Hey Snackers,
Pre-weekend hack: Google Maps will now let you know which bus/subway is freakishly packed before you're stuck three-humans deep in it.
Stocks barely budged Thursday as investors hold their breath for the Trump/Xi USA/China meeting going down this weekend.
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Data shows Amazon ships almost half its packages ITSELF
When you track every Amazon package for 2.5 years... you learn juicy details. Data-obsessed company Rakuten found that the percent of Amazon packages delivered by Amazon rose from 16% in 2017 to 48% today — The US Postal Service ships 33%, UPS has 17%, and FedEx covers under 2%. All of Amazon's gains over that span were at the expense of the Postal Service (just as Trump started demanding Amazon pay more for mail).
How'd it happen so fast?... A combo of strategic under-the-radar and high-profile shipping fleets:
- Amazon Flex: Lets gig workers deliver packages in their own Honda Civic delivery coupe à la Uber/Lyft, making $18-$25/hour.
- Amazon Delivery Partners: Amazon entices local entrepreneurs to start micro-delivery companies to handle last-mile delivery of packages to stoops across their hometowns.
- Amazon Now: Those Amazon-branded vans that can deliver to a bar within an hour.
- Amazon Locker, Amazon Counter: Deliver a bunch of things to 1 spot, like a student center or a Rite Aid (that partnership was announced yesterday), letting customers carry their stuff home.
- Planes (Amazon just leased 15 at the Paris Air Show), drones (arriving "within months"), and a $1.5B air hub in Kentucky.
Let the competition give you data, then beat them with it... Amazon's relationship with a bunch of partners shifted from friends to frenemies to enemies — It partnered up at first, but eventually used partnership data to do it better itself. Amazon's done that with physical stores (Amazon Go) and even video (Amazon Original films). And according to Rakuten, Amazon-delivered packages take 3.2 days on average. Everyone else takes 6.
AMD is loving Bitcoin-mania Part II
Bitcoin is having (another) moment... The price of the OG cryptocurrency rose from under $4K in March to over $13K this week (but fell to $10K Thursday). As the price surges, so does incentive to mine Bitcoin — New coins generated by people crunching numbers on high-powered, energy-devouring computers. That just gives Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) another something to smile about.
AMD stock has doubled over the past year... The computer chips it's become famous for are getting love from diverse places:
- Microsoft: The tech company is reportedly considering swapping out Intel chips for AMD ones in its next litter of Surface tablets.
- Video games: PlayStation 5 and the next Xbox are both contracted to use AMD chips.
- Bitcoin: Those miners want AMD in their Bitcoin-digging computers. If the price of Bitcoin stays up, it may boost sales of AMD processors from techies who want to turn newly-minted Bitcoin into cash.
AMD is the shovel to Bitcoin's gold... Like the gold rush spurred demand for literal shovels, the 2nd Bitcoin boom is hungry for AMD chips. Back in November when Bitcoin hype was hibernating, AMD unveiled a bunch of services for Bitcoin miners and blockchain developers. That bet could be paying off now.
The designer of the iPhone, Jony Ive, just left Apple
Chief Design Officer... Apologies — Make that Sir Chief Design Officer. British-born, fully-knighted Jony Ive is leaving Apple after 27 years to start his own design company (it'll be called "LoveFrom," inspired by this Steve Jobs quote). Apple assured us in its press release that Jony will keep working with Apple — Shares only dipped 1% after the news because it'll be one of his first clients.
Something you're touching today... was probably touched by Ive and his Bauhaus-inspired commitment to "less is more." When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was just clicks away from bankruptcy. That's when Jony became Apple's spirit animal by designing these masterpiece devices:
- iMac desktop (1998): The OG-Starburst colored ones that took over your school's computer lab. He also did more recent MacBook Airs.
- iPod (2001): The circular scrolling was a game-changer. He also did the (adorable) iPod Mini.
- iPhone (2007): Apple's greatest commercial success. He also led the teams on the iPad and AirPods.
- A smooth voice: He's known for divine British narration.
- Apple's "neo-futurist" campus (2017): Ive stepped away from product innovations to design the spaceship-ish new Apple HQ building.
Apple needs to schedule a Genius Bar appointment for itself... 2019's been rough and shares are only up 8% over the last year. Slowing iPhone sales and the trade war with key manufacturing partner China have been a problem. The departure of its Apple Store retail chief and now its Chief Designer don't help.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Cruising: Uber will launch boat taxis in Nigeria's biggest city (Lagos has 21M people)
- Relaxed: Abercrombie's launching CBD lotions and balms across 160 stores
- Reverse: Ford will cut 12K jobs in Europe to streamline itself "for profitability and efficiency"
- Solo: The Fed requires banks to pass a bunch of stress tests before can pay out dividends — Credit Suisse was the only one that failed
- @people: Twitter will start flagging abusive tweets by world leaders
Friday
- Earnings from Corona-owner Constellation Brands
- President Trump leaves for Japan for the G20 summit and trade meeting with Chinese President Xi
- Women's World Cup Quarterfinals: USA vs. France