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- Business and finance update 6th January 2025
Business and finance update 6th January 2025
Russian gas halt
Good morning. Today we're talking about a Russian gas halt, Tesla’s slowdown and Apple’s latest lawsuit.
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Russian gas halt
Ukraine has halted the flow of Russian natural gas through its pipelines, marking a significant shift in energy relations between the two countries. This decision follows the expiration of a key transit agreement and Ukraine's refusal to renew it, citing the need to deny Russia revenue used to fund its war effort. For decades Russia supplied a significant portion of Europe's natural gas, with Ukraine serving as a crucial transit route. Prior to the war, Russia supplied approximately 40% of the EU's natural gas imports. However, the EU has significantly reduced its reliance on Russian energy, with imports falling to just 10% in 2023. While the immediate impact on European gas supplies is expected to be limited, the halt in transit underscores the geopolitical complexities of energy supply chains. This move further weakens Europe's energy ties with Russia and increases the region's vulnerability to price volatility, particularly as Europe strives to replace Russian gas imports. Countries like Hungary and Slovakia, which heavily relied on Ukrainian transit routes, will be most impacted by this development.
Tesla slowdown
Tesla reported its first-ever annual decline in vehicle sales in 2024, delivering 1.79m units, falling just short of its 1.8m target. This slowdown comes amid increasing competition from both established and emerging manufacturers in the electric vehicle market. Factors contributing to the sales dip include weakened demand in key markets and increased competition from Chinese rivals like BYD, which achieved record sales of over 4.3m EVs and hybrid cars. To address the slowdown, Tesla implemented price cuts and offered incentives, which impacted its profit margins. Some investors think the dip is too small to matter. However, the company would likely have appreciated as much momentum as possible before the Trump administration’s expected cuts to electric vehicle subsidies. As the EV market matures, Tesla faces increasing pressure to maintain its market share and navigate the evolving competitive landscape.
Apple eavesdropping payout
Apple has agreed to pay $95m to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that its Siri virtual assistant recorded user conversations without proper authorisation. The lawsuit claimed that Siri was inadvertently activated, leading to the recording and potential sharing of user conversations with third parties such as advertisers. The settlement avoids the potential costs and reputational damage of a protracted legal battle for Apple, which denies any wrongdoing. Apple has been involved in a number of class action lawsuits in recent years. In January 2024, it started paying out in a $500m lawsuit which claimed it deliberately slowed down iPhones in the US. In March, it agreed to pay $490m in a class action led by Norfolk County Council in the UK. And in November, consumer group Which? started a class action against Apple, accusing it of ripping off customers through its iCloud service.
Elsewhere...
Congestion city: The first congestion charge scheme for vehicles in the US has come into effect in New York City.
Status change: Former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg has said he is stepping down from his role at Facebook parent firm Meta.
Internet expansion: Amazon will offer a satellite broadband service in the UK within the next two years using a constellation of spacecraft that could deliver a mobile signal even to the most remote areas.
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