Friday Aug.14, 2020

🍎 Apple gets bundled up

_The robots are multiplying_
_The robots are multiplying_

Hey Snackers,

The bizarre, ever-evolving Peanut saga continues: after killing off 104-year-old Mr. Peanut, Planters introduced "Baby Nut" to the world. Seven months after Baby Nut's birth, Planters has informed us that he is now a bar-going 21-year-old named "Peanut Jr." Perhaps 2020 should be measured in Baby Nut Years, too.

The S&P 500 and the Dow dipped yesterday despite better-than-expected unemployment data — weekly jobless claims came in below 1M for the first time since March.

Bundle

Apple might be bundling its subscription services (plus, some Fortnite drama)

Like apples in a basket... Apple doesn't want its services to hang alone anymore. The Fruit is reportedly launching subscription bundles along with its new iPhones in October. For consumers, a bundle costs less than subscribing to each service individually. For Apple, bundling helps score more subscribers for its services and build Prime-style loyalty. The bundles, dubbed "Apple One," will be offered at different price tiers (we named them):

  • Basic: Includes Apple Music and Apple TV+ (so you can watch that one Jen Aniston show).
  • Less Basic: Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple's Arcade gaming service (who is she?).
  • Baller: All the above, plus Apple News+ and extra iCloud storage. "Baller bundles" will also reportedly include a new fitness service with virtual classes.

Excellent timing... Apple's probably relieved that this news didn't spill before the big antitrust hearing. Two weeks ago, Big Tech CEOs got grilled by Congress while trying to prove their companies aren't giant anti-competitive monopolies. Apple's CEO Tim Cook got the fewest questions. Since then, more fuel has been added to the fire:

  • Apple just removed Fortnite from the App Store, saying it violated guidelines by adding its own in-app payment system (bypassing the 30% cut Apple takes from app purchases).
  • Now Fortnite-maker Epic Games is suing Apple — it says the App Store is a monopoly. This isn't the 1st time Apple's getting heat for its App Store-controlling ways (it's a theme).

Bundling is a powerful strategy (that breeds lawsuits)... Big Tech can afford to bundle different services together at lower price points than competitors. Slack recently filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft for throwing in Teams (free of extra charge) with the Office 365 subscription. Spotify, which already sued Apple for playing favorites on the App Store, could file another complaint about the Apple Music bundling. TBD if Peloton will sweat over Apple's new fitness subscription.

Automate

Robots are taking over in the corona-conomy as human contact gets more risky

The robots are coming... Well, more of them are. While humans risk catching coronavirus, aluminum machines don't. Automation, which has been increasing for years, is majorly accelerating in the corona-conomy. Robotic usage among retailers in US locations reportedly jumped 14% from January to March (compared to the same period last year) and a whopping 24% from April to June.

WALL-E's LinkedIn headline... "Well-rounded automaton, open to all opportunities." The robots don't discriminate when it comes to industries. Companies in a wide range of sectors are loading up on automation to meet their pandemic needs. A few major bot-stars:

  • Cleaning: Neo is a 4-foot-tall, 1K-pound robot floor scrubber for large commercial buildings. Neo sales have 2X'd since the shutdowns in March. Meanwhile, Softbank's corporate carpet cleaner Whiz has been sold 10K times since November.
  • Food Service: MisoRobotics' Flippy is the burger-grilling bot hired by White Castle last month. Sally, Chowbotics' salad-making robot, saw 60% more sales since COVID hit.
  • Childcare: Moxie is the adorable robot that teaches kids at home with "what eerily resembles human empathy." With kids doing school from home and parents losing their minds, Moxie could sell out when it launches this fall (even at the $1.5K price tag).

This could hurt economic recovery even more... While automation and robotics is a safer bet for businesses from a health perspective, the bot-acceleration could make the unemployment situation worse. Despite the improving unemployment rate, the US still hasn't brought back even half of the ~22M jobs lost since March. Some estimate that over 80% of restaurant jobs could potentially be taken over by automation — Food service, cleaning, and delivery workers are particularly vulnerable.

What else we’re Snackin’

  • Milkshake: Fatburger's owner, Fat Brands, is acquiring OG diner chain Johnny Rockets for around $25M (and a side of fries).
  • Galactic: Amazon will spend $10B on a constellation of internet-beaming satellites — it just got the federal 'OK' to launch.
  • TokTalk: Facebook and Snap held talks to buy TikTok-rival Dubsmash, which has grown more popular on TikTok ban talk.
  • ZeroStars: A judge rejects Uber and Lyft's request for more time to appeal the decision of classifying CA gig drivers as employees.
  • Oops: Citi pays Revlon lenders nearly $900M by mistake — now it's asking for the money back.

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Friday

Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Apple and Spotify

ID: 1303263

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