Tech Roundup: Apple, Intel, Microsoft lead growing tech boycott against Russia

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The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to color everything else in business in general, and tech in particular this week, as several tech giants threw their weight behind the worldwide effort to punish Moscow economically.

Among major tech leaders, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it has canceled or suspended all business operations and sales in Russia, including halting sales online and through third-party retailers, and ceasing all shipments of products to the country.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) also said it has suspended all product shipments to Russia and its ally, Belarus, and that its employees and charitable foundation have so far raised $1.2 million for Ukrainian relief efforts. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) also said it has stopped selling ads for search products, YouTube and outside publishing partners in Russia.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) said on Friday that it has put the brakes on all new sales of its products and services in Russia, and that it is taking an active role in helping Ukrainian cybersecurity officials defend against Russian attacks.

Music streaming and podcasting giant Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) said it has closed its office in Russia "indefinitely" and removed all content from the Moscow-supported RT and Sputnik media networks.

On Friday, videogame giant Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) said it will no longer sell its titles in Russia and Belarus. The company had already removed the Russian and Belarus national teams from its FIFA soccer and NHL videogame titles.

And the Washington Post reported that Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI), a key provider of Internet service to Russia, has cut off access to the country.

While the Russia-Ukraine war took the spotlight all week, there were other notable tech matters that occurred that were not connected to the conflict.

Disney (NYSE:DIS) confirmed that it will add an ad-supported option to its Disney+ streaming service later this year. Prices were not disclosed, but it would not be a surprise for the new service to come with a price tag less than the current Disney+ fee of $7.99 a month.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which is in the process of acquiring MGM Studios (OTC:MGMB) for $8.5 billion, is said to be pressing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to make a decision on the deal by the middle of this month.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) said it is expanding further into programming with interactive features by adding a new daily trivia show called Trivia Quest on April 1.

Speaking of Netflix (NFLX)...Anyone looking for Marvel shows such as The Punisher and Jessica Jones came up empty as those series left the streaming TV leader on March 1. Those Marvel shows are headed to Disney+ (DIS) starting March 16.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) got a lift, as its shares climbed 4% on Friday after the communications chipmaker reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.

And in a sign of normalcy beginning to return as the Covid-19 pandemic wanes, several tech leaders updated their plans for employees to return to the office on at least a semi-regular basis.

Apple (AAPL) has set an April 11 date for office employees to start coming back to company facilitie one day a week, and working up to three days a week by May 23.

Google (GOOG) said it will end its full-time work-from-home policies and that employees will be expected to be in company offices for three days a week starting April 4.

Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) Chief Executive Parag Agrawal said the social-media company would re-open its offices starting March 15, but it is not requiring its employees to be at their office desks for a set number of days a week.

Comments

[md#23]

Ukrainians fight Russians defensively trying to protect their right to fight them offensively later. Russians fire weapons trying to help Ukrainians to start loving them. The level of sanity is ideal for a tech boycott.

Unless the boycott is followed by providing the folks in Russia with arms and ammo, say from space, it will influence nothing directly. However, enough has been done already to eliminate any chance that Russians, at least those above the work for food level, demonstrate a sympathetic reaction to anything, and I mean exactly anything, that may happen to any side of the conflict, be it Russian elite, or Ukrainians, or the West, or technological companies. But who cares?

Regardless of the outcome of the war, Russians will pay piles of cash for inferior technology and consider themselves lucky for decades to come. I cannot imagine any way to do so without profiting somebody. Can that backfire? Something similar had been done to Germans once, as seen from 2022 that did not backfire.

[Ice_Kold]

Won't change much. French, Chinese and a plethora of other companies remain and do business there. It's just the Anglosphere companies that are pulling out. The void will be filled and money flows to those that remain.

[bet727]

@Ice_Kold True.

[Tarheeboy9712]

Russia could care less!!!

[Ludo5312]

It is good to see that the crippling sanctions got the attention of the kremlin boys from day 1 when the Nord Stream2 project got (temporarily) shelved. When the major banks and that 'fantastic war chest' (central bank reserves in Moscow got blocked) they are now labelled an act of war (in a very peaceful , yet extremely effective way).
The really nice surprise is that nearly every company dealing with Russia has, finally, decided to do the right thing.
This is not just a war on Ukraine. This is a war on Western values, democracy and rule of law. Western values are embraced by all the Kremlin boys. Democracy and rule of law is in a criminal and corrupt environment highly undesirable.

[PanicFirst]

@Ludo5312 Ukraine is also a corrupt state, so not sure I should care one way or the other...

