Shares of data networking companies, including Cisco Systems Inc, tumbled after a media report that Amazon.com Inc’s cloud unit might begin selling its own switching devices.
Amazon Web Service’s (AWS) plan to enter the US$14 billion global market for the equipment that helps shepherd traffic around networks, signals the company might become more entrenched in the enterprise computing marketplace, the Information reported, citing a person with knowledge of the discussions.
It would pose a formidable challenge to existing players, including Juniper Networks Inc and Arista Networks Inc, because AWS would price the so-called white-box switches from 70 to 80 percent less than compatible ones from Cisco, the Web site reported.
Cisco relies on hardware for more than half of its revenue, and switches and routers comprise the two biggest hardware products.
Its shares on Friday fell as much as 6.1 percent to US$40.94 in New York.
Juniper Networks fell as much as 3.9 percent to US$27.40, and Arista slipped as much as 6.2 percent to US$261.16.
Every time Amazon makes a move into a new industry, those companies’ stocks shudder as the market considers the consequences on market share and pricing power.
Shares of drugstore companies, including Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp, sank nearly 9 percent on news late last month that Amazon was acquiring prescription drug delivery company PillPack.
Shares of grocers, such as Kroger Co, plunged when Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market Inc for more than US$13 billion in June last year.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day