Apple expected to launch new low-cost 5G iPhone

NEW YORK - Apple Inc will likely announce a new low-cost version of its iPhone SE with 5G capabilities at its annual spring product launch event on Tuesday, analysts say.

The iPhone maker is also expected to launch a new version of the iPad Air and a high-end Mac Mini at the event.

Apple's iPhone SE is currently priced at $399. CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino said Apple could attract more price-sensitive consumers if the price remains the same for the new version.

"It could potentially provide upside to our unit iPhone estimate for 2022 if they keep that price point unchanged," Zino said. "The iPhone SE really caters well to a lot of first-time buyers on the iPhone ecosystem that may be younger individuals, where their parents are going out there buying that device."

The new phone would be the first update to the iPhone SE model in two years and is rumored come with an improved camera and a faster processor.

The United States, Japan and Western Europe have been the top markets for iPhone SE sales in recent years, said analyst Ryan Reith of IDC. Reith said these regions will likely remain the top markets after the anticipated launch of the third-generation iPhone SE.

"We probably won't see big geography shifts," Reith said, adding that he expects the new iPhone SE to account for 10 percent of iPhone shipments globally after the launch.

IPhones with 5G capabilities have been a big part of Apple's focus for its flagship product, with its latest-model iPhone 13 showing off custom 5G antennas and radio components for faster speeds as customers look for powerful devices with better connectivity.

But some analysts still point to the limitations of 5G technology globally.

"Currently in most countries in the world, that (5G) technology simply isn't good enough to create a unique and differentiated experience ... the fact that the iPhone SE comes with 5G is more a way to enable users to leverage 5G when that technology evolves over the next year or two," Canalys research analyst Runar Bjørhovde said.

Zino said he does not anticipate services or accessories launches at the Tuesday event, though an unexpected announcement in the services sector is still possible.

Apple usually hosts three events every year to launch new products, starting in spring and announcing the launch of its latest iPhone range just before the holiday shopping season.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Apple said on March 1 it has paused all product sales in Russia. The company also said it has stopped all exports into its sales channels in the country and limited Apple Pay and other services in Russia.

The Russian state media, RT News and Sputnik News, are no longer available for download from the Apple Store outside Russia.

-reuters-

Apple poised for strong earnings despite supply constraints, Omicron

Apple Inc navigated pandemic-related supply chain issues better than rivals at the end of 2021, likely helping the iPhone maker surpass Wall Street revenue growth targets of 6 percent, some analysts estimate.

Apple, which is set to post quarterly earnings on Thursday, was buoyed by strong iPhone 13 sales globally, sales in China and continued growth in Mac shipments, several analysts told Reuters.

The market is closely watching earnings at Apple, Tesla and other tech companies to see if they quell the sell-off that has wiped out nearly $3 trillion in value from the Nasdaq 100. Investors are dumping tech stocks on fears that the Fed will hike interest rates fairly aggressively and erode the value of their future earnings. Some are concerned that the surge of pandemic at-home tech buying will not last as conditions improve.

"We expect Apple to reach its highest market share in China since Apple entered the market in 2008," said analyst Nicole Peng of Canalys.

Investment firm Wedbush Securities forecasts record iPhone sales of more than 40 million units during the holiday period from Black Friday to Christmas. Morgan Stanley estimates total holiday quarter iPhone shipments at 83 million, representing a 4 percent increase from the previous year.

Wall Street analysts expect Apple to post about $118.7 billion in revenue, representing 6.48 percent year-over-year growth, and quarterly earnings per share of $1.89, according to Eikon data as of Tuesday.

Apple posted a rare revenue miss in the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 25, which Chief Executive Tim Cook attributed to pandemic-related supply constraints and manufacturing disruptions that together cost the company an estimated $6 billion in sales.

Cook at the time forecast an even bigger drag in the holiday quarter, but analysts expect strong growth compared to competitors in the just-ended quarter, which began days after Apple started shipping the iPhone 13.

"Since Apple has many customized components going into the iPhones, Macs, Apple Watch and others and the scale (volume and price) at which it procures, Apple has been able to lock-in suppliers’ capacities to timely produce those parts with lesser delays," said Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research.

Shah added that Apple is seeing the highest demand for iPhones since the 2015 "supercycle."

Smaller rivals are struggling to keep up with production, leading to Apple market share gains in regions such as China, said Angelo Zino of CFRA Research in a research note.

Apple has said it expects iPads to be its only product with lower sales compared with a year ago due to supply constraints. Analysts say Apple likely prioritized iPhone units for components.

Preliminary holiday quarter data from IDC indicates almost 9 percent growth in Mac shipments, compared with a 1 percent rise in the PC market as a whole. 

Analysts played down concerns about the impacts of the Omicron variant surge, saying closings of some retail stores did not likely have a big impact on Apple's online-heavy business. Analysts also are watching for signs that rising Omicron cases in China could impact Apple's production.

Apple, the first company worth $3 trillion, has been losing value along with the broader stock market. Apple stock has fallen 10 percent this month and the S&P 500 index has dropped 9 percent.

