Apple Execs Are Absolutely Giddy Right Now Says Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope has a report out on Apple this morning that is very bullish.
He met with COO Tim Cook, retail SVP Ron Johnson, and CFO Peter Oppenheimer.
Shope says, "the company appeared more overtly optimistic on the long-term prospects for the iOS platform than it has been in quite some time."
The execs wouldn't divulge much about new iOS features, but they did talk about a few other wholesale things.
Cook said, "he sees no reason why the tablet market shouldn’t eclipse the PC market over the next several years," according to Shope's note.
By "tablet" we assume Cook means iPads.
Shope thinks Apple will be able to sell 8.1 million iPads for the June quarter, a 72% increase from the year prior.
Other reasons for the execs to be happy? Apple now has the iPhone on 200 carriers worldwide, and it's retail stores are doing very well says Shope.
article sources from: http://www.adapterlist.com/

Apple signs Universal Music to iCloud

Apple has cut a licensing deal with Universal Music Group that will enable Apple's online music store to offer songs from the largest of the four top record companies, sources with knowledge of the talks told CNET.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs

(Credit: James Martin)

The agreement means Apple now has the rights to offer recordings from all of the major labels. In addition, Apple has reached agreements with some of the large music publishers, the sources said.
Apple announced Tuesday that it would unveil a long-anticipated service called iCloud on June 6 at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Apple did not disclose whether iCloud would include any music features, but we do know that Apple managers have sought for more than a year to create a music feature for the service.
Details about the agreements are few, but here's how the revenue from iCloud's music service will be split, according to the sources: the labels will get 58 percent and publishers will receive 12 percent. Apple will take 30 percent.
Streaming will not be available on Monday but will be offered soon, the sources said. They added that an Apple digital locker will store only music purchased at iTunes. The company is said to have plans to store songs acquired from outside iTunes sometime in the future. A year ago, when Apple first discussed a cloud-music service with the labels, creating digital shelves for people to store all their songs was part of Apple's vision.

Obtaining rights from Universal Music, home of such acts as Lady Gaga, U2, and Kanye West, gave Apple the final piece of the puzzle as far as recording rights are concerned. When it comes to publishing and performance rights, Apple still has more deals to negotiate, and at this point it appears the talks will go to the wire. According to The New York Times, Apple has penned publishing deals with Universal Music Publishing and Sony/ATV, the publishing arms of Universal and Sony and the two largest record companies. The Times reports that EMI and Warner/Chappell have yet to reach an agreement. wholesale
Apple, the country's dominate music distributor, is setting up to be a major player in cloud computing, the name given when Internet users complete computing chores via a third-party's servers instead of their PC. Cloud music is supposed to be the format that succeeds the CD and digital download.
Consumers will have the final say, but so far much of the music industry as well as Apple, Amazon, and Google appear to be making big cloud bets. Amazon and Google have each debuted their own cloud services. What makes Apple's different is that it will be the first among the big three to offer licensed music. This is supposed to give Apple much more flexibility in terms of what it can offer consumers.
Apple's iCloud will be much more than a music service. On Tuesday, CNET reported that in recent weeks Apple has raced to license movies and TV shows from Hollywood film studios and TV networks. Apple, however, faces more obstacles in licensing video for iCloud. The hold-up is due in part to exclusive licensing arrangements that some of the studios have entered into with HBO.
Nonetheless, expect to see the iCloud come with more than just music features--if not on Monday--than sometime in the future.
sources from http://www.adapterlist.com/

Apple tries to put the kibosh on iPad and iPhone giveaways

Earlier this spring, the folks at WTVD-TV, the local ABC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., had a bright idea. To drum up interest in the station -- and raise its profile on Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz -- it organized a sweepstakes contest and gave 11 lucky winners the hottest prize in consumer electronics: an Apple (AAPL) iPad.

