WEAK SALES | ‘Anemic’ iPhone 8 demand drags Apple shares lower

Apple Inc’s shares fell nearly 3 percent on Thursday on signs of weak demand for the iPhone 8 that caused analysts and investors to question the company’s staggered release strategy for its latest phones.

Wireless carriers in the United States and Canada have reported slow third-quarter customer upgrades. While some expect a pickup after the iPhone X goes on sale in November, others cautioned that phone’s high price tag could weigh on demand.

The chief executive of Rogers Communication, Canada’s largest mobile network, on Thursday said appetite for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which went on sale in September, had been “anemic,” the latest sign of weak sales for those phones ahead of the Nov. 3 launch of the pricier iPhone X.

But some analysts said overall phone production looked in line with their earlier expectations, and that it is unclear whether weak iPhone 8 sales would hurt iPhone revenue and margins because users may still be buying more profitable older models with more memory.

Verizon Communication Inc’s Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis said the number of third-quarter phone upgrades fell versus previous years, but that he expected an upgrade surge when the iPhone X is released.

“I think what you’re seeing there is a difference in timing of some of the new devices coming out versus what we’ve historically seen,” Ellis told an earnings call.

“As we get into the holiday season, some of those new devices come out, we think we will see strong demand.”

The uncertainty about demand coupled with a Taiwan media report of a cut in iPhone 8 production pushed Apple shares down 2.8 percent by midday.

“The Street is hyper-sensitive to any speed bumps around this next iPhone cycle and (that) speaks to the knee-jerk reaction we are seeing in shares,” said Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer at GBH Insights in New York.

“iPhone 8 demand has been naturally soft out of the gates with the main event being the iPhone X launch in early November. (But) this is the early innings of what we believe is the biggest iPhone product cycle with X leading the way.”

U.S. wireless carrier AT&T said last week its third-quarter postpaid handset upgrades were down by nearly 900,000 from a year ago.

Supply chain

Apple no longer gives regular updates on sales numbers, but indications from supply channels, wireless carriers and analysts help shed light on demand.

When Apple announced the plan to release both phones before the end of 2017, fans were disappointed they would have to wait until November for the iPhone X.

But there are also concerns that the more expensive phone marking the iPhone’s 10th anniversary may see a muted reception compared to the frenzy that normally greets Apple phone launches.

A carrier store survey suggested the cheaper iPhone 7 was outselling its successor just a month after iPhone 8’s launch, KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst John Vinh said this week.

But it can be hard to gauge iPhone revenue and profits from model sales numbers alone because Apple can earn attractive margins when customers switch into higher-memory devices, said Wayne Lam, analyst with IHS Markit.

“They’ve always been able to use that as a lever to improve their profitability on the iPhone,” Lam said.

There are also worries that the relatively high price of the iPhone X may discourage carriers from stocking the inventory and customers from ultimately buying the phone.

Rogers’ CEO Joe Natale said anticipation for the iPhone X was high but noted inventory would be limited and that, at Apple’s starting price of $999, it was an expensive device.

source: interaksyon.com

Telethon raises $44 million for Hurricane Harvey, Irma relief

LOS ANGELES | A celebrity-packed telethon for the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma raised some $44 million, organizers said on Wednesday, after more than 130 stars including George Clooney, Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber joined forces to sing, man the phones or appeal for donations.

The hour-long Hand in Hand telethon, which aired across broadcast, cable and digital platforms on Tuesday night, raised more than $14 million during the live broadcast.

Organizers on Wednesday said that the total rose to $44 million in pledges made after West Coast and other re-broadcasts.

Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic Ocean storms on record, ravaged several islands in the northern Caribbean, killing at least 60 people. It barreled into the Florida Keys on Sunday, where 90 percent of homes are believed to be destroyed or heavily damaged.

Beyonce, appearing in a taped message, spoke of the urgent need for supplies in her hometown of Houston after Harvey became the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, killing more than 60 people, displacing more than 1 million and damaging some 203,000 homes.

During the show, Stephen Colbert said Apple Inc had donated $5 million, which the comedian quipped, “is also the price of the new iPhone.”

