Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), AuthenTec, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUTH)
Apple’s iPhone accounted for 4M of Verizon’s 7.2M total Q1 smartphones (Apple Insider)
With 7.2 million total smartphones activated in Verizon’s first fiscal quarter, the iPhone accounted for more than half, with 4 million total Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) handsets activated in the three-month span. In a conference call revealing its quarterly earnings on Thursday, Verizon revealed that roughly half of the 4 million iPhone units activated were 4G LTE devices. Since the iPhone 5 is the only 4G LTE capable phone from Apple, that means Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) activated about 2 million iPhone 5units. Apple’s 55 percent share of Verizon smartphones in the quarter was down from the nearly two-thirds of activations the iPhone took during the previous holiday quarter.
The results renewed pressure on Chief Executive Stephen Elop, who was hired in 2010 to turn the Finnish mobile phone maker around after it fell behind rivals Samsung and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the smartphone race. He made the controversial decision to switch to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s untried Windows Phone software in early 2011 and had said the transition would take two years, a period that’s now over. Analysts said he was running out of time. “Basically, he has only the secondquarter,” said Mikko Ervasti at Finnish investment banking and wealth management group Evli. Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) said it sold 5.6 million units of Lumia handsets in the first quarter, up from 4.4 million in the previous quarter, and forecast stronger growth in the current quarter.
For Google’s Founders, What’s Cooler Than a Private Jet? A Private Terminal (Wired)
This week, a little-noticed vote by the San Jose City Council paved the (run)way for one of the sweetest perks in the history of the tech industry. Call it Terminal G. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s top three executives already have a Boeing 757 and this Boeing 767 among the private jets in their collection. Now they’ll be able to board them in plebian-free bliss at their own private terminal at Mineta San Jose International Airport. The 29-acre development on the airport’s west side won’t be entirely private: Other private jet owners will also have access. But Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and international nerd of mystery Eric Schmidt will certainly be the most prominent regulars.
Microsoft’s Failure to Launch Is No Joke (Wall Street Journal)
This is what things have come to for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT): A New Yorker spoof about North Korea’s missile test being delayed by Windows 8 glitches seemed credible enough to be picked up as a news story by a Chinese media outlet. Investors certainly aren’t laughing, though. The software giant’s share price has lagged behind the S&P 500 by 12 percentage points since October, the month the widely anticipated new operating system was launched. Thursday’s fiscal third-quarter results for the period ended in March should reflect Microsoft’s failure to sufficiently reignite personal-computer sales. The analysts’ consensus for earnings per share, 79 cents as recently as December, has dropped to 68 cents now.
How Far Can the Mighty Apple Fall? (TIME)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be the world’s most celebrated electronics company, but its formerly high-flying stock price has plummeted to Earth over the past six months, declining 40% since last September. On Wednesday, that trend continued when Apple shares tumbled 5.5%, briefly pulling company shares below $400 for the first time since December 2011, and wiping out more than $20 billion in shareholder value. Wednesday’s decline was apparently triggered by a disappointing sales forecast from…
…one of the company’s key suppliers, which fueled fears of weakening demand for Apple’s signature iPhone and iPad products — and added to growing concern about a weakening global electronics market. Apple’s dramatic stock slide has cost the company the title of the world’s largest company by market capitalization, a distinction that once again belongs to energy giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM).
Analyst’s crystal ball predicts BlackBerry has a phablet in its future (Digital Trends)
Feeding on the increased attention this relatively new market niche has gained, a big-screen Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) would be up against some serious – and well-established – competition. Misek says the phablet could arrive at the end of the year, by which time it’s almost certain Samsung will have revealed the Galaxy Note 3 – the third incarnation of the device which arguably started the whole craze off in the first place. We’ve heard some rumors regarding the other devices Misek mentions, with Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) expected to grab a different touchscreen phone to the Z10, and images of a QWERTY-equipped R Series BlackBerry phone (possibly to be known as the R10) have recently been leaked online.
CEO Elop: Nokia Will Make $653M In Patent Licensing This Year, ‘Watching Closely’ For More Targets (TechCrunch)
Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) today posted Q1 earnings that show the Finnish company still trying to recover from a fast-declining legacy handset business. But in the meantime, it is continuing to play another card in its hand, that of patents and intellectual property licensing. This is an area that will bring Nokia €500 million ($653 million) in revenues this year, CFO Timo Ihamuotila said in Nokia’s earnings call today. And CEO Stephen Elop says the company is on the hunt for more. Asked by one analyst on the call whether we may see more IP revenues in the pipeline, here’s what Elop had to say: “It is very important to protect what we’re doing and make sure people [who profit from using that IP] are paying their fair share,” he said.
