2014

Alleged Retina panel shortages could push back iPad mini 2 into early-2014

While supply chain sources appear to agree that a fifth-generation iPad is launching this Fall, pointing to Apple's procurement of components ahead of trial production, there is no definite consensus on a successor to the 7.9-inch iPad mini.

A new report out from Taiwan on Friday asserted that Retina panel shortages may have forced Apple's leadership to push back the device into early-2014.

Tim Cook & Co. have reportedly scrapped the original plan which called for launching the iPad mini 2 during the fourth quarter of 2013, in time for the holiday shopping season...

Tension rises as Samsung complains about not receiving iPhone 6 chip orders

Despite the ongoing legal wrangling over mobile technology patents, Samsung to this date remains the only supplier of Apple-designed processors which drive iPhones, iPads and iPods. The South Korean conglomerate has been exclusively building these chips according to Apple's blueprints at its multi-billion dollar fabrication facility in Austin, Texas.

However, recent chatter increasingly points to rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) possibly stealing the Apple contract from Samsung as Apple looks to further distance itself from its chief rival.

A new report from South Korea alleges Apple has now actually excluded Samsung as a future mobile processor supplier. In turn, TSMC, which is the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, may produce a significant portion, even possibly all of mobile chips for Apple's next-gen iPhone 6 to be released in 2014...

Rumor: 4.8-inch iPhone 6 arriving in summer 2014

Jeffries analyst Peter Misek is on a roll. First he wrote in a note issued to clients this morning that channel checks led him to believe that the iPhone 5S is entering production in March for a likely June/July introduction.

Then word came that Misek thinks Apple could be holding a media event next month to announce a software development kit (SDK).

The official SDK would enable programmers to write full-screen 1080p apps and games for the Apple TV set-top box. And now, we learn that Misek doesn't see the 4.8-inch iPhone launching this year at all. Instead, Apple is looking to release a bigger iPhone in mid-2014, he writes...

iPhone market share predicted peaking at 22 percent in 2014

Is the iPhone ready to join the crowd of technology has-beens? That seems to be the impression from a Thursday report from one research firm. The Apple handset, which has been pummeled by negative headlines recently, now faces its marketshare high this year, followed by flatline growth through the rest of this decade.

According to ABI Research, Apple's handset in 2013 will reach 28 percent of the smartphone market, its growth flat through 2018.  The reason: the future of smartphones is in emerging markets and inexpensive handsets, an area Apple executives say they won't chase....