Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg criticized rival Apple for its “selfish and anti-competitive” privacy changes, on the day the social network announced that its profits increased 53% last year compared to 2019.
Facebook benefited in 2020 from more people being at home during the pandemic and saw an increase in the use of its platforms.
But CEO Zuckerberg is sounding the alarm about Apple’s future changes that could threaten his company’s future dominance.
Facebook’s results for the last quarter of 2020, reported on Wednesday, came when Apple announced that it also had an excellent 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 of quarters, while Amazon is expected to break that barrier when it reports next month.
But Apple’s profit margins are projected at about 23% – about five times that of any retailer.
Apple is planning to make a software change that will give iPhone and iPad users a clearer opportunity to opt out of receiving ads for online advertising, a big piece of Facebook’s pie.
Zuckerberg also believes that Apple is positioning iMessage to overtake Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
“IMessage is a key element of its ecosystem,” Zuckerberg said in the conference call, according to CNBC. “It comes pre-installed on all iPhone and they prefer it with APIs and private 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 choose to track on iOS 14 devices, by means of a warning when downloading the app.
Zuckerberg had tougher 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 its dominant position on the platform to interfere with the way our apps and other apps work, which they do regularly to give preference to their own.
‘Apple may say it is doing this to help people, but the moves clearly track the interests of its competitors. We and others will face this in the near future. ‘
Facebook still had a lot to celebrate on Wednesday, posting a profit of $ 11.2 billion on revenue of $ 28 billion in the final three months of 2020.
The Californian company’s revenue grew 33% to about $ 28 billion during the quarter.
At Apple, Zuckerberg said a few harsh words about future software changes. Pictured: Apple CEO Tim Cook
Its apps – Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp – saw a 14% year-over-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 boomed as more people bought products online during the pandemic, executives said.
“We had a strong end of the year as people and businesses continued to use our services during these difficult times,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement.
But the 36-year-old company warned that there may be challenges ahead, with the ‘evolving regulatory landscape’, including Apple’s software changes.
“We also expect to face more significant headwinds in 2021,” said CFO David Wehner in a statement.
‘This includes the impact of platform changes, notably iOS 14, as well as the evolving regulatory landscape.
‘While the timing of the changes on iOS 14 remains uncertain, we expect to see an impact starting at the end of the first quarter.’
Facebook warned that pressure from governments could change its financial future
The 36-year-old businessman said he remains optimistic about the next year for the company
Dozens of states and the federal government sued Facebook last month, claiming that the social media giant 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 website after the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill, accusing him of inciting violence.
Zuckerberg said he was optimistic about the coming year.
“I am excited about our product roadmap for 2021, as we build new and meaningful ways to create economic opportunities, build a community and help people have fun,” he said.
Analysts said the results show the resilience of the Palo Alto firm.
“Despite the negative publicity and antitrust cases, it looks like nothing can stop what is arguably the most important advertising platform in the world,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.
Meanwhile, Apple ended 2020 with its most profitable quarter ever, with $ 111.4 billion in sales driven by people upgrading their technology to work from home.
Apple announced on Wednesday that it exceeded $ 100 billion in quarterly revenue
On Wednesday, they announced the results for the first fiscal quarter of 2021, which ended on December 26, 2020.
Profit increased 29%, to $ 28.76 billion, in the three months ended December 31.
Apple shares were up 81 percent in 2020, and were up about 7 percent through Wednesday.
IPhones revenue increased 17% over the previous year, with $ 65.60 billion in sales.
Apple launched four new iPhone 12 models in October – the first to include 5G.
Investors believe that this has created a ‘super cycle’ of users crying out for an update. The new iPhone helped sales increase 57% in China, which has a more developed 5G network.
“They are full of features that customers love and came at exactly the right time, with where the 5G networks were,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
The launch of the iPhone 12 by Tim Cook, pictured, helped boost Apple’s profits
In the United States, the average retail price of the iPhone rose to $ 873 from $ 809 a year ago, driven by buyers gravitating to more expensive versions, according to a customer survey 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.
The category of other Apple products, which includes Apple Watch and headphones like AirPods and Beats, increased 29% from last year, to $ 12.97 billion, even as people spend less time commuting and traveling.
Apple launched a set of high-end headphones, AirPods Pro Max, in December, with a suggested price of $ 549.
Macs and iPads, Apple devices most likely to be used for remote 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.