Tim Cook defends Apple’s offshore tax practices ahead of senate hearing

By Cody Lee on May 16, 2013

Yesterday, word got out that Tim Cook would be testifying at a senate hearing next week over Apple’s tax practices. The hearing was called after the iPad-maker took on billions in debt to fund its shareholder return plan, rather than paying taxes on its offshore cash.

The move reportedly saved the Cupertino company around $9 billion in various tax charges, bringing it to the forefront of an ongoing debate about the legality of offshore tax evasion. But in a recent interview, Tim Cook says that Apple isn’t doing anything wrong… Read More

 

Tim Cook expected to testify in Senate hearing on offshore tax practices next week

By Cody Lee on May 15, 2013

In a recent bond offering, Apple took on billions of dollars in debt in order to finance an initiative to return some of its cash to shareholders. Its plan is to give $100 billion back to investors, by way of dividends and stock buybacks, by 2015.

Since most of its cash is offshore, Apple’s decision to take on debt instead of tapping its own $150 billion cash pile helped it sidestep an estimated $9 billion in taxes. Unfortunately, it’s also caught the attention of the US government… Read More

 

Apple still negotiating with Sony over iRadio terms

By Cody Lee on May 9, 2013

For months we’ve been hearing rumors regarding iRadio, Apple’s upcoming streaming music service. It was initially supposed to launch in Q1 of this year, but the company has reportedly been having trouble reaching royalty terms with the record labels.

Then in April came word that it had locked up a deal with Universal, putting the project on track for a summer release. But it seems to have hit another snag this week, as a new report claims that the other record labels are still looking for better terms… Read More

 

Apple jumps to #6 spot in new Fortune 500 rankings

By Cody Lee on May 6, 2013

You wouldn’t know it by reading through the latest tech news headlines, but Apple is on track to have another stellar year. It’s already recorded two record-breaking quarters, and it has yet to launch a new or refreshed product.

But not everyone is ignoring Apple’s success. Fortune today released its annual, high-profile ”Fortune 500″ list of the largest companies in the United States. And the iPad-maker has risen up several spots from last year, to #6… Read More

 

Leap Wireless reports improved iPhone sales after dismal quarter

By Cody Lee on May 1, 2013

Back in February, Leap Wireless submitted a rather alarming filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It had been seeing much weaker demand for the iPhone than expected, and it was only on track to sell through half of its first-year commitment.

But apparently, the problems were only temporary. Yesterday, the company—who sells the iPhone through its subsidiary Cricket Wireless—reported its earnings for its first operating quarter this year, and it told investors that it is seeing much better iPhone sales… Read More

 

15 interesting points from today’s earnings call

By Cody Lee on Apr 23, 2013

Apple just announced its earnings for its first quarter of 2013, second fiscal quarter, and despite all of the lead-in ‘doom’ talk, the numbers are actually very impressive. The company beat Wall Street projections in nearly every metric.

We’re just finishing up the conference call, where Tim Cook and company have made several announcements and dropped a number of impressive statistics. And as usual, we’ve rounded up the 15 most interesting points for you… Read More

 

Apple Q2 2013 earnings: 37.4M iPhones, 19.5M iPads, $43.6B revenue

By Cody Lee on Apr 23, 2013

The news headlines for Apple have been getting progressively worse over the past few months, as rumors continue to swell of falling iPhone and iPad demand, and the company’s stock dipping below $400 for the first time since 2011.

But it looks like they might be able to change the conversation. Q2 numbers are out, and Apple beat Wall Street projections in nearly every category, selling 37.4 million iPhones, 19.5 million iPads and producing $43.6 billion in revenue… Read More

 

iPhone 4 owners begin receiving ‘antennagate’ settlement checks

By Cody Lee on Apr 23, 2013

Ah, who could forget the infamous iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate‘ debacle? It had barely been a month since Apple had introduced its newly-redesigned handset, when users began to complain of severe signal attenuation when holding the device a certain way.

Steve Jobs and company held a press conference to defend their product, but it wasn’t enough to keep the lawsuits at bay. Apple was forced to offer free bumpers, or $15 in cash, to iPhone 4 owners. And now, 3 years later, the checks are finally on their way… Read More

 

Apple adds new ‘Later’ download option for iTunes media purchases

By Cody Lee on Apr 22, 2013

Good news iTunes users. It’s been discovered today that Apple has added a new download option for folks purchasing a variety of iTunes content including movies, TV shows (episodes, Season Passes, and complete seasons) and boxed music sets.

Now, when purchasing any of the above items using iTunes 11 or a device running iOS 6+, you’re presented with ‘Later’ and ‘Download’ buttons. This gives you the option to either download your purchase immediately, or delay it to a later date… Read More

 

Apple donates $8 million to earthquake victims in China

By Cody Lee on Apr 22, 2013

This weekend, folks in Sichuan, China were rocked by a devastating earthquake that leveled much of the area. The quake, which the country’s earthquake administration rated a 7.0 (US Geo Survey says 6.6), destroyed countless houses and buildings.