Apple Inc. (AAPL): Why Isn’t Buffett Buying? (Insider Monkey)
Warren Buffett has never been much of a tech investor; in fact. he famously sat out of tech during the Internet bubble. But he has been willing to venture outside his normal comfort zone when a profitable opportunity arises. He has made investments in an electric-car company, a small time-share airline, wind and solar power plants, a company that rents furniture, and a company that sells party supplies — none of which are companies that have “Warren Buffett” written all over them. So why isn’t Buffett buying Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock right now? It may be in tech, but it fits most of the criteria he has followed his whole career. It has a wide competitive moat, a strong return on investment, and a great brand. And it’s cheap, even by Buffett’s standards.
Google Glass will SELF-DESTRUCT if flogged on eBay (Register)
Buyers of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Glass have been warned they cannot sell their pricey new techno-spectacles on eBay or anywhere else. In terms of sale posted on its website, the advertising giant said a Google Glass was for life, unless you wanted to give it away for nothing. Anyone who failed to follow the rules will have their devices remotely shut down. The first Google Glass Explorer editions are rolling off the production lines and into the hands of early adopters who each paid $1,500 for an early version of the headgear. The hardware projects information into the wearer’s field of view.
Apple Predicted to Tap Taiwanese Supply Chain for iPhone 5S Fingerprint Sensor (Mac Rumors)
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has been one of the most vocal sources claiming that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will be including a fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5S, indicating that Apple’s 2012 acquisition of AuthenTec, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUTH) is ready to…
…bear fruit for the company as a differentiating feature for the next iPhone. In a new research report, Kuo outlines his belief that in order to limit rival Samsung’s involvement in the iOS device supply chain, Apple will turn to a series of Taiwanese companies to support its fingerprint sensor implementation.
Microsoft May Try to Relaunch Heroes on Xbox Live (Forbes)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is attempting to compete on a number of fronts with their various products, whether it’s operating systems, internet search, phones, video games or pretty much anything else you can think of in the tech sphere. But now they’re moving into a new category, original TV programming. As part of a push for the Xbox, MSN wants to focus on original programming that will air via Xbox Live on presumably both the current gen system and the Durango, when it finally should appear. One of their first ideas? TVLine is reporting that MSN is in talks to get a reboot of NBC’s Heroes off the ground.
BlackBerry 10.1 reveals more than a dozen new features (CNET)
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is shoring up its latest operating system with a slew of changes slated for the next update. Reaching developers this week, the software developers kit for BlackBerry 10.1 ticks off 14 new features to start, as listed by blog site Crackberry. Some of the notable additions include a higher-quality HDR option for photo takers, PIN-to-PIN messaging available within the BlackBerry Hub, and an improved text picker. Users will be able to turn off alerts for specific apps, use the power button to unlock the screen at the lock screen, and paste phone numbers directly into the dialpad. New help demos and walkthroughs will also be available to help people learn about BlackBerry 10.1.
Apple tries to patent tech behind iTunes U (CNET)
The technology behind Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iTunes U, a repository of educational information for students and teachers, has been outed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). According to Patently Apple, which was first to discover the patent application today, the iPhone maker filed for a patent on the technology that powers iTunes U. Interestingly, the technology in the patent application is called Virtual University, but Apple ostensibly decided it wasn’t the right name for its service.
Nokia shares slide as revenues disappoint (Financial Times)
Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) sold the fewest mobile phones ever in a quarter under its chief executive Stephen Elop as revenues at the struggling Finnish group fell to their lowest in more than a decade. It sold 62m of its basic mobile phones in the first quarter, down by more than 25 per cent from a year earlier and the fourth quarter, leading to worries that cheap devices running on Google’s Android platform were stealing customers from it in countries such as China. Mobile shipments in China were just 3.4m phones, down from 23.9m two years previously. Group revenues in the first quarter were just €5.9bn – the lowest quarterly figure for 13 years, according to Bloomberg – against analysts’ estimates of €6.5bn.
Google’s Grand Bargain (Wall Street Journal)
After two years of to-and-fro-ing, one of the world’s most ubiquitous companies Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), has struck a deal with European Union regulators to address concerns that it is abusing its dominance in search and online advertising. The EU side is arguing that the proposals mark a huge leap forward and will rein in Google’s ability to squeeze out rivals, as well as forcing the search engine giant to better label its products. But there are plenty of critics who fear that the changes will in the end be mostly cosmetic and do little to address concerns about Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s overwhelming might in Europe, where it enjoys a market share of over 90%.
Under the Surface: Microsoft Q3 Earnings Could Hinge on PC Decline Impact (All Things Digital)
After a series of recent reports outlining the massive decline of PC sales, the possible impact will be the focus of investors when Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reports its third-quarter earnings later today after the markets close. How badly the drop in sales of desktop and laptop devices in favor of consumer defections to smartphones and tablets has hurt the software giant has been a concern of Wall Street, so any signs of trouble will be closely watched.
