Apple’s market cap on Monday dropped below $400 billion in early trading.
The market cap, or Apple’s total value of issued shares, first passed $400 billion in January 2012. The company’s market cap hit a record $392.2 billion when the iPhone 4S launched in 2011, and it quickly rose to $500 billion in February 2012 and then $650 billion in September 2012, but the market cap and stock have dipped in recent months.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box Monday morning, where he notably mulled over Apple’s stock price and excess cash.
When David Einhorn and his now-dropped “silly sideshow” suit about getting Apple to issue preferred shares surfaced during Buffet’s three-hour CNBC interview, the prominent investor declared he would ignore Greenlight Capital’s founder (according to Fortune via Barron’s):
“I would ignore him. I would run the business in such a manner as to create the most value over the next five to 10 years. You can’t run a business to push the stock price up on a daily basis. Berkshire has gone down 50 percent four times in its history. When that happens, if you’ve got money you buy it. You just keep working on building the value.
I heard from people each time [Berkshire shares went down], saying why don’t you do this or that. Pay a dividend. I think Apple’s done a good job of building value. They may have too much cash. Now one reason they have so much cash is two thirds of it has not yet been taxed”
As for pressure to increase Apple’s dividend or do splits, Buffett recommended again that everyone disregard the buzz. Buffet then claimed he once told Apple’s late cofounder, Steve Jobs, to run his company well and the shares will respond. He also allegedly told Jobs to use Apple’s overabundance of cash to buy back the stock.
“When Steve called me, I said, Is your stock cheap? He said, yes. I said, Do you have more cash than you need? He said, a little. I said, then buy back your stock. He didn’t,” Buffet explained. “Now, when our stock went from $90,000 to $40,000 to $45,000, I wrote about, we wanted to buy the stock. We didn’t quite manage to. But if you could buy dollar bills for 80 cents, it’s a very good thing to do. If you could buy dollar bills for 80 cents, that’s a good thing to do.”
9to5Mac has once again scoured the App Store for all the latest app launches, price drops, noteworthy news, and updates, and we have compiled everything in a roundup below. Check it out, but keep coming back as we continually refresh the list throughout the day.
News
1. The Croods
Rovio, the brains behind the Angry Bird franchise, Bad Piggies, and Amazing Alex, announced on Friday that it teamed with DreamWorks to launch a new game for Android and iOS. The game, called “The Croods”, goes along with DreamWorks’ upcoming 3D and CG animated feature film of the same name, and it will hit the App Store for free on March 14. Get more details at 9to5Google or watch the video above.
Updates
1. KitCam | $1.99
Version 1.5.2 of this photo app includes a fix for Iris sometimes not opening when the app launches, as well as improved startup speed and various bug fixes.
2. Plague Inc | 99 cents
Version 1.5.1 of this plague-centric action game includes the Necroa Virus expansion pack with a special Necroa Virus plague type, new apocalyptic challenge, active capabilities like ‘Zombie Horde’, and the ability to customize Necroa Virus with five new genes. The app also launched new user interface enhancements, support for Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian, as well as new events, news, and achievements.
AT&T announced Thursday that it has further expanded its 4G LTE network coverage in the United States.
The latest market additions notably include Phoenix, Ariz., as well as parts of Avondale, Goodyear, and Litchfield Park. The carrier said it invested nearly $700 million in Arizona wireless and wireline networks from 2009 through 2012.
Coverage also thickened in the east, where AT&T’s 4G LTE now blankets Hartford County, Conn., as well as parts of Avon, Bloomfield, Enfield, Farmington, Granby, New Britain, Simsbury, Suffield, West Hartford, Windsor, and Windsor Locks.
AT&T even switched on 4G LTE in Lincoln, Neb. and Lubbock, Texas and brought its total number of live markets to 147. The carrier revealed it now offers LTE to 174 million people across the United States, with plans to reach 300 million people by year-end 2014.
