Meta launches a new VR headset ahead of Apple; Apple plans to strengthen retail network construction in China and Asia; Honor counter-cyclically increases R&D and market investment

(Global TMT News on June 2, 2023) Today’s highlights: Meta launches a new VR headset before Apple; Apple plans to strengthen the construction of retail networks in China and Asia; Honor counter-cyclically increases R&D and Market investment; Foxconn will start producing iPhones in Karnataka, India in April 2024; Nintendo will gradually close its Russian subsidiary business.

Meta launches new VR headset ahead of Apple

Meta’s official website announced that Meta Quest 3 will be released in the fall of 2023, priced at US$499.99 for 128GB. Quest 3 will feature higher resolution, enhanced performance, breakthrough Meta Reality technology, and a slimmer, more comfortable shape. Qualcomm will cooperate with the next-generation Snapdragon chipset of Quest 3 to provide a new generation of mounting solutions. Compared with Quest 2, the graphics performance of Quest 3 has more than doubled. In addition, Meta also redesigned the Quest 3’s Touch Plus controller. Quest 3 is compatible with more than 500 VR games, apps and experiences found in Quest 2. The timing of Meta's announcement of Quest 3 is quite clever. Next week, Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference, and it is expected that the company may launch its first VR headset.

Meta requires employees to work at least 3 days a week

According to people familiar with the matter, Meta has informed employees that starting in September, they must work in the office three days a week. The announcement marks Meta's most restrictive change in office policies since it embraced remote work during the pandemic. While tech companies have faced employee resistance to such mandates in the past, the leverage has shifted toward employers over the past year as the economic downturn led to mass layoffs, including at Meta's.

Apple plans to strengthen retail network construction in China and Asia

Apple plans to further strengthen its retail network construction in China and other parts of Asia, and at the same time transform existing stores in the United States and Europe to expand and revitalize its retail chain business. People familiar with the matter revealed that Apple intends to open a new flagship store in Jing'an Temple Square in Shanghai. By 2027, Apple will open 15 new stores across the Asia-Pacific region, five new stores in Europe and the Middle East, and four new stores in the United States and Canada. The company is also preparing to upgrade or relocate six stores in Asia, nine stores in Europe and 13 stores in North America. Overall, the company will build, relocate or renovate a total of 53 stores in the next four years. Apple currently has more than 520 stores in 26 countries or regions, about half of which are in the United States.

Apple Savings Account Customers Say They Have Difficulties Transferring Funds Out of Goldman Sachs

Apple and Goldman Sachs launched savings accounts in April this year, but some customers said they encountered difficulties transferring funds from their accounts. Goldman Sachs holds these deposits on behalf of Apple. Some customers said Goldman Sachs customer service representatives sometimes gave different instructions and their money seemed to disappear from their accounts, neither in their Apple accounts nor in the accounts they were trying to transfer to. Apple’s Apple Card high-yield savings account in partnership with Goldman Sachs will allow users to easily set up and manage this savings account directly from the Apple Card in their wallet. This savings account currently offers an annualized rate of return of 4.15%.

Microsoft signs AI computing power agreement with CoreWeave

Microsoft has agreed to invest billions of dollars in the startup CoreWeave over the next few years for cloud computing infrastructure. CoreWeave sells simplified access to Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), which are considered the best choice on the market for running artificial intelligence models. People familiar with the matter said that Microsoft had signed an agreement with CoreWeave earlier this year to ensure that OpenAI, which operates the ChatGPT chatbot, will have sufficient computing power in the future. OpenAI relies on Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure to meet its massive computing needs.

Twitter’s head of trust and safety has resigned

Ella Irwin, the Trust and Safety Lead at Twitter, has announced her departure from the company. Ella Irwin is the second executive to leave Twitter since Musk acquired it in October, the top job overseeing user content and safety policies.

EU regulator plans to stress test Twitter

EU regulators plan to stress test Twitter to determine its compliance with Europe's new digital content law, the EU's top tech regulator said, strengthening the bloc's efforts to enforce the West's most far-reaching digital content Preparatory work for the law.

