Year: 2019

Analysts: Apple’s iPhone price cuts in China provided only temporary improved sales

CompuScoop Staff February 19, 2019 0

Apple’s attempts to boost its iPhone sales in China via price cuts offered only a temporary effect, according to Rosenblatt Securities, with post Chinese New Year sales reportedly seeing little in the way of improvement in a depressed smartphone market,” Malcolm Owen reports for AppleInsider. “”

“Apple took advantage of the Chinese New Year to offer significant price cuts on the iPhone, a move that seemed to have worked. Between January 11 and January 30, Apple product sales reportedly rose 83 percent, with retailer Tmall seeing a 76 percent surge in sales during that time,” Owen reports. “According to analysts from Rosenblatt Securities in an investor note seen by AppleInsider, the boost is short-lived. ‘After analyzing recent data points from Chinese retail channels, we believe price cuts provided little benefit to iPhone sales in the Chinese market,'” wrote Rosenblatt analyst Jun Zhang.”

Owen reports, “The temporary benefit of the sale was also noticed by analysts at UBS on Thursday, which noted the price adjustments are ‘not yet having much positive impact on iPhone units.'”

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Apple Pay now available in Saudi Arabia

CompuScoop Staff February 19, 2019 0

Apple Pay is now rolling out to users in Saudi Arabia,” Chance Miller reports for 9to5Mac. “The launch was first rumored over the weekend and now users in Saudi Arabia can add compatible cards to Apple Pay on their devices.”

“Thus far, we know that Apple Pay in Saudi Arabia is supported by Al-Rajhi Bank and Riyad Bank,” Miller reports. “MADA, or The Saudi Payments Networks, has also confirmed that it will support Apple Pay in the country.”

“Apple first teased the launch of Apple Pay in Saudi Arabia back in October, but never offered a specific launch date,” Miller reports. “In November, Apple Pay launched in Belgium and Kazakhstan.”

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Report: Huawei tried to copy Apple Watch Heart Rate Sensor by asking Apple Supplier to Share Secrets

CompuScoop Staff February 18, 2019 0

“In a new report from The Information, the site details a few purported anecdotes of Huawei trying to steal Apple trade secrets,” Benjamin Mayo reports for 9to5Mac. “The tactics involved Huawei engineers appealing to Apple’s manufacturers and suppliers with promises of big orders, but instead using the opportunity to pry on processes specific to Apple’s component production.”

“In one example, Huawei engineers working on a smartwatch met with a supplier last fall. According to the report, the engineers tried to eke out specs about the Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor by making promises of big orders,” Mayo reports. “In another case, a Huawei engineer sent a photograph of a material to the Apple supplier asking them to ‘feel free to suggest a design you already have experience with.’ The supplier reportedly refused to cooperate.”

Mayo reports, “The Information says there is also suspicion that Huawei copied the 2016 MacBook Pro’s thinner hinge design.”

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Apple shake up executives / major projects put on hold

CompuScoop Staff February 18, 2019 0

“Apple Inc. is shaking up leadership and reordering priorities across its services, artificial intelligence, hardware and retail divisions as it works to reduce the company’s reliance on iPhone sales.,” Tripp Mickle reports for The Wall Street Journal. “The changes, which can be traced back to last year, have included high-profile hires, noteworthy departures, meaningful promotions and consequential restructurings.They have rattled rank-and-file employees unaccustomed to frequent leadership changes and led Apple to put several projects on hold while new managers are given a chance to reassess priorities, according to people familiar with the matter.”

“The primary reasons for the shifts vary by division. But collectively, they reflect Apple’s efforts to transition from an iPhone-driven company into one where growth flows from services and potentially transformative technologies,” Mickle reports. “Leadership moves of the past few months include promoting artificial intelligence chief John Giannandrea to the executive team; replacing departing retail chief Angela Ahrendts with head of human resources Deirdre O’Brien; and pushing out top Siri voice-assistant executive Bill Stasior. Apple has also trimmed 200 staffers from its autonomous-vehicle project, and is redirecting much of the engineering resources in its services business, led by Eddy Cue, into efforts around Hollywood programming.”

“Apple has said it aims to pass 500 million paid subscriptions across its platform by 2020, up from 360 million now. To help reach the goal, Apple is spending more than $1 billion to create original shows this year starring Hollywood A-listers,” Mickle reports. “It has considered bundling video into a monthly subscription offering that would also include cloud storage, according to people familiar with the plans. The company also is in talks with major newspapers about offering a news service that would cost $10 a month. It has discussed bundling those services together into a single subscription along with iCloud storage for photos and files, a person familiar with the plan said.”

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