1. Record Holiday Season for Amazon
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Amazon soon would be there.
During this holiday season, “tens of millions of people worldwide” signed up for Amazon Prime, and in the U.S. alone, more than 1B products were shipped using Prime according to the tech giant itself. Of all these items sold, 50% came from small and medium-sized businesses, with some of the most popular items being the L.O.L Surprise Glitter Series Doll, Bose Corp. wireless headphones and Calvin Klein clothes. To prepare for Christmases to come, Amazon is adding a fleet of 10 cargo jets to help deliver its packages, lessening the need for third-party delivery companies. Currently, Amazon leases 40 jets, potentially adding 17 more jets by 2025. FedEx and UPS could lose 10% of their revenue to Amazon Air by 2025, as Amazon has already spent $18.6B on shipping costs this year, a 30% increase compared to 2017.
2. Snapchat Adds Lenses for Pets
Even though Snapchat’s value has dropped from its $31B peak to its current $6.5B value, Lenses (“filters”) still continue to be the leading feature in the app. Back in October, Snapchat added Lenses for cat lovers and most recently, they have added Lenses for dogs, underlining their continuously improved AI technology. Their free desktop app, Lens Studio, has seen over 250K Lenses submitted by devs and viewed by over 15B Snapchatters. However, Snapchat continues to face companies imitating their signature Stories feature, including Instagram and WeChat. WeChat recently introduced a Time Capsule feature, 15-second clips that friends can watch for 24 hours. 3 snaps and you’re out.
(Source: Engadget, Fast Company)
3. Best Christmas Ever — SNL
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas with their friends and family. A Christmas video starting to go viral is by SNL. Matt Damon and Cecily Strong humorously sit down to reflect on the not so joyous parts of this holiday season. Below is the video with the ending tagline: Even when your Christmas is the worst. It’s the Best. Happy Holidays!
