Apple finds problems in some iPhone X and MacBook Pro models

Apple Inc said it had found some issues affecting some of its iPhone X and 13-inch MacBook Pro products and said the company would fix them free of charge.

The repair offers are the latest in a string of product quality problems over the past year even as Apple has raised prices for most of its laptops, tablets and phones to new heights. Its top-end iPhones now sell for as much as $1,449 and its best iPad goes for as much as $1,899.

Apple said displays on iPhone X, which came out in 2017 with a starting price of $999, may experience touch issues due to a component failure, adding it would replace those parts for free. The company said it only affects the original iPhone X, which has been superseded by the iPhone XS and XR released this autumn.

The screens on affected phones may not respond correctly to touch or it could react even without being touched, the Cupertino, California-based company said.

For the 13-inch MacBook Pro computers, it said an issue may result in data loss and failure of the storage drive. Apple said it would service those affected drives.

Only a limited number of 128GB and 256GB solid-state drives in 13-inch MacBook Pro units sold between June 2017 and June 2018 were affected, Apple said on its website.

Last year, Apple began a massive battery replacement program after it conceded that a software update intended to help some iPhone models deal with aging batteries slowed down the performance of the phones. The battery imbroglio resulted in inquires from US lawmakers.

In June, Apple said it would offer free replacements for the keyboards in some MacBook and MacBook Pro models. The keyboards, which Apple introduced in laptops starting in 2015, had generated complaints on social media for how much noise they made while typing and for malfunctioning unexpectedly. Apple changed the design of the keyboard this year, adding a layer of silicone underneath the keys.

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iPhone X sequels set for debut, here's what to expect

MANILA -- Apple will unveil its 2018 iPhones at 10 a.m. Wednesday US time (1 a.m. Thursday in Manila), hoping to reassert its dominance in the premium segment of an increasingly saturated market.

While overtaken recently by China's Huawei in terms of sales, Apple's stock value soared to $1 trillion, highlighting its high-end appeal and anticipation over the annual refresh of its most profitable product.

Here's what to expect based on reports leading up to the unveiling at the Steve Jobs Theater in California:

A TRIO OF IPHONES

Apple will likely refresh the internals, but keep the design of the 5.8-inch iPhone X and offer a larger model with a 6.5-inch screen. Both will have OLED displays and dual cameras on the rear.

The company is also expected to launch a relatively cheaper six-inch model with a single rear camera, an LCD screen and an aluminum frame instead of stainless steel to keep costs down. It will be largely similar in design to the iPhone X, including the notch on the front.

AN 'S' YEAR, MORE COLORS

Apple's invite for the Sept. 12 launch in the US was in gold, hinting at the return of the hue that was absent in last year's iPhone X, which came only in white and black.

The cheaper 6-inch model may be offered in more colors, including blue and orange, according to reports.

The 5.8 and 6.5-inch models may be called iPhone XS, indicating at mostly under-the-hood updates, with the larger model rumored to be differentiated with the "Max" moniker, instead of "Plus."

Apple has used "Plus" to differentiate its larger iPhone, from 2014's iPhone 6 Plus to last year's iPhone 8 Plus.

SOFTWARE REFRESH, PRICE

The 2018 iPhones will ship with iOS 12, which Apple offered to beta testers earlier this year. New features include grouped notifications, a fresh set of animojis and "digital health" features that let users track how much they use their phones everyday.

Face ID will likely be offered across all 3 models, though the cheaper iPhone is unlikely to have the pressure-sensitive "force touch" feature that lets users call up menus by long pressing on the screen.

Analysts are divided on the pricing, but since the $1,000 iPhone X from 2017 (roughly P64,500 in the Philippines, including taxes), Apple's rivals have also raised prices.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 launched with a near $1,000 price tag in the US and P55,990 for the base model in the Philippines.

COMPETITION

The iPhone X will be unveiled a month before Google's Pixel 3 phones in New York on Oct. 9 and Huawei's Mate 20 series in London on Oct. 16.

Alleged leaks of the Pixel 3 point to a large notch. It will launch with Android 9 Pie, which harnesses Google's machine learning prowess and offers a bloat-free software experience.