[Ludo5312]

@PanicFirst If you just go by corrupt states, you many have forgotten that there is an aggressor and a war monster in the kremlin on the loose.
But I do understand that some do not 'care one way or the other'...
Some are indeed completely devoid of any values. Some are simply to stupid to understand basic human value. I guess like you I have met sociopaths and psychopaths and those that tick nearly all the boxes.

[C185]

@Ludo5312
This has nothing to do with Western values and everything to do with virtue signaling to the Woke mob that loves pointless wars.

Ukraine is a corrupt kleptocracy run by oligarchs, many with their own militias. If Ukraine were next to Afghanistan we'd call them warlords.

Zelensky is just a young fresh face to front a corrupt regime, and he's been on the take just like those behind him.

seekingalpha.com/...

None of these sanctions are going to do anything. The EU and US will continue to import Russian energy and payments will continue to flow to Russia.

[PanicFirst]

Is pulling all your influence to normal citizens actually a good thing? This war likely lasts months if not years...

[Ludo5312]

@PanicFirst Frankly, some have no clue or understanding of how putin's regime has been brain washing poorly educated Russians on an excessive tv diet.

[m63333]

@PanicFirst I would think it’s more likely to be over tomorrow or Monday

[Pete Samuel]

All these companies can do much more to squeeze Russia. And they must do it now. Even if it means destroying the hardware & software they sold to Russia!

[Ludo5312]

@Pete Samuel No need to destroy hardware. Rendering the software useless (temporarily) will do the trick.

[milehr]

@Pete Samuel I hope you wrote them a letter with your brilliant plan, as they may not have people on this board reading your posts.

[User 52335558]

I have a strong feeling that once Russia demilitarizes Ukraine and no longer feels NATO/USA being a future border risk, all these sanctions will magically disappear and planes will be flying over Siberia again. Hopefully for the people of Russia that is sooner rather than later.

[Ludo5312]

@inick2005i Frankly only trolls can 'demilitarize' Ukraine. Then are some brain dead people too. But my money is on Russian trolls. They used to be clever and brutal. One gets the impression that putin now has a bunch of yobbos working. His standards have gone through the gutter down.

[rochapeau]

@inick2005i You forgot the "denazify" word invented by Putin. My understanding is that this means killing Ukrainian kids who are born Nazis according to the crazy maniac in charge of Russia.

[GR Value]

I pray that Putin stops and that the sanctions are lifted sooner rather than later, because if this drags on they'll never be lifted and this will not be good. But at the same time, every company worldwide should not do business with a genocidal regime that attempts to destroy or steal a sovereign country in the modern day.

Putin has shown no willingness to act sane. NATO was never and is never a threat. They are defensive. They are only a threat against aggressive or territory invasion. If Putin believes that he has a right to invade territories then there is no helping him.

Until then, no oil or commerce should take place within Russia whatsoever, sadly. Not just tech but all trade whatsoever should cease. Russia can do the same or decide what to do that is their right.

[Ludo5312]

@GR Value The day putin is no longer and IF the new regime will do the only right thing to do, the sanctions are lifted the next day. That is the big advantage of sanctions. The kremlin was told in advance they would be crippling, but nobody could expect that almost all companies did the right thing, and faster than little kremlin criminals could image.

[GR Value]

@Ludo5312 Not enough. They should have no exports except to China if China wants them. We shouldn't do business in anything they export. Of course this isn't the Russian people so as soon as crazy people either stop or are retired, then we should lift the sanctions in increments and normalize relations and rebuild Ukraine obviously. The Russian oligarchs should fund it.

[Ludo5312]

@GR Value Maybe review how sanctions were lifted in the past?
As for the property the oligarchs have in the West (that kind of world they hate, except for ridicules houses, football clubs, castles and yachts) , it probably may be enough to rebuild large parts of Ukraine and provide much needed upgrading of infrastructure.
PS Some of the stuff Russia export is also essential for Western industry... and they know it.

[Moneymngr]

Let’s see what they do when China takes Taiwan.

[Pete Samuel]

@Moneymngr I agree with you. And China is watching what’s going on in Ukraine!

[Blowback2]

@Moneymngr I think Taiwan is much better armed than Ukraine. And the Chinese know that if we put in place the same sanctions that are being applied to Russia it will wreck their economy. Russia doesn't really need the US economically. China most definitely does. Also: there's the matter of that water barrier .

[Ludo5312]

@Moneymngr They have already taken note in Beijing. Frankly they cannot afford it.

[AlieGee]

Unfortunately mad people don't care.....don't care about their
own people one bit. Power trips are what counts for them.