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The top 10 books on the Apple Store for week ending 1/1/2023
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Hong Kong
CNN
—
Production at the world’s biggest iPhone factory, disrupted since October by China’s Covid-19 restrictions and worker protests, is now running at nearly full capacity, according to a Chinese state media report.
The sprawling campus in central China, owned by Apple
(AAPL) supplier Foxconn, was running at 90% of planned production capacity at the end of December, the Henan Daily newspaper reported Tuesday. It cited an interview with Wang Xue, deputy general manager of the facility, which is also known as iPhone city.
“At the moment, the order books look good, and the orders will peak from now until a few months after Chinese New Year,” he was quoted as saying. The Lunar New Year will begin on January 22.
Foxconn hasn’t yet responded to CNN’s request for comment about the report.
The company said last month it was working on restoring production, which had been badly affected by supply disruptions caused by Covid restrictions. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives estimated in November that the disruptions in Zhengzhou had been costing Apple roughly $1 billion a week in lost iPhone sales.
According to a UBS report in November, the wait time for the latest 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max in the United States touched 34 days just before the Christmas holidays because of supply chain constraints in China. The UBS analyst called the wait time “extreme.”
The Henan Daily separately quoted an executive responsible for Foxconn’s logistics as saying that, in the first two days of January, the volume of inbound and outbound shipments had reached the highest level in a year.
The report of a nearly full resumption of production comes one month after China abruptly ended three years of pandemic controls, setting off a huge wave of Covid infections.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a letter from Foxconn founder Terry Gou played a major role in persuading Chinese leaders to accelerate plans to dismantle the country’s Covid-19 policies. Gou was quoted as warning that strict Covid controls would threaten China’s central position in global supply chains.
Gou’s office told CNN that it “denies the report and its contents.”
Wang was quoted by the Henan Daily as saying iPhone City currently had about 200,000 workers on site. The employees were each eligible for a maximum of 13,000 yuan ($1,883) per month in bonuses, he said, without specifying their base salaries.
The troubles for Foxconn started in October when workers left the campus, located in the central Chinese province of Henan, because of concerns about Covid-related working conditions and shortages of food. Short on staff, bonuses were offered to workers to return.
But violent protests broke out in November when the newly-hired staff said management reneged on their promises. Workers clashed with security officers, before the company eventually offered them cash to quit and leave the site.
Analysts said the production woes at iPhone City would speed up the pace of Apple’s supply chain diversification away from China.
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In this photo illustration the Netflix logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen, with graphic representation of the stock market in the background.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Netflix — The streaming giant gained 6.3% following a double upgrade to buy from sell by CFRA. The firm said it would be difficult for competitors to catch up with the company.
Cal-Maine Foods — Cal-Maine shares shed 15% after reporting earnings that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations even as the egg producer reported record sales. The company said the avian flu outbreak limited supply and pushed prices up.
Southwest Airlines — The airline stock rose more than 3%, paring back losses from the previous session when it dropped more than 5%. Severe disruptions at Southwest Airlines have drawn outsized criticism from frustrated travelers, who have dealt with thousands of canceled flights from airlines this week because of winter weather. Southwest Airlines canceled another 60% of its flights on Wednesday. According to The Dallas Morning News, it’s expected to restore its full schedule on Friday.
Lockheed Martin — The defense contractor’s stock rose nearly 1% following news that its Sikorsky unit is contesting a U.S. Army helicopter contract awarded to Textron. It said proposals for the $1.3 billion contract were not evaluated fairly. Textron shares were last up 1.9%.
Tesla — Tesla shares gained more than 7% after selling off during the previous sessions and 37% this month. The stock’s headed for one of its worst months, quarters and years ever.
Apple — The iPhone maker’s stock rose more than 3% after hitting its lowest level since June 2021 earlier in the week.
General Electric — Shares rose 1.7% amid news that General Electric’s health-care spinoff will join the S&P 500 when it starts trading separately on Jan. 4. GE Healthcare will replace Vornado Realty Trust, set to join the S&P MidCap 400.