Apple has since began facilitating donations for relief efforts in the area, and has pledged to provide new equipment for schools in the affected cities. And we’ve just received word that it’s upped its commitment by offering up $8 million to the victims… Read More

 

Apple licenses $10 million worth of patents filed by Palm and others

By Cody Lee on Apr 10, 2013

This is kind of interesting. Access, a Japan-based software company, published a release on its website this morning noting that it had entered a licensing agreement with Apple for a number of its patents. The firm’s portfolio is quite large, featuring IP from Bell, Palm and others.

The particular patents that Apple is said to have acquired the rights to came from PalmSource, the company behind Palm’s original mobile operating system. In 2003, it spun off of Palm as an independent company, and in 2005, Access acquired it and its intelectual property… Read More

 

Nearly half of U.S. teens own an iPhone, 62% are planning to buy one

By Ed Sutherland on Apr 10, 2013

Although it sometimes seems like every teen has an iPhone, we are not quite there, according to new research. Some 48 percent of teens say they own the Apple smartphone with 62 percent expecting to buy an iPhone as their next handset.

The 48 percent of teen-owned iPhones is up from 40 percent registered during fall 2012, according to Piper Jaffray’s 25th bi-annual teen survey. Meanwhile, just over 20 percent of teens surveyed said they either own or plan to purchase a smartphone powered by Google’s Android mobile operating software… Read More

 

Apple to announce Q2 2013 earnings on April 23

By Cody Lee on Apr 1, 2013

It looks like folks wondering how Apple did financially last quarter will find out in just a few short weeks. The Cupertino company announced this afternoon that it will be releasing its financial results for Q2 2013 on April 23.

Apple’s earnings reports are typically a major affair in the tech world, and this one is particularly important. The iPad-maker’s stock is at its 52 week low, and it needs to post some big numbers to change the conversation… Read More

 

Apple launching redesigned ‘Report a Problem’ tool for iTunes purchases

By Cody Lee on Mar 28, 2013

Earlier this month, Apple started rolling out a new ‘Report a Problem’ tool to a select group of customers. The feature, for those who haven’t used it before, allows iTunes users to report a problem with a recent purchase of an app, song or other iTunes content.

And the tool’s been redesigned this month to be easier to use, and more accessible to users. The previous version was only available in the actual Mac/Windows iTunes app, and the new edition will be available through any device with a web browser… Read More

 

WhatsApp to bring subscription model to iOS this year

By Cody Lee on Mar 20, 2013

WhatsApp, the popular cross-platform messaging service, is going to be bringing its subscription model to iOS this year, according to CEO Jan Koum. Koum recently spoke with a Dutch news outlet about the company’s near-term plans.

Currently, iOS users can download WhatsApp for a one-time fee of $0.99. In the new model though, which it already uses on other platforms like Android and Windows Phone, the app will be free, with users having to pay an annual fee… Read More

 

LinkedIn reportedly buying Pulse for up to $100 million

By Cody Lee on Mar 12, 2013

When word started spreading around yesterday that Pulse was about to be acquired by a “major platform” company, I would have guessed it was either Yahoo or Microsoft. The popular news reader app seems like it would be a great fit for either firm.

But according to the latest reports, the buyer is actually the social networking site for business professionals LinkedIn. The company has allegedly already sealed a deal with Alphonso Labs, the maker of Pulse, worth between $50-$100 million… Read More

 

Lowball royalty offers said to be causing delay in Apple’s streaming music service

By Cody Lee on Mar 7, 2013

Multiple reports are out this morning, claiming that the reason we haven’t seen Apple’s streaming music service—which was expected to launch as early as Q1 of this year—yet is due to negotiation woes with record labels.

As usual, the problem stems from money. Apparently Apple is only offering the labels half of the royalty rate that they are receiving from Pandora. And the service could be delayed until the summer, or possibly longer… Read More

 

Apple executives required to hold 3x base salary in AAPL stock

By Cody Lee on Mar 1, 2013

If you wanted to make sure that your business’ executive team was deeply committed to making it thrive, it’d probably be a good idea to make sure they held a lot of company stock. That way, their livelihoods directly depended on its success.

And that’s exactly the way it works at Apple. The company has amended its corporate bylaws to require that executive officers hold three times their annual (base) salary in AAPL stock, and it’s even higher for Tim Cook and his board of directors… Read More

 

Cricket seeing much weaker than expected iPhone sales

By Cody Lee on Feb 28, 2013

Leap Wireless, the US telecommunications company that owns and operates the regional carrier Cricket, just submitted a rather alarming filing with the the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It seems that Cricket is only on pace to sell through half of its first-year commitment with Apple, which goes to June, leaving it on the hook for some $100 million in remaining iPhone purchases… Read More

 

Tim Cook talks new Apple campus, new products and more at shareholder meeting

By Cody Lee on Feb 27, 2013

Apple held its annual shareholder meeting this morning on its Cupertino campus. The company used the gathering to address concerns of investors, offer up some insight into its future, and of course to vote on a number of proposals.

Tim Cook did a lot of the talking, and fielded some pretty difficult questions from shareholders who are obviously disappointed with Apple’s recent stock slide. As usual, we have a roundup of all of the interesting stuff after the fold… Read More

 
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