53 It Is! Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Plunges 45 Places From 2016-Glassdoor

If the latest Glassdoor research rankings are anything to go by, then the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO has some work cut out. According to just released Glassdoor rankings, Tim Cook, the Apple CEO has not faired very well. It is rather astonishing how the ever high-ranking executive went 45 places on the top 100.

The top honors in 2017 went to Clorox Company CEO Benno Dorer with 99% approval rating. It has always been the norm to find Tim Cook among the top 10 CEOS worldwide. According to pundits, there could be some work for Tim to do to mitigate this.

The list also saw big names like Face book’s Mark Zuckerberg continue with the plunge. The dwindling rating is a clear sign that employees have not had a good word for them in the past year.

6 Percentage points

However, even with all these, the CEO still lost only six percentage points from last year to clock 93 percent. There is hope as Glassdoor explains that they rank top CEOs from the 67% mark. What it means is that Tim Cook still performed above par.

Surprising entrants to the top list according to the research is Microsoft’s Satya Nadella who has ranked 29 in 2017 release. Satya became Microsoft CEO in 2014 and had never made it to the elite list. Another surprise absentee on the top 10 was Goggles Sundar Pichai.

In spite of inheriting the position from the high ranking Larry page who left sometime in 2015, Pichai was no match and places at slot 17 on the list.

The research Glassdoor, top CEO research, involves employees from the top companies leaving reviews on the company job site. But because there is no concrete information on the methodology by Glassdoor, it only remains to be seen why the CEO moved that swiftly down the list.

The consolation from fortune, one of the top business reporters, pointing out that many CEOs never take much note of the Glassdoor rankings. But Fortune, one of the most reliable sources indicate that this could mean a level of dislike by the employees.

The jury is out; the rest is to the public to decide.

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Vivendi’s Video Sharing Site Aims to Challenge Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and YouTube

Dailymotion, video-sharing website developed by Vivendi has announced signing a new partnership agreement with leading U.S media and music providers in a move to boost its viewership as well as improve its competitive against world leading companies, Alphabet In (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google and Facebook.

All the three agreement were signed with international news channel CNN by Time Warner, Universal Music Group owned by Vivendi and Vice Media. The website is counting on its high quality content as well as a smartphone app that is expected to be launched on July 25 to attract new viewership. In a statement, chief executive of Dailymotion Maxime Saada said the new version will be favorable to high-quality videos.  He added that this is a perfect opportunity for the company to reach out to the population aged 18 to 49, which form the largest percentage of the company’s viewership, the middle-class that is not well served by other companies offering video services.

The company employed around 100 engineers in the last twelve months to work on developing the application. The app is designed with less advertisement features. The number of employees is expected to hit 400 by the close of the year.

Two years ago, Vivendi bought around 90 percent stake in Dailymotion in a $274 million transaction. The company has invested nearly the same amount of money in developing the new Dailymotion offer, according to a source privy to the matter. The platform boasts of over 300 million new users every month globally. This is a fraction of the audience on Google’s YouTube platform which enjoys a massive audience of over a billion users which represents around one third of all people who use the internet.

For a long time, Saada and the team have been thinking on how to develop a love den-of-sorts by forming a mini-world from different types of content so as to allow easy accessibility, commenting and sharing. The team has come up with a new to create new connections instead of settling with vague content that tend to make user sift. Saada says in designing the platform, the main focus was put on music, sports and entertainment.

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64% Of U.S. Households Using Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime

For every $10 spend in the U.S doing online shopping, $4 is spend on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). This amounts to 43%. A record 80% of the total growth in online traffic is from Amazon sales.

Currently Amazon has 80 million Prime members which translate to 64% of the total U.S households. These statistics were revealed at the Internet Retailers Conference and Exhibition (IRCE) held in Chicago.

According to Internet Retail, Internet Retail, 2016 recorded faster online sales compared to three previous years. Online sales accounted for 11.7% of the total retail sales. Raise in online sales is expected to cause a drop in sales at the traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Traditional retails are concerned about the disruption and loss of business caused by online sales.

