Apple (AAPL) Sales Soaring in China

After failing in its first attempt to penetrate the Chinese market, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) made the needed adjustments and sales are soaring for the giant tech company.

A year later, its Shanghai’s flagship store is reportedly the most profitable per square foot in the world. There are now waiting lists to buy iPads and iPhones, even though they sell for 30 percent more than in America.

What happened? What did Apple do to turn around its operations when other foreign retailers like Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD) had to retreat from the market?

Originally, Apple waited too long to get the iPhone into the market. By the time the iPhone officially sold there, early adopters had already bought around 2 million cracked versions smuggled in from the U.S. and Hong Kong.

So for the iPad, Apple used a different tack. Instead of waiting years as it did with the iPhone, Apple waited only months after it came out in the U.S. to launch the iPad in China. Consumers did not feel the need to travel abroad to shop when they knew products were coming to them soon.

Apple closed Tuesday at $355.76, gaining $0.40, or 0.11 percent.




Source

Apple (AAPL) iPhone Ad Value Higher Than Google (GOOG) Android Users

The value of an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone user in relationship to ad revenue from applications, is higher than Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android users, according to data released by Mobclix.

Mobclix says in every application category, Android users offer less advertising value than Apple iPhone users at this time.

Apple has an 83 percent revenue share in the global application market, Mobclix added.

Using the more popular applications as the basis for their data, Mobclix said within the parameters of apps downloaded a minimum of 500,000 times or having over 75,000 active users, Apple beats out Android in advertising value.

As a monthly average in the utility category, users of iPhones have an advertising value of close to $9.50, while Android users have a value of $7.20. Breaking it down further, in the entertainment category iPhone users stand at $6.50 and Android users at $4.90. Gamers unsurprisingly have a wider margin, with Apple users leading from $4.00 to $1.90 for Android users.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) Pays Workers Hefty Bonuses for 2010 Performance

Employees of Verizon (NYSE:VZ) received a nice surprise recently, as they were rewarded for a strong 2010 performance with bonuses from 8 to 10 percent, and will receive merit-based raises and profit sharing awards over the next month or so.

Citing strong sales in the smartphone segment and increased data use, Verizon generated a profit of $4.6 billion in the fourth quarter, far above the $2.4 billion they generated in the same quarter in 2009.

This quarter and 2011 will definitely improve on that as well, with the Verizon entering an agreement with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to sell its popular iPhone, ending the exclusivity enjoyed by AT&T (NYSE:T) for the Apple device.

Along with its own physical stores, Verizon sells its iPhones through Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Best Buy Co. (NYSE:BBY).

Verizon closed Friday at $36.62, gaining $0.25, or 0.69 percent.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Now Needs to Sell Employees

Peter Drucker would have applauded CEO Stephen Elop for moving in a new direction—but admonished him for not getting more buy-in from employees

Investors and technology watchers are trying to figure out whether Nokia (NYSE:NOK) has markedly improved, or furthered damaged, its position in the cutthroat mobile communications business. But it's the company's internal communications that Peter Drucker would have wondered most about.

Nokia announced last week that it planned to form an alliance under which it will use a Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) product as its primary operating system for smartphones. In going with Windows Phone 7, the Finnish company will largely leave behind its own Symbian operating system. By joining with Microsoft, Nokia also has elected to bypass other options, such as tapping Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android software.

The partnership with Microsoft represents a dramatic shift for Nokia—and for good reason. The company's share of the smartphone market has deteriorated rapidly in the face of Android and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone. In some crucial parts of the world, such as the U.S., Nokia is all but invisible.

Rest of Story ...

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Sees Android (NASDAQ:GOOG) as Top Competitor

While acknowledging Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is at top mobile phone competitor, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) CEO Stephen Elop has a priority of taking on Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android-based phones first.

His reasoning is the huge ecosystem Android has and it multiple price points.

The iPhone operates in the high-end of the mobile market, so isn't a multiple threat yet, although there's talk of releasing a smaller version of a phone soon.

