Tag Archive for 'Apple'

The Personal Computer Is Dead

Published on November 30, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Power is fast shifting from end users and software developers to operating system vendors.

The PC is dead. Rising numbers of mobile, lightweight, cloud-centric devices don’t merely represent a change in form factor. Rather, we’re seeing an unprecedented shift of power from end users and software developers on the one hand, to operating system vendors on the other—and even those who keep their PCs are being swept along. This is a little for the better, and much for the worse [Source].

The transformation is one from product to service. The platforms we used to purchase every few years—like operating systems—have become ongoing relationships with vendors, both for end users and software developers. Jonathan Zittrain wrote about this impending shift, driven by a desire for better security and more convenience, in my 2008 book The Future of the Internet—and How to Stop It.

HTC’s Anti-Apple Strategy Wins U.S. Market

Published on November 10, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

HTC has become the top seller of smartphones in the U.S. with a strategy that’s precisely the opposite of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s. Where Apple is secretive, HTC is open. Where Apple is exclusive, HTC works with all carriers. Where Apple is proprietary, HTC is collaborative. Where Apple customizes for no one, HTC customizes for everyone. It’s the anti-Apple and, so far, it has worked.

By quickly incorporating the latest technologies and customizing phones for customers, Chou has forged ties to more than 100 wireless operators on six continents. The company has climbed to the No. 4 position in smartphones globally, behind Samsung, Apple and Nokia.

The question is whether HTC can stay on top. Chou has benefited as people trade in traditional phones, used primarily for voice calls and texting, for smartphones, which can download apps and surf the Web. Carriers scrambling to keep up with demand such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint turned to HTC for smartphones that use Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software during the almost four years AT&T had exclusive U.S. rights to the iPhone [Source].

That was fast: Samsung topples Apple as top smartphone maker

Published on October 29, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Samsung has now become the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, leaping past Apple, which held the title for just one quarter.

For Samsung, success not only came from Android, but also from Bada, its platform for inexpensive smartphones. In August, Bada appeared to be selling better than Windows Phone worldwide. Those numbers will only continue to rise for Samsung.

In July, we reported that Apple’s smartphone sales surpassed those of Nokia, the former leader, making it the No. 1 smartphone maker for several months. But Apple’s lead slipped due to the delayed launch of the iPhone 4S and the introduction of strong Samsung entries like the Galaxy S II.

Overall, global smartphone shipments grew 44 percent over last year to reach 117 million units. Samsung saw the biggest growth over the past year — it only shipped 7.5 million smartphones last year — while Nokia, unsurprisingly, fell the most, from 26.5 million smartphones shipped last year to 16.8 million this year [Source].

Amazon, the Company That Ate the World

Published on October 25, 2011 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Jeff Bezos’ new tablet, the Kindle Fire, is cheap, pretty, and puts Amazon in perfect position to take a bite out of Apple—and every online transaction you make.

Jeff Bezos is channeling Apple. It’s mid-September and the wiry billionaire founder of Amazon.com (AMZN) is at his brand-new corporate headquarters in Seattle, in a building named Day One South after his conviction that 17-year-old Amazon is still in its infancy. Almost giddy with excitement, Bezos retrieves one by one the new crop of dirt-cheap Kindle e-readers—they start at $79—from a hidden perch on a chair tucked into a conference room table. When he’s done showing them off, he stands up, and, for an audience of a single journalist, announces, “Now, I’ve got one more thing to show you.” He waits a half-beat to make sure the reference to Jobs’s famous line from Apple (AAPL) presentations hasn’t been missed, then gives his notorious barking laugh. With that, Bezos pulls out the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s long-anticipated tablet computer—and the first credible response to the Apple iPad [Read more].

Nokia revamp includes Microsoft

Published on February 11, 2011 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, said it’s forming a software partnership with Microsoft a bet that together the two companies can better challenge Google and Apple.

Under the plan unveiled today, Nokia and Microsoft will combine assets and jointly develop mobile products. The two companies will collaborate on joint marketing. Nokia’s Maps product will become a core part of Microsoft’s services, while Microsoft’s development tools will create applications for Nokia Windows phones [Source].

“Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale,” Elop said at a press conference in London. “It’s now a three-horse race.”

