The details are a little blurry, but it could be an interesting case so here goes: a photographer is suing Apple claiming that two apps in its iTunes store have ripped off 80 of her pics.
Shanti Deva Korpi filed a suit on Oct. 18 in Texas for copyright infringement. That much we know. In the complaint, Korpi is described as an “avid photographer and artist” who regularly posts to Flickr groups.
Apple once more outsold Nokia as the one-time cell phone giant bleeds more red ink. The Finnish cell phone maker is hoping the launch of its first smartphone based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone software will save it from further financial drubbing.
China has always been important for Apple manufacturing, with marque products such as the iPhone and iPad originating in the Asian giant. However, now China is also becoming an important source for sales revenue. China’s 1.33 billion people are now Apple’s second-best revenue-generating market. Little wonder Apple CEO Tim Cook Tuesday calls China “an enormous opportunity” for the tech giant.
A day after Apple failed to beat Wall Street revenue expectations for the first time since 2002, analysts are trying to explain what happened. The potential culprits range from iPhone 5 rumors to the tech giant just needed a breather.
During today’s Q4 earnings call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer talked about how “pervasive” iPhone rumors hurt Apple’s fiscal business. While nearly every product saw a significant increase in sales for the fourth fiscal quarter, the iPhone saw a lackluster 17.07 million iPhones sold. That’s 21% year over year growth. The iPad saw 166% year over year growth.
It’s typical for product sales to taper off right before a refresh, but this last fiscal quarter’s iPhone sales were even lower than what Apple expected. Oppenheimer blamed the rumor mill for hurting Apple’s fiscal business with regards to the iPhone.
Apple is now selling the iPhone 4S by reservation-only in the US and Canada, meaning that you’ll need to reserve a unit by 9 PM for pickup the following day. This indicates that iPhone 4S stock is running low, and Apple wants to ensure that customers are able to walk out of the store with an iPhone 4S in-hand.
The “How to Buy” page on Apple’s website has been updated with information regarding this change in policy. The two options are buying online (with a 1-2 week shipping estimate), or reserving for pickup at a local Apple Store.
So, that device that nobody wanted, which looks just like the iPhone 4 with a couple of internal improvements, actually did pretty well for itself during its launch weekend. Apple has just announced that it sold a whopping 4 million iPhone 4S handsets this weekend, which is considerably more than the 1.7 million iPhone 4 units sold during its debut weekend last year.
How long are the lines for the iPhone 4S outside of Apple’s iconic 5th Avenue Store? Not that long, actually… well, comparatively. They stretch around the block to FAO Schwartz, but they are nothing compared to the iPad 2’s launch lines: 75% shorter, in fact, TUAW estimates. Then again, the iPad 2 couldn’t be pre-ordered in nearly the abundance of the iPhone 4S: most of the people in line this morning are either there because they want to be, or there because they put off ordering one online for too long.
Ahead of next week’s fourth quarter earnings report, Apple is expected to announce earning $30 billion, driven by iPhone sales, one analyst told investors Friday. Although Wall Street consensus is for $29.2 billion, the iPhone 4’s release at the end of Apple’s fourth quarter should result in a brighter financial outlook.
People have been waiting all morning in lines around the world for the iPhone 4S, and many readers have sent us in pictures of what’s going on in their line. Just judging from the pictures, this is easily shaping up to be the biggest Apple launch in history.
Got a good picture to send us of your launch day line? Send it to us via email!