Apple Gearing Up To Launch Apple Watch In April, Orders Up To 6Mn Units

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of the iconic iPhone, has reportedly ordered its Asian watch vendors to manufacture five million to six million units of three Apple Watch models in the first quarter as it gears up to launch the gadget in April.

Understanding Xiaomi's Valuation Vs. Apple, Amazon

This article is exclusive to Half Bridge Business Review. 

By Sarfaraz A. Khan and Iffat Zehra

Xiaomi Inc., often dubbed as China's Apple, was originally set up by Lei Jun in 2010 and launched its flagship phone a year later. Besides, Xiaomi also offers other consumer electronic products such as television set-top box called MiBox, a tablet computer called Mi Pad and Android based smart TV.

It's the smartphones, however, in which Xiaomi has made its name by offering high-end characteristics, complemented by a low price. The company's most expensive phone, Xiaomi Mi4 Quad-Core with 3GB RAM, is priced at $475 on its website (image below). By comparison, the price of Apple's iPhone 6 starts with $864 in China.

Samsung Seeking Growth in the Booming Tech 'Wearables' Market

This article was originally published  by TheStreet on July 17, 2014.

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Samsung (SSNLF_) -- the South Korean electronics giant that makes Galaxy, one of the world's most popular smartphones -- is looking to solidify its foothold in the market of wearable devices by teaming up with apparel and accessories maker Under Armour (UA_) .

South Korea's Yonhap news agency has reported that Lee Jay-yong, vice chairman of Samsung's electronics division and the heir apparent to the top job, met with Under Armour founder and CEO Kelvin Plank earlier this month. The meeting could be a response to the long-standing partnership between Samsung's biggest rival, Apple (AAPL_), and Under Amour competitor Nike (NKE_).

According to research firm IDC, the wearables market is expected to grow almost 80% per year through 2018. Samsung already dominates the smartwatch marketplace and is looking to expand beyond wrist-wearables. 

Samsung Takes Aim At Google's Revenues

This article was originally published by Seeking Alpha on June 20, 2014.

By Sarfaraz A. Khan. Research Asst. Ali Ilahi

Summary: Samsung has played a crucial role in making Google’s Android the world’s most popular mobile platform.Samsung has finally launched its highly anticipated Tizen based smartphone, the first of its kind, in a bid to reduce its reliance on Android.This, however, is not just about one smartphone as Samsung’s move can have far reaching implications.
 
Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) (OTC:SSNGY) has been looking for an alternative to Google's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Android for the last couple of years. It has been working with Intel (INTC) to develop Tizen, a Linux- based open source operating system that, so far, has not gained any meaningful foothold in the industry.

How Apple's iPhones Might Become An Indispensable Piece Of Equipment, Again

 This article was originally published by Seeking Alpha on June 3, 2014
 

By Sarfaraz A. Khan. Research Asst. Ali Ilahi. 
 

Apple has unveiled the HomeKit feature for the new iOS 8.The company will develop a “common protocol” to talk with the devices. Perhaps Apple is the only company that can do this successfully.

Buy Apple As It Gets Serious About Inorganic Growth

This article was originally published by  Seeking Alpha on May 9, 2014

By Sarfaraz A. Khan. Research Asst.: Gohar Yousuf. 

Summary

Apple is gearing up for one of its biggest acquisitions ever as it targets inorganic growth.

This comes after the company conducted a major bond sale, which will be used to fund its growth and buyback expenditure.

Analysts are eying double-digit top and bottom line growth.

Undervalued Apple Has 22.5% Upside Potential

This article was originally published by GuruFocus

By Sarfaraz A. Khan, Research Assistant: Gohar Yousuf

March 14, 2014

The shares of the world’s biggest technology company Apple Inc. (AAPL) are down 6% this year due to the disappointing guidance for the current quarter. Nonetheless, Apple is still confident about its future, and so is Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio) who now owns 1% of the company.

Its previous earnings alone caused a 7.25% drop in share prices on Jan. 27 as the shareholders were disappointed by the company’s lackluster guidance for the current quarter. Subsequently, Apple purchased around $14 billion of its stock which gave some confidence to investors. Apple’s shares however, have still not fully recovered and are still down 3.35% post-earnings.