On the low end of the scale, some Chinese companies are also making big gains and must be taken into account, although they'll eventually start pressuring the high-end as well, although probably more down the road.

Elop said on Monday the company will work hard to deliver a smartphone in 2011 based on the Window Phone 7 platform.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer said in 2012 there should be a variety smartphone offerings from Nokia with Window Phone 7.

Interestingly, Elop added even with the new partnership with Microsoft, they'll continue to work on their old Symbian platform, which he called "capable," but need to be upgraded to a more contemporary user interface. He said improvements there should come in a fairly short time.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Phone Software will Connect to Xbox

Since the announcement by Nokia (NYSE:NOK) that they'll partner with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to use Windows Phone 7 as their major platform, Microsoft and CEO Steve Ballmer have rightly started to talk up the positives of the deal, with one of the latest being the connection of Windows Phone 7 with the popular Xbox.

Also wisely, Ballmer not only used the Xbox when displaying the software upgrade and connection, but also used the wildly popular Kinect to give a demonstration of the possibilities that could emerge from it.

Tying in two of the most popular products they now carry in the younger demographic is smart, as they need to attract more interest to Windows Phone 7, and ultimately, to Nokia's handsets as well.

Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Ballmer added the company will be improving multitasking and the speed of the browser used in the smartphone platform.

Similar to their major smartphone competitors on the higher-end: Google-based (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android phones and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones, Microsoft needs to communicate every improvement and mobile software upgrade on a consistent basis, and generate continual buzz to keep themselves positioned in the minds of users.

The low-end and smartphone war is really just beginning, and even with the large lead on the high end of the market their competitors now enjoy, there is plenty of room for growth and grabbing of market share, and if Microsoft and Nokia do this right, it could be a surprise partnership generating billions in revenue and earnings for investors.

Again, Microsoft needs to ramp up and continue to upgrade and announcement over and over what they're doing and the value it brings to the end-users. If they do that, they could turn things around and surprise a lot of people. The mobile and smartphone war is far from over, it's going to get very interesting if Nokia and Microsoft make this partnership work.

Nokia closed Monday at $8.84, falling $0.52, or 5.56 percent. Microsoft closed at $27.23, down $0.02, or 0.07 percent.

Sources Confirm Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Releasing Smaller Smartphone in Summer

It appears ongoing rumors that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will be selling a smaller and less expensive version of its smartphone sometime in the summer of 2011 are true, as a report in the Wall Street Journal, citing people close to the matter, say they will release the smaller phone about the same time they release the iPhone 5.

According to the source, the size of the smaller phone will be about half of the iPhone Apple offers at this time. Prices will be approximately half of the price for the iPhone 4.

The report also said Apple will be changing its MobileMe online storage service. The new idea will be to possibly make MobileMe a free cloud service in order to eliminate the need for large storage capacity.

At this time MobileMe costs $99 a year to use.

Apple was trading at $359.20, up $2.35, or 0.66 percent, as of 12:01 PM EST.

Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone Will Take 1 Million Android (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sales from Verizon (NYSE:Vz) says Piper Jaffray

Part of what Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will via selling Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone will be taken away from losses in Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android-powered smartphones.

Piper Jaffray said they believe the iPhone could take away up to 1 million Android sales from Verizon in the first quarter of sales alone.

In a normal quarter Verizon would sell from 4 million to 5 million Android units.

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, Verizon should sale about 1.5 million iPhones in the first fiscal quarter.

Munster said he believes Google and Apple will gain smartphone market share in 2012, accounting for about 50 percent of the market, and in 2015 expanding that to 65 percent.

Verizon was trading at $36.63, down $0.05, or 0.14 percent, as of 11:42 AM EST.

AT&T (NYSE:T) Offers Unlimited Mobile-to-Mobile Before Verizon (NYSE:VZ) iPhone Release

In what could be construed as panic or an attempt to steal some of Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) thunder, AT&T (NYSE:T) announced a day before the release of their Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone that they're going to offer customers mobile-to-mobile calling on any carrier.

