Apple Reduces iPhone 5S Prices In India

Apple has reduced the price of its flagship iPhone 5S by half for Indian market.

Apple Inc. has reduced the price of its flagship iPhone 5S by half for its customer base in the Indian market, as reported by 9to5Mac. The iPhone 5S will now be sold in the Indian market for $340. This initiative has been taken by the company to popularize the penetration of Apple in the Indian market by opting for a low cost strategy. Initially the cost of an iPhone was $665, which was thought to be as extremely expensive, whereas the iPhone 6S was being sold for $950. This had made India one of the most expensive regions to purchase an iPhone from.

The tech giant has been trying its best to position itself in the Indian market since there are several local manufacturers selling their smartphones at a relatively low cost. This encompasses Samsung and Micromax that sell their products for a price below $300. As per a report published by the poplar research firm- IDC, AAPL in India is not a part of the top five spots in the Indian market since the pricing of the device is not affordable to the masses in the region.

The company needs to tweak its approach to make its Apple products popular in the region. Thus the initiative taken is actually a good step to establish its presence amongst the masses. At this point of time, the Apple iPhones are priced heftily since they are not manufactured locally and the company has to adhere to a lot of taxes and duties to ship its products in the region. So now the company is striving hard to grow since the exchange rate has made it quite difficult for the company to lure customers.

The iPhone 5S is said to be a glorified Apple product that has a strong market globally. The initiative taken actually proves that the company badly wants to make a mark in the Indian fraternity. Moreover, rumors have also been circulating that the company will soon be releasing iPhone 6c in FY16. So now the company wants to keep the price tag similar to iPhone 5S.

Apart from this, it has also been reported that Foxconn will establish a production unit in India so that the company can manufacture smartphones locally at a cheaper rate. India is following China and is considered to be the second largest smartphone market. However, the purchasing power of the masses is quite stagnant that is acting like a barrier for Apple to penetrate.

Apple Reveals A Bad News For Square Inc.

Apple's iPhone 7 might not have a headphone jack which is bad news for Square.

According to the Macotakara, a Japanese blog came up with an article according to which Apple Inc. has plans regarding removing the headphone jack that measures 3.5 mm from the upcoming iPhone 7. The idea is to reduce the thickness of the smartphone. As rumors suggest, the smartphone users will be able to connect their headphones with the device via a Lightning connector or simply through Bluetooth. Moreover, lightning compatible headphones are expected to be launched with the device the coming year.

The present headphones connecting port has a particular standard size, which acts as a major barrier when it comes to minimizing the thickness of the Apple iPhone. The specifications for the lightning headphones were provided to the manufacturers the previous year too through the Made for iPhone licensing initiative.

Trip Chowdhry, the renowned analyst is of the believe that there are numerous benefits for AAPL if it actually gives up on the headphone jack. First and foremost, it will make the device thinner making it different from all the other models that have been launched to date. This will motivate the Apple users to upgrade to the new device. Moreover, he also pointed out that the transactions that were made via Square Inc. and Intuit card charging devices will not be possible anymore since the port would change. So the only options for the users to make transactions will be to make use of Apple pay with an iPhone in a format that is peer to peer. Moreover, the above mentioned companies, if they want to continue their association with the service will have to pay royalties to Apple or assign a share of their earnings to them to sustain.

According to the rumors, the upcoming Apple product will have several amazing features that will be completely different from the current iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Moreover, it is also assumed that the sales of iPhone 6S were not really as exciting as the company expected since a lot of consumers are still waiting for iPhone 7 launch.

According to a popular site, “As markets across the world increasingly become saturated, and competition intensifies, upgrade cycles will help Apple in maintaining revenue growth. The success of newer upgrade cycles will also increase the number of Android switchers to iOS, and raise replacement rates.”

Hence now the company has a lot of scope to grow however companies like Intuit and Square need to worry and come up with alternate solutions. 

Enterprise Market: Apple's New Obsession

The multinational tech giant has taken a new turn and is now focusing on the enterprise market; it is still to early to say whether the greatest tech company will be able to take that market as well. Apple, Inc., on Wednesday released its iPad Pro for sale. This is the tech giant’s most expensive as well as largest tablet that has been released since the initiation of the multinational technology company. The chief executive officer Tim Cook has high hopes and ambitions for the newly released device, the fact that the investors find it rather modest, it give further hope to not only the CEO but also the company itself.
Launching the new Apple iPad Pro is a first for the American tech giant as well since the device is designed specifically for business users. Apple has always kept its focus on a more youngster outlook rather than aiming at the business niche market more like that of Blackberry’s. The business user has never been Apple’s ultimate user. As per the recent earnings call made by Tim Cook the revenue generation from the enterprise market or popularly the “business market” in a trial time span of one year touched a $25 billion mark. This revenue generation accounted for 11% of the sales that were made in that period. The tech giant has always kept its focus on diversifying especially when it comes to its iPhones since they account for at least two third of the multinational company’s total revenue. The executive now is making an entrance into the enterprise market which he has had an eye on for a while now. This interest of Mr. Cook’s has been evident from the recent partnerships that he has gotten into in the past year. In order to grow its business and further be better able to market its products to bigger companies, the company decided to indulge in such partnerships with Cisco System as well as International Business Machines. Additionally, this new strategy of Cook’s becomes extra clear when we get to know that the company has not just put its iPad against other tablets in the market but instead is being marketed against laptops. This is not quite as easy as it might sound since it has already been witnessed in the tech company’s history. Initially when the first iPad was launched back in 2010 it was a popular belief that it would go against laptops but thanks to the sales of its own Apple MacBook line, this thought failed to work out. In Fiscal Year 2013, the number of units of iPads that were sold was 71 million which was the highest it has even gone to and since then the sales have declined. In the recent fiscal year 2015, the sales of the tech giant’s tablets dropped down to 55 million units which was a drop of 19%. The new iPad Pro has been priced at $799 for a 32-GB device and goes up to $1,217 for a 128 GB model.