The telethon aired from New York, Nashville and Los Angeles, where Stevie Wonder kicked off the event singing “Lean On Me,” with a gospel choir as stars such as Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand and Cher clapped along while sitting at their phone stations.

source: interaksyon.com

10TH ANNIVERSARY MODEL | Apple set to unveil iPhone 8 in major product launch

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — A decade after then-CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, Apple Inc on Tuesday is set to introduce a completely redesigned top-of-the-line iPhone along with two other new phones, as well as a big upgrade to the Apple Watch and a higher-definition Apple TV.

The splashy launch event will take place at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple’s new Apple Park “spaceship” campus – widely considered to be the final product designed by Jobs, who died in 2011.

The new products and the holiday shopping season that follows are the most important for Apple in years. The company has sold more than 1.2 billion iPhones over the past decade and ushered in the era of mobile computing, but last year suffered a substantial decline in revenue as many consumers rejected the iPhone 7 as being too similar to the iPhone 6.

Apple hopes the new high-end phone, expected to be called the iPhone X, will silence critics who say the company has lost its innovation edge. It features an edge-to-edge display with richer colors and facial recognition to unlock the phone without the need for a fingerprint reader or physical home button.

The two other models, expected to be called the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, are intended to update the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. They could also include some new features, such as a glass back similar to the iPhone 4 that would help facilitate wireless charging.

The phones are expected to come with a steep price tag. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi predicts the top-end model will cost $899, though other analysts expect it to cross the $1,000 threshold. That compares to a top base price of $769 for the iPhone 7 Plus prior.

Much of that added costs is driven by more expensive parts, like a higher-resolution display, 3D sensors and more memory capacity. “Some of these components are just darned expensive. There’s just no doubt about that,” said Brian Blau, an Apple analyst at Gartner.

Watch for wireless networks

Analysts also expect Apple to reveal a new Apple TV that operates at higher resolution than its previous set. The higher resolution could play into Apple’s efforts to court Hollywood, which have shifted into a higher gear recently with two high-profile executives hired away from Sony.

The company is also expected to reveal more details about the HomePod, its voice-activated home speaker that competes against Amazon.com Inc’s Echo devices and the Google. Home speaker. Apple announced the HomePod in June and said it will ship in December.

Lastly, Apple is expected to announce a new version of the Apple Watch. Previous versions of the watch had to be tethered to a user’s phone in order to receive send or receive data, but the new version is expected to connect to wireless data networks just like a phone.

Apple does not say how many Apple Watches it sells. Gene Munster, a veteran Apple watcher and analyst with Loup Ventures, believes the watch could double or even triple in sales because of the new connectivity.

But even a huge boom in one product will not move the company’s financials like the iPhone, which accounted for 63 percent of Apple’s $215 billion in sales last year. Even if Apple crushes rivals like Fitbit Inc and Garmin in smart watch sales, Apple remains the iPhone company.

“It’s a really big deal for the wearables category for Apple, but it’s not a big deal for the company,” Munster said.

source: interaksyon.com

‘PLANET OF THE APPS’ | Apple’s first TV series shows what it takes to build an app

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA | Apple Inc’s long-awaited move into original television series starts Tuesday, with a reality show about a universe that is key to the technology giant’s business: the world of app developers trying to bring their ideas to the masses.

The 10-episode “Planet of the Apps,” an unscripted show with similarities to ABC’s “Shark Tank,” is part of an effort to add exclusive video programing to Apple’s music streaming service to help attract new subscribers. The first episode will be available for streaming around the globe starting at 9 p.m. PDT on Tuesday (midnight EDT/0400 GMT).

Hollywood has been awaiting the entry of deep-pocketed Apple into original TV series, a field crowded with award-winning dramas and comedies from outlets such as Netflix and Time Warner Inc’s HBO.

The first “Apps” episode will be free to anyone who wants to see it on iTunes and the show’s website. Subsequent episodes will be released each Tuesday on Apple Music and available only to the streaming service’s subscribers.

On the show, developers try to interest celebrity mentors with a 60-second pitch on an escalator. The advisers help contestants build their products and prepare appeals for funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, the first investor in Snapchat.

“The question when you have ideas is how to take those to fruition,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said in an interview. “Sometimes you may not know how, you might be afraid of what’s involved. This really shows how that’s possible.”

Apple’s future programing plans include an adaptation of comedian James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment from his CBS show that will begin airing in August, as well as a documentary about Sean Combs in June and another about Clive Davis in a few months, Cue said.

“Planet of the Apps” came from musician will.i.am, who with producer Ben Silverman had shopped the series to traditional TV players before approaching Apple. Will.i.am appears as a judge alongside entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk and actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba, who have started businesses.

