14 Feb, 2022
Cisco offers to acquire Splunk; Apple raises US retail workers' pay
TOP NEWS
* Cisco Systems Inc. submitted an offer to acquire software company Splunk Inc. for more than $20 billion but the companies are not in active negotiations, Dow Jones Newswire reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Cisco has an existing data-security partnership with Splunk, which develops software for monitoring and analyzing data.
* Apple Inc. internally announced pay raises in the range of 2% to 10% for salespeople, technical support staff and senior hourly employees at several U.S. retail stores who have been with the company before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The salary hikes are separate from Apple's regular annual increases that usually take place in October.
➤ MarketWeek: Tech market volatility could resolve midyear after stormy January
After many months of soaring technology valuations, investors are weighing inflation and interest rate hikes and cycling out of growth companies, but those dynamics could stabilize in the second half.
➤ Economics of TV & Film: KBOX Week 6: Knoxville and company boost weekly box office
The debut of "Jackass Forever," the sixth film in the franchise, boosted weekly box office up by 42.7% from $49.7 million in week five to $70.9 million in week six.
➤ Telemundo aims to set Spanish-language, Super Bowl audience record
Telemundo Deportes President Ray Warren expects the broadcaster to easily exceed the previous Spanish language Super Bowl viewership mark set by cable network FOX Deportes in 2020.
TECHNOLOGY
* Amazon.com Inc. and Spotify Technology SA are weighing separate bids to acquire U.K.-based podcast company Audioboom Group PLC, Sky News reported, citing city sources. The two companies may decide on submitting formal offers as soon as this month, with Amazon reportedly working with J.P. Morgan for its potential bid.
* Intel Corp. plans to ship this year a chip for blockchain applications, called blockchain accelerator, with fintech company Block Inc. and bitcoin mining companies Argo Blockchain PLC and Griid Infrastructure LLC among the product's first customers. Intel said its efforts for blockchain technologies will be focused on sustainability and energy efficiency.
* The global semiconductor industry sold a record 1.15 trillion semiconductor units totaling $555.9 billion in 2021, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. The industry's total sales in 2020 were $440.4 billion.
* The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a warning to U.S. organizations regarding potential Russian cyberattacks amid tensions between Ukraine and Russia. The agency said it has not detected specific credible threats to the U.S.
* The White House called on the U.S. chip industry to find alternative sources for certain chip-making materials in preparation for supply chain disruptions caused by Russian retaliation against threatened export curbs, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
* The San Francisco 49ers were the target of a ransomware attack that allowed cybercriminals from a group called BlackByte to steal an unspecified amount of the football team's financial data, The Associated Press reported. The cybercriminals posted some of the stolen data on the dark web but did not make any public ransom demands.
INTERNET AND OTT
* Meta Platforms Inc. will hold an all-hands meeting Feb. 15 to provide more details about how it plans to build the metaverse, The Information reported, citing two current employees and an internal announcement by Instagram LLC COO Justin Osofsky. The meeting will reportedly cover both product and cultural aspects of the company's metaverse plan.
* GoDaddy Inc.'s board approved a three-year, $3 billion share repurchase program for its Class A common stock, Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing an announcement during the company's investor day. Under the program, GoDaddy plans to launch a $750 million accelerated share buyback in the first quarter.
FILM AND TV
* TEGNA Inc. and Mediacom Communications Corp. reached a new carriage deal to restore Mediacom subscribers' access to TEGNA's stations. The agreement includes consent for retransmission of 12 TEGNA-owned stations.
* Cinema advertising network National CineMedia Inc. entered into a partnership with RAD AI Inc. to drive distribution of advertisers' messages on select social influencer networks by leveraging machine learning.
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