Finance
Sony Shares Soar as PlayStation 5 Price Hike of 19% Takes Effect in Japan
August 28, 2024 – Sony Group revealed yesterday that it will increase the price of the PlayStation 5 by a staggering 19% in Japan, effective from September 2nd, pushing the console’s new price tag close to 80,000 yen. This announcement sparked an immediate 2.7% surge in Sony’s share price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Concomitantly,…
Apple Services Shake-up: Over 100 Jobs Cut, Affecting Apple Books and Apple News
August 28, 2024 – Apple Inc. has disclosed a significant restructuring within its Services division, resulting in approximately 100 job cuts, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The announcement, made on Tuesday, sent shockwaves through the tech giant’s workforce, as affected employees from various teams under Senior Vice President Eddy Cue’s…
US Government Pledges Up to $50 Million to Boost HP’s Microfluidic Semiconductor Factory
August 28, 2024 – In a landmark move, the United States Department of Commerce and Hewlett-Packard (HP) inked a non-binding preliminary memorandum yesterday, outlining plans to channel up to $50 million in direct funding from the Chips and Science Act towards HP’s endeavors. This strategic allocation targets HP’s microfluidic semiconductor facility in Corvallis, Oregon, with…
NVIDIA’s Tailored H20 Chip for China Anticipated to Reach Nearly $900 Million in Annual Sales, Despite Performance Cut
July 05, 2024 – Despite a significant reduction in performance, NVIDIA’s specially supplied H20 chip for the Chinese market is estimated to generate sales exceeding $12 billion this year. According to predictions from the chip industry consulting company, SemiAnalysis, NVIDIA is expected to deliver over one million H20 chips in the current fiscal year, with…
EU Sovereign Instant Payment System wero Launches: Cross-Border Transfers Completed Within 10 Seconds
July 03, 2024 – The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has unveiled a groundbreaking instant payment system, dubbed ‘wero’, ushering in a new era of seamless transactions across the European Union. Initially, this sovereign payment platform will be accessible to customers of Germany’s Volksbanken and Sparkassen banks, marking a significant step towards financial independence and unity…
US Chip Industry Faces Talent Crunch, Plans Heavy Investment to Bridge the Gap
July 03, 2024 – The Biden administration has announced a new initiative aimed at bolstering the U.S. computer chip workforce, in an effort to counteract the potential threat posed by labor shortages to domestic semiconductor production. Dubbed the “Workforce Partner Alliance,” the program will tap into a portion of the 5billionfederalfundsreservedforthenewlyestablishedNationalSemiconductorTechnologyCenter(NSTC).TheNSTCintendstoawardsubsidiestoupto10labordevelopmentprojects,withbudgetsrangingfrom500,000 to $2 million each….
Microsoft’s Ex-CEO Ballmer Tops Founder Gates in Wealth for the First Time, Ranking 6th Globally
July 02, 2024 – According to the latest data released by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Steve Ballmer has surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the world’s sixth-richest person, with a net worth of $157.2 billion. Media reports cite two primary reasons for Ballmer’s rise in wealth relative to Gates. Firstly, Ballmer, who remains the…
Micron Reports $68.1 Billion in Third-Quarter Revenue, Up 81.6% Driven by AI Demand
June 28, 2024 –On June 26th, leading U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology announced its third-quarter fiscal results, revealing a significant boost in revenue driven by the escalating demand for storage solutions in the thriving artificial intelligence (AI) sector. According to the report, Micron achieved a total revenue of 68.1billionforthequarterendingMay30th,representinganotable81.666.7 billion. The robust performance was attributed to…
Majority of Gameloft Toronto Employees Laid Off in Massive Restructuring
June 28, 2024 –GamesIndustry.biz reported on the 27th, in local time, that a significant number of employees from the Toronto studio of renowned mobile game developer Gameloft have been laid off, although the exact size of the studio has not been disclosed. According to the report, only the human resources, information technology, and management teams…
Apple Executives Declare: ‘Tablets Are Mediocre, But iPads Stand Alone
May 16, 2024 – This week, 《Fast Company》 featured an insightful interview with Apple’s senior vice presidents, John Ternus and Greg Joswiak (affectionately known as “Joz”), delving into Apple’s vision for the iPad, the introduction of the M4 chip, AI advancements, and what truly makes an iPad “pro”. One of the most striking comments came…