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☆ Elon Musk meets Tim Cook, says Apple never considered removing Twitter app
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter owner Elon Musk said he went to Apple's headquarters and met with Apple CEO Tim Cook in tweets on Wednesday. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store," Musk tweeted. In another tweet, Musk posted a short video of a reflecting pool at the center of Apple Park in Cupertino, California. Apple stands to make money from Twitter if Musk succeeds in his plan to significantly expand Twitter subscription revenue, and those features are sold through the Twitter iPhone app. He also tagged Cook's Twitter account on Monday and asked what was going on with a potential suspension of the Twitter app.

☆ Salesforce stock falls over 5% on earnings and sudden departure of co-CEO Bret Taylor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Salesforce reported earnings and revenue on Wednesday that beat analyst expectations. CEO and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff will the be sole person in charge of the company. Last quarter, Salesforce trimmed its year-end estimates for both revenue and earnings, citing a weaker economic cycle. The Platform and Other category that includes Slack reported $1.51 billion in sales, an 18% increase year-over-year. Salesforce spent $1.7 billion on share repurchases during the quarter, the company said.

This week, Musk claimed in a tweet that Apple had mostly stopped advertising on the Twitter platform. Apple is not alone in reducing its campaigns on the social media platform since Musk took over. Whether accurate or not, Musk's allegation that Apple has "threatened to withhold" Twitter from its App Store may resonate with other developers. One of the most notable people to switch sides was Doug Field, who started at Apple, joined Tesla and then rejoined Apple. In case anybody missed the reference to Apple's App Store, which Apple maintains as the exclusive way to distribute apps to its devices, Musk then faked a cough and said, "Apple."

☆ Elon Musk may be luring Apple into a fight with Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Vance, both Republicans, made remarks about Apple's situation that show how Musk could put Apple in a tough spot. It's just one of a vast number of apps on the App Store, and it isn't a huge moneymaker for Apple through in-app purchases. He also accused Apple of threatening to pull the Twitter app from the App Store . Over the past week, Twitter owner Elon Musk has been poking Apple , the big bear of Silicon Valley, which controls app distribution to every iPhone. But Apple would be much more likely to pull the Twitter app if it tries to cut Apple out of its platform fees.

☆ Elon Musk claims Apple has threatened to remove the Twitter app
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter owner Elon Musk claimed on Monday in a series of tweets that Apple had threatened to remove the Twitter app from the App Store as part of its app review moderation process. "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won't tell us why," Musk tweeted. Apple's App Store is the only way to distribute software to iPhones. If the Twitter app were pulled, the social network would lose one of its main distribution platforms, although the service is available for the web. In addition, Apple requires iPhone app makers to pay between 15% and 30% of any digital goods sold through their apps.

☆ Nvidia revenue falls 17% but data center growth remains strong
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Nvidia reported fiscal third-quarter results on Wednesday for the period ending in October with sales beating analyst expectations but earnings per share coming in light. A brighter spot was Nvidia's data center business, which reported $3.83 billion in sales, up 31% year-over-year. Nvidia attributed the growth to sales to U.S. cloud service providers and consumer internet companies. Nvidia said that the reduced sales from the GPUs barred in China would be largely offset by its alternative products. The company's "other" category reported $73 million in revenue.

☆ iPhone 14 Pro ship times slip past Christmas weeks after Apple warned of production issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

IPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max ship times in the U.S. have started slipping past Christmas, according to Apple's website and financial analysts. On Wednesday, checks by CNBC on Apple's U.S. website showed a shipping date of Dec. 27 for several iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. "While wait times had steadily moved higher in the prior surveys, the most recent data has hit an extreme level in our view," Vogt wrote. However, Apple's less expensive iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have no wait times on Apple's website and can be purchased immediately, which suggests that some consumers might decide to trade down in order to get their devices under the Christmas tree on time. "However, we now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated and customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products," Apple said.

☆ Apple will buy processors from factory in Arizona, CEO Tim Cook reportedly says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook holds the new iPhone 14 at an Apple event at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, September 7, 2022. Apple will buy some of its chips from a factory in Arizona, Apple CEO Tim Cook said last month at an internal company meeting in Germany, according to Bloomberg News. Apple currently sources all of its processors from factories in Taiwan. TSMC said earlier this month that it is planning a second chip factory in Arizona because of "strong customer demand." Cook reportedly said that Apple was considering buying chips from factories in Europe, too.

☆ If you’re thinking about quitting Elon Musk’s Twitter, here’s how to use alternative Mastodon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It has been reported that more than 200.000 new users flocked the social media app after the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. One of the fastest growing alternatives is Mastodon, which looks and feels a lot like Twitter. In the 12 days after Musk bought Twitter, Mastodon app downloads on Apple App Store and Google Play for Android surged more than 100 times previous rates to 322,000 installs during the period, according to analysis by Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm. That's still a lot lower than the over 245 million daily active users of Twitter that CEO Elon Musk tweeted about this week. Davide Bonaldo | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesBecause anyone can set up their own Mastodon server, there's no central place to sign up like twitter.com.

