China court bans iPhone sales in patent dispute: Qualcomm

WASHINGTON -- A Chinese court ordered a ban in the country on iPhone sales in a patent dispute, US chipmaking giant Qualcomm said Monday.

A Qualcomm statement said the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court had granted its request for 2 preliminary injunctions against 4 subsidiaries of Apple, ordering them to immediately to stop selling the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X.

The move marked the latest in a long-running dispute over patents and royalties between the 2 California tech giants playing out in courts and administrative bodies worldwide.

"Apple continues to benefit from our intellectual property while refusing to compensate us. These court orders are further confirmation of the strength of Qualcomm's vast patent portfolio," said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm executive vice president and general counsel in Monday's statement.

The China case is based on patents which enable consumers to adjust and reformat the size and appearance of photographs, and to manage applications using a touchscreen, Qualcomm said.

An Apple statement to AFP called Qualcomm's effort a "desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world."

Apple added that Qualcomm "is asserting 3 patents they had never raised before, including one which has already been invalidated."

Apple said that "all iPhone models remain available for our customers in China," adding that "we will pursue all our legal options through the courts."

The Wall Street Journal said the order was issued November 30, and that iPhones remained on sale in the country. The court case does not affect the newest models, including the iPhone Xs and Xr.

The court action also comes amid a backdrop of increased trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and the arrest in Canada of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei at the request of US authorities.

Beijing has reacted angrily to the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company's founder, who faces US fraud charges related to alleged sanctions-breaking dealings with Iran.

APPLE'S CHINA STRATEGY

China has been an important market for Apple in recent years since China Mobile agreed to begin distributing the smartphones in 2014, and a number of Apple stores are open in China.

Apple's most recent quarterly report showed it brought in some $11 billion -- around 18 percent of its total revenues -- from "Greater China," a region which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has made regular visits to China, and has touted the company's inroads in the Chinese market as well as its manufacturing there.

Qualcomm, the leading supplier of chips for mobile devices, has been in a prolonged legal battle with Apple in recent years.

Apple has claimed that Qualcomm is abusing its market power over certain mobile chipsets in order to demand unfair royalties, joining a string of antitrust actions against the chipmaker.

Qualcomm has countersued Apple and earlier this year escalated its legal fight, claiming the iPhone maker stole trade secrets and shared them with mobile chip rival Intel.

According to Qualcomm's US lawsuit, Apple's goal was to buy mobile chips from Intel instead of depending on Qualcomm.

Qualcomm is facing antitrust probes in South Korea, the European Union and the United States over its dominant position.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple loses $1 trillion status after soft holiday forecast

Shares in Apple Inc. fell 6 percent on Friday, cutting its market value back to less than $1 trillion after it forecast softer-than-expected sales for the holiday quarter and fueled nerves over iPhone sales by saying it would no longer release the figures.

The dip in Apple's shares to $208.50 knocked around $67 billion off its value, and put Amazon and Microsoft Corp back in the mix in the race among the United States' big tech players to be the world's most valuable company.

The Cupertino, California-based company blamed weakness in emerging markets and foreign exchange costs for a disappointing forecast for sales in the run-up to Christmas that are crucial to results for consumer electronics producers.

Most analysts were still upbeat on fourth-quarter results, and there was no obvious fallout for rest of the FAANG group of major U.S. tech stocks. Shares in Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Google-owner Alphabet Inc. all rose on a generally buoyant Wall Street.

Eight brokerages cut their price targets for Apple, but only one - Bank of America Merrill Lynch - cut its rating on the stock, to neutral from buy.

"Time for investors to adjust to the new disclosures," analysts from the brokerage said. "Although the long term opportunity is significant, we expect near term pressure on shares."

The move announced on Thursday to stop reporting unit sales data for iPhones, iPad and Mac computer products was widely criticized, with some arguing it meant Apple expected sales of iPhones have now peaked.

"While the company believes units are a less relevant metric, we strongly disagree – particularly since we believe iPhone units will begin to decline y/y as a result of higher average selling prices," Raymond James analysts said.

Apple shares were down 6.4 pct. at $208.05 before the bell.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple delivers strong profits, but shares slip on outlook

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple on Thursday delivered stronger than expected profits in the recently ended quarter, but shares slid on disappointing iPhone sales and the forecast going into the year-end holiday.