David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, said in a press release, "Mobile to Any Mobile is an exciting offer that will keep our customers connected to the people they want to talk to, when they want to talk to them, without the hassle of watching minutes. We're giving customers more options and even better value. And when you include Rollover Minutes, a benefit available exclusively from AT&T that lets customers keep their unused minutes for all domestic calls, including to landline numbers, it's clear that AT&T offers the most flexibility in the industry."

Why AT&T didn't release a torrent of changes before the iPhone release on Verizon is puzzling. Every few days they could have made some type of announcement leading up to the release, which would have, at minimum, kept them in the minds of their customers and may put a question mark there as to whether or not they should leave them for Verizon.

This wouldn't be for those who have already made their minds up. Some were so dissatisfied with AT&T that nothing was going to keep them with the company.

It would rather have been for those who were still mulling over whether to keep using their service or not. Normally those are the largest numbers, and should have been who AT&T targeted.

Maybe some will be swayed by the new plan, but most probably won't even hear about it at this late stage of the game. Verizon was trading at $36.60, up $0.26, or 0.72 percent, as of 1:45 PM EST. AT&T was trading at $27.99, up $0.08, or 0.27 percent. Apple was trading at $358.00, up $2.80, or 0.79 percent.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) to Sell 1 Million Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones First Week

The release of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone by Verizon should result in about 1 million units being sold in the first week, according to RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky.

For the quarter, Abramsky sees Verizon selling from 3 million to 4 million units of iPhone 4.

He added that Verizon won't see the approximate 5 million in sales enjoyed by AT&T (NYSE:T) when they first released the iPhone, citing the number of users already under contract by Verizon with Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android devices, and lack of aggressiveness with early upgrades.

For the calendar year 2011, Abramsky sees sales of the iPhone reaching about 2011 for Verizon, although noting that could be a conservative estimate.

RBC maintains a "Buy" rating on Apple (NASDAQ), which was trading at $357.68, up $2.48, or 0.70 percent, as of 11:41 AM EST. Verizon was trading at $36.53, up $0.19, or 0.54 percent.

Qualcomm (Nasdaq:QCOM) in Big win with Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL) CDMA iPhone 4

IHS iSuppli has confirmed what many thought, that Qualcomm (Nasdaq:QCOM) has been chosen to have its MDM6600 baseband processor chip used in the latest version of Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL) CDMA iPhone, replacing Infineon's PMB9801 baseband chip.

"CDMA technology leader Qualcomm has scored a major design win in the new version of the iPhone 4, with the use of its baseband processor chip displacing the incumbent supplier of the last four years. The iPhone includes the Qualcomm MDM6600 baseband processor, replacing the Infineon PMB9801 baseband used in the UMTS/GSM version of the smart phone," said iSuppli.

They added, "Early analysis leads us to believe that Apple has eliminated the discrete GPS chip—previously supplied by Broadcom (Nasdaq:BRCM) - and, instead, relies on the integrated GPS functionality of the Qualcomm MDM6600."

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will release the new iPhone on February 10.

Apple was trading at $355.39, up $3.51, or 1.00 percent, as of 12:52 PM EST. Qualcomm was trading at $55.92, gaining $0.85, or 1.54 percent. Verizon was at $36.19, up $0.17, or 0.49 percent.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Raised on iPhone, iPad Sustainable Trends

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has their price target raised by Canaccord Genuity, which cited sales of iPhones and iPads remain strong. Also of note is the expected surge in iPhone sales from Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) product launch on February 10.

Canaccord analyst T. Michael Walkley said, "Our monthly channel checks indicated continued strong sales of the iPhone 4, as it remained by far the top-selling smartphone at AT&T (NYSE:T). Further, our checks indicated continued strong sales of the iPad. Finally, our checks indicated Verizon is planning for strong demand for the CDMA iPhone4 launch scheduled for February 10 (this Thursday), and we anticipate strong sales post the launch. As such, we have increased our iPhone unit estimates from 72.9M to 74.8M units for C2011 and raised our pro-forma F2011 EPS estimate from $21.84 to $22.92 and our F2012 estimate from $24.00 to $25.60."

