Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg devastated rival Apple for their “ selfish and anti-competitive ” privacy changes on the day the social network announced that its profits were up 53 percent last year compared to 2019.
Facebook took advantage of more people at home during the pandemic in 2020 and saw the use of their platforms increase.
But CEO Zuckerberg is ringing the alarm about upcoming changes from Apple that could threaten the future dominance of his company.
Facebook’s results for the last quarter of 2020, reported Wednesday, came when Apple announced it had also had a peak year, with revenues of more than $ 100 billion in the three months to the end of December.
Only a handful of companies, including Walmart, previously reported $ 100 billion in quarters, while Amazon is expected to break this barrier when it reports next month.
But Apple’s profit margins are estimated at about 23 percent – about five times that of both retailers.
Apple plans to make a software change that gives iPhone and iPad users a clearer option to opt out of online ad tracking, a big part of Facebook’s pie.
Zuckerberg also believes Apple is positioning iMessage to catch up with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
“iMessage is an important linchpin in their ecosystem,” Zuckerberg said during the earnings call, according to CNBC. ‘It comes pre-installed on every iPhone and they prefer it with private APIs and permissions, which is why iMessage is the most used messaging service in the US’
Apple’s new policy prohibits the collection and sharing of certain data, unless people choose to track on iOS 14 devices, through a prompt when they download the app.
Zuckerberg had more harsh words to say about Apple’s business practices.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company posted $ 28 billion in profits in the last quarter of 2020
Apple has every incentive to use their dominant platform position to meddle with how our apps and other apps work, which they do regularly to show their own preference.
Apple may say they are doing this to help people, but the moves are clearly following the interests of their competitors. We and others will be dealing with this in the near future. ‘
Facebook still had a lot to celebrate on Wednesday, with a profit of $ 11.2 billion on sales of $ 28 billion in the last three months of 2020.
The California company’s sales increased 33 percent during the quarter to approximately $ 28 billion.
About Apple, Zuckerberg had some harsh words about their upcoming software changes. Pictured: Tim Cook, Apple CEO
Their apps – Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp – saw a 14 percent increase year-over-year in monthly active users, with 3.3 billion people, nearly half the world’s population, using them.
After an initial drop in ad numbers in March, Facebook’s business thrived as more people bought products online during the pandemic, executives said.
“We had a strong end to the year as people and businesses continued to use our services in these challenging times,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, said in a statement.
But the 36-year-old’s company warned that there could be challenges with the “ evolving regulatory landscape, ” including the changes to Apple’s software.
“ We also expect to face greater ad targeting headwinds in 2021, ” chief financial officer David Wehner said in a statement.
This includes the impact of platform changes, especially iOS 14, as well as the changing regulatory landscape.
While the timing of the iOS 14 changes remains uncertain, we expect the impact to start late in the first quarter.
Facebook has warned that pressure from governments could change their financial future
The 36-year-old said he remains optimistic about the coming year for the company
Dozens of states and the federal government sued Facebook last month, alleging that the social media giant has abused its dominance in the digital marketplace and engages in anti-competitive behavior.
This month, social media giant Donald Trump, and many of his allies, removed from their site following the January 6 attack on the Capitol and accused him of inciting violence.
Zuckerberg said he was optimistic about the year ahead.
“ I’m excited about our 2021 product roadmap as we develop new and meaningful ways to create economic opportunity, build community and help people just have fun, ” he said.
Analysts said the results showed the resilience of the Palo Alto firm.
“Despite the negative publicity and antitrust cases, it seems nothing can stop what is arguably the world’s leading ad platform,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.
Apple, meanwhile, closed 2020 with its most profitable quarter ever, with revenues of $ 111.4 billion, powered by people upgrading their technology to work from home.
Apple announced on Wednesday that they had surpassed $ 100 billion in quarterly sales
On Wednesday, they announced the results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, which ended December 26, 2020.
Profits were up 29 percent to $ 28.76 billion in the three months ended December 31.
Apple shares are up 81 percent in 2020 and are up about seven percent through Wednesday.
IPhones revenue was up 17 percent year-over-year, with revenues of $ 65.60 billion.
Apple released four new iPhone 12 models in October – the first with 5G.
Investors believe this has created a ‘super cycle’ of users screaming to upgrade. The new iPhone helped increase sales by 57 percent in China, which has a more developed 5G network.
“They’re packed with features that customers love, and they came in at just the right time, with where 5G networks were,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
The launch of the iPhone 12 by Tim Cook, pictured, has boosted Apple’s earnings
In the US, the average selling price of the iPhone rose to $ 873 from $ 809 a year ago, driven by buyers moving to the more expensive versions, according to a survey of customers by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners LLC.
A mini iPhone 12 has a starting price of $ 699, while the largest and most expensive iPhone 12 Max starts at $ 1,099.
Apple’s other product category, including Apple Watch and headphones such as AirPods and Beats, was 29 percent higher than last year to $ 12.97 billion, even though people spend less time commuting and traveling.
Apple released high-end headphones, AirPods Pro Max, in December, with a steep suggested retail price of $ 549.
Macs and iPads, the Apple devices most likely to be used for home work and school, also rose this quarter.
Cook said sales would have been higher had the pandemic not forced stores to close.
“We couldn’t be more optimistic,” he told The Wall Street Journal.