The Mate 20 is expected to offer the Leica-engineered triple cameras on the P20 series from earlier this year, but with larger screens and Android 9 out of the box, according to reports.

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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

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iPhone X sequels coming with larger screens, more colors: report

MANILA -- Apple will unveil a trio of iPhones in September, all carrying over the design of 2017's iPhone X, Bloomberg reported multiple citing sources.

These include a refresh of the 5.8-inch model with the same design and upgraded internals, a 6.5-inch model and a relatively cheaper 6.1-inch model, the report said.

The 6.1-inch model will come in multiple colors and will sport an LCD screen and aluminum railings to cut costs, the report said. Leaks have hinted at a single rear camera.

The 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch models will have OLED screens, stainless steel frames and twin lenses on the back, the report said.

If the largest 2018 iPhone's screen measures 6.5 inches, it will eclipse on paper the 6.4-inch panel on Samsung's recently unveiled Galaxy Note 9.

The additional color options on the 6.1 inch model will be the first since 2013, when the iPhone 5C's plastic back came in blue, red, green, yellow and white.

Huawei, which overtook Apple in terms of sales, released phones with gradient colors this year, including the "twilight" hue on the triple-camera P20 Pro.

The 2 larger 2018 iPhones may come with dual SIM slots, the report said.

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Apple's pricey iPhone X, subscriptions deliver earnings beat

Apple Inc sales led by the pricey iPhone X pushed quarterly results far beyond Wall Street targets on Tuesday, with subscriptions from App Store, Apple Music and iCloud services bolstering business.

Apple also forecast revenue above expectations for the fall, when it typically launches new iPhone models, reassuring a nervous tech sector that saw sell-offs last week in Facebook Inc , Twitter Inc and Netflix Inc on concerns about their future growth. Apple also regained growth in China, where sales rose 19 percent.

Apple has responded to a plateauing global smartphone market by launching ever-more expensive phones and diversifying into services. Chief Executive Tim Cook credited "wearables", a category which includes wireless earphones and the Apple Watch, with making growing contributions as well.

And Apple has used its pile of cash to buttress share prices, buying back $20 billion in stock in the quarter, part of a $100 billion stock buyback program.

"The lesson Apple’s management has learned from the iPhone X, is when you sell a smartphone for more than $1,000 you can sell fewer units and still reap the financial benefits," said analyst Thomas Forte from D.A. Davidson & Co.

Shares rose 3.4 percent to $196.80 in after-hours trade. With a market capitalization of more than $900 billion, Apple is tickling at the title of world's first trillion-dollar company.

Apple sold 41.3 million iPhones in the fiscal third quarter, below expectations of 41.8 million units, but the average iPhone selling price hit $724, beating analyst expectations of $694, according to data from FactSet. Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters that customers were buying costlier models and the $999 iPhone X was the quarter's best seller.

Apple posted third-quarter revenue of $53.3 billion and profits of $2.34 per share, compared with analyst estimates of $52.3 billion and $2.18 per share, respectively, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The world's most valuable technology company also forecast revenue of $60 billion to $62 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter, which will include early sales of soon-to-be-announced phone models, beating the $59.6 billion analysts expected, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Despite the beat, James Cordwell, an analyst from Atlantic Equities, said the high selling prices might cause investors some concern because "there’s a limit to how much Apple can grow the iPhone franchise by pushing pricing."

Apple services include streaming music and video, where Apple faces competition from rivals including Spotify Technology SA and Netflix.

But several of Apple's services do not face strong rivals. Maestri told Reuters that sales from Apple Care, the company's warranty offering, were up 27 percent versus a year ago, though the company did not disclose a dollar figure for sales.

Apple's biggest selling products do not yet face duties stemming from the US-China trade disputes, but President Donald Trump has threatened hundreds of billions of further tariffs whose product categories have not yet been enumerated.

Apple is looking at whether it will be hit by tariffs on purchases the company must make, possibly "related to data centers," Cook said on a conference call with investors.