Earlier this week, AT&T also announced three new markets and a few more expansions in the following areas:
Fortune conducts its poll by asking executives, industry analysts, and other notable business-heads to rank companies according to their attributes, such as innovation, social responsibility, quality of products and services, etc., and Apple apparently scored the highest in all nine categories and won most admired company for the following reasons:
Apple has had a rough time lately with its stock price in a free fall and the widely publicized failure of its Maps feature. However, it remains a financial juggernaut, posting $13 billion in net income last quarter, making it the most profitable company in the world during that period. The company has its fanatical customer base, and it still refuses to compete on price, making the iconic iPhone and iPad products that are still widely seen as prestige devices. Competition may be stiff, but so far it remains behind: In Q4 2012, the iPhone 5 was the world’s best selling smartphone, followed in second place by the iPhone 4S. —OA
Apple’s achievement might not be well received by some, or, specifically, Capitol Media’s founding partner Brad Chase. He wrote a Forbes post earlier this week and forecasted that Apple would likely drop from the No. 1 spot on Fortune’s list:
Apple has been the “world’s most admired company” for five years running, and there’s a chance Fortune will defy logic and give Apple the crown once more for posterity. If Amazon somehow fails to leapfrog the bumbling Apple and the pugnacious Google this year, it’s clear the algorithm is flawed. One way or another, the drop has begun.
Ouch. Well, Apple didn’t lose its spot. How embarrassing for Chase. The entire Top 10 is below:
Amazon made its Cloud Player app available to the iPad and iPad mini today.
Version 2.0 of Amazon’s music-streaming app hit the App Store on Wednesday, and the update notably included—aside from optimization—an updated look and a new setting to manage cache size.
Amazon also released a debacle-of-an-update for its eBook-viewing Kindle iOS app yesterday that intended to fix bugs and the registration process but instead deleted entire digital book libraries, login credentials, account data, and saved settings. Check out a few of the reviews on iTunes:
The online retailer now warns users with the following “do not install” notice in the Kindle app’s change log: “Note: There is a known issue with this update. If you are an existing Kindle for iOS user, we recommend you do not install this update at this time.”
Get more details about the Cloud Player app update in the press release below.
A company called AnoStyle offers a unique method of anodization that permanently alters the color of an iPhone 5 or iPad mini, and it just became available internationally last week, so I decided to give it a whirl and turn my black iPhone into gold.
There isn’t much to report besides everything turned out great and I love the result. It feels and looks like my iPhone, only in gold. The only con to AnoStyle, at least for the gold color option, is that the text below “iPhone” on the back is now extremely faint. Other than that, I feel like I own a limited edition iPhone (dusts shoulder off), and at least four people have asked me how I managed to snag a gold iPhone.
There is clearly a huge, untapped interest in colorful iPhones. Numerous reports in recent months suggested Apple could soon introduce a new iPhone in colors other than black and white. The news isn’t really that surprising, as Apple already offers a line of aluminum iPod touches in multiple colors. From my experience in the last 24 hours, varied color options would certainly be a standout and attractive feature (especially if the company were to launch an “S” iPhone instead of a full refresh this year).
In the meantime, however, there is AnoStyle: it costs $249 for the iPhone 5 and $299 for the iPad mini. The steep price is a bit of a hurdle for some, but it’s still perfectly worth the money and a great way to customize an iOS device.
More information about the AnoStyle process, as well as information about the resale value and which companies still offer top dollar for iOS devices despite modification, is below.
Staples’ U.S. brick and mortar stores will likely begin stocking Apple accessories, as well, giving Apple another familiar outlet from which to sell its wares. More importantly, many businesses, large and small, have corporate accounts with Staples that should allow easy purchasing of Apple products with little friction.
Staples has sold Apple accessories internationally for quite awhile, but it only recently struck a deal for U.S. distribution. Staples CEO Ron Sargent noted in 2011 that his company wanted to sell Apple products in the U.S., but it had a hard time getting the goods from Apple.
Ron Sargent, Staples chairman and chief executive, also lamented that its nearly 1,600 U.S. stores can’t sell Apple Inc.’s popular products because Apple won’t sell them to Staples. Apple products are sold at Staples stores in Canada and elsewhere internationally, where Apple has the need for Staples’ distribution channel, and the executive expressed hope its U.S. stores would one day sell the iPad and other Apple wares.
Virgin Mobile USA, a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel Corporation, began offering LTE today, which significantly means the carrier could now carry the iPhone 5 along with its parent company.
Virgin now carries the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but it notably didn’t offer the iPhone 5 at launch. The only other major U.S. carrier that doesn’t carry the iPhone is the LTE-less T-Mobile, but it is expected to get the iPhone after an announcing a partnership with Apple last year.
