Finance

Google’s 2012 revenue? Two percent will come from iOS

Look, we already know Apple's iOS platform made Google four times the revenue of Android by end of 2011, courtesy of huge traffic coming from iOS device owners using preloaded search and mapping services from Google.

And as Apple is said to reduce its dependency on the search giant with a rumored in-house mapping service, Google's bottom line is becoming increasingly tied to the successes of Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Google's mobile advertising revenue? That's nearly all Apple. Looking at the big picture, the search Goliath will get up to two percent of its total revenue for the calendar year 2012 from the iOS platform...

This guy cost Apple $96 billion this week

Have you noticed the 'broken record syndrome' over at Business Insider? The publication's been running an article series under their trademark sensationalist headlines that spell doom for Apple's stock price.

Down Goes Apple, said the headline Tuesday. Down Goes Apple Again, another one screamed Wednesday. And There Goes Apple Again!, yesterday's headline has it. And you gotta love their latest story titled Apple Is Now Straight-Up Tanking!

So, what's going on here? Is AAPL on a downward spiral? And what's up with the $2,000 per share Apple meme?

Analysts warn: swirling iPhone 5 rumors will hurt Apple’s second-quarter sales

Remember when Apple announced sales of 17.07 million iPhones during the September quarter of last year? The company was dealing with a rare loss at the time for it had failed to meet analysts' audacious expectations.

In fact, Tim Cook had gone on the record in a conference call with investor to blame the slowdown on those crazy summertime rumors that had been repeatedly calling for a completely redesigned iPhone for the summer of 2011.

"iPhone sales slowed toward the end of the quarter amid speculation over the debut of a new model", the CEO said. Well, looks like history could repeat itself.

Some analysts are now concerned that Apple is due for a big come down because swirling iPhone 5 rumors could negatively impact sales of the current-generation iPhone 4S/4 as would-be buyers withhold their planned purchases in anticipation of a new model.

iOS boss cashes in shares, pockets $38.7 million

Scott Forstall, who heads the team behind the software that powers iOS devices, by far Apple’s most profitable division, has recently sold 64,151 shares worth roughly $38.7 million, a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) commission has revealed.

Cook, identified as Apple's CEO-in-waiting in Adam Lashinsky's Inside Apple book, still holds nearly $2 million worth of shares plus retention bonuses worth over a quarter billion dollars provided he stays with Apple and the company does emerge as the world’s first trillion dollar corporation...

They poured $250,000 into Instagram, took $78M, but could’ve made way more

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz had poured a cool quarter million dollars into Instagram back when it was just a small startup called Burbn.

Though it never took off, its photo-sharing component was doing quite well, giving birth to the widely popular Instagram photo-sharing service.

Even though Horowitz never invested in Instagram again, they're poised to walk away with a cool $78 million once the $1 billion deal with Facebook closes.

That's a nice 312 times premium on a $250,000 investment, but they could have made potentially hundreds of millions of dollars if they chose to back Burbn in series-B funding.

Instead, the investors gave cofounding CEO Kevin Systrom back information rights and pro rata rights to the series B, never investing in Instagram again...