Nokia (NOK) Beefs Up Apple (AAPL) Patent Suits

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) are both trading lower today, as the mobile giant boosted the number of patent-infringement claims against Apple.

In the second patent infringement filing with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Apple, Nokia says Applie has violated numerous patents they hold in reference to use in iPads, iPods, Macs and iPhones.

Areas covered in the patents include call quality, positioning, use of Bluetooth accessories, multi-tasking operating systems and data synchronization.

Nokia head of IP, Paul Melin said, “Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone. Nokia is a leading innovator in technologies needed to build great mobile products and Apple must stop building its products using Nokia’s proprietary innovation.”

Nokia was trading at $8.68, down $0.06, or 0.69 percent, as of 11:43 AM EDT. Apple was trading at $349.84, falling $0.60, or 0.17 percent.

Will Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Really Surpass Exxon (NYSE:XOM) As Largest Company This Year?

Speculation that it's inevitable that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will soar past Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) as the largest company in the world has been circulating for some time, and with Apple's recent performance and products in the pipeline, some are predicting they'll surpass Exxon sometime within the year.

Apple is easy enough to figure out, they're being driven mostly by sales of iPhones and iPods, with iPads and Macintosh computers adding to its successful product mix.

In the last quarter of 2010 Apple sold an amazing 14.1 million iPhones, 9.05 million iPod music players and 4.19 million iPad tablets and 3.89 million Macintosh computers.

That was all Christmas sales of course, and won't be duplicated going forward, although the introduction of a new iPad could generate a lot of sales, although growing competition in smartphones and tablets will pressure the company.

While tablet share will plunge for Apple, the market is growing so quickly, they could still equal the numbers of units sold while losing market share.

The economy will have a lot to do with the performance of Apple as well.

For Exxon, much of their near-term future will be dependent upon the price of oil, which has been rising. If geo-political problems arise or other unforeseen events, the price of oil could skyrocket, along with the value of the company.

There is also the possibility Exxon could make a big acquisition which could add to the value of the company.

Exxon is also market cap of over $80 billion more than Apple at this time, and it won't be easy to just add that kind of value to a company within a year, although it's quite possible Apple will test that assumption.

The idea that Apple will surpass Exxon as the world's most valuable company is based upon most things going right for the company and Exxon not gaining in value much.

That's not an impossible scenario by any means, but one that isn't necessarily going to happen either.

Either way, Apple appears to be moving along the lines of destiny, and with their core base of shareholders, fans and customers, they have a realistic chance of overtaking the energy giant.

If it isn't this year, it could very well be the next.

Exxon closed Wednesday at $82.55, falling $0.43, or 0.52 percent. They had a market cap of $411.02 billion. Apple closed at $358.16, gaining $2.96, or 0.83 percent. They had a market cap of $329.96 billion.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store Sells 10 Billionth Download

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced on its website that their app store has reached the 10 billion milestone in app download sales.

With million of iPhones sold and the popularity of Apple's iPad tablet, it appears their app download success will continue to roll on.

As of this writing, the app store of Apple features over 350,000 unique apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. A large number of software developers develop apps, making money off of their creations.

Concerning celebrating the 10 billion app download mark, Apple said they're going to give the person downloading the 10 billionth app a gift card valued at $10,000 they can use in Apple's iTune store.

The lucky recipient of the card is Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, in the U.K. The app she downloaded for the reward? A free game called Paper Glider.

Apple closed Friday at $326.72, dropping $5.96, or 1.79 percent.

Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) Gets Review from Canaccord

Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) continues to be viewed positively by Canaccord Genuity after their latest blowout quarterly report, which should only be a foundation for further success in 2011.

Canaccord says, "Apple posted solid fiscal Q1 (December) results, driven by continued strong sales across all product lines during the holiday shopping season. Canaccord Genuity Technology Analyst Michael Walkley notes that holiday sales of the iPad were particularly strong (7.3 million versus our 6.5 million estimate), and the iPod (19.5 million versus our 15.4 million), iPhone (16.2 million versus our 16.8 million) and Macs (4.1 million versus our 4.2 million) were all equally robust. Apple reported EPS of $6.43, well above Walkley’s $5.31 estimate and consensus of $5.37. Management guided sales of $22 billion and EPS of $4.90 for Q2/11, above Canaccord’s $21.1 billion/$4.28 estimates. Walkley anticipates solid longer-term trends for Apple in C2011 with catalysts including the CDMA iPhone launch at Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and potential announcements of iPad 2 and iPhone5 in C2011. If the rumours are to be true, Apple has also not given up on releasing a white iPhone 4. Photos leaked off the retail inventory system of Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) show both the 16 GB and 32 GB white iPhone 4 models with an in- stock date of February 27. If the white iPhone 4 does indeed launch in February, it would be 8 months after the iPhone 4 first went on sale in the U.S. But it would also be sooner than the most recent release date provided by Apple, when it delayed the white iPhone 4 yet again in October. All things considered, Walkley remains very bullish on Apple. He believe Apple’s industry-leading software ecosystem (over 120 million installed base of iOS device sales) and its leading hardware expertise will lead to a strong multi-year product cycle for its key products. In fact, based on Apple’s strong results and solid sales guidance for its March quarter, combined with expectations of strong longer-term trends for iPhone and iPad sales (with refreshes of both products expected in the next two quarters), Walkley anticipates better earnings growth longer term for Apple versus Canaccord's coverage universe."

Apple (AAPL) closed Thursday at $332.68, down $6.16, or 1.82 percent.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earnings Report Exceeds Expectations

Unsurprisingly, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a spectacular first quarter, led by extraordinary sales of the iPhone and iPad.