Virgin Mobile USA provides nationwide, prepaid, wireless, and broadband services to customers, and it does so through Sprint Nextel’s 1900MMHz CDMA network and the Clearwire co-owned 2500 MHz WiMAX networks.
Plans
Galaxy Victory
Coverage Map
Apple’s CDMA version of the iPhone 5 launched in September and has been compatible with Virgin Mobile USA’s CDMA network ever since, but the carrier did not offer official support for LTE until today.
Virgin Mobile USA announced its first 4G LTE device this morning, called the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE, for $299.99-sans contract, and it revealed the device would run on Sprint’s 4G LTE network.
The carrier began selling Apple’s iPhone without LTE support early last summer—alongside a $30-a-month unlimited data plan (the plan gets throttled at 2.5GB)— to celebrate its 10th birthday.
9to5Mac has once again scoured the App Store for all the latest app launches, price drops, noteworthy news, and updates, and we have compiled everything in a roundup below. Check it out, but keep coming back as we continually refresh the list throughout the day.
Updates
1. Animation Studio | 99 cents Version 3.3 of this animated movie creator hit the App Store today with support for Retina and iPhone 5. The update also boasts a new user interface and improved drawing performance, playback quality, and video exporting. Additional changes include “on-canvas frequently used tools,” as well as various enhancements and bug fixes.
MLB’s At Bat 13 app will get a Spring Training update today for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire devices.
The update is not yet live but will include multi-platform live audio access for At Bat 13 subscribers with account portability for listening to live games on Macs and PCs. It also offers universal iOS and Android support for At Bat 13 subscribers with full feature accessibility across all supported smartphones and tablets.
The app’s new key features will range per device: sortable batting, pitching, and fielding statistics and favorite team enhancements is for iPad and Android tablets, for instance, while re-designed individual team pages, an updated news section interface, and expanded video highlight integration is for iPhone and Android phones.
New features for all devices include a classic games video library archive, re-architected app navigation, and searchable video highlight library expansion to include access to complete video archives. The iPhone version will specifically get additional push notification options.
“MLB.TV Premium subscribers again may upgrade to At Bat 13 for free, unlocking all premium features,” explained MLB’s press release. “Fans also may subscribe to MLB.com At Bat 13 for the one-time annual fee of $19.99, covering the entire season through the World Series. iOS users may pay $2.99/month with the recurring billing offering.”
MLB also said the Opening Day update will come soon and At Bat will debut on the new BlackBerry 10 by Opening Day. The press release and screenshots are available below for more information.
Apple’s LTE chip supplier Qualcomm announced on Thursday that it hopes to tackle cellular radio frequency band fragmentation with the first “single, global 4G LTE design” for mobile devices.
With over 40 cellular bands worldwide, many companies, such as Apple, need to release a slew of cellular models specific to certain carriers. Apple made the iPhone 5 compatible with LTE networks, but due to 4G LTE and legacy radio fragmentation, in which carriers use different radio bands, the company made two separate GSM models and one CDMA model.
The current iPhone 5 models include: GSM model A1428 for LTE bands 4 and 17; GSM model A1429 for LTE bands 1, 3, and 5; and CDMA model A1429 for LTE bands 1, 3, 5, 13, and 25.
Qualcomm’s new RF360 Front End Solution is a family of chips that would both improve RF performance and end LTE band fragmentation by helping OEMs develop mobile devices that support all cellular models (LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, WCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, TD-SCDMA, and GSM/EDGE).
“By combining the new RF front end chipsets with Qualcomm Snapdragon all-in-one mobile processors and Gobi LTE modems, Qualcomm Technologies can supply OEMs with a comprehensive, optimized, system-level LTE solution that is truly global,” explained Qualcomm in a press release.
The Qualcomm RF360 front-end solution purports to cut poor usage and improve RF band interference and specifically features the following components: Dynamic Antenna Matching Tuner (QFE15xx), Envelope Power Tracker (QFE11xx), Integrated Power Amplifier / Antenna Switch (QFE23xx), and RF POP (QFE27xx).
Check out the press release below for more information on each component.
9to5Mac has once again scoured the App Store for all the latest app launches, price drops, noteworthy news, and updates, and we have compiled everything in a roundup below. Check it out, but keep coming back as we continually refresh the list throughout the day. Expand Expanding Close
Apple chairman Arthur D. Levinson spoke at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business on Tuesday, where he notably talked about running the company’s board of directors and Steve Jobs, according to a report by Fortune.
