Apple won't blindly pursue market share, Chinese paper reports

SAN FRANCISCO/BEIJING: In a revised version of an interview published Thursday in a Chinese newspaper, Apple Inc marketing chief Phil Schiller said the company would focus on making "the best products" for customers and "never blindly pursue market share".

On Thursday, the Shanghai Evening News had originally cited Schiller as saying that Apple would not develop a cheaper smartphone for the sake of expanding its market share.

That appeared to undermine other recent media reports indicating that Apple was working on a low-end smartphone, which would represent a significant shift in strategy for a company that has always focused on premium products.

But in a new version of the story published after the original, the Shanghai Evening News removed all references to cheaper smartphones, except for a mention of rumours of a "cheaper, low-end product".

It also amended its original headline from "Apple will not push a cheaper smartphone for the sake of market share", to "Apple wants to provide the best products, will not blindly pursue market share".

Apple confirmed the interview had taken place and that it had contacted the Chinese newspaper about amending its original article, but had no further comment and declined to provide a transcript of the interview.
A reporter at the Shanghai Evening News who identified himself as Huang Yinlong, whose byline appeared on the stories, said the paper had made some changes, as Schiller's remarks may not have been presented as clearly as possible.

As well as deleting references to cheap smartphones, paraphrased statements attributed to Schiller in the original version were replaced with direct quotations.

Asked if the paper had made the changes at Apple's request, Huang said that the paper had made the decision on its own.

"We deliberated about it, and wanted to reflect (Schiller's) meaning in the interview more accurately, so we made some adjustments", said Huang, adding the interview was conducted in Beijing on Tuesday.

The original story had quoted Schiller as saying that developing a cheaper smartphone to try and replace feature phones was not a direction in which the company wanted to head.

That comment was amended in the new version of the story, which now cites Schiller as saying that while some manufacturers are moving toward such cheaper smartphones, "Apple has always focused on providing the best products for its consumers, we've never blindly chased market share."

An operator at the Shanghai Evening News said the paper did not have a spokesperson. Queries for comment were referred to Editor-in-Chief Niu Yefang, whose phone went unanswered.

A spokeswoman for Apple in China could not be reached immediately.

Apple rarely addresses rumors about upcoming products, which often spur intense speculation. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources as saying Apple could release a cheaper iPhone as early as this year. 

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."
The Next Web reports that Schiller gave an interview to the Shanghai Evening News yesterday in which he said: "Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple's products. In fact, although Apple's market share of smartphones is just about 20 percent, we own 75 percent of the profit."

Some might interpret this as: "Do you really think we're going to go grubbing around in the basement, looking for a few coins?"
Wise and regular analysts estimated that a cheaper iPhone could reach half a billion customers.
But where would the cachet be if everyone was walking around with an iPhone? Some might say it's bad enough already when everyone and her ex already has an iPad.
In Apple's world, if something is cheaper, it has to have some palpably positive -- and, hopefully, novel -- value.
It's hard to believe Apple would create something that is simply cheap for cheap's sake.
And anyway, if this thing were to be a smaller iPhone, that would be an iPhone 4, right?

Smartphone touted as ‘remote for your life’

