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The Tech Media Minute: Amazon Prime Day, Pokémon Go and Declining Mac Sales

The hottest stories in tech
The World Around You
July 12, 2016

On this Tuesday, we’ve good news and bad news for Apple. We also highlight Amazon Prime Day.

Top stories

Top stories

Top stories

Amazon Prime Day is here

Today, July 12 is the second annual Amazon Prime Day. Like on Black Friday, there are plenty of deals available — if you can find them. Thankfully, there are plenty of sites highlighting the best deals now available, including:

Our advice: Before making a purchase, visit CamelCamelCamel and be sure that today’s price is actually a good deal. Also, visit Amazon this afternoon when many of its electronics deals go online.

Why Apple loves Pokémon Go too

We already told you just how important the incredibly popular Pokémon Go game has become to Nintendo’s bottom line. Now Bloomberg reports that Apple is actually making more money on the game.

Pokémon Go is free to play. However, in-app purchases are available, for which Apple gets the company’s customary 30 percent cut. The rest is divided up between the game’s three creators, which includes Nintendo, Google’s Niantic, and Pokémon.

As David Gibson from Macquarie Capital Securities notes:

“We presume that out of every 100 units earned at the App Store, 30 would go to Apple, 30 to [software developer] Niantic, 30 to Pokemon and 10 to Nintendo.”

Pokémon Go is currently available in the Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. It’s expected to launch in other countries in the coming days.

See also: Why did Google get rid of the company behind Pokémon Go? (Re/Code)

Apple needs new Macs, right now

One look at MacRumor’s Buyer’s Guide tells the story: It’s been a long time since Apple refreshed its Mac lineup. Therefore, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Mac sales are falling.

According to IDC, worldwide PC shipments in the second quarter of 2016 were down 4.5 percent, totaling 62.4 million units. Apple’s take, however, fell much more, down 8.3 percent year over year. This was good enough for fifth place worldwide behind Lenovo, HP Inc., Dell, and ASUS.

Don't Buy

Don't Buy

Credit: MacRumors

Apple is expected to refresh the company’s Mac lineup this fall.

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On this day

On this day

On this day

Today, July 12 is Different Colored Eyes Day and Pecan Pie Day.

The GeekWire Sports Tech Summit  begins in Seattle, Washington.

Rewind: On this day in 1960, the first Etch-a-Sketch game went on sale.

Extra reading

Extra reading

Extra reading

The Tech Media Minute is published Monday through Friday on AppAdvice.