The Techee

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings (centre) image : Ryan Lash/TED Netflix is reportedly hiring Activision CFO Spencer Neumann who the company says it’s planning to let go of for unspecified reasons in an SEC filing . Reuters reports this hire citing a source familiar with the matter, stating Neumann who has been placed on paid leave at Activision will take helm as CFO at Netflix early 2019. According to Activision’s filing, It intends to terminate Neumann  “for cause unrelated to the company’s financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures.”  A hire won’t come as a surprise as current Netflix CFO David Wells made known this August of his intention to step down after a long 14 years at the company. Netflix is expected to make an official announcement of this hire in the next few days, Reuters says, also noting that the company wants its next chief financial officer to be based in the Los Angeles area with a focus on production finance. Prior to Activision Blizzard, Neumann

(From Left to Right) Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and Former U.S. President Barrack Obama image : United Nations Intellectual property cases can now be taken to the Chinese Supreme Court, the government said this Saturday, marking a step to strengthen protection of IP amid complaints from U.S. along with the European Union of low enforcement of intellectual property rights in the country. With China and the U.S. in talks to come to terms on a trade dispute which has led to tariffs placed on imported goods from both sides, This move likely counts as one related to this as displaying seriousness about U.S. concerns count as a step towards this. U.S. President Donald John Trump image : Gage Skidmore Even with this, Deputy chief justice Luo Dongchuan has dismissed suggestions that this move was influenced by the U.S. side. “China has for many years followed international regulations and internation

image : Epic Games/Hasbro Fortnite developer Epic Games made $3 Billion in profit this year according to TechCrunch which cites a source with knowledge of its business. If this stands true, it'll mark a very successful year even more than previously estimated for the Fortnite maker. Several analyst predictions estimated the company was in line to make $2 Billion in gross profits for 2018. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney image : Game Developers Conference  Fortnite has proved to be a money making machine with its 125 million players spending lots of cash on in-game items for the free to play title. Epic has not released any revenue statistics for any of its games, In addition to Fortnite, it also makes money from other games like Battle Breakers, Robot Recall, Spyjinx and game development platform Unreal Engine.

Dell CEO Michael Dell image : Dell Dell has begun trading on the public stock market after listing on the NYSE this Friday under the symbol 'DELL', a move achieved through a buyback of shares that tracked financial performance of VMware, a firm it holds a majority stake in. The buyback deal involved cash and stock, worth nearly $24 billion and allowed it to sidestep a traditional listing process which would likely have seen scrutiny from investors concerning Dell's debt pile. Dell has been leveling down its debt, majority of which was issued for its 2015 $67 billion purchase of EMC. image : Dell Dell is trading at around $45 (as of writing) on the New York Stock Exchange, It opened at $46 and hit a low of $44.77 during trading today. According to the Wall Street Journal , Silver Lake Partners, a key backer in Dell's 2013 buyout is retaining its 24% stake in the company.

Oracle's Larry Ellison image : Oracle Tesla has made two new additions to its board with the appointment of Oracle chairman Larry Ellison and Walgreens Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as independent directors. This appointment took effect as of December 27 2018. Tesla's board, led by its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee made this appointment after conducting "a thorough, expansive process in searching for its new independent directors, considering candidates with a wide range of skill sets from across the globe who also hold a strong personal belief in Tesla’s mission of accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy." The company said in its statement. Kathleen Wilson-Thompson image : Walgreens “In conducting a widespread search over the last few months, we sought to add independent directors with skills that would complement the current board’s experience. In L

image : Apple According to a Reuters  report , Apple supplier Foxconn will begin assembling high-end iPhone models in India, potentially taking its business in the country to a higher level and likely as a way to sidestep tariffs that may arise from a U.S.-China trade war. The report says work will begin at Foxconn’s plant in the town of Sriperumbudur with a 25 billion Indian rupees ($356 million) investment set for expansion of the manufacturing facility. This may create as much as 25,000 jobs in the Indian market, it added. Model Nyle DiMaxrco (2nd from left) and Apple CEO Tim Cook (next) react to a robot dance sequence created on Swift Playgrounds (An Apple app that teaches how to code in its Swift programming language) image : Apple  A move like this makes much sense for Apple as in addition to avoiding potential tariffs from the Chinese side where it assembles the bulk of its products, India has also placed high tariffs on imported smartphones in recent years, maki