ImmunoGen — Shares added 6.2% after the biotechnology company announced CFO Susan Altschuller would not return from her time off. Renee Lentini, the vice president and chief accounting officer, was named interim CFO. The stock initially dropped in premarket trading.
TG Therapeutics — The biopharmaceutical stock soared more than 29% on news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its drug to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. The drug, known as Briumvi, is expected to roll out during the first quarter of 2023.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Sarah Min contributed reporting
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s
DJIA,
307-point rally in morning trading Thursday was unanimous, as all 30 components were gaining ground. The top performers were shares of Walt Disney Co.
DIS,
up 4.1%, and Apple Inc.
AAPL,
up 2.7%. Those two stocks happened to be the Dow’s worst performers on Wednesday when the Dow dropped 366 points, with Apple shares shedding 3.1% and Disney’s stock dropping 2.2%. Intel Corp.’s stock
INTC,
which is the Dow’s biggest loser year to date, was the Dow’s third-biggest gainer on Thursday with a 2.1% rise. The worst performer on Thursday was Merck & Co. Inc.’s stock
MRK,
which ticked up just 0.1%. Merck’s stock was the Dow’s second-best year-to-date performer with a 45.0% gain, behind Chevron Corp.’s
CVX,
51.4% rally.
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Just five trading sessions accounted for more than 95% of S&P 500 index losses in 2022, according to an analysis by Datatrek co-founder Nicholas Colas in a note published Wednesday, as stocks headed for their worst year since 2008.
He described them in the note as the “five days that killed the year”: Two were caused by disappointing inflation data, while the others were triggered by weak corporate earnings and commentary from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
On the worst day for stocks since 2020, the release of the August U.S. consumer price index report sent traders into a panic when the data showed annual headline and core inflation running hotter than expected.
The headline number came in at 8.3% for the 12 months through August, while core inflation — which strips out volatile food and energy prices — accelerated at 6.3%.
Economists and analysts were particularly rattled by the monthly core inflation number, which came in at 0.6%, double the expected rate of 0.3%, stoking concerns about stubbornly high housing costs as energy prices began to decline after earlier being the biggest driver of this year’s inflation.
Retail giant Target Corp.
TGT,
missed first quarter earnings expectations by a wide margin, elevating worries about the U.S. consumer’s ability to cope with inflation into a full-blown panic one day after Walmart Inc.
WMT,
highlighted similar concerns.
Adding to the pressure on the market, during an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal Powell acknowledged that “there could be some pain involved” as the FOMC raised interest rates.
This day’s punishing selloff was also triggered by the release of CPI data, as the numbers for the month of May came in higher than expectations. The S&P 500 finished the session in bear-market territory for the first time in 2022, down 21.8% from the record highs reached in early January.
The market’s decline on this day was also triggered by a corporate earnings disappointment. However, this time, the focus was on e-commerce, and the ripple effects sent many of the megacap technology stocks reeling.
Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
— which like both Target and Walmart is a member of the consumer discretionary sector of the S&P 500 — missed earnings expectations for the first quarter while reducing its guidance. The stock ended the day down 14%, its biggest single-session decline since 2006. Apple Inc.
AAPL,
Microsoft Corp.
MSFT,
and Google owner Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL,
were also down sharply.
Markets tumbled one day after Powell assured investors during a post-meeting press conference that the Fed wasn’t considering interest-rate hikes of greater than 50 basis points. Of course, this statement didn’t age well, as the central bank went on to hike interest rates by 75 basis points at the following four consecutive meetings.
According to Colas, investors can glean some helpful insights about the root causes of this year’s market misery from these five sessions.
To wit, investors had clearly realized by the spring that stubbornly high inflation would force the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate more aggressively than it was letting on. Also, inflated expectations for corporate earnings helped contribute to the pain as U.S. consumer spending waned.
U.S. stocks sold off far more often than they traded higher this year, a deviation from the historic pattern since World War II whereby stocks typically climb far more often than they fall. Through Tuesday’s session, the index fell during 141 trading days (including Tuesday), while finishing higher during 107 up days.
