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| Global smartphone shipments top one billion for first time in 2013: IDC Monday, Jan 27, 2014 06:04 PM PST Global smartphone shipments topped 1 billion units for first time in 2013, climbing 38.4 percent from the previous year to 1.004 billion units, research firm IDC said. Smartphones made up 55.1 percent of all mobile phone shipments last year from just over two-fifths in 2012, IDC said. Samsung Electronics Co's market share edged up one percentage point year-on-year to 31.3 percent to keep its place as the world's biggest smartphone vendor, while second-place Apple Inc's fell from 18.7 percent to 15.3 percent, according to IDC. Huawei Technologies Co, LG Electronics and Lenovo Group were third, fourth and fifth largest respectively, each with a market share of just under five percent in 2013. Full Story | Top |
| Apple's iPhone sales, revenue forecast fall short; shares slide Monday, Jan 27, 2014 05:26 PM PST  Lower-than-expected holiday iPhone sales and a weak revenue forecast by Apple Inc renewed fears about Chinese demand and a tepid global market, wiping 8 percent off company stock. This year was to have been Apple Inc's watershed moment in China, when a long-awaited deal with the nation's largest carrier was to have propelled it back toward the top ranks of its most crucial market, clawing back ground from rival Samsung Electronics. Instead, the forecast for the March quarter - when Apple is expected to have reaped the fruits of that long-awaited deal - raises questions of whether investors had over-estimated that arrangement, and broader concerns about flagging demand for smartphones and tablets in general. "There's no doubt that shipments (to China Mobile) are lower than almost anybody expected," said Pacific Crest Securities' Andy Hargreaves. Full Story | Top |
| Shares in Apple's Japan suppliers stumble over iPhone sales Monday, Jan 27, 2014 05:22 PM PST Shares in Apple Inc's Japanese component makers took a beating on Tuesday after the U.S. tech giant missed Wall Street's target for iPhone sales over the key holiday shopping season and offered a weaker-than-expected outlook. The world's most valuable technology company sold a record 51 million iPhones in the December quarter, but that was shy of the 55 million or so analysts had expected, reflecting intense competition from arch-rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd during the crucial period. Apple shares sagged 8 percent in after hours trading following the announcement. The results weighed on Apple's Japanese suppliers, with Alps Electric Co Ltd, Taiyo Yuden Co Ltd, TDK Corp and Nitto Denko Corp down between 0.9 and 3.9 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Seagate misses estimates as growth slows in cloud business Monday, Jan 27, 2014 04:50 PM PST Hard-disk drive maker Seagate Technology Plc's second-quarter results missed analysts' estimates as growth slowed in its cloud storage business, sending its shares down 7 percent in extended trading. Weakness in the cloud business was due to long-term rollouts by some of its original-equipment manufacturer customers, with shipments down "a couple of hundred thousand units", Chief Financial Officer Pat O'Malley told Reuters. O'Malley, who counts Google among Seagate's customers, said cloud comprised 10-15 percent of its total revenue in the second quarter ended December 27. The finance chief said he expects the cloud business to contribute about 20 percent to the company's total revenue by the end of the year. Full Story | Top |
| Samsung sets new smartphone sales record in fourth quarter, widens lead over Apple: report Monday, Jan 27, 2014 04:18 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd sold a record 86 million smartphones in the fourth quarter and widened its lead over Apple Inc even after the U.S. firm reached a new iPhone sales high, data from research firm Strategy Analytics showed. Samsung took 29.6 percent of the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter, ahead of Apple's 17.6 percent, as strong low-end market growth led by Chinese vendors continued to shake up the smartphone industry, the data showed. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. frees tech companies to give more spying data Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:59 PM PST  By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. technology companies may give the public and their customers more detail about the court orders they receive related to surveillance under an agreement they reached on Monday with the Obama administration. Companies such as Google Inc and Microsoft Corp have been prohibited from disclosing even an approximate number of orders they received from the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. They could give only an aggregate number of U.S. demands that combined surveillance court orders, letters from the FBI, subpoenas in run-of-the-mill criminal cases and other requests. The deal frees the companies to say, for example, approximately how many orders they received in a six-month period from the surveillance court. Full Story | Top |
| Apple's iPhone sales and outlook lag targets, shares slide Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:48 PM PST  Apple Inc missed Wall Street's lofty target for iPhone sales over the crucial holiday shopping season and offered a weaker-than-expected forecast for this quarter, sending its shares down 8 percent on Monday. The world's most valuable technology company sold a record 51 million iPhones in the quarter, but that was shy of the 55 million or so analysts had expected, reflecting intense competition from arch-foe Samsung Electronics during the crucial period. The company forecast sales of $42 billion to $44 billion this quarter, which investors anticipate will be brisker than usual because of its recently sealed deal to sell iPhones through China Mobile Ltd, the country's No. 1 carrier. Wall Street was expecting $46 billion, on average. Full Story | Top |
