| | SEPTEMBER, 20249TECH MINTAccording to reports, Tech giant Apple names insider Kevan Parekh as its chief financial officer, replacing company veteran Luca Maestri who will transition from the role on Jan. 1, 2025.This change in leadership comes ahead of Apple's multiple product launches this fall season, which analysts call the biggest software upgrade for the iPhone.This is crucial for Apple as it seeks to reverse the slowdown in global sales, especially in China, and become more competitive with rivals rolling out AI upgrades.Parekh, who has been with Apple for over a decade and joins the company's executive committee, most recently served as vice president of financial planning and analysis."It appears that the transition to the new CFO is planned and orderly, which is the most important question. Maestri staying on with Apple is also very important, as it removes the risk of financial questions," D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria says."(Parekh) will need to continue the prudent capital management, but may also be tasked with restarting Apple's exploration of complementary acquisitions," adds Davidson.According to the company, Maestri will continue to lead the corporate services teams, including information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development, reporting to CEO Tim Cook."Apple filling the role with an internal candidate should make the transition a bit smoother any change of this magnitude does create some level of uncertainty, especially given the consistency and the history of execution from Maestri," says Piper Sandler analysts.Earlier this month, Apple announced that third-quarter iPhone sales exceeded expectations, and despite the disappointing performance of its overall China business, the company expects further gains as it bets on artificial intelligence to attract buyers.Over the past few years, iPhone sales have slowed due to a lack of significant upgrades to new models and competition from Android-based smartphone brands that offer high-end specifications at lower prices. Zomato announced shutting down of its intercity Legends, a service that transported famous Indian delicacies from 10 towns throughout the nation.Previously, the food delivery giant temporarily halted the service in July and relaunched it with some changes to increase order profitability, but the service has now been canceled.The move to close its Intercity Legends is believed to be in response to Zomato's efforts to expand into other related industries in an effort to strengthen its position in the market and increase income.When Intercity Legends was launched in 2022, it was said that there was no minimum order amount.Therefore, the food delivery giant added a minimum order value of Rs.5000 to increase profitability.Still, Zomato could not see any financial benefit to the project.Deepinder Goyal, co-founder and group CEO of Zomato, confirmed the closure in a tweet on X, stating, "After two years of trying and not finding product-market fit (PMF), we have decided to shut down the service with immediate effect."Following previous pilots, Zomato terminated Xtreme, a logistics service that let retailers deliver and receive small packages due to unsatisfactory outcomes.Currently, the food delivery giant is investing resources and time in other divisions in the interim.As Zomato strives to expand its reach into the 'going-out' category and Paytm tries to concentrate on its core financial services products, the two companies announced on August 21 that Zomato will buy Paytm's entertainment and ticketing company for Rs 2,048 crore in an all-cash deal.The service's third avatar was the most recent iteration, which debuted in 2022. Here, Zomato went back to delivering straight from restaurants rather than stocking food goods, but they now charge Rs 5,000 for the service.The business modified the model in its second iteration so that pre-stocked things could be delivered faster from other cities.Zomato recorded a net profit of Rs 253 crore for the April-June quarter, up from Rs 2 crore in the same period last year, despite a 74 percent increase in operating revenue to Rs 4,206 crore.The company's quick-commerce vertical Blinkit and its business-to-business (b2B) groceries supply segment Hyperpure were the main drivers of its first-quarter sales growth. APPLE NAMES INSIDER KEVAN PAREKH AS ITS CFOZOMATO TO CLOSE ITS INTERCITY LEGENDS SERVICE
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