Year: 2020

 Apple posts First Quarter Results

Apple Inc January 28, 2020 0

iPhone, Wearables & Services Drive All-Time Record Revenue and Earnings

Cupertino, California — January 28, 2020 — Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2020 first quarter ended December 28, 2019. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $91.8 billion, an increase of 9 percent from the year-ago quarter and an all-time record, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $4.99, up 19 percent, also an all-time record. International sales accounted for 61 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“We are thrilled to report Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, fueled by strong demand for our iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models, and all-time records for Services and Wearables,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “During the holiday quarter our active installed base of devices grew in each of our geographic segments and has now reached over 1.5 billion. We see this as a powerful testament to the satisfaction, engagement and loyalty of our customers — and a great driver of our growth across the board.”

“Our very strong business performance drove an all-time net income record of $22.2 billion and generated operating cash flow of $30.5 billion,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We also returned nearly $25 billion to shareholders during the quarter, including $20 billion in share repurchases and $3.5 billion in dividends and equivalents, as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.”

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2020 second quarter:

revenue between $63.0 billion and $67.0 billion
gross margin between 38.0 percent and 39.0 percent
operating expenses between $9.6 billion and $9.7 billion
other income/(expense) of $250 million
tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent

Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.77 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on February 13, 2020 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 10, 2020.

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2020 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PT on January 28, 2020 at www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.

Apple periodically provides information for investors on its corporate website, apple.com, and its investors relations website, investor.apple.com. This includes press releases and other information about financial performance, reports filed or furnished with the SEC, information on corporate governance and details related to its annual meeting of shareholders.

Consolidated Financial Statements

View PDF

This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, other income/(expense), tax rate, and plans for return of capital. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation: the effect of global and regional economic conditions on the Company's business, including effects on purchasing decisions by consumers and businesses; the ability of the Company to compete in markets that are highly competitive and subject to rapid technological change; the ability of the Company to manage frequent introductions and transitions of products and services, including delivering to the marketplace, and stimulating customer demand for, new products, services and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that shifts in the mix of products and services and in the geographic, currency or channel mix, component cost increases, increases in the cost of acquiring and delivering content for the Company’s services, price competition, or the introduction of new products or services, including new products or services with higher cost structures, could have on the Company’s gross margin; the dependency of the Company on the performance of distributors of the Company's products, including cellular network carriers and other resellers; the risk of write-downs on the value of inventory and other assets and purchase commitment cancellation risk; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components, services and new technologies essential to the Company's business, including components and technologies that may only be available from single or limited sources; the dependency of the Company on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties, many of which are located outside of the US and which may affect the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered to the Company; the effect of product and services design and manufacturing defects on the Company’s financial performance and reputation; the dependency of the Company on third-party intellectual property and digital content, which may not be available to the Company on commercially reasonable terms or at all; the dependency of the Company on support from third-party software developers to develop and maintain software applications and services for the Company’s products; the impact of unfavorable legal proceedings, such as a potential finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the impact of complex and changing laws and regulations worldwide, which expose the Company to potential liabilities, increased costs and other adverse effects on the Company’s business; the ability of the Company to manage risks associated with the Company’s retail stores; the ability of the Company to manage risks associated with the Company’s investments in new business strategies and acquisitions; the impact on the Company's business and reputation from information technology system failures, network disruptions or losses or unauthorized access to, or release of, confidential information; the ability of the Company to comply with laws and regulations regarding data protection; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; political events, international trade disputes, war, terrorism, natural disasters, public health issues, and other business interruptions that could disrupt supply or delivery of, or demand for, the Company’s products; financial risks, including risks relating to currency fluctuations, credit risks and fluctuations in the market value of the Company’s investment portfolio; and changes in tax rates and exposure to additional tax liabilities. More information on these risks and other potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.

U.S. FCC authorizes deployment of OnGo service in 3.5 GHz CBRS band

Dan Uff January 28, 2020 0

The CBRS Alliance, an industry organization focused on driving the development, commercialization, and adoption of OnGo™ shared spectrum solutions, today celebrates the authorization of Full Commercial Deployment (FCD) of OnGo service in the 3.5 GHz CBRS band, announced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on January 27, 2020 in Public Notice DA 20-110. With this announcement, Spectrum Access System (SAS) administrators CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google and Sony are fully approved to operate commercial services in the band.

Full Commercial Deployment is the final stage in the commercialization process that started in 2013 when the FCC began pursuing an innovative shared spectrum model in the 3.5 GHz band. The success of this initiative is the result of unprecedented public-private partnerships between industry and government organizations. Federal agencies including the FCC, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS), and Department of Defense, along with the Wireless Innovation Forum and the 159 members of the CBRS Alliance, have come together to foster commercial usage of the 3.5 GHz band.

“NTIA’s groundbreaking engineering work and close collaboration with the FCC, DOD and industry played a critical role in opening up the 3.5 GHz CBRS band for next-generation wireless services,” said Douglas Kinkoph, NTIA Associate Administrator performing the delegated duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, in a statement. “New 5G and 4G operations in the band will create tremendous value for our nation – both in terms of their contributions to GDP and further strengthening U.S. leadership in wireless technologies. We look forward to seeing the new licensed services in the band, which provides an optimal balance of capacity and coverage and will facilitate rollout of 5G.”

Prior to commercial availability, the 3.5 GHz CBRS band was used primarily by the Department of Defense (DoD), mostly for shipborne radar systems. To ensure that the DoD has continued access to the band, Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) networks have been deployed along the U.S. coast. The ESC networks operated by CommScope, Federated Wireless, and Google inform the SAS administrators to activate a protection zone and dynamically reassign users in the area to other parts of the band, thus protecting the incumbent’s use of the spectrum while maximizing availability of CBRS spectrum across coastal areas.

