The smart phone becomes bigger and its resolution get better. People start to feel that no reason to own an iPad. A super size ipad could be meaningful. It can replace personal desktop or laptop.
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
2015-09-07
2013-09-10
iPhone History
Apple announced two new iPhones on Tuesday, its seventh and eighth models since the iPhone made its debut in 2007. Here are details on the past iPhone releases, along with the new ones.
— iPhone, June 29, 2007, starting in the U.S. (announced Jan. 9)
— iPhone 3G, July 11, 2008, starting in the U.S., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. (announced June 9)
— iPhone 3GS, June 19, 2009, starting in the U.S. (announced June 8)
— iPhone 4, June 24, 2010, starting in the U.S., France, Germany and Japan and the U.K. (announced June 7).
— iPhone 4S, Oct. 14, 2011, starting in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K. (announced Oct. 4).
— iPhone 5, Sept. 21, 2012, starting in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the U.K. (announced Sept. 12).
— iPhone 5C, Sept. 20, 2013, starting in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.K. (announced Tuesday).
— iPhone 5S, Sept. 20, 2013, starting in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.S. (announced Tuesday).
2013-08-11
2013-02-20
Apple supplier Foxconn freezes hiring at largest plant
- Reuters/Reuters - A man walks past a logo of a Foxconn factory in Wuhan, Hubei province, August 31, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer
TAIPEI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc's manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology Group has frozen hiring at a Shenzhen plant that makes gadgets including the iPhone 5 and put the brakes on recruiting for other factories across China, but said the move was not linked to any single client.
Foxconn, which runs a network of factories across the world's No. 2 economy that make products for tech companies from Hewlett Packard to Dell, sought to pour cold water on a Financial Times report that it had imposed a hiring freeze while it slows production of Apple's latest smartphone.
"Due to an unprecedented rate of return of employees following the Chinese New Year holiday compared to years past, our company has decided to temporarily slow down our recruitment process," the company said in a statement.
"This action is not related to any single customer and any speculation to the contrary is false and inaccurate."
Like other Chinese contract manufacturers, Foxconn relies on a large number of migrant laborers from across the country, who journey home for the most important holiday of the year. Many do not make it back to work, but Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo said this year they saw as many as 97 percent of employees return.
Apple sold a less-than-expected 47.8 million iPhones in the 2012 holiday quarter, fanning fears that its dominance of consumer electronics is on the decline as Samsung Electronics Co and other manufacturers that use Google Inc's Android software gradually gain market share.
The iPhone is Apple's most important product, accounting for half its revenue. The company's shares slipped almost 2 pct on Wednesday to $451, and are down about 34 percent from their September peak above $700, as investors fret about sliding margins and intensifying competition.
IMPLICATIONS FOR APPLE
Apple watchers often take cues from its component suppliers and manufacturing partners. In January, CEO Tim Cook took the unusual step of warning investors that it is difficult to extrapolate from limited "data points".
RBC estimates that just 70 to 80 percent of Chinese workers return to factories it tracks.
"This year we believe the return rates have been closer to 90 percent, which may minimize the need to hire," RBC analyst Amit Daryanani wrote in a Wednesday research note.
"Given the timing of the freeze, it may have more to do with higher return rates of employees versus what was expected by Foxconn and other supply chain companies."
Foxconn's latest statement contradicts another Foxconn spokesman, Liu Kun, who is cited in the newspaper on Wednesday as saying, "Currently, none of the plants in mainland China have hiring plans."
A check on Foxconn's recruitment website on Wednesday showed the company's Taiyuan and Hangzhou plants were hiring. But its factory complex in the southern city of Shenzhen is its single largest production base.
The Shenzhen plant "is not hiring at the moment because workers' return rate after Chinese New Year is very high this year, reaching 97 pct", Woo said.
"We replenish each year depending on the return rate."
2013-01-27
2012-11-07
Foxconn's Gou says tough to cope with iPhone demand
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group said on Wednesday the company's flagshipHon Hai unit is finding it difficult to cope with the massive demand for Apple Inc's iPhones.
"It's not easy to make the iPhones. We are falling short of meeting the huge demand," Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou told reporters after a business forum.
However, he declined to comment on brokerage reports saying that the group's other unit, Foxconn International Holdings (FIH), had taken on some production.
