TNB Tech Minute: Apple, Amazon Beat Sales Forecasts - Tech News Briefing
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Victoria Craig: Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Thursday, May 1st. I'm Victoria Craig for the Wall Street Journal. After the bell this afternoon, Apple said sales last quarter jumped 5% to $95 billion as demand surged due to uncertainty around President Trump's tariff policy and the release of the lower-end iPhone 16e model. Apple also said a majority of its devices shipped into the U.S. in the June quarter will originate in India and Vietnam. It's a move to allay investor concerns about how tariffs would crimp the company's profits. The results come a day after a federal judge threw the book at Apple for "willfully choosing not to comply with a 2021 court ruling". It required the company to allow users to use alternative payment methods for services and subscriptions outside the App Store. The judge also took the unusual step of referring the matter to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation. An Apple spokeswoman said the company would comply with the order, but that it disagrees with the decision and will appeal. Also on the earnings front, Amazon reported strong results that were not affected by new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, but the company did add tariffs and trade policies to the list of factors that subject its forward-looking statements to substantial uncertainty. The E-commerce giant said revenue jumped 9% last quarter, and that it booked a profit of $17.1 billion. Both results topped Wall Street expectations. Meanwhile, Amazon this week also said it plans to put $4 billion toward expanding its delivery network in small American towns. The company estimates 100,000 new jobs will come as a result. By next year, Amazon expects the size of that network to triple, which it says will cut delivery times for rural customers in half. Finally, the Journal's exclusive reporting reveals that about a month ago, Tesla's board got serious about looking for a successor for founder and CEO Elon Musk. People familiar with the discussion said board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a process for finding the company's next leader. It came amid a steep fall in Tesla's shares since Musk turned his focus to DOGE and embarked on a cost-cutting spree for the Trump administration. Last week after the company said its quarterly profit plunged more than 70%, Musk told investors he'd pivot his focus back to Tesla. Following publication of our story, Tesla issued a denial and said the board is "highly confident" in Elon Musk and his "ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead". For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Friday's Tech News Briefing podcast.
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