Apple goes to meet software developers. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing meets halfway for itself. Deutsche Bank goes unclear where. And actions in Afghanistan lead to an increase in the export of semiconductors from the United States of America to China - but this is not certain.
Disclaimer: when we talk about that, that something has grown up, we mean a comparison with the same quarter a year ago. Since all issuers from the United States of America, then all indicators in dollars. Sources were used in the development of the material, hard-to-reach for users from Russia. Putting our hopes on, Do you understand, what to do.
Apple discord
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) decided to allow application developers, that are on the App Store, allow users to make in-app purchases that bypass Apple's payment system. As you remember, Apple's initial reluctance to endure this led to an epic legal battle with Epic Games.
In addition, Apple has made a $ 100 million fund to support app developers., which during June 2015 up to April 2021, annual sales did not exceed a million dollars. Creators will receive between $250 and $30,000 each. Due to the drama of fate, this does not in any way affect the outcome of the litigation with Epic Games., where are the main accusations, which were brought against Apple, are as follows:, that the company abused its monopoly position and removed Epic Games apps from the App Store.
Basically, Apple's decision to allow developers to receive payments outside the company's ecosystem in the long run may even harm its plans. After all, Apple is going to switch to a business model, what is the dominant role played by the implementation of services, but no devices. If in-app purchases are executed from within an Apple system, then she receives a commission - within the limits of 15-thirty percent of the transaction amount, depending on the size of the annual revenue of the developer.
But so far, it is not possible to determine the extent of lost revenues from this decision.. Under the new state of things, users will have to agree to the transfer of data to application developers, before they are offered the option to pay bypassing Apple.
More money to the god of chips
Semiconductor Manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) decided to raise prices for its chips. The most advanced chips will become more expensive by 10%, and older ones - by 15-20%. Changes will take effect on 1 quarter 2022.
This is very good news for TSM shareholders.. Considering the importance of supplying these components for the operation of the final goods, in which these chips are, TSM customers will have no other choice, except pay more.
For the same reason, this is bad news for almost everyone else., since the cost of manufacturing electronics will become significantly more expensive. Manufacturers, probably, will invest increased costs in the price of goods, and consumers such prices can cause them to hesitate in their purchase decision. However, will it really be, we will only find out next year.
For slander and voluntarism
US authorities - federal prosecutors and the Securities Commission - are investigating the investment arm of Deutsche Bank. More precisely, in relation to the investment fund DWS Group, which is owned by Deutsche Bank. The former head of sustainability is suspected of, that he exaggerated the extent to which sustainable development criteria were used in investment decisions.
DWS is suspected of, that they misled investors about the ethics of their investments. For example, in March 2020, the investment fund claimed, which is over $ 450 billion, and this is more than half of the fund's assets, invested based on the use of ESG analysis. But internal audit, conducted earlier, Showed, that only a small fraction of the investment has used such an analysis. Furthermore, audit showed, that DWS does not have a well-thought-out methodology for such an analysis.
DWS speaks in its own defense, that ESG criteria are constantly changing and that DWS itself simply adheres to more conservative ESG standards.
In the article about ESG, we mentioned, that, in time, a witch hunt will begin in this area: “Orthodox” advocates of ethical investing will start looking for those, who shows "insincerity" in this regard and is engaged in "greening" business, which de facto does not meet the ESG criteria at all. And as you can see, this hunt started even earlier, than you could have imagined.
After this case, a wave of similar investigations of the work of other organizations may begin., who put an ESG stamp on their company in the hope, that a progressive party will not poison their business and will even help improve the conditions for its functioning - simplified access to loans and pumping up quotes.
Was, that ESG is not just three letters, as well as a bunch of related responsibilities. Therefore, in connection with the history of DWS, I would expect a whole series of such checks in the corporate sector.
Can, but a little
U.S. Officials Approve Licenses to Buy Hundreds of Million Dollars of U.S. Products for China's Huawei, which they previously blacklisted. Understandably, what is good news for Huawei, but these events can be interpreted in a wider context.
One of the most important export countries for US companies, in particular in the field of semiconductors and high-tech equipment, - this is China. The Chinese are now intensively developing their own high-tech production, in this connection they need a large amount of appropriate equipment. This export item is very vulnerable, since at any time the American authorities may close the export of such advanced products to China for reasons of national security. It is also worth considering the significant tension in relations between the United States and China..
Against this backdrop, relief for Huawei allows us to cautiously hope that there will be no significant restrictions in the future.. And also for that, that company, which are highly dependent on Chinese revenue, can continue to work in peace.
One can only guess about the reasons for such concessions for Huawei. Maybe, this was influenced by recent events in Afghanistan. China is on very good terms with the new Afghan regime thanks to Pakistani mediation. But the US is on very bad terms with the new Afghan regime, with whom they are fighting almost 20 years. In the ability of the PRC to simplify the evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan - and in their ability to spoil this evacuation as much as possible. If the Afghan version is correct, that raises concerns. Means, there is no talk of any long-term warming: as soon as the last American leaves Afghanistan, the US government may immediately resume pressure on China's technology sector with a vengeance.
