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Hard Numbers: Hey big spender, an iPhone boost, Google’s robot coders, Super Micro’s super downfall
200 billion: Capital expenditures from four of the largest US tech companies — Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google — are set to exceed $200 billion this year, inflated by enormous spending on artificial intelligence software and hardware investments. Amazon’s spending alone surged 81% in a year, leading CEO Andy Jassy to assure investors the company’s bets will pay off. These are record sums at a time when Wall Street seems hesitant to keep rewarding excessive spending on AI.
46 billion: Apple reversed its fortunes after a bad year of iPhone sales, selling more than $46 billion of its signature smartphone between July and September — a 6% increase year over year. The company’s new iPhone 16 is part of its push into artificial intelligence — marketed as a phone capable of handling all of its Apple Intelligence features, such as a supercharged Siri, new writing tools, and call transcription — which started rolling out last week. The company hopes that AI can convince customers old and new that it’s time to pay up for a new iPhone, which starts at $799.
25: More than 25% of all new code produced by Google is written by artificial intelligence, according to CEO Sundar Pichai. AI produces the code, which is then reviewed and accepted by human engineers. A recent Stack Overflow survey found that 76% of all software developers are using or are planning to use AI to code.
45: Super Micro Computer, a key supplier of Nvidia servers, saw its stock fall 45% after its auditor, Ernst & Young, resigned because it was “unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management.” Once one of the hottest AI stocks, the company has now wiped out all of its 2024 gains.FILE PHOTO: iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are displayed during the 'Wonderlust' event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 12, 2023.
US sues Apple over alleged smartphone monopoly
In an antitrust lawsuit filed Thursday, the Department of Justice alleged Apple’s dominance of the smartphone market amounts to a monopoly. The DOJ says Apple resorts to “delaying, degrading, or outright blocking technologies that would increase competition in the smartphone markets” to keep users reliant on its iPhone.
The iPhone’s success is the stuff of business school legend, capturing some 70% of the US smartphone market despite steep prices. In short, the DoJ’s contention is that unfair practices helped Apple get there.
Apple is denying the claims and says it will fight the lawsuit in court, but this isn’t the first time the company has faced similar legal challenges. This is its third antitrust suit in the US since 2009, and It was fined nearly $2 billion by the European Union last month for breaking fair competition laws.
Expect a tough legal fight, but if the government proves its case, there could be major changes coming to the iPhone. The complaint says Apple could shape up by ensuring full compatibility with phones, smartwatches, and digital wallets from other manufacturers, relinquishing some control over the apps that can run on iPhones, and imposing less onerous terms on users and developers.Lightning and USB-C cables are seen with European Union flag reflected on Apple iPhone in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on September 25, 2021.
How the EU designed the new iPhone
Earlier this week, Apple unveiled the iPhone 15. The camera is better. The design is sleeker. The glass is less breakable. It comes in pink.
But the detail that caught our eye was down at the bottom: the charging port has changed from a lightning port to a USB-C port (that’s the one that looks, to us at least, like an M-dash).
The story of why Apple made that change takes us not to Cupertino, but to Brussels. Last October, the EU passed a law that required most kinds of portable electronics sold in Europe to have the same charging port – the USB-C.
The move will reduce the Babel of incompatible chargers to one single standard. Smartphones and tablets have to make the change by 2024, other devices by 2026.
Tech companies grumbled about it – they had refused to agree on a standard voluntarily – but ultimately they went along with it. Why?
Because they didn’t want to get shut out of a market of 450 million consumers (the largest among advanced economies) and it made little sense to make different phones for different regions.
The USB-C story is a nice example of how the EU, lacking tech juggernauts of its own, is nevertheless trying to shape the global technology industry as a “consumer first” regulator.
While the US and China duke it out for supremacy in both hardware and software, Europe has developed some of the strictest laws in the world governing online privacy, content moderation, and competition.
Just last week the EU unveiled another set of regulations targeting the six biggest tech companies with new competition rules.
This is the same approach that Europe is taking when it comes to AI — seeking to jump out in front with smart regulation rather than the most advanced AI modules as such.
For it to continue to work, Brussels has to bet that the allure of its market is greater than the bother of adapting to strict rules. So far it’s working.
Palestinians clash with Israeli forces during a raid in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 22, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Deadly raid in Nablus, EU asylum applications soar, North Koreans go hungry, old phone = nouveau riche
11: At least 11 people died and scores were injured on Wednesday after Israeli security forces conducted a rare daytime raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. Israel was targeting members of a Palestinian militant group known as the Lion’s Den, which Israel blames for a string of shootings against troops and Israeli settlements amid recent rising tensions in the region. On Thursday, Palestinian militants retaliated by firing rockets at southern Israel, and the Israeli military launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip in response.
1 million: The EU received nearly 1 million asylum requests last year, the highest level since the 2015-2016 refugee crisis. Syria, Afghanistan, and Turkey were the top three countries of origin. This excludes over 4 million Ukrainian refugees who have been granted temporary protection in the EU.
180,000: Despite recent displays of military prowess, satellite images show that North Korea produced 180,000 metric tons less food last year compared to 2021. While chronic food shortages are common in the Hermit Kingdom, things have gotten worse since the pandemic. North Koreans are turning to less desired but more affordable alternatives to rice such as corn, while experts fear an impending famine.
100: Hoarders for the win! Fifteen years after receiving an iPhone as a gift, stowing it away, and forgetting about it, a New Jersey tattoo artist fetched $63,356 at an auction for the unopened device. That’s more than 100 times its original price. The first release 8GB iPhone from 2007 is a rare find in pristine condition.
Will there be a big tech breakup? Apple likely to announce 5G phone
Watch as Nicholas Thompson, editor-in-chief of WIRED, explains what's going on in technology news:
How likely will big tech companies Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google be forced to breakup as recommended by Democrats on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust?
I think it's pretty unlikely. I think there will be hearings. I think there will be damages. I think that there will be scrutiny on future mergers. I don't think there will be breakups.
"Hi, Speed." What can we expect from this week's annual Apple release?
Apple has a new phone most likely coming out next week. The motto is "Hi, Speed." I think it's going to be mostly about 5G. These phones will be 5G compatible. It doesn't mean the 5G infrastructure has been built up in this country or most other countries. But still, when it is, the phones will be fast. Also, I think the LiDAR sensors that were built on the last iPad, which was kind of a small announcement that people didn't really notice, will be on the new iPhone and that will be great for augmented reality.
Apple iPhone release; Telemedicine; Tech Responses to Coronavirus
A new iPhone in a pandemic world! Are we still hyped for new iPhone releases?
What do you think of it? There's a new small iPhone SE. It's basically an old phone with new processors. Pretty cheap. I like it. I don't think the world's not too excited about it right now because there's a lot more to care about.
What is telemedicine and how does it work?
The idea is that instead of going to the doctor's office for everything you can do a lot of medicine over the Internet. You can set up a Zoom call with your doctor, he can tell you whether to go in and get a coronavirus test or he can even give you a prescription for some problem. It doesn't work for everything. You can't have surgery by telemedicine, but it's growing fast, it's improving, and insurance companies need to pay for it.
What tech response to COVID-19 has impressed you the most?
There's been so much. I love the battle against disinformation. I love the maker movement that's been making PPE. But I'd say the most important thing, all the scientists and researchers who have been collaborating, sharing data sets, genetic information and working towards treatments and vaccines.