Analysts may also ask Apple management about App Store payment rules, after regulators in the Netherlands found that the US company had abused its market dominance by requiring dating app developers to exclusively use Apple's in-app payment system.

-reuters-

Apple to upgrade budget handset to 5G, drop iPhone Mini from 2022 lineup: Nikkei

Apple Inc's cheapest handset will support 5G technology in its next iteration and its iPhone Mini will not be included in its 2022 lineup, Nikkei reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The company will start selling a 5G version of budget iPhone SE in the first half of 2022, Nikkei reported, adding the device will be powered by its A15 processor and its 5G connectivity will be enabled by Qualcomm Inc's X60 modem chip.

Telecom operators have been spending billions of dollars to upgrade their networks to the much-touted 5G to enable faster internet and better coverage. However, analysts are skeptical of the uses of the technology to individual consumers and believe there are years to come before one can reap the actual benefits.

Meanwhile, demand for iPhone Mini, the smaller version of Apple's flagship device has been muted, compared with its bigger and high-end models like iPhone 12 Pros and the older iPhone 11s as users prefer larger devices to run almost every day-to-day tasks.

US sales of iPhone 12 Mini were just 5 percent of overall sales of its new phones during the first half of January, according to industry data provider Counterpoint.

Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. 

-reuters-

What is 'Other' in my iPhone storage, why is it taking up so much space and how do I clear it?

If you’re an iPhone user, check your storage now by selecting Settings, then General and then iPhone Storage.

You’ll probably see a lot of recognizable categories eating up your storage — apps, photos, and so on. But there is one, often rather large category, that may raise concerns: “Other”.

It’s shaded light grey and often represents a significant proportion of the overall storage available.For more detail, scroll down and tap the “Other” category (right at the end). It doesn’t say much — just that it includes caches, logs and other resources in use by the system. Not very illuminating.

For more detail, scroll down and tap the “Other” category (right at the end). It doesn’t say much — just that it includes caches, logs and other resources in use by the system. Not very illuminating.

Logs are records of actions undertaken on, or by, our phones. A phone may, for example, log that it connected to a WiFi network, established a Bluetooth connection with a device, backed up some data or opened a web page. In most cases, the log files are simple records that do not occupy much space — often only a few megabytes.

Caches, however, can be a much greater problem for clogging up your “Other” storage.

When we stream media such as movies and music on an iPhone, the phone will download as much of the content as possible. One of the main reasons for this is to minimize the dreaded spinning wheel you see when content is buffering.

All this content (referred to as a “cache”) needs to be stored somewhere and it rapidly fills up your device.

This cached content extends to a wide range of applications including your web browser (such as Safari, Chrome or Firefox) and apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

While cached data may not seem to need much space, it is surprising how large streamed media content can be – not to mention the image-rich social media apps we love so much.

Looking through the list of apps and their storage allocations will quickly show how storage is being consumed. In this screenshot above, for example, you can see Facebook is consuming 2.17 gigabytes.

However, if we look on the App store, it says the Facebook app only requires 255.4 megabytes. So somehow the app is occupying an additional 1.9GB. Where is this extra 1.9GB coming from? It’s likely caches of images, videos and other content your phone had to store in it’s own memory storage so you could scroll through Facebook without encountering the dreaded “buffering” spinning wheel.

The most effective solution is also the most radical. To truly minimize “Other” storage, you would need to backup your phone, reset it and, finally, restore your phone from the backup.

This process will remove most of the “Other” storage being used on your iPhone, but takes a bit of time and effort.

Unfortunately, cached files will be recreated with most common iPhone usage. But there are some things you can do to reduce storage consumption.

If you’re not keen to reset, try exploring the apps using up cache space on your iPhone.

Social media apps are a good starting point as they often cache lots of images and videos. While most don’t provide an option to delete their cached data, removing and reinstalling the app will remove all cache files.

Another likely culprit is your web browser (typically Safari on most iPhones).

From the Settings menu, scroll down to Safari and select “Clear History and Website Data”. This will remove most cached data associated with your web browser.

If you’re using another browser, such as Chrome or Firefox, repeat the steps with that browser in Settings.

If you want to keep going, consider removing old SMS and iMessages.

Standard written text messages occupy minimal storage, but photos and videos shared between family and friends can consume significant storage over time.

Under Settings, scroll down to Messages, then to the Message History option. The default is to keep messages “forever”. Changing this to a shorter duration can reduce space requirements considerably.

A final option is to consider offloading apps. Modern iPhones let you remove infrequently used apps. While this will not necessarily reduce your use of cache storage, it can free up valuable space.

There is no simple solution to managing iPhone storage usage. Minimizing photos and videos will help, but there is a lot of space allocated to apps and their cached data.

But with careful tending, we can try to keep on top of unexpected storage usage without having to wipe our devices

-reuters-

Encryption battle reignited as US govt at loggerheads with Apple

WASHINGTON — Apple and the US government are at loggerheads for the second time in 4 years over unlocking iPhones connected to a mass shooting, reviving debate over law enforcement access to encrypted devices.

