Money

As institutional investors side with Apple, Carl Icahn withdraws his buyback proposal

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

Controversial activist investor Carl Icahn continues to aggressively purchase shares of Apple while insisting that the company increase the size of its share buyback program. His proposal for a $50 billion buyback has been met with resistance by proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) which now recommends voting against the plan.

ISS argues that the Apple board has already returned the bulk of its U.S.-generated cash to shareholders through the company's aggressive stock buybacks and dividends payouts. As a result of large institutional investors siding with Apple, Icahn has withdrawn his proposal...

Used iPhones with Flappy Bird installed going for $100K on eBay

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Here's an entertaining little anecdote to start your week off. By now, I'm sure most of you know about Flappy Bird; that it essentially became an overnight success, and that its developer pulled it from the App Store yesterday. But the saga may not be over just yet.

Shortly after the game was pulled on Sunday, iPhones with Flappy Bird installed started appearing on eBay. It's not too surprising that folks would want to capitalize on its popularity, but what may catch you off guard is that some of them are going for big bucks...

What an iPhone would have cost in 1991

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2018

As inexpensive and powerful as technology is today, it's easy to take it for granted. You can buy a smartphone today that could outperform desktop machines from 20 years ago, at a fraction of the size, for a fragment of the price.

To really put things in perspective, analyst Bret Swanson decided to do a rough calculation of what the iPhone would have cost to build in 1991. And to give you an idea of how pricey it gets, a 1GB HD cost around $10K back then...

Incipio’s Cashwrap NFC iPhone case now available to Verizon customers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2018

Case maker Incipio two weeks ago announced its new iPhone case, the Cashwrap. It brings mobile wallet functionality to the iPhone 4/4s/5/5s by incorporating NFC technology. The case is compatible with the carrier-backed Isis Mobile Wallet app which makes it possible to pay with your device at participating retailers, mass transit systems and more, using an Iris account.

AT&T initially rolled out the Cashwrap to its own retail stores and yesterday the accessory became available to order in Verizon stores nationwide and from the Big Red carrier’s online store...

Following 8 percent slide, Apple repurchases $14 billion in stock

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2018

Apple reported the financial results for its holiday quarter late last month, and for the most part they killed it—the company set records for revenue, iPhone sales, and iPad sales during the 3-month period. But all Wall Street saw was declining growth.

The Cupertino tech giant's stock dropped 8% that day in after-hours trading, falling from $550 per share to $500, and it has yet to rebound. But Tim Cook says Apple's taking advantage of the unexpected price drop by going on a major buyback spree...

Popular ‘Flappy Bird’ game earning $50k per day in ad revenue

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

While discussing the latest mobile gaming craze that is Flappy Bird on our recent Let's Talk iOS podcast, I wondered out loud how much money the developer was making from his newfound success. The game, which is free with ads, has enjoyed a spontaneous reign at the top of the App Store.

Apparently he's doing rather well for himself. In a recent interview with The Verge, developer Dong Nguyen says that Flappy Bird is earning an average of $50,000 per day from ads. It's been download over 50M times, and has been sitting atop iOS and Android app stores for nearly a month...

Microsoft buys $15 million stake in Foursquare

Cody Lee ∙ February 4, 2014

It's been a pretty big day for Microsoft. Following the news earlier today that Satya Nadella has been named the company's new CEO, and Bill Gates would be stepping down as chairman, comes word that the Windows maker has made a sizable investment in Foursquare.

The deal, which has been confirmed by both parties, is said to be worth $15 million, and it will give Microsoft access to Forsquare's mountain of mobile data. The company plans to utilize the data in its Bing mapping software and various other Windows Phone applications...

Apple slapped with new $840 million claim for ebooks price fixing

Cody Lee ∙ February 2, 2014

Apple was found guilty of conspiring with 5 major publishers to increase the prices of e-books last summer, but so far it hasn't had to write a single check. But that could change soon thanks to a newly-filed damages claim.

Steve Berman, an attorney representing consumers and 33 states who linked up with the DOJ’s case against Apple, says the company's actions caused e-book buyers to spend an extra $280,254,374. And wants that tripled...

Lenovo CEO: Motorola purchase part of mission to surpass Samsung, Apple

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

When news hit earlier this week that Google had agreed to sell its Motorola Mobility unit to Lenovo for $2.9 billion, it surprised a lot of people. Not only was the sale price some $10 billion below what Google paid for Motorola 3 years ago, but Lenovo? Where'd that come from?

According to a recent Fortune interview with Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yan, that was the plan all along. Yan says that his company has been eyeing Motorola since before Google came along , and it has major plans for it. Lenovo wants to become the #1 smartphone-maker in the world...

15 interesting points from today’s earnings call

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple just announced its earnings for its September quarter, and despite all of the ‘doom’ talk and lowball analyst predictions, the numbers are actually pretty good. In fact, the company set records for iPhone and iPad sales, and revenue.

We’re just finishing up the conference call, where Tim Cook and his CFO Peter Oppenheimer talked about Apple’s performance, and offered some insight into its future. And as usual, we’ve rounded up the 15 most interesting points for you…

Apple Q1 2014 earnings: 51M iPhones, 26M iPads, $57.6B revenue

Cody Lee ∙ January 27, 2014

As expected, Apple is out with its financial report for Q1 2014 this afternoon. It’s an important one, as it follows a number of product releases in the late fall of last year, and then of course the holiday season, where the company typically posts huge numbers.

And it continues that tradition today. In a press release issued just a few moments ago, Apple announced that it sold 51 million iPhones, 26 million iPads, and pulled in $57.6 billion in revenue during its fiscal Q1—all record-breaking for the Cupertino firm...

WSJ: Apple looking to push deeper into mobile payments

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 24, 2017

The Wall Street Journal is reporting tonight that Apple is looking to develop a new mobile payment service. The outlet says that SVP of Internet and Services Eddy Cue has met with other companies regarding Apple's plans to use its iOS devices to handle payments.

With hundreds of millions of active iTunes accounts, Apple has one of the largest credit card banks in existence. And pundits have been saying for years that the company could leverage its mega user base by coming up with some sort of mobile payment system...