Apple said net profit climbed 32 percent to $14.13 billion on revenue that was up 20 percent to $62.9 billion with help from growing sales of digital content and services to of users and other Apple gadgetry.

However, the market was disappointed by word that Apple fell short of expectations with iPhone sales of 46.9 million iPhones and its forecast for the key holiday season was not as robust as anticipated.

Apple shares slipped 4.2 percent to $212.85 in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures.

"We're thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our two billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.

The average selling price for iPhones in the freshly updated product line was $793, indicating that Apple was able to deliver more of its priciest handsets.

Apple offered no detailed breakdown of iPhone sales, but Cook said "the response has been powerful" to the new iPhone 10S models that sell for $1,000 and up.

The results closed out Apple's fiscal fourth quarter ending September 29 and set the stage for the crucial holiday period.

Chief financial officer Luca Maestri said it was the California-based company's best September quarter on record, with revenue growing double digits everywhere it does business around the world.

"We set September quarter revenue records for iPhone and wearables and all-time quarterly records for Services and Mac," Maestri said.

Apple, which is the world's most valuable company with an estimated value over $1 trillion, forecast that it would bring in between $89 billion and $93 billion in the current quarter.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

The latest report offers some positive news for Apple in growing its services such as streaming music and Apple Pay, allowing the company to diversify its revenue stream in a saturated smartphone market.

However, the iPhone has been the key driver of revenue and profit for Apple, and also helps bring more consumers into the company's ecosystem for apps and services.

Apple holds around 12 percent of the global smartphone market, with most of the rest sold by makers of Android-powered software.

Analyst Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies said it is possible Apple failed to anticipate consumer demand and did not have the right mix of devices in the past quarter.

Another possibility, Bajarin said on Twitter, is that "Apple may be intentionally setting lower expectations for holiday."

Apple this week unveiled a new version of its MacBook Air laptop, this time made of recycled aluminum, as well as a new Mac Mini and an iPad Pro, all pricier than their predecessors.

Apple also unveiled a new version of its iPad Pro tablet with a screen that looks nearly edge-to-edge and boasts a faster processor. It includes features from the latest iPhones. 

The changes are part of an effort to overhaul a product that has seen sliding sales in recent years.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

iPhone sales hit 1.2 billion, Apple shares sail to record high

Apple Inc on Tuesday delivered surprisingly strong fiscal third-quarter earnings and signaled that its upcoming 10th-anniversary phone lineup is on schedule, driving the stock up 6 percent to an all-time high in after-hours trading.

The stock climbed above its intraday record high to $159.10 after the company reported better-than-expected iPhone sales, revenue and earnings per share. The stock price move was expected to help drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the 22,000 mark on Wednesday.

Apple also said it hit a milestone of 1.2 billion iPhones sold.

The April-June quarter is traditionally a soft one for Apple as the market waits for the September launch of new iPhone models. But Tuesday’s results show that iPhone buyers may be less inclined than they once were to delay purchases until a new model is out.

The iPad product lines also showed unexpected strength, service revenue continues to grow at a healthy clip, and even the much-maligned Apple Watch showed a 50 percent sales increase.

Apple is widely tipped to adopt higher-resolution OLED displays for the latest iPhone, along with better touchscreen technology and wireless charging - which could come with a $1,000 plus price tag.

The phone is expected to launch in September.

The company forecast total revenue of between $49 billion and $52 billion for the current fourth quarter, while analysts on average were expecting $49.21 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Apple's fourth quarter generally includes first-weekend sales of the company's latest devices.

The forecast "makes it fairly certain that at least some new iPhone models will be released on the normal schedule,” said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research. “That doesn’t necessarily mean all new models will go on sale then, or that they’ll all be in abundant supply, but I would think it means that at the very least the successors to the current phones will be available."

But Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, cautioned that if Apple releases cheaper models before the premium models in its 10th anniversary phone lineup, the cheaper models could dampen sales of more expensive units released closer to the holidays.

The company said iPhone sales rose 1.6 percent to 41.03 million in the third quarter ended July 1, above analysts' average estimate of 40.7 million units, according to FactSet StreetAccount. Apple sold 40.4 million iPhones a year earlier.

But a lower average iPhone selling price of $606, well below Wall Street expectations of $621, caused iPhone revenue to come in at $24.8 billion, below expectations of $25.5 billion.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters the weak price was partly explained by Apple lowering the flow of inventory by 3.3 million units, which he said were “entirely at the high end of the range.”

