Connect with us

Published

on

Cars are parked at a Tesla dealership. The car manufacturer Tesla presents its business figures for the past quarter after a decline in deliveries.

Sebastian Gollnow | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

The European Union on Tuesday said planned tariffs on Tesla vehicles being imported from China would be cut to 9% from 20.8%, while also reducing a number of planned import duties on other electric vehicle firms.

In June, the EU said it would slap higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, which it found benefit “heavily from unfair subsidies” and pose a “threat of economic injury” to EV producers in Europe.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, announced a preliminary conclusion that the battery-electric vehicles value chain in China “benefits from unfair subsidisation” and pronounced that it is in the EU’s interest to impose “provisional countervailing duties” on BEV imports from China.

Tesla faces tough competition in China and slow EV adoption in the U.S., investment advisory firm says

The EU Commission disclosed on Tuesday its draft decision to “impose definitive countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China.”

The regulatory body said that after receiving comments from interested parties on its planned tariffs, it would make a “slight adjustment of the proposed duty rates based on substantiated comments on the provisional measures.”

Electric vehicles made by Tesla in China will now face duties of 9% on imports to the EU. That is down from an anticipated rate of 20.8%, which the EU signposted in an earlier decision in July.

Tesla shares rose more than 1% in U.S. morning trading following the EU’s draft decision.

The EU said it made the decision to grant Tesla its own lowered individual duty rate as an exporter from China.

It comes after Elon Musk‘s electric vehicle maker made a “substantiated request” to the EU that planned tariffs on its China-made EVs be recalculated to reflect specific subsidies the company receives in China.

Tesla was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC on Tuesday.

BYD, the Warren Buffett-backed EV firm, saw its tariff rate reduced from 17.4% to 17%; Geely from 19.9% to 19.3%, SAIC from 37.6% to 36.3%. BYD, Geely and SAIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of working hours in China.

Other companies cooperating with the EU in its investigation into China’s heavy subsidization of EVs, will face tariffs of 21.3%, the commission said. This is higher than the 20.8% rate cooperating companies would have faced under the EU’s previous July decision.

For those not cooperating, they will be slapped with 36.3% import duties. That is down from 37.6% previously.

— CNBC’s Sophie Kiderlin contributed to this article.

Continue Reading

Technology

Apple says Epic Games contempt ruling could cost ‘substantial sums’

Published

on

By

Apple says Epic Games contempt ruling could cost 'substantial sums'

An Apple store in Walnut Creek, California, U.S., on April 30, 2025.

Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Apple is asking a court to pause a recent decision in its case against Epic Games and allow the iPhone maker to once again charge a commission on in-app transactions that link out for payment.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland found that Apple had violated her original court order from the Epic trial, originally decided in 2021, that forced Apple to make limited changes to its linking out policy under California law.

Judge Rogers’ new ruling is more expansive, ordering Apple to immediately stop imposing its commissions on purchases made for iPhone apps through web links inside its apps, among other changes.

Apple is now looking to get a stay on that order, as well as another one from the case that prevents it from restricting app developers from choosing the language or placement of those links, until the entire decision can be appealed. Apple says that required changes in their current form will cost the company “substantial sums.”

“This is the latest chapter in Epic’s largely unsuccessful effort to use competition law to change how Apple runs the App Store,” Apple said in the emergency motion for a stay. The motion cites a previous order in the case that found that new linking policies would cost Apple “hundreds of millions to billions” of dollars annually.

If Apple succeeds, it will allow the company to roll back changes that have already started to shift the economics of app development. Developers including Amazon and Spotify have been able to update their apps to avoid Apple’s commissions and direct customers to their own website for payment.

Prior to the ruling, Amazon’s Kindle app told users they could not purchase a book in the iPhone app. After a recent update, the app now shows an orange “Get Book” button that links to Amazon’s website.

Epic also plans to introduce new software to allow app and game developers to easily link to their websites to take payments.  

“This forces Apple to compete,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said shortly after last month’s decision. “This is what we wanted all along.”

Apple said in the filing that “non-party developers are already seizing upon the Order to reduce consumer choice (and damage Apple’s business) by, among other things, impeding the use of” in-app purchases.

