 3%. Davidson, who expects iPhone sales there to rise. That would mark its second lowest growth rate since at least the first quarter of fiscal 2017. He expects Apple to have added 30 million users to its active installed user base - the number of active Apple devices in the world.

☆ AMD revenue drops 9% as PC chip sales decline sharply
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

AMD reported first-quarter results on Tuesday that showed revenue dropping 9% on an annual basis. While earnings and sales beat Wall Street expectations, AMD's guidance for the current quarter was light and shares dropped over 3% in extended trading. AMD reported $739 million in sales in the category, a 65% decrease from $2.1 billion in sales during the same period last year. AMD management also said that the category is likely to grow in the current quarter. Last week, Intel, AMD's primary competitor in the PC and server chip markets, reported that its overall sales dropped 36%.

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