CNET Top 5: Apple's biggest flops

Apple's WWDC set for June 10-14, hints at fall launch of next iPhone

By Gregg Keizer in Computerworld - Apple today said that its annual developers conference will take place June 10-14, when it will provide developers with preview builds of the next versions of both iOS and OS X.

The dates were expected: Last month, San Francisco's Moscone Center, the venue this year and for the last 10, had only the week of June 10-14 open on its event calendar.

Apple will spell out details of the next versions of iOS and OS X, its mobile and Mac operating systems, respectively, at the conference. Developers will also get builds of the two OSes, as they have in the past.

If Apple follows its usual timetable, a June preview of iOS 7 means that it will be available in final form this fall alongside new hardware. The last two years Apple has waited until June's WWDC to hand developers an iOS SDK (software development kit), then unveiled new iPhones in September (2012) or October (2011).

While some analysts continue to place bets on a June or July launch of a new iPhone -- for now, dubbed "iPhone 5S" -- the iOS 7 timing hints at a later debut.

Read Full Story @ Computer World

Mac sales growth stalls -- here's why Apple doesn't care

Mac sales growth rate (Graph by Computer World)

By Gregg Keizer in Computer World

Computerworld - Apple's Mac has been punished by shifting consumer tastes just as has the overall PC industry, data from the company's earnings statements show.

But in the end, Apple may not care.

"I think PC, and Mac, volumes will continue to shrink as this trend grows stronger," said Sameer Singh, an analyst at Tech-Thoughts. "But Apple is positioned well to take advantage of it."

Over the past four quarters, Mac sales gains have languished at 7% or less, and over the last three, at 2% or less. The worst was the fourth quarter of 2012, when Mac sales were down 22% compared to the same period the year prior.

Read Full Story @ Computer World

Apple sold 35-38M iPhones last quarter, analysts say

By Gregg Keizer

Apple sold approximately 38 million iPhones in the first quarter, an 8% increase over what it sold in the same quarter a year ago, an analyst said today.

Brian Marshall of the ISI Group said today he was sticking with his estimate of 38 million iPhones for the January-March quarter.

Others, including Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets and Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, have placed their bets on lower numbers -- 35 million and 35.5 million, respectively -- for the quarter that ended March 31, flat or just 1% above last year's number.

According to Fortune the median from forecasts of 48 analysts was 37 million, a 5.5% increase year-over-year.

Read Full Story @ Computer World 

Samsung Wins Among Likely Buyers, But Apple Not Ceding Market Share Yet

by Ted MarzilliOne of the bigger stories in the smart phone industry over the past months has been Samsung’s potential rise at Apple’s expense. When I wrote about the subject in January, brand perception data from YouGov BrandIndex showed Samsung had risen to parity with Apple in several metrics. Now a longer term look with data from YouGov InvestorView shows that, while Samsung has surpassed Apple as the brand most cited by consumers as their next purchase, Apple had not yet lost market share.During the first quarter of 2012, 25% of consumers said they owned Samsung cell phone while 17% of consumers said they owned an Apple.  Over the past year, both brands increased their market share, but have remained roughly in the same proportion. For the first quarter 2013, 29% of consumers owned a Samsung while 19% owned an Apple.

Read Full Story @ Forbes

Why Apple's alliance with Yahoo makes sense

by Sterling Wong in USA Today

Last week, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Apple and Yahoo were in talks to deepen their mobile-services relationship,

The partnership is mutually beneficial because it allows Yahoo to improve its presence in mobile, and it allows Apple to distance itself from rival Google, said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu in a report. Additionally, Yahoo data already powers native iOS stock and weather apps on iPhones and iPads

Read Full Story @ USA Today

Google Hits ‘Glass’ Pedal as Apple Returns to Earth

By Sam Gustin

The U.S. technology industry is one of the most dynamic in the world, particularly with respect to mobile and Internet-based computing, two areas that are evolving at breakneck speed. Things can happen very quickly in the tech space: one day you’re up, the next day you’re down. Take Apple and Google, two tech titans currently battling for dominance in the mobile-Internet wars. Over the past several months, Google shares have increased by nearly 20% — last week topping $800 — while Apple shares have fallen by more than 30%.
Google’s new Chromebook Pixel laptop is garnering positive reviews. (“Thank you, Google. For obsoleting my MacBook,” as one CNET writer put it.) And the company’s Google Glass wearable computing project — high-tech Internet-connected specs — is generating the sort of buzz usually reserved for Apple products. The futuristic eyewear will be available to consumers by the end of 2013, just in time for the holiday shopping season, according to several reports.

Read Full Story @ Time 

How Far Can the Mighty Apple Fall?