Canaccord reiterated their "Buy" rating on Apple, which was trading at $355.25, up $3.37, or 0.96 percent, as of 12:43 PM EST. Canaccord raised their price target on Apple from $432 to $460.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ), AT&T (NYSE:T) Ramping Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone War

With billions ultimately at stake, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) are AT&T (NYSE:T) raising the stakes in their war for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone share, as the two wireless carriers increase their marketing war and ad spend on the device.

The winner in all of this will, of course, be Apple, and presumably consumers as well.

Both companies went at it during the Super Bowl, spending over a million on ads to market their wares.

All of this is in preparation for Verizon's launch, as they hope to secure a significant bite out of AT&T's share, based on what is considered poor service by existing customers.

AT&T is of course attempting to stop their iPhone market share from bleeding too much.

Verizon closed Monday at $36.02, losing $0.29, or 0.80 percent. AT&T closed at $27.96, dropping $0.01, or 0.04 percent. Apple closed at $351.88, gaining $5.38, or 1.55 percent.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Boosted by Needham, Susquehanna

With sales of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad and iPhone appearing to be higher than expected, analysts at Needham & Co. and Susquehanna raised their price target on the company even more.

Needham analyst Charlie Wolf wrote, "Our forecast of the iPad’s ultimate share of the media table market is materially higher than the forecasts of most pundits. In our opinion, that’s because they’re confusing the media tablet market with the smartphone market. Sales of smartphones ... have been driven by the carriers who can turn the phones into revenue producers by loading them with their own content, software and services (colloquially referred to as “crapware”). However, carriers should play a far more limited role in the distribution of tablets, because tablets are primarily content consumption, not communications devices. We believe the media tablet market will more closely emulate the portable music player market, where the iPod continues to dominate, than the smartphone market."

Wolf sees Apple selling about $75 million iPhones in 2011. Over the next five years he believes their current market share of 16 percent will rise to 22 percent.

Needham maintains a "Buy" rating on Apple, which was trading at $352.33, gaining $5.83, or 1.68 percent, as of 2:40 PM EST. Wolf raised his price target on Apple from $375 to $450.

Susquehanna boosted their price target on Apple from $445 to $465.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone Medical Scanning App Approved by FDA

MIM Software Inc. is the first company to receive approval from the FDA to use a medical scanning app on Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone or iPad, or any portable device, for that matter.

Dubbed 'Mobile MIM,' the technology can be used for computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography scans.

William Maisel, chief scientist and deputy director for science at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said, “This important mobile technology provides physicians with the ability to immediately view images and make diagnoses without having to be back at the workstation or wait for film.”

The FDA noted the app isn't a replacement for full workstations, but for use when access to a workstation isn't possible at the time.

Mobile MIM, which is transmitted over a secure network, will be available in Apple’s U.S. App Store this week, and will be available in over 30 countries.

Verizon (NYSE:Vz) Stops Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone Sales

In what Verizon (NYSE:Vz) calls "the most successful first day sales in the history of the company," they had to halt their sales of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone after pre-orders for the device opened at 3 AM in the morning and closed at 8:10 PM EST that night.

Verizon CEO Dan Mead said in a statement, that the company "had already sold more phones than any first-day launch" when they shut down the pre-order sales.

On February 10, Verizon Wireless will release the iPhone to the general public.

Verizon was trading at $36.24, down $0.14, or 0.38 percent, as of 12:03 PM EST.

Is Verizon (NYSE:VZ) Ruining Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone Opportunity?

There has been some chatter around the web today on Verizon (NYSE:VZ) possibly ruining the golden opportunity they have with the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone.

