Money

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

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...

Apple still negotiating with Sony over iRadio terms

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...

Apple jumps to #6 spot in new Fortune 500 rankings

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...

Leap Wireless reports improved iPhone sales after dismal quarter

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...

15 interesting points from today’s earnings call

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…

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

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...

iPhone 4 owners begin receiving ‘antennagate’ settlement checks

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...

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

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...

Apple donates $8 million to earthquake victims in China

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...

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

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...

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

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...

Apple to announce Q2 2013 earnings on April 23

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...