Technology Roundup – Apple launches first online store in India, TikTok files for injunction against Trump administration ban

科技精选——苹果在印度开设了第一家在线商店;TikTok向美国法院申请禁制令,要求叫停特朗普禁令
Published on: Sep 24, 2020
Author: Amy Liu

Apple launches first online store in India

The launch marks a new chapter in Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) business in India, where about 99% of the market is dominated by Android.

Nearly the entire Apple lineup, including new products announced last week, will be offered directly to customers for the first time (users had to previously buy items from Amazon India, Flipkart or authorized franchises).

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India is becoming increasingly important for Apple. In recent years, the tech giant has started manufacturing some of its devices in the country – Foxconn began building the iPhone 11 near Chennai in July, while the company has made other iPhone models in India since as early as 2017.

Why Apple Is A Stock To Own, Not To Trade, writes D.M. Martins Research in a new SA article, saying it has been historically hard to achieve success doing the latter.

TikTok files for injunction against Trump administration ban – reports

TikTok (BDNCE) is keeping up its legal options, filing for a preliminary injunction against the ban on its U.S. operations.

The company is requesting a judge’s decision on the injunction by Sunday night, aiming to head off a block on new downloads of the app and software updates.

Meanwhile, while Attorney General William Barr has been skeptical of approving Oracle’s (ORCL -2.3%) deal for TikTok on national security concerns, he is still in the fact gathering stage, Fox Business reports, and he hasn’t yet made a final recommendation to President Trump on the deal.

That’s despite Trump saying he approves the deal “in concept,” news that kicked off some days of confusion about the planned ownership structure for the social-media company.

Mobileye makes deal to bring robo-taxis to Dubai

Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) Mobileye is teaming up with UAE’s Al Habtoor Group  for a robo-taxi fleet that could launch by the end of 2022.

Mobileye has agreements to deploy its autonomous vehicle tech in cities in France, Israel, Japan, and South Korea. Dubai now joins that list.

The JV will start by outfitting 1,000 vehicles with Mobileye’s tech to map out the city and collect data.

Testing will start next year, a pilot program should launch by the end of 2022, and commercial service could be available in 2023.

The deal follows last week’s historical accord between Israel and the UAE, but the companies had reportedly been in talks for months.

Intel acquired Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3B.

Micron gains on Cleveland Research upgrade as memory pricing improves

Expecting NAND and DRAM pricing to bottom in H1 2021, Cleveland Research analyst Chandler Converse upgrades Micron (NASDAQ:MU) from Neutral to Buy.

Converse’s checks suggest a DRAM/NAND pricing turn in Q2, and he expects Micron to beat expectations in H2 2021.

The analyst sees a “strong setup” for Micron heading into FY22 and the supply/demand balance improves.

Micron shares are up 2.3% to $50.82.

Western Digital upgraded as analyst sees spin-off potential

Yesterday, Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) announced separating its Flash and HDD businesses into separate product units and named an industry vet as Flash’s new GM.

Craig-Hallum analyst Christian Schwab upgrades Western Digital from Hold to Buy, seeing the move as the first signs of potentially spinning off one of the units in the future.

Schwab increases Western Digital’s price target from $44 to $62.

Western Digital shares are up 4.5% pre-market to $38.11. HDD peer Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) is up 0.8% and Flash peer Micron (NASDAQ:MU) is up 2.6%.

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