The source of the consternation of some is a company memo concerning the handling of heavy users.

It said:

"Verizon Wireless strives to provide customers the best experience when using our network, a shared resource among tens of millions of customers. To help achieve this, if you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of Verizon Wireless data users we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand. Our proactive management of the Verizon Wireless network is designed to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren’t negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users."

This is in response to the disaster of AT&T (NYSE:T), which struggled with its ability to handle the enormous amount of data transfer associated with iPhone users.

Verizon is attempting to head off a potential disaster the enormous number of new users could result in, possibly repeating the AT&T experience, which would result in no real differentiation for users.

On the other hand, it's highly probable many AT&T users will remain using the service to see if the exodus of iPhone users to Verizon makes the network fast and more reliable.

I don't think this is a game-changer at all, and other than those using outrageous amounts of network resources, it should be considered a more positive experience, based on nothing more than fewer users being on each network than AT&T bore itself.

It may be a little bit of a black eye, but assuming Verizon iPhone users have a better experience, it shouldn't drag on the company.

Verizon was trading at $36.30, up $0.14, or 0.39 percent, as of 1:53 PM EST.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) Releases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone Service Pricing

Pricing for the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone service was released by Verizon (NYSE:VZ) today, which will start to take preorders for the service on Thursday.

For the basic voice plan, which includes 450 minutes, Verizon said they're going to charge $40 a month.

For a voice plan including unlimited text messages, pricing will start at $60 a month.

An additional plan for the Web and getting e-mail will sell for $30 a month.

For customers wanting to use the iPhone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, Verizon said they're going to charge an additional $20 a month.

Preorders for existing Verizon customers will launch at 3 AM EST on Thursday.

Verizon was trading at $35.97, down $0.30, or 0.83 percent, as of 2:42 PM EST. Apple was trading at $344.47, down $0.56, or 0.16 percent.

Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Generates Majority of Mobile Profits

Even though Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) only holds a 4 percent market share of the mobile market, they generate by far the majority of profits in the mobile sector, according to data from Asymco's Horace Dediu.

With only a 4.2 percent mobile phone market share, Apple was able to garner a whopping 51 percent of the profits in the fourth quarter.

Apple revealed in the early part of January that they sold 16.24 million iPhones in the fiscal first quarter of 2011, with an average selling price of $625.

Apple dropped to fifth in the fourth quarter for makers of cell phones, while for smartphone platforms, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) moved past Nokia (NYSE:NOK) to the No. 1 spot.

Apple closed Monday at $339.32, gaining $3.22, or 0.96 percent.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Drops to Fifth Place in Global Mobile Market

Even though Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) enjoyed record phone shipments in its latest quarter, that wasn't enough to keep them in the No. 4 position globally, or move them up, as they were overtaken by Chinese vendor ZTE, which jumped ahead of them.

Apple continues to do well in mature markets, especially North America and Europe. They shipped 16.2 million units in the fourth quarter, over 2 million more than the 14.1 million it shipped in the third quarter.

Data recently released from an IDC report called "Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker," China's ZTE shipped 16.8 million units to leap over Apple, the first time they made the top five in global mobile phone shipments. That gave them a 4.2 percent market share as well.

Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team, said, "Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year. Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson - all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 - are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list."

Along with its usual customer base in Latin America and Africa, along with other emerging markets, ZTE also gained inroads into the American market and Western Europe, offering more hefty smartphones to the market. In the past they gained market share primarily through entry-level and medium-range phones.

The immediate future for the mobile phone market is the growing demand for smartphones, concluded the report.

Taken together, vendors around the world shipped 401.4 million units in the fourth quarter, a big jump from the 340.5 million shipped in the same quarter last year. An increase of 17.9 percent. For the entirety of 2010, global shipments soared from 1.17 billion to 1.39 billion.

For Apple, their market share dropped to 4.0 percent from 4.1 percent in the previous quarter.

Apple closed Friday at $336.10, falling $7.11, or 2.07 percent.