Hon Hai Precision Industry, the main listed entity of the parent Foxconn Technology Group, is the key assembler of Apple's iPhones.
The group also owns FIH, which traditionally assembles non-Apple products, such as phones from Nokia Oyj and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
Shares of Foxconn International Holdings Ltd (FIH), the world's biggest contract maker of cellphones, surged as much as 35 percent on Monday after Citigroup upgraded the stock to a 'buy' and said it expected the firm to start assembling iPhones this year.
Shares of FIH fell 5.7 percent in Hong Kong on Wednesday, while Hon Hai was up 0.6 percent in Taipei. (Reporting by Clare Jim and Lee Chyen yee; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
2012-10-24
A Dutch court has ruled Samsung Electronics does not infringe an Apple Inc patent by using certain multi-touch techniques on some of the Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablet computers.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch court has ruled Samsung Electronics does not infringe an Apple Inc patent by using certain multi-touch techniques on some of the Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablet computers. Samsung and Apple, the world's top two smartphone makers, are locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries as they vie to dominate the lucrative mobile market and win over customers with their latest gadgets. Apple scored a sweeping legal victory over its South Korean rival in August when a U.S. ...
2012-10-23
Apple unwraps mini-iPad to take on Amazon, Google
 SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Apple Inc will begin to sell an 8-inch version of the iPad on Friday to compete with Amazon.com Inc's Kindle and other smaller tablets, but it set a higher-than-expected price tag of $329 that Wall Street fears could curb demand. The 7.9 inch "iPad mini" marks the iPhone-maker's first foray into the smaller-tablet segment. Apple hopes to beat back incursions onto its home turf of consumer electronics hardware, while safeguarding its lead in a larger tablet space - one that even deep-pocketed rivals like Samsung Electronics have found tough to penetrate. ... |
2012-09-24
5 Million iPhone 5 sold
 Apple Inc. said Monday that it sold more than 5 million iPhone 5s in the three days since its launch, fewer than analysts had expected. |
2012-09-21
A German court has dismissed Apple Inc.'s claim that Samsung Electronics and Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility infringed patents used in touch-screen devices.
BERLIN (AP) — A German court has dismissed Apple Inc.'s claim that Samsung Electronics and Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility infringed patents used in touch-screen devices.
The Mannheim state court's ruling Friday follows similar decisions in Britain and the Netherlands.
The ruling can be appealed within 30 days.
Apple and its rivals are locked in a complex worldwide battle over patents and design rights covering the lucrative market for smartphones and tablet computers.
Last month a U.S. court ruled that Samsung phones and tablets infringe on Apple patents, and awarded the Cupertino, California, company $1.05 billion.
Meanwhile, Samsung is seeking royalties from Apple for sales of iPhones it says infringe on its patents.
2012-09-12
Iphone 5 has a taller screen
Apple is holding an event in San Francisco during which it announced a new iPhone, capable of faster data speeds and sporting a taller screen. It also unveiled new iTunes software and new iPod devices.
The iPhone 5 will go on sale next week. It will work with fourth-generation, or 4G, cellular networks, something Samsung's Galaxy S III and many other iPhone rivals already do.
Apple Inc. is also updating its phone software and will ditch Google Inc.'s mapping service for its own. The two have become bitter rivals as Google promotes phones running its Android operating system.
In anticipation, several gadget makers refreshed their lineups last week, hoping to upstage Apple. Nokia Corp. and Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility division announced five new smartphones between them, while Amazon.com Inc. updated its Kindle Fire tablet computer and announced new stand-alone e-reader models.
Sales of Apple's iPhones are still strong, though the company lost the lead in smartphones to Samsung this year.
Samsung Electronics Co. benefited from having its S III out in the U.S. in June, while Apple was still selling an iPhone model it released last October. A new iPhone will allow Apple to recapture the attention and the revenue. Analysts are already estimating that Apple will sell 8 million to 10 million iPhone 5s before the company's quarter ends Sept. 30.
Even if consumers swarm stores to buy the device, the iPhone has been trailing Android phones in sales. On Tuesday, Google executive Hugo Barra declared on his Google Plus social networking page that 1.3 million Android phones are added each day, with 500 million devices activated globally. As of June, Apple has sold 244 million iPhones since the first one came out in 2007.
