Apple Inc. (AAPL) News: Investigators Raid, CFO Pay & NV Energy, Inc. (NVE) for Power Supply

Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Apple plans Nevada solar farm in clean energy push for data centers (Yahoo)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it plans to build a new solar farm with NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE) for power supply to its new data center in Reno, Nevada, a major step towards its goal of having its data centers run on renewable energy. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and other technology companies such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), that build and run computer server farms have come under criticism for their high consumption of electricity and other resources. These data centers cater to an explosion in Internet traffic, streaming content through mobile devices and hosting of services to corporations.

French Competition Regulators Raid Apple Stores (AAPL) (Dividend)
French competition authorities confirmed that its investigators raided Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stores in France last week as part of an ongoing probe. However, a spokesman for the French regulators declined to answer question about the reasons behind the probe. According to French business newspaper Les Echos, the regulators are investigating Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s relationship with distributors. A former Apple distributor, eBizcuss, has accused Apple of favoring its own stores at the expense of independent distributors.

Apple Takes Lead in CFO Pay (WSJ)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price has fallen nearly 42% from its all-time high of $702.10 a share last September, but the gadget maker has risen to the top by another measure: the amount it pays its chief financial officer. Last year Apple awarded CFO Peter Oppenheimer a pay package valued at $68.6 million, the biggest in at least three years for any finance chief of a Standard & Poor’s 500 company. Mr. Oppenheimer received just $1.4 million in 2011 because it is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s practice to make stock grants—the biggest component of his 2012 pay—every two years. Last year he received a stock award valued at $66.2 million at the time of the grant; it will vest over a period of years.

Apple Defends Siri against Shanghai Firm’s Infringement Suit (CRI)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) defending its Siri intelligent voice-activated application in court on Tuesday against claims by a local company that it infringes on its patent for its Xiao i Robot system. Shanghai Zhizhen Internet Technology Company, a firm based in Jiading District, has demanded that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stop producing, selling and using products that use Siri. The case was heard today in Shanghai No. 1 People’s Intermediate Court, but no verdict was released. The first plea hearing in the case was on March 27.