The landscape for IPOs this year has evolved and "it seems like the investors right now are clamoring for anything tech-ish,” says Maureen Farrell, reporter at the Wall Street Journal. The smart speaker company filed for a $100 million IPO on the NASDAQ.
Business, tech and finance headlines exclusively for Hulu subscribers from Cheddar. Today's highlights include Amazon, bitcoin prices and net neutrality.
The U.S. tariffs on Chinese products that kicked in on Friday are specifically targeted at high-tech goods, an attempt to crack down on alleged intellectual property theft. But they could end up raising the cost of products like e-cigarettes, e-bikes, and smart home devices that are overwhelmingly used by millennials, says Axios reporter Erica Pandey.
Qualcomm shares are rising after reports that Apple is dropping chipmaker Intel. By 2020, Apple will stop using Intel's 5G modems in its new iPhones. This comes as Qualcomm is looking to dominate the 5G market.
The smart home speaker company filed for its public offering on Friday. Sonos is looking to list on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "SONO." Cheddar's Kristen Scholer and Nora Ali give us the latest.
The retail giant's fourth annual Prime Day begins July 16 and will last 36 hours, making it the longest one to date. But the company may have an ulterior motive for the low prices, says Matt Swider, senior mobile and buying guides editor at Tech Radar. "They're trying to install their products...into your home so they have you for life. It's a really ingenious, supervillian-type idea by Jeff Bezos," he tells Cheddar.
With Instagram offering more ways to shop, experts are comparing the experience to a mall. "You're browsing when you're on Instagram," says Richard Greenfield, media & tech analyst at BTIG. "It's a very different mode than the mode you're in when you're on Amazon."
The cryptocurrency was on the rise Thursday, but experts are skeptical about how long it will last. "We're not going to blast past 10k," said Jonny Dubowsky, cyberneticist and chief technical officer at My Personal Therapeutics.
The company behind XRP, the third highest cryptocurrency by market cap, wants the digital asset to become more than just an investment for consumers and that's been difficult partly because of the confusion around the technology. But Ripple's Chief Market Strategist Cory Johnson says consumers don't need to understand the technology to use it. "Do you actually know what happens when you send a text message and throw some emojis onto it?"
Singapore's competition watchdog is proposing fines on Uber and Grab, saying the recent merger between the two companies stifles competition. The Competition and Consumer Commission, or CCCS, even suggested unwinding the deal between Uber and Grab. Last March, Uber sold its Southeast Asia business to ride-hailing rival, Grab.
Amazon is reportedly planning to roll out a holiday catalog later this year. The catalog would be mailed out to millions of U.S. households and would also be available to customers at Whole Foods locations across the country. The e-commerce giant is looking to attract holiday shoppers from Toys R Us after the toy chain shuttered all U.S. stores.
