Apple enters smart displays with $299 HomeView, Jio Platforms sets terms for $3.2B India IPO, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM - Big Tech Report

Apple has launched HomeView, a $299 smart display built as a fixed, always-powered hub for Apple Home rather than a portable device like an iPad. Unlike a tablet, it supports multiuser switching without staying logged into one person's iCloud account, and functions as a video phone that can ring even when a household member's iPhone is dead or silent. The device competes with Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub, but Apple is positioning it as ad-free with a longer expected lifespan.

The launch leans heavily on Siri AI's new "personal context" feature, which scans messages and emails to surface relevant information for up to six household members. Apple executives Kaiann Drance and Lilian Rincon said the combination of conversational Siri AI and purpose-built hardware was not deliverable until now, with Rincon noting the assistant is designed to act on requests rather than ask follow-up questions. Apple shares were up 0.50% at $342.96 in the regular session.

Jio Platforms, India's largest telecom operator, plans to sell 270 million shares priced between 1,065 and 1,119 rupees each in an initial public offering running from 21 to 23 October, parent Reliance Industries said in an exchange filing. At the top of the range the sale would raise 302 billion rupees ($3.2 billion), making it India's largest-ever IPO in rupee terms, though it falls short of the roughly 377 billion rupees Indian market intelligence firm Prime Database had expected and values Jio at around $108 billion — below rival Bharti Airtel's $117.5 billion market cap.

Reliance retains more than 66% of Jio Platforms, with Meta Platforms affiliate Jaadhu Holdings holding nearly 10% and Google International holding 7.7%; neither investor plans to sell shares in the offering. Jio has positioned itself as a technology company rather than a pure telecom utility, but Deven Choksey, managing director of DRChoksey Finserv, told CNBC its revenue still comes primarily from selling internet data. The company is also planning a satellite communications rollout using roughly 1,600 low-earth-orbit satellites and 23 ground stations, a push that has put owner Mukesh Ambani at odds with Elon Musk, who last Saturday accused Ambani of blocking Starlink's entry into India.

Taiwan Semiconductor reports third-quarter earnings on 15 October, with Wall Street forecasting 47% year-over-year revenue growth, accelerating to a projected 54% in the fourth quarter — the fastest rates the company would have delivered in three years. TSMC shares were down 3.11% at $416.62 in pre-market trading. The company's stock trades at roughly 28 times forward earnings, in line with its typical range.

TSMC makes logic chips for most major computing hardware makers, including Nvidia, giving it an outsized role as a bellwether for AI infrastructure spending. Nvidia has said the five largest AI hyperscalers are expected to lift data center capital expenditure from nearly $800 billion in 2026 to $1.3 trillion in 2027, a trend that would feed directly into TSMC's order book.

Tesla will livestream the unveiling of its next-generation Roadster this Thursday at 7:55pm Central Time, the company said on X, after postponing the original October 1 event due to high winds at the planned site, SpaceX's test facility near McGregor, Texas. Tesla shares fell 2.15% to $367.16 in regular trading; SpaceX, whose facility is hosting the event, indicated down 2.50% at $148.36 in pre-market trading.

The Roadster was first shown as a prototype in 2017 with a targeted 2020 launch, a timeline that has slipped repeatedly as Musk cited the car's tri-motor drive system, battery development and supply-chain shortages. Original specs promised a 1.9-second 0-60mph time, a top speed above 250mph and up to 620 miles of range; Tesla has since hinted those figures will be revised, with acceleration closer to 1 second rumoured to come from SpaceX-derived cold gas thrusters. The company has teased the reveal with a "Go for launch" message and a glimpse of a redesigned front end with a full-width light bar.