Apple reports how many phones it sells to retailers, not how many phones it sells to consumers, what is known as a sell-in basis. When factoring how many existing “high end” phones the company cleared out of retail inventory, Maestri said average selling prices were higher.

The company's net income rose to $8.72 billion, or $1.67 per share, from $7.80 billion, or $1.42 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose to $45.41 billion from $42.36 billion in the quarter, typically the company's weakest, beating expectations of $44.89 billion.

CHINA REVENUE DOWN, AUTONOMY TO THE FUTURE

Apple said revenue from emerging markets excluding China grew 18 percent, a bright spot. But sales from the Greater China region fell 9.5 percent to $8 billion in the latest quarter, as consumers switched to newer domestic offerings.

The decline was smaller than recent quarters. Apple's Maestri said mainland China revenue was flat, as were iPhone sales in the mainland. Sales of other Apple products rose in mainland China and were also up in Taiwan.

“The decline from a market standpoint was concentrated in Hong Kong, which is a place that has been really affected by a reduction in tourism because the Hong Kong Dollar is pegged to the US dollar,” Maestri said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also directly addressed the company's decision to remove so-called VPN apps from the App Store in China. Those apps help Chinese users circumnavigate government internet restrictions.

"We would obviously rather not remove the apps, but like we do in other countries we follow the law wherever we do business," Cook said. "We believe in engaging with governments even when we disagree. This particular case, we’re hopeful that over time the restrictions we’re seeing are lessened, because innovation really requires freedom to collaborate and communicate."

Strong iPad sales of $4.9 billion - almost $1 billion above Wall Street expectations - and a 21.6 percent jump in the company's services business that includes the App Store also helped boost revenue. In particular, Apple said that Walmart Stores Inc would buy 19,000 iPads to train as many as 225,000 employees. The company also said it increased production of AirPods, its wireless headphones.

Apple CEO Tim Cook declined to directly address US President Donald Trump's claims that Apple will build three new factories in the US, instead citing the company's job creation efforts and a $1 billion US manufacturing fund.

Cook also hinted that Apple's experiments with self-driving cars may include ambitions that extend beyond cars. He said the company was making a "big investment" in autonomous systems.

"From our point of view, autonomy is sort of the mother of all AI projects," Cook said. "And the autonomous systems can be used in a variety of ways, and a vehicle is only one, but there are many different areas of it. And I don't want to go any further with that."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple reports blockbuster quarter as iPhone sales top estimates

Shares of the world's most valuable listed company were up 2.6 percent at $124.50 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Apple sold 78.29 million iPhones in the first quarter ended Dec. 31, up from 74.78 million last year, marking the first quarterly growth in iPhone sales in a year.

Analysts on average had estimated iPhone sales of 77.42 million, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

The results, which reflected the first full quarter of iPhone 7 sales, come at a time when global demand for smartphones is slowing and cheaper Android alternatives are flooding the market.

Revenue in the Greater China region fell 11.6 percent to $16.23 billion, highlighting Apple's struggles in a hotly contested smartphone market.

The company also forecast revenue of between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion for the current quarter. Analysts, on average, had expected revenue of $53.79 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said that a stronger dollar hurt the company's revenue forecast.

Analysts on average expect the company to sell 53.43 million iPhones in the current quarter, according to FactSet.

The company is heavily dependent on the success of iPhones, which account for 69.4 percent of its total revenue.

Analysts and investors have already set their sights on Apple's 10th-anniversary iPhone, which is expected to feature better touchscreen technology, wireless charging and a shift to OLED display.

Apple's services business - which includes the App Store, Apple Pay and iCloud - recorded a 18.4 percent growth in revenue to $7.17 billion, helped by the popularity of games, including Pokemon Go and Super Mario Run, and increased revenue from subscriptions.

Cowen & Co. and Mizuho Securities had expected revenue of about $7 billion, while FactSet had forecast $6.91 billion.

Analysts expect growing revenue from Apple's services segment to help offset declining hardware sales as the smart phone market matures.

The company's net income fell to $17.89 billion, or $3.36 per share, in the quarter from $18.36 billion, or $3.28 per share a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected $3.12 per share.

