Core Insights - The article highlights the arrival of the "Black Friday" shopping season overseas, following the domestic "Double Eleven" event, emphasizing various discounts on software, apps, and online services [1] Discounts on Apps and Subscriptions - Tripsy offers a 50% discount on its Pro membership, reducing the annual subscription from $58 to $29, and the lifetime membership from $298 to $149 [4] - Flighty provides an additional 3 months free with its annual subscription priced at $59.99 during the Black Friday event [4] - iStat Menus 7 is available at a 50% discount, with personal licenses priced at 30 RMB and family licenses at 42.5 RMB [10] - Paste's annual subscription is reduced from $29.99 to $14.99 [13] - Controller for HomeKit offers a 38% discount on its professional subscription [15] - Things has a 30% discount across all platforms, with prices for Mac at $34.99, iPad at $13.99, iPhone & Watch at $6.99, and Apple Vision Pro at $20.99 [18] - Tower offers a 30% discount on its basic and advanced subscriptions [22] - Enpass provides a 40% discount on the personal version and a 25% discount on the family version [25] - DEVONThink offers a 25% discount on its products [26] - Parallels Desktop has a 50% discount on its basic and professional subscriptions [28] - GoodSync offers a 40% discount on its personal license, reducing the price from 150 RMB to 90 RMB [32] - AdGuard provides a 45% discount on both personal and family lifetime licenses [35] - ProtoPie offers a 20% discount on the basic plan and a 40% discount on the professional plan for new users [38] - RapidWeaver offers a 45% discount on its subscriptions with a specific discount code [41] - Navicat provides a 30% discount on its permanent license during Black Friday [44] - BZG apps offer a 50% discount on selected applications [47] - Affinity has integrated its applications into a single software, with future AI features to be announced [51] Discounts on Services - Adobe Creative Cloud offers a 50% discount for the first year for new users, reducing the monthly fee from $69.99 to $34.97 [54] - Plex Pass subscriptions are available at a 40% discount for new users [59] - Craft offers a 40% discount on its subscriptions [60] - Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN provide a bundled subscription for the first year at $29.99 per month, a 44% discount [61] - Apple TV offers a promotional rate of $5.99 per month for six months for eligible users [64] - Audible provides a special offer for new users at $0.99 per month for the first three months [67] - Amazon Music Unlimited offers a three-month free trial for new users [70] Promotional Aggregation Sites - BundleHunt offers a customizable bundle of Mac and Windows software with discounts [71] - Indie App Sales features over 400 applications with discounts [76] - TheMacApps provides a directory of popular applications with Black Friday discounts [78] - Unclutter offers a bundle of 12 Mac applications at a significant discount [81] - Awesome Black Friday lists various tools and services with discounts [82]

Core Insights - Amazon plans to cut 14,000 corporate jobs as part of a strategy to streamline operations in response to advancements in AI [1][3] - The job cuts will affect employees in the US, Canada, and Europe, with notifications already sent out [2][3] - Affected employees will receive full pay and benefits for 90 days, along with a severance offer [2] Job Cuts Details - The layoffs will impact various departments including advertising, recruitment, payments, devices, Fire TV, and customer behavior analytics [3] - Audible, Amazon's audiobook and podcast division, is also included in the job cuts, with a focus on critical growth areas [4] - The company has communicated with local works councils in Germany regarding the job cuts [6] Company Performance Context - Despite the company's overall performance, the decision to reduce jobs is attributed to the rapid changes brought by AI [3] - Amazon has a total of 1.55 million employees globally, with the cuts representing about 4% of its approximately 350,000 corporate workforce [11]

Group 1 - Amazon is laying off employees at Audible as part of a broader plan to cut 14,000 corporate jobs [1][2] - The CEO of Audible, Bob Carrigan, indicated that affected employees have been notified and further organizational changes will follow to enhance focus and speed in critical growth areas [1][5] - Amazon's strategy aims to streamline operations in response to AI advancements, which are seen as transformative for the company [3][6] Group 2 - The specific number of roles affected at Audible has not been disclosed, and Amazon has not provided additional comments beyond a blog post announcing the cuts [2][3] - Organizational changes will involve shifting roles across various departments to improve collaboration and decision-making speed [5] - The company emphasizes its commitment to supporting impacted employees through HR resources and counseling services [4][6]

Core Insights - Amazon is restructuring its Wondery podcast division, leading to job cuts and the departure of CEO Jen Sargent [2][3][4] - Approximately 110 employees will be laid off as part of this consolidation effort [3] - The restructuring aims to better align teams and enhance the experience for creators, customers, and advertisers [3][4] Company Actions - Amazon is consolidating Wondery units under its Audible audiobook and podcasting division [2][4] - The narrative podcasting unit will be integrated into Audible, while creator-led content will be moved to a new unit called "creator services" [5] - This move follows Amazon's acquisition of Wondery nearly five years ago, which was part of its strategy to expand original audio content [4] Industry Context - The podcasting landscape has evolved significantly, with increasing competition from video podcasts on platforms like YouTube [5][6] - Video podcasts require different strategies for discovery, growth, and monetization compared to traditional audio-first narrative series [5]

Core Insights - Amazon is restructuring its Wondery podcast studio due to a shift in podcast consumption towards video and personality-driven content [1][2] - Approximately 110 employees, including Wondery's CEO Jen Sargent, are being laid off as part of this reorganization [1][11] - The podcasting landscape has evolved, with a notable increase in video-forward, creator-led content, necessitating distinct strategies for audience engagement and monetization [5][6] Organizational Changes - Wondery's narrative podcast team will be integrated into Amazon's audiobook division, Audible, focusing on audio-led storytelling [3][8] - The creator-led content team from Wondery will join the Talent Services team, forming a new organization called Creator Services [9] - A new team will be established to enhance advertising and sponsorship opportunities across Wondery and Amazon Music, led by Angie More [10] Performance and Future Direction - Wondery has produced award-winning podcasts and has seen podcast revenue grow by more than 4 times since joining Amazon [4][11] - The restructuring aims to better support creators in monetizing their content and simplify the advertising process [4][6] - The changes are expected to enhance the overall experience for creators, customers, and advertisers, aligning with strategic opportunities in the evolving podcast market [6][12]

Core Insights - Amazon is shutting down its Wondery podcast studio and cutting 110 jobs as part of a reorganization of its audio business [1] - The company plans to move existing Wondery series under its Audible brand or to a new 'creator services' team [1] Industry Context - The podcast landscape has evolved significantly, with the rise of video blurring the lines of podcast creation [2] - Amazon's strategy shift indicates that its push into podcasts has not met expectations, prompting a need to better compete with rivals like Spotify and YouTube [2]