Rogers made a criminal referral in the case, saying that Apple misled the court and that a company vice president “outright lied” about when and why Apple decided to charge 27% for external payments. The real decision, the judge said, took place in meetings involving Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Wednesday’s filing from Apple doesn’t address Rogers’ accusations that the company misled the judge, but it does argue that the ruling was punitive. Apple’s lawyers also claimed that civil contempt sanctions can only coerce compliance with an existing order, not punish non-compliance.

Apple said earlier this week in a court filing it would appeal the contempt ruling.

“We’ve complied with the court’s order and we’re going to appeal,” Cook told investors on the company’s quarterly earnings call last week.

WATCH: Apple says it strongly disagrees with Epic Games decision

Apple on Epic Games decision: We strongly disagree and will appeal

Continue Reading

Technology

Arm shares drop on weak forecast

Published

on

By

Arm shares drop on weak forecast

Rene Haas, CEO of chip tech provider Arm Holdings, holds a replica of a chip with his company’s logo on it, during an event in which Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim officially announces a $250 million deal with the company, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 5, 2025.

Hasnoor Hussain | Reuters

Arm shares dropped more than 8% in extended trading on Wednesday after the chip-design company issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter.

Here’s how the company did in the fiscal fourth quarter compared with LSEG consensus:

  • Earnings per share: 55 cents, adjusted vs. 52 cents expected
  • Revenue: $1.24 billion vs. $1.23 billion

While Arm topped estimates for the quarter ended March 31, Wall Street is looking ahead to the company’s forecast for the first quarter.

Arm said revenue will be between $1 billion and $1.1 billion. The middle of the range is below the $1.1 billion average analysts estimated, according to LSEG. Earnings per share will be between 30 cents and 38 cents, while analysts were expecting 42 cents.

SoftBank controls about 90% of Arm, and took the company public in 2023. It now has a market cap of over $130 billion as of Wednesday’s close.

Arm designs the fundamental architecture upon which many chips are built, and sells licenses for its designs to companies such as Qualcomm and Nvidia, charging royalty fees on each sale they make. The company claims 99% of premium smartphones are powered by Arm technology.

Royalty revenue in the quarter rose 18% from a year earlier to $607 million.

Net income fell 6% to $210 million, or 20 cents a share, from $224 million, or 21 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue jumped 34% from $928 million a year earlier.

WATCH: AI is going to be inside every software application

Srinivasan: AI is going to be inside every software application

Continue Reading

Technology

AppLovin shares pop on earnings beat as it announces sale of mobile gaming business

Published

on

By

AppLovin shares pop on earnings beat as it announces sale of mobile gaming business

Thomas Fuller | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images


AppLovin shares soared as high as 15% in extended trading after the company reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations and announced the sale of its mobile gaming business.

Here’s how the company did compared to LSEG consensus estimates:

  • Earnings: $1.67 per share vs $1.45 per share expected
  • Revenue: $1.48 billion vs $1.38 billion expected

AppLovin also agreed on Wednesday to sell its mobile gaming business to Tripledot Studios in a deal worth $400 million in cash considerations. The advertising tech company will also obtain  a roughly 20% ownership stake in Tripledot Studios, which makes mobile games like Sudoko Friends, Puzzletime and Solitaire Classic.”

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025.

AppLovin said second-quarter sales should come in the range of $1.2 billion to $1.22 billion, trailing analysts expectations of $1.38 billion.

The company reported first-quarter net income of $576 million, or $1.67 per share, up from $234 million, or 67 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2024.

AppLovin total costs and expenses for the first quarter came in at $820.55 million, representing a 14% increase from the previous year during the same quarter.

The ad-tech firm said in February that it had signed a term sheet to sell its apps business for “total estimated consideration” of $900 million, which included $500 million in cash.

AppLovin’s business has been split between advertising and apps, which is primarily made up of game studios that the company has acquired over the years. With the historic growth in its advertising unit, due to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, the apps business had become much less important.

The company logged $1.16 billion in first-quarter advertising sales, up from the $678 million it recorded a year ago during the same period.

Sales of the company’s apps-related business for the quarter came in at $325 million, which was a 14% decline from the prior year.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

WATCH: Activist Robby Starbuck on why he’s suing Meta for defamation

Activist Robby Starbuck on why he's suing Meta for defamation

Continue Reading

Trending