Watch: Jack Reacher author Lee Child on the Amazon row August 13, 2014 Jack Reacher author Lee Child appeared on Newsnight yesterday to explain why he and hundreds of other authors have spoken out against Amazon. The etail giant is in a stand-off over pricing with publishing group Hachette, which has the rights to authors as varied as JK Rowling (post-Harry Potter), Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame, crime [...]
Mark Zuckerberg is now richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin September 29, 2014 Mark Zuckerberg is now richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken the three biggest billionaires in technology by accruing an additional $15bn in wealth since last year- more than any other billionaire this year. That's not bad for a yearly paycheque [...]
Twitch – what is it and why has Amazon just spent nearly $1bn on it? August 26, 2014 Back in May the word was that Google was eyeing up games social platform Twitch, but last night Amazon emerged as the triumphant bidder, nearly four times what Jeff Bezos paid for The Washington Post. Just what is Twitch and why does everyone want a piece? Essentially, it's video-game voyeurism: Twitch is currently the centre of [...]
Royal Mail profit hit amid fierce UK competition May 21, 2015 ONGOING brutal competition and declining letter volumes led to plunging profits at Royal Mail as Britain’s oldest delivery service continued to seek further savings. Admitting the trading environment “remains challenging”, Royal Mail reported stagnant revenue growth for the year ending 29 March, at £9.3bn. The top-line figures come as the company recorded a four per [...]
Amazon share price dives as losses increase July 24, 2014 More of the same from Amazon, as it continues its tradition of favouring growth over profits. The e-commerce giant has just announced a loss of $126m, or $0.27 per share for the three months to the end of June, coming in significantly below Wall Street estimates of a $0.15 per share loss. The second quarter [...]
Busy week of earnings ahead – New York Report April 19, 2015 INVESTORS attempting to determine whether US equities will rebound from Friday’s selloff or continue to sink will look to a deluge of earnings this week for a clearer picture of the economy. Equities lost ground after industrials Honeywell International and General Electric took hits from the strong dollar, while concerns over new trading regulations in [...]
Catastrophic EU VAT rules are destroying the digital sector September 8, 2015 In January, new EU VAT legislation was imposed on the broadcasting, telecoms and digital sectors, causing a crisis for SMEs. Thousands of businesses have closed, geo-blocking (the refusal of non-EU businesses to sell into the EU) is rampant, and the legislation threatens to wreck the Digital Single Market. In simple terms, the new [...]
Amazon slashes the price of its Fire smartphone to 99 cents – weeks before its UK launch September 9, 2014 Amazon has slashed the price of its less-than-popular smartphone to 99 cents just a month and a bit after it launched in the US, and weeks before its UK launch. Alas, the deal (99 cents with a two-year contract from AT&T) is only available in the US, but still – it suggests quite how disappointing [...]
Marks & Spencer leading the FTSE losers: Why clothing boss John Dixon’s departure gives M&S two major headaches July 17, 2015 Marks & Spencer is leading the FTSE 100 losers this morning, after it confirmed its executive director of general merchandise John Dixon had quit. M&S' share price opened down, and has continued to tumble throughout early trading. At pixel time, itwas down 1.3 per cent. When Dixon took up the role in [...]
Lessons learned as final parcel of Royal Mail goes on sale June 9, 2015 Last week chancellor George Osborne announced that the government will sell off its remaining 30 per cent stake in Royal Mail, meaning the company will become completely private. There is no immediate timeline for the sale. Currently the market value of the shares is around £1.5bn. Osborne was forthright in saying the transaction would [...]