☆ Google now allows Spotify and Bumble to bill U.S. users inside apps
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Google Play app store will allow Spotify and Bumble to bill U.S. users for subscriptions directly inside their Android apps, Google announced on Thursday. Typically, Google Play and Apple's App Store for iPhones take between 15% and 30% of digital sales inside apps through their billing platforms. Allowing companies to bill users' credit cards directly in an app allows services like Spotify to reduce those fees. Google said in a support document that apps that bill users directly will still have to pay Google a percentage of their app sales. It's also a sign that Spotify and Google have an alliance on app store issues even as Spotify continues to fight with Apple over its rules.

☆ Apple will spend $450 million with Globalstar and others to enable emergency satellite texting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple said Thursday it will spend $450 million with U.S. companies to enable its new emergency satellite texting feature. The majority of that money will go to Globalstar , Apple said, a Louisiana-based company that operates the satellites that make the feature possible. Apple isn't taking an equity stake in the company but it is committing to spend money for equipment and the service's operations. In September, Apple announced Emergency SOS with Satellite as a banner feature on new iPhone 14 models. Apple's payment to Globalstar will come from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, a pool of money the company uses to support U.S.-based suppliers.

☆ Take-Two stock tumbles after it cuts outlook
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Take-Two stock dropped more than 15% in extended trading on Monday after the company reported fiscal second-quarter 2023 results. It said its outlook in the current quarter and for fiscal 2023 would be lower than previously expected. Take-Two's net bookings primarily includes digital game sales or sales to wholesalers, as well as licensing fees and merchandise. "Our reduced forecast reflects shifts in our pipeline, fluctuations in FX rates, and a more cautious view of the current macroeconomic backdrop, particularly in mobile," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a statement. Take-Two also owns mobile giant Zynga, known for "Words with Friends," after purchasing it for $12.7 billion earlier this year.

☆ Apple warns Covid restrictions in China are hurting iPhone production
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

After a Covid outbreak at a Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China, some workers chose to go home. Apple said in a statement on Sunday that it has temporarily reduced iPhone 14 production because of Covid-19 restrictions at its primary iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max assembly plant in Zhengzhou, China. It said that it continues to see strong demand for the affected models, which are higher-priced than other iPhone models and start at $999 and $1099. In the past week, China has ordered lockdowns in Zhengzhou, where Apple does the majority of its iPhone production. It currently takes 31 days to receive an iPhone 14 Pro if ordered from Apple's website, longer than the average 2-day lead time for less-expensive iPhone models, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said in a note on Sunday.

☆ Shares of Block jump on earnings beat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Block stock rose over 11% in extended trading after the payments company reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations for profit. Here's how Block did versus Refinitiv consensus expectations:EPS : $0.42, adjusted, versus expectations of $0.23: $0.42, adjusted, versus expectations of $0.23 Revenue: $4.52 billion versus expectations of $4.49 billionBlock posted $1.57 billion in gross profit, up 38% from $1.13 billion a year ago. Its Cash App business reported $774 million in gross profit, a 51% year-over-year rise, according to Block. Block said it made $37 million from Bitcoin sales during the quarter on $1.76 billion in gross sales. Block still holds $156 million worth of bitcoin, based on its price at the end of September.

☆ Apple stock surges, on pace for its best day since 2020
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook visits the Apple Fifth Avenue store for the release of the Apple iPhone 14, New York City, September 16, 2022. Apple stock rose more than 7% on Friday after reporting September quarter earnings that modestly beat expectations on revenue and profit and showed global demand for its premium hardware remains high. If it holds until the close, it'll be the best day for Apple shares since April 2020. Apple was the second-best performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average behind Intel on Friday. And Apple signaled that demand for premium computers and phones remains strong.

☆ 'Safe port in the storm:' Why investors rewarded Apple but fled its Big Tech peers after earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Apple's earnings received a drastically different reaction from investors than its Big Tech peers Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook. Shares of Apple were up about 7% Friday morning, the day after Apple reported earnings that showed 8% annual sales growth and despite misses on estimates for iPhone and services revenue. Apple looks like a "relatively safe port in the storm," as a note Friday from Credit Suisse analyst Shannon Cross says. Sacconaghi said some of Apple's Big Tech peers also seemed to have issues controlling costs, whereas Apple remains fairly lean and profitable. "Overall, our viewpoint remains consistent that Apple remains recession resilient given its products, services and wearables businesses," wrote Piper Sandler's Harsh Kumar.

☆ Apple set to report earnings after the bell
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Performer Jon Batiste, left, and Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., center, at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Apple reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday. Apple also has the challenge of a strong dollar when sales from other countries make up the majority of the firm's business. Apple's services include revenue from the App Store, subscriptions such as Apple Music, search licensing fees from companies such as Google, hardware warranties and other businesses. "Most investors are aligned that services revenue growth should accelerate" during the December quarter again, wrote Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring in a note this week.

