We spent the long weekend jet skiing, hiking, and family reunion-ing (reuniting?) and managed to make it back in one piece to type the tale.
But, now that we’re back at our screens, we can practically hear our parents telling us to turn off the boob tube and go play outside…
Oh wait, that’s the Chinese government…
China’s video game freeze costs Tencent $1.5B in Q2
Amid rising concern about kids’ screen time and gaming addiction, Chinese regulators have put a hold on new video game releases since March. Which may be good for concerned parents…
But it’s very bad for the gaming industry. China is the world’s largest gaming market, with players projected to bring in $37.9B in 2018. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the freeze cost China’s largest gaming company, Tencent, $1.5B in Q2 sales alone and $160B in market cap since the beginning of the year.
Facebook is set to bring in $980m in ad revenue in India…
And they’re hot on Google’s heels. Reuters reports that, despite being in the country far longer than their digital ad rival, Google only passed the billion-dollar mark in India last year — and FB is getting a little too close for comfort.
According to reports, FB’s ad platform is more user-friendly, and the visual nature of its ads means they can transcend the language barrier. In other words, unfortunately for Google, slow and steady may not win the race after all.
Berkshire Hathaway has killed it since last month’s earnings report
Berky Hathy has been on a bit of a hot streak lately: Only a month since the company’s last earnings report, shares have added about 5.9%, outperforming the S&P 500.
The company had solid results across all segments of the company bringing in Q2 2018 earnings of $6.9B, which puts them at a 67.3% rise year-over-year, and according to Nasdaq, it doesn’t look like it’s gonna slow down anytime soon.
Inflation hits 18% in Turkey
WSJ reports that annual inflation hit 17.9% in Turkey, up from July’s reading of 15.9%. According to the state statistics agency, the inflation culprit is from higher transport and energy costs after the value of the Turkish lira dropped significantly this year.
Now, Turkey’s central bank vows to “take necessary actions,” AKA raise interest rates, to adjust the nation’s monetary stance, despite the worry that it may undermine President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s demand to keep credit cheap for the Turkish economy.
At long last, Audi jumps into the electric SUV market
Yesterday, Audi launched its first all-electric SUV, making good on a concept that was first announced 3 years ago.
Audi, which is owned by scandal-plagued Volkswagen, plans to roll out an entire line of e-vehicles eventually. But the company’s slow progress toward the electric future highlights the difficulty of bringing e-cars to the mass market.
California lawmakers strike back against the net neutrality repeal
California lawmakers restored net-neutrality rules last week after they were repealed at the federal level earlier this year.
Now internet companies will not be able to slow down service or exempt certain sites from data charges, providing the meatiest consumer protections in the US. A representative from AT&T described the bill as “extreme,” but the CA bill will likely lead to similar ones in other states.
Colombian lending startup Portal Finance raises $200m
Portal Finance, a startup that lends money to small-business owners in Latin America, raised $200m. The Colombia-based company is on a hot streak, having grown its team from 4 to 70 in less than a year.
Portal’s runaway success highlights the resurgence of venture-capital-backed entrepreneurship in Latin America after decades of instability caused by civil war and political upheaval.
Carnival Cruise launches its largest ship ever
The Carnival Corporation recently threw a party to unveil the firm’s newest addition to their cruiseliner fleet called the AIDAnova, its biggest ship in the company’s history and the 5th largest in the world.
At 1.1k ft. long, the $809m mega-vessel is able to house up to 6.6k passengers plus 1.5k crew members, and has 17 restaurants, 23 bars, and an entire waterpark — not to mention the fact that they hired David Guetta to DJ the ship’s christening.
