Apple Sinks, TikTok Starts Courtroom Battle With US | Bloomberg Technology
17 Sep 2024 (2 days ago)
Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Sales and Competition
- Initial sales of the iPhone 16 Pro are down 13% year-on-year in the first week of sales.
- Apple may be facing increased competition in China from domestic brands like Huawei, which recently released a new 5G phone.
European Union Leadership Changes and Focus Shift
- Thierry Breton, the European Union's top antitrust official, has resigned after France requested a different nominee for his position on the European Commission.
- Ursula von der Leyen, unsatisfied with the gender balance in member country submissions, aims to prioritize a pro-competitiveness agenda for her next mandate.
- The European Union's focus may shift from regulation to fostering innovation and competitiveness, potentially encouraging mergers and acquisitions to bolster European technology companies.
TikTok's Legal Battle with the U.S. Government
- TikTok will challenge the U.S. law banning the platform unless its parent company, ByteDance, divests ownership by January 19th, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment rights of its users.
- Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties overwhelmingly voted in favor of a law, suggesting a significant perceived threat that justified bipartisan action.
- The Justice Department believes that TikTok poses a threat to national security, although much of the supporting evidence remains classified and inaccessible to the public, including TikTok's lawyers.
- The case against TikTok could set a precedent for government control over technology and platforms, potentially leading to future abuse.
Apple's Stock Decline and Legal Disputes
- Apple shares experienced a 3% decline, reaching session lows, due to pre-order sales for the iPhone 16 generation being lower than anticipated.
- Masimo, involved in legal disputes with Apple over health technology in watches, has partnered with Google and Qualcomm to develop a reference platform for smartwatches, aiming to introduce more health-focused smartwatches to the market.
- Joe Kiani, CEO of Masimo, reveals that their legal battle with Apple includes an injunction against Apple selling watches with their SpO2 technology in the U.S., with ongoing cases potentially leading to broader injunctions affecting Apple's pulse rate and arrhythmia detection features.
- Apple's stock is declining, potentially due to lower than expected demand for the iPhone 16 Pro.
Microsoft's AI Advancements and Partnerships
- Vodafone is partnering with Microsoft to utilize new AI tools that could save workers approximately three hours per week.
- Microsoft is integrating the Python programming language into its Excel AI Copilot, allowing users to make plain speech inquiries without coding knowledge.
- Microsoft does not provide specific financial data on the performance of its AI product, Copilot, making it difficult to assess its revenue contribution.
- While the list price for Copilot is $30 per user per month, corporate customers often negotiate discounts through multi-year enterprise agreements, and it is unclear if early adopters receive promotional pricing.
- The success of generative AI, including Copilot, is contingent on factors beyond just chips, encompassing data centers, supercomputers, software, algorithms, and libraries, making it a complex ecosystem to evaluate.
Data Center Investments and Partnerships
- A partnership between Grok and Aramco will establish data centers in Saudi Arabia, aiming to attract companies from India and beyond.
- Aramco's investment in the data centers is projected to reach nine figures and will support the enhancement of South Africa's power grids.
LTK's Creator Platform and Community Engagement
- LTK, a video-first platform, is facilitating connections between creators and their audiences, fostering community engagement and trust.
- LTK is a company that works with 300,000 professional creators globally, with half of them based in the U.S.
Apple's Stock Drop and Disney's Emmy Success
- Apple shares dropped by 3%, a loss of $100 million in a single trading day.
- Disney won the most awards of any company at the Emmy Awards.