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon (left) and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal image : Walmart E-commerce leaders Amazon and Flipkart are facing tough rules from the Indian government aimed at preventing predatory pricing and deep discounts that pose threat to its local retail market. The rule, effective from the 1st of February require that all vendors be treated equally on the same terms and that cash back provided must be fair and not affect the price of goods and services. The Indian government has also barred e-commerce services from coercing sellers to feature products exclusively on their platforms. E-commerce companies will have to present a certificate confirming compliance to these rules along with an auditor's note to the Reserve Bank of India by the 30th of September every year for the preceding financial year. image : Flipkart Highlights noted in the government's statement include : E-commerce companies no longer permitted to offer products made by co

U.S. President Donald John Trump image by Gage Skidmore According to Reuters , U.S. President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year that will bar use of telecom equipment made by China's Huawei and ZTE for U.S. companies, a move that will mark the latest by the Trump Administration to cut Huawei and ZTE from the U.S. market following concerns its equipment could be used to spy on American citizens. Reuters says the executive order which has been in consideration for over 8 months could be issued next month and would direct the United States Department of Commerce to prevent U.S. companies from purchasing equipment from foreign manufacturers that pose national security risks. President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, China and the U.S. are involved in a trade war which has led to tariffs placed on goods traded between both nations image : Beto Barata/PR The order might unlikely name Huawei and ZTE in a direct manner

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, Instagram stands as main business for Facebook with growth potential in the e-commerce sector, Systrom announced his resignation from Facebook this September Photograph by Kevin Moloney/Fortune Brainstorm TECH Activist short seller Citron Research has predicted Facebook, trading at around $134 (as of writing) may hit $160 next year as it maintains revenues and user base with little impact even in the midst of several data scandals and privacy issues. After years of growth, for the first time ever, Facebook is trading at a discount to the S&P and is at its lowest multiple ever, in part to data scandals including a most recent issue involving sharing of user data with several tech giants like Spotify, Apple, Microsoft and Yahoo, it defended itself arguing this only happened with user permission granted. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg image : Facebook "Despite Facebook’s mass

Amazon Echo Buttons image : Amazon Amazon has announced it had a record holiday season with customers purchasing millions more Amazon Devices this season compared to last year, best-selling devices for this period include the new Echo Dot smart speaker, The Echo and the Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote. The company also said "tens of millions of people" globally began trials or paid memberships for its Amazon Prime subscription bundle, with over a billion items shipped for free this holiday in the U.S. Its Ring and Blink product lines also had more sales this holiday season than ever before, as per its statement . Amazon retail chief Jeff Wilke, Wilke is CEO, Worldwide Consumer at Amazon Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune Brainstorm Tech Other highlights noted by the company for this holiday season include : Customers requesting nearly 3x as many recipes on Alexa than normal. Alexa setting over 100 million timers. Customers requesting Alexa t

Huawei has announced that it exceeded 200 million sold smartphones this year despite turbulence relating to bans of its telecom equipment and the recent arrest of its CFO Meng Wanzhou who is currently on bail in Canada. The 200 million sales came about with strengthened sales of the Honor 10, P20 and Mate 20 models which account for a significant percentage of this figure. According to Huawei, within two months of release, The Mate 20 series had shipped over 5 million units while the popular Huawei nova series sold over 65 million units units year. Huawei CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei (left) image : HM Treasury on Flickr 8 years ago, Huawei inked a little 3 million annual sales, now growing to over 200 million in 8 years, indicating high growth for the Chinese company. It says its smartphones are being used by more than 500 million countries in over 170 countries as of current. "Looking to the future, Huawei's consumer business will focus on the core concept

The Apple Champs-Élysées in Paris   image : Apple Beginning January this year, Apple launched new retail spots across the globe, spanning countries from Japan to Thailand, France and others. On the 26th of January, it opened its first official store in South Korea featuring 140 employees including 18 Koreans who worked in stores around the world before heading home. Here are all the stores the company launched around the globe throughout this year: Apple Garosugil in Seoul, South Korea - The company launched its first ever store in the country on the 26th of January to thousands of customers who braved sub-freezing temperatures to witness the event attended by Apple's senior vice president of Retail Angela Ahrendts. Apple Garosugil in Seoul, South Korea image : Apple Apple’s senior vice president of Retail Angela Ahrendts, welcomes customers to Apple Garosugil. image : Apple Apple Kärntner Straße in Austria - Shortly after a South Korea lau