What the contest organizers didn't realize -- but would have quickly learned if they'd done their due diligence -- was that they'd just run afoul of Apple's Guidelines for Third Party Promotions. Operating on the theory that its brand is one of its most valuable properties, Apple has laid out some pretty strict rules about what it thinks you can and can't do with its products. Among them:  (I quote)

iPad, iPhone and the iPhone Gift Card may not be used in third-party promotions.
iPod touch is only allowed to be used in special circumstances and requires a minimum purchase of 250 units.
You may NOT use the Myriad Set font on or in connection with web sites, products, packaging, manuals, or promotional/advertising materials.
The use of "free" as a modifier in any Apple product reference in a prominent manner (headlines, call- outs, etc.) is prohibited.
You must submit all marketing materials related to the promotion of Apple products to Apple for review.
The two-page document that lists these guidelines -- and many more -- has been around at least since January, but it seems that Apple has begun reaching out to companies to enforce them only recently. Earlier this year, Cult of Mac's Nicole Martinelli counted more than three dozen active iPad sweepstakes and giveaways, including contests run by Mashable, MacMall and Mahalo. None of them, as far as she knows, was ever told not to do it.

sources from: http://www.adapterlist.com/

Samsung demands Apple hand over iPad 3 and iPhone 5

The Apple [AAPL] Samsung relationship continues to unravel, and while reports last week claim COO, Tim Cook, took a trip to South Korea to negotiate displays for Apple products, it looks like the battle between Samsung's mobile arm and the iPhone company is scuppering friendly relations.

[ABOVE: A detail from the Apple filing illustrating alleged similarities between Apple and Samsung's mobile products.]
Show and...sue
Apple last week demanded and won a California court order that Samsung turn over a variety of its unreleased Galaxy mobile products to Apple's legal team. They want to check these products and their packaging to see if there are any offending similarities between these and Apple's own designs. Apple has demanded access to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 tablets, and smartphones like the Galaxy S II, Droid Charge and Infuse 4G.
"Instead of pursuing independent product development, Samsung has chosen to slavishly copy Apple's innovative technology, distinctive user interfaces, and elegant and distinctive product and packaging design, in violation of Apple's valuable intellectual property rights. As alleged below in detail, Samsung has made its Galaxy phones and computer tablet work and look like Apple's products through widespread patent and trade dress infringement. Samsung has even misappropriated Apple's distinctive product packaging," Apple's filing claimed.
A secret shared
In an unusual counterattack, Samsung is demanding that Apple hand it pre-production prototypes of the iPhone 5 and iPad 3, along with the product packaging. Only Samsung's external lawyers will win the chance to take a pre-release glance -- but they are demanding this access by 17 June 2011, and this does fly in the face of Apple's customary corporate secrecy.
[This story is from Computerworld's Apple Holic blog. Follow on Twitter or subscribe via RSS to make sure you don't miss a beat.]
Samsung says it wants these to help it, "prepare its defense against any preliminary injunction motion brought against Samsung by Apple for trademark or trade dress infringement."
The big problem here is that Apple is one of Samsung's biggest customers, and depends on the firm for a swathe of components, including flash memory, displays and for production of the A5 and A4 processors used in Apple's iDevice series.
"We are Samsung's largest customer, and Samsung is a very valued component supplier to us. I expect a strong relationship will continue," Apple COO Tim Cook said during the company's just-gone financial call.
Apple spent $5.68 billion with Samsung last year, accounting for 4 percent of its revenue.
Seeking Samsung replacements
Apple will play every card it has available. For example, Intel has said it would be very interested in producing custom chips for Apple. "We believe that Intel has also stepped up its efforts to get into the foundry business. In particular, Intel is vying for Apple's foundry business," Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard has said.
Earlier this year a report claimed that Apple is working with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to get that firm to manufacture A5 processors for its devices.
Apple has reportedly been talking with Samsung with a view to sourcing AMOLED displays. Now it seems the firm may not land the contract, as Apple may choose to work with LG, assuming that manufacturer can make these displays.
Compounding problems
However, all Apple's moves to protect itself against Samsung come as the industry continues to resurrect itself following the triple disasters of Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. These events have created component supply problems which are certainly impacting across the industry in the current quarter.
Apple's Mac sales are also exploding. The firm recently entered the top five PC makers in the UK for the first time, booting Samsung off that list.
With billions in the bank, Apple executives must be considering financing one or more of their existing manufacturing partners in creating new production lines for product components. Take Foxconn's expansion into Brazil as an example of this. However, these things won't happen overnight, and the problem with Samsung cannot be good for Apple's future product plans.
The situation is certainly a test for Apple's COO, Tim Cook. Cook has a reputation for being a smart business manager with tight control over components and inventory. How this puzzle is resolved will perhaps be seen as indicative of his potential as a future Apple CEO, though to be fair, some of these events are completely beyond his control.
What can Apple do to out-maneuver its South Korean war? How can the company replace arguable its most important component manufacturer? Let us know in comments below, and please, I'd be honored if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.      
sources from:http://www.batteries-charger.com.au/