The S&P 500 was on track to finish 2022 down more than 20% as of midday on Wednesday as all three of the main indexes were trading in the red, with the S&P 500
SPX,
Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
and Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
adding to their losses with just two more trading days left in the year.
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Shares of Apple Inc. dropped 2.8% in midday trading Wednesday, to put them on track for a fourth-straight decline and the lowest close in 18 months. The technology behemoth’s stock was the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the day, as the Dow slumped 288 points, or 0.9%. Apple’s stock has lost 6.7% during its four-day losing streak. It has shed 14.6% in December, to put it on track for the worst monthly performance since it tumbled 18.4% in November 2018, amid concerns over the macroeconomic backdrop and production challenges in China as COVID cases surge. Apple generated $74.20 billion in revenue from China in fiscal 2022, representing 18.8% of total revenue. With a year-to-date selloff of 28.8%, the stock is headed for the biggest yearly drop since it plunged 56.9% in 2008, during the financial crisis.
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iPhone 14
Sofia Pitt | CNBC
You may have gotten Apple’s iPhone 14 as a gift for the holidays. If you’re upgrading from a much older iPhone model, there’s going to be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to navigating your brand-new iPhone.
If you were gifted the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, you may be wondering what a Dynamic Island is (that little floating graphic at the top of your screen). If you were gifted any of the iPhone 14 models, you’ll want to know what emergency SOS via satellite is and how to use it. There are also little hacks you should know about, such as editing or unsending iMessages, which I use all the time and can really come in handy.
Here are some iPhone 14 tips and tricks to get you started.
How to edit an iMessage in iOS 16
Todd Haselton | CNBC
You can now edit and delete iMessages you’ve already sent. This next feature works for anyone who has an iPhone released in 2017 or later. Just make sure your iPhone is running on iOS 16 or newer. (You can check by going to Settings > General > About.)
You’ll have only two minutes to unsend an iMessage and 15 minutes to edit an iMessage. This perk doesn’t work with SMS text messages, the type that shows up as green bubbles instead of blue ones. And it only works if the other person you’re texting also has iOS 16 or newer installed.
To edit an iMessage:
To unsend an iMessage:
A new feature called “duplicate detection” helps to aggregate all of your repetitive photos. It’s only available on iOS 16, which you can download as long as you have an iPhone 8 or newer. Using this new feature can help you free up wasted storage space.
Apple’s iOS 16 Beta 5 shows battery percentage
Todd Haselton | CNBC
You can now see your battery percentage in the battery icon at the top of your screen. It’s useful if you want more details on how much battery life you have left. Knowing you have a 60% charge is a lot easier to see than trying to gauge it from an icon. So, turn on the battery percentage indicator.
How to turn on the battery percentage indicator:
You’ll now see that little number indicating your battery life inside the battery icon on the top right-hand corner of your iPhone screen.
Emergency SOS via satellite on iPhone 14.
Apple
In November, Apple launched emergency SOS via satellite for all iPhone 14 users, which allows users to text emergency services when they’re off the grid, whether camping in the mountains or driving in a remote area at night. The service is free for the first two years.
How to use emergency SOS via satellite:
Tap this button to identify songs from your iPhone.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
This next trick works with all iPhones, but many people don’t know about it and it’s super fun and useful. You can identify the song that’s playing on the radio at a bar, in your car, or at a friend’s house, all without having to open an app. All you have to do is swipe down and tap a single button.
Apple acquired the music recognition service Shazam in 2018 and setting it up on your iPhone is easy.
That adds the music recognition function to Control Center, which you access by swiping down from the top-right of your screen, or from the bottom of the screen if you have an iPhone with a Home button.
Once you’ve done that, you can use your iPhone to identify a song by swiping down from the top-right of the screen to open Control Center and then tapping the Shazam button. Your phone will listen for a few seconds, then show the artist and title at the top of your screen. And it’ll save a history of the songs you’ve identified so you can go back and see them later. To do that, just press and hold the Shazam button.
Widgets on your iPhone let you see info from your favorite apps without having to actually open those apps. You can use widgets on your home screen and lock screen, or you can use widgets from Today View by swiping right from the home screen or lock screen.