“I felt like this was a great way to show that app developers or business people are not just white dudes in suits, or white dudes coding,” Alba said.

In the first two episodes, developers present apps for online shopping, campus safety and a school backpack. One team tries to adapt after Google announces a feature similar to its own concept. Another developer feels overwhelmed by will.i.am’s rapid-fire list of ideas.

At the show’s end, viewers are told they can download the apps from Apple’s App Store. The show itself will be promoted on the Apple.com home page, on iTunes and elsewhere.

“All of our customers are going to be exposed to this in one way or another,” Cue said.

source: interaksyon.com

Google challenges Apple’s Siri by opening digital assistant to iPhone

Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it would make its digital assistant available on Apple Inc’s iPhone, making a play for the higher end of the smartphone market and challenging Apple’s Siri feature on its own devices.

The announcement heralds a step by Google, whose Android system runs on the majority of the world’s smartphones, to get a foothold on Apple’s phones, which have smaller market share but are used by people who tend to spend more on technology.

It comes as Google, Apple and Amazon.com Inc are competing to establish the dominant voice-powered digital assistant, which many in the industry believe will supplant keyboards and touch screens as a primary way that users interact with technology.

Speaking at an annual developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai touted the company’s progress with the Google Assistant, which allows users to complete various tasks through voice commands.

“Humans are interacting with computing in more natural and immersive ways,” he said. “We’ve been using voice as an input across many of our products. We’ve had significant breakthroughs.”

The Assistant debuted last year on Google’s own hardware, and the company has gradually extended the tool to devices from other manufacturers running on its Android operating system.

Google, which gets most of its revenue from its dominant search engine, also released a host of new features for Google Home, a speaker released last year. Users will soon be able to make phone calls using the device, and the HBO Now streaming service, owned by Time Warner Inc, will be integrated as well.

In addition, the company announced that it will offer physical photo albums through its photo app.

source: beta.interaksyon.com

WikiLeaks says it releases files on CIA cyber spying tools

WASHINGTON — Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks on Tuesday published what it said were thousands of pages of internal CIA discussions about hacking techniques used over several years, renewing concerns about the security of consumer electronics and embarrassing yet another U.S. intelligence agency.

The discussion transcripts showed that CIA hackers could get into Apple Inc iPhones, Google Inc Android devices and other gadgets in order to capture text and voice messages before they were encrypted with sophisticated software.

Cyber security experts disagreed about the extent of the fallout from the data dump, but said a lot would depend on whether WikiLeaks followed through on a threat to publish the actual hacking tools that could do damage.

Reuters could not immediately verify the contents of the published documents, but several contractors and private cyber security experts said the materials, dated between 2013 and 2016, appeared to be legitimate.

A longtime intelligence contractor with expertise in U.S. hacking tools told Reuters the documents included correct “cover” terms describing active cyber programs.

Among the most noteworthy WikiLeaks claims is that the Central Intelligence Agency, in partnership with other U.S. and foreign agencies, has been able to bypass the encryption on popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.

The files did not indicate the actual encryption of Signal or other secure messaging apps had been compromised.

The information in what WikiLeaks said were 7,818 web pages with 943 attachments appears to represent the latest breach in recent years of classified material from U.S. intelligence agencies.

Security experts differed over how much the disclosures could damage U.S. cyber espionage. Many said that, while harmful, they do not compare to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 of mass NSA data collection.

“This is a big dump about extremely sophisticated tools that can be used to target individual user devices … I haven’t yet come across the mass exploiting of mobile devices,” said Tarah Wheeler, senior director of engineering and principal security advocate for Symantec.

Stuart McClure, CEO of Cylance, an Irvine, California, cyber security firm, said that one of the most significant disclosures shows how CIA hackers cover their tracks by leaving electronic trails suggesting they are from Russia, China and Iran rather than the United States.

Other revelations show how the CIA took advantage of vulnerabilities that are known, if not widely publicized.

In one case, the documents say, U.S. and British personnel, under a program known as Weeping Angel, developed ways to take over a Samsung smart television, making it appear it was off when in fact it was recording conversations in the room.

The CIA and White House declined comment. “We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents,” CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in a statement.

Google declined to comment on the purported hacking of its Android platform, but said it was investigating the matter.

Snowden on Twitter said the files amount to the first public evidence that