Another category potentially affected by tariffs is the Apple Watch, which is one of Apple's growth drivers. Maestri told Reuters that the company's so-called "wearables" business - which includes the Apple Watch and its AirPods headphones, among other items - has generated $10 billion in sales in the past 10 quarters and saw sales increase 60 percent in the most recent quarter.

"We are not able to catch up to demand yet and continue to add capacity for the AirPods," Maestri said.

Apple's margins are facing pressure as it moves to put pricier components, such as OLED displays that show more vivid colors, into its products. The company said it expects gross margins of 38 percent to 38.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with analyst expectations of 38.3 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Analysts are also closely watching Apple's operating expenses, which have been increasing as its research and development costs outpace its revenue growth.

Services revenue was $9.5 billion, beating analyst expectations of $9.1 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The revenue included $236 million from resolving lawsuits such as Apple's long-running dispute with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Apple said it expects operating expenses of $7.95 billion to $8.05 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with analyst estimates of $7.8 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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OnePlus 6 challenges Apple, Samsung, Huawei flagships

MANILA - China's OnePlus unveiled on Thursday its sixth-generation smartphone, claiming to match features found on top offerings from Apple, Samsung and Huawei at half the price.

The OnePlus 6 has a glass back, a nearly 6.3-inch screen to match the Galaxy S9+ and a notch on the display that is similar, albeit smaller, than the one on the iPhone X.

OnePlus said the phone could withstand rain, but did not say if it was rated for water and dust resistance. It also does not charge wirelessly, unlike the iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus and the Galaxy S9 and S9+.

The OnePlus 6 has dual cameras on the back, one lens short of the triple cameras on the back of the Huawei P20 Pro.

The OnePlus 6 is priced in the US at $529 or roughly P27,000. That's around a third of the price of the base model iPhone X and half the price of the S9+.

Shenzhen-based OnePlus emphasized speed with its new handset, one of the smartphones that can run the beta version of Android P.

It also runs on Snapdragon 845, the latest processor from Qualcomm.

Technology store Digital Walker is the official distributor of OnePlus phones in the Philippines. There was no immediate word on local availability.

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iPhone X vs Huawei P20 series: Similarities end with the notch?

MANILA - Smartphones with displays that have notches on the top are bound to suffer from inevitable comparisons to the iPhone X, which started the polarizing design trend in late 2017.

The aesthetic similarities are more pronounced with Huawei's P20 and P20 Pro, which like the iPhone X, also have rounded corners, glass backs, and rear cameras stacked vertically on the upper left side.

But based on internals and real-life use, the differences between the Apple and Huawei flagships are more pronounced.

DESIGN

The iPhone X is relatively heavy for its 5.8-inch screen, weighing 174 grams compared to 165 grams for the P20, which has roughly the same same screen size and 180 grams for the P20 Pro.

The fingerprint scanner on the P20 and P20 Pro, located on the front, gives the device a bottom chin, compared to the iPhone X, which, save for the notch, is nearly borderless thanks to the removal of Touch ID.

Face ID has been surprisingly reliable in our tests, even in the dark. Face scanning is also available on the Huawei phones and unlocked the device quickly as well.

While it adds to size, the fingerprint scanner on the Huawei flagships makes it more convenient for users who can unlock their device without looking into the front-facing camera or by just tapping on the sensor when the phone is on their desk or table.

The iPhone X is available only in silver and grey, compared to black blue, and the gradient pink gold and twilight on the P20 and P20 Pro.

The twilight hue is among the most unique options on any smartphone, shifting from blue to green depending on how light touches it.

Huawei says it's inspired by the northern lights. Such gradient colors were also seen last year on the HTC U 11, the most striking of which is the solar red, where yellow streaks add a second layer of shine on its crimson back.

The iPhone, however, has an unmatched array of third-party case-makers which make it easy to personalize the device. The P20 and P20 Pro launched with official silicone, leather and wallet-type cases.

Regardless of color, all 3 devices will get smudged as soon as you peel off the plastic wraps. The Huawei phones ship with screen protectors pre-installed.