To see widgets on your home screen:
To add widgets from Today View:
The App Library organizes all of your apps for you.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
To keep your iPhone’s home screen organized, you can clean things up by adding and deleting apps.
To save space and declutter your iPhone, here’s how to delete apps you don’t use:
To keep an app downloaded, but remove it from your home screen:
You’ll notice that when you swipe on your home screen from right to left, there are multiple pages that house your apps.
To remove an entire page from your home screen:
To hide an entire page, but not delete it:
To unhide a page, repeat the steps above. Then use the App Library to quickly find apps hidden on different pages.
The iPhone 12, by default, will save battery by switching between 5G and 4G LTE as needed.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
5G cell service works with all carriers and iPhone models 12, 13, 14 and SE 3. On the iPhone, Apple uses a 5G Auto Setting as a default. This enables Smart Data mode. When 5G speeds don’t provide a better experience, your phone will automatically switch to LTE, saving battery life.
If your phone is not on 5G Auto and instead on 5G On, you could be draining your battery. That’s because no matter what connection is best, your iPhone is always trying to connect to 5G.
To optimize your battery life, here’s how to turn off 5G:
Or let your iPhone decide for you to optimize battery:
Apple’s 18W fast charger for iPhone 11.
If you’re upgrading from a much older model iPhone, don’t use your old charger. As long as you have an iPhone 8 or newer, you can charge your phone by 50% in 30 minutes using a 20-watt power adapter with a USB-C to lightning cable charger. But there are some other battery tricks you should know about.
Turn on Low Power Mode to conserve battery:
You’ll see under this option an explanation from Apple that says: “Low Power Mode temporarily reduces background activity like downloads and mail fetch until you can fully charge your iPhone.”
Turn down your screen brightness to conserve battery:
If your screen is on maximum brightness, it’s draining your iPhone’s battery. To turn it down:
Check your iPhone’s battery health:
Apple has a tool that’s automatically built into your iPhone to help prevent your battery from losing efficacy. This feature also makes your iPhone charge slower based on your routines. Here’s how to turn it off:
Apple’s new Focus feature in iOS 15
Todd Haselton | CNBC
As long as you have iOS 15 or newer, you can set up a feature called Focus which allows you to choose the alerts and notifications you receive and let others know you’re busy. This can help you avoid getting distracted by all of your phone’s notifications while you’re trying to work, sleep or drive.
When you’re on Focus, your status will automatically be displayed in your Messages app so when people try to send you a message, they’ll see that you’ve silenced your notifications, but they can still choose to notify you if it’s urgent.
Also, if you have an iPad or Apple Watch, or any other Apple device set up, Focus will automatically be applied across all your Apple devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID.
Apple iPhone lock screen
Source: Apple
There are some new cool lock screens on the iPhone 14.
To change up your lock screen:
Apple’s new Dynamic Island feature on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Sofia Pitt
Dynamic Island is the coolest feature Apple introduced this year. Instead of that blank notch that used to house the selfie camera and microphone, there’s a new interactive pill display that has the ability to shape-shift on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Let’s say you’re reading an article. You can also control the music you’re listening to by tapping Dynamic Island instead of switching applications. It’s useful.
The space can be used to show other things, such as directions, AirPod connection status and battery life, or a timer. It can even split into two separate cutouts, so you can see a timer on one side and track the arrival time of your Lyft simultaneously, for example.
Always-on display toggled off on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Sofia Pitt
The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have a feature called an always-on display, which Android phones have had for years. The advantage is that you can see your widgets, such as the date and the weather, as well as the time, in a low-light mode when your phone is locked. The feature isn’t supposed to be a drain on your battery.
But, if you’re like me and want more peace and quiet without the urge to look over at your phone, here’s how to turn off the always-on display.
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CNN
—
Even when working from home, a power supply can be hard to come by, what with your computer, monitor, WiFi hub and other gadgets and gizmos and their wall chargers hogging those sparse outlets. And when you’re on the go, a solid power source is especially a necessity. The solution: a portable charger to keep your phone, tablet and more juiced to the max.
