Month: July 2017

Microsoft to Ax 3,000 Employees

CompuScoop Staff July 6, 2017 1

“Microsoft announced a major reorganization on Wednesday that will include thousands of layoffs, largely in sales,” Todd Haselton and Jon Fortt report for CNBC. “Reports from last week suggested this was going to happen and that Microsoft was going to specifically focus on how it sells its cloud-services product, Azure.”

“While Amazon has become a bigger competitor in the space, Microsoft’s restructuring is to pivot to software as a service, platform as a service and infrastructure,” Haselton and Fortt report. “‘Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners,’ a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC. ‘Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated.'”

Read more in the full article here.

QVC buying retail rival HSN for $2.1 Billion

CompuScoop Staff July 6, 2017 0

QVC is buying its long time rival HSN for a whopping $2.1 billion in stock trades.

NPR.COM - QVC's parent company, Liberty Interactive, already owns a big chunk of the Home Shopping Network — 38 percent of its stock. Now it intends to purchase the remaining stake, closing the deal in the fourth quarter of the year, according to a company statement.

The deal involves stock trades, not cash: Investors in HSN would receive 1.65 shares of QVC stock for each share of HSN stock.

"Both companies, QVC and Home Shopping Network, have seen their sales decline as the retail landscape shifts as more consumers buy more products online," Yuki reports. "Combined, the companies will operate five networks in the U.S., and will control home furnishing brands such as Ballard Designs, Frontgate and QVC's online clothing seller Zulily.

"The companies also intend to invest in e-commerce and mobile operations," Yuki says.

In recent years, media outlets like The Washington Post and Fast Company reported that QVC has "quietly" and "gracefully" mastered the transition from land lines to smartphones by making it easier for viewers to buy products on their devices. Last summer, Business Insider noted that mobile purchases were making up a majority of QVC's e-commerce orders.

QVC revenues were $8.7 billion last year, CNN Money reports; HSN had $3.5 billion in sales.

Apple Park boosting local economy

CompuScoop Staff July 5, 2017 2

The construction of Apple's new headquarters is helping improve the fortunes of those living close to the Cupertino campus, including increases in development projects, attempts by businesses to anticipate the influx of Apple employees to the area, and increased real estate prices as some of the benefits stemming from Apple Park's creation.

To read the rest of the AppleInsider.com article, click here.