Category: Technology

Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday, driven by robust demand for Google Cloud services and continued strength in digital advertising. The search and AI giant has simultaneously raised its full-year capital expenditure (capex) guidance to approximately $85 billion, up from the prior $75 billion target, and signaled further increases for 2026 as it scales data centers and network capacity. Cloud Revenue Fuels Earnings BeatRevenue from Google Cloud jumped nearly 32% year-over-year—well above Wall Street’s 26.5% growth forecast—helping to propel Alphabet past analysts’ estimates for both sales and profit. Chief Executive Sundar Pichai highlighted the company’s expanding portfolio of AI tools, custom TPUs (Tensor Processing Units), and GPU offerings as key drivers of cloud adoption. Alphabet’s cloud customer count rose 28% quarter-over-quarter, underlining that enterprise demand continues to outpace the company’s capacity to deploy servers fast enough. Aggressive Capex Increase Surprises InvestorsThe announcement of a $10 billion boost to 2025 capex surprised many on the post-earnings analyst call. Portfolio manager Dave Wagner of Aptus Capital Advisors remarked that while Google delivered “an easy beat,” the increased spending offset some of the quarter’s positive momentum. Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi assured investors that capital outlays will climb further in 2026 to support data-center expansion and next-generation AI infrastructure. Advertising Remains SteadyAlphabet’s core advertising business also showed resilience, with ad revenue up 10.4% to $71.3 billion, topping expectations of $69.5 billion. Executives cited the success of new AI-driven search features—such as AI Overviews and AI Mode, which has already reached 100 million monthly active users—as bolstering engagement and insulating Google from competition by standalone chatbots like ChatGPT. Strategic AI Partnerships and Competitive PositioningIn a notable coup for Alphabet, OpenAI recently added Google Cloud as a capacity supplier alongside Microsoft Azure, providing further validation of Google’s AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, Google’s own AI chatbot, Gemini, has surpassed 450 million monthly users. These developments underscore Alphabet’s emphasis on AI as the central growth engine for both cloud and consumer-facing products. Balancing Growth and ProfitabilityDespite investor concerns that heavy AI and cloud investments could pressure near-term margins, Alphabet and its peers maintain that such capex is essential to remain competitive—particularly against fast-evolving rivals in China and mounting pressure from regulatory and geopolitical challenges. The company’s leadership argues that sustained investment now will unlock new revenue streams and improve user experiences across search, advertising, and cloud platforms.

India has undergone a remarkable transformation in its mobile phone sector, emerging as the world’s third-largest exporter of mobile phones. In 2024 alone, the country exported mobile phones worth USD 20.5 billion—a dramatic leap from just USD 0.2 billion in 2017-18. This phenomenal growth is the focus of a new study by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), led by Professor C. Veeramani, which attributes this shift to strategic policy interventions and deeper integration into global value chains. The pivotal moment came with the launch of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in 2020, designed to boost large-scale electronics manufacturing and exports. The study describes India’s journey as mirroring that of other successful Asian economies—achieving scale first, followed by increasing value addition over time. With mobile phone manufacturing serving as a blueprint, experts believe India is now well-positioned to replicate this model across the broader electronics sector. From Imports to Export Dominance Back in 2014-15, India relied heavily on imports to satisfy domestic mobile phone demand. However, by 2024-25, exports surged to USD 24.1 billion—marking a staggering 11,950% increase in less than a decade. This shift signifies a structural change in India’s manufacturing landscape, where export volume has surpassed domestic consumption—an uncommon feat among developing economies. The country has maintained a strong positive net export trend in mobile phones since 2018-19. Rising Domestic Value Addition One of the most encouraging findings of the CDS study is the steady rise in Domestic Value Addition (DVA), both direct and indirect. Total DVA accounted for 23% of the sector’s production value in 2022-23, exceeding USD 10 billion. Direct value addition grew by 283%, while indirect value addition—including inputs from local suppliers and service providers—soared by 604%. Job Creation and Better Wages The boom in mobile phone manufacturing has also had a transformative effect on India’s labour market. According to Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data, the sector now employs over 17 lakh people as of 2022-23. Notably, jobs linked directly to exports have grown more than 33 times during this period. Export-oriented roles are also seeing significant wage increases, indicating that the benefits of the sector’s growth are reaching workers through improved income and expanded employment opportunities. With these successes, India’s mobile phone sector stands as a shining example of how thoughtful policy, global integration, and domestic capability-building can combine to create a globally competitive manufacturing hub.