Zach Coins! Meta Exploration develops Meta-Universe Virtual Currency; Haunting! Musk clarified the reduction of his stake in Twitter

(Global TMT, April 7, 2022) Today's highlights: Meta explores and develops meta-universe virtual currency; Musk clarified the reduction of twitter shares; Samsung Electronics sales hit a single-quarter record; Intel CEO plans to visit semiconductor suppliers such as TSMC; Amazon's new CEO earns more than $200 million a year.

Zach Coins! Meta explores the development of metaverse virtual currencies

Facebook parent company Meta has developed plans to introduce virtual currencies, tokens and loan services into its apps. According to people familiar with the matter, Facebook's financial arm, Meta Financial Technologies, has been exploring the creation of a virtual currency for the company, known internally as "Zaq Coin." Meta tends to introduce in-app tokens, which are centrally controlled by the company, similar to those used in gaming apps. The company has recently tried to find other sources of revenue and support e-commerce on the platform, delving into cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. In addition, Meta revealed that there will be no F8 developer conference in 2022, as the company will reorganize the equipment of "building meta-worlds".

Haunt! Musk clarified the reduction of his stake in Twitter

In response to news, Elon Musk intends to sell 371,900 shares of Twitter stock, reducing his stake in the company from 9.2% to 9.1%. Musk countered the report, saying that the 9.2% version was wrong, and that his shareholding should have been 9.1%, rather than a reduction. Earlier, documents released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that Musk bought a large stake in Twitter, becoming the largest outside shareholder of the social media giant, which musk holds 9.2% of the company. However, Musk may have missed a key disclosure deadline in his acquisition of 9% of Twitter's shares, so it is possible to violate U.S. securities laws again.

Twitter confirmed that it is developing a tweet editing feature

Twitter has confirmed that it is developing a feature that allows users to edit tweets after they are posted. Earlier, Musk launched an investigation asking his followers if they needed the feature. Jay Sullivan, Head of Consumer Product at Twitter, said: "We've been exploring how to build editing capabilities in a secure way since last year and plan to start testing it inside @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months. "The editing feature has been one of the most needed features for Twitter users for some time. Twitter's communications team denied the move was related to Musk's vote.

Samsung Electronics' sales hit a record single-quarter record

Samsung Electronics released a performance report, preliminarily verifying that the operating profit in the first quarter increased by 50.32% year-on-year to 14.1 trillion won (about 73.58 billion yuan). Sales increased by 17.76% year-on-year to KRW 77 trillion, the highest in a single quarter. Brokerages estimated that sales and operating profit of Samsung Electronics' information and communication and mobile divisions were 33.38 trillion won and 4.15 trillion won, respectively, up 15.3% and 55.8% from the previous quarter. Semiconductor sales and operating profit were 25 trillion won and 8 trillion won, respectively. The performance of home appliances such as televisions may decrease month-on-month, but Samsung has achieved good results with high-end products.

Intel CEO plans to visit semiconductor suppliers such as TSMC

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger plans to visit many places in Asia to meet with a number of semiconductor suppliers and customers. Sources revealed that its destinations include Taiwan, Japan and India, and will visit TSMC. In addition to TSMC, Intel has a number of suppliers in Asia, including Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor etching equipment company, Ibiden, and Xinxing Electronics.

Amazon's new CEO earns more than $200 million a year

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy received $212.7 million worth of compensation in 2021, his first year as the tech and e-commerce giant's head. Most of his compensation is stock awards, amounting to $211.9 million. According to Amazon's proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the 61,000 shares that make up the stock reward are a special gift to Jassey's promotion to president and CEO. Jassy was appointed CEO in February 2021.

Buffett buys $4.2 billion worth of HP stock

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has disclosed that it has bought nearly 121 million shares of Hewlett-Packard. It's the latest in a series of recent big investments by Buffett. At HP's closing price of $34.91 on Wednesday, the shares are worth about $4.2 billion. Driven by the news, HP shares surged nearly 10 percent after hours on Wednesday. The investment in HP is in line with Buffett's value preferences, and the stock market's earnings ratio was 8 times in the fiscal year ending October.

Google has lost its dominant position in the Korean app payment market

Google can't punish South Korean app developers who offer payment workarounds, which is a blow to its efforts to make a lucrative cut in South Korean digital sales. Google has tried to prevent app developers from providing in-app links to external websites to purchase digital goods through policy changes. The company recently said that developers who offer external links will not be able to update their apps starting this month and could be removed from the Google Play Store by June 1. The Korea Communications Commission said the practice of making it difficult to provide alternative options by forcing apps to use specific payment methods violates South Korea's app payment law.

Uber will launch a train and plane ticket reservation service

Uber's plans to build "super apps" are moving forward. The company announced it will add train, bus and plane ticket booking services, as well as car rental services, to its UK app this year. The initiative is part of a pilot service that, if it goes well, could be expanded to other countries at a later date. Of course, Uber itself doesn't offer these travel services, but allows users to make bookings through its app.