“The authorization of Full Commercial Deployments in the CBRS band is a significant milestone in our nation’s management and utilization of a vital resource, the radio frequency spectrum,” said Dana Deasy, Chief Information Officer for the Department of Defense (DoD), in a statement. “The Defense Department worked closely with our federal partners at the NTIA and FCC, and with industry, to ensure that our mission critical operations would be protected while enabling new commercial uses. Collectively, we were able to creatively address the engineering and security challenges associated with military and commercial spectrum sharing. We look to build upon those successes going forward. Additionally, I would like to thank the men and women in DoD who have diligently worked to make today possible.”

“The FCC has made it a priority to free up mid-band spectrum for advanced wireless services like 5G. And today, I’m pleased to announce the latest step to achieve that priority: the approval of four systems that will enable the 3.5 GHz band to be put to use for the benefit of American consumers and businesses,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a statement issued today, in a statement. “As with all of our efforts to execute on the 5G FAST plan, we’re pushing to get next-generation wireless services deployed in the 3.5 GHz band as quickly and efficiently as possible. I would like to thank Commissioner Mike O’Rielly for his leadership throughout this proceeding as well as the FCC staff and those in the private sector who have worked so hard to achieve this milestone.”

The CBRS band is estimated to directly contribute as much as $15.6 billion to the U.S. economy, while its actual value to consumers is estimated to be as much as $80-260 billion. Consumers now have access to improved wireless connectivity through OnGo-compatible mobile devices, including the Apple iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, the Google Pixel 4, Motorola’s 5G Moto Mod, Samsung Galaxy S10, LG G8 ThinQ, and OnePlus 7 Pro, all of which are on the market today. The OnGo service ecosystem is vast and opens a brand-new market for wireless communications and 5G services in the United States, touching rural broadband via fixed wireless providers (WISPs), enterprise IT, hospitality, retail, real estate, industrial IoT, and transportation, among other sectors.

“The 3.5 GHz band is a unifying spectrum for the 5G generation and the U.S. shared spectrum approach to using this valuable spectrum will lead to a high rate of spectrum utilization,” said Chris DePuy, founder and technology analyst at 650 Group, in a statement. “The CBRS Alliance and OnGo program have captured the imagination of operators, regulators and vendors around the world as a model for using spectrum that unlocks significant value. As we enter 2020, we will see OnGo used both as a reliable backhaul mechanism to other networks, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee and Ethernet, and to some innovative end-user devices. As OnGo-certified device support expands, we expect to see a growing number of devices that are OnGo certified, which will open up critical communications network opportunities in vertical markets, such as transportation, healthcare and facilities management.”

“With commercial deployments of OnGo already underway, the CBRS Alliance would like to recognize the exceptional efforts of the almost 160 member companies that comprise the Alliance, as well as the extensive industry and government collaboration required to bring OnGo to market,” said Dave Wright, President of the CBRS Alliance, in a statement. “Over the past six years, our members have contributed incredible amounts of time, energy, and innovation to address the need for reliable, cost-effective wireless services and have now made OnGo a reality. At its start, this industry effort consisted of a handful of companies that saw the potential for new services utilizing CBRS’ innovative access framework. It is now comprised of 159 companies representing the diversity of OnGo solutions, including mobile, cable, rural, enterprise, and industrial uses. OnGo is ready for full-scale deployments – enabling 4G LTE systems today and 5G NR solutions this year.”

“The Wireless Innovation Forum wishes to congratulate not only the SAS administrators, but also the equipment manufacturers, operators, certificate authorities, certified professional installers, and all others in the CBRS ecosystem our members have established in achieving this milestone,” said Lee Pucker, CEO of the Wireless Innovation Forum, in a statement. “We are proud to have provided the venue where the baseline CBRS standards were developed and the certifications established that have made the commercialization of OnGo and other CBRS technologies possible, and look forward to continuing support for the evolution of these standards in the months to come.”

Source: CBRS Alliance

Proposed Bill would allow Emoji Plates in the state of Vermont

CompuScoop Staff January 28, 2020 0

The bill, introduced by Democrat Rebecca White, would allow drivers to add one of six emoji to their license plates. The pictographs would be in addition to whatever combination of letters and numbers the state’s Commissioner of Motor Vehicles assigns to a car or a driver picks for themselves. So you won’t have to worry about saying something like “thinking face, smiling face with heart-eyes and face with tears of joy” the next time you need to report a Vermont driver to police.

Notably, Vermont hasn’t said how much it would charge for the plates, nor which six emoji drivers will be able to pick from.

Via: Engadget

Apple and MGM have held acquisition talks

Dan Uff January 28, 2020 0

MGM has held preliminary talks with a number of companies, including Apple and Netflix, to gauge their interest in an acquisition, two of the people said. MGM owns the James Bond catalog and its studio has made several current hit shows including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which streams on Hulu, and “Live PD,” a reality police show that has frequently been the most watched show on cable TV and airs on A&E. It also owns premium cable network Epix.

Disney will want Disney content for its streaming services, AT&T will want WarnerMedia content, NBCUniversal will use NBCUniversal content, and so on. If that’s where the world is headed, the big streaming services will continue to look for an edge over each other. That’s good news for the little guys, which may see their values spike if they turn into juicy acquisition targets.

Apple, for example, is brand new to media production and distribution and has started Apple TV+ without an existing library of series and movies to entice consumers. Buying an existing studio with experienced media executives may make sense, especially if the company, such as MGM, is heavy on intellectual property and light on people. (Apple is historically averse to corporate integrations that may result in culture clashes.) Apple, of course, also has a balance sheet that dwarfs virtually every other media company and could make a sizable acquisition without betting the company.

Via: CNBC