Revenue rose 3.3 percent to $78.35 billion in the quarter.

Analysts had expected revenue of $77.25 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Up to Tuesday's close, Apple's shares have gained 14.7 percent since mid-November, compared with the 5.3 percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple stock extends losses after China warning on Trump

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple's stock extended recent losses on Monday after a warning that iPhone sales could suffer if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on campaign threats to impose new tariffs on China.

Apple is among several major technology stocks, including Amazon.com, Facebook and Alphabet, selling off since Tuesday's election as investors shift funds into financial and public works companies seen benefiting from deregulation and infrastructure spending under President-elect Trump.

In a continuation of that trend, the Cupertino, California company's stock fell 2.5 percent on Monday, bringing its loss since Tuesday's election to almost 5 percent, compared to the S&P 500's 1.16 percent advance.

Adding to concern for Apple investors, an op-ed published in the China government-backed Global Times on Sunday warned of "tit-for-tat" retaliation should Trump follow through on a campaign pledge to impose 45-percent tariffs on all imports from China.

"A batch of Boeing orders will be replaced by Airbus. US auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and US soybean and maize imports will be halted," the op-ed said.

China has already become a disappointment for Apple, failing to deliver rapid growth that the company hoped would make up for slower iPhone sales in the United States and other mature markets.

Revenue from China slumped 30 percent in Apple's September quarter, worse than the Americas' 7 percent decline.

Apple's China sales could be hurt by potential trade conflicts as well as the country's weakening currency, said Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang by email. He said he believes China iPhone sales fell in October, even after fixing supply issues affecting the iPhone 7 Plus.

Synovus Trust Company Senior Portfolio Manager Daniel Morgan, who owns $33 million worth of Apple shares, warned not to read too much into Trump's campaign trail threats against China, at least in the near term.

"You just don't just jump in and start rewriting trade agreements," Morgan said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple hits milestone: 1 billion iPhones sold

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple announced Wednesday the sale of its billionth iPhone, a milestone for the company as it seeks to keep momentum in a competitive smartphone market.

Chief executive Tim Cook made the announcement at a staff meeting at the company's California headquarters.

"IPhone has become one of the most important, world-changing and successful products in history," he said in a statement.

"It's become more than a constant companion. IPhone is truly an essential part of our daily life and enables much of what we do throughout the day. Last week we passed another major milestone when we sold the billionth iPhone. We never set out to make the most, but we've always set out to make the best products that make a difference."

The news comes a day after Apple reported a drop in iPhone sales over the past quarter, a second straight drop after uninterrupted growth since its introduction in 2007.

Apple sold 40.4 million iPhones in the quarter ending June 25, down 15 percent from a year earlier, highlighting concerns over growth for the iconic smartphone.

The quarterly results underscored the challenges for Apple, which has built a huge business around the iPhone but is unlikely to see continued growth, due to a saturated smartphone market and increased competition.

Apple has been seeking to diversify its product line and move into services for a more stable revenue base, while keeping users in its ecosystem with offerings such as music, connected cars and its Apple Watch.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple sells more iPhones than expected, shares jump after hours

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. sold more iPhones than Wall Street expected in the third quarter and estimated its revenue in the current period would top many analysts' targets, soothing fears that demand for the company's most important product had hit a wall.

Its shares rose 7 percent in after-hours trading.

The world's most valuable publicly traded company said it sold 40.4 million iPhones in the third quarter, down 15 percent from the year-ago quarter but slightly more than the average analyst forecast of 40.02 million, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

IPhone sales dropped for the second straight quarter, pushing down Apple's total revenue 14.6 percent in the fiscal third quarter, ended June 25.

Demand for Apple's phones has waned in China, partly because of economic uncertainty there, and has also slowed in more mature markets as people tend to hold on to their phones for longer. The sales slump has stoked concerns about whether the tech leader can continue to deliver profits at the level Wall Street has come to expect.

"China was a major letdown," said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Samsung and Huawei are much more competitive now than a year ago and the Chinese economy is not doing well at all."

Moorhead said, however, that increased services revenue - which includes the App Store and iCloud - was a "very big bright spot for Apple."

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters in an interview that Apple's performance had topped his expectations in a quarter weighed down by tough foreign exchange rates and difficult comparisons with blockbuster iPhone 6 sales from the previous year.

