Plus: Reddit preparing to go public in March 2024
| For January 18, 2024 |  |
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| Here are today's main business stories: - 🍎 Apple will sell the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 without its blood oxygen monitoring feature in order to avoid a ban.
- 💼 Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced more job cuts, saying the decision will help the company reach its ambitions.
- 🤖 OpenAI has reached a new partnership with Arizona State University, which will help the latter build a personalized AI tutor for its students.
Arbër
p/Arber | |
| 1 | | Apple has announced that the new Apple Watch products will be sold without the blood oxygen feature to avoid a potential ban. The decision follows a decision by the ITC, which ruled in October that Apple had infringed on the patents of Masimo, a medical device company. More: - The feature would normally enable Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 users to monitor their blood oxygen levels by tapping a button, a big plus for consumers who focus on the health features that the product offers.
- Following the decision, Apple has decided to sell its products without this feature, while it said it hopes the appeals court will eventually reverse the decision.
- The feature will continue to work on Apple products already in use.
- In the fiscal year 2023, Apple sold $39.8B worth of wearables.
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai has stated that more job cuts will be implemented in 2024. According to Pichai, the cuts will help the company reach its goals to be a market leader in AI. More: - Pichai stated that the layoffs would not affect as many employees as the previous layoffs in 2023, when the tech giant cut 12,000 jobs or 6% of its total workforce.
- Earlier this week, reports confirmed that around 10,000 employees had also been laid off.
- As of September 2023, the company had 182,000 employees.
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| 3 | | OpenAI has announced a new partnership with Arizona State University. The university will build a personal AI tutor for its students using ChatGPT. More: - The AI tutor will serve not only for specific courses but also for study topics, with a special focus on STEM.
- The university will also use the tool in ASU's largest course, Freshman Composition, to help students improve their writing.
- This tool will be built by having full access to ChatGPT Enterprise, the premium version of ChatGPT, which is twice as fast as the previous version.
- The two sides have been reportedly negotiating for over six months.
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| 4 | | Reddit is reportedly preparing to launch its IPO process in March 2024. The company filed for an IPO in December 2021. More: - Reddit will offer around 10% of its shares in the Initial Public Offering, while the targeted valuation of the shares has not been decided yet.
- The company, which has over 1.1 billion users as of 2022, is not profitable yet.
- Reddit estimated $800M in advertising revenue in 2023, a 20% increase compared to 2022.
- Social media companies performed well in the stock market in 2023, as Meta's share price tripled, while Snap's share price rose by 60%.
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| 5 | | Apparel company Birkenstock has warned investors of a possible profit drop in 2024. The announcement caused a 10% share price drop. More: - The company reported a $30.8M quarterly loss and an EBITDA margin of over 30% for the previous fiscal year.
- Birkenstock claims it is planning to invest over $150M in order to expand its retail footprint.
- The apparel brand's revenue is expected to grow at an 18% rate in 2024.
- 250 years after its inception, the company went public in October 2023.
- Currently, the company's share price is at $45.
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| 6 | | TSMC has reported a higher-than-expected Q4 revenue and profit, beating industry estimates. The company's Q4 revenue increased by 14% compared to Q3. More: - The company reported NT$625.53B ($19.62B) in revenue, compared to the NT$618.3B industry estimate.
- The chipmaker had NT$238.71B in net income, beating the NT$225.22B estimate.
- TSMC estimates it will generate around $18B in Q1 revenue in 2024.
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is considered one of the most advanced chip manufacturers in the world, with clients such as Apple and NVIDIA.
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- YouTube and Spotify will reportedly not launch Apple Vision Pro apps.
- Wendy's has chosen Kirk Tanner as its new CEO. Tanner has worked for over 30 years as an executive at PepsiCo.
- Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, has said that the organization is likely to decide on interest rate cuts during the summer of 2024.
- Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing has said that the company will not focus on merger and acquisition deals until the regulatory environment in Europe improves.
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 | Writer | | Arbër is an Inside analyst who has previously incubated his startup at the largest incubator in Southeastern Europe. He has collaborated with multiple major publications and holds a business degree from XAMK University in Finland. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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