With the recent buyback, Apple has now purchased a record $40 billion shares in just around 12 months amid pressure from Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio). The new buyback was one of the main reasons why Icahn dropped his $50 billion buyback proposal. The activist investor has purchased additional shares of the smartphone maker. According to data provided byGuruFocus, Icahn now owns $4.73 billion worth of shares, or 1% of the company.

Biggest Tech Company

As mentioned earlier, Apple is the biggest technology company on the planet in terms of market capitalization. On the other hand, in terms of enterprise value, Google (GOOG) is ahead of Apple.

Apple’s current market cap is $470.76 billion, whereas Google has a market cap of $404 billion. Considering that Apple has around $141 billion in net cash while Google has … read full article at GuruFocus
 

Earnings Review - Jabil’s Poor Guidance Was Bad News for Apple

Jabil Circuit (JBL), a manufacturer of electronic components for some of the leading tech companies like Apple (AAPL) and Cisco (CSCO), has shaken the confidence of its investors following its recent earnings release. The business not only missed the analysts’ earnings estimates, but also gave a weak guidance for the current quarter. Besides this, the company has also announced that it will sell its aftermarket services unit, which is responsible for providing warranty repair services for consumer electronics.

Following the earnings release, the company’s shares dropped by more than 20% on Dec. 18, which is the single biggest drop in nearly six years. The shares still haven’t recovered and are trading just 0.2 times Jabil’s trailing sales.

Earnings Overview

During the quarter, Jabil’s revenues were nearly flat from the corresponding quarter last year, showing a decline of less than 1% to $4.61 billion. The company’s net income rose 11.8% year-over-year to $118.07 million, or $0.57 per share. However, excluding the impact of one-off items, Jabil’s adjusted earnings, which the company refers to as core diluted earnings per share, fell to... read full article at GuruFocus

China Mobile Will Be the Biggest Beneficiary of the Changing Market Dynamics

By Sarfaraz A. Khan and Gohar Yousuf

Last week, Wall Street Journal, citing an unknown source, revealed that Apple (AAPL) has finally signed its landmark deal with the world’s biggest telco China Mobile (CHL) which would give Apple access to hundreds of millions of additional customers. Neither Apple, nor China Mobile has officially confirmed the deal. This comes after China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology gave permission to China Mobile, China Unicom (CHU) and China Telecom (CHA) to operate LTE/fourth generation digital mobile telecommunications (TD-LTE) business. 

With these developments, China Mobile looks all set to launch its commercial 4G services in China on December 18 under the brand name “He”. However, rumors abound that China Mobile will officially launch the two new iPhones on this date.The market dynamics of the country's telecommunication industry are quickly changing and it appears that China Mobile, whose recent quarterly results failed to meet market's expectations, could emerge as the biggest beneficiary of this change .... read full article at GuruFocus

Samsung Is Better Positioned For Long Term Growth Than Apple

By Sarfaraz A. Khan and Gohar Yousuf

Samsung (SSNLF) looks in a better position for long term growth than Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) due to its dominating market share, a strategic shift towards software, its enormous project pipeline and diverse revenue base that goes well beyond mobile devices. 

One of the leading IT research firms Gartner has released its estimates for the global mobile phone sales during the third quarter of 2013. According to the firm, about 456 million mobile phones were sold in the previous quarter, showing a year-over-year increase of 5.7%. Of these, a little more than 250 million were smartphones whose sales rose 45.8% from the same quarter in 2012. Once again, the South Korean consumer electronics behemoth Samsung (SSNLF) has retained the title of the world’s biggest smartphone, and the world’s biggest mobile, phone vendor (in terms of units sold). 

Market Share

In the previous quarter, Samsung was able to extend its lead over its biggest smartphone rival Apple (AAPL). The Korean firm was able to maintain its market share at 32.1%, but the increase in the size of the market translated into a 46% increase in the number of smartphones sold to 80.36 million units. On other hand, Apple’s market share has dropped by 2.2 percentage points to 12.1% as Apple could only manage a 23% year-over-year increase in sales. However, if Apple had released the new iPhones earlier, then the numbers … read full article at GuruFocus

Tablet Wars: Changing Industry Dynamics Catch up With Microsoft

From The Motley Fool

One of the world’s leading tech companies, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), recently released quarterly results that disappointed investors. The company missed both top- and bottom-line estimates on the back of weakness in the global PC market and poor sales of its flagship tablet computer. The PC market has been in recession for more than a couple of years, but Microsoft was too late to react. It is now trying to make some room for itself in a market dominated by Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPads and Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android.