Attorney General Bill Barr claimed Monday that Apple failed to provide "substantive assistance" in unlocking 2 iPhones in the investigation into the December shooting deaths of 3 US sailors at a Florida naval station, which he called an "act of terrorism."

Apple disputed Barr's claim, while arguing against the idea of "backdoors" for law enforcement to access its encrypted smartphones.

"We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation," the company said in a statement.

"Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing."

The standoff highlighted the debate between law enforcement and the tech sector about encryption -- a key way to protect the privacy of digital communications, but which can also make investigations difficult, even with a court order.

The latest battle is similar to the dispute between Apple and the US Justice Department after the December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, when the iPhone maker rejected a request to develop software to break into the shooter's iPhone.

That fight ended in 2016 when the government paid an outside party a reported $1 million for a tool that circumvented Apple's iPhone encryption.

Barr last year called on Facebook to allow authorities to circumvent encryption to fight extremism, child pornography and other crimes. The social network has said it would move ahead with strong encryption for its messaging applications.

OPENING WRONG DOORS? 

Digital rights activists argue that any privileged access for law enforcement would weaken security and make it easier for hackers and authoritarian governments to intercept messages.

"We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys," Apple's statement said.

"Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers."

Apple and others argue that digital "breadcrumbs" make it increasingly easy to track people, even without breaking into personal devices.

The government's latest demand "is dangerous and unconstitutional, and would weaken the security of millions of iPhones," Jennifer Granick of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

"Strong encryption enables religious minorities facing genocide, like the Uighurs in China, and journalists investigating powerful drug cartels in Mexico, to communicate safely."

Granick added that Apple cannot allow the FBI access to encrypted communications "without also providing it to authoritarian foreign governments and weakening our defenses against criminals and hackers."

Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation echoed that sentiment, saying Apple "is right to provide strong security" for its devices.

"The AG (attorney general) requesting Apple re-engineer its phones to break that security is a poor security trade-off, and imperils millions of innocent people around the globe," Opsahl tweeted.

James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said he believes it's possible to allow law enforcement access without sacrificing encryption.

"You're not weakening encryption, you're making it so it's not end-to-end," Lewis told AFP.

"It means that there's a third party who can look at it under appropriate authority."

But Lewis said he does not expect either side to come out a winner in the battle, and that US officials will likely find another outside party to crack the 2 iPhones belonging to the shooter, Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamran, who died in the attack.

"It's a repeat of the movie we saw in San Bernardino," he said.

"It's going to be harder because Apple probably fixed the trick that worked in San Bernardino."

Agence France-Presse 

Apple News users reach 100 million, App Store sales rise

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple Inc's news service has reached 100 million monthly active users and customers spent more than $1.4 billion in the App Store between Christmas and New Year, the latest signs of growing revenue from the iPhone maker's services business.

With demand for smart phones and other hardware peaking, Apple has been striving to boost sales from purchases of apps and subscription services like its newly launched Apple TV+ streaming service or Apple Care maintenance packages.

The company said that between Dec. 24, 2019, and Jan. 1, 2020, its customers spent $1.42 billion in the App Store, a 16 percent increase over the previous year, and $386 million on Jan. 1 alone, a 20 percent increase.

The number of users of the News app rose nearly 18 percent from a year ago, although the company did not break out subscriber numbers for the Apple News+ service, which costs $9.99 per month.

The numbers also point to a big shift in spending in the Thanksgiving to Christmas holiday season in the United States, with consumers splurging on apps and online shopping rather than in brick-and-mortar stores.

Mastercard Inc's data tracking retail sales from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve showed US shoppers spent almost a fifth more online during this year's holiday shopping season than a year ago, accounting for 15 percent of all retail sales.

The App Store growth numbers were roughly in line with the overall trend for Apple's services segment revenue, which rose 16 percent to $46.3 billion in its most recent fiscal year ended in September. In comparison, iPhone sales fell 14 percent to $142.4 billion in the same period.

Apple keeps between 15 percent and 30 percent of the sales through its App Store, depending on whether users buy software as a one-time purchase or recurring subscription.

The company launched several new services in 2019, including the streaming service, a video game service and a credit card.

Shares of the company were marginally down in early trading.

Agence France-Presse

iPhone 11 prices revealed, to arrive Oct. 25

MANILA - Apple has announced prices for its newest line of iPhones which are set to arrive here on Oct. 25.

Like its previous offerings, Apple's latest and greatest phones don't come cheap, with the least expensive iPhone 11 featuring 64GB of storage costing P47,990. 

The most expensive iPhone 11 Pro Max with 512GB of storage meanwhile costs P95,990.

Both Globe Telecom and Smart will start taking preorders for the new iPhones starting Oct. 18. 

iPhone 11

P47,990 - 64GB
P50,990 - 128GB
P56,990 - 256GB

iPhone 11 Pro

P67,990 - 64GB
P76,990 - 256GB
P89,990 - 512GB

iPhone 11 Pro Max

P73,990 - 64GB
P82,990 - 256GB 
P95,990 - 512GB 
With the launch of the new iPhones, Apple has implemented a P10,000 cut in the price of last year's iPhone XR, which now lists 
at P40,990 for the base model featuring 64GB of storage. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Remember your 1st Gen iPhone?

