What's going on?

Apple and Amazon might seem like they�re just too different, but they make quite the pair: both tech giants reported better-than-expected results late on Thursday.

 

What does this mean?

This new lifestyle may be wearing thin for the rest of us, but Amazon�s pretty happy with the new normal: its ecommerce business is booming as folks do more of their shopping online, while its super-profitable cloud segment is thriving thanks to home working. And while COVID-related expenses for the rest of the year came in higher than expected, its revenue outlook did too.


Apple posted its own higher-than-expected results, but one crucial area didn�t live up to predictions: iPhone sales. That�s probably because of a delay in the launch of the newest version, whose sales weren’t taken into account. Apple didn�t even give a forecast for the rest of the year � which might�ve at least given investors a hint about how sales have been faring so far.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Search and destroy.

You might�ve noticed that Google is the default search engine on every iPhone, which is down to a deal that�s allegedly worth $10 billion a year to Apple. What you might not have noticed is the backup plan Apple�s been rolling out since the US government took issue with the deal last week: the company�s started pushing its users toward its own search technology � potentially with one eye on creating an alternative to Google.

Zooming out: Winter is coming.��

Even logistical whizz kids like Amazon have big challenges to overcome this holiday season: analysts are expecting retailers to experience at least 25% more online sales than last year. The sharp uptick in orders could make it difficult for retailers to get gifts out on time, driving up costs � which might be why the shopping season�s starting even earlier than it normally does.