NewsBytes Briefing: iPhone 12 will be delayed, and more
In the updates since last night, Apple has confirmed that its next flagship, the iPhone 12, will be delayed. The revelation was made during a post-earnings call when the company's CFO Luca Maestri told investors that "this year we expect supply to be available a few weeks later" than the regular late September timeline. Here are other major updates.
Quarterly report: Despite pandemic, revenue soared for Apple, Amazon
During its earnings call for the quarter, Apple reported a surge in sales despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said its revenue touched $59.7 billion - 11% jump from the same period last year - and profit was $11.25 billion. Similarly, Amazon also had a blowout quarter, with net sales soaring 40% to $88.9 billion and profit sitting at $5.2 billion (double of 2019).
Facebook's ad sales also grew, despite boycott
Facebook also posted growth in its quarterly report, noting that its business made $18.70 billion in revenue, 11% more than last year. The company also said its DAUs increased 12% to 1.79 billion while MAUs across its entire suite applications soared 14% to 3.14 billion.
Alphabet, meanwhile, reported decline in revenue
While others posted good numbers, Alphabet reported a 2% decline in quarterly revenue to $38.3 billion and a net income of $6.96 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai claimed that the fall, first in company's history, was due to the "macroeconomic environment caused by the pandemic". "We are working to help people, businesses, and communities in these uncertain times," he added.
Twitter reveals how its employees were targeted in "mega hack"
Twitter provided an update (again) on its July 15th mega hack and confirmed that some of its employees were social-engineered into giving away their credentials through "phone spear phishing." Using that access, the company said, "They were able to target specific employees who had access to our account support tools" and targeted 130 Twitter accounts - tweeting from 45, and accessing DMs of 36.
Other important developments to note
Among other things, popular video platform Triller filed a lawsuit against TikTok, claiming that the Chinese company violated its patent for "systems and methods for creating music videos synchronized with an audio track." In another news, Microsoft's Edge browser was reported to be crashing when people used Google Search as default while Pixel 4a's launch has been confirmed for August 3.
Finally, some COVID-19-related updates
On Thursday, 54,000+ new coronavirus infections were detected across India while the death toll reached 35,795, with 780 new deaths. Separately, a Health Ministry official revealed that the government is deliberating the priority list of groups that would receive the COVID-19 vaccine first once it's ready. Notably, AstraZeneca said its shot is progressing well, while the Russian one could be ready by August 12.
