Apple, China Mobile call off iPhone launch talks
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Apple Inc  and China Mobile   have called off talks to launch the U.S. firm's  popular iPhones in China, dashing speculation the device will  hit the country's store shelves soon.
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(InfoWorld) - Sales ofÂ Apple's iPhoneÂ and new iPods slated for release later this year will mark the end of cheap flash memory for a time, and that means users may see fewer bargains on older digital music players or bundled flash memory cards. The iPhone took off to a stellar start in its first weekend, asÂ users braved long linesÂ and the weather for a chance to buy one of the smartphones. Estimates vary, but at least one investment house, Goldman Sachs Group, believes sales the first weekend reached an astounding 700,000 units, and mainly on iPhones with 8GB of NAND flash memory on board for data storage. That's a lot more flash memory than the average handset, which normally comes with just 60MB on board and a slot for flash memory cards. The NAND flash memory market could see even more pressure later this year if Apple chooses to use the chips instead of hard disc drives in its new lineup of iPods. Apple is expected to release new iPods later this year, including one that can download songs wirelessly using Wi-Fi, and has a touchscreen system similar to the iPhone, analysts say. Such new devices will not only likely attract buying from Apple's usual fan base, but could also put pressure on the NAND flash memory chip market. The market for NAND Flash memory chips, which store songs, pictures, and other data in consumer electronics devices even when power is turned off, is in oversupply right now, so prices are relatively low and users can still find good deals on flash memory cards and see the usual price declines for older digital music players. If prices for NAND flash riseÂ later this year, it will indirectly affect users. Most likely, users might not see as many bargains on digital music players or mobile phones with built-in memory in the final months of the year, or perhaps fewer offers for free flash cards with the purchase of a new digital camera or other product. For example, if iPhone sales hit 5 million by the end of the year, with an average of 6GB per phone, that would be 30 million extra gigabytes of demand, said Mark Leatham, director for flash marketing at Kingston Technology Company, a flash product maker. Currently, the average mobile phone ships with around 60MB of flash on-board, so that 30 million is equivalent to around an extra 500 million phones hitting the market. NAND Flash prices are already rising, this just adds to the demand, he said. In fact, iPhone sales kicked off with such a bang that the handset itself could move NAND flash memory prices higher. iSuppli believes strong sales of the handset will continue, and the market researcher estimates iPhone shipments to exceed 4.5 million units this year, and then go on to reach more than 30 million by 2011, according to Tina Teng, wireless communications analyst at the company. Other market watchers, such as Goldman Sachs, have even more bullish shipment estimates for the iPhone. The investment banking firm forecasts iPhone sales could reach 5.25 million by the end of this year. The key for the flash industry is iPod sales, in addition to mobile phone sales, according to DRAMeXchange Technology. The fourth quarter is usually the strongest time of year for handset and iPod sales due to the holiday season, and Apple will need to start stocking up on flash memory in the third quarter to make sure its ready for such heavy demand. If, on top of expected iPhone and iPod demand, Apple puts out new iPods that use only flash memory, Apple could account for 25 percent of quarterly flash memory output, the industry researcher says. That kind of demand could really solve the glut problem in the industry and send flash memory prices higher. What's more troubling for users is this may be the start of a longer term trend with regard to higher NAND flash memory prices. Many analysts expect the iPhone to cause a few changes in the mobile phone industry, including the use of more multimedia applications on handsets, hence the need for more NAND flash memory for the storage of pictures, songs, video clips and other data. The amount of NAND flash memory used in handsets is expected to grow dramatically, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, by a compound annual rate of more than 200 percent through 2010. NAND flash memory prices have been relatively tame for the past several months due to a glut in the industry. The iPhone, upcoming iPod products and the continued popularity of the chips as the storage of choice for digital cameras and other devices will likely ensure users don't see as many bargains in the future. Most analysts estimate that prices will start rising in the third quarter, which is now, and when companies start making such purchases in the memory chip industry, it only takes a few weeks to a month for the impact to trickle down through the market to end users. Â
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Apple and China Mobile have broken off negotiations to market the iPhone, the cellular carrier confirms.
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China rejected an overture from Taiwan for talks on direct charter flights and stepped up accusations that President Chen Shui-bian is plotting to declare the island&#39;s independence.
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Sharing revenues just isn't communist China Mobile has confirmed that negotiations with Apple, regarding a China launch for the iPhone, have broken down with no sign of resuscitation.â¦
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Apple will host a series of iPhone developer talks across the United States.
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Apple Computer Inc. said Wednesday it was working to resolve a dispute over alleged labor abuses by an iPod manufacturer in China.