Apple Comes Up With Indoor Survey Application

Apple develops an app that will support mapping and navigation.

Apple Inc. has recently unveiled a survey app for the iPhone which primarily serves as a Global Positioning System (GPS) for indoor usage. A new apps page has been launched on the Apple App Store were this app made its debut developed by Mr. Steve Troughton-Smith. The idea behind this application by the tech behemoth is to have its own mobile app platform that will assist small and medium sized businesses to guide consumers to their location by connecting on Maps Connect. The recent Apple product is currently not found through the search bar of the App Store. It can only be downloaded via Apple Maps Connect registrations. This application is so far hidden by the company and is also updated and termed as Indoor Survey version 0.1, that is functioning on iOS 8 on various devices like the iPod touch, iPad and iPhone which are used by owners of small businesses. Currently the application can offer support to three languages such as Chinese, English and Japanese. As per the description provided by the company regarding its Indoor Survey app states, "By dropping 'points' on a map within the Survey App, you indicate your position within the venue as you walk through. As you do so, the indoor Survey App measures the radio frequency (RF) signal data and combines it with an iPhone's sensor data. The end result is indoor positioning without the need to install special hardware." The present components in the Apple iPhone enable it to do various app based tasks. So the application merely gets its hands on the sensors present in the device and then starts to measure out the distance between the arbitrary connections points in the workplace to the Apple users. So the question here arises so as to what is the reference point that is used to measure the distance in the present radio waves from the device? Some of the people have this speculation that the Bluetooth sensors of the device are used while some consider it to be the Wi-Fi antennae. However, nobody really knows what the real game is and all this is based on mere speculation. The idea behind this app si unique and once it is launched publicly then many business owners will benefit since mostly businessmen are concerned about the location of their offices. AAPL has come up with a great technique that will have good impacts in the corporate sector.

Apple inc Receives Offer From Foxconn To Invest In Sharp

The software giant has been offered by Foxconn to take over Sharp, which might be considered by the company for its own benefit in the long run.

The most recent news about Apple is about how Foxconn has made an offer to the software giant regarding making a huge buy of Sharp, which has been struggling in the stock market for some time. According to a report by Nikkei business, it was seen that Foxconn has shown interest in taking over the popular LCD business but has come around to have little capital for it. Therefore, through an offer made to the iPhone makers, the company is making an effort to take over the business with shared capital from the tech giant. Now analysts are talking about why the tech company would want to accept the deal in the first place, and the only reason that seems to make sense is that it also uses the LCD displaying for its own gadgets, which is why it might think about accepting the deal. The LCD business that both Foxconn and Apple business could think about buying has been going through a tough time regarding the money for a long time. Analysts believe that the iPod maker has many reasons as to why they should help the company to get back in its place. If it did not, the tech giant will have to suffer in the long run, as then it would have to look for other companies and suppliers to get the best LCD possible for the gadgets. In 2012, when Sharp began to struggle, there were many analysts in the market, which suggested the software giant to take over the business. The firm, however, did not oblige and went its own way by not investing in the business that provided it LCDs. Analysts now believe that Apple software giant is not in a position to let Sharp fall completely and it is likely that it might end up signing the deal with Foxconn anyway. Taking a closer look at the whole prospective of the iPod makers buying the firm, analysts have come to the conclusion that if Sharp regains its position in the market, it is positively going to affect all the companies related to it, including Apple and Foxconn in a massive way. As per the analysis of financial executives in the industry, it is being said that Apple stock might be in a good position to accept the deal. Even though all of its revenue generation is later on spent in international ventures, it is possible that the firm sees the potential in the deal that all the analysts seem to be discussing.

Apple Inc To Increase Its Share In Smartphone Market

The software giant has reportedly increase its share in the smartphone industry, right before the much anticipated launch of the iPhone 6s.

The most recent news regarding Apple Inc is all about how the firm has lately been working towards increasing its stake in the smart phone industry, right before it plans to launch another version of the much awaited iPhone series.

A report was made to analyze the recent activities of the software giant and it was seen that even though so many new gadgets are expected to be launched at the September 9 event that the iPhone makers have scheduled, the tech giant still seems to be dependent on its smartphone only.