So to help identify the best options for avoiding that dreaded “low battery” notification, we spent several weeks testing portable chargers — draining devices, charging them up and calculating capacities. Ultimately, we found three winners that each stole the show in their own way.
Best portable charger overall
Where the Anker PowerCore 13000 shone most was in charging capacity. It boasts 13,000mAh, which is enough to fully charge an iPhone 11 two and a half times. Plus, it has two fast-charging USB Type-A ports so you can juice a pair of devices simultaneously.
The most portable
The ultraportable Belkin Power Pocket 5K is almost the exact same size as an iPhone SE, but weighs even less. And, proving the old adage “big things come in small packages” correct, it packs enough power to fully charge an iPhone 11 from its singular USB Type-A port.
Best portable charger for iPhone
The Belkin Boost Power Pocket 5K goes hand-in-hand with iPhones thanks to the inclusion of a Lightning port along with the USB Type A port. That means you can use the same cord to charge your phone and refill the battery.

Simply put, the Anker PowerCore 13000 packs a ton of value.
You can charge a lot with this thing — and quickly. The PowerCore 13000 has enough capacity to bring an iPhone 11 to full charge two and a half times, or two Samsung Galaxy S20s from empty to more than 90%. And you won’t be sitting by idly for too long, either, as the PowerCore 13000 takes just 41 minutes to charge an iPhone 11 to 50%, tied for fastest charging in our testing.
While the PowerCore 13000 doesn’t fully live up to its promise of 13,000mAh (we found it delivers 7918mAh), it hit a respectable 61% of what’s advertised — a percentage that put it about average among all the batteries we tested. In other words: None of the portable chargers we tested fully lived up to their claims, and the PowerCore 13000 still has more charging capacity than most others we tested. (You can read more about how we measured mAhs by scrolling down.) Plus, it’s just a few more bucks than the Belkin Pocket Power 5K for more than double the mAhs.
The side of the battery houses three ports: dual USB Type-A ports (which are fast-charging) and a micro-USB port to charge the battery itself — allowing you to run several USB-C cables to different devices all at once. When we charged an iPhone 11 and a Nintendo Switch simultaneously, the battery barely heated up. Four LED lights alert you to the charger’s remaining battery life, with a button on the edge to turn the lights on.
The charger’s matte plastic design feels nice to the touch and resists smudging surprisingly well. It’s about the size of a full wallet, so it’s easy to carry around. And it’s durable: The charger survived our drop tests, which included a 3-foot drop onto grass and a 1.5-foot drop onto carpet, with neither external nor internal damage. (You can read more about our durability testing below.)
Overall, not only does the Anker PowerCore 13000 pack major mAhs, but it’s got two ports for your USB cables and is fairly small and durable.

When we first encountered the Belkin Power Pocket 5K, it was hard to believe its size: just 5 inches long, 2.5 inches wide and a half-inch thick. There are few places this battery won’t fit, yet many devices it’ll charge.
It was the smallest and the lightest charger we tested; you might even mistake it for the phone in your pocket. This portable charger is really the definition of a personal power bank, easily whipped out of a pocket and held alongside your mobile device.
The charging capacity of the Power Pocket 5k is modest, but it did come closest to living up to its claimed output out of all the models we tested. While its maximum capacity is stated to be 5,000mAh, we measured it at about 3,655mAh. That’s 73% of the expected value, which is 12% better than average in our testing. While its capacity isn’t huge, it’s more than enough to bring an iPhone 11 or Samsung Galaxy S10 battery back to full life. The only significant downside we could find was the charging speed: It takes a little more than 51 minutes to charge an iPhone 11 to 50%.
The Anker PowerCore 13000 features four battery-indicating LEDs on its side alongside a button to turn them on. Around the corner are the ports: a single USB-C input along with a micro-USB port to charge the battery with the included charging cable. Like the PowerCore 13000, the Pocket Power 5K received no superficial or internal damage during our drop testing. And you can rest assured that even if you do break it, it comes with a two-year warranty along with a generous $2,500 connected equipment warranty (which covers unlikely electrical damage to tech that was properly plugged into the Pocket Power 5K).