Both devices have no headphone jacks with the charging ports (lighting for Apple, and USB C for Huawei) flanked on both sides by speaker grills. The iPhone X and the P20 Pro are rated IP67 for water and dust resistance.

CAMERAS

The P20 Pro's biggest advantage over the iPhone X is its triple camera set-up co-engineered with Leica. This includes a 40-megapixel RGB sensor, a 20-megapixel monochrome lens and a 8-megapixel telephoto sensor. The P20 has a 12 megapixel RGB sensor paired with a 20 megapixel monochrome sensor.

The iPhone X has dual lenses, both 12 megapixels and with optical image stabilization. Like the Galaxy Note 8 and S9+, the iPhone X can zoom optically up to 2 times.

In these shots of the Louvre Museum in Paris, the brightness levels did not differ much, but the P20 Pro retained more detail on the building facade.

In this shot of the glass ceiling of the Grand Palais, the steel beams were reduced to almost black on the iPhone X shot while it was light green on the P20 Pro.

In this indoor shot of the Qatar airport in Doha, the iPhone X produced more vivid colors compared to the P20 Pro.

PERFORMANCE

Very little separates the two top-tier flagships in terms of speed, both running the latest versions of iOS and Android, respectively, and powered by the newest processors.

Apple's A11 'Bionic' enables the three-dimensional face scanning or Face ID as well as the animated emojis.

The P20 phones run on Huawei's own Kirin 970, which with its dedicated AI unit, allows the phone to automatically adjust camera settings and allocate power depending on the owner's usage.

The iPhone X easily lasts until early evening with under 50 percent of juice but the P20 Pro, with its 4,000 mAh cell, lasts longer, sometimes up to a second day.

Huawei's Super Charge is among the fastest, but the P20 and the P20 Pro don't support wireless charging, which the iPhone X has, along with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

There are also some unique annoyances to both flagships. After a restart, the iPhone automatically adjusts the date and time to standard. This is a burden to those who keep their timepieces ahead several minutes of the standard.

The Huawei phones, on the other hand, set the brightness setting to automatic after a restart. 

CONCLUSION

Both phones offer a premium build but the iPhone X is still a status symbol, and with good reason. The handset is solidly built and it's the first major redesign of the iPhone since 2014.

The P20 and the P20 Pro, however, are no slouches and Huawei made sure to encase the Leica-engineered triple cameras in a shiny, color-shifting shell.

The deciding factor for many will be the price. Nearly half a year since its release, the iPhone X starts at nearly P65,000 in official stores and some P55,000 in the grey market.

The P20, which has a similar sized screen, sells for P34,990 while the P20 Pro with a slightly bigger screen and the triple cameras retail for P44,990.

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The case for triple cameras: Hands on with Huawei's P20 Pro

PARIS - Huawei CEO for consumer business Richard Yu is so confident that the P20 and P20 Pro are better than the iPhone X and the Galaxy S9, he showcased a photo he took with the phone during its international launch here.

The night shot of a Shenzhen riverside, where Huawei is headquartered, showed a patch of red flowers against a backdrop of brightly-lit skyscrapers.

Yu said the blossoms were hardly visible in the dark showing how the P20 Pro shooter sees what the human eye can't.

The Leica-engineered lenses can also take clear night shots without a tripod as the artificial intelligence built into the phone's Kirin 970 processor removes the blur that comes from shaky hands, Yu said.

Huawei is making the case for its P20 line as an imaging powerhouse based on hardware and initial reviews that trump the competition from Apple and Samsung. The phones also come in a color-shifting glass shell that evokes the Northern Lights.

The P20 Pro, which has three Leica-engineered lenses, got an overall score of 109 while the P20 got 102 from camera review website DxOMark.

The Samsung Galaxy S9+ scored 99, followed by the Google Pixel 2 with 98 and Huawei's own Mate 10 Pro and the iPhone X with 97.

Based on total megapixel count, the P20 Pro has a 40-megapixel RGB sensor, a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor. On the front, there's a 20-megapixel selfie camera. The P20 has a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and a 20-megapixel main sensor.

