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July 31, 2020

Welcome to this edition of The Reader, a weekly roundup of Fortune stories and insights you need to know.

On Wednesday, over the course of five and a half hours, Congress grilled Big Tech on aggressive competitive practices. The CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google gave answers both well-rehearsed and fumbling.

Despite the scrutiny, Big Tech mostly crushed Q2 expectations: Facebook grew its revenue and user count, Amazon's overall sales skyrocketed, and Apple's stock headed for an all-time high. Only Google's revenue fell for the first time ever.

For more on the tech titans, read on. And subscribe to Data Sheet, our daily newsletter on the top tech news.

Clifton Leaf

Editor-in-chief, Fortune

P.S. Become a premium member and get your questions about Big Tech answered before Congress gets the chance to ask them.

P.P.S. A more accurate subject line would be "In the Cisco Webex where it happens," but that doesn't have the same ring to it.

MUST READ

Facebook and Amazon were grilled over a history of aggressive competitive practices

Congress said competitors referred to Amazon as a drug dealer that bullies third-party sellers. And the subcommittee brought up former statements in which Facebook was referred to as going into “destroy mode” amid its attempts to buy Instagram

BY DANIELLE ABRIL

JULY 29, 2020

COMMENTARY

The tech titan testimony: CEOs are overlawyered and underprepared

"They walked in believing their own heroic myths before a powerful but less adoring group."

BY JEFFREY SONNENFELD

JULY 30, 2020

GLOBAL

Big Tech is likely to defend its dominance by pointing to the alternative: China

Reducing the power of American tech giants would be a huge win for China.

BY GRADY MCGREGOR

JULY 29, 2020

EARNINGS

Amazon’s second-quarter earnings results just showed why it's soaring during COVID-19

The company’s overall sales skyrocketed 40% year-over-year to $88.9 billion in its fiscal second quarter.

BY JONATHAN VANIAN

JULY 30, 2020

MUST WATCH

The key moments from Big Tech's hearing

Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Tim Cook testified in Congress remotely.

Here's a peek at Fortune Analytics, our exclusive newsletter for Premium subscribers that brings you weekly business insights based on timely data analysis by our editorial team and exclusive polling.

This week, we polled 2,802 people to learn how they feel about working from home.

29%

... of remote workers say they feel less productive since the onset of the pandemic.

24%

... remote workers say they feel more productive since the onset of the pandemic.

41%

... of remote workers would choose to exclusively work from home this fall if the decision were up to them. 43% of workers say they would choose a mix of working from home and working in the office, and a sizable 16% would choose to work solely from the office.

To get the full briefing, consider becoming a Fortune Premium subscriber. You'll also get access to all of our stories on the web and in print.

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More essential reads

Facebook crushes Q2 expectations despite rising scrutiny of its services and coronavirus concerns by Danielle Abril
Three questions lawmakers should ask Amazon’s Jeff Bezos by Michael Zucker
Apple and Samsung have topped the smartphone market for 9 years. Now there’s a new leader by Eamon Barrett
What the heck is ‘brushing’? The scam behind the China mystery seeds by Jeff John Roberts

From the archives

“Apple (AAPL) doesn’t often fail, and when it does, it isn’t a pretty sight at 1 Infinite Loop. In the summer of 2008, when Apple launched the first version of its iPhone that worked on third-generation mobile networks, it also debuted MobileMe, an e-mail system that was supposed to provide the seamless synchronization features that corporate users love about their BlackBerry smartphones. MobileMe was a dud. Users complained about lost e-mails, and syncing was spotty at best. Though reviewers gushed over the new iPhone, they panned the MobileMe service. Steve Jobs doesn’t tolerate duds. Shortly after the launch event, he summoned the MobileMe team, gathering them in the Town Hall auditorium in Building 4 of Apple’s campus, the venue the company uses for intimate product unveilings for journalists. According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together, and asked a simple question: “Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, “So why the fuck doesn’t it do that?””

—How Apple works: Inside the world’s biggest startup by Adam Lashinsky, August 2011