The wee-as-can-be Belkin Pocket Power 5K is impressive for its size. Although the capacity isn’t huge, it’s more than enough to fulfill the needs of most personal devices and small enough to keep in your pocket everywhere you go — and a bit lighter on the wallet for those on a budget.

The Belkin Boost Charge Power Pocket 5K offers a bit less capacity than the Belkin Power Pocket 5K, but it’s a match made in heaven for iPhones — and it charges faster, too.
Along one side of the Belkin Boost Charge resides a USB Type-A port and a Lightning port (MFi-approved) to charge the battery. This is the big deal here — that’s the very same kind of port that your iPhone and iPad has. In other words, as long as you have a Lightning cable to charge your iPhone (we’re going to assume you do), you have a cable to recharge your battery, too. Consolidating cables is a big win in our book. This charger also pairs better alongside a smartphone because it’s lighter than the Anker 13000 and sports more of a rectangular shape, so it fits a bit more snug in the hand.
The Boost Power Pocket 5K has more than enough juice to fully charge an iPhone 11. It also took a little more than 45 minutes to charge an iPhone 11 to 50%, which is faster than the Belkin Pocket Power 5K by six minutes. The capacity of the BOOST Power Pocket 5K is advertised as 5,000mAh and, during our testing, we measured about 3,415mAh. That’s nearly 70% of the advertised value, making it one of the top three batteries we tested in terms of living up to its promise (the average was about 61%).
All in all, the Belkin Boost Charge Power Pocket 5K is a terrific personal charger for your iPhone. With both MFi certification and cable consolidation thanks to the Lightning port, it should really stand out to iPhone users.
We ran each and every portable charger through a series of tests. We charged each battery to full, ran it dry juicing up one or several devices, calculated its capacity and compared charging speeds. At the same time, we took a look at properties like weight, size, build quality and visual design. Whether it was a chunky battery that could charge all our tech, or a slim, sleek battery with enough to fill an iPhone, we put these things through the ringer.
Read on to see the breakdowns of all our testing categories.
The Otterbox Otterspot is unlike any portable charger we’ve seen before. The system works as follows: A disk-shaped charging pad can charge mobile devices wirelessly, as well as the included disk-shaped battery via charging pins. The battery, which can be stacked up to three on the pad, can charge devices wirelessly or with a cable and then be recharged upon the pad. Wirelessly, it only delivered 2,519mAh to an iPhone 11. With a wired connection, it provided 3,134mAh. This is significantly less than, say, the 3,655mAh from the Belkin Pocket Power 5K with the same 5,000mAh promise. Overall, the Otterbox Otterspot is an awesome concept that may need some work on the capacity end.
TheAnker PowerCore III Sense 10K is a beautiful charger. It comes in multiple vibrant colors and features a woven yarn surface on top and matte plastic below. Unfortunately, it only provided 4,189mAh of its expected 10,000mAh capacity. This is 42% of the expected value, compared with the 61% the Anker PowerCore 13,000 was able to achieve. Despite its aesthetic beauty and quality build, this battery dropped the ball on capacity.
The Anker PowerCore II 20000 is the same price as the Anker PowerCore III Sense 10K, but provides 12,300mAh of its promised 20,000mAh. This is a more respectable 61.5% of what’s expected. The battery is pretty hefty and large, but it feels very durable and has a unique texture that eliminates most smudging. Compared to its 20,000mAh counterpart, the Elecjet PowerPie Power Bank, it weighs way less and provides more mAhs.
The Aukey 8,000mAh Power Bank was a favorite among those we tested. It’s quite slim, and a little lighter than the Anker PowerCore 13000. Out of the 8,000mAh expectation, it delivered 5509mAhs, which is almost 70%. That’s impressive, made better by three functional output ports and wireless charging (a feature that didn’t end up working on our unit). But despite this battery’s promising properties, it fell short of the PowerCore 13000’s capacity at a higher price, and it didn’t charge an iPhone 11 nearly as fast.