Glory counter-cyclically increases R&D and market investment

Honor CEO Zhao Ming said in an interview that in the face of the challenges in the post-epidemic era, Honor is still increasing investment in R&D in a counter-cyclical manner, with R&D investment this year remaining at 10%. In addition, Honor offline experience stores are also expanding. Even though all brands are closing stores, Honor has opened many new experience stores. Honor will formulate its chip strategy based on actual needs while remaining appropriately optimistic and cautious. Whether it is an ISP chip or a communication radio frequency chip, Honor will independently choose whether to develop a self-developed chip or a third-party chip based on the needs of the product definition to maintain the best competitiveness of the product.

Huawei HarmonyOS 3 system update

Huawei announced an update to the HarmonyOS 3 system, adding multiple new features, including universal cards supporting scene carousel and size adjustment; smart multi-windows supporting split-screen combinations and one-click saving; calendar course schedules supporting importing with one click; and making calls. It supports one-step switching of audio, one-step preview and printing of files; operation animations can be interrupted; pure capabilities have been upgraded, and application jumps can be known and controlled; background pop-up windows can be closed with one click, leaving hidden applications nowhere to hide. Models such as Huawei Mate 50, Huawei Pocket S and Huawei P50 are supported for the first upgrade.

Foxconn will start producing iPhones in Karnataka, India in April 2024

Foxconn will start producing Apple Inc’s iPhones in the southern Indian state of Karnataka in April 2024, the Karnataka government said. The project is expected to create approximately 50,000 jobs. Foxconn has set a target of producing 20 million iPhones per year at the factory, located on the outskirts of Bengaluru, the capital and technology hub of Karnataka state. Currently, Apple's iPhone production in India reaches about 5%-7%, but they aim to increase this number to 25%. Currently, Foxconn has a factory in Tamil Nadu, India, that produces iPhones.

Nintendo gradually closes its Russian subsidiary business

Japan’s Nintendo announced that it will gradually close its Russian subsidiary business, and Russian online stores will stop selling new products. Nintendo stated in an email to publishers that due to "economic prospects" considerations, it has decided that the Russian online store Switch eShop will operate as a "limited service" from May 31, 2023. Because the payment service provider stopped transactions in Russian rubles, the Nintendo Russian online store has long been in "maintenance status."

Southeast Asian technology giant Sea disbands investment arm

People familiar with the matter said that Southeast Asian Internet giant Sea is reducing its investment arm as the global investment environment cools due to macroeconomics and market uncertainty puts pressure on valuations. Sea Capital halted new equity investments in 2022, with leadership transitioning in May and Sea itself placing a lower priority on investments given market conditions.

Bilibili’s first quarter net revenue was 5.1 billion yuan

Bilibili (Bilibili) released its first quarter financial report for 2023. Compared with the same period in 2022, total quarterly net revenue increased by 0.3%, reaching 5.1 billion yuan (approximately US$738 million). The net loss was 630 million yuan, a 72% decrease compared with the same period in 2022. The net loss was 1 billion yuan. After adjustment, it did not comply with U.S. GAAP, but it reduced the loss by 38% compared with the same period in 2022.

Broadcom’s quarterly net profit was US$3.481 billion

Broadcom announced its second fiscal quarter results as of April 30, 2023. Quarterly net revenue was US$8.733 billion, compared with US$8.103 billion in the same period last year. Quarterly net profit was US$3.481 billion, compared with US$2.515 billion in the same period last year. Semiconductor business revenue increased by 9% compared with the same period last year, reaching $6.808 billion. Software business revenue increased 3% from the same period last year to $1.925 billion.

Dell’s first fiscal quarter net profit fell 46% year-on-year

Dell Technologies has released its first-quarter financial results up to May 5, 2023. Total quarterly net revenue in the same period last year was US$26.116 billion, while it was US$20.922 billion in the same period this year, a year-on-year decrease of 20%. Net profit fell 46% year-on-year quarterly to US$578 million from US$1.069 billion in the same period last year. Among them, product revenue was US$15.036 billion and service revenue was US$5.886 billion. Infrastructure Solutions ISG Group’s revenue was US$7.593 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 18%. CSG Group's revenue was $11.983 billion, down 23% year-over-year, but it delivered customer solutions.

The above is the detailed content of Meta launches a new VR headset ahead of Apple; Apple plans to strengthen retail network construction in China and Asia; Honor counter-cyclically increases R&D and market investment. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!