Apple's event Wednesday took place at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, where the company has held many product launches.
Here's a running account of the event, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are PDT. Appearances were made by CEO Tim Cook; Philip Schiller, the senior vice president for worldwide marketing; Scott Forstall, senior vice president for mobile software; Eddy Cue, senior vice president
2012-08-31
About Apple Patent
08/31/2012 Tokyo court: Samsung didn't infringe Apple patent A Tokyo court on Friday dismissed Apple Inc.'s claim that Samsung had infringed on its patent —the latest ruling in the global legal battle between the two technology titans over smartphones.
08/31/2012 Apple, Google In Secret Talks To End The Patent Wars [REPORT] Fresh off its huge $1.05 billion victory last week over Samsung in a blockbuster patent trial, Apple is now engaged in secret talks with Google to broker an end to the patent wars, according to Reuters.
2012-08-25
Apple won copyright over Samsung in US (Samsung won in S. Korea two days ago)
Google entered the smartphone market while its then-CEO Eric Schmidt was on Apple's board, infuriating Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who considered Android to be a blatant rip-off of the iPhone's innovations.
After shoving Schmidt off Apple's board, Jobs vowed that Apple would resort to "thermonuclear war" to destroy Android and its allies.
The Apple-Samsung trial came after each side filed a blizzard of legal motions and refused advisories by the judge to settle the dispute out of court. Legal experts and Wall Street analysts had viewed Samsung as the trial's underdog. Apple's headquarters is just 10 miles from the San Jose courthouse, and jurors were picked from the heart of Silicon Valley, where Jobs is a revered technological pioneer.
A verdict came after less than three days of deliberations, surprising observers who expected longer deliberations because of the case's complexity.
While the issues were complex, patent expert Alexander I. Poltorak has said the case would likely boil down to whether jurors believed Samsung's products look and feel like Apple's iPhone and iPad.
Samsung's lawyers argued that many of Apple's claims of innovation were either obvious concepts or ideas stolen from Sony Corp. and others. Experts called that line of argument a high-risk strategy because of Apple's reputation as an innovator.
Apple's lawyers argued there is almost no difference between Samsung products and those of Apple, and presented internal Samsung documents they said showed it copied Apple designs. Samsung lawyers insisted that several other companies and inventors had developed much of the Apple technology at issue.
Apple and Samsung have filed similar lawsuits in South Korea, Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, France and Australia.
"This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple's claims," Samsung said in its statement.
Samsung won a home court ruling earlier Friday in the global patent battle against Apple. Judges in Seoul said Samsung didn't copy the look and feel of the iPhone and ruled that Apple infringed on Samsung's wireless technology.
But like the jury in California, South Korean judges said Samsung violated Apple's technology behind the "bounce-back" feature. Both sides were ordered to pay limited damages.
The Seoul ruling was a rare victory for Samsung in its arguments that Apple has infringed on its wireless technology patents. Samsung's claims previously were shot down by courts in Europe, where judges ruled that Samsung patents must be licensed under fair terms to competitors.
The U.S. case is one of some 50 lawsuits among myriad telecommunications companies jockeying for position in the burgeoning $219 billion market for computer tablets and smartphones.
2012-08-21
Apple's maket value is $624B Microsoft was $850B in 1999 but $250B now
Apple is Wall Street's all-time MVP —that's Most Valuable Property.
On Monday, Apple's surging stock propelled the company's value to $624 billion, the world's highest, ever. It beat the record for market capitalization set by Microsoft Corp. in the heady days of the Internet boom.
After a four-month dip, Apple's stock has hit new highs recently because of optimism around what is believed to be the impending launch of the iPhone 5, and possibly a smaller, cheaper iPad.
Apple Inc. has been the world's most valuable company since the end of last year. It's now worth 54 percent more than No. 2 Exxon Mobil Corp.
Apple's stock closed at $665.15. That was an all-time high, up $17.04, or 2.6 percent, from Friday's close.
Microsoft's 1999 peak was $620.58 billion, according to Standard & Poor's.
The comparison to Microsoft does not take inflation into account. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the software giant was worth about $850 billion on Dec. 30, 1999. Microsoft is now worth $257 billion.
Analysts believe Apple's stock has room to grow. The average price target of 38 analysts polled by FactSet is $745.80.
