Paula Hearn

As far as computers, laptops, phones, and other devices are concerned; Apple has been the gold standard for quite a long time. In this regard, it needs to be mentioned that the reason behind Apple’s stupendous success has been excellent software coupled with equally high-class hardware and that has managed to propel the company into one of the world’s biggest brands. However, certain manufacturing defects can happen with the best companies in the world, and in this regard, even Apple is not an exception. It has emerged that the batteries in the 15 inch Apple MacBook Pro laptops sold during a particular period might be faulty and could pose a fire safety risk for its owners.

The company published a note on its support page and stated that the products sold between September of 2015 and February of 2017 are being recalled. In this regard, it must be noted that the number of MacBook Pro units sold between that period must have run into a considerable figure and it remains to be seen how quickly Apple can replace the batteries. In the noted published by the company, Apple stated,

Apple has determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk. Affected units were sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017 and product eligibility is determined by the product serial number.

Customers would not be charged for this replacement. In addition to that, Apple has also gone on to educate its customers on how they can learn if their unit is eligible for the free battery replacement or not. Apple stated,

To confirm which model you have, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu () in the upper-left corner of your screen. If you have “MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015),” enter your computer’s serial number on the program page to see if it is eligible for a battery replacement.

The first inkling about the problem with the batteries surfaced when a user complained that his MacBook Pro had ‘exploded.’

As far as logistical solutions are concerned, there are very few companies in the world which can match up to Amazon and over the course of the past two decades, the company has used its superior logistical innovations to become the world’s biggest e-commerce company. India is the fresh battleground for the Jeff Bezos-owned company, and Amazon is going to try everything to get a competitive edge over its main competitor, Walmart-owned Flipkart. In this regard, it needs to be mentioned that the task of actually making a delivery is perhaps one of the most important tasks for an online retailer and Amazon has launched Amazon Flex to help the company in tapping into India’s massive workforce. It is a simple solution, but at the same time, it has the potential to be highly effective once it is launched, due to the sheer scope of the project.

According to reports, Amazon Flex is going to act as a platform on which the company would be able to recruit freelance delivery executives, who would then be able to make deliveries. The delivery executives would be designated as ‘partners,’ and they will have the freedom to work whenever they want. The whole process for the delivery executives will be quite seamless. They will be paid in the range of Rs. 120 and Rs. 140 per hour and Amazon will send the payments into their banks’ accounts every week on Wednesday. It is a neat arrangement and something that could really take off. However, the partner in question would need to have their own two-wheelers, and they would also need to go through a routine background check. Moreover, the company will also provide training before they start delivering packages. Due to the sheer volume of deliveries that are made in these cities, the project is initially being introduced only in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai; however, the company hopes to expand it into other cities eventually. Considering the fact that Amazon is growing at a pretty fast clip in India, it should not be long before the company is in a position to expand it into other locations.  

The blacklisting of Huawei by the United States authorities was perhaps the most disruptive event for the global tech industry this year. Due to that step, businesses with the United States will be no longer able to do business with Huawei in any shape or form. However, blacklisting does not apply to other countries. That has not stopped Tokyo Electron, the Japanese firm which is the 3rd biggest supplier of chip manufacturing equipment, from deciding against supplying to Chinese companies which have been blacklisted. Although no official announcement has been made yet, a senior executive at Tokyo Electron has told a leading news agency about the development.

It is a significant development since the United States had only made an effort to stop American companies from dealing with Chinese companies and it was not supposed to extend to the business practices of companies in the other parts of the world. The decision from Tokyo Electron could start a domino effect by way of which companies from other countries could also follow their example and stop doing business with blacklisted Chinese firms. The trade war has proved to be a bruising one for China, and in order to build its own chip-making capabilities, the country is now increasingly dependent on companies in Europe and Japan.

