Saturday, April 8, 2017

Android and Windows sell way more devices than Apple, but that's not as important as it sounds

Android and Windows sell way more devices than Apple, but that's not as important as it sounds

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Among the many noteworthy things Apple said during its Mac announcement-meets-apology earlier this week was the revelation that, according to Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller, the Mac’s total user base is nearing 100 million. That figure caught the eye of some onlookers, since it falls well short of its rival Windows operating system. More specifically, Microsoft said last September that it had 400 million users on Windows 10 alone.
Sounds pretty bad for Apple, right? Well, as this chart from Statista reminds us, market share isn’t the end-all, be-all for tech industry success. If you mix recent device shipment and spending figures from Gartner with Apple’s sales numbers in 2016, a familiar trend reasserts itself: The Cupertino company doesn’t have to sell the most devices to make the most money.
Roughly 11% of phones sold last year were iPhones, for instance, but Apple’s popularity in the high-end of the market — where it almost exclusively sits — was enough to capture more than a third of the phone industry’s total revenue. One analyst recently said the company took more than 90% of the industry’s profits last quarter beyond that.
In other words, it’s about quality more than quantity. The gap isn’t as dramatic with the Mac as it is with the iPhone and iPad, but the fact that it’s still worth roughly $25 billion after years of fading relevance to Apple is impressive (and well above Microsoft’s competing Surface business). Still, just because the Mac is making money doesn’t mean it’s keeping customers happy — which is why Apple is promising to do better by its “pro” users from now on.
COTD_4.7 apple revenue chartMike Nudelman/Business Insider/Statista

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Friday, April 7, 2017

Two men are facing charges for alleged insider trading ahead of Intel's $15 billion Mobileye acquisition

Two men are facing charges for alleged insider trading ahead of Intel's $15 billion Mobileye acquisition

Mobileye IPOMobileye President & CEO Ziv Aviramon, left, CFO Ofer Maharshak, center, and Chairman Amnon Shashua, clasp hands to ring a ceremonial bell as their company's IPO begins trading, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Aug. 1, 2014.Richard Drew/AP
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Two Virginia men have been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with insider trading in Mobileye NV before the maker of sensors and cameras for driverless vehicles agreed to a $15.3 billion takeover by Intel Corp.
The SEC on Thursday said it won a court order freezing assets of Lawrence Cluff and Roger Shaoul, both of Richmond, after they generated more than $925,000 of gains on Mobileye shares and call options purchased in the month-and-a-half before the March 13 merger was announced.
News of the transaction caused shares of Mobileye to rise 28.2 percent in one day.
The SEC filed civil charges against Cluff and Shaoul nearly two weeks after charging two Israeli residents, Ariel Darvasi and Amir Waldman, with insider trading in Mobileye, and generating more than $4.9 million of gains.
It was unclear whether Cluff and Shaoul have hired lawyers. Cluff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shaoul could not immediately be reached for comment.
Reuters obtained a filed copy of the complaint, which was not immediately available in online court records.
According to the SEC, Cluff's and Shaoul's "highly suspicious" trading occurred after the adult children of two Mobileye founders told Shaoul's adult children, with whom they were friends, about Intel's interest in Mobileye.
The SEC also said both defendants, like Darvasi and Waldman, were connected to Mobileye through the academic community at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which developed Mobileye technology and where Shaoul, an Israeli citizen, had studied.
According to the complaint, the suspicious trading occurred in two accounts held in Cluff's name, including one that had been dormant for six years and one opened on Jan. 29, 2017, around the time formal merger talks began.
The second account generated a return in six weeks of about 492 percent on the $188,000 that had been wired in during February, the SEC said.
Neither Jerusalem-based Mobileye nor Santa Clara, California-based Intel was accused of wrongdoing. Mobileye and Intel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case is SEC v Cluff et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-02460.
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Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2017. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