LAS VEGAS (AFP) - It can talk to your car, your refrigerator, water your plants and help you stay fit and healthy: the smartphone is become the consumer’s remote control for life.
That was the message delivered by dozens of firms at the International Consumer Electronics Show, where terms like “appification” were tossed around freely.
The hundreds of thousands of “apps” developed for mobile platforms such as Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone and showcased at the Las Vegas tech gathering are quickly taking a lot of functions that people or different devices used to do.
Nowhere was this more evident in the “connected home” zone of the world’s biggest technology show.
Samsung, the South Korean tech giant, showed a connected refrigerator which can stream music from a smartphone, while US appliance maker Dacor unveiled what it called the “first Android oven,” with a panel to check emails and the Web.
US appliance maker Whirlpool showed its lineup of smart appliances which can send a user a text message when the laundry is done. Whirlpool’s refrigerator can also stream music through an app, enabling a host to set a playlist for each course of a dinner party, for example.
“You don’t need to be friend on Facebook with your fridge, but it makes its use easier,” quipped Warwick Stirling, Whirlpool’s senior director of energy and sustainability. South Korea’s LG offered an integrated solution: one smartphone app which can remotely turn on a robotic vacuum or washing machine, or monitor something cooking in the oven.
An LG refrigerator, equipped with a touchscreen panel, can deliver a shopping list to your smartphone wirelessly, provided that the database is created in the appliance.
“You can control your life with a smartphone,” said LG’s Lisa Hutchenson.
French-based firm Parrot and Korea’s Moneual each showed off an app to allow smartphone users to keep their home plants watered, using a sensor which transmits information on temperature, light and humidity and alerts people when the plants are thirsty. The home thermostat, locks and lighting can be controlled with an app developed by Ingersoll Rand.
“The phone can be your remote control for your house,” said Matt McGovren, marketing manager for the maker of home equipment.
“Everything will be connected, even things not generally associated with smartphones, like locks.”
In the car, drivers can mimic their key fob functions to control their car, track, locate and monitor their vehicles with an app from Delphi Automotive, shown at CES.
And Ford and General Motors announced at CES that they will be launching efforts to help app developers create programs which be used in vehicles, some of which already can play streaming movies or music from mobile devices.
“Up to now, radio was the only entertainment in the car,” said Thomas Sonnenrein, of the German equipment maker Bosch. “Today we have a system shared with the Internet, the smartphone and the car” which “creates a lot of value.”
The health segment is exploding with apps which can monitor heart rate, blood sugar, distance traveled by runners and many other things seen in the CES fitness tech zone. The integration of the television and smartphone was a major focus at CES, with numerous smart TVs sharing with mobile phones and tablets. Not to mention the simple use of the device as a remote TV control.
Shawn DuBravac, chief economist at the Consumer Electronics Association, told the CES opening session that 65 percent of time spend on smartphones now is “non communication activities” such as apps for health, entertainment or other activities.
“We have moved away not only from telephony but from communications being the primary part of these devices,” he said. “So it is not just a communications devices, it is a hardware hub around which people build services... the smartphone is becoming the viewfinder for your digital life.”

Now, headphones that you can wear like headband to bed

Researchers have created a headband with built in earphones could help us sleep more soundly and easily.
The SleepPhones are a fabric band with earphones built in - and its makers claim you can even use them without waking a partner sleeping next to you, the Daily Mail reported.
Current versions have a wire to connect to a phone, but a wireless version, set to go on sale in April, has just won a prestigious awards at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
“Being able to sleep soundly is crucial to feeling well overall, and SleepPhones help by playing relaxing audio, drowning out noises, and establishing a positive bedtime routine,” Wei-Shin Lai, one of the inventors of the headphones said.
The firm began selling the product in 2007, when Lai was working as a doctor.
The firm is now set to introduce its first wireless version, selling for 50 pounds in April.
“There’s a version of our product for sports, a version for sleep, and now a wireless version that eliminates cords entirely by playing back media from any Bluetooth-enabled device,” Lai said.
The current version has a wire so it can be plugged into an iPod or bedside alarm, but the next version will be wireless, the firm said

School shooting victim expected to recover

Officials try to determine a motive, with the Kern County sheriff saying the assailant believed that the two students he targeted had bullied him.

A day after the shooting at Taft Union High School in Kern County, many students, family members and friends gathered at the school to attend counseling sessions or offer each other comfort. (Henry A. Barrios, The Bakersfield Californian / January 11, 2013)

A Taft Union High School student targeted and shot by a classmate was on life support and in intensive care Friday but is expected to recover, hospital officials said, as law enforcement authorities sought to discern a motive for the attack.
The 16-year-old boy, whom authorities have not identified, suffered injuries to the lungs and liver after shotgun pellets hit his chest and abdomen, officials at Kern County Medical Center said.
"He's in … an induced coma to protect him," said Paul Hensler, chief executive officer of the Bakersfield-based facility, which is a trauma center.
Hensler said the boy had undergone about three hours of surgery on Thursday and would probably need "additional surgeries after he's stronger."
Law enforcement officials said the suspect, also age 16, would be charged with attempted murder. They did not give his name because he is a minor.
They said they were investigating what role bullying may have had in motivating him to fire a 12-gauge shotgun at students in his science class. In addition to the hospitalized victim, the suspect tried to shoot a second student and missed before the teacher was able to talk him down, authorities said.
"He certainly believed the two he targeted had bullied him," Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood told reporters at a news briefing. "Whether or not that occurred, we don't know that."
Youngblood said the suspect planned the attack the night before and used a shotgun owned by his brother. A school surveillance camera captured the boy as he entered a side entrance to the campus "trying to conceal the shotgun." The video "showed he was nervous," Youngblood said.
In the scramble to escape, some students barricaded themselves in a storage closet, while others fled through a back door, authorities said. Two additional students suffered minor injuries. One girl was close to the assailant as he fired off rounds and was treated at a local hospital for possible hearing damage; another hurt her ankle, Youngblood said.
Classes were canceled Friday, but the school remained open for a few hours so staff and students could collect belongings left behind during the mayhem. Grief counselors were available on campus "to talk to people," said Ray Pruitt, public information officer for the Kern County Sheriff's Department.
Sixteen-year-old junior Oscar Martinez said in a telephone interview that some students who stopped by the campus Friday were crying. Others were hugging and holding hands.
"It's a small town. We really can't believe it happened in Taft," said Oscar, who ran from the school building when word spread that a shooter was at large.
Classes were scheduled to resume Monday.