The 40 megapixel count, the telephoto lens and the built-in AI combine to allow the phone to zoom up to 5 times without sacrifing image quality, Huawei said.

We tested these claims on the sidelines of the Paris launch.

Under overcast skies, the Petit Palais appeared bright. The grass was bright green while the details on the castle windows and the tree branches were visible.

At 3 times zoom, a vase of flowers appeared bright purple with details on the petals still visible.

The 3 photos below show a church in downtown Paris without zoom, with 3 times zoom and 5 times zoom.

Design-wise, the P20 range goes head to head with the iPhone X and the Galaxy S9 line, with glass on the front and back, surrounded by a metal frame.

The design cues are more similar to the iPhone X: cameras stacked vertically at the top left corner, rounded corners and a notch at the front.

The P20's notch, which is smaller than the iPhone's, houses the front-facing camera and a circular speaker. Unlike Apple, however, users can hide the P20's notch in the settings.

Aside from black and blue, Huawei offers "gradient" color options. The twilight variant shifts between blue and purple depending on the light and the viewing angle. The other combines pink and a very soft gold, looking almost like jewelry.

The glass back is as prone to fingerprints as it is reflective. Huawei said it would sell woven leather, soft silicone and flip cases.

The P20 Pro's 4,000 mAh battery got through an entire day of messaging, picture-taking and internet browsing in our initial tests.


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Apple grabs 2-year lead in 3D sensing race

Most Android phones will have to wait until 2019 to duplicate the 3D sensing feature behind Apple’s Face ID security, three major parts producers have told Reuters, handicapping Samsung and others on a technology that is set to be worth billions in revenue over the next few years.

The development of new features for the estimated 1.5 billion smart phones shipped annually has been at the heart of the battle for global market share over the past decade, with Apple, bolstered by its huge R&D budget, often leading.

When the iPhone 5S launched with a fingerprint-sensing home button in September 2013, for example, it took its biggest rival Samsung until just April of the next year to deliver its own in the Galaxy S5, with others following soon after.

The 3D sensing technology is expected to enhance the next generation of phones, enabling accurate facial recognition as well as secure biometrics for payments, gesture sensing, and immersive shopping and gaming experiences.

Tech research house Gartner predicts that by 2021, 40 percent of smartphones will be equipped with 3D cameras, which can also be used for so-called augmented reality, or AR, in which digital objects cling tightly to images of the real world.

"This kind of functionality is going to be very important for AR," said Gartner analyst Jon Erensen. "I think that is something where you don't want to get left behind."

According to parts manufacturers Viavi Solutions Inc , Finisar Corp and Ams AG, bottlenecks on key parts will mean mass adoption of 3D sensing will not happen until next year, disappointing earlier expectations.

That means that China's Huawei, Xiaomi and others could be a total of almost two years behind Apple, which launched Face ID with its iPhone X anniversary phone last September.

In particular, Android producers are struggling to source vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, or VCSELs, a core part of Apple's Face ID hardware.

"It is going to take them a lot of time, the Android-based customers, to secure capacity throughout the whole supply chain," said Bill Ong, senior director of investor relations from Viavi, seen as the only major supplier of optical filters needed for the 3D sensing modules.

"We may have a potential introduction of a second handset maker into 3D sensing at the end of this calendar year. (But) the volumes would be very low. In 2019 you clearly will see at least two or more android-based phones," he added.

Ong declined to name the company that might launch an Android phone with 3D face recognition this year but said that Viavi was in talks with all the major smart phone makers to supply the filters.

Some Android phones with 3D sensing capabilities have hit the market in small numbers, such as the Asus ZenFone AR released last year, but those models didn’t use the sensors for facial recognition like the iPhone X does.

Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi all declined to comment, as did Samsung, whose current phones use a standard camera for facial recognition.

FIREPOWER

Apple's effort to get ahead with the technology is the latest evidence of an aggressive approach by the Cupertino-based company to making the most of the technological advances its financial firepower can deliver.

The iPhone maker's $390 million deal in December to secure supplies from VCSEL-maker Finisar was one such move. Another is Apple's discussions with major cobalt producers to nail down supplies for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power its mobile phones.

