Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has criticized Apple’s rival for its “self-service and anti-competitive” privacy changes on the day the social network announced that its profits were up 53% last year compared to in 2019.
Facebook benefited in 2020 from the presence of more people at home during the pandemic and increased the use of its platforms.
But CEO Zuckerberg sounds the alarm about future Apple changes that could threaten his company’s future dominance.
Facebook’s results for the last quarter of 2020, released on Wednesday, came when Apple announced it had also had a flawless year, with revenue of more than $ 100 billion in the three months to the end of December.
Only a handful of companies, including Walmart, have previously reported $ 100 billion quarterly, while Amazon is expected to break that barrier when it reports next month.
But Apple’s profit margins are expected to approach 23%, about five times that of any of the retailers.
Apple plans to make a software change that will give iPhone and iPad users a clearer chance to turn off ad tracking for online advertising, a big part of Facebook’s pie.
Zuckerberg also believes that Apple is placing iMessage to overtake Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
“iMessage is a key part of its ecosystem,” Zuckerberg said in the earnings call, according to CNBC. “It comes pre-installed on all iPhones and they prefer it with private APIs and permissions, which is why iMessage is the most used messaging service in the United States.”
Apple’s new policy will prohibit the collection and sharing of certain data unless people decide to track it on iOS 14 devices through a request when they download the app.
Zuckerberg said tougher words about Apple’s business practices.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company made $ 28 billion in profits in the last quarter of 2020
‘Apple has every incentive to use its dominant position on the platform to interfere with the operation of our applications and other applications, which they usually do to prefer them.
‘Apple may say they do it to help people, but the moves clearly follow the interests of their competitors. We and others will deal with this in the foreseeable future. ”
Facebook still had a lot to celebrate on Wednesday, with a profit of $ 11.2 billion in revenue of $ 28 billion in the last three months of 2020.
The California company’s revenue rose 33% to about $ 28 billion during the quarter.
At Apple, Zuckerberg had some harsh words about his upcoming software changes. Pictured: Apple CEO Tim Cook
Its applications, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, recorded a 14% year-on-year increase in monthly active users, with 3.3 billion people, almost half of the world’s population, using them.
After an initial drop in advertising in March, Facebook’s business grew 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 difficult times,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
But the 36-year-old company warned that there would be challenges ahead, with the “evolving regulatory landscape,” including Apple’s software changes.
“We also expect to face more significant ad segmentation front winds in 2021,” CFO David Wehner said in a statement.
“This includes the impact of platform changes, particularly iOS 14, as well as the evolution of the regulatory landscape.
“While the timing of the changes in iOS 14 remains uncertain, we would expect an impact to begin at the end of the first quarter.”
Facebook has warned that pressure from governments could change its financial future
The 36-year-old said he remained optimistic about the company the following year
Dozens of states and the federal government sued Facebook last month, alleging that the social media giant has abused its dominance in the digital market and engaged in anti-competitive behavior.
This month, the social media giant removed Donald Trump and many of his allies from his post after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, accusing him of inciting violence.
Zuckerberg said he was optimistic about next year.
“I am excited about our product roadmap for 2021 as we create new and meaningful ways to create economic opportunities, build community and help people have fun,” he said.
Analysts said the results showed resistance from the Palo Alto firm.
“Despite negative publicity and antitrust cases, there seems to be nothing that can stop what is possibly the world’s most important advertising platform,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.
Meanwhile, Apple ended 2020 with the most profitable quarter in history, with $ 111.4 billion in sales driven by people upgrading their technology to work from home.
Apple announced Wednesday that it had surpassed $ 100 billion in quarterly revenue
On Wednesday, they announced the results of the first fiscal quarter of 2021, which ended on December 26, 2020.
Profit rose 29% to $ 28.76 billion in the three months ended December 31.
Shares of Apple rose 81 percent in 2020 and have risen about a seven percent to Wednesday.
Revenue for iPhones increased 17% year-over-year, with sales of $ 65.602 billion.
Apple launched four new iPhone 12 models in October – the first to include 5G.
Investors believe a “supercycle” of users was created who demanded to be updated. The new iPhone helped increase sales by 57% in China, which has a more developed 5G network.
“They’re full of features that customers love and they arrived at exactly the right time, where the 5G networks were,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
The launch of Tim Cook’s iPhone 12, pictured, has helped increase Apple’s profits
In the United States, the average retail price of the iPhone rose to $ 873 from $ 809 the previous year, driven by buyers gravitating toward more expensive versions, according to a survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners LLC.
An iPhone 12 mini is priced at $ 699, while the larger and more expensive iPhone 12 Max starts at $ 1,099.
The category of other Apple products, which includes Apple Watch and headphones like AirPods and Beats, rose 29% from last year to $ 12,977 million, even though people spend less time traveling and traveling.
Apple launched in December a high-end headset, AirPods Pro Max, with a suggested retail price of $ 549.
Macs and iPads, the Apple devices most likely to be used to work remotely and at school, have also increased this quarter.
Cook said sales would have been higher if the pandemic had not forced stores to close.
“We couldn’t be more optimistic,” he told The Wall Street Journal.