according to reports, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (Satya
Nadella) said that although the company's $ 69 billion acquisition of
Activision Blizzard deal in the United Kingdom to face the deepening of
regulators investigation, but he is confident that the deal will eventually be
approved by regulators.
"Of course, any deal of this size would face
scrutiny, but we're confident that it will be approved," Nadella said in
an interview with the media.
Nadella's prediction contrasts sharply with investor
skepticism about the deal. While Activision shares rose on Thursday and
outperformed tech stocks that tumbled on the day, at Wednesday's closing price
of $75.32, the stock was still more than 20% below Microsoft's takeover offer
-- a sign of high skepticism about Microsoft whether the transaction can be
completed.
Nadella said Microsoft is the No. 4 or No. 5 player in
the overall video game industry, depending on the source of the data. And No. 1
Sony has recently made a number of acquisitions. "If it's about competition,
let's compete," he said.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said
earlier this month that they planned to launch a longer assessment. In fact,
the market was already anticipating this outcome when the CMA was concerned
that the deal could sap competition in the console, subscription and cloud
computing markets. Activision, which owns big-name games such as "Call of
Duty", "World of Warcraft" and "Guitar Hero", will
become the third-largest game company in the world after the company merges
with Microsoft.
It was reported earlier this year that Microsoft had slowed
hiring and canceled many hiring plans, including its Azure cloud business and
security software divisions, as well as its Windows and Office divisions.
Nadella said that Microsoft has added about 70,000 employees during the
epidemic and will continue to expand in some areas in the future.
"We will be more cautious," he said.
Microsoft will "adopt the same model and do more
with less," Nadella said. "We have a lot of businesses that are doing
well and can continue to grow, but we're also looking at the macroeconomic
situation."
As Microsoft continues to scale and become more
efficient, he said, "we can handle these conditions."
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according to reports, after the Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram apps were exposed to cross-site tracking of users, two class action lawsuits have been submitted to the court, alleging that the company violated Apple's "" App Tracking Transparency policy and related laws.
It is reported that Meta came up with a workaround to
bypass Apple's privacy policy: insert tracking code into websites when users
use the browser built into its app. This way, they can monitor the user's
activity whether or not the user authorizes the Meta's app.
Apple introduced its App Tracking Transparency policy when
it rolled out the iOS 14.5 update in April 2021. This technology can prohibit
apps from tracking users, and must obtain the user's explicit permission to do
so. Meta has been against this before. The company has encouraged users to
allow it to be tracked, even warning that the policy could cost it $10 billion
in reduced ad revenue this year.
Meta refuted the allegation in a statement. The company
said both lawsuits were "unfounded" and that they would vigorously
defend them. Meta also said that the company's in-app browser respects privacy
decisions, including those related to advertising.
The court may not ultimately be able to grant
class-action status to both lawsuits, but if granted, it could apply for
compensation for many users at the same time. Win or not, though, the lawsuits
amply demonstrate the conflict between Meta, Apple and privacy advocates —
despite facing criticism and rival pushback, Meta remains committed to
protecting the targeted advertising business that fuels its growth .
ANOTHER RECOMMENDED HEADING READ….
FedEx over-spec hikes shipping rates by 6.9% in response to slowing global business
On September 22, local time, the US express delivery giant
FedEx Group (FedEx) said in its earnings report that it plans to increase
freight rates by an average of 6.9% from January next year to cope with the
slowdown in the global express delivery business. The price increase this time
is higher than in previous years.
A few days ago, the company slashed its profit and sales
forecasts. FedEx increased rates by an average of 5.9% last year, the first
time in eight years that rates have risen more than 4.9%.
The earnings report also disclosed other cost-cutting
plans. FedEx said it expects to save $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion this fiscal
year, thanks to plans announced last week to ground some planes, suspend Sunday
deliveries and close some offices. The company also plans to save an additional
$4 billion annually from operations.
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