Protests break out at an iPhone factory in China, U.S. senate to hold a hearing to discuss the lack of competition in the ticketing industry, and HP plans to lay off a significant portion of employees.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Thursday, November 24th and I’m your host, Ashee Pamma.
Video footage widely circulated of hundreds of Foxconn workers marching in protest, clashing with police and some being confronted by people in hazmat suits. On Tuesday, a protest erupted after employees who had traveled long distances to take jobs at the factory complained that the company changed the terms of their pay, according to one employee. According to MacRumours, some videos captured workers complaining about the food they had been provided, with others protesting that they had not been paid bonuses as promised. The plant is Foxconn’s largest iPhone factory with around 200,000 workers. Foxconn is responsible for assembling around 70 percent of the iPhones that Apple sells, and it has been struggling to keep employees on site due to COVID lockdowns. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, AP News said.
A U.S. Senate antitrust panel will hold a hearing to discuss the lack of competition in the ticketing industry following the chaos that erupted on Ticketmaster’s website during the sale of Taylor Swift tickets, Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the panel said. According to Euro News, In a statement, Ticketmaster denied any anti-competitive practices and said it remained under a consent decree with the Justice Department following a 2010 merger, adding that there was no evidence of systemic violations. However, Klobuchar said that the high fees and disruptions to the site show how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face pressures to improve. Ticketmaster had previously blamed presale problems for Swift’s Eras tour, the pop superstar’s first tour in five years, on unprecedented demand and an effort to keep out bots run by ticket scalpers.
Computer maker HP said it plans to cut 4,000 to 6,000 employees over the next three years. According to CNBC, HP is the latest technology company to announce its plan to get through current economic challenges. HP is attempting to manage a decline in its computer sales. In a statement, HP said its “Future Ready Transformation plan” should result in annualized gross run rate savings of $1.4 billion or more over the next few years, with around $1 billion in costs including restructuring. From the $1 billion, $600 million will come in the fiscal 2023 fiscal year, which ends Oct. 31, 2023. The rest will split between the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. Following the announcement, shares rose one per cent in extended trading.
Amazon is planning to spend $1 billion a year on theatrical film releases. According to Bloomnerg, the company said it is aiming to make 12 to 15 movies for movie theaters each. A smaller number of films will be produced in 2023 as Amazon builds up its output. Following this announcement, Cinemark jumped 11 per cent, IMAX increased by seven per cent and AMC saw a five per cent increase. Amazon has focused on its entertainment section and original content over the years with its Prime Video platform. The company spent $13 billion on content for its video and music streaming services last year, up from $11 billion in 2020.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Ashee Pamma.