Earnings miss

Microsoft reported income of $0.59 per share, as opposed to a loss of $0.06 per share in the same quarter last year, which came on the back of a $6 billion write-down. During this period, its revenue rose 10% to $19.9 billion. This meant that the company ended up missing Wall Street’s expectations for a profit of $0.75 per share coming from revenue of $20.7 billion. 

This Gadget Maker Is Diversifying

From The Motley Fool

Earlier in June, the South Korean consumer electronics behemoth Samsung Electronics (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF) shed $12 billion in market cap after several analyst downgrades due to fears regarding the slowdown in sales of its Galaxy S4 smartphone.

Unlike Apple, Samsung manufactures a large variety of phones, of which the low-end ones have been doing great around the world, effectively fending off competition from the Chinese rivals, but the growth of its higher margin high end smartphone -- the Galaxy S series -- has been waning. The brisk growth of the lower margin operation could eventually drag Samsung’s profitability lower.

The fears were confirmed in its second quarter results which came in below estimates (that led to even more downgrades), but the company is now eyeing growth in the lucrative storage devices industry that is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.

Apple Heats Up Competition In This Key Emerging Market

From Seeking Alpha

Smartphone appetite among consumers of one of the most populous countries of the world, India, has been increasing. In the first quarter of 2013, smartphone shipments to the country rose by 64% year-over-year to 5.7 million units. The global smartphone market leaders Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (SSNHY.OB) have been doing aggressive sales promotion while fighting for the market share with local rivals and Nokia (NOK). Meanwhile LG Electronics (LG) and HTC (HTCCY.OB) have set ambitious targets for themselves and could pose a significant threat to the smartphone market share of Sony (SNE) and Nokia. In this article, we will have a look at the performance of Apple and some of the biggest players in India's smartphone market.

Although Apple's impressive growth in the country poses no significant threat to Samsung, but it will certainly create problems for Nokia, LG, HTC and Sony in India's smartphone sector .... Read More

The Numbers Behind Apple’s Sluggish Growth

From The Motley Fool, dated May 3, 2013

So Apple’s growth has been slowing down, but exactly by how much? and what about Samsung?

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) growth has been slowing down but exactly by how much? According to its latest earnings release, the business still sells 420,562 iPhones, 218,843 iPads, 44,404 Macs and 63,295 iPods – all in a single day, every day, which is phenomenal to say the least. But the extraordinary growth figures -- which used to pump its stock price and hence its market cap – are now history. In fact, the quarterly revenue growth is nearing a high single-digit number. The music is certainly slowing down, but for its rival Samsung (OTCMKTS: SSNLF) the party isn’t over yet.

Apple And Brazil's Growing Smartphone Market

From Seeking Alpha

Things do not seem to be working well for Apple (AAPL) in Brazil. The country's National Institute for Industrial Property has recently rejected Apple's claim to take up the iPhone name and register it. The country is looking to become the third-biggest smartphone market in the near future while Apple is one of the biggest players there. In this article, I examine Apple's case, the growing importance of Brazil's smartphone market and discuss the company's current stock, which has recently touched its 52-week lows.

Apple Vs. Gradiente

Apple lost the law suit to a Brazilian electronic maker IGB Eletrônica S.A, otherwise known as Gradiente, which has owned the right to the name "iPhone" since 2000, about seven years before Apple launched its iconic phone. Gradiente was awarded …. Read more
.

