Mobile World Live (MWL) brings you our top three picks of the week as Bharti Global struck a deal to buy a big chunk of BT Group, Google drenches Pixel 9 phones in AI and Cisco trimmed its headcount by 7 per cent.
Bharti Global to become major shareholder in BT
What happened: Bharti Global shook hands with Altice to acquire its 24.5 per cent stake in BT Group, a move CEO Allison Kirkby claimed was a vote of confidence in the UK telecoms giant.
Why it matters: CCS Insights analyst Joe Gardiner stated “Kirkby’s strategy of cost-cutting measures has resonated with investors, who have gone from shorting shares to having major international backers within a few months.” He explained while the UK government may want to investigate the deal based on national security grounds, “Bharti should be confident of no issues given that the Vodafone-Three merger cleared a significant hurdle”.
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Google cooks up more AI advances in Pixel 9 range
What happened: Google got the drop on Apple’s planned iPhone 16 release next month by announcing four Pixel 9 smartphones infused with its Gemini AI.
Why it matters: CCS Insight chief analyst Ben Wood stated the Pixel 9 series was a strong update from Google and “we expect momentum around its devices to continue”. “Although Pixel products still cater for a niche audience their reach is growing as they become available in more markets and sales continue to grow positively in regions such as North America and Europe,” he noted.
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Cisco cuts 7% of staff, realigns portfolio
What happened: Last week’s rumour that Cisco planned a second-round of layoffs proved to be true. It announced a restructuring plan which involved cutting its global staff of 90,400 by 7 per cent, a loss of more than 6,300 jobs while CEO Chuck Robbins detailed a move to merge its networking, security and collaboration teams into one unit.
Why it matters: Robbins and his executive team explained the job cuts were part of a pivot towards bigger investments across AI, cloud and cybersecurity. On the earnings call for fiscal Q4 2024, Robbins stated Cisco hit a $1 billion run rate for AI in the webscale sector.
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