4 Min Read
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU regulators accused Apple on Friday of distorting competition in the music streaming market, siding with Spotify in a case that could lead to a hefty fine and changes in the iPhone maker’s lucrative business practices.
The preliminary findings are the first time Brussels has levelled anti-competitive charges against Apple, although the two sides have had bruising clashes in the past, most notably a multibillion-dollar tax dispute involving Ireland.
Apple, Spotify and other parties can now respond. If the case is pursued, the EU could demand concessions and potentially impose a fine of up to 10% of Apple’s global turnover - as much as $27 billion, although it rarely levies the maximum penalty.
By Reuters Staff
(Updates with CEO comments on outlook, sectors, India)
April 29 (Reuters) - French consulting and IT services provider Capgemini said on Thursday its 2021 revenue growth should exceed the mid-point of its target range after stronger than anticipated first quarter growth driven by its data and cloud business.
Those services, which now account for two thirds of the group’s activity, have kept growing at a double-digit rate as more companies go digital because of the pandemic, Chief Executive Aiman Ezzat told reporters.
“Our clients’ demand in terms of digital transformation continues to accelerate,” he said.
The momentum should carry into the second quarter, Ezzat said, although overall growth was weighed down by the aerospace sector, which has been reeling from the collapse in air travel caused by the pandemic.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Germany s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin (Bundesanstalt fuer Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) is pictured outside an office building of the BaFin in Bonn, Germany, April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s financial regulator BaFin warned that Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, risked being fined for offering security-tracking tokens without first publishing an investor prospectus.
On Monday, Binance said it would offer tokens denominated in the exchange’s own cryptocurrency giving investors exposure to MicroStrategy Inc, Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc.
These joined tokens representing Tesla Inc and Coinbase Global Inc that are already trading.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds details, quote)
HELSINKI, April 29 (Reuters) - Nordic IT services provider Tietoevry on Thursday posted a smaller-than-expected gain in its first-quarter operating profit, hit by declining profits at its largest unit, while it maintained its full-year outlook.
The company, which finalised the acquisition of Norway’s Evry in December of 2019, said its operating profit rose to 56.7 million euros ($68.78 million) from 50 million a year ago, missing the mean estimate of 69.7 million euros according to Refinitiv data.
Tieto repeated its forecast for 2021 sales to be roughly flat, while margin for operating profit before amortisation (EBITA) would improve to 13%-14% from 12.7% last year.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: A Huawei logo is seen at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, China February 23, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, once the world’s biggest smartphone maker, saw its phone shipments to retailers and other sellers within China plunge by half in the first quarter, as U.S. sanctions on its supply chain crimped expansion even as the overall smartphone market rebounded.
The company shipped a total of 14.9 million handsets within China in the quarter ending in March, down from 30.1 million in the same period last year, according to research firm Canalys.