The executive who spoke to the news agency stated,

We would not do businesses with Chinese clients with whom Applied Materials and Lam Research [two top American chip gear companies] are barred from doing businesses. It’s crucial for us that the U.S. government and industry see us as a fair company.

However, it has emerged that Tokyo Electron is perhaps not alone in taking such a step. Another major chip gear supplying company in the country is also considering such a step in the days to come, and things could get pretty tough for the tech sector in China. Last but not least, it could also be an indication of American diplomatic pressure on other countries to isolate China’s tech sector completely.

The number of environmentally conscious people has increased by leaps and bounds as the fears over global warming have intensified over the past decade or so. To that end, many investors have also emerged over the years, which have made it their mission to invest in companies that do not damage the environment and stay away from companies that are not ‘green’ enough by their standards.

According to reports, such investors have now decided to stay away from the initial public offering of ride-hailing company Lyft and are all set to do so for the mega IPO of Uber. They believe that both these companies will eventually have a damaging impact on the climate as the number of cars rise after they raise billions of dollars from the stock markets. Lyft was the biggest IPO of the year so far, and when Uber goes public, it is all set to be the biggest one in history with a rumoured valuation of $120 billion.

New Alternatives Fund, which is regarded as socially responsible, is not going to invest in either of these companies and a money manager at the fund, Murray Rosenblith confirmed it. “As far as I can tell, they’re actually putting more cars into the congested areas, and they’re pulling business out of the transit systems. This is not an area where New Alternatives is going to get engaged.” In this regard, it is also important to keep in mind that most ride-hailing companies claim that due to their business model, people will buying fewer cars in the years to come and carbon emissions are going to reduce dramatically. However, researchers do not believe that it is going to be the case since commuters might use these services more than other forms of public transport like train, metro and buses.

In addition to that, many of these funds argue that the fact that drivers often have to drive for long distances before they reach their customers, also leads to higher emissions and that is not factored into the ‘distance travelled’ statistic by these companies. That being said, the companies are also working on bringing in alternative modes of vehicles that will help in curbing carbon emissions and both companies are engaged in electrical vehicles projects that could come to fruition in the years to come. However, as of now, that is a distant dream, and the small group of investors are going to stay away.

Walt Disney Company on Tuesday reported its earnings for this quarter and had surpassed the estimates of Wall Street. It is believed that the earnings increased due to the growing popularity of theme park business and also the diversification of investments in digital media through the ABC broadcast network. With this news, shares of the company increased by 0.8% and were at $114.70 in after-hours trading.

According to data from Refinitiv, analysts had expected shares to increase by $1.55 on an average. However, Disney reported their first-quarter earnings which ended in December of adjusted earnings of $1.84 per share. The earnings report also added that the company had made a reorg so that it can cater to digital streaming services and the operating income from the media network department rose by 7% and made $1.3 billion when compared to last year. The ABC broadcast unit also saw its profit increase by 40% as a result of revenue generation from affiliate fees, program sales, and advertising.

The popular theme park and the consumer products unit also brought in great revenue for the company with an increase in revenue by 10% and a profit of $2.2 billion compared to last year. The report also mentioned that the Disney theme parks in the US saw an increase in occupancy rates and more spending by guests.

ESPN, Disney Channels and the ABC network are some of the media properties that Disney owns and is looking to become a digital entertainment company on par with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. It is trying to deliver programming to the customers directly and has also started Disney+ and ESPN+ as some of the new streaming services. The company is also saving most of the content for its streaming services and plan to decrease operating income by $150 million this fiscal year. CFO Christine McCarthy said that the company plans to waive license revenue from others.

Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney in a conference call, said that there were up to 2 million subscribers for their streaming service ESPN+ and is twice the number five months ago. The company is also working on a family entertainment streaming service later in the year and is thus not providing programming to Netflix on movies like Captain Marvel. It is also investing in assets and movies from 21st Century Fox to add more variety to its portfolio. The company is heading into the competitive streaming market from a strong position, and that should help the company shares do better and keep the investors happy.