Apple Inc.

Tim Cook is a hardware guy. Nonetheless he has to take the flake for the software issue but more importantly to me is that he failed on the hardware bengate issue by focusing too much on thinness without regards to real world

It is creative...

Competitors, users poke fun at Apple's bendgate woes

SINGAPORE — Companies and individuals are jumping on the #bendgate bandwagon with tongue-in-cheek images poking fun at Apple shortly after reports surfaced online that the iPhone 6 Plus could be bent.

The so-called bendgate controversy — named after the US Watergate scandal which saw then-President Richard Nixon misuse his powers to spy on opponents — is among problems that have surfaced with Apple's newest iPhones. Apple had been forced to pull botched ios update 8.0.1 after customers reported iPhones dropped cellular service after installation.
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http://www.todayonline.com/competitors-u...dgate-woes

It is unlikely an intentional leak, but a true mistake...

New iPads accidentally revealed by Apple

SINGAPORE — Images and details of the soon-to-be-released iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 were accidentally displayed on Apple’s iTunes Store early this morning (Oct 16, Singapore time), one day before they were supposed to be unveiled at a company event.

The site 9to5 Mac was among the first to spot the leak at around 1.45am (Singapore time). The blunder occured after Apple updated its iOS 8 iPad user guide online. Apple removed the images about an hour later.

Based on screenshots, the two iPads appeared to be designed similarly to their predecessors, but with a few hardware upgrades. There was also the addition of a Touch ID sensor, which to date is only available on the iPhones.

Apple is expected to officially unveil both iPads at its event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The company could also announce a new Mac operating system and possibly new Mac computers.

Sources: 9to5 Mac, AP
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/new-ipad...aled-apple

Apple is the most vulnerable of the bellwether tech. Why:-

1) Over glorified coolness on Mac Book which is a commodity product. 1000++ vs 400. Margin is overdue for correction.
2) Iphone latest is lacking novelty and I would add looking more like a way over priced Samsung model.
3) Most of its profit is coming from Iphone and Ipad, both product life cycle is a saturated in the market. Why upgrade when the old unit works fine? That is not the same as buying something new!

If revenue does not increase there goes the rest of tech. Nesdaq is way overvalued running on old theme. PE should give a good measure for such a old tech.

They still have their fans, but as history has shown, remembering what happened when steve left apple and it went downhills until he came back and did the ipod?

Without him iphone will continue to make money but till when is the question... tech has gone from desktop to laptop to phone but has stopped for quite a few years. Very hard to shrink chips further...


Don't think small screen on wearables will be of much use either until they can project out a bigger hologram screen from those

via Xperia Z1 with Android 4.4.4 tapatalk.

I am cautiously optimistic on the new Apple Pay...

Will Apple Pay be the next iRevolution?

CUPERTINO - Apple’s skinnier iPads and flashy big-screen iMac are sleek and stunning. But the tech giant is making a bigger strategic bet with next week’s launch of Apple Pay - the mobile pay service aimed at turning your iPhone into your wallet.

The service, which goes live Monday (Oct 20) and has hundreds of banks on board, is “hugely important” says Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett. It puts Apple in the middle of a wide range of consumer transactions, underscoring Apple’s value as a brand and giving people a powerful new reason to buy iPhones, iPads and other gadgets.

Apple Pay is designed to work on the company’s newest iPhones, which contain a chip that allows payments at a special terminal in retail outlets. It also will be available on the new iPad Air 2 for online purchases only.

“It’s a strategic advance not just because it may be a new revenue source, but because it injects Apple into a whole different value stream” for customers and the company’s business partners, Gillett says.
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http://www.todayonline.com/tech/will-app...revolution

hmmm,

i beg to disagree. From a brand perspective, the brand sells by itself. Not an easy feat considering the tech changes and cheap competitions. u can also say that Coke is just sugar water with extremely high margin. There are many knockoffs like Virgin coke, local coke...how can Coke survive for so long?