Samsung says it turned in a blockbuster quarter ahead of its Galaxy S8 launch

Samsung says it turned in a blockbuster quarter ahead of its Galaxy S8 launch

SamsungDJ Koh, president of mobile communications business at SamsungDrew Angerer/Getty Images
South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co forecast on Friday its best quarterly profit in more than three years in the January-March period, beating expectations on the back of robust demand for memory chips.
The Apple rival and global memory chip leader said first-quarter operating profit was likely 9.9 trillion won ($8.8 billion), compared with an average forecast of 9.4 trillion won from a Thomson Reuters survey of 18 analysts.
Revenue for the quarter rose 0.4 percent to 50 trillion won, compared with analysts' forecast of 49.4 trillion won.
Samsung shares touched a record high of 2.134 million won in late March on expectations of record earnings in 2017, as limited production capacity for the memory chip industry and growing demand for more firepower from devices such as smartphones and servers push up margins.
While Samsung will not provide detailed earnings results until the end of April, analysts tipped its chip division to earn a record 5.8 trillion won and propel the firm to its best overall operating profit since the third quarter of 2013.
Favourable memory market conditions will likely persist throughout 2017 due to diminishing production gains on investments and careful capacity management among chipmakers.
The performance of Samsung's Galaxy S8 premium smartphone, which goes on sale on April 21, will be the key variable for Samsung going forward.
Some analysts already project a first-year sales record for the smartphone giant, fuelling expectations that the device will make up for the costly collapse of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 last year.
The company did not elaborate on its performance and will disclose detailed earnings in late April.
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Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2017. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

In a good sign for Okta's IPO on Friday, the company priced its shares high with a $1.5 billion valuation

In a good sign for Okta's IPO on Friday, the company priced its shares high with a $1.5 billion valuation

Todd McKinnon OktaTodd McKinnon, cofounder, Okta Business Insider
The second big enterprise tech IPO of the year will take place on Friday and early signs are looking good.
Okta initially said it would price shares between $13-$15 per share, then raised its range to $15-$17 earlier this week and on Thursday officially settled on a price of $17 per share.
That puts the Okta's market value at $1.54 billion, which is above the $1.2 billion valuation it had as a private company — good news for its investors as well as for other highly valued private  tech companies looking at the public markets.
Okta plans to sell 11 million shares on Friday, which will raise $187 million, and it's already baked-in a second offering, giving the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.65 million more shares and bringing the total amount of money it could raise to just over $215 million.
We'll see if investors bite, just like they liked did for the first enterprise tech IPO this year,MuleSoft. Shares of MuleSoft popped 50% opening day and have stayed well above its $17 opening price ever since.
Okta will trade on the Nasdaq under the stock ticker "OKTA."
Okta's financials show growing revenue, and a narrowing loss (thanks to increased sales and marketing):
  • Revenue of $160 million in fiscal 2017, up 86% from roughly $86 million in 2016.
  • Gross profit (before sales, admin and R&D expenses) of about $104 million in 2017, up from about $50 million in 2016.
  • Net loss of about $84 million in 2017, compared to $76 million in 2016.
  • In the ramp up to the IPO, Okta cranked up its sales and marketing expense to about $119 million in 2017 from about $78 million in 2016.
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US launches more than 50 cruise missiles at Assad regime airfield over Syrian chemical attack

US launches more than 50 cruise missiles at Assad regime airfield over Syrian chemical attack