The future of Apple’s leadership

Published on January 25, 2011 in High Tech & Media and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

For many people, Apple would not be Apple without Steven P. Jobs. The sudden decision by the company’s chief executive to take a medical leave for the third time in less than a decade raises anxieties about the leadership of the company he helped found more than three decades ago.

It also puts the spotlight again on several senior executives who have been helping Mr. Jobs run the company, in particular Timothy D. Cook, the chief operating officer, who will take over day-to-day operations during Mr. Jobs’s leave [Source].

“The company could not thrive if Steve didn’t have an extremely talented team around him,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School who has studied the technology industry for decades. “But you can’t replace Steve on some levels.”

“The person who can keep the trains running on time is a scarce commodity, but not as rare as someone who can do breakthrough innovation,” said Michael Useem, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the director of its Center for Leadership and Change Management.

No one expects Apple to suffer in the short term, as the company has a long product cycle. But some raise questions as to what will happen over the long term if Mr. Jobs does not return.

“The problem, really at the core,” he said, “is that Steve Jobs’s inspiration is irreplaceable.”

[Source]

eBooks Now $1 Billion Industry

Published on November 8, 2010 in International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

In 2002, sales of e-books were at a paltry $7 million. Consumers had few convenient ways to read them. The Kindle was a distant vision for Amazon, and the iPad was a dream in Steve Jobs’s mind. Fast forward to 2010: e-books are set to pass sales of $1 billion

According to a report released today by Forrester Research, U.S. sales of digital books have rocketed 220% from last year’s total of $301 million, bolstered by huge increases of e-readers to 10.3 million, up from 3.7 million in 2009. What’s more, Forrester estimates e-book sales will triple by 2015, and that more than 29 million e-readers will have been sold.

E-books still have tremendous room for growth. According to Forrester, just 7% of online adults in the U.S. who read books read e-books. That figure is expected to double in 2011 [Source].

Apple Hunts for Startups

Published on May 3, 2010 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Apple is accelerating the rate of acquisitions as the company vies with Google for mobile technologies and talent. Since returning to Apple as CEO in 1997, Jobs has made 13 acquisitions, according to Bloomberg data. Of those, five happened in the past seven months alone.

“The pace has really picked up, there seems to be a strategic shift,” said Charlie Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Co. in New York. “It looks like there’s an acquisition frenzy going on between Google and Apple in the sense that there’s an increasing urgency on Apple’s part to stay even if not ahead of Google in the phone space and apps space.”

Patent filings may provide clues to potential targets. Apple recently sought patent protection for mobile purchasing and touch-screen technology. Even with the new attention to M&A, Apple will maintain its strategy of focusing on smaller companies rather than taking on the risks of integrating large ones into Apple’s culture.

With more than $23.1 billion in cash, Apple has plenty of money to keep purchasing small startups. Counting long-term investments that the company can “liquidate in a day,” Apple had $41.7 billion in cash at the end of the last quarter, Broadpoint’s Marshall said, In comparison, Google had about $26.5 billion, he said [Source 1] [Source 2].

iPad is here!

Published on January 28, 2010 in High Tech & Media. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Even though the Apple iPad won’t be available for another 60 or 90 days (depending on the model), Apple already has its official iPad website up and running.

In addition to showing off some of the applications, features and design and technical specifications, the website also features an eight-minute video with Apple’s design and development team discussing the device and showing it off. If you love Johnny Ive and well-produced promo videos, you’ll want to check it out!

You can watch the video over at Apple.com here. Please also find a NYTimes article on how “The iPad: A Media Machine That Opens Up a New Front” here.

iTablet coming soon?

Published on January 26, 2010 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Tomorrow, Apple is likely to unveil its long-rumored and much anticipated tablet device.

Speculation about the Apple Tablet — its pricetag, its function, and its impact on computing — has been flying around the web for years. Mashable has gathered all the pertinent news, rumors, and discussion about the fabled device in one place.

McGraw-Hill’s CEO Terry McGraw told CNBC this afternoon that Apple will make a Tablet announcement tomorrow. He thinks the tablet will be “really terrific” for e-books in the higher education and professional markets, two industries that we’ve long suspected the Tablet would target [Source].

The daily Telegraph reports on “Five ways the Apple iTablet could change our lives” here.