When it first came out, the iPhone didn't change this techie's life or his view of the world. And that was a good thing. On the occasion of the iPhone's first decade and the recent introduction of its latest iteration, we republish this essay from 2008, the year Apple launched its first smartphone model—or what was then being tagged "the Jesus phone," the one that will save us all. 


Last January, Steve Jobs said he was going to reinvent the phone and I couldn't believe the amount of hype that surrounded it. Google "Apple iPhone" and you'll get 160 million hits ("Nokia phone" gets you 57 million). Bloggers have even dubbed it the "Jesus Phone" like it was the Second Coming. I've had my iPhone for two months and it hasn't changed my life. It's just a cellphone. It's actually less of a phone than you're used to. It doesn't do MMS. It won't let you forward messages or send and receive business cards. It won't even let you use your favorite song as your ringtone. But I'm still using my iPhone for the very reason I wrote earlier. It hasn't changed my life.

That's what the iPhone, and Apple, is all about. It's been two months now and I still haven't read the manual, not one of its 18 pages. Yet every day I have no problems syncing my calendar, checking my email, the weather or even my friends on Live journal. I can't say the same for all the other phones I've owned, including the Prada phone that Apple was rumored to have copied. The iPhone joins the list of Apple stuff I use not because it's revolutionary, or worse, cool, but because it's all about me. That's the secret of Jobs' success. He knows that beyond cutting edge design, it's about understanding how people do and use things.

He hasn't met me but, years back, he gave me a one-button mouse for my Apple Ile just so I wouldn't have to read a manual to figure out whether to click the left or the right button. Now, he's giving me a phone with a keyboard that pops up only when i need to type, that knows if I've turned it sideways and rotates the screen accordingly. He knows me and yet he doesn't. Jobs didn't give me a 140 page manual to learn how to use the iPhone like Nokia did with their N95. Instead he made the iPhone smart enough to figure out exactly what I want to do and adjust to the way I do things. I don't get anything more than I need, when I need it. Nothing complicated. Nothing unnecessary. Nothing life-changing. Instead of spending a day reading a user manual, I have more time to think about more important things in life like, how to fill up the 17 billion cells in a Microsoft Excel 2007 spreadsheet (that's 1.1 million rows and over 16,000 columns).

source: news.abs-cbn.com

New iPhones aim for momentum in sputtering smartphone market

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple is set to unveil new iPhones, aiming to gain fresh momentum in the premium segment of a global smartphone market showing signs of fatigue.

In its usual secretive style, Apple has remained mum about revelations planned for Wednesday's event at its spaceship campus in Silicon Valley, but the timing fits its pattern of annually introducing new iPhone models.

Speculation includes talk that Apple will introduce three new iPhone models, infusing some with features from a premium iPhone X that debuted last year with a $1,000 price tag.

While the iPhone has made Apple the world's most valuable company worth more than $1 trillion, it has slipped to third place among smartphone makers as Chinese-based Huawei has grabbed the number 2 spot.

Still, analysts say Apple has a formula that works with a loyal customer base and steady sales.

"There is nothing in their product line-up that isn't working for them in the premium segment of the market, so there is no imperative for them to break that mold," NPD analyst Stephen Baker said of Apple likely sticking with modest improvements in new iPhones this year.

"They gobble up most of the profits. I don't think they are under any pressure at all."

Technalysis Research chief analyst Bob O'Donnell agreed that Apple is fine with holding its niche in the market.

"Apple doesn't have to prove anything, other than that they are willing to segment the market more," he said, while pointing out that the company will likely be "offering a wider array of choices."

PREMIUM COMPETITION

Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker, last month unveiled its latest flagship handset, the Galaxy Note 9, and next month Apple rival Google will hold an event at which it is likely to showcase new Android-powered top-end Pixel phones.

Google took to making its own smartphones to showcase the capabilities of the Android operating system that it makes available free of charge to handset makers. Android smartphones have come to dominate the market.

Apple's event comes with the global smartphone market largely saturated, without a major catalyst for sales ahead of a likely rollout of 5G, or fifth generation wireless networks, expected in 2019.

Research firm IDC expects worldwide smartphone shipments to decline 0.7 percent in 2018 to 1.455 billion units, with growth likely to resume as 5G devices become available.

"We still believe the smartphone market has some healthy growth in the years to come, although finding and competing in those markets and segments is increasingly more challenging," said IDC analyst Ryan Reith.

WATCHING THE WATCH

Apple has sold more than a billion iPhones since the first model was unveiled by late co-founder Steve Jobs in 2007.

The company is in the unique situation of controlling the hardware and software in its mobile devices, with content for users required to go through its App Store that takes a percentage of revenue.

Leaks and rumors have it that Apple plans to unveil 3 new iPhone models, including an improved version of the flagship X model released a year ago with a $1,000 price tag.

Apple is also expected to introduce a lower priced iPhone with some X features but a less expensive LCD screen.

The event may also include Apple Watch internet-connected wrist wear getting its first significant redesign since it debuted three years ago.

