Business

Feb

07

2022

Amazon to Raise Price of Prime Membership

BusinessAmazon, Business

BY ALEX WEPRIN | HollywoodReporter.ComTroy Warren for CNT #BusinessThe price of an annual Amazon Prime membership will jump to $139 in the coming weeks.As part of its fourth-quarter earnings report, Amazon announced that it would raise the price of Amazon Prime memberships for the first time in four years, citing investment in the company’s entertainment offerings, and its exclusive deal with the NFL to stream Thursday Night Football beginning next season, as among the reasons for the price hike.The company said that the price of its annual membership will rise by $20 to $139, while monthly memberships will rise by…

Feb

06

2022

By Troy Warren

GameStop partners with blockchain startup for its NFT marketplace

Business, NFTBusiness, GameStop, NFT

Carrie Mihalcik | CNET.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Business #NFT The marketplace is expected to launch later this year. GameStop confirmed Thursday that it plans to launch an NFT marketplace, saying it's partnered with blockchain startup Immutable X to develop the project. The NFT marketplace is expected to launch later this year, GameStop said in a release. An NFT, or nonfungible token, is a blockchain-based technology used to determine ownership of unique digital or physical items such as art, music or even a tweet. NFTs began popping up everywhere in 2021, from the NFL to Twitter to Variety, and have…

Feb

05

2022

By Troy Warren

UPS profit soared above $10B in ’21, sales to top $100B in ’22

BusinessBusiness, UPS

By Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionTroy Warren for CNT #BusinessUPS said its profit grew nearly ten-fold in 2021 and that revenue should top $100 billion this year, propelled by e-commerce growth and higher shipping rates.2020 was a challenging year that required the shipping giant to rapidly adjust to a surge in online shopping at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for vaccine shipments. 2021 brought an economic rebound driving so much global traffic that it is clogging supply chains.“The external environment is challenging due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, labor tightness, upstream supply chain jams and…

Feb

04

2022

By Troy Warren

Snap Reaches 319M Daily Active Users While Revenue Hits $1.3B

Business, DigitalBusiness, Digital, SnapChat

BY J. CLARA CHAN | HollywoodReporter.ComTroy Warren for CNT #Digital #BusinessThe parent company of Snapchat bounced back after an earnings miss last quarter.Snap reported $1.3 billion in revenue during Q4 to close out 2021, with daily active users reaching 319 million.The parent company of Snapchat forecast it would reach $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, while Wall Street analysts predicted revenue would reach $1.2 billion, according to Yahoo Finance. Last quarter, Snap missed the high end of its earnings projections by $3 million, which Snap CEO Evan Spiegel attributed to privacy changes on Apple’s iOS platform,…

Feb

03

2022

By Troy Warren

Home Depot to hire 100,000 this spring

BusinessBusiness, HomeDepot

By Michael E. Kanell, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionTroy Warren for CNT #BusinessOver the next three months, Home Depot will hire more than 100,000 workers nationally, including more than 6,400 people in metro Atlanta, company officials said Tuesday.A burst of hiring is a spring routine for the huge company, as do-it-yourselfers and professional contractors start new projects. But the surge will be 20% higher than normal because of dramatic growth during the pandemic in both online and in-store sales, Eric Schelling, vice president of global talent acquisition, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.“It is the consumer demand that is driving our hiring counts,” he…

Jan

30

2022

By Troy Warren

‘GameStop: Rise of the Players’ Is the Underdog Doc of 2022

Business, Entertainment, GamingBusiness, Entertainment, GameStop, Gaming

BY AARON COUCH | HollywoodReporter.ComTroy Warren for CNT #Entertainment #Gaming #BusinessDirector Jonah Tulis and producer Blake J. Harris reveal how their documentary, produced on a tight timeline, managed to beat competing Hollywood projects to the punch.For documentary filmmaker Jonah Tulis, stepping into the world of GameStop was all about timing.In January 2021, the video game retailer became a global news story when its once-moribund stock skyrocketed to unprecedented heights. Ordinary investors, organized on the internet, had outsmarted Wall Street hedge funds and were being rewarded handsomely. Bucking conventional wisdom, these friends — gathering on YouTube and Reddit — poured their…

Jan

29

2022

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By Troy Warren

Home Depot: Decker to replace Menear as CEO in March

BusinessBusiness

By Michael E. Kanell, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionTroy Warren for CNT #BusinessHome Depot said Thursday that Edward (Ted) Decker will become chief executive on March 1, succeeding Craig Menear.Decker, 58, has been president and chief operating officer of the giant retailer since October of 2020. He has been with the Georgia-based company since 2000.Menear, 64, has been CEO since 2014. Menear is also chairman of the board and will retain that role, the company said.In a statement, Menear said Decker’s “ability to blend the art and science of retail is exactly what is needed in the next phase of growth for…

Jan

28

2022

0 Comments

By Troy Warren

Apple Services Brings in $19.5B Amid Total Earnings Blowout

BusinessApple, Business

BY J. CLARA CHAN | HollywoodReporter.ComTroy Warren for CNT #BusinessThe tech giant reported a total of $123.9 billion in revenue, while Wall Street analysts expected the Tim Cook–led company to make $118.3 billion.Apple services reported $19.5 billion in revenue as the tech giant reported a total earnings win, raking in $123.9 billion in sales during the first fiscal quarter of 2022.Wall Street analysts had expected the tech giant to make $118.3 billion in revenue, according to Yahoo Finance, but Apple ended 2021 with an even higher performance, in part thanks to the holiday season. iPhone purchases accounted for a large…

Jan

27

2022

0 Comments

By Troy Warren

Bob Iger: COVID Dealt Movie Theaters a “Severe Injury That Maybe Doesn’t Heal”

Business, Entertainment, NFTBusiness, Entertainment, NFT

BY ALEX WEPRIN | HollywoodReporter.ComTroy Warren for CNT #Entertainment #Business #NFTIn his first post-Disney interview, Iger also discussed the rise of streaming, his thoughts on the "metaverse" and why data should never be the deciding factor in create decision-making.Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, in his first interview since stepping away as executive chairman of the company, discussed the fate of movie theaters, competing with Netflix and yes, the metaverse, in a conversation with The New York Times’ Kara Swisher.“Because I am not working for Disney I am liberated, I can say anything about anybody,” Iger joked during the conversation, adding…

Jan

26

2022

0 Comments

By Troy Warren

Will Hollywood’s Streaming Ambition Lead to Big Gaming Buys?

Business, Entertainment, Gaming, NFTBusiness, Entertainment, Gaming, NFT

BY GEORG SZALAI | HollywoodReporter.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Entertainment #Business #Gaming #NFT As Microsoft snaps up Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion to shore up its streaming platform, and Netflix also enters the sector, Sony — or even Disney — may be next to strike a deal. In May 2016, Disney sent shock waves through the video game sector when it ended its stint as a publisher of console titles to, it said, “transition exclusively to a licensing model.” It later replicated that move in the mobile games space and let outside studios create projects built on its intellectual property…

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