. | . |
Blockbuster Big Tech earnings reports to culminate with Amazon By Glenn CHAPMAN, with Rob Lever in Washington San Francisco (AFP) April 29, 2021 A week of blockbuster earnings reports from Big Tech is expected to culminate Thursday with Amazon revealing profits from pandemic-revved online shopping and reliance on cloud-hosted services. The e-commerce colossus is among the internet giants whose businesses thrived as precautions against Covid-19 led people around the world to go online for work, school, shopping and socializing. On Wednesday Apple and Facebook delivered soaring profits that essentially doubled over the previous year at $23.6 billion and $9.5 billion respectively. Apple was lifted by strong gains in sales of iPhones and assorted products and services, while Facebook saw robust increases in digital advertising, reflecting people's rising internet usage during the ongoing pandemic. The results followed what one analyst called a "monster" quarter for Google and its parent firm Alphabet, which along with Facebook dominates online advertising. They also come after a robust report from Microsoft, which is growing its cloud computing operations. The latest round of results are likely to prompt more attention for the tech giants, which are facing scrutiny for their growing dominance, particularly with their services seemingly ready-made for locked-down consumers. "The large tech companies are in the right place at the right time," said Darrell West, a fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation. "Covid has accelerated digital transformation in education, healthcare, remote work, and e-commerce and that has boosted the profitability of those firms. But there remains a backlash against the sector because people are worried about privacy, security and human safety." The surging influence of Big Tech has led to calls for increased regulation, higher taxes and stronger antitrust enforcement to foster more competition. "Leaders from a variety of different perspectives want tougher action and seeing the large profits is not going to ease the tension with those companies," West said. - Facebook's growth - Facebook reported its user ranks increased despite persistent criticism over its efforts to protect user privacy and stem misinformation. The number of people using the leading social network monthly climbed 10 percent to 2.85 billion, according to the Silicon Valley giant. And monthly usage of the "family" of Facebook apps including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, was pegged at 3.45 billion. "This has been an intense year," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on an earnings call. "Over the past couple of quarters our business has been performing better than we expected." The boosted earnings have given Facebook the confidence to increase investments in areas such as virtual and augmented reality that have the "potential to change the trajectory of the company over the long term," Zuckerberg added. On Tuesday, Alphabet said profit in the first quarter leapt to $17.9 billion from $6.8 billion in the same period a year ago while revenues jumped 34 percent to $55.3 billion, led by gains in advertising and cloud computing services. "Google had an absolute monster quarter with ads leading the way," said Patrick Moorhead at Moor Insights & Strategies. Apple meanwhile said Wednesday revenue was the best ever for its fiscal second quarter, up 54 percent to $89.6 billion. Revenue from iPhones jumped 65 percent from a year ago to $47 billion, reflecting strong demand for new iPhone 12 models. Apple also reported gains in sales of iPads, Mac computers, wearables and accessories, and its array of services from digital payments to music. "This quarter reflects both the enduring ways our products have helped our users meet this moment in their own lives, as well as the optimism consumers seem to feel about better days ahead for all of us," said chief executive Tim Cook. "Apple is in a period of sweeping innovation across our product lineup, and we're keeping focus on how we can help our teams and the communities where we work emerge from this pandemic into a better world."
Journalists create their brands in growing 'direct' sales model New York (AFP) April 28, 2021 Anna Codrea-Rado built a name for herself as a freelance journalist, building an audience of 2,500 for her email newsletter, "Lance," aimed at helping other independent writers. Then in 2019 she joined a wave of writers charging a subscription fee for her weekly newsletter using the Substack platform, moving to the direct-to-consumer model. "At the time, I thought it was crazy to charge people for emails," said the British writer who also produces her own podcasts. But being a freelance writ ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |