[단독외신] Netflix’s coronavirus-driven subscriber growth is finally tapering off
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The healthy growth spurt that Netflix has enjoyed this year because of the coronavirus is finally coming to an end.
The video-streaming giant — which has been one of a handful of companies to get a big business boost from the pandemic — on Tuesday posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings and slowing subscriber growth, sending its shares tumbling nearly 6 percent in after-market trades.
The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company said the tapered-off subscriber growth was largely “expected” after it posted “record first half results.” This spring, locked-down consumers turned to Netflix while pro sports leagues shut down, concert tours got canceled and movie-theaters were shuttered because of state-ordered social-distancing rules.
But during the three months ended Sept. 30, Netflix said it added just 2.2 million global subscribers. That missed the 2.5 million additions it had forecasted in July, as well as last year, when it added 6.8 million paid customers.
It’s also sorely short of the 15.8 million and 10.1 million subscribers it added in the first and second quarters. The latest additions bring Netflix’s total subscriber tally to nearly 195.2 million, lower than the 196.2 million, analysts had anticipated.
Netflix shares on Tuesday sank 5.9 percent in after-hours trading to $494.40.
Meanwhile, Netflix executives admitted the company faces heightened competition this fall from a number of new streaming platforms including Disney’s new Disney+ subscription service, as well as AT&T’s HBO Max and NBC’s Peacock.
Looking ahead, the streamer said it expects to add another 6 million paid subscribers in the fourth quarter, lower than the 8.8 million subscribers it netted in the same period a year ago.
In the quarter, profit rose 19 percent to $790 million, or $1.74 a share versus $665 million, or $1.47 a share, a year earlier. Wall Street had forecast profits of $2.13 a share. Revenue rose 23 percent to $6.44 billion.
Co-Chief Executive Officers Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos touted new shows during the quarter, such as dating reality show “Indian Matchmaking,” Darren Star’s “Emily in Paris,” starring Lily Collins and “Cobra Kai,” a series based on “The Karate Kid.”
But ultimately, the execs admitted the pandemic has hit production, which is slowly returning after being shut down since mid-March.
“As the world hopefully recovers in 2021, we would expect that our growth will revert back to levels similar to pre-COVID,” Netflix execs wrote in their letter to shareholders Tuesday.
Netflix said it is has restarted production on some of its biggest titles including season four of “Stranger Things,” action film “Red Notice,” starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds; and season two of fantasy series “The Witcher.”
[단독외신] AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine trial may resume in the US this week
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REUTERS
AstraZeneca may restart a key study of its coronavirus vaccine in the US this week after putting it on hold for more than a month, a new report says.
The Food and Drug Administration has finally finished its review of the severe illness in a study participant that forced AstraZeneca to halt the Phase 3 clinical trial in early September, Reuters reported Tuesday.
That could allow the British drugmaker to forge ahead with the US portion of the study later this week after resuming the trial in the UK, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to the news agency, which cited four sources briefed on the matter.
AstraZeneca put the study on hold last month after a UK participant came down with what was believed to be transverse myelitis, a rare spinal inflammatory condition. British regulators allowed the trial to resume there after finding “insufficient evidence to say for certain” whether the illness was related to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to Reuters.
In a draft letter to the British study participants, vaccine researchers at Oxford University — which is developing the shot with AstraZeneca — wrote that the FDA had “completed their analysis” of the illness and had “come to the same conclusion as the other drug regulators,” Reuters reported.
But an AstraZeneca spokesperson told The Post that the company could not “verify the content” of the document Reuters referenced or comment on a pending FDA decision. The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine is one of four potential coronavirus inoculations currently going through late-stage trials in the US. Johnson & Johnson also had to pause its Phase 3 study last week after an unexplained illness in one of the participants.
Both Pfizer and Moderna expect to have key early results from their vaccine studies by next month and could ask US regulators to approve the shots for emergency use by the end of November.
AstraZeneca shares were down about 0.4 percent in premarket trading Wednesday at $51.99 as of 7:02 a.m.
애플, ‘아이패드 에어’·’아이패드’ 29일 국내 출시
디스플레이 사양은 프로 모델과 비슷하지만, 일부 급을 나눴다. 120Hz 주사율을 지원하지 않으며, 화면 밝기가 최대 500니트로 프로 모델보다 100니트 낮다. 해상도는 2360×1640 수준이다. 프로 11인치 모델은 2388×1668 해상도를 제공한다. P3 와이드 컬러, 트루톤 디스플레이, 반사 방지 코팅 등은 동일하게 적용됐다.
특히, 아이패드 에어 4세대에는 ‘아이폰12’에 앞서 A14 바이오닉 칩이 처음으로 적용됐다. 5나노 공정 기술이 적용됐으며, 6코어 CPU, 4코어 그래픽 아키텍처로 구성됐다. 전작보다 CPU 성능은 40%, GPU 성능은 30% 개선됐다. 또 2세대 머신러닝 가속기가 탑재돼 기존 제품보다 10배 빠른 머신러닝 연산 속도를 제공한다.
폼팩터가 프로 11인치 모델과 같은 만큼 액세서리도 호환된다. ‘애플펜슬 2세대’, ‘매직 키보드’, ‘스마트 키보드 폴리오’ 등을 그대로 이용할 수 있다.
색상은 실버, 스페이스 그레이, 로즈 골드, 그린, 스카이 블루 등 5종으로 구성됐다. 가격은 와이파이 모델이 77만9000원, 셀룰러 모델이 94만9000원부터 시작한다.
동시에 출시되는 ‘아이패드 8세대’는 전작과 같은 폼팩터에 A12 바이오닉 칩을 적용한 제품이다. ‘아이폰XS’ 시리즈에 탑재됐던 프로세서를 적용해 전작보다 CPU 성능은 40%, GPU 성능은 2배 개선했다.
10.2인치 크기의 디스플레이 사양은 전작과 같다. 카메라도 동일하다. 화면 하단의 터치 아이디도 그대로다. 애플펜슬 1세대를 지원하며, 스마트 키보드를 비롯한 나머지 액세서리도 전작과 호환된다.
색상은 실버, 스페이스 그레이, 골드 3종. 가격은 와이파이 모델이 44만9000원, 셀룰러 모델이 61만9000원부터 시작한다.
SKT, 전자문서지갑 서비스, "등본·초본 등 스마트폰으로 발급하세요"
SK텔레콤은 분산신원확인(DID) 앱 ‘이니셜’을 통해 주민등록등본 등 전자증명서를 발급하고 유통하는 전자문서지갑 서비스(사진)를 출시했다고 21일 발표했다.
사진=연합뉴스
이 서비스는 지난달 SK텔레콤과 행정안전부가 체결한 전자증명서 발급·유통시스템 이용 활성화 업무협약에 따라 개발됐다. 정부24 앱에서 희망 증명서를 발급받을 때 전자문서지갑으로 수령하는 방식을 신청하면 이니셜 앱에서 증명서를 조회할 수 있다. 이니셜 앱으로 발급받은 공공증명서는 공공기관과 금융회사, 민간기업에 전자문서 형태로 제출할 수 있다.현재 지원하는 증명서는 행안부 전자문서지갑에서 발급 가능한 주민등록표 등·초본 등 13종이다. 연말까지 국민건강보험공단과 국세청 등의 증명서를 추가해 100여 종으로 늘릴 계획이다. 향후 이니셜 앱에서 직접 증명서를 내려받을 수 있도록 한다는 방침이다.
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