The Elecjet PowerPie Power Bank lists the same 20,000mAh capacity as the Anker PowerCore II 20000, except it reached just 11,969mAh, or about 60% of what we expected. It also weighs more and has a less sleek design, which didn’t help it score-wise. Overall, it’s got a lot of juice to provide, but it didn’t find a place among the winners.
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A shopper wearing a protective mask looks at a television for sale inside a Costco store in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Craig Jelinek, chief executive officer of Club holding Costco (COST), said Monday he sees a more-vigilant consumer this holiday shopping season and potentially beyond. However, he also said inflation is generally trending in the right direction, a development that’s good for the U.S. economy over the long term.
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Taiwan’s government said on Saturday it would fine Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, for an unauthorized investment in a Chinese chip maker even after the Taiwanese firm said it would be selling the stake.
Qilai Shen | Corbis Historical | Getty Images
Taiwan’s government said on Saturday it would fine Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, for an unauthorized investment in a Chinese chip maker even after the Taiwanese firm said it would be selling the stake.
Taiwan has turned a wary eye on China’s ambition to boost its semiconductor industry and is tightening legislation to prevent what it says is China stealing its chip technology.
Foxconn, a major Apple Inc supplier and iPhone maker, disclosed in July it was a shareholder of embattled Chinese chip conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup.
Late Friday, Foxconn said in a filing to the Taipei stock exchange its subsidiary in China had agreed to sell its entire equity stake in Tsinghua Unigroup.
Taiwan’s Economy Ministry said in response that its investment commission, which has to approve all foreign investments, will ask Foxconn on Monday for a “complete explanation” about the investment.
“As for the fact that the investment was not declared beforehand, the amount will still be calculated in accordance with the formula and the penalty will be imposed in accordance with the law,” it said, without giving details.
Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
People familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters that Foxconn did not seek approval from the Taiwan government before the investment was made and authorities believe it violated a law governing self-ruled Taiwan’s relations with China, which claims the island as its own.
In a statement on Saturday before the economy ministry’s, Foxconn said as the year-end approached the original investment had “remained unfinalized.”
Foxconn said that Xingwei, 99% controlled by its China-listed unit Foxconn Industrial Internet Co Ltd (FII), had agreed to sell its holdings for at least 5.38 billion yuan ($772 million) to a Chinese company called Yantai Haixiu.
Xingwei controls a 48.9% stake in a different entity that holds a 20% stake in the vehicle owning all of Unigroup.
“In order to avoid uncertainties from further delays or impact to investment planning and the flexible deployment of capital, the Xingwei Fund will transfer its entire holding in Shengyue Guangzhou to Yantai Haixiu,” it said.
“After the transfer is completed, FII will no longer indirectly hold any equity in Tsinghua Unigroup.”
Tsinghua Unigroup did not respond to a request for comment.
Taiwanese law states the government can prohibit investment in China “based on the consideration of national security and industry development.” Violators of the law could be fined repeatedly until corrections are made.
Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is keen to make auto chips in particular as it expands into the electric vehicle market.
The company has been seeking to acquire chip plants globally as a worldwide chip shortage rattles producers of goods from cars to electronics.
Taipei prohibits companies from building their most advanced foundries in China to ensure they do not site their best technology offshore.
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Marlena Sloss | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff told employees in a Slack message on Friday that the company’s newest hires aren’t being productive enough, and he asked for feedback as to why that’s the case.
“Are we not building tribal knowledge with new employees without an office culture?” he asked in a message viewed by CNBC. He said he was “asking for a friend,” a phrase people often use on the internet to humorously reveal their curiosity about a topic. The message included an emoji showing a smiling face with a halo hovering over it, suggesting innocence.
Benioff’s companywide message addresses what’s become a hot-button issue in Silicon Valley. Since the arrival of Covid sent workers home almost three years ago, companies have been trying to reimagine a future workplace that allows more employee flexibility than in the past. Some businesses have allowed employees to work from anywhere permanently.
Salesforce, the biggest private employer in San Francisco, was among the first tech companies to tell its workforce they didn’t have to come back. Last year, Salesforce acquired communications app Slack, and Benioff said people can work very effectively from their homes. Salesforce said it would let teams decide how much time they would be in office.