☆ Apple's new App Store rules over 'boosted ads' provoke Facebook again
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Apple recently updated its App Store Guidelines with changes that, yet again, impact Facebook's ad business. "For many years now, the App Store guidelines have been clear that the sale of digital goods and services within an app must use In-App Purchase," an Apple spokesman told CNBC. But most, like Twitter , already use Apple's in-app purchase mechanism that lists boosted posts for $9.99 on Apple's App Store. For Meta, it thinks Apple's recent clarification crosses a line in taking a piece of advertising revenue, not just app sales. Meta points to previous Apple executive statements, some made as part of the Epic Games trial over App Store rules, where it said it didn't take a cut of ads.

☆ Seagate will cut 3,000 employees in latest sign of major PC and cloud slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The restructuring plan was announced after Seagate reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations for revenue and earnings per share. Seagate's layoffs and lower demand are the latest sign that demand for PCs and cloud servers is deteriorating after two boom years driven by the pandemic. On Tuesday, Microsoft , which makes the operating system for most PCs, reported that Windows licensing sales dropped 15% on an annual basis. Seagate reported adjusted fiscal first-quarter earnings of 48 cents per share on Wednesday, significantly below FactSet consensus expectations of 71 cents per share. Seagate said it expected $1.85 billion in revenue in the current quarter, under FactSet expectations of $2.12 billion.

☆ Mobileye pops more than 30% in market debut after spinning out of Intel
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mobileye shares popped more than 30% in their stock market debut on Wednesday after the maker of technology for self-driving cars was spun out of Intel . In a year that's seen no significant tech IPOs in the U.S., Mobileye offers investors an opportunity to get in on area of growth. At its IPO price of $21, Mobileye was valued at just $17 billion, resulting in minimal gains for Intel thus far. Intel will retain control of Mobileye and hold over 750 million shares of Class B stock, which has 10 times the voting power of Class A stock. Intel shares were down slightly on Wednesday and have lost about 47% of their value this year, while the Nasdaq is down 29%.

☆ Apple puts more ads in the iPhone's App Store
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple on Tuesday expanded its search advertising inventory on its App Store to include units for purchase on the Today tab — essentially the front page of the app — and on individual product pages. The new ad units represent a significant expansion in Apple's ad inventory, which can only advertise one kind of product: Apps for Apple devices like the iPhone. CNBC confirmed new ad units showing up on app pages under a list of suggested apps titled "You Might Also Like." Apple's advertising sales are reported as part of its services business, which also includes App Store sales, online subscription revenue, hardware warranties, and revenue from licensing deals with search companies like Google. Last year, Apple released App Tracking Transparency (ATT) which gave iPhone users the option to refuse to share a unique tracking ID with app developers.

☆ Apple glass supplier Corning warns smartphone sales down 14%
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

For Gorilla Glass, Corning narrows down the number of compositions to a few dozen, does more melting, then picks two or three candidates to test. Corning stock fell over 4% on Tuesday morning after the company reported a weaker-than-expected outlook for the current quarter, blaming slow smartphone glass sales. Corning makes a variety of different components and supplies many of the top electronics companies, like Samsung and Apple, which reports earnings this week amid concern over slowing consumer electronics sales. But there is optimism that slowing electronics sales won't hurt the high-end of the market as much as less expensive devices. In the quarter ending in September, Corning saw smartphone unit sales decline 14% on an annual basis, and tablet and notebook demand fall 17%, Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said on an earnings call.

☆ Apple reports earnings Thursday and all eyes are on iPhone 14 sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Apple will report its fourth-quarter earnings for the quarter ended in September after the bell on Thursday. The most important new information will be any details the tech giant offers on how the iPhone 14 series is selling. Apple could also see a boost from better-than-expected sales of iPads and Macs, which have been slowed by parts shortages in recent quarters. However, "most investors are aligned that services revenue growth should accelerate" during the December quarter again, according to Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring. However, Apple sales appear to have remained strong, according to an analysis of iPhone wait times and third-party estimates of the premium smartphone market.

☆ Apple raises prices on its TV and Music streaming services
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple on Monday increased monthly and annual subscription prices in the U.S. for its streaming services Apple TV+ and Apple Music. Apple TV+ has been competitively priced against other streaming services, some of which have also raised prices in recent months. Apple Music and Apple TV+ are a small part of Apple's services business, which also includes search licensing fees, hardware warranties, App Store sales, and other businesses. "The change to Apple Music is due to an increase in licensing costs, and in turn, artists and songwriters will earn more for the streaming of their music," said Apple in a statement. "We also continue to add innovative features that make Apple Music the world's best listening experience.

☆ Investor calls on Meta to slash headcount, slow metaverse spending
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The letter is the latest sign that Meta investors are starting to express reservations about the company's recent performance. "In addition, people are confused by what the metaverse even means," Gerstner wrote. "An estimated $100B+ investment in an unknown future is super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards," Gerstner wrote. Ultimately, Gerstner believes that Meta has too many people and is spending too much on capital expenditures. In the letter, Gerstner says that Altimeter Capital doesn't have demands and simply wants to engage with Meta management.

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