Apple hit a market cap of $2 trillion, BlackBerry phones with keyboards are making a comeback and more in this week’s roundup of tech news.
Apple’s market capitalization hit $2 trillion on Wednesday, making it the first US company reach that milestone.
It was a hectic week in tech news as we saw a lot of developments. Apple became the first publicly traded US company to reach a market capitalization of over $2 trillion. Meanwhile, TikTok confirmed that it will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration over an executive order that blocks the Chinese-owned video app from the US. This week, BlackBerry – once the most popular phone maker – announced that it will make a comeback in the first half of 2021 with a 5G smartphone and a physical keyboard. These are the top tech news for this week.
On Wednesday, Apple became the first US company with a $2 trillion market capitalization, just over two years after it became the first US company to reach $1 trillion. Apple’s market value began to climb in the mid-2000s when its iMac and Mac notebooks start to gain popularity in the market. The release of the iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010 further boost the confidence of investors. Apple’s market cap was just $100 billion when the first iPhone was announced in 2007. Tim Cook became the chief executive officer of Apple in 2011. Under his leadership, Apple has launched many hit products including the Apple Watch, iPhone X, iPad Pro and AirPods.
BlackBerry phones making a comeback
The classic BlackBerry phones with a physical keyboard are making a comeback, courtesy of OnwardMobility. After the exit of China’s TCL, the Canadian company has a signed a deal with OnwardMobility, who will launch BlackBerry-branded phones in the market. The new model will feature a physical QWERTY keyboard, like previous generation BlackBerry phones. It will run on Google’s Android mobile operating system, and have 5G support. The phone will also be secure and safe. There is no word yet on price. OnwardMobility plans to launch the new BlackBerry phone in next year.
TikTok to sue Trump administration over ban
TikTok, the famed short-form video app owned by China’s ByteDance, plans to take legal action to challenge a ban imposed by US President Donald Trump. Trump’s executive order forbids ”any transaction” between a US citizen and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, within 45 days. Another executive order issued the following week gave ByteDance 90 days to destroy any TikTok data from US users and divest from its US assets. Microsoft has publically acknowledged that it wants to acquire TikTok’s US operations, which includes North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Epic Games is hosting a “#FreeFortnite” event on Sunday to protest Apple’s legal action.
Epic Games vs Apple battle continues
The battle between Epic Games and Apple is getting murkier. On Friday, Apple responded to Epic Games’ lawsuit, claiming that the Fortnite maker requested special treatment on multiple occasions. As per a CNBC report, Apple produced three emails from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney to prove its claim. Last week, Epic Games added direct payment options in the iOS to avoid giving Apple 30 per cent cut of in-app sales. In retaliation, Apple banned Fortnite from the App Store. Immediately afterwards, Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple.
