Plus, Apple reports sliding iPhone sales ahead of the launch of new AI features. And Amazon’s sales rise as its cloud computing unit shows strength. Zoe Thomas hosts.
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[00:00:00] Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Thursday, August 1. I'm Zoe Thomas for the Wall Street Journal. Intel plans to lay off about 15,000 people — most of them by the end of this year. It's part of a sweeping cost-saving drive. The chipmaker will also pause dividend payments.
[00:00:20] CEO Pat Gelsinger laid out a plan to reduce costs by more than $10 billion next year. Apple reported second quarter sales of $12.8 billion down 1 percent. The company has struggled to gain a foothold in the market for artificial intelligence chips that have driven sales for competitors like Nvidia.
[00:00:41] Apple's iPhone sales fell nearly 1 percent from the prior year to just over $39 billion, a sign of soft demand in the company's core business. It's the second straight quarterly decline. Students expect the new AI features, which Apple is preparing to release in the fall, will help reinvigorate iPhone sales.
[00:01:01] Overall, Apple revenue increased about 5 percent to just under $86 billion. And Amazon sales rose 10 percent from a year earlier to $148 billion during the second quarter. The e-commerce giant reported a profit of $13.5 billion. The company's cloud computing unit had strong earnings after experiencing a slowdown in 2023.
[00:01:27] Revenue from Amazon Web Services grew by about 19 percent to over $26 billion. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Friday's tech news briefing podcast.