Despite the surge, Apple's stock is not particularly expensive compared to its earnings for the last twelve months. The company's "price-to-earnings ratio" is 15.6, compared with 16.1 for the S&P 500 overall. That suggests investors, unlike analysts, don't believe the company can grow its profits much from current levels.
Microsoft had a price-to-earnings ratio of 83 at the 1999 peak. The stock was caught up in the Internet mania of the time and investors believed it could boost its future earnings massively.
Analysts believe the launch of a new iPhone in a month or two will be Apple's biggest product introduction yet.
Scott Sutherland at Wedbush Morgan noted that some investors sold Apple shares last summer, when iPhone sales slowed down as consumers started holding off for the new model. Those investors missed out on a 50 percent jump in the stock price.
"This time around, investors are a little bit smarter across the board ... they don't want to be caught not involved in the stock on this next iPhone launch," Sutherland said.
Analysts also speculate that a "mini iPad," could expand the number of people who can afford one of Apple's tablets. The cheapest iPad cost $399, compared to $199 for the latest Google and Amazon tablets.
Analysts are speculating —based on rumors— that Apple plans to make a TV set to complete its suite of consumer electronics products.
Apple usually doesn't comment on its future product plans until a few weeks or days before a launch.
Apple's stock surge has made it a major part of many investment portfolios, often without the investors realizing it. The company makes up 4.7 percent of the value of the S&P 500 index, which is used as the basis for many mutual funds.
Figures supplied by FactSet imply Microsoft's market capitalization record was $619.25 billion, somewhat lower than the $620.58 billion calculated by S&P. The difference lies in the number of outstanding shares the firms ascribe to Microsoft at the time.
China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than Apple's, because of the particularities of the Chinese stock market.
PetroChina was briefly worth $1 trillion after it listed on the Shanghai stock exchange in 2007, but only based on its price on that exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment. PetroChina's shares also trade in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange. Based on prices there, its market capitalization never went as high as $500 billion.
By coincidence, the peak price for one Apple share is now less than $2 away from the retail price of the Apple I computer in 1976. It sold for
2012-08-18
Apple price hit new high $648
Apple's stock hit a new high Friday after a four-month swoon, as investors looked ahead to the release of a new iPhone and possibly a smaller iPad.
Already the world's most valuable company, Apple Inc. saw its stock hit $648.19 just before closing, before retreating to $648.11. That was up $11.77, or 1.9 percent, from Thursday's close.
The previous high for the stock was $644, hit on April 10.
Apple has a market value of about $608 billion, almost 50 percent higher than No. 2 Exxon Mobil Corp. at $408 billion.
Apple's stock fell last month after the company's earnings report for the April-June quarter showed the slowest growth in more than two years. It
2012-08-06
Steve Jobs considered building an iCar
As part of his testimony in the ongoing Apple vs. Samsung court case, Apple Senior VP of Marketing Phil Schiller dropped a bombshell: The computing giant was once considering building a connected car. Schiller dismissed the idea as "crazy stuff," but the news is unsurprising. After all, Silicon Valley rival Google has been working on its own car for years now. Schiller also said Apple was considering making its own branded camera.
Of course, we have no idea what an iCar would look like, but we're pretty sure we can guess as to some of its possible features. After all, who wouldn't want a vehicle with digital personal assistant Siri built in to help change radio stations or find directions without taking your hands off the wheel?
This article
2012-07-30
Mountain Lion software from Apple
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple says Mac users downloaded 3 million copies of Mountain Lion, its latest operating system, in the first four days it was available.
That makes it the fastest launch of an Apple operating system ever, the company says. It released Mountain Lion Wednesday.
Apple charges $20 for the software. That pays for downloads for all of a buyer's personal computers.
Apple also provides the OS for free to buyers who bought a Mac on or after June 11.
Mountain Lion brings features from the iPhone and iPad to the Mac. The enhancements include tight integration with Apple's online storage service, iCloud, and a "Notification Center" that shows incoming mail, calendar reminders and other events.
2012-07-28
Apple buying AuthenTec for about $356 million to strengthen its digital security capabilities.
| 07/27/2012 Apple buying AuthenTec for about $356 million |
| Apple has agreed to buy fingerprint reader AuthenTec Inc. for approximately $356 million as the company known for iPhones and iPads looks to strengthen its digital security capabilities. |
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