Apple

New intrigue on trail of cheaper iPhone

The mystery of whether Apple will come out with a lower-priced iPhone has taken a new twist.

The Reuters news agency this morning cryptically withdrew a story it had written yesterday pegged to remarks purportedly made by Apple's Phil Schiller in China. That story had been based on a report in the Shanghai Evening News, which Reuters said, ever so tersely in a short replacement post, "was subsequently updated with substantial changes to its content."

That was it -- "substantial changes," with no elaboration. Intriguing, yes. But also frustratingly vague.

We spent a good part … Read more

Xerox CFO heading to Apple to assume controller position

Apple will soon have a new top-level member in its financial-management team.

Xerox Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri will leave the company at the end of February to become Apple's corporate controller. Xerox made the announcement today, saying that Maestri was instrumental in strengthening Xerox's "financial foundation."

As Apple's controller, Maestri will likely serve under Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer. Last summer, Apple announced in an SEC filing that Betsy Rafael would retire in mid-October as the company's corporate controller and principal accounting officer.

Over the last several months, Apple has been hit with some … Read more

Beats' Iovine: I talked to Steve Jobs about music subscriptions

Jimmy Iovine, a bigwig at Universal Music Group and co-founder of Beats Electronics, says he tried to sell Steve Jobs on a music-subscription service years ago but couldn't quite make it happen.

Speaking to All Things Digital in an interview posted yesterday, Iovine said he approached the late Apple co-founder in "2002, 2003" to pitch him on the idea of launching a music-subscription service. For three years, he tried to push Jobs into saying yes, but Apple's then-CEO didn't like the idea of paying record companies so much.

"And he wasn't keen on … Read more

Apple's Schiller: A cheaper iPhone? Um, no

LAS VEGAS--I had always fancied that when CES comes along, Apple's devious PR people sit around and wonder which little rumor to toss out, just to turn the heads of those who gawp here.

Of course, there's no proof that this week's hearty rumor -- that Apple will produce a cheaper iPhone -- came from Cupertino, but the leak seemed timed with a stroke of mischief regardless.

So as CES reaches its later stages, news emerges that Apple's SVP of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, has declared himself on the subject -- a declaration that can be roughly summarized as "Hah." … Read more

Cook says iPad Mini with cellular to hit China by end of month

Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised Chinese customers an iPad Mini with cellular by the end of the month.

Speaking to news outlet Tencent (translation), Cook said the iPad Mini with cellular functionality will be coming to China "in late January." He declined to provide an exact release day.

The iPad Mini with Wi-Fi launched in China on December 7. Since then, the device has proven extremely successful, with Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White saying last month that consumers in China and Hong Kong have "an insatiable appetite" for Apple's smaller slate.

"Prior … Read more

Cheap iPhone could appeal to a half billion people, Munster says

A cheaper iPhone would give Apple access to a vast new market its current phones don't address -- one currently forecast to reach sales of 580 million units this year, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Rumors have been flying lately that Apple will introduce a low-cost iPhone to reach out to developing markets and offer more competition to Android. Assuming the rumors prove true, Munster -- one of the most bullish of Apple bulls -- believes such a phone would give Apple's market share a huge boost.

"We believe that the high-end smartphone market (above $… Read more

Steve Jobs tried to help Mark Hurd regain his job, says report

A fascinating nugget turns up in BloombergBusinessweek's excellent piece on Hewlett-Packard: None other than Steve Jobs reached out to offer counseling to Mark Hurd after Hurd had walked away from his job as HP's CEO.

Three days after he'd resigned as CEO under pressure from the company's board of directors, Hurd received an e-mail from Steve Jobs. The Apple founder wanted to know if Hurd needed someone to talk to. Jobs had lived through a similar experience decades earlier when Apple's board turned on him, an analogy Hurd and Jobs's mutual friend and Oracle … Read more

Samsung looks to diversify chip business amid Apple trouble

Samsung is already responding to Apple's seeming desire to reduce its reliance on its chief competitor for the production of mobile processors.

Stephen Woo, president of Samsung's Systems LSI division, which is charged with producing mobile processors, told Reuters in an interview published yesterday that his company is looking to "diversify our customer base." To do so, he said, Samsung has already added "some Chinese customers."

Woo admitted that the move is a response to Apple's waning reliance on Samsung for its chip-making needs. Apple pays Samsung about $8.8 billion for its … Read more

Apple's Cook talks 'cooperation' with iPhone-less China Mobile

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China talking with the country's largest carrier.

A China Mobile spokesman told Reuters today that Cook visited the carrier's headquarters this morning to meet with Chairman Xi Guohua and discuss "matters of cooperation." The person would not divulge the nature of those discussions and what the companies might cooperate on.

Cook was discovered to be in China earlier this week when he met with Miao Wei, head of the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. That discussion centered on mobile communications, Apple's operations, and the technology industry … Read more