Is the tech market recovering or struggling?

Whether the first ten days of 2024 should fill you with optimism or dread for the tech biz really depends on who you ask.

Driving the news: Samsung’s operating income slipped by 35% in its sixth straight quarter of declining profit, with the company citing weaker-than-expected demand for new smartphones and memory chips. Samsung had expected sales of its chips — which work alongside AI chips, instead of competing with them — to begin growing at the tail end of last year.

• Amazon’s Twitch is planning to lay off 500 staff, according to Bloomberg sources, while The Information reported that cuts are also coming to Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.
   
• Some analysts are questioning whether Nvidia’s hot streak is sustainable once clients finish stocking up on AI chips.

Catch up: The stock market was not kind to major tech companies, as well as the tech-heavy NASDAQ, in the first trading week of 2024. Apple got the worst of it due to concerns over iPhone sales and an ongoing Apple Watch patent dispute.

Yes, but: Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta have all largely recovered, as has the NASDAQ overall.

• Apple also got a bit of a boost after announcing a release date for the Vision Pro mixed reality headset.

Why it matters: Anyone betting on the 2024 tech market rebound shouldn’t panic just yet, but they will have to be patient. Demand is not going to be the same across the board — phones and consumer tech are expected to keep lagging, chips and hardware are expected to stay strong — and it will be shaped by the broader economic situation.

In Canada: Things are a bit more varied, at least on the investor front. Shopify and Constellation Software stock prices have been on an upward trajectory so far this year, while Lightspeed, Kinaxis, and Descartes are all down.