"Apple is always very focused on its supply chain," says Gartner's Erensen. "When it comes to new technologies like this and implementing them to new phones, it's one of the ways that Apple can really can be aggressive, differentiate and take advantage of the position they have in the market."

Several sector analysts say their channel checks show Apple was initially sourcing VCSELs chiefly from California-based Lumentum and that bottlenecks in production there last year also spurred the $390 million deal with Finisar.

Lumentum, which declined to comment, is ramping up additional manufacturing capacity for VCSELs and edge-emitting lasers for the first half of fiscal 2019, according to the company's earnings call.

It will also be helped by the purchase this week of another optical components producer Oclaro Inc. Finisar too, expects to expand in 2019.

All of that, however, still leaves the major Android producers searching for their own supplies of VCSELs.

Craig Thompson, vice president of new markets at Finisar, says interest in the technology is universal across the sector.

"Each customer has their own adoption timeline and rollout plan, which we can’t discuss, but we expect the market opportunity for VCSEL technology to increase substantially in 2019," he says.

Another producer, Austria-based Ams, also expects to have VCSEL chips widely available next year and says it has won a large deal with one phone maker.

"As part of a combined external and internal VCSEL supply chain where an external volume production supply chain is available to us, we are currently building internal VCSEL production capacity in Singapore," Moritz Gmeiner, head of investor relations for AMS, told Reuters.

"I expect this capacity to be available for mass production next year."

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Apple plans supersized iPhone X, larger than S9, Note 8: report

Apple Inc is preparing to release three new smartphones later this year, including the largest iPhone ever, a device that may have a bigger display than archrival Samsung's flagship phone, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the products.

The trio also includes an upgraded handset the same size as the current iPhone X and a less expensive model with some of the X's key features.

The new phones could revive the screen size wars of years past at a time when smartphone makers are straining to come up with new features to lure buyers in a saturated market. Global smartphone sales were down 0.1 percent last year, according to research firm IDC, with Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd expanding shipments only 1.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The iPhone maker is already running production tests with suppliers and is expected to announce the new phones this fall. However, the plans could still change, the report said.

Apple declined to comment. Its shares were up almost 2 percent at $178.95 in midday trade. Earlier in the day, billionaire Warren Buffett talked up his company's stake in the iPhone maker, which also helped boost shares.

Bloomberg reported the largest iPhone could have a screen of close to 6.5 inches (16.5 cm), larger than the 6.2-inch (15.75 cm) Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus announced on Monday in Barcelona, Spain, and larger than the current Samsung Note 8's 6.3-inch screen. Samsung traditionally announces new Note series devices in the fall, so it is possible it might launch a larger screen around the same time Apple's new models hit the market.

But Bob O'Donnell, head of Technalysis Research, said the reported trio of new iPhones was "a very logical extension of the product line" for Apple: "One bigger, one cheaper, and one upgrade to the existing iPhone X."

The Cupertino-based company earlier this month forecast disappointing revenue of $60 billion to $62 billion for its fiscal second quarter ending in March, with a number of media reports pointing to slack demand for iPhone X after unit sales failed to meet expectations in the run-up to Christmas.

With global smartphone sales roughly flat, vendors are focusing on features designed to encourage consumers to ditch their old phones earlier than they would have previously.

"The whole nature of smartphone purchase decisions have changed," O'Donnell said. "It's not about what is the newest, greatest model. It's about when is my phone so old I need to upgrade, and what's available when I need a new one."

Samsung on Sunday unveiled its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone with an emphasis on visual applications for social media, improved cameras, and an artificial intelligence-powered voice tool.

Bloomberg said the body of the larger phone will be about the same size as the iPhone 8 Plus, but the screen will be about an inch larger than 8 Plus's, thanks to edge-to-edge design. Apple also plans a gold-colored device to help boost sales in Asia, Bloomberg reported.

Apple is also preparing an update to the regular-sized iPhone X, Bloomberg said, adding that the phones are expected to use next-generation A12 processors and will continue to include stainless steel edges and will be Apple's high-end smartphone offerings.