The chairman answered questions from the audience and university students while on stage and described how Jobs’ death has affected him to the point where he has yet to even finish reading Walter Isaacson’s biography on the late CEO: “I’m still not to the point where I walk into that board room and don’t miss Steve. He was a one of a kind guy… The Steve Jobs that was in the public eye was not, for the most part, the Steve Jobs that I knew.”
Levinson called Jobs “extremely, poorly understood” and mentioned that life at the company has been “weird” ever since Jobs died 16 months ago, but he seemed confident in Apple and long-term goals: “There [are] long-term signs of how a company is doing and whether or not Apple sells 47 or 48 million iPhones—let somebody else worry about that.”
As for how heavily the board influences such long-term goals, Levinson clarified he and the board sometimes preview products 6 to 18 months before launch. However, it does not focus on reviewing the products: “The board is not there to define product specs. It’s there as a sounding board. It’s there as a resource,” he said. “And ultimately, the board is there to hire and fire the CEO.”
Market research firm NPD Group posted a new report on Tuesday that claimed Apple accounted for 19.9-percent of all consumer technology sales in the United States, based on revenue, in 2012.
Apple’s sales increased 2.6-percent from 2011, and the company joined Samsung, HP, Sony, and Dell as one of the top five brands in 2012 that accounted for 45 percent of total sales. Overall consumer technology sales dropped by $4 billion since 2010, with the entire industry having experienced a slight 2-percent decline in 2012:
Apple and Samsung accounted for $6.5 billion in increased sales in 2012, while the remainder of the consumer technology industry declined by almost $9.5 billion.
NPD again listed Best Buy, Walmart, Apple, Amazon, and Staples as the top retailers in 2012, while the top 5 sales categories included notebooks, flat-panel TVs, smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.
Apple and HTC reached a global settlement last fall, regarding multiple patent infringement lawsuits, and agreed to a 10-year licensing deal with a dismissal of all lawsuits, and now it seems HTC is getting its money’s worth with the new One sporting obvious iPhone 5-like accents.
The HTC One notably features an entirely aluminum construction, and the company’s design head, Scott Cryle, consistently compared its “solid” feel to the unnamed competition when unveiling the handset on Tuesday. Get all the details of what’s inside—or check out the HTC event’s live blog—at 9to5Google.
Dropbox | Free
Version 2.1 of this cloud storage app features an all-new PDF view, as well as the ability to sort files by date modified and receive a push notification when someone shares a folder.
Pageonce | Free
Version 5.8 of this bill management app allows iPhone users to pay local bills to anyone, and the update includes a new calendar view of bills, improved payment account setup, and bug fixes.
War of Words | Free
Version 4.1.1 of this action word game added 21 new boards, as well as the ability to expand game slots from 30 to 60, remind opponents to play, and options for selecting tile colors. It also includes unspecified bug fixes.
Twitter | Free
Version 5.3.2 includes fixes for bugs, crashes, and incorrect Arabic text in Connect and Discover.
1. Jingu Friends | Free
Version 1.4.0 of this people-finding client for WhatsApp, Kik Messenger, Hookt & LiveProfile just hit the App Store with the ability to “slap people with stickers and earn cool badges.” Additional updates include emojis in messages, as well as options to follow and get followed, post longer messages, and share links.
Screenshots are above.
2. Slacker Radio | Free
Version 4.0.119 of this music service launched today with the following update summary in the change log:
This version of Slacker Radio is all-new for iPhone and iPod, featuring a new visual interface and the debut of the Slacker “Music Guide”. Slacker listeners will discover more music, news, talk and sports than ever before. Look for the visual tile layout to view station, artist, album and song pages and enjoy improved functionality and overall stability as you experience the most complete music service available.
The HBO Go app still requires an HBO cable subscription. Kessler did not mention whether HBO would offer a paid version of HBO Go to users who don’t subscribe, but HBO subscribers can at least now stream premium programs, such as “True Blood,” “Newsroom,” “Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire,” etc., from their iPhone or iPad to a television via AirPlay.
That’s not all, though. HBO said it hopes to bring HBO Go to the Apple TV soon:
“Our longterm goal for Go is to be on all devices all platforms. We will get on Apple TV as we’ve said all along.”