This should give another major boost to the share price of the company, although it could be tempered some by the recent announcement CEO Steve Jobs was stepping down for medical reasons concerning the day-to-day operations of the company.

Revenue in the first quarter exploded to $26.74 billion, easily beating the $24.38 billion the Street was looking for. Earnings came in at a robust $6.43 a share, also significantly beating analysts' estimates of $5.38.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated, “We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.”

Gross margins for Apple expanded nicely in the quarter too, rising from estimates of 37.3 percent to an actual 38.5 percent.

Guidance from Apple was also strong, with second-quarter earnings expected to reach $4.90 a share on $22 billion in revenue. That's up from Street expectations of earnings of $4.47 a share on revenue of $20.87 billion.

Apple closed Tuesday at $340.65, losing $7.83, or 2.25 percent. At a little after 5 PM EST, the stock came roaring back, trading after hours at $354.31, gaining $13.78, or 4.05 percent, as of 4:51 PM EST. Apple shares are trading hands extremely fast.

Wedbush on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Before Earnings Report

As with most analysts covering Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Wedbush gave their input into what they think shareholders are going to hear when they report earnings on Tuesday

Wedbush said, "We expect FQ1 results above expectations. We believe the recent launch of the iPhone 4 at Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will boost the company’s FY11 outlook."

Wedbush sees earnings of $5.37 for Apple on revenue of $24 billion.

Wedbush projects sales by Apple of 15.1 million iPhones, 6.3 million iPads, 4 million Macs, and 18.6 million iPods for the first quarter. They added that it wouldn't be surprising for Apple to beat those estimates.

Of the 49 analysts covering Apple, 44 have a Buy rating on Apple and 5 a Neutral rating.

Wedbush maintains a "Outperform" rating on Apple, which closed Friday at $348.48, gaining $2.80, or 0.81 percent. Wedbush boosted their price target on Apple of $405.

Barclays on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Before Earnings Report

Barclays projects Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will report earnings in the first quarter of $5.33 a share on revenue of $24.29 billion. For gross margins they see it coming in at 37 percent for the quarter.

Barclays noted, "With regard to the near-term, we believe C4Q was very strong for Apple with strong holiday sales across its device offerings. Apple reports its December quarter-end results on Tuesday, January 18. We are raising our EPS estimates for Apple through FY12 driven by prospects for higher iPhone, Mac and iPad estimates offset slightly by lower ASPs."

Of the 49 analysts covering Apple, 44 have a Buy rating on Apple and 5 a Neutral rating.

Barclays said in 2011 they see Apple selling 17.65 million iPods, 15.3 million iPhones, 6.3 million iPads, and 4 million Mac computers.

Barclays maintains a "Overweight" rating on Apple, which closed Friday at $348.48, gaining $2.80, or 0.81 percent. Barclays boosted their price target on Apple from $390 to $420.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) TV Sales Reach 1 Million, Not Relevant Yet

Kaufman Brothers said the announcement by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) that they reached 1 million in sales for Apple TV was "Immaterial" at this time, but is considered a positive based on future contributions to the company.

Kaufman said, "While this is in line with the higher-end of expectations of 1 million units per quarter and fairly modest at a $400 million annual revenue run-rate for a company consensus is modeling $88 billion in fiscal 2011 revenue, we nonetheless view it as a positive as we firmly believe Apple TV has the potential to become a more material contributor and game changer in the TV space."

Concerning Apps and Apple TV, they added, "This capability isn't available today but we believe it could be added fairly easily as Apple TV uses a similar A4 processor architecture as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch."

Apple was trading at $325.21, up $1.01, or 0.31 percent, as of 11:53 AM EST.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Enjoying Strong Sales in Most Segments

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been enjoying strong sales this Christmas season, as their MacBook Air and iPod sales continue to soar, with some spot shortages.

"We continue to pick up spot shortages of the iPod nano and some iPod touches as well as tight supply of new MacBook Air, driven by strong demand. In addition, our checks indicate that iPad and iPhone momentum is stronger than we expected helped by broader geographic availability and higher production levels," said Kaufman.

Analyst Shaw Wu raised his sales estimates for Apples major products in their fiscal first quarter. For Mac computers, he increased it from 4 million units sold to 4.2 million. For iPads, he upwardly revised units sold from 5.5 million to 6.1 million. For iPhones, from 15.5 million to 16 million, and for iPods, from 16 million to 17 million.

He also raised revenue estimates from $23 billion to $24.2 billion, and EPS estimates from $5.12 to $.36 for the first quarter.

Apple closed Thursday at $321.21, up $0.89, or 0.28 percent. Wu raised his price target on Apple from $380 to $395.

Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) MacBook Air, iPad Sales Strong

It appears Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) MacBook Air has become the choice of Mac fans of many ages, and has been enjoying robust sales so far in the Christmas season. Also surprising some was the demand for iPods, which some thought was becoming a dead category.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said, "We noticed that the iPad is gaining traction (driven by lower price vs. the Mac) among demographics in which the Mac has historically not been successful. The bottom line is that Apple's addressable market is expanding with the iPad, and as a result, we believe the potential for upside from the iPad increases over the next 12 months."

As far as the iPod, some third-party stores were experiencing shortages of the product because of the unexpected demand.

Now the question is, as with all retailers during the Christmas holiday, how much will their margins be affected by the need to cut prices in order to generate sales.

Most of Apple's products had prices cut more moderately than their competitors based on brand strength.

Apple was trading at $313.02, falling $1.98, or 0.63 percent at 1:56 PM EST.