Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft’s overall business is still going strong, even though it’s not seeing the shockingly huge profit growth it saw last year. In its Q2 earnings report today, company reported revenue of $51.7 billion (up 20 percent from last year) with profits of $18.8 billion (up 21 percent). As usual, Microsoft has its unstoppable cloud business to thank, as well as a decent showing from its PC group, Office and other business products. Its Intelligent Cloud business grew by 26 percent, reaching $18.3 billion, while its Productivity and Business group saw revenues increase by 19 percent to reach $15.9 billion.

There weren’t any true major weak links this quarter — even Surface revenue, which Microsoft previously expected to dip a bit, grew by 8 percent thanks to strong Surface Laptop sales. Windows OEM revenues also increased by 25 percent, not a huge surprise since the overall PC industry is still going strong. Where the PC business goes, Microsoft’s revenues will follow, after all. When it comes to Office, the company says its consumer revenue increased by 15 percent, and that it has reached 56.4 million Microsoft 365 subscribers.

While Microsoft’s earnings reports have basically looked the same over the last few years — Cloud good! Revenues grow! — the company’s numbers will look a bit different once it finalizes its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023. At the very least, we’ll get to see how much the new Microsoft Gaming division actually helps (or hurts) Microsoft’s overall business.

Back in 2020, NVIDIA announced that they would be acquiring ARM. For those unfamiliar, ARM is the company behind the architecture of chipsets used by many companies such as Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, MediaTek, Huawei, and so on. Acquiring ARM would essentially give NVIDIA “control” over the tech and open up a ton of possibilities for the company’s future.

However, NVIDIA’s plan to acquire ARM was met with a lot of opposition, not just from other tech companies, but from governments as well. So much so that according to a Bloomberg report, the company could simply just end up walking away from the deal. The report says that NVIDIA has apparently told its partners that they do not expect the transaction to close.

The report also revealed that Softbank, who is currently ARM’s owner, is planning on taking the company public which could be another sign that the deal could fall through or has already fallen through and Softbank is now looking for alternatives.

Neither NVIDIA or Softbank have confirmed whether or not the reports are true, but in a statement made by NVIDIA, “We continue to hold the views expressed in detail in our latest regulatory filings — that this transaction provides an opportunity to accelerate Arm and boost competition and innovation.”

NVIDIA Could Be Walking Away From ARM Deal

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After its president TM Roh teased “the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created”, Samsung is announcing today when we can learn more. The next Galaxy Unpacked event, which is the company’s first this year, will happen virtually on Wednesday, February 9th at 10am ET (7am PT). You’ll be able to watch the event on Samsung’s website, though Engadget will also have our own livestream with a pre- and post-show Q&A to discuss the news. 

Samsung is expected to unveil the next S-series flagship then, and if it doesn’t drastically change the naming standard it’s been using for the last few years, we should be seeing the Galaxy S22. Based on the rumor mill, there might not be many huge upgrades in the next-gen product. The most significant improvement could be an onboard slot for the S Pen and a blockier design, which would spell the death of the Note line. 

Other reports suggest the new Ultra variant might start out with less RAM than last year’s model, offering 8GB at the base level compared to the S21 Ultra’s 12GB. There could also be a 50-megapixel camera on the regular S22s, up from the S21’s 12-megapixel sensors. 

We won’t know the full details until Samsung officially confirms them come February 9th. You can tune in to the company’s stream directly, but if you want to chat and react live with us before and after the show, come join us on the Engadget YouTube channel instead. It should be an illuminating time. 

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