Beijing’s zero-COVID policy wreaks havoc on the global supply chain: Lockdowns in Shenzhen and Dongguan make it harder and more expensive for retailers like Amazon and Walmart to deliver goods to overseas shoppers.

Meta uses fitness data to tap into Apple’s ecosystem: Bringing the metaverse’s fitness stats into Apple Health via Oculus headsets helps Apple users close their activity rings and gives Meta synergy with a larger user ecosystem.

Netflix is practically synonymous with video streaming in the US, with 76% of US teens and adults surveyed using the platform. Amazon Prime Video is the next most popular service, used by 64%, while Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max round out the top five.

Major brands weigh the benefits of staying in the Russian market: Airbnb wins the brand reputation game, while Uniqlo and Shell may have misjudged the situation.

Apple

New data collection strategies emerge from Apple’s privacy update: Advertisers and publishers are turning to ecommerce, direct mail, and other means to enhance their first-party information, our recent report finds.

Tide is turning for tech unionization: The rise of digital media alongside a tight labor market, inflation, and wage stagnation prompts news tech workers to organize. How far behind is Big Tech?

Can membership programs provide a new revenue stream for retailers? Best Buy and Walmart are taking a page from Amazon Prime and AppleCare as they build out their programs.

Intel leads consortium for chiplet production: AMD, Qualcomm, Arm, TSMC, and Samsung make up a dream team of silicon producers, but the exclusion of Nvidia and Apple raises questions.

Four of the top US streaming services spent a record-smashing total of $11.15 billion on original content in 2021 as each platform vied to draw—and keep—subscribers. Netflix laid out $6.08 billion, more than the other three services combined. Amazon Prime Video grew its spending the fastest, by 105%, in a play for Netflix’s title as the leading subscription video streamer.

Big Tech faces dilemma in Russia-Ukraine conflict: While rushing to get refugees to safety, companies debate remaining neutral, which would seem like compliance with Russia, or leveling sanctions and risking retribution from the Kremlin.

Spotify overtook Apple Podcasts as the biggest US podcast platform in 2021, when the Swedish company drew 28.3 million monthly US podcast listeners, about 200,000 more than its rival did. Come 2025, Spotify’s lead will widen to 13.2 million, while Apple’s growth in the sector will all but stagnate.

On today's episode, we discuss whether Donald Trump's new "Truth Social" platform can make some noise, Facebook rebranding the News Feed, whether LinkedIn is the best social network, Uber and Lyft's rebound, how Apple changed Facebook, an unpopular opinion about Disney, where Valentine's Day came from, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of forecasting Oscar Orozco and analysts Blake Droesch and Peter Vahle.

The rollout of AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5 effectively deprecated the primary way publishers and advertisers track users on iOS and changed how the mobile ad industry approaches monetization and measurement.

The 2021 holiday season saw the highest retail growth in 20 years, setting the stage for a solid 2022 holiday season.

Apple's introduction of AppTrackingTransparency in iOS 14.5 changed how the mobile app industry approaches monetization and measurement. Here’s what you should know about the changes, along with best practices for mobile publishers and advertisers.

Unionization efforts pose a challenge to brands’ images: Labor efforts at Amazon, Apple, REI, and Starbucks show a side of these popular brands that could turn off consumers.

Apple’s 2021 privacy updates have advertisers approaching iOS with caution and accelerating their investment in Android. Last May, soon after the changes rolled out, US Meta ad spending rose at about the same pace on both types of devices. By the end of December, growth on iOS had slowed to 3% year over year, while Android’s soared to 101%.

On today's episode, we discuss how Apple's new Tap to Pay feature will disrupt the payments world. Then for "In Other News," we talk about the impact of American Express' new checking account and what will happen now that buy now, pay later firm Afterpay is integrated with Block (formerly Square). Tune in to the discussion with VP of content and head of financial services Daniel Van Dyke and our analyst Jaime Toplin.