Many stores in several markets are closing down with leading retailers like Macy’s and Sears closing several of their stores. Can this situation entirely be blamed on online stores like Amazon? Apparently online retailers are part of the cause but not the only cause of the downfall of traditional retailers. The traditional retail market is currently overcrowded. The industry is currently littered with very many stores and malls. Specialized boutique stores have high chances of surviving in the highly turbulent market. However, to maximize of profitability and increase the chances of surviving in the industry, stores should maintain a vibrant online presence.

The IRCE offers a lot of lessons not only for online retailer but also for traditional retailers. The conference showcased some of the latest developments and technologies that are being applied in the retail industry. Some of these technologies include the use of Artificial Intelligence in promoting, managing and pricing inventory. An example is the Watson cognitive solution from IBM which leads retailers in three very important steps of launching an online product.

Many retailers are also adopting the concept of personalization so as to create unique experiences. The personalization is based on customers’ past history and experiences and needs. Additionally, many retailers are using Augmented Reality which allows businesses to overlay their products in form of digital data. Lastly retailers are heavily investing in content as a way of increasing of increasing their online audience.

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70M American Adults Interested In Buying Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s New HomePod

70 million American have expressed interest in buying the new HomePod smart speaker from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and which is retailing at $350. According to a new survey, 33% of the entire American population has shown interested in buying the new device.

When asked to compared Apple’s new device with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Home and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), the number dropped to just 30%. The survey was done by Morning Consult national survey and sampled 2,200 adults. According to the survey, the well-known Apple Effect is still very popular. As a common trend, Apple always takes a very short time to dominate any new market it gets in. This was the same trend shown by smartwatches, which the company currently command 55% of the entire market.

Nearly half of Apple’s current customers base i.e. those who own an iPhone, Mac or any other product from Apple are willing to buy a HomePod according to the survey. 45% of the people surveyed showed interest, although this number goes down to 40% when asked to consider other brands. According to the research however, interest does not always translate to buying.

Of all the respondents interviewed, 57% noted that price was the main factor in making buying decisions. The new HomePod by Apple will retail at between $200-$250 more expensive compared to Google’s relatively new Home and Amazon’s very successful Echo. Amazon command a significant share of the market. According to data by Morning Consult, Amazon could be the best alternative that consumer will go for in the place of Apple.

In other interesting aspects of the research, consumers gave a list of their current expectations in a smart home speaker. In a survey by Morning Consult sought to know the features which consumers consider very important when making buying decisions for a voice-controlled assistant in their homes.

57% said they consider price, 51% consider audio or speaker quality, 49% consider accuracy of the speaker’s voice recognition, 44% consider compatibility with devices they already own at home while 30% would buy basing on access to several streaming services. 29% would buy basing on the ability of the speaker to work well with other platforms or services.

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Information Leaks Reveal That Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Has Shelved Plans To Manufacture Pixel Phones

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google has abandoned its plans to release one of its upcoming Pixel phones; the Google Pixel XL 2 otherwise codenamed ‘muskie’. Information from three reliable sources has it that LG will take over the manufacturing process of Pixel XLs successor. The same has also been confirmed by Android Police’s sources thus, it ceases to be a rumor.

However, there are many speculations as to why the switch by the search giant. The delayed shipping of the original Pixel Smartphones has been picked up as one of the major issues. Nonetheless, 9To5Google has also outlined a possible investment by Google in LG for flexible OLED displays.

But the switch by Google may not be all bad news after all

The world of technology is evolving quite fast given that Google’s Pixel handsets debuted just last year. Initially, it was known that Google was working on two models; muskie and Taimen. The latter is reportedly much larger than the Pixel 2 XL and its size has been inclined to that of the 6-inch Nexus 6, codenamed Shamu. The question is, is it possible that Google was prototyping on different sizes perhaps to see which one would have been the best for the second-generation?

Apparently, the news of Google’s switch from manufacturing ‘muskie’, has been received with mixed reactions. To many, it is not bad news because they think the move will give the search giant time to work on Taimen, which is the third model of Google Pixel 2. If the latest rumor is anything to go by, then Google would be releasing Taimen in the place of Google Pixel 2 XL.