The firm has reportedly increased its ownership in the smart phone industry by buying more shares in it. Analysts believe that this could be entirely due to the pressure from rival companies like Samsung Group, which has been rolling out new smart phones at a very quick pace and giving the Mac makers something to worry about. In order to make sure that the dominance it has does not subside in the near future, the software company is taking the needed measures in the country where it was founded before anywhere else in the world and it is predicted by the analysts in the market that these steps will also be taken in other parts of the world too, once the firm has made its position in the United States stronger than before.

Apple business has no plans of letting go of the strong market position it has managed to attain over all these years and wishes to continue doing even better in the future. The next iPhone 6s that has shaken up the whole industry with anticipation is to be launched in the upcoming event to be held on the 9th of September, which is only a few days away.

The analytical report which stated that Apple management has decided to increase its stake in the smartphone business was presented by MobiLens along with the help of Mobile Metrix, which are two most trusted media companies with their analytics. Even though the report said that the iPod makers are already on top of the list of companies who have the biggest share in the smartphone market of the US, it showed how the firm continues to grow.

The report also showed how the usage of Apple smartphones increased by 1.1 percent which Samsung’s usage fell down, from being 28.6 percent to 27.3 percent. The new version of the smartphones made by the software company, namely iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus helped the Californian Company to rise even more in the industry.

Apple iPhone Sales To Reach 53 Million In Third Quarter

As reported by Morgan Stanley, Apple iPhone sales likely to hit 53 million units in Q3.

Apple Inc., the tech behemoth is all set to schedule a time where they will reveal their earnings for the third trimestral when July FY15 ends. The company has been extremely successful with the rampant popularity of Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. This has resulted in the tech giant to grow considerably in each trimestral. However, analyst at The Street believe that the popularity of iPhones is likely to experience a downfall since the refresh cycle issue is becoming an issue for users.

An AlphaWise survey was conducted by Morgan Staley that will help them to track the demand for iPhone for the three month tenure ending in June. According to the survey, Apple is back in the game where it might sell around 53 million iPhone units during the current trimestral. This forecast, however, remains unchanged to what they predicted in May.

Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley believes that the growing markets have immense potential where China is likely to drive growth for them. The Chinese market has demands that are relatively late in the production cycle. Huberty highlights that the results of AlphaWise survey seem to be on par with the supply chain checks that took place recently for Apple.

According to Jasmine Lu, the tech analyst for Morgan Stanley believes that the company will be able to sell almost 54 million units of its flagship smartphone.

Huberty further believes that if all other aspects are monitored and remain constant, the three million devices according to the survey along with the 50 million other units estimations made for the iPhone would result in an increase in revenues by $.8 billion for the company. This would actually result in an 11 percent increase considering “Morgan Stanley’s EPS estimate of $1.82.”

Apart from that, the tracker by the Morgan Stanley for Apple Watch clearky highlights that the need for Apple iPhones has now stabilized at a 20 percent higher if considering that the first iPhone took almost six weeks to its launch. According to Huberty, “"Watch interest in the week of launch was about half that for the first iPhone, but the Watch has seen a much smaller deceleration since the initial spike.”

Hence, in a nutshell, Morgan Stanley has made an estimate which will not be so difficult for Apple to achieve considering the immense popularity of their products and services with the masses. The company has established itself as a reputable brand and this will help to sale swiftly in the long run.

Bidness Tech - Microsoft's App 'Flow' To Be Launched On iOS

Microsoft Flow to be launched on iOS suggests rumors.

Microsoft Corporation is working on launching its Flow chat application on the Apple iPhone. The news has made way through a Twitter user named h0x0d by a screenshot which he has leaked. According to this user, he got access to the description of Flow app through a download page known as “Microsoft Confidential,” that said, “Introducing Flow by Outlook for iPhone”. This screenshot provided details regarding the Flow app and what features will be available on the iPhone. However, no word has been observed from the executives for this Microsoft product.

The tech behemoth is trying its best to make a mark with its smartphones. A part of this initiative is to come up with apps for Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platform.

Flow will have features similar to that of an email service and will also act as a Messengers that will allow users have access to message threads and chat that will be available on a relevant email account. This app is likely to transform the way individual’s access text and emails.

As said by Microsoft, the purpose of coming up with such an application is to give users “A great way to have rapid email conversations on your phone with the people who are important to you.” They further stated that users can opt for Outlook and Flow simultaneously to have a similar conversation. So now with one email account, users can engage with a diversified audience. Moreover, the conversations will also be saved at the same time on Outlook.

The purpose of this application is to provide “Fast, fluid, natural conversations,” in real time. so now users do not have to worry about subjects, salutations or signatures while conversing resulting in less distraction. So the application is an actual replica of the name where everything is in a “flow”

One of the attractive features of this app is that the conversations are less saturated. So the application will only display those conversations that use this app so that clutter can be avoided and data remains clean. So the app will have a relatively clean interface and will also avoid glitches. Hence, the load on the processor is likely to be lesser since it will not manage an entire inbox. As said, Flow will cater to one to one conversation without the noise as stated.

Hence, Microsoft is likely to boost outlook from this endeavor. The company is trying its best to boost its Windows operating system and apps on smartphones which now seem to be possible in the times to come.