Ostensibly, the shift is to let customers count on a lone upgrade date for all of their connected devices, but let's not beat around the bush: the longer intervals are bad for any subscriber whose desire for a new phone or tablet doesn't perfectly dovetail with their contract length.

ENGADGET

"There was a lot of pain in reducing head count 50%, but we were quick to see the shift coming and couldn't abdicate our leadership, " says Duncan Niederauer, a Goldman managing director in equities.

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