Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s share of the global smartphone market fell during the second quarter to its lowest level in four years, according to data released Friday. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) took 13.1 percent of the worldwide market, according to ABI Research, down from 16.6 percent a year ago. That’s the lowest level since the third quarter of 2009, two years after the launch of the first iPhone. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), based in Cupertino, Calif., sold 31.2 million iPhones in the April-to-June period, up from 26 million in the same period a year ago, the report said.
Google Loses Bid to Delay Antitrust Case Until After EU Probe (BusinessWeek)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) lost a bid to delay proceedings in a London antitrust case until after the resolution of a European Union investigation triggered by the same company that filed the U.K. lawsuit. Judge Peter Roth told Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a ruling today to provide Foundem, a shopping comparison website, with documents related to four of five allegations in the lawsuit. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), based in Mountain View, California, had argued that further European Commission findings might negate some of Foundem’s claims.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Admits He Made A Huge Mistake (HuffingtonPost)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) boss Steve Ballmer is finally admitting what everyone has been thinking: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) made a huge mistake with the Surface RT tablet. Last week, the company disclosed that it lost over $900 million on the low-selling tablet computer, and during an internal Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) event this week, Ballmer put the disaster into simple, understated terms, The Verge and Neowin separately reported. “We built a few more devices than we could sell,” Ballmer reportedly said.
How Samsung is beating Apple in China (NiagaraFallsReview)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Chief Executive Tim Cook believes that “over the arc of time” China is a huge opportunity for his pathbreaking company. But time looks to be on the side of rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which has been around far longer and penetrated much deeper into the world’s most populous country. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) this week said its revenue in Greater China, which also includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, slumped 43% to $4.65 billion from the previous quarter. That was also 14% lower from the year-ago quarter.
Google discloses it paid $966 million for Waze (DailyHerald)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) says that it paid $966 million to buy online mapping service Waze, six weeks after closing the deal. The Internet search leader spelled out the purchase price in regulatory documents filed Thursday. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) withheld the price last month when it announced the acquisition of the Israel-based startup. The Associated Press and other media outlets had previously pegged the purchase price at $1 billion, based on information from people familiar with the negotiations who didn’t want to be named.
Microsoft’s big data Bob (ITWorldCanada)
Earlier this week there have been lots of talk that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is poised to re-launch its 1990s-era virtual assistant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bob. Marketed then as a non-technical interface to desktop computing operations for Windows 95 and Windows NT, Bob was one of the software company’s more visible flops at that time. Flash forward to today when numerous analysts and some users are finding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Siri and More recently Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Now quite irritating, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is proposing a big data version of its old Bob concept.