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After nearly three months of talks, the companies announced Wednesday that they were calling off talks about a three-way partnership
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(InfoWorld) - Americans aren't the only ones going crazy over news aboutÂ Apple's iPhone. The impending launch of the phone topped technology news headlines in China on Friday, hours before the handset was due to hit store shelves in the U.S. China's three largest Internet portals, Sina.com, Sohu.com, and Netease.com, all set up sites dedicated to the U.S. iPhone launch, offerings links to news reports, photos, reader comments, and other information. The high profile of the iPhone launch in news headlines halfway around the world from the U.S. is testament to Apple's skillful building of the hype around the smartphone. "IPhone goes on sale tomorrow, who should buy it?," read the top headline on Sina.com's iPhone site. "20 serious shortcomings: the U.S. media comments on the iPhone," the next one said. Netease's iPhone site offered a countdown clock that ticked off the seconds to the iPhone launch alongside headlines that read, "All Apple employees will receive an 8GB iPhone!" and "Only two per person! Live update from the iPhone sales scene." Sohu's site was less sensational, asking, "Is the fanatic response real or fake: 75 percent of Americans have no plans to buy an iPhone." While the iPhone is made in China, the handset isn't set for sale there and doesn't get a mention on Apple's Chinese Web site, which advertises the iPod music player and iTunes software. Apple's iTunes store is not available in China.
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Cisco Systems Inc and Apple Inc have returned to the negotiating table over Apple's use of the "iPhone" trademark for its smartphone-video iPod device, and Apple has been given more time to respond to Cisco's lawsuit.
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(InfoWorld) - When Apple launches the iPhone on Friday, it is set to get a jump on its competitors and spark a flurry of new phone designs, regardless of how well the device actually sells. By introducing a combined smartphone, mobile e-mail platform, and MP3 music player with a touchscreen interface, Apple has sent other hardware vendors running back to their drawing boards. And the company has enjoyed positive press coverage since CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone in January, analysts said. Apple is feeding the fire with strong advertising in its retail stores. On Monday, staffers at the Apple store in the Cambridgeside Galleria mall in Cambridge, Massachusetts, wore black T-shirts with the logo "the wait is almost over," printed above an image of a calendar page for Friday, June 29. iPhone anticipation has already created a "halo effect" of increased sales for Apple's notebook and desktop PCs, an impact that is likely to increase after the launch, according to a report from ChangeWave Research. Apple posted a strong profit for the last period despite struggling with a U.S. federal investigation into executives backdating their stock options. In April,Â Apple beat Wall Street expectations by posting a profit of $770 million for the second quarter, an 88 percent rise from that period last year. Because the company has already garnered media attention and a sales boost from iPhone demand, Apple will suffer little damage even if the device is a flop in retail sales, one analyst said. "No way Apple will seriously impact Nokia or Motorola or Samsung, who combined sell over a billion phones a year. But if Apple manages to sell several million, then that is probably pretty good for their overall business," said analyst Jack Gold, founder of the research firm J. Gold Associates. "I think the potential gold mine is in the services, not the phone hardware." The iPhone will bring new subscribers to Apple's iTunes online music store, and Apple could make more money if it decides to launch future wireless mobile products like navigation, location-based services, VoIP telephony, and video streaming, Gold said. In the meantime, Apple has already given a headache to competitors scurrying to catch up, such as Motorola, Samsung, and LG Electronics. Even vendors with comparable products -- like Nokia's N Series and High Tech Computer's HTC Touch phones -- lack Apple's cachet and will have trouble competing on store shelves, he said. In fact, some experts are warning that iPhone sales could fall short of Apple's high expectations. Their criticism includes potential user confusion about Apple's "virtual keyboard," a battery that may fade too fast and is not user-replaceable, andÂ resistance by some corporate IT departmentsÂ to the added expense and security risk of supporting mobile e-mail networks in addition to the servers they use to support Research in Motion's BlackBerry device. Those drawbacks could limit the iPhone's success in the business market, said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research. Still, the iPhone will be popular with those who tend to use smartphones more by scrolling through menus than typing long messages and who have made Apple's iPod music player a huge hit despite similar concerns about its battery, Wu said. Likewise, consumers will likely shrug off corporate security concerns and use mobile e-mail systems from GoogleÂ and Yahoo. In the long run, Apple will use the iPhone to beat its competitors in creating an end-to-end channel for digital media, spanning from Mac PCs to the mobile iPod music player, iTunes online store, and Apple TV set-top box for sharing Internet and television video content. The only thing Apple could do to spread that net even wider would be to offer iPhone models at less than the current $499 for a 4GB version and $599 for the 8GB, Wu said.
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Apple Inc  is playing Japan's top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo Inc  against No. 3 carrier Softbank Corp  on selling the iPhone in Japan, meeting executives from both companies, sources said on Tuesday.
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Blog: Apple has announced that its retail stores will close from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday ahead of the "iPhone World Premiere" from 6 p.m. to midnight.
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Apple Inc  and China Mobile  have called off talks to launch the U.S. firm's popular iPhones in China, dashing speculation the device will hit the country's store shelves soon.
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Apple Inc  and China Mobile  have called off talks to launch the U.S. firm's popular iPhones in China, a spokeswoman for the Chinese company said on Monday, further dashing speculation the device will hit the country's store shelves soon.
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Blog: Group claims it can unbind the iPhone from a specific carrier to "expand the functionality" of the device.
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Apple Inc  and China Mobile  have called off talks to launch the U.S. firm's popular iPhones  in China, dashing investor speculation that the device will hit  store shelves soon and sending China Mobile shares down.