6 Most Important Things in Business Today

July 10, 2018 by Douglas A. McIntyre

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) will lower prices on a PC to compete with one from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). According to MarketWatch:

Microsoft Corp. is cutting prices on its Surface devices, introducing a $399 tablet to compete with Apple Inc.’s least-expensive iPads.

The new 10-inch Surface Go, which ships Aug. 2 in the U.S. and two dozen other markets, is the least costly among the five Surface devices that Microsoft makes. The Surface Go is aimed at the same potential buyers as Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad, which starts at $329.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is setting up another self-driving car joint venture in China. According to MarketWatch:

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG said Tuesday that it will join forces with Baidu Inc. to develop autonomous-driving technology in China.

As part of the agreement, BMW said it will take a seat on the board of Baidu’s autonomous-driving platform Apollo. Since launching in July 2017, Baidu has signed up more than 100 technology and automotive companies to participate in the platform, including Ford Motor Co. Daimler AG and Intel Corp.

As a trade war increases some car prices in China, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) has opted to raise what it charges for its two models. According to Reuters:

U.S. carmaker Tesla Inc has hiked prices on its Model X and S cars by about 20 percent in China, becoming the first automaker to raise prices in the world’s largest automotive market in response to a U.S.-China trade war.

The move is the first indication of how much higher Chinese tariffs on certain U.S. imports will flow through to showroom floors, with other automakers likely to follow suit or shift a greater portion of production to China

YouTube has a plan to fight misleading videos. According to CNNMoney:

The problem crops up almost every time there’s a big breaking news story: People post videos full of misinformation on YouTube. Whether the “fake news” makers are trying to spread propaganda, or just make a quick buck, the effect is the same: The videos end up confusing users who just want accurate information.

Now YouTube says it’s taking action against this kind of exploitation of breaking news situations.

“We’re making changes to put more authoritative content in front of people,” YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan told reporters on Monday.

At a press event in New York, the world’s biggest video website outlined a number of improvements and investments, all designed to show that it is an ally of news publishers.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) will have a much larger footprint in India. According to CNNMoney:

Disney’s bet on Fox could soon give it a vast TV network and the leading video streaming service in a market of more than one billion people.

If its blockbuster deal to buy most of 21st Century Fox goes through, Disney will gain a new audience of more than 700 million people in India, one of the world’s hottest media markets.

The president attacked several big pharmaceutical companies for raising prices. According to The New York Post:

President Trump slammed Pfizer and other drug-makers on Monday for raising prices on medicines, saying they should be “ashamed” of taking “advantage of the poor” and warned, “We will respond!”

“Pfizer & others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason. They are merely taking advantage of the poor & others unable to defend themselves, while at the same time giving bargain basement prices to other countries in Europe & elsewhere,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “We will respond!”

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