"I think that in the long run the watch will be a much larger business than people give it credit for; where Apple can iterate and grow," Baker said.

"Clearly products on your body have whole different business opportunity than products you carry around, like smartphones."

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has touted fitness and health features of the company's smartwatch, which dominates that market.

The culture-changing company behind the iPod, iPhone and iPad hit a historic milestone last month, becoming the first private-sector company to surpass $1 trillion in market value.

The landmark was the latest victory for Tim Cook, who faced skepticism when he took over as chief executive in 2011 from Jobs just before his death.

While Apple watchers wait for the company to wow the world with a surprise such as augmented reality glasses or an Apple car that drives itself, the company has ramped up the amount of money it makes selling online services and digital content to the vast sea of iPhone users.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Google Pixel 3 smartphones expected in Oct. 9 event

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google on Thursday sent out invitations to an October 9 event at which it is expected to unveil the third generation of its Android-powered Pixel smartphones.

Invitations displayed little more than the internet titan's logo along with the time and place of the event, set for a studio in New York City.

The Silicon Valley-based company has a history of introducing new "Made by Google" smartphones in October, and there have been a flood of leaked photos and details about third-generation Pixel handsets heading for market.

The update to the Pixel line-up would also come on the heels of an Apple event next week that is likely to star new iPhone models.

Google took to making its own smartphones to showcase the capabilities of the Android operating system that it makes available free of charge to handset makers. Android smartphones have come to dominate the market.

Rumors buzzing include that Google plans to release new Pixel models and perhaps an updated Android-powered smartwatch to go with the handsets.

New Pixel phones are expected to be tuned to take advantage of advancements the company has been making in artificial intelligence.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple hints at gold iPhone X successor in launch invite

Apple Inc said on Thursday it will host an event on Sept. 12 at the Steve Jobs Theater in the company's Cupertino, California, campus, where it is widely expected to unveil new iPhone models.

Analysts believe Apple plans to release three new smartphones this year, including one with a larger display than previous models. Analysts also expect Apple to release an iPhone with a edge-to-edge display similar to the iPhone X but using less-costly LCD screen technology.

Apple's event invitation made heavy use of the color gold, fueling speculation on social media that the company plans to launch a gold-colored successor to the iPhone X, which was made available only in silver and gray last year.

Documents filed at the US Federal Communications Commission unsealed earlier this year showed Apple had sought approval for a gold version of its iPhone X, but it never released the color.


A few hours after Apple's announcement, 9to5Mac, a technology news website, posted photographs of two gold iPhone models stacked on top each other, with a larger-screened model on the bottom. Both models resemble the current iPhone X.

The site said the new flagship model would be called the iPhone XS and that Apple also plans to release a new version of the Apple Watch with a larger display by reducing the edges around it.

9to5Mac told Reuters the photographs were not mockups and represented Apple's actual planned products but declined to say how it had obtained them. Apple did not respond to requests for comment about the authenticity of the photos.

Apple shares were up 2.2 percent at an all-time high of $227.97.

Apple has for years released its new phone models in the second week of September, and often updates other product lines such as the Apple Watch at the event. The company has already given base-model iPads and some MacBook laptops an update this year.

Apple typically starts selling new iPhones a few weeks after launching them, in time for the holiday shopping season. The iPhone X, priced at $999 and up, has helped Apple beat Wall Street sales expectations.

Investor Warren Buffett, speaking on Thursday to CNBC, said the iPhone is "enormously underpriced" even when it costs $1,000, given how indispensable it has become for so many people.

-- with ABS-CBN News

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple expected to unveil new iPhones on September 12

Apple on Thursday sent out invitations to a September 12 event at which it is expected to unveil new additions to its money-making iPhone line-up.

In typical enigmatic style, Apple offered scant clues to what it has in store for the presentation to take place in the Steve Jobs Theater at its spaceship campus in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino.

Invitations had the words "Gather round" under a large golden circle.

Apple has historically held September events to show off new iPhone models, and this year the company is expected to stay true to that course.

Speculation includes talk that Apple introduce three new iPhone models, infusing some with features from a premium iPhone X that debuted last year with a $1,000 price tag.

Apple's event comes a month after smartphone leader Samsung unveiled its latest flagship handset, the Galaxy Note 9.

Although the California tech giant is the world's most valuable company with a market capitalization that recently topped $1 trillion, it has slipped to third place in the global smartphone market behind Chinese-based Huawei, according to surveys.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Amid angst over iPhone X, Wall Street braces for weak forecast from Apple

SAN FRANCISCO, California - When Apple Inc announces its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, investors will seek signs of whether the company's $999 iPhone X launched last autumn was a Steve Jobs-style hit or, as more analysts suspect, a letdown.

In recent weeks, Wall Street analysts have come to a consensus that iPhone X sales were slower than previously expected for the first quarter that ended in December and may drop off sharply for the March quarter.

Analysts have lowered their expectations for Apple's second- quarter revenue guidance to as low as $60 billion from a previous average of $67 billion.

Combined with concerns about the impact of an imbroglio in which Apple acknowledged slowing down phones with worn-out batteries, the weak iPhone X performance has again raised the question of whether the company can keep up its rapid revenue growth without a new hit product.