1. Winston | Free
Winston, a Siri-like app that only speaks and doesn’t accept commands, launched in a private beta last summer, and now the digital assistant app is redesigned and live in the App Store. A few of the fresh features include new and customizable channels, newscasts, AirPlay support, web view, and an expanded vocabulary. Check out the promo video above.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is speaking live at the Goldman Sachs Technology conference, where he is now specifically talking about the iPad and market share.
“I think the tablet market will be huge. It is a huge opportunity for Apple. It is one of those areas that show—what I mentioned earlier—of software and hardware services being integrated and creating an experience that is jaw dropping. In context, HP, the world’s largest PC seller, sold 15 million PCs…there were more iPads sold than HP sold of their entire PC lineup. So, there has been a change here. We’re in the early innings of this game.”
The chief executive also said Apple is attracting people who have never owned a PC, as well as those who owned them but never had a great experience: “If you look at what we bring there, we worked on our experience. Over 300,000 apps take advantage of the canvas that is iPad. Other guys only have a few hundred. We have a big lead in this area.”
Cook further said there were twice as many iPads as Android devices bought on Black Friday 2012 and attributed those sales to Apple sweating the details, but he also reiterated that his company does not focus on market share: “I have no idea what market share is, because we’re the only company that reports what we sell.”
Despite not focusing on market share, Cook said the iPad is also being sold in a large way in all the key markets. The data even points to the iPad being used at a much-higher degree than what the share might be, and he claimed this is because the iPad is superior to the competition.
“The age-old model of everyone doing a sliver of something…customers aren’t buying it,” he added.
Cook started his comments by announcing Apple looked last year at things it could do to improve governance, and, in the review, thought it should eliminate a blank check from the charter.
“So, it doesn’t mean Apple won’t release preferred share. It means we need to go to common shareholders to get their approval,” he explained. “Frankily, I found it bizarre that we are being sued on that is something good for shareholders, but this is the position we’re in. It’s a silly side show.”
Greenlight Capital’s founder, David Einhorn, defended his decision last week to file suit in a New York federal court against Apple over a proposal, called “Proposal 2,” that would allegedly stamp out preferred stock in the company’s proxy. He claimed the proposal does not adhere to regulatory rules.
During a CNBC interview, Einhorn notably called Apple a “phenomenal company filled with talented people creating iconic products that consumers around the world love,” but it also has “cash problem” and behaves like ”someone who’s gone through traumas…they sometimes feel they can never have enough cash.”
However, in Apple’s public response statement to Greenlight from last week, the company said, “contrary to Greenlight’s statements, adoption of Proposal #2 would not prevent the issuance of preferred stock.” At the Goldman conference today, Cook also denied Apple has a depression-era mentality and called Greenlight’s suit a distraction.
1. DrawQuest | Free
4Chan founder Chris Poole, a.k.a. “moot”, has launched DrawQuest under his remix website, Canvas. The iPad app basically serves up daily drawing challenges, called “quests,” to inspire creativity. Other features include:
Cash-hoarding Apple needs to distribute more to shareholders, instead of stuffing away the cash like a Depression-era grandmother who saves for a rainy day, according to Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn during a CNBC interview on Thursday.
Einhorn, who is also a prominent investor and fund manager, appeared on “Squawk Box” today to explain his decision to file suit against Apple over a proposal that would stamp out preferred stock. He essentially wants Apple to “unlock value” for shareholders and urges shareholders to oppose the company’s proxy, because Apple’s current behavior is allegedly reminiscent of someone who has suffered a trauma.
He called Apple a “phenomenal company filled with talented people creating iconic products that consumers around the world love,” but it also has “cash problem” and behaves like ”someone who’s gone through traumas…they sometimes feel they can never have enough cash.”
Greenlight has therefore filed suit in a New York federal court to negate or modify the proposal, dubbed “Proposal 2,” in Apple’s proxy, claiming it does not adhere to regulatory rules. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Greenlight stated it was “dissatisfied with Apple’s capital allocation strategy.”
Einhorn added that Apple should “reward shareholders without dipping into its current massive cash hoard” by distributing “high-yielding preferred stock to its shareholders,” as the Wall Street Journal also reported. He suggested the result would be better than increasing its dividend or buyback, because Apple wouldn’t have to touch its cash immediately.