The likelihood of having two different designs on Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2

With all these mixed up information, there is a likelihood of ending up with two different designs of the said devices. On the other hand, it is worth noting that for some time now LG has been seeking to obtain a production contract for Google Pixel 3. Meanwhile, all the information remains a speculation because Google could change its position. In the meantime, Alphabets stock closed at $967.93 a fall of $2.57 or 0.26%.

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Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) Reports Impressive PlayStation 4 Sales With More Than 60.4 Million Units Sold

Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) has announced its sales numbers for its PlayStation 4 sole, revealing that it sold an impressive 60.4 million units globally as of June 11 this year.

Sony introduced the PlayStation 4 in November 2013 as its iteration for the next generation console but last year it introduced two new versions of the console, namely the PS4 Slim which is a refreshed version and the PS4 Pro which is significantly more powerful. The introduction of the two upgraded versions played a key role in pushing the sales margins, though the original PS4 did very well in terms of sales.

Sony owes part of the success to game developers

Of course Sony would not have achieved the massive success without support from game developers. More than 487.8 million PS4 game titles have been sold globally since the launch of the PS4 platform in 2013. The number of titles sold accounts for both physical discs as well as the games sold digitally. The company also revealed that “Horizon: Zero Dawn” was one of the most purchased titles among others.

“We are very grateful for our fans and partners around the globe who have continued to support PS4.The PS4 platform is in its prime, with the industry’s best lineup of exclusive and partner titles slated to release this year, taking full advantage of the power of the PS4 system,” stated Andrew House, the president of Sony’s PlayStation division.

PlayStation’s online services have also been a growth pillar for the company and it reported that there were 26.4 million paying PS Plus subscribers by the end of March. And an overall 70 million active users gaming on the PS4 consoles. Sony also reported that users spend about 600 million hours gaming on the consoles per week.

The company plans to widen its scope and take the PS4 platform to even greater heights by tapping into virtual reality as well as enhancing its network services. Sony revealed the details through its E3 conference which was held yesterday along with the announcement of the latest and upcoming gaming titles.

Sony stock closed the latest trading session on Monday at $36.95.

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General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) Pushes Up Nationwide Release of Bolt EV as Tesla Model 3 Deliveries Approach

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) has moved the release of its Bolt electric car to August as opposed to September that has earlier been proposed. The move is seen as a way of countering Tesla’s plan to start shipping the rival Model 3 vehicle this summer.

Tesla is expected to roll out the first Model 3in July. The company currently has around 400,000 reservations hence may not be in a position to honor any new order up mid-2018.  This implies that General Motors’ Bolt is likely to benefit from the extra unmet demand. The two vehicles are prices at around $35,000and have a range of over 200 miles.

According to a GM representative, the launch was rescheduled because the company was ahead of schedule in training staff and inventory for the new vehicles. GM first launched The Bolt in Oregon and California in December last year. The company later extended the electric vehicles to an additional six states in April this year.

Even in the few markets that the company has launched the pilot project, the demand for the electric vehicles has been above supply. While commenting on GM’s decision, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to highlight the irony. He said that he was inspired by GM’s move to call off the launch of electric vehicles in 2002.

The Bolt is in the question of EV-1. The company recalled the cars because they were not sold outright but rather leased out. A 2006 documentary called Who Killed the Electric Car? highlights the reasons that led to the recall of the vehicles.

Although it was technologically groundbreaking, the EV-1 was largely viewed as unprofitable. Additionally, it met a lot of resistance from environmentalists. Tesla’s success has however revealed that GM made a big mistake in giving up on the new technology.

General Motors produced over 1,000 Ev-1s in a period of five years. However the company has sold around the same amount per month in the few limited markets it has tried out the vehicles. The market for electric vehicles has grown exponentially with studies indicating that the demand may go up to 740,000 annually by 2024.

General Motor stock opened the Monday session at a +0.67% of $+0.23 raise to trade at $34.34. a total of 32 million shares were traded.

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