But Benioff may be recognizing some of the challenges remote work presents. On Friday he highlighted an issue that he said was affecting employees who joined Salesforce this year and last. Salesforce’s headcount grew by 32% in the past year, and last month it cut hundreds of jobs.
A Salesforce spokesperson declined to comment on Benioff’s message but sent a statement on the company’s policy.
“We have a hybrid work environment that empowers leaders and teams to work together with purpose,” the spokesperson wrote. “They can decide when and where they come together to collaborate, innovate, and drive customer success.”
Benioff is contending with slowing revenue growth as the economy weakens, and a thinning of the upper ranks within Salesforce. Last month, the company said Bret Taylor would be stepping down from his position as co-CEO in January. He’d just been promoted to share the top job with Benioff a year earlier. And days later, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield announced his departure.
Here’s the full text of Benioff’s Slack post:
How do we increase the productivity of our employees at salesforce? New employees (hired during the pandemic in 2021 & 2022) are especially facing much lower productivity. Is this a reflection of our office policy? Are we not building tribal knowledge with new employees without an office culture? Are our managers not directly addressing productivity with their teams? Are we not investing enough time into our new employees? Do managers focus enough time and energy on onboarding new employees & achieving productivity? is coming as a new employee to salesforce too overwhelming? Asking for a friend. (Im leaving this open ended to get the broadest level of response.)
The message prompted a variety of comments.
Some reacted with an emoji stating “THIS” alongside an up arrow. Others chose emojis that read “WFH” or “citation needed.” Dozens went with a standard emoji known as thinking face.
Benioff chimed in again in the responses.
“Asking hard questions of employees (and customers and each other) for their answers is one of the most effective ways to get answers as a leader today,” he wrote. “It’s why we bought Slack because there is no better way to ask questions and crowd source answers quickly. Already today we have almost 500 replies to these questions — amazing and incredibly useful!”
He was displeased that his message found its way to the press, ultimately ending up on Twitter.
“I hope you will agree it is also disappointing that our private conversations here were almost immediately given to the public media,” he wrote. “I wonder how do we reinforce that Trust is our highest company value? How do we demonstrate the power of Trust and Transparency without an immediate public disclosure. It gets to the heart of who we are at salesforce.”
His responses were shared with CNBC.
WATCH: Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff on Bret Taylor’s departure from the company
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HONG KONG — The company that assembles Apple Inc.’s iPhones has announced it is easing COVID-19 restrictions at its largest factory in China that led thousands of workers to quit and drastically slowed production.
Foxconn Technology Group said in a statement on one of its official WeChat social media accounts that it would end the so-called “closed loop” system at the facility in Zhengzhou, central China, that required workers to stay in their workplaces and dormitories to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections.
The move announced Wednesday came about a week after China began easing harsh COVID-19 curbs despite signs the number of infections is rising.
Following a spate of protests across the country last month many “zero-COVID” restrictions were lifted. That means people no longer need to take frequent COVID-19 tests to travel on public transport. If they do test positive for the virus, they can isolate at home if they have only mild or no symptoms instead of being sent to a quarantine center.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government is still officially committed to stopping virus transmission. But the government’s latest moves suggest authorities will tolerate more infections without quarantines or shutting down travel or businesses.
Thousands of workers at the huge factory in Zhengzhou walked out in late October over complaints of unsafe working conditions — such as food shortages due to closed cafeterias — and a virus outbreak at the plant.
The last quarter of the year is typically a busy season for companies like Foxconn as they ramp up production ahead of the end of year holiday rush. Apple has warned that iPhone 14 deliveries would be delayed due to manufacturing disruptions.
Foxconn, headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan, has been trying to rebuild its workforce after the massive walkout in late October. The company then ended up apologizing after a pay dispute triggered protests by workers who said Foxconn had changed the terms of wages offered to attract them to the factory.
In its announcement, the company said it would no longer provide free meals to workers because factory cafeterias would reopen. Instead, meal expenses will be deducted from employees’ wages as usual, though workers who must quarantine after testing positive for the virus will still get free meals.
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