| Seagate profit drops 13 percent as demand for hard-disk drives falls Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:40 PM PST (Reuters) - Seagate Technology Plc reported a 13 percent decline in quarterly profit as demand fell for its hard-disk drives due to declining personal computer sales. Net income fell to $428 million, or $1.24 per share in the second quarter ended December 27, from $492 million, or $1.30 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $3.53 billion from $3.67 billion. Seagate and rival Western Digital Corp are tapping into the growing demand for products that help store data in the cloud and reducing their dependence on personal computer hard drives as consumers shift to smartphones and tablets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple saw strong growth in China, emerging markets: CFO Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:31 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc more than doubled sales of iPads in mainland China during the holiday quarter, and it experienced strong growth in emerging markets like Latin America and Russia, the company's CFO Peter Oppenheimer said on Monday. Oppenheimer said in an interview he will provide more detail on iPhone sales in China, Apple's second-largest market, during a telephone conference with analysts. (Reporting by Edwin Chan; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Full Story | Top |
| Instant View: Apple's iPhone sales lag Wall Street view Monday, Jan 27, 2014 03:31 PM PST (Reuters) - Apple Inc sold fewer new iPhones than expected over the holidays, reflecting intense competition from arch-foe Samsung Electronics during the crucial period. The after-market reaction is based on the guidance for March." MICHAEL WALKLEY, ANALYST, CANACCORD GENUITY "The key thing is iPhone units were lighter than expectations for the quarter and guidance was a little lighter than expectation; Full Story | Top |
| U.S., British spy agencies exploit 'leaky' apps for intel: report Monday, Jan 27, 2014 01:09 PM PST  U.S. and British intelligence agencies have plotted ways to gather data from Angry Birds and other smartphone apps that leak users' personal information onto global networks, the New York Times reported on Monday. It was citing previously undisclosed intelligence documents made available by fugitive American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. The Times said the U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters, had tried to exploit increasing volumes of personal data that spill onto networks from new generations of mobile phone technology. Among these new intelligence tools were "leaky" apps on smartphones that could disclose users' locations, age, gender and other personal information. Full Story | Top |
| AT&T rules out Vodafone bid for now Monday, Jan 27, 2014 12:05 PM PST  By Kate Holton and Sophie Sassard LONDON (Reuters) - AT&T on Monday ruled out a bid for Britain's Vodafone after Britain's takeover watchdog asked the U.S. phone company to clarify its position following reports that it had sounded out European regulators on the prospects of a merger. AT&T's statement means it cannot make an offer for Vodafone for at least six months, unless the British company invites it to do so or a third party enters the fray. Banking sources said that while an uproar over the U.S. National Security Agency's electronic surveillance program and a year-long rally in European telecom shares may have disrupted prospects for a deal any time soon, many think it could still happen. AT&T, the second-largest U.S. mobile operator, had sparked speculation it could be interested in a potentially 70 billion pound-plus ($115 billion) deal for Vodafone after its CEO said in October there was a "huge opportunity" in Europe to invest in mobile broadband. Full Story | Top |
| Rapid7 hires former Black Hat General Manager Trey Ford Monday, Jan 27, 2014 12:03 PM PST Security software maker Rapid7 said on Monday that it has hired Trey Ford, the former general manager of the Black Hat hacking conferences, to serve as its global security strategist. He will serve as a liaison between Rapid7 and the research community and also work to educate the public on cybersecurity issues. Ford previously held posts with online gaming company Zynga Inc and anti-virus software maker McAfee, which is now owned by Intel Corp, before becoming general manager of Black Hat, which runs hacking conferences around the globe and is owned by UBM Plc. His position at Black Hat was eliminated at the end of last year in a restructuring at UBM. Full Story | Top |
| Liberty Global buys Ziggo to expand European cable empire Monday, Jan 27, 2014 08:37 AM PST  By Anthony Deutsch and Philip Blenkinsop UTRECHT, Netherlands/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. cable group Liberty Global has won its 10-month pursuit of Ziggo with a deal that values the Dutch operator and its debt at 10 billion euros ($13.7 billion) and expands billionaire John Malone's vast European cable empire. Ziggo rejected an initial offer from Liberty last October as too low, seven months after the U.S. group controlled by Malone first bought shares in its Dutch target. On Monday, Ziggo accepted a cash-and-shares offer at 34.5 euros per share, a 22 percent premium to Ziggo's share price just before Liberty's initial bid. The company, which gets over 90 percent of its revenue in Europe, has built its position via acquisitions from Ireland to Romania over the past decade and already owns 28.5 percent of Ziggo as well as the whole of Dutch peer UPC. Full Story | Top |
| Banking apps on Android phones most at risk of virus: Kaspersky Monday, Jan 27, 2014 07:42 AM PST  Banking applications on Android phones are most vulnerable to cyber crime, the chief executive and co-founder of Russian anti-virus software maker Kaspersky Lab said on Monday. Eugene Kaspersky said 99 percent of mobile attacks are towards Android-based phones, since Apple has strict controls and does not allow third-party applications. The most disturbing trend in cyber attacks was a growing shift to mobile devices from computers and a major cyber attack using mobile phones was bound to happen since cellular users are not properly protected, he told Reuters. "I expect something really bad to happen to change people's minds and awareness," he said, noting that it took the Chernobyl virus in 1998 for people to properly protect their computers. Full Story | Top |
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