Ed Sutherland - page 15

We’ve seen Mac sales soar amid a flat PC market. Now its the iPad’s turn. Apple is expected to see back-to-back quarterly growth of tablet sales in September and December nearing 20 percent as rivals are rejected by consumers and clothes-lined by the courts.

In one of those rare Cumbaya moments in the wild-and-wooly wireless industry, Samsung wants all Apple, Android, and BlackBerry to join hands in messaging togetherness. Okay, moment’s over. Samsung, which is locked in a legal mud-wrestling match with Apple and eyes BlackBerry-maker RIM the way a hungry tiger looks at a wounded gazelle, plans to announce “ChatON”, a messaging service compatible with all major mobile handsets.

Nobody can deny new Apple CEO Tim Cook is a business wunderkind. While co-founder Steve Jobs was out on temporary sick-leave (now made permanent), Cook repeatedly churned out record sales and profit. But some believe Cook will need help getting the ‘vision thing’ that was second-nature for Jobs.

In the news business, it’s called a non-denial denial. For the rest of us, it is just the latest indication we’re just months from having the iPhone 5 available on all major U.S. wireless carriers. Sprint is instructing employees to say “no comment” the latest Apple handset is coming to the carrier this fall.

Here’s an idea: let’s cut Apple in half. Sure, the company is the most profitable on the planet and grabs more headlines than the U.S. President. The trouble, according to some on Wall Street, is Apple isn’t acquiring and selling enough to earn financial wizards hefty commission checks.

Even as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs exits as CEO, talk of a TV from the tech giant is still thriving. A new report suggests the Cupertino, Calif. company is working on a new way to stream video (aka Netflix) to televisions and mulling a “subscription TV service.”

Although stepping down as CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs will continue as a controversial member of Disney’s board, reports say. Jobs is Disney’s largest shareholder, owning 7.4 percent of the company. Wednesday, Jobs announced he would also stay on as chairman of Apple, the tech giant he co-founded.

Even before Apple founder Steve Jobs cleaned out his CEO desk, rival companies are commenting on his legacy and bravery in the face of illness. Although Jobs’ departure may be his rivals’ only chance to compete with Apple, the glowing words should be for a dead leader, not one of the most ferocious competitors in Silicon Valley.

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has always had a love-hate relationship with the media. Those feelings were evident Wednesday, when the tech giant founder reportedly worked a full day before resigning, sticking it in the eye of headlines suggesting he was near death.

Stock markets appear to recover from Wednesday’s news of Apple CEO Steve Jobs resignation. Early Wall Street trading showed the tech giant off just 2 percent as analysts assured investors the future is in good hands with Tim Cook.

Rumors that Apple will sell its upcoming iPhone 5 through Sprint is just the next step in what one analyst views as a tactic the tech giant can use to grow iPhone and iPad sales.

Samsung had used the Netherlands as a loophole against an EU-wide ban on its products. That option is now closed after a Netherlands court rules the Korean company’s smartphones violate Apple patents. The decision could tie a knot in Samsung’s distribution chain, the latest win for the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker.

Apple’s profits stashed overseas is getting restless for a trip the the United States. The tech giant, frequently seen wealthier than the U.S. government and Exxon-Mobile, is lobbying the U.S. government for a five percent ‘tax holiday.’ In a bizarre picture, Apple is aligned with Republicans and against the Democratic American President.

It’s a sickness, this desire for iPads. That’s the diagnosis of the head of Acer, the netbook maker that has had the stuffing kicked out of it by, um, the iPad. But don’t fret, the Acer chairman says this tablet “fever” consumers have contracted will break.

Samsung and Apple have a tenuous “frenemy” relationship (mostly meeting in court) over handsets and tablets, but now the two companies could compete in a third market: notebooks. The South Korean PC maker has its eye on snapping-up HP’s computer manufacturing, propelling Samsung to No. 1.

We’ve written earlier this year how the iPad is replacing the cash register at smaller shops. Now retail giants such as Lowe’s and Home Depot are dumping the traditional till for the tablet.

If you want to offer a tablet not powered by iOS or Android, you might want to cool your heels until the next decade. Apple’s iPad and various Android-powered tablets will control 90 percent of the market through at least 2017, researchers announced Monday.

The beat goes on for Apple as the tech giant continues to increase Mac sales amid declining PC demand. The release of a new MacBook Air and the long-awaited Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” software pushed U.S. Mac sales 26 percent higher during the first portion of the three-month September quarter, Wall Street experts say.

Is it time for Apple to tweak its back-to-school sales campaign? An analyst claims Mac sales are off up to 40 percent, as consumers become more sensitive to prices. But the report differs from another forecast suggesting Mac demand is “encouraging.”

In the first of its kind, an iOS developer recently paid $50,000 to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint charging child-oriented apps collected personal data without parental knowledge. Broken Thumbs Apps, sells several games, such as Zombie Duck Hunt, Truth or Dare, and Emily’s Dress Up.

Attention patent shoppers: aisle one has a deal on digital imaging. Kodak is worth billions – not as a company, but for its patent portfolio. Indeed, just a portion of Kodak’s intellectual property is worth more than five times its stock value. Are you listening, Apple?

Woe be the mighty HP. Retail giant Best Buy wants the PC maker’s tablets off its shelves after selling just 25,000 TouchPads. That’s not all, Walmart and others are also having trouble getting rid of the devices, according to a Wednesday report. Say it with us: there’s no tablet market, only an iPad market.

Samsung can sell its Galaxy Tab in Europe, a German court ruled Tuesday. Sort of. When it comes to facing down Apple in court, you take any victory you can get.

Android phone maker HTC has sued Apple, charging the tech giant’s devices infringe three patents. The move follows Apple’s own lawsuits against the Taiwanese manufacturer and as Google turns from partner to potential competitor.

Now that Google has itself a handset maker and a passel of patents, the Android creator is likely to come gunnin’ for Apple, right? Wrong, say a number of Wall Street analysts, who expect little negative fall-out for the iPhone maker. If anything, the acquisition threatens the chances of any mobile success story outside of the Apple-Android duopoly.