Apple reduced channel inventory by $3.6 billion, exceeding the $2 billion expected reduction, meaning sales were better than they appeared, Maestri said.

Customer demand "was better than what is implied in our results and better than we had anticipated," he said.

Sales of the iPhone fell last quarter for the first time since the gadget's release in 2007, dropping 16.3 percent. Maestri projected the gadget's average selling price to rise in the September quarter.

The iPhone drives about two-thirds of Apple's total sales. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said during a call with analysts that the iPhone SE, a cheaper, four-inch (10 cm) phone released this year, was extending the range of people able to buy Apple phones.

"It's opening the door to customers we weren't reaching before," he said.

Apple's quarterly net profit fell 27 percent to $7.8 billion, while revenue of $42.36 billion beat analysts' average estimate of $42.09 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

CHINA WORRIES

Sales in Greater China, once touted as Apple's next growth engine, decreased 33.1 percent, compared with a 112.4 percent growth in the year-earlier quarter and a near 26 percent fall in the second quarter.

Maestri attributed the drop to channel inventory reduction in the nation, foreign exchange headwinds and a general downturn in the Chinese economy.

"It is very clear that there are some signs of economic slowdown in China, and we will have to work through them," he said.

Adding to Apple's woes in China, the company's stores for books and movies went dark earlier this year. Cook said Apple was working with regulators to restore the services but played down the financial impact of the outage, saying the stores yielded less than $1 million in revenue during the short time they were on the market.

"It’s not a revenue-related issue," he said. "This is a service we want to provide our customers."

Apple's services business, which includes the App Store, Apple Pay, iCloud and other services, generated nearly $6 billion in revenue, up 18.9 percent from the previous year.

As iPhone sales level off, Apple is attempting to use such services to wring more revenue out of its existing base of users. The business emerged as Apple’s second largest after the iPhone for the first time in the second quarter, eclipsing gadgets such as the iPad and the Mac.

That shift bodes well for Apple because gross margins on services are better than the average for the rest of the company, Maestri said.

"It’s a great business because it is recurring in nature and more linked to our installed base," he said.

Maestri touted music as an example of one successful service, saying the growth of the Apple Music streaming service had more than made up for declines in digital downloads. To redouble its momentum in music, Apple purchased rights to the next season of popular series Carpool Karaoke, CBS Television Studios announced on Tuesday.

Apple forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $45.5 billion to $47.5 billion, largely above Wall Street's average estimate of $45.71 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The forecast, covering the quarter ending in September, will likely include at least the first weekend of sales of the iPhone 7 range, which Apple is expected to launch in September.

Up to Tuesday's close, Apple's shares had fallen about 8.2 percent since the start of the year. Shares rose 7 percent to $103.47 in after-hours trade following publication of results.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LOOK: Apple unveils new store design in San Francisco

Apple Inc. unveiled a new vision for its hugely successful retail stores on Thursday, aiming to give shoppers the experience of setting foot in the headquarters of the company credited with inventing the smartphone.

Speaking at a media event in San Francisco on Thursday, Apple executives offered a sneak peak of a new store that features design elements that will later roll out to more locations worldwide, including new spaces for socialization and collaboration.

The makeover follows Apple's first-ever decline in iPhone sales and its first revenue drop in 13 years in an increasingly saturated market.

While the redesign includes plenty of glass, metal and blonde wood – the sleek materials shoppers have come to associate with the company – it also borrows features from Apple's hotly anticipated new headquarters in Silicon Valley, which is set to open early next year.

Like the new campus, the San Francisco store features terrazzo floors, and the ceiling fixtures are also similar, BJ Siegel, Apple's senior director of design for real estate and development, said in an interview.

"We're trying to be one company and have one point of view," he said.

Shoppers who enter the "boardroom" at the San Francisco store, a new space for entrepreneurs and small business owners, will get an idea of the look of Apple’s futuristic headquarters, which is likened to a spaceship for its circular design. Much of the furniture is identical to that Apple employees will find in the new campus, including tables designed in part by Jonathan Ive, Apple’s chief design officer.

When working with small business customers, "we want them to feel like they have left the retail environment and entered Apple," Siegel said.

The Apple Store is the envy of many in the retail world, with the highest sales per square foot in the industry, but some say the stores have lost their edge since the first one opened 15 years ago.

