With New Product Launch, Intel Takes a Page from the Nvidia Playbook 🐒

It looks like gone are the days when a new generation of hardware actually meant a new generation of hardware.

Take the recent launch of the Apple iPhone 15, for example. Despite the fanfare surrounding the launch, is it really all that much better than its predecessor? Or, Nvidia's 40 series graphic cards, which weren't necessarily the generational leap the company made it out to be.

And then, of course, you have AMD's 7000 series cards, which were found to perform just as well, if not poorer, than the older generation 6000 series cards.

This is a troubling pattern; yet, it hasn't stopped any of the tech majors from stepping in and bringing their house into order. With others behaving this way, can you really blame Intel for joining the list of companies that simply slap on a new code to hardware and call it a day?

Yes, Team Blue launched their 14 series of processors last week, and boy, where do we even begin with this one. As Gamer Nexus jokingly called it, "The new generation-less generational improvement.. Generationally," the 14-series processors are simply a refresh of the preceding 13-series processors.

Not only do they perform just the way their preceding processors did, they also cost just about the same, with one key difference: they chug a LOT of power. So what even is the point of these "new" product launches anymore? In Intel's case, it just might be its swan song for the LGA 1700 platform as it gears up for a new class of processors produced at scale using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines at its $18.5 billion plant in Ireland.

Whether the 15-series processors will be good, only time will tell.

Tesla, X, and Everything in Between 🚗

It was Musk season again this past week, with one or the other of the billionaire's companies in the news.

Kicking off with some earnings news this past week, Tesla reported a decline in its third-quarter 2023 earnings: 66 cents per share versus the $1.05 per share it reported in the same quarter a year ago.

The carmaker saw its profit decline despite generating more in sales during the three month period ending Sept. 30, 2023: $23.4 billion versus the $21.5 billion it generated in the third quarter of 2022.

Tesla blamed an increase in expenses for the drop in profits. A quick glance of the company's income statement showed Tesla's operating expenses went up 43% year over year to $2.41 billion as the company ramped up costs due to the Cybertruck, AI, and other R&D projects.

The Cybertruck is supposedly scheduled to begin deliveries on Nov. 30 but Musk has been a little shifty on the whole thing, telling investors that Tesla had dug its own grave with the vehicle presumably because of how soon it could ramp up production.

Meanwhile, Musk's X is planning to test out a basic subscription model requiring users to pay $1 annually for basic functionalities like the ability to like, repost or quote other accounts' posts, and bookmarking posts on the web version of the platform, Reuters reported.

The company also plans to launch two new tiers of premium subscriptions as it figures out ways to monetize the platform.

Of the two tiers, one would be a lower cost with all features but no reduction in ads, while a more expensive version will come with no ads baked in.

Tesla ranked #3 on HackerNoon's tech company rankings this week. X, formerly known as Twitter, ranked #20.

In Other News.. 📰

• Tinder now lets mom pick your next date — via The Verge.
• Crypto's role in terrorist financing — via Reuters.
• OpenAI Is in Talks to Sell Shares at $86 Billion Valuation — via Bloomberg.
• Humanoid robots face a major test with Amazon’s Digit pilots — via TechCrunch.
• Nokia says it will cut up to 14,000 jobs — via CNN.
• Anthropic tests AI rules for the people, by the people — via Axios.
• Okta shares fall 11% after company says client files were accessed by hackers via its support system — via CNBC.

And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️

— Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon

*All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page.