With eight different iPhone models priced from $350 to $999 on sale over the holidays, Apple showed that it has moved decisively away from co-founder Jobs' tight lineup of premium-priced products and embraced an iPhone-for-everybody strategy.

Analysts are questioning whether Apple can boost its revenue even as iPhone sales essentially plateau.

"Apple will have to answer the question of what's next," UBS analyst Steven Milunovich wrote in a note to investors. "More services to monetize the base of one billion customers and eventually enhanced [augmented reality] capabilities may be part of the answer."

Analysts still expect Apple to post record revenue, hitting the top of its $87 billion guidance for the holiday quarter. But they have slashed revenue estimates for the March quarter and expect the company to sell fewer iPhones in fiscal 2018 than initially thought.

Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi predicted as few as 220 million iPhones will sell in fiscal 2018, just above the 216.7 million sold in 2017 and well below the 2015 peak of 231.2 million.

BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk spotlighted a steadily lengthening replacement cycle as new iPhones offer only small improvements over prior models. Now that it has become clear that a new battery can give life to an old phone, more customers may choose to delay an upgrade, especially with Apple cutting the price of a battery replacement to $29 from $79.

Analysts still believe Apple will report sales of $272.2 billion for its fiscal 2018, 18.7 percent above its $229.2 billion in fiscal 2017. That will be driven largely by higher average prices paid for iPhones, they said.

'WILD CARD' 

But Apple does not give data on specific models, and with the wider lineup, analysts must do more guesswork based on surveys and other tools. They also find it harder to predict how much money Apple makes off each phone.

"We believe that gross margins are a key wild card for investors, given limited transparency into relative margins across iPhone," Sacconaghi said in a note to investors.

All in all, it's a far cry from the days of Jobs, who shrank the company's product lineup when he returned to the helm in 1997 and kept it limited to a few models of each product at one time until his death in 2011.

But the Apple of today has something Jobs never had: An imposing user base into which it can sell a host of other products and services.

Trip Miller, managing partner at Gullane Capital and an Apple investor, believes Apple's services segment is the firm's next hit product. Analyst expect it to hit sales of $34.7 billion this year, up 16 percent. 

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Cynthia Osterman)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

iPhone software update spotlights Apple secrecy on battery health

Apple Inc's move on Wednesday to give iPhone owners information about the health of their batteries reverses the company's longstanding refusal to make such information available directly on iPhones and iPads, even though battery health has long been easy to check on Apple's Mac computers.

Apple said an update to its iOS operating system will show the phone's battery health and recommend whether the battery needs to be replaced. It will also let users turn off a controversial piece of software that slows the phone's performance in some situations when the battery is flagging.

Apple acknowledged in December that its software sometimes deliberately slows phones with weak batteries. Apple apologized and lowered the price of battery replacements in its stores from $79 to $29 for affected phones.

Critics say Apple has obfuscated the fact that a worn-out battery not only fails to hold a charge, it also degrades the phone's performance. The company's lack of transparency on the issue has pushed people to buy a new phone rather than a new battery, these people say.

"The battery wears out," said Kyle Wiens, chief executive of iFixit, which publishes repair guides for iPhones and sells replacement parts. "They have been pretending like the battery doesn't wear out. They've made billions of dollars on that pretense."

Apple has always banned battery-health apps from the App Store for security reasons. While a few developers had found ways around the restrictions, their apps stopped showing a key piece of information - the "charge cycle count," or how many times the battery has been drained and recharged - after a 2016 software update.

Rogerio Hirooka of Lirum Labs said his company's app lost charge cycle counts in 2016 but can still provide information on charge capacity, which can be used to determine whether the battery is at the end of its life. He said a routine bug-fix for the app was rejected by Apple in December, just before Apple acknowledged the battery-slowing issue.

Apple rejected his app because it provides "potentially inaccurate diagnostic functionality" that could "mislead or confuse your users," according to documents from the app review process seen by Reuters. Apple explains that "there is no publicly available infrastructure to support iOS diagnostic analysis," according to the documents.

Apple declined to comment on why battery diagnosis is available on the Mac but not on the iPhone, or why it rejected the update to Hirooka's app.

"That fact that they tell you (battery health) on the Mac but it's a forbidden secret on the iPhone is crazy," Wiens said.

All lithium ion batteries degrade over time. Until the software update announced Wednesday becomes available - and Apple has not given a specific date - the only way to check an iPhone battery is to take the device to an Apple Store or hook the phone up to a Mac computer running special third-party software.

Repair advocates have long criticized Apple and other technology companies for making batteries hard for users to access and replace. Apple has been lobbying against "right to repair" laws in several US states that would require it to sell parts to independent repair shops.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

iPhone battery replacement: Power Mac releases guidelines

MANILA - One of Apple's authorized distributors in the Philippines on Monday released guidelines for iPhone battery replacements, as the technology giant contained the fallout from its admission that it was slowing handsets with software updates.

Battery replacements will cost P1,500 for eligible units, inclusive of labor, Power Mac Center said in a statement, adding the price could change due to importation costs.