What remains unclear is whether Apple will also cut any current iPhone models from its lineup. The company has kept older models like the iPhone SE - essentially an updated iPhone 5 - on shelves to an unprecedented degree, providing lower-priced offerings for developing markets like India.

Apple has also embraced the used iPhone market as a way to expand its share of smartphone users. When customers sell their old iPhone for a new one, the old iPhone “winds up with another customer somewhere else that is perfectly fine with having a previously owned iPhone," CEO Tim Cook told investors on an earnings call earlier this month.

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Galaxy S9 vs iPhone X: Samsung's latest takes on Apple's best

MANILA - Samsung took the wraps off its Galaxy S9 line on Monday, answering headline features of chief rival Apple's iPhone X, while positioning its camera as the industry's best.

The Galaxy S9 and the iPhone X are nearly identical in screen size at 5.8 inches, both with Quad HD resolution. They also both come in shiny glass bodies surrounded by a metal rim, aluminum for Samsung and sturdier steel for Apple.

The S9 though has only a single lens shooter at the back, unlike the twin lenses on the iPhone X. The larger S9+, with a 6.2-inch screen, has a dual lens camera which is similar to the iPhone's, allowing optical zoom.

The S9 can be unlocked using a combination of face and iris scanning. It also has a fingerprint sensor at the back, located below the camera. The iPhone X ditched the fingerprint sensor for Face ID, which is not always reliable according to reviews.

Samsung answered Apple's novel "animoji" or animated emoji feature with AR Emoji. Unlike the iPhone X, which mirrors the user's facial expressions only to cartoon images, the S9 can also create an augmented reality version of the user's face.

The skin tone, hair and clothes on Samsung's AR Emoji can be customized and will offer images of Disney characters, the company said.

The S9 is a re-imagining of the mobile camera, according to Samsung and supposedly produces 60-percent brighter images compared to the S8.

The S9 will ship with Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung's Experience 9 skin on top. The iPhone X runs on iOS 11. Both phones are powered by the most advanced processors for their platform, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 for the S9 depending on the region, and the Apple's in-house A11 for the iPhone.

The most obvious difference is the price. The 64GB Galaxy S9 will retail for P45,990, P18,500 less than the iPhone X with similar storage capacity.

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Still worth a kidney? Flagship smartphone prices are rising fast

MANILA - Where Apple goes, the industry follows. While late to the all-screen game, the iPhone X signalled aggressive pricing that outpaces the upgrades that are starting to get more iterative than revolutionary.

Samsung priced its 256 gigabyte S9 Plus, unveiled on Monday, at P60,990, P13,990 short of the P73,990 iPhone X with the same capacity.

A minimum wage earner in Metro Manila will have to toil for 129 days to buy the top end S9, if he doesn't spend for food or transportation for 4 months and works on weekends. And that's 30 more days if he wants the highest capacity iPhone X.

But flagship mobile tech is for luxury, not for utility. In the same vein, designer handbags can cost twice or thrice as much as an iPhone.

For the 10th anniversary edition of its most important device, Apple offered face unlock in place of fingerprint scanning, unicorn and poop animations mapped to the user's face, and portrait effects that simulate different types of lighting.

Despite Apple's knack for making new technologies accessible to the masses with clever branding, the features that were supposed to justify the price tag were unfinished. Face ID was not as reliable as Touch ID, Animoji was a novelty that was bound to iOS, and Portrait Lighting looked like paper cutouts.

For the S9, Samsung is promising 60 percent brighter images in low light compared to the S8, super slow motion to add drama to footage of free falls, flapping bird wings and bursting balloons. It is also challenging Animoji with AR Emoji, complete with a boxy fish character that looks like Pixar's Dory.

We have yet to spend enough time with the S9 to judge whether or not the price bump is justified. But the S9 is the same price as last year's larger S8+ when it was launched. This year's S9+ with 64GB of storage is priced at P52,990, P7,000 more expensive than its predecessor and P3,000 pricier than the larger Galaxy Note 8 from barely 5 months ago.