With the new design, industry watchers are getting a glimpse of how Apple retail leader Angela Ahrendts, who joined the company two years ago from Burberry, will put her stamp on the store.

Other elements of the new floor plan include a redesigned section for accessories, an open space dubbed the "forum" for community events and a leafy plaza that will be open to the public round the clock.

"We will know we have done really great if it feels like a town square," Ahrendts said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fewer orders at Apple suppliers could signal first iPhone sales decline

TAIPEI - Some of Apple Inc.'s main Asian suppliers expect revenues and orders to drop this quarter, indicating iPhone sales are almost certain to post their first annual decline since the flagship product was launched almost a decade ago.

The forecasts of lackluster sales by companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's biggest contract chipmaker, and smartphone camera lens producer Largan Precision Co Ltd add to concerns about Apple's outlook amid slowing global demand for smartphones.

Industry executives say the latest iPhone did not have enough new features from the previous model to tempt users, raising fears that Apple's innovative streak - and the profits it has generated - may be running its course.

Apple, which reports December-quarter results on Tuesday, declined to comment on its sales outlook.

"Visibility is only a month at a time and demand is quite weak," Largan Precision Chief Executive Adam Lin told an earnings briefing, referring to his company's overall business.

Other suppliers said Apple now only gave them orders one month in advance, instead of the usual three months.

"We have to be very flexible in terms of capacity," said an executive at one of those firms, declining to identify their company or be named due to a confidentiality agreement that prevents Apple suppliers from discussing its order book.

Apple has previously said that individual data from its supply chain was not an accurate reflection of its outlook.

But TSMC, which makes some of the chips that go into iPhones, forecast this month that first-quarter revenues would likely fall by up to 11 percent year-on-year, adding that demand for high-end smartphones would also be weak.

An 11 percent quarterly decline would be the steepest revenue drop for TSMC in almost 7 years, Thomson Reuters data shows.

Earlier this month, people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Taiwan-based Foxconn, which assembles most iPhones, had taken a rare decision to cut working hours over a major holiday during which workers usually rack up overtime.

Foxconn, the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, saw its December revenues slump by a fifth and 2015 sales miss expectations.

A more detailed picture about Apple's outlook could emerge next week if key suppliers including LG Display Co Ltd, SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co provide first-quarter forecasts when they report December-quarter earnings.

First-quarter revenues at both LG Display and Hynix are expected to fall around 10 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data.

Analysts say iPhone sales could pick up during the second half of the year, when the company usually launches new products, but with competitors such as Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd sharpening their edge, some suppliers are not so sure.

"The pace of innovation has slowed. Apple is going toward the same direction as other brand names," said another Taiwanese Apple supplier.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple gives weak forecast, shares fall nearly 7 pct

BENGALURU/SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. shares slumped nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading as its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of estimates and it missed some targets for iPhone sales.

The shares dropped to $121 after the company released its results on Tuesday, from $130.75 at the close.

The forecast overshadowed Apple's strong sales in China, which more than doubled to $13.23 billion from a year earlier.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said in an interview the results in China were "spectacular" during the quarter and noted plans to open 40 stores there over the next 12 months.

Without disclosing specific figures, Maestri said sales of the Apple Watch beat the company's expectations. He noted that in the nine weeks since its launch in late April, the device has sold better than either iPhones or iPads over a similar period after their launch.

Apple said on Tuesday it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago. But some analysts had expected around 49 million.

Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, said the results highlighted the vulnerability of Apple's dependence on the iPhone and the Chinese market's growing importance to the company.

"Where are you going to find growth in the world?" he said. "You've done an amazing job sucking all the smartphone profits into your balance sheet, but smartphone sales are slowing. What's going to happen when the industry matures, just like PCs did?"

The company forecast revenue of $49 billion to $51 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $51.13 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which shattered iPhone sales records when they were launched, are already 10 months old.

Apple had a troubled day, with its App Store, Apple Music, iTunes Store and some other services suffering disruption for more than three hours before results were released.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Record iPhone weekend sales top 10 million: Apple

WASHINGTON - Apple said Monday it sold more than 10 million of its new iPhone models globally in the opening weekend of record sales of the bigger-screen version of its smartphone.

The US tech giant broke its own record for launch weekend sales of nine million a year earlier.

"Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn't be happier," said Apple chief executive Tim Cook, adding that "we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible."