(17-10-2014, 12:55 AM)ValueBeliever Wrote: Apple is the most vulnerable of the bellwether tech. Why:-

1) Over glorified coolness on Mac Book which is a commodity product. 1000++ vs 400. Margin is overdue for correction.
2) Iphone latest is lacking novelty and I would add looking more like a way over priced Samsung model.
3) Most of its profit is coming from Iphone and Ipad, both product life cycle is a saturated in the market. Why upgrade when the old unit works fine? That is not the same as buying something new!

If revenue does not increase there goes the rest of tech. Nesdaq is way overvalued running on old theme. PE should give a good measure for such a old tech.

Some small food for thought:

1. From a consumer standpoint, I was looking to replace my notebook with a cheap ultraportable. To my surprise, the macbook air 11" seems best price for money. (an entry acer ultraportable is $1700~.) Apple overpriced? It depends.

2. I hate the new iPhone commericals. They seem to sell functions, not experiences. I think Apple has become ordinary in this way. Under Steve Jobs, Apple translated how their products integrated in people's life. With Cook, it seems rather commoditized sales.

So from a brand/coolness argument, I think it depends how Apple positions itself moving forward.

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

It is a good news, and also a bad news for Apple...

Apple rings in strong profit with iPhones

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple’s biggest cash cow, the iPhone, is gaining weight.

Sales of iPhones, including the new, big-screen iPhone 6 models released last month, helped carry Apple to a record-breaking quarter and offset slowing sales of one of Apple’s other major products, the iPad, the company announced on Monday.

Apple sold 39 million iPhones in the quarter that ended Sept 27, a significant bump from the 33.8 million it sold in the same period last year.

Apple appears to be gorging on consumer demand for its smartphone. The company’s US$8.5 billion (S$10.8 billion) in net profit for its fiscal fourth quarter was 13.3 per cent higher than the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue over the quarter was US$42.1 billion, up from US$37.5 billion in the same period last year.

“Demand for the new iPhones has been staggering,” Mr Timothy Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a financial earnings call with investors. “I’ve never felt so great after a launch before.”

But impolite as it may be to point out in the middle of such exuberant returns, said Mr Toni Sacconaghi, a financial analyst for Sanford C Bernstein research, those numbers — while enviable for most companies — do pose some risk for Apple, which gets about 70 per cent of its profits from the iPhone.

As with any company increasingly reliant on a single product, should development of that product falter or if competition from companies such as Samsung grows even tougher, Apple would be vulnerable.

“Increasingly, Apple is the iPhone story,” Mr Sacconaghi said.
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http://www.todayonline.com/tech/apple-ri...it-iphones

Apple plans more stores in China
DOW JONES OCTOBER 24, 2014 11:15AM

BEIJING- Apple Inc. plans to increase the number of its Apple-brand retail stores in Greater China to 40 from 15 within two years, Chief Executive Tim Cook said Thursday.

In an interview with Chinese news portal Sina.com, Mr. Cook said the Cupertino, Calif., gadget maker will also increase investment in China by an unspecified amount. “In the future China will become Apple’s biggest revenue contributor,” he said, according to Sina.com. “It’s just a matter of time.”

An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the remarks. Greater China includes Hong Kong and Taiwan.

China is Apple’s third-largest market after the U.S. and Europe and is an important growth driver for the company. Its revenue growth in Greater China, however, slowed sharply in the latest quarter ahead of the release of its new iPhone, which was delayed by regulators in China until this month.

Mr. Cook’s trip is being portrayed by some Chinese media outlets as part of the company’s attempt to assuage concerns the Chinese government or public might have about the security of data stored on its phones. In July, state broadcaster China Central Television called a location-tracking function on the iPhone a “national security concern.” Apple has said it doesn’t keep user data.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Mr. Cook and China’s Vice Premier Ma Kai “exchanged views on protection of users’ information” when they met on Wednesday.

Apple faces intense competition in China from South Korean company Samsung Electronics Co. as well as Chinese manufacturers. Apple ranked No. 6 in China’s smartphone market in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC.

Mr. Cook said Apple currently had 7,000 employees in China serving 750,000 customers a day in 15 Apple-branded stores. “You could say they’re the world’s busiest retail stores,” he said.

The report also cited him as saying on Monday he would meet with Jack Ma , the founder of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. , which raised $25 billion in its recent U.S. initial public offering.