By Sam Gustin

Apple may be the world’s most celebrated electronics company, but its formerly high-flying stock price has plummeted to Earth over the past six months, declining 40% since last September. On Wednesday, that trend continued when Apple shares tumbled 5.5%, briefly pulling company shares below $400 for the first time since December 2011, and wiping out more than $20 billion in shareholder value.

Wednesday’s decline was apparently triggered by a disappointing sales forecast from one of the company’s key suppliers, which fueled fears of weakening demand for Apple’s signature iPhone and iPad products — and added to growing concern about a weakening global electronics market. Apple’s dramatic stock slide has cost the company the title of the world’s largest company by market capitalization, a distinction that once again belongs to energy giant Exxon Mobil.

The question now is whether Apple shares are likely to keep falling.

Read Full story @ Time 

Microsoft takes new 'Scroogled' shot at Google

By Gregg Keizer

Computerworld - Microsoft today launched a third wave of 'Scroogled,' its attack ad-based campaign aimed at Google, this time highlighting what it said were privacy flaws in the latter's Android app store.

"When you buy an Android app from the Google app store, they give the app maker your full name, email address and the neighborhood where you live," Microsoft asserted on its revamped Scrooggled.com site. "This occurs without clear warning every single time you buy an app. "If you can't trust Google's app store, how can you trust them for anything?"

Microsoft contrasted the portrayal of the Google Play store -- the official Android app store, though not the only one -- with the practices of its own app market. "Windows Phone Store does not share any personally identifiable information with the app maker," Microsoft stated.

Apple does not collect such personal information, either, with the exception of some apps that offer auto-renewing subscriptions. In those cases, however, users are alerted via a pop-up, and must approve the data sharing.

Read Full Story @ Computer World 

What's Going On With Apple's Stock?

By Greg Satell in Forbes

Apple AAPL -5.89% is having another bad week and their stock is down more than 5% this morning.

This time, the proximate cause is an announcement from Cirrus Logic, a key Apple supplier, stating that earnings will come in well below expectations and, by association, investors are now expecting Apple to come in low again too.

Lately, it seems like everybody wants to beat up on Apple (me included – see here and here).  After a decade during which the company could do no wrong, now it can seemingly do no right.

Read the full story @ Forbes

Apple hogging all the laptop aluminum, competitors turn to fiberglass

Apple hogging all the laptop aluminum, competitors turn to fiberglass

Say what you want about Apple, but it’s clever. The company helped pioneer the use of aluminum laptop shells in its MacBooks back in 2008. Now that superthin, Mac-like Ultrabooks are becoming the trend, the rest of the industry needs a strong, lightweight substance like aluminum to build the .8-inch thick designs Intel is pushing for. Problem is, Apple has secured a majority of the aluminum and the factories that manufacture it for computing.

DigiTimes reports that Apple already has deals with Catcher Technology and Foxcomm Technology that give it access to a healthy portion of the metal and production capacity for aluminum chassis. Other manufacturers hoping to build will have to compete for the remaining capacity at the two companies.

More At: Digital Trends

Apple now No. 1 in flash memory consumption - Computerworld

Computerworld - Apple has surpassed HP and all other equipment manufacturers to become the world's largest consumer of semiconductor technology, largely because of the popularity of its mobile devices.

According to market research firm IHS iSuppli, in 2010, Apple bought $17.5 billion worth of semiconductors, an increase of 79.6% from the $9.7 billion it spent in 2009.

"Apple's surge to leadership in semiconductor spending in 2010 was driven by the overwhelming success of its wireless products, namely the iPhone and theiPad," said iSuppli analyst Wenlie Ye. "These products consume enormous quantities of NAND flash memory, which is also found in the Apple iPod. Because of this, Apple in 2010 was the world's No. 1 purchaser of NAND flash."

While Apple is also in the top five manufacturers that purchase microprocessors, it was NAND flash that propelled it into the top spot overall, Ye said. "For Apple, which right now spends 60% of its semiconductor purchasing budget on wireless products, processors take the passenger seat when compared to NAND flash. "

In 2010, HP lead the market in microprocessor purchases with $5.3 billion spent, followed by Dell with $4.2 billion and Apple with $2.5 billion.

for more: Apple now No. 1 in flash memory consumption - Computerworld

German Apple Store defaced with Windows logo - DigiTrends

German Apple Store defaced with Windows logo - Digital Trends

A prank in Germany offers a visual take on Mac vs. PC.

An Apple Store in Hamburg, Germany has suffered the ultimate brand humiliation: being plastered with a Windows logo. The store is currently under construction and doesn’t officially open until the end of September, but a group of motivated PC-loving pranksters pretending to be construction workers were able to slap Windows emblem on the side of the building (although it was upside down).