Since the replacement program was announced 2 weeks ago, Power Mac said it had replaced batteries on 150 iPhones.

Apple CEO Tim Cook last week said he was "deeply" sorry for slowing older iPhones, saying it was necessary to prevent the devices form shutting down unexpectedly.

Anyone with an iPhone 6 or later can avail of battery replacements, with discounts for out-of-warranty units, Apple said in December.

Power Mac said iPhone owners in the Philippines should have their phones checked for "battery condition and other internal and external physical/accidental damage or unauthorized modification that may or may not be visible to the naked eye."

"If such issues are found, the iPhone will be ineligible for the battery replacement," the retailer said.

Apple engineers will also recommend part or unit replacement should other issues arise during the inspection, it said.

Should customers decide not to proceed with the repair, they will be required to pay a diagnostic fee, it said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple to pay $38-B in taxes on repatriated profits

Apple announced Wednesday it would pay some $38 billion in taxes -- likely the largest payment of its kind -- on profits repatriated from overseas as it boosts investments in the United States.

The iPhone maker said in a statement it plans to use some of its foreign cash stockpile, which qualifies for reduced tax rates under a recent bill, to invest in new projects.

Apple, which claims to be the largest US taxpayer, is also one of the largest beneficiaries of a tax bill passed by Congress in December which lowers the rate of repatriated profits to around 15 percent and cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.

The tech giant had built a stockpile of more than $250 billion in overseas holdings, claiming it was not in the interests of shareholders to repatriate the money with a 35 percent tax rate.

Apple said it will now use a large chunk of the overseas cash for US investments.

It said it expects to invest over $30 billion in direct capital expenditures in the US over the next five years, creating some 20,000 new jobs, and claimed the move would contribute $350 billion in economic activity in the US.

"Apple is a success story that could only have happened in America, and we are proud to build on our long history of support for the US economy," said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.

"We believe deeply in the power of American ingenuity, and we are focusing our investments in areas where we can have a direct impact on job creation and job preparedness. We have a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country and the people who help make our success possible."

Second campus 

Apple planned to spend more than $10 billion on US data centers, which play an increasingly important role as the California-based iPhone maker focuses on increasing revenue from services and content based in the internet 'cloud.'

The company also said it will establish a second Apple campus, at a location to be disclosed later this year, that will initially house technical support for customers.

Apple already spent billions of dollars on a new 'space ship' campus in its home city of Cupertino in Silicon Valley.

Apple reported that it currently employs 84,000 people in the US.

As is the case with Apple's other US facilities, the new campus will be entirely powered by renewable energy, the company vowed.

Shares see highs

Apple will also boost the size of its Advanced Manufacturing Fund fivefold, to $5 billion, with the money earmarked to back expansion projects of suppliers in the US.

Apple investing in high-tech manufacturing in the United States was considered rare common ground with US President Donald Trump, who hammered away at the theme during his campaign for office.

Apple shares flirted with record highs through the day, trading at $178.76 as the close of the Nasdaq neared.

It was revealed late last year in leaked financial documents known as the Paradise Papers that Apple shifted much of its offshore wealth from Ireland to a tax haven in the British Isles.

After the US technology colossus stated publicly in 2013 that it was paying its proper share of taxes, it moved the bulk of its untaxed overseas cash to Jersey, a British dependency in the Channel Islands, various media organizations reported, based on the once-secret cache of documents.

The documents shared with some media outlets by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists have exposed tactics the wealthy and powerful have used to avoid taxes.

The world's most valuable company noted at the time that it has earmarked $36 billion to cover deferred US taxes.

Prior to 2014, Apple had taken advantage of tax rules to route overseas revenue through Irish subsidiaries to minimize taxes.

Apple said at the time that reforming the international tax system to make it simpler is "essential" and needed to "remove the current tug of war between countries over tax payments."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple CEO 'deeply' sorry for slowing iPhones

Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was apologizing "deeply" for slowing older iPhones, saying it was necessary to prevent the devices form shutting down unexpectedly.

The company is preparing a software update to allow iPhone owners to better monitor the health of their device batteries following public uproar. It also offered replacement batteries at a discount.

"We deeply apologize for anybody that thinks we had some kind of other motivation," Cook told US broadcaster ABC on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).

"All batteries age over time and they become unhealthy at a point in time. An unhealthy battery has a probability that it will create an unexpected restart," Cook said.

With the update, users will know when Apple is "reducing performance" of their iPhone "by some amount," he said.

"If you don't want it, you can turn it off. We don't recommend it," he said.

"Our actions were all in service of the user. I can't stress that enough. Maybe we should be clear at a point in time, but our actions were always the purest," he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

China group seeks answers from Apple on slowing iPhones

SHANGHAI - A Chinese consumer group has asked Apple for information about the slowing of older iPhones after operating system updates, demanding a reply before Friday, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The query from the Shanghai Consumer Council came in response to consumer feedback that old iPhones became sluggish after upgrading the software to iOS 10.2.1, it said.

In a letter to Apple on Monday, the council requested an explanation for the slowdown and information about what Apple planned to do to rectify the problem, Xinhua reported.