The new iPhones were launched Friday in the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico and Singapore. They will be available in more than 20 additional countries on September 26, and 115 countries by the end of the year.

The global rollout led to long lines outside Tokyo's flagship Apple store in glitzy Ginza, and in stores from Hong Kong to Paris to New York.

Cook personally kicked off sales of the iPhone 6, joining in "selfies" and shaking hands with customers Friday outside the company's store in Palo Alto, California, near his Silicon Valley home.

Both new iPhones have larger screens in what some consider Apple catching up with the "phablet" trend pioneered by competitors.

The iPhone 6 has a screen of 4.7 inches and the 6 Plus is 5.5 inches, reflecting a growing preference for bigger displays, despite Apple's earlier vow to stick with the traditional size.

Main rival Samsung has long had a range of larger handsets, which are popular in Asia, and will soon release a new Galaxy Note 4 phablet.

Apple says more than four million pre-orders were received in the 24 hours after the sale was announced.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple's iPhone sales up for scrutiny

Apple Inc's iPhone sales and revenue forecasts, due to be released on Monday, may offer clues as to whether its low-cost 5C model missed the mark or whether the world's largest tech company can continue its run of smash-hit gadgets.

Signs have emerged that demand for the cheaper model is lagging the top-tier iPhone 5S - both of which went on sale in September - because its $100 discount is proving to be insufficient to motivate emerging market and price-conscious customers.

But some analysts say the concerns are overblown and that a greater proportion of iPhone 5S shipped, translates into better margins and earnings overall.

Apple will be reporting results just a week after taking the wraps off an incrementally improved iPad Air. But it is the iPhone, which accounts for more than half the company's profit and is its highest-margin gadget, that takes center stage.

Apple is expected to report sales of 33 million to 36 million iPhones in its fiscal fourth quarter that ended in September, rising to more than 50 million in the typically strong holiday quarter - the first full quarter of sales of the two new phones.

"Media reports of 5C production cuts are misleading, in our view, given what we think has been strengthening overall 5S/5C production with 5S vectors continuing to strengthen even real time," Timothy Arcuri, an analyst at Cowen & Co, said in a research note.

Apple has come under pressure over the past year or two to bolster sales of its iPhones and iPads as perennial rival Samsung Electronics and cheaper gadgets based on Google Inc's Android software chip away at its once-leading market share.

Its stock has gained 12.5 percent since August, when famously aggressive activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a large position in the iPhone maker and began making calls for a new, stepped-up $150 billion share buyback program - boosting hopes of a bigger return of cash to shareholders than anticipated.

But the stock is still down about 1 percent this year, vastly underperforming the S&P 500's 23 percent gain.

Longer-term, investors wonder whether the company that revolutionized the cellphone industry and popularized the tablet computer has another groundbreaking device left in it.

Analysts say it will take a genuinely new device – like the oft-rumored smartwatch or some sort of TV – to revive the stock. Investors also hope that Apple will seal a deal to sell phones through China Mobile Ltd, gaining access finally to the country’s largest telecoms operator.

"We do see fewer positive catalysts for the stock as the company finishes its annual product line refresh," Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial, said in a Friday note to clients.

REALISM

Apple is expected to have moved 15 million iPads in the September quarter, which would be an increase of 1 million over the year-ago quarter.

A month ago, on the back of strong initial sales of its new iPhones, Apple polished its fiscal fourth-quarter financial forecast, saying it expected revenue toward the high end of its previous forecast for $34 billion to $37 billion.

Investors will also look at Apple's December quarter forecasts - once ludicrously conservative but now a better indication of management's expectations - for an idea of the company's holiday-quarter hopes.

Apple is cutting production orders for the plastic-backed, multi-hued model just a month after launch, a source familiar with its supply chain said a week ago, fueling speculation its discount to the 5S may not be enough to drive demand during the crucial shopping season. (Full Story)

Pegatron Corp, which assembles the model, had seen orders reduced by less than 20 percent, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the information is sensitive. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, another major assembly contractor for the 5C, had its orders for the same period reduced by a third, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Beyond holiday projections, analysts want evidence on Monday that profit margins can be sustained as the competition intensifies, and evidence of its ability to innovate.

Wall Street is expecting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $36.8 billion, up from $36 billion a year ago, and earnings per share of $7.93, down from $8.67 a year ago, as profit margins come under pressure.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com