Big Tech dominates Top 1000 rankings

Big Tech dominates the Top 1000 rankings of companies published by The Irish Times on Thursday, with Apple once again leading the way in terms of both turnover and profits, albeit with lower numbers in both cases. Ciarán Hancock has the details.
Also, as part of our Top 1000 coverage Barry J Whyte talks to Cubic Telecom’s chief executive Barry Napier and also hears what business leaders have to say about climate change and the outlook for the Irish economy.
Despite experiencing a technical recession last year, the first in over a decade, the Irish economy continues to be one of the best-performing in Europe, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy, also in our Top 1000 coverage. Employment remains at a historic high of 2.7 million, Government coffers are awash with tax receipts (and not just from the corporate sector) while inflation seems to have returned to more normal levels.
Many Irish tracker mortgage holders are set to see their annual mortgage repayments fall by close to €1,000 per year as a result of two separate interest rate cuts expected to be rolled out by the European Central Bank (ECB) in the coming days, reports Conor Pope, who also answers the big questions when it comes to the impending ECB rate cut.
The Construction Industry Federation and Sinn Féin wouldn’t be natural bedfellows. One represents the construction industry, the other has, at various times, castigated the Government for giving in to lobbying from the construction industry. However, Cantillon finds, both are on the same page when it comes to the State’s housing requirement.
The Indy Autonomous Challenge, backed by tyre-making giant Bridgestone, brought along its robotic race car to the Goodwod 2024 Festival of Speed. If the Goodwood hill climb is tricky and deceptive for the most experienced racing drivers in the world, how hard would it be for a robotic car, which sees its world through a combination of Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) scanners and cameras? Neil Briscoe reports.
Cantillon also notes that Stephen Garvey has been splashing his cash on shares in his house construction company Glenveagh lately, stock market filings show. Just this week, he bought 150,000 shares in the home builder which, at the current price of about €1.46 would have cost him a little less than €220,000.
For most people food is one of life’s pleasures, but for those with swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) caused by medical conditions such as cancer, MS and Parkinson’s, eating can become problematic, writes Olive Keogh. Having worked in the aged care sector for 10 years, chef Niamh Condon had seen the problem at first hand. This inspired her to set up Ocras, which produces individually-portioned, texture-modified food for people with dysphagia.
When Apple announced its new iPhone 16 range on Tuesday, chief executive Tim Cook was upbeat. The new devices may have only had what seemed to be incremental updates – updated chips, bigger screens, improved cameras – but it had one weapon that could still drive sales of the iPhone: artificial intelligence. Ciara O’Brien reports on Apple’s latest big idea.
The search for the perfect floor cleaner continues, with new contenders lining up to take their shot. In one corner: a cat prone to shedding, two small children who are hit and miss on the feet wiping, and some ill-advised shiny white flooring. In the other: the Dyson Wash G1, the new wet floor cleaner from the people who sold you on the bagless, cordless vacuum and bladeless fans. According to Dyson, the Wash G1 will tackle everything from spills and debris (wet and dry) to hair and tough, dried-on stains on hard floors – all things floors will see on a regular basis. Is it a game changer? Sort of, writes Ciara O’Brien
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