Apple, Samsung push phone leasing as upgrade cycles lengthen
Apple launched a Klarna-backed leasing plan and Samsung expanded a buyback program in India as rising prices push consumers to keep phones longer.
Monday, August 3, 2026
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Apple launched a Klarna-backed leasing plan and Samsung expanded a buyback program in India as rising prices push consumers to keep phones longer.
TechCrunch and Hudson Labs found GM and Ford now discuss EVs on earnings calls far less than before the pandemic, as both scale back EV plans.
Tesla is reportedly considering separating, selling, or closing its China business to help clear the way for a merger with SpaceX, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Apple nearly doubled its inventory to $11.1 billion as it braces for "significant supply constraints" from a worsening global memory shortage that outgoing CEO Tim Cook called "a hundred-year flood" on pricing.
Situational Awareness, the AI-focused hedge fund founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, sold most of its public stock portfolio to Ken Griffin's Citadel after steep losses, but held onto its private stakes, including one in Anthropic now valued at $5 billion.
Reddit's second-quarter revenue jumped 61% to $805 million and beat Wall Street's expectations, but shares slid over 10% in after-hours trading after CEO Steve Huffman warned that search-engine traffic had turned "choppy."
Apple's services revenue missed Wall Street's estimate for the quarter, and the company pointed to a slowdown in mobile gaming and App Store payment-model changes as key drags even as total subscriptions topped 1.5 billion.
Tesla says it has built its 10 millionth electric vehicle, a milestone reached six years after its one millionth car and one that puts the company halfway toward a production goal tied to CEO Elon Musk's $1 trillion pay package.
New developments at the fusion startup, including the hire of a CFO who helped take Moderna public, suggest Commonwealth Fusion Systems might go public within two or three years.
Coming off a $90 billion quarter, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella used the company's earnings call to push enterprises toward multiple AI models instead of leaning on OpenAI or Anthropic alone.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors he expects billions of people to have a personal AI agent working on their behalf within five years, even as Meta's stock dropped nearly 10% on the back of this quarter's earnings.
Microsoft recorded a $3.2 billion gain on its Anthropic investment this quarter, adding 33 cents to earnings per share, while marking down its OpenAI investment by about $600 million.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors the company's enterprise AI opportunity spans APIs, business agents, and potentially selling compute directly, extending well past the customer-service agent Meta launched in June.
Ferrari's first EV, the Luce, hit its 2026 sales target in just two months, according to a report by the Financial Times, despite harsh online criticism and an 8% stock drop after its reveal.
Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud bought a 5% stake in Lucid Motors, just over 19 million shares, while its market cap was below $2 billion.
PayPal signaled it could still accept a takeover after beating Q2 earnings expectations, but suggested Stripe and Advent International's $60.50-per-share offer undervalues the company.
Apple launched an Upgrade leasing program with Klarna that lets US customers pay for iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad through monthly installments starting at $11.99.
Waymo is reportedly looking to exit its Uber partnership in Austin and Atlanta, telling Uber it plans to offer robotaxis on its own app starting January 2028.
Patreon is laying off 93 employees, 20% of its workforce, as CEO Jack Conte cites the need to adjust the company's cost structure rather than a shift toward replacing staff with AI.
Tesla's paid Robotaxi rides covered roughly 700,000 miles in the second quarter, down about 36% from roughly 1.1 million in the first quarter.