Winners and Losers: Apple’s profits soar while Google loses domain for £2

Need a quick run down of the week’s two top stories in the world of tech? Trusted Reviews’ Winners and Losers has you covered.

Even since the Apple AirTags and the purple iPhone 12 were announced, these two products have been the basis of much discussion amongst the Trusted Reviews team, right at a time where Apple seems to be dominating the news cycle. New products aside, Apple had some unbelievable stats to share with how its products have performed in 2021 – and they’ll likely surprise you.

Unfortunately, the news hasn’t been quite so kind to Google, which saw a major faux pas this week as the tech giant somehow managed to let one of its biggest domains slip through its fingers for a comically low price.

Winner: Apple

Hot off the heels of its Spring Loaded event, Apple is the talk of the town for showing off the new M1 powered iPad Pro, as well as the divisive, yet wonderfully colourful new iMac 2021 range. But the company has scored a massive win I don’t think anyone saw coming.

Just a few days ago, Apple revealed its financial reports for the first quarter of 2021 and somehow – in the midst of a pandemic – the company has seen a whopping 54% increase in revenue over the same quarterly period last year. If you want your brain to explode, then know this equates to £89.6 billion in revenue.

Breaking these figures down, iPhone sales saw a major increase of 64% compared to the same quarter last year, which goes to show just how popular the iPhone 12 has been with consumers. Although with an improved camera system and a design that mirrors the now iconic iPhone 5, it’s easy to see why these new handsets have been a hit.

Apple noted its services division also played a huge role in these sales figures, taking in an eye-watering 16.9 billion. Apple has invested heavily in cultivating a wide range of services, with the likes of Apple One, Apple TV Plus and Apple Fitness Plus, so this could be a key indicator of consumer trends going forward.

Loser: Google

When you think of Google, what’s the image that pops into your head? Personally, I like to visualise the tech giant as some lumbering behemoth – an all-powerful Godzilla being that could unleash havoc at a moment’s notice. What I never expected to see is Google lose one of its key domains to an individual, and all for the small sum of £2 – yet that’s exactly what happened this week.

Following a random outage of Google’s Argentinian domain, one Nicolas Kuroña took it upon himself to see what might be causing the issue. Checking with the Network Information Center Argentina (NIC), Kuroña actually found that Google’s local site was available to buy for a measly 270 pesos, which roughly equates to £2.

Doing what any reasonable person would do, Kuroña purchased the domain to see if it could actually be done… and it worked. For a short while, Kuroña owned one of Argentina’s most popular websites, which is not bad for the price he paid. Jokes aside, it is almost unreal to think that Google’s seemingly impenetrable armour could be pierced so easily.

As you can imagine, Kuroña’s ownership of the domain didn’t last very long, with the site clawed back fairly quickly once the error was made known. At present, there’s still no explanation as to why this happened, particularly as Google supposedly had the domain locked down until July 2021, but it does sound like a fantastic premise for a new comedy. Excuse me whilst I try to buy Twitter and redirect everyone to my Soundcloud.
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