Apple's Bright Spot In China - Not Really That Bright

From Seeking Alpha 

The world's leading smartphone manufacturer Apple Inc (AAPL) has recently released its quarterly results that disappointed investors as its stock tumbled and Exxon (XOM) - temporarily - recaptured the crown of the world's biggest listed company. In mid-day trading on 25th January, Apple's stock fell by 2.32% to $440.4 per share as Exxon surpassed Apple's market cap by $5.23 billion. The sole "bright spot" in Apple's earnings was China. The country is Apple's third biggest market behind the Americas and Europe. Apple's quarterly revenues in China (including from Hong Kong and Taiwan) increased by 67% from last year to reach $6.83 billion. This was the biggest revenue jump that Apple reported out of all of its geographic segments.

Apple is clearly having an impact on this market, but so far, its numbers aren't really impressive. Here, it faces intense competition from Samsung (SSNLF.PK), Lenovo (LNVGY.PK), Huawei, Coolpad, ZTE (ZTCOF.PK) and Xiaomi Technology.

The Chinese smartphone market is growing and growing fast. In the final quarter of last year .... read more

Dutch Court Orders Apple to Pay Damages to Samsung

Apple vs. Samsung

A Dutch court has ordered Apple to pay damages to its primary competitor, Samsung Electronics, over infringements of patents, related to the way tablets and PCs connect to the internet, which were held by Samsung.

The actual amount of damages has so far, not been calculated but it would depend upon the number of iPads and iPhones sold in Netherlands.

Samsung has welcomed the ruling. In an emailed statement, the South Korean manufacturer said that “"In accordance with the ruling, we will seek adequate compensation for the damages Apple and its products have caused."

Samsung had originally claimed that Apple had infringed four of its patents, but the court has decided that only one was breached.

Top 3 Samsung Products

 

This is just one of the dozens of cases Apple and Samsung are fighting in the courts of various countries. Industry analysts are hoping that these two companies would come to an “amicable solution” rather than waste millions of dollars in fighting with each other. Mr. Manoj Menon of Frost & Sullivan thinks that the current court ruling will, hopefully, put pressure on both parties to find a solution.

Last month, a court in US ordered the chiefs of both of these firms to meet to reconcile their differences but so far, the discussions haven’t led to any settlement.

Apple’s Australia Case

In a separate case, Apple was recently fined $2.3mn by an Australian court over the claims it made of iPad’s 4G capabilities. The court found that Apple had wrongfully claimed that iPad could connect with networks. "The conduct concerned was deliberate and very serious," said Justice Mordy Bromberg. 



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Half Bridge Business News

Apple's CEO Tim Cook refuses $75 million dividend

Apple's Boss refuses to take his share of dividend 

Apple has, finally, decided to give a dividend of $2.65 per share to the shareholders, first time after approximately 17 years. The new CEO of Apple, Mr. Tim Cook is considered as the world’s highest paid executive with annual income exceeding $300 million.  A recent regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed that he will not take his share of dividends that comes from a million shares.

The report filed this Thursday stated that “At Mr. Cook's request, none of his restricted stock units will participate in dividend equivalents ……….. Mr. Cook will forego approximately $75 million in dividend equivalent value”. The report did not give any reason as to why Cook has taken this decision.

If Mr. Cook is earning $300mn, then $75mn will be equivalent to his three months’ salary, so it is a lot of money, even for the world’s richest CEO. Last year, he earned approximately $378mn that primarily came from the million shares that he received. His base salary is $900,000, exactly $899,999 more than his predecessor Steve Jobs’s.

Mr. Cook had managed the company during Steve Jobs’s illness. He was awarded 1 million in restricted stock units as part of his compensation package, half of which are redeemable by  2016 while other half by 2021.

  

Currently, the company’s shares hover around $562 per share making the business worth an impressive $525bn. Earlier this year, the share prices had gone up to $644 per share making Apple the most valuable firm of the world, although for a small period of time.

Apple under Tim Cook.

It was often rumored that if Steve Jobs leaves Apple, then the company will not be able to survive or at least remain as competitive and innovative. Under Mr. Cook, the business has surpassed all expectations.

Since Tim Cook became CEO, Apple has:

1. Increased its market worth by about $140bn
2. Earned about $31bn in profits
3. Sold 89 million iPhones
4. Sold 38 million iPads
5. Got 97% approval rating from 280,000 Apple employees.
6. According to Bill Shope, a research analyst at Goldman Sachs, “By any quantitative measure, so far his performance is phenomenal,”