Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Apple’s Tim Cook: ‘We pay all the taxes we owe’ (TheGlobeAndMail)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s chief executive officer is disputing assertions by a Senate panel that the company avoids billions of dollars in U.S. taxes by shifting profits to foreign affiliates. Tim Cook testified at a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which released a report Monday attacking Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s tax practices. “We pay all the taxes we owe — every single dollar,” Mr. Cook said. “We don’t depend on tax gimmicks.” Mr. Cook, who is more accustomed to commanding a stage in front of investors and techies than facing a congressional committee, took a defensive tone with his opening statement. He punched out words when stressing the 600,000 jobs that the company supports while adding that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the nation’s largest corporate taxpayer. Mr. Cook advocated an overhaul of the U.S. tax code.
Apple’s Lead in Customer Satisfaction Ratings Narrows (Datamation)
The American Customer Satisfaction Index has released the results of its annual survey, and several tech firms got bad news. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) saw their index scores drop, and U.S. Internet service providers got the lowest ratings of any industry in the country. Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s Scott Moritz reported, “Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone lost ground to Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Motorola in an annual study measuring the satisfaction of consumers, following a sales slowdown for the pioneering smartphone. While the device still had the top ranking among mobile-phone users, Samsung and Motorola have narrowed the gap, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which published its 2013 report today.”
Apple CEO Cook Talks to Congress as Steve Jobs Never Did (BusinessWeek)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is going somewhere his predecessor never ventured: the witness table at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill. Cook will be questioned today by U.S. senators during a hearing on the company’s untaxed overseas billions. His congressional debut, following an appearance at President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in February, shows the iPhone maker can no longer afford to keep the low profile in Washington that co-founder Steve Jobs maintained. “In this day and age, if you’re not here, you’re nothing but road kill,” Jim Manley, a 21-year veteran of Congress who served as spokesman to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said in an interview.
Apple’s IPhone Loses Ground to Samsung in Consumer Survey (SFGate)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone lost ground to Samsung Electronics Co. and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Motorola in an annual study measuring the satisfaction of consumers, following a sales slowdown for the pioneering smartphone. While the device still had the top ranking among mobile- phone users, Samsung and Motorola have narrowed the gap, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which published its 2013 report today. The iPhone’s rating fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier to a score of 81 from 83, while Samsung climbed 7 percent to 76 from 71. Motorola increased 5.5 percent to 77 from 73.
Ireland says has no special tax deal with Apple (Reuters)
Ireland does not have a deal with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) or any other company to tax their profits at a special 2 percent rate instead of the normal 12.5 percent, Ireland’s European Affairs minister told Reuters on Tuesday. Ireland has been defending its corporate tax rate after the U.S. Senate said on Monday that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits in Irish subsidiaries and that Dublin had handed the company a favorable rate.