US Syria missile strikeAn image from video provided by the US Navy showing the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter launching a Tomahawk land-attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea on Friday.Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ford Williams/U.S. Navy via AP
The US launched a salvo of 59 cruise missiles on Shayrat airfield and nearby military infrastructure controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad, in response to a chemical attack that killed at least 80 people in the northwestern part of the country on Tuesday.
The Tomahawk missiles, launched from two destroyers, the USS Ross and the USS Porter, at dawn local time on Friday, represent the first US strikes on the Assad regime, according to a statement from the Pentagon.
US President Donald Trump, initially resistant to the idea of becoming involved in Syria, said it was in the vital national security interest of the US to prevent the use of chemical weapons.
"No child of god should suffer such horror," Trump said in an address to reporters after the cruise-missile strikes. "It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."
The governor of Homs, a city roughly 100 miles north of the Syrian capital, Damascus, said at least five people were killed and seven were wounded in the US strikes, Reuters reported.
Autopsies have confirmed that the chemical attack earlier this week involved sarin gas, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said there could be "no doubt" that Assad's forces carried out the attack.
Both Syrian and Russian forces have denied responsibility for the attack, with Russian forces claiming a conventional airstrike hit a cache of chemical weapons owned by rebels in Syria. International experts have dismissed this as an "infantile argument."
National security adviser H.R. McMaster said "there were measures put in place to avoid hitting what we believe is a storage of sarin gas" at the airfield, CNN's Josh Rogin reports.
Though the US strike targeted infrastructure and runways, a large volley of cruise missiles presents a risk to troops stationed nearby. Initial reports from Syrian military sources say the strikes "led to losses," as Reuters notes.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, told MSNBC that the airfield had been vetted by US forces to ensure civilians weren't endangered and Russians in the area were aware. The Trump administration said key US allies were warned of the strikes.
Russia's deputy envoy to the UN told reporters earlier Thursday that there would be "negative consequences" for "those who initiated such doubtful and tragic enterprise" should attacks occur in Syria.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the international-affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, suggested that Russia's relationship with the US in Syria could be in jeopardy in the aftermath of the US missile strikes.
Kosachev said Trump's strike order stamped "an earlier verdict about Assad's responsibility for a chemical attack in Idlib with gunpowder," Reuters reported.
A representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin called the US strikes "aggression" and accused Trump of acting "under an invented pretext," according to the Interfax news agency.
Putin called the US strike an "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law," the Associated Press reports.
Russian and US warplanes have operated over Syria's contested airspace since Russia's entrance into the Syrian conflict in October 2015. The US became involved in the country by training and equipping vetted groups of rebels fighting against Assad as early as 2011.
In 2014, the US and a coalition of 68 other nations joined together to fight the Islamic State, the terrorist group that took control of territory in the eastern part of Syria and parts of Iraq. The US has some ground troops in eastern Syria, away from the Assad regime, to support local forces in their fight against the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh.
The strikes seem to have gained bipartisan support from Congress, with several key GOP senators calling for action before the strike and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issuing a statement in which he said "making sure Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do."
"Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and types," Trump said after the strikes.

Read Trump's full remarks below:

"On Tuesday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical attack on innocent civilians using a deadly nerve agent. Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women, and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered at this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.
"Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the Untied States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council.
"Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically. As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.
"Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syrian and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. We asked for God’s wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. We pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who passed. And we hope as long as America stands for justice and peace and harmony will in the end prevail.
"Good night and God Bless America and the entire world."

Thursday, April 6, 2017

China is Tesla’s most lucrative opportunity

China is Tesla’s most lucrative opportunity

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Like many US companies looking to grow, Tesla has its eyes on China. After some early issues with slow deliveries and lower-than-desired sales, the electric carmaker topped $1 billion in revenue in China in 2016, more than triple the revenues it made there in 2015. Still, despite the gains, Tesla’s Chinese business remains far behind the money it makes in the US.
In late March, though, Tesla got another boost when Chinese internet giant Tencent acquired a 5% stake in the company. Though the move won’t raise any cash for Tesla directly — cash it could sure use this year — it can be seen as a vote of confidence from a major power in the country. Tesla CEO Elon Musk referred to Tencent as an “advisor” going forward.
This chart from Statista helps explain why making moves in China is significant for Tesla’s future success. Not only has China sold more electric cars than Europe or the US over the past couple of years, it’s also grown at a much faster rate.
Now, that’s not saying too much, since electric car adoption is still tiny as a whole. But as the world’s most populous country, and with tighter emission standards making it a friendlier place for “cleaner” cars like Tesla’s, China may have more room for future growth than the US, where President Donald Trump plans to relax similar restrictions.
COTD_4.6 EV salesMike Nudelman/Business Insider/Statista

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