Huawei, the tech behemoth that has become a flashpoint in the Washington-Beijing rivalry, claims it is “back on track” with a solid 2023.

The Shenzhen-based company said Friday that it expects to generate more than 700 billion yuan ($99 billion) in sales in 2023, thanks in part to a stronger-than-expected performance in its electronics division. This represents a 9% increase over the 642.3 billion yuan ($92.4 billion) reported in 2022.

It is, however, less than the about $123 billion Huawei recorded in 2019.

“After years of hard work, we’ve weathered the storm.” “And now we’re pretty much back on track,” said Ken Hu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, in a year-end letter to staff.

The strong performance follows the August launch of Mate 60 Pro smartphone, which stunned industry experts who questioned how the company could have the technology to make such an advanced device in the face of sweeping US efforts to restrict China’s access to foreign chips.

Huawei Was Once Fighting For Its Survival.

According to Counterpoint Research, users have enthusiastically received the smartphone, allowing Huawei to wrest market share from Apple (AAPL) in China.

As of the end of September, The company ranked fifth in the Chinese market, increasing its share from 10% in the first quarter to 14% in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Apple’s share of the pie shrank from 20% to 15% within the same period.

The results of Huawei’s device business “surpassed expectations,” Hu stated in his memo without providing further information.

The Chinese company was once the world’s second-largest seller of smartphones, but it has since dropped out due to punishing US sanctions that have hampered its ability to purchase essential components for its products.

Huawei Was Once Fighting For Its Survival.

Policymakers in the United States have long claimed that Huawei posed a national security concern, claiming that the Chinese government may exploit the company’s technology to eavesdrop. The corporation has frequently refuted the charges and attempted to rehabilitate its image in Washington.

Huawei, on the other hand, has begun to recover this year.

In March, the business declared that it was “out of crisis mode,” and that it was making headway in finding replacements for the components that US sanctions had cut off.

According to Counterpoint analysts in a November research, the company will likely maintain its success in the coming year if it can grow production of handsets powered by Kirin chips, which are recognized inside the Mate 60 Pro.

According to analysts, the business unveiled new smartphones under Nova, its mid-range portfolio, on Tuesday, which are expected to gain appeal due to their relative price.

Huawei Was Once Fighting For Its Survival.

The upbeat forecast contrasts with comments made just last year by a Huawei executive, who stated that the company’s “fight to survive is not over yet.”

“Hard work has enabled us to survive and grow, but we still face significant challenges,” Hu wrote in his memo on Friday.

He noted that “geopolitical and economic uncertainties abound, while technology restrictions and trade barriers continue to have an impact on the world.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

Threads, Meta’s social media app, launched in the European Union five months after it was released elsewhere.

It splashed as a challenger to Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter.
However, it was not made available in the EU, which has rigorous data and big tech regulations.

Meta hopes it will increase interest in the platform, which gained more than 100 million users in its first week before dropping.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, confirmed the announcement in a post on Threads, greeting new users from around Europe.
According to a Meta spokeswoman, the platform has seen “significant improvements” since its rollout in other nations in July.

The absence of important capabilities, such as a website and search capability, contributed to the waning of initial consumer interest.

Meta’s rival to Elon Musk’s X launches in EU

“Starting today, people in the EU can choose to create a Threads profile that is connected to their Instagram account – which means they get the same experience as everyone else around the world – or use Threads without a profile,” according to the announcement.

Threads had lost half of its members just three weeks after its inception, according to Mr Zuckerberg.

The addition of new features has helped it reclaim the majority of them, but Threads remains less popular than X and has far fewer users than TikTok or other Meta platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

Meta has yet to publicly state why Threads’ launch in the EU has been delayed, although it is widely assumed that it is due to the EU’s stringent rules.

In July, a Meta spokeswoman informed The Verge that it was due to “upcoming regulatory uncertainty.”
The EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes new responsibilities on large technology businesses, was enacted in August.

Threads: Meta’s rival to Elon Musk’s X launches in EU

They are intended to protect users on huge social networks, including regulations on advertising to children, and demand corporations be more transparent with authorities about their algorithms.

Threads request permission to access a wide range of data on your device, including location information, transactions, and browser history.

Whether the being determined has undergone major improvements to comply with EU legislation is still unknown.

However, in October, Meta announced that subscription services would be introduced across most of Europe, removing advertisements from its platforms in response to EU concerns.

It comes after Meta was fined €390 million (£335 million) in January for violating EU data laws regarding advertisements.

The subscription model is only available to EU, European Economic Area, and Switzerland residents and is not available in the United Kingdom.

SOURCE – BBC

GTA 6 ANNOUNCEMENT: Will the Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer smash viewing records? Given the huge interest even now, 24 hours before it’s scheduled to go live, it appears feasible.

Rockstar Games has released a video premiere for “Trailer 1” on YouTube, which includes a countdown to the game’s release on December 5 at 6 a.m. Pacific / 9 a.m. Eastern / 2 p.m. UK.

However, astute watchers observed the GTA 6 Trailer 1 length was released to expose a YouTube flaw. View the mobile video preview while unsubscribing from the Rockstar Games channel using the YouTube app’s search. Notice the “upcoming” tag on the bottom right; the runtime should appear over it.

There might be some spoilers ahead!

Tens Of Thousands Of People Are Already Waiting To Watch The GTA 6 Trailer

The GTA 6 Trailer 1 lasts one minute and 31 seconds. That should give you plenty of time to look at the game. We’ll even get a release date and platform information.

Surprisingly, tens of thousands have already lined up to watch Trailer 1. At the time of writing, about 24 hours before launch, 43,172 individuals were waiting to witness what could be the largest video game trailer of all time.

If you want to join in on the fun, roughly 2,000 people are watching IGN’s own GTA 6 trailer countdown and actively chatting right now.

When Rockstar announced a December release date for the GTA 6 trailer in November, it added, “We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto.” We look forward to sharing these experiences with you all for many years.

“We have had the opportunity to create games we are truly passionate about thanks to the incredible support of our players worldwide — none of this would be possible without you, and we are so grateful to all of you for sharing this journey with us.”

Tens Of Thousands Of People Are Already Waiting To Watch The GTA 6 Trailer

“In 1998, Rockstar Games was founded on the idea that video games could come to be as essential to culture as any other form of entertainment, and we hope that we have created games you love in our efforts to be part of that evolution.”With anticipation at an all-time high, IGN reports that Rockstar appears to have revealed the GTA 6 Trailer 1 release date on a GTA Online T-shirt sold nearly a year ago.

GTA 6 has been rumored since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5 a little more than a decade ago. It was mentioned in passing in a 2020 Kotaku article on Rockstar’s efforts to combat crunch culture at the company, and it was confirmed in a press release in 2022, with the studio stating that development was “well underway.” Later that year, in-development footage from the game was leaked in a large breach, leading to the arrest of a British teenage hacker in connection with the crime.

Since early in 2023, when publisher Take-Two Interactive expected large financial gains in that fiscal year that would be difficult to achieve without the boost from the enormously profitable series, a release window between April 2024 and March 2025 has been speculated.

Tens Of Thousands Of People Are Already Waiting To Watch The GTA 6 Trailer

“GTA 6” is the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series. Rockstar Games are developing it, and it is highly anticipated by gamers all around the world. The game is expected to have a large open environment, intense gameplay, and cutting-edge graphics.

While there are few specifics about the game, rumors say it will be set in a fictionalized depiction of a modern-day metropolis. “GTA 6” has garnered great enthusiasm and intrigue among fans and the gaming world as one of the most anticipated releases in the gaming industry.

SOURCE (IGN)