SpaceX Starlink restrictions grounded Ukrainian drones, Apple outperforms shrinking PC market, Nvidia, Apple - Big Tech Report

On 13 October, Ukrainian drones began losing connection and falling from the sky after SpaceX imposed new restrictions on the Starlink satellite links that control them. Some lost contact once they exceeded 90 km/h; others had to slow down to stay connected, making them easier targets for Russian air defenses. Ukraine also lost the ability to deploy some interceptor drones against Russian attacks. CBS News and the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk personally ordered the restrictions; Reuters, citing officials, said the move came on Washington's instructions. The Wall Street Journal has separately reported that Trump spoke to Musk about ending the speed caps.

The episode underscores how deeply SpaceX's Starlink network is embedded in military and intelligence operations worldwide, and how little control paying governments have over how that service is delivered. SpaceX investor Ross Gerber called the slowdown "strategically horrendous," warning it could erode government trust in the company. SpaceX (SPCX) shares fell 9.14% to $144.75 in the regular session as of 22 October.

Global PC shipments fell 21% year-over-year to 57 million units in the third quarter, according to Counterpoint Research, with rising memory and storage costs driving up prices and weakening demand across the industry. Contract prices for 8GB DDR4 modules rose 24% quarter-over-quarter, while 1TB NVMe SSD prices climbed 29%, trends Counterpoint expects to continue into 2027.

Apple's shipments dropped 11% to 5.6 million units, a smaller decline than the broader market, lifting its share to 9.8% from 8.7% a year earlier. Counterpoint credited the MacBook Neo with cushioning the drop, placing Apple fourth by shipment share behind Lenovo (26.3%), HP (18.1%) and Dell (13.3%), all of which posted steeper declines of 23-31%. Apple shares rose 1.23% to $348.22 in regular trading.

At Nvidia's GTC conference in Berlin, Jensen Huang unveiled a new product that packs seven of the company's Vera Rubin AI racks into a shipping container designed to travel on standard roads, aimed at getting AI compute online faster. Huang told the audience that delays in bringing data centers online can cost billions in lost revenue, and that moving deployment into the supply chain will speed up how quickly facilities can be switched on. He also said a 1 gigawatt data center now costs about $50 billion, and warned that working capital to fund AI's expansion is scarce relative to demand.

The announcement came as public neocloud stocks sold off: CoreWeave fell 10% and Nebius dropped 7% by the close on the conference's final day, extending a rough stretch for AI-compute lessors amid worries over their borrowing. Huang remained bullish, telling CNBC that "the demand for the neo clouds is off the charts," though one AI infrastructure executive at the event said the volume of such businesses carrying no credit rating was "freaking the market out." Nvidia shares fell 4.40% to $212.21 in regular trading.

Apple's iPhone Duo, the company's first foldable device, has drawn more pre-orders than anticipated in several major markets, according to DigiTimes. The reception has display chip suppliers hoping it will spur wider investment in foldable technology, with industry sources suggesting the device could give other smartphone makers more confidence to pursue similar designs. Apple shares rose 1.23% to $348.22 in regular trading.

The interest centres on OLED touch and display driver integration, or TDDI, technology that combines touch sensing and display control and is considered a technical requirement for foldables even though cost still limits its use in conventional flagship phones. DigiTimes also points to Apple's rumoured touchscreen MacBook as a potential driver of further investment in notebook display components, such as integrated drivers and timing controllers. Sources expect rival manufacturers to follow Apple's lead, spreading demand to suppliers outside its supply chain at a time when the broader industry is bracing for softer consumer demand in the second half of 2026. DigiTimes said strong iPhone Duo demand could also help offset weaker sales of the iPhone 18 Pro.