Facebook, Apple and Netflix are all in the tech news this week and after some earlier doubts about their individual performance, things appear to be looking up. Facebook's purchase of  Whatsapp for USD 19bn earlier this year was derided by some but it seems the social network's having the last laugh. It's reported a first quarter adjusted profit of 34 cents a share on revenue of USD 2.5 billion, up from 1.4 billion for the same quarter last year.

Tech Expert and Founder of Pocket-lint.com, Stuart Miles says the latest figures suggest why Mark Zuckerberg was so happy and keen to "spend so much” on Whatssap –  which Stuart explains seemed outrageously large to most people at the time. Facebook has added 50 million users since February alone, and Stuart thinks this figure is only going to go up.

Another tech giant with earnings out is Apple, which managed to impress investors yet again by reporting a USD 10.2bn profit for the second quarter. The company's CEO, Tim Cook, promised "new products and services that only Apple could bring to the market". But Stuart explains that interestingly Apple suggests they’re not expecting to make even more money over the next quarter - which would imply there isn’t in fact a product launch anytime soon; although that could just be a marketing ruse. Stuart believes Apple is creating the hype it needs for the launch, but that the product will only be announced at Dub Dub DC – the developer conference, and that customers will have access to it in September. 

And Netflix could raise prices for new customers. The announcement comes as the firm beat first quarter earnings expectations; the company generated USD 53.1M in net income, up from USD 2.7M in the same period in 2013.

Stuart thinks this is a smart move because at the moment it's possible to subscribe for a short period of time and then opt out again. This new plan, however, would tempt people to simply stay on as a customer continuously, which will generate more revenue for Netflix.