Chinese upstarts are also challenging Apple and Samsung with comparable, if not better performance, at roughly half the price. Huawei's Mate 10 Pro retails for P38,990 and offers free screen replacement in case of breakage, something that will cost you if you wreck your iPhone X.

Disruptor OnePlus is offering its flagship killer officially in the Philippines. If you can live without water resistance and a design that looks like the iPhone 7 Plus, the OnePlus 5T offers a full screen display, fast performance, 64GB of onboard storage and long battery life starting at P26,990.

China's Xiaomi also opened its first official store in the Philippines, undercutting Apple and Samsung in terms of flagship price, while offering devices for the connected home including WiFi routers, desktops and laptops.

Smartphones are also becoming more and more expensive when the battle has begun to shift to software from hardware.

What Google's Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL lacks in terms of looks, it makes up for with slick software and an AI-powered camera that does with a single lens what it's competition can't do, even with two lenses.


At this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, LG offered the V30 from late last year with upgraded internals, including double the storage and an AI-backed camera. It did not unveil a successor to the G6, which launched at the same gadget showcase last year, signaling a rethink in its mobile strategy.

Mobile phone sales worldwide were down 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter last year, the same period the iPhone X and Galaxy Note 8 went on sale, according to industry tracker IDC.

While manufacturers are pushing the limit in terms of pricing, consumers hit the pause button and were in no rush to upgrade, IDC said.

The iPhone X cost as much as P90,000 in the grey market when it first hit the Philippines. It now costs as low as P55,000 in unofficial stores after less than four months.


For those with gadget lust, price is not a consideration. But for the practical consumer, the choices are at their most varied.

And with the tech companies looking at AI powered devices that will replace the smartphone, forking out an insane amount for something that will suffer the inevitable fate of the typewriter in a few years is getting more difficult each year.

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

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

Weak iPhone X demand weighs on Wall Street

NEW YORK - US stocks dipped on Tuesday as Apple and shares of its parts suppliers weakened on a report of soft iPhone X demand, which pulled technology shares lower.

Apple will slash its sales forecast for its flagship phone in the current quarter to 30 million units, down from what it said was an initial plan of 50 million units, Taiwan's Economic Daily reported, citing unidentified sources.

The report, along with some recent brokerage calls on tepid iPhone X demand, put Apple shares on pace for their worst single-day percentage fall since Aug. 10.

Shares of companies that supply parts to Apple, including Broadcom, Skyworks Solutions, Finisar and Lumentum Holdings, all moved lower. The PHLX semiconductor index lost 1.03 percent.

The S&P technology index fell 0.76 percent, the worst performer among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors. The index has come under pressure in recent days and was on track for its fifth straight decline as market participants see tech names getting a smaller boost from the US tax overhaul.

"The higher tax rate companies, basically get a profit break and the lower tax rate companies don’t necessarily suddenly pay more in taxes, it is just on a relative basis, they are not in as advantageous a position as they used to be," said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede in Philadelphia.

A long-promised Republican bill to cut corporate tax rates to 21 percent from 35 percent was ratified last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35.59 points, or 0.14 percent, to 24,718.47, the S&P 500 lost 4.21 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,679.13 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 24.58 points, or 0.35 percent, to 6,935.38.

Most markets around the world, including parts of Europe and Asia, were shut on Tuesday. Trading volumes are also expected to be light in the holiday week.

Losses were curbed by a boost in energy stocks as oil prices jumped more than 2 percent, helped by an explosion on a crude pipeline in Libya and voluntary OPEC-led supply cuts.

Chevron rose 0.8 percent and EOG Resources gained 1.9 percent to lead the S&P energy sector 0.68 percent higher.

Shares of department store operators Kohl's, JC Penney and Macy's got a boost after a report that retail sales in the holiday period rose at their best pace since 2011. The S&P retail index advanced 0.49 percent.

Sucampo Pharma surged 6.2 percent after Mallinckrodt said it would acquire the drugmaker for $1.2 billion. Mallinckrodt shares rose 1.0 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.32-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.01-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 39 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 79 new highs and 24 new lows.

source: news.abs-cbn.com