The California-based company acknowledged in December that iPhone software can slow down some phones with battery problems and apologized for the issue. It also cut battery replacement costs and said it would change its software to show users whether their phone batteries were working well.

The Shanghai Consumer Council, a non-government organization approved by the Chinese authorities, said it had received 2,615 complaints about Apple products and services in 2017, compared with 964 complaints in 2015.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Paris prosecutors probe Apple over 'planned obsolescence'

Paris prosecutors have launched a probe of US tech giant Apple over suspected "planned obsolescence" in some of its iPhone models, a judicial source told AFP on Monday.

It comes after a complaint by the association Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP or Halte a l'Obsolescence Programmee) that followed Apple's admission last month that it intentionally slowed down older models of its iPhones over time.

The investigation into possible "planned obsolescence" or "fraud" was opened on Friday and is being led by anti-trust and consumer protection specialists in the French economy ministry, the source said.

When contacted by AFP, Apple France gave no comment on the matter.

Planned obsolescence is a widely criticised commercial practice in which manufacturers build in the expiry of their products so that consumers will be forced to replace them.

It is decried by consumer groups as being unethical and is suspected of being particularly prevalent in the electronics industry, which produces mountains of unrecyclable waste each year.

To tackle the problem, France passed landmark legislation in 2015 known as "Hamon's law" which made the practice illegal and -- in theory -- obliged retailers to say whether replacement parts were available.

The law, named after former Socialist minister Benoit Hamon, stipulates that a company found to be deliberately shortening the life of its products can be fined up to five percent of its annual sales while executives can face up to two years in jail.

HOP praised the decision of French authorities to dig into Apple's practices.

"It is the first criminal procedure in the world against a company on the basis of planned obsolescence," Emile Meunier, a lawyer for the group, told AFP.

'WIDE-SCALE TAX EVASION'

Last month Apple confirmed what critics had suspected for years: that it intentionally slows performance of older iPhones as their batteries weaken with age.

The company said this was to extend the performance of the phone, which uses less power when running at slower speeds, and was to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to a low battery charge.

It denied incorporating planned obsolescence.

However in late December the company issued an apology for slowing older models and said it would discount replacement batteries for some handsets.

"We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize," Apple said in a message to customers on its website on December 28.

"We've always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible. We're proud that Apple products are known for their durability, and for holding their value longer than our competitors' devices."

Critics have accused Apple of nudging iPhone users to upgrade to newer models by letting them think it was the handsets that needed replacing, rather than just the battery.

HOP believes Apple could be liable for a fine in line with the value of all of its iPhone sales in France since Hamon's law came into force on August 17, 2015.

The California-based group also faces a class-action suit in the United States.

In another headache for Apple in France, the company announced last week that it has filed a lawsuit against the Attac activist group after about 100 of its supporters occupied the tech giant's flagship store in Paris last month, protesting alleged "wide-scale tax evasion" by the firm.

French prosecutors have also launched a probe into Japanese printer maker Epson for alleged planned obsolescence in its products.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple depends less on iPhone X as lineup widens

SAN FRANCISCO - In years past, demand for Apple Inc's latest flagship phone was critical to the company's results over the holiday shopping quarter.

That dynamic might be changing, however, as Apple's widening lineup of devices and services more than makes up for any tepidness in demand this quarter for its lead product, the $999 iPhone X.

On Tuesday, Apple's stock fell 2.5 percent to $170.57 after Taiwan's Economic Daily and several analysts suggested iPhone X sales in the fiscal first quarter would be 30 million units, 20 million fewer than initially planned by the company.

The cut in the forecast was not confirmed, and the stock regained ground on Thursday, hitting $171.82 by midday. The mean revenue estimate for the holiday quarter among 30 analysts remains at $86.2 billion, near the high end of Apple's forecast of $84 billion to $87 billion.

Apple declined to comment.

Part of the support for Apple may reflect a change in its business strategy.

Releasing 2 new models and keeping older ones have made Apple less dependent on its flagship product. Apple shareholder Ross Gerber, chief executive of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management in Santa Monica, California, said the higher price and better margins on the iPhone X will reduce fears of a sales decline.

"We know that Apple's strategy was different this quarter by releasing two phones, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X, and I think combined sales will be in line with what people expect," Gerber said.

Apple also has fattened its portfolio of accessories and other devices, from its AirPods wireless headphones to a new Apple Watch with cellular data features.

While none is a runaway hit, collectively they are an important contributor, with Apple's "other products" segment growing 16 percent to $12.8 billion last year. Customers who buy those add-ons are also likely to buy services from the App Store and Apple Music, part of Apple's services segment, which grew 23 percent to $29.9 billion last year.

"Ultimately, it will be this multi-device ownership" that will generate further revenue, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies.

IPhone X sales still matter. Each unit generates nearly twice the revenue of an iPhone 7 and contains technologies like facial recognition that burnish Apple's brand.

Bob O'Donnell of TECHnalysis Research, said "hit products" still represent "an enormous amount of the company's overall value."

"Will it take hold in the mainstream? That's the question that still remains," he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com