 

iPhone5 Inspired Titanium Gray Galaxy S3 Released By Samsung

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 apparently has a strong influence on Samsung, as the Korean tech company announced plans for a titanium gray version of their flagship phone, Galaxy S III. This new model hits T-Mobile stores earlier this week.

The new version comes with 16GB of internal storage, Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean operating system, 8 megapixel camera with LED flash, 4.8 AMOLED HD display, NFC capabilities, and a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. The phone will sell for $279.99, after a mail-in rebate coupon for $50.00.

Brian White (analyst for Topeka Capital Markets) predicts  that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will release their next generation smartphone in six to eight different colors. That’s why they supposedly launched the fifth generation iPod Touch is many colors, they wanted to gauge the reactions of consumers before colorizing the next iPhone. Since it has proven to be successful, Apple will probably colorize the iPhone and the iPad next.

He also predicts that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will introduce the iPhone in different sizes in order to appeal to all markets including the low-end markets. There has been some talk lately about Apple creating an iPhone Mini in hopes of securing a lead in the budget smartphone market. It’s been also predicted that the iPhone Mini could arrive as early as this summer.

To keep up with the competition, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) recently announced their plans to release a budget-friendly smartphone called Samsung S Galaxy II Plus. Yesterday, we reported that this new phone is essentially an enhanced version of the original Galaxy II, with hyperglazed plastic construction, 4.3 inch Super AMOLED display, 1.2 GHz processor, and 8 megapixel back camera.  It also comes in two color choices white or dark blue.

The smartphone battle between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) will continue to heat up as both companies continually release new smartphones and improve the ones they have on the market. 2013 could be a big year for smartphones.

Nokia sells 15.9 mn smartphones in Q4, beats own forecast

Nokia Corp signaled Thursday its smartphone partnership with Microsoft was starting to reap rewards as it revealed that fourth-quarter mobile phone sales exceeded expectations and that its handset business would return to profitability.
The Finnish company’s share price surged 11 percent to close at €3.32 on Helsinki Stock Exchange.
Nokia said it sold 86 million devices in the last three months of 2012, including some 4.5 million Lumia smartphones, while revenues amounted to some €3.9 billion. A year earlier, it posted a fourth-quarter net loss of €1 billion with a 19-percent plunge in revenue.
The cellphone maker said it sold 15.9 million smartphones in the quarter, up from 6.3 million in the previous quarter.
Nokia has been struggling in the fierce top-end race against Apple Inc and Samsung and is now also losing ground to Asian makers in lower-end devices. Samsung overtook it as the world’s No. 1 cellphone maker early last year after Nokia led the field for 14 years. In 2011, Nokia announced that it would join forces with Microsoft to produce a smartphone that would run on Windows software. The latest Windows handset, the Lumia was launched last year.
CEO Stephen Elop said he was pleased with the company’s “solid” fourth-quarter performance.
“We are pleased that Q4 2012 was a solid quarter where we exceeded expectations and delivered underlying profitability,” he said. “We focused on our priorities and as a result we sold a total of 14 million Asha smartphones and Lumia smartphones while managing our costs efficiently, and Nokia Siemens Networks delivered yet another very good quarter.”
The company said operating expenses in the last quarter of 2012 had been lower than expected and that its devices and services sector saw operating margins of “between break even and positive 2 percent.” Elsewhere, its networks joint venture with Germany’s Siemens AG — Nokia Siemens Networks — had “record underlying profits and a third consecutive quarter of underlying profitability,” with operating margins expected to be 13-15 percent.
However, the company warned that seasonality and competition would have a negative impact on the handset division’s first-quarter profitability in comparison to the last three months of 2012. Nokia is due to report fourth-quarter earnings on 24 January.