Layoffs at Cisco, Reshamandi and others; India’s PC market grows; Zomato shuts down Legends; and other top tech news of the week

This week, several companies announced major changes to their operations. The online giant Cisco Systems has revealed plans to lay off about 7% of its global workforce, while the Indian startup ReshaMandi faced with a complete lockdown and exemptions amid financial struggles. On a more positive note, the Indian PC market showed resilience, posting shipment growth of 7.1% in Q2 2024. Food delivery platform Zomato made headlines by discontinuing its Legends long-distance delivery service. All this and more in our weekly tech news roundup – the biggest tech news of the week.

Cisco announces layoffs; 6,000 jobs to be cut as networking giant focuses on AI, cybersecurity

Cisco Systems announced plans to lay off about 7% of its global workforce, potentially affecting about 6,000 employees, as part of a restructuring effort to focus on high-growth areas like AI and cybersecurity. It marks Cisco’s second major round of job cuts in 2024, following 4,000 layoffs in February.
The company plans to combine its networking, security and collaboration businesses into one organization and expects to record pre-tax charges of up to $1 billion related to the restructuring. Cisco recently pledged $1 billion to invest in AI startups and acquired cybersecurity firm Splunk for $28 billion, signaling a shift toward new technologies.

GM is cutting 1,000 jobs at its technology campus, including 600 engineers.

General Motors announced more than 1,000 layoffs worldwide, including about 600 positions at its technology campus near Detroit, primarily affecting its software and services division. The company said the cuts were necessary to simplify operations, make strategic choices and prioritize investments that impact GM’s future.

Sports camera maker GoPro lays off 140 employees

GoPro announced plans to cut about 15% of its workforce, affecting about 140 employees, as part of a restructuring effort aimed at cutting $50 million in operating costs. It marks the company’s second round of job cuts in 2024, following a 4% reduction in March. The restructuring is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

India PC market grows in Q2 2024

The Indian PC market grew 7.1% year-on-year in Q2 2024, shipping 3.39 million units, including desktops, notebooks, and workstations. Lenovo overtook Dell and Acer to become the second-largest PC maker after HP, with strong growth in both the consumer and commercial segments. While the introduction of AI PCs is expected to drive orders for commercial refreshes from Q3 onwards, analysts do not foresee significant consumer demand for these new AI-enabled systems in the near future.

ReshaMandi fires entire staff

ReshaMandi, a startup that has raised over $50 million in funding, is apparently facing a major crisis as it has reportedly laid off its entire workforce and its website has been down for over a week. The company’s auditor, Walker Chandiok & Co LLP, resigned last month, citing alarming issues including financial difficulties, downsizing of operations and inability to complete financial statements for fiscal year 2023.
Despite these challenges, a ReshaMandi spokesperson says the company is focusing on collecting outstanding dues and is hopeful of getting back on track soon, though the situation looks grim with rising liabilities and operational costs.

Zomato shuts down Legends, its intercity food delivery service

Food delivery giant Zomato has ended its intercity food delivery service ‘Legends’ due to lack of market fit after two years of operations. CEO Deepinder Goyal announced the immediate closure of social media platform X, marking the end of the service that has been plagued by challenges since its launch in August 2022.

iQoo Z9s, iQoo Z9s Pro launched in India

iQoo has launched two new smartphones in India – the Z9s and the Z9s Pro – that feature 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED displays and powerful processors. The Z9s Pro, powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC, boasts of 4,500 nits of peak brightness and a 50-megapixel primary camera with OIS, while the Z9s uses the Dimensity 7300 chipset. Both the phones offer 5,500mAh batteries, while the Z9s Pro supports 80W fast charging, and are priced starting at Rs 19,999 for the Z9s and Rs 24,999 for the Z9s Pro, available from August 29 and 23, respectively.

Google is discontinuing Fitbit watches, Pixel Watch will be the only smartwatch from Google and Fitbit

Google confirmed that Fitbit would no longer produce smartwatches, instead focusing on its popular line of activity trackers, such as the Inspire series. The Pixel Watch, now in its third iteration, has become the primary smartwatch offered by Google, integrating Fitbit’s health-monitoring expertise with Google’s AI capabilities. While Fitbit-branded smartwatches will be discontinued, the Fitbit app and Premium service will continue to exist, deeply integrated with Pixel watches and offering new features like AI-generated personalized workouts for Premium users.

Mike Lynch, British tech entrepreneur, found dead in wreck of superyacht Bayesian

The bodies of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah have reportedly been found in the wreckage of their yacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm. The recovery operation was complex, with divers facing difficult conditions as they searched the sunken vessel in about 50 metres of water.

Black myth supported by Tencent: Wukong breaks all records

Black Myth: Wukong has enjoyed extraordinary success, selling 10 million copies worldwide within three days of its global launch on August 20, 2024. Considered to be the first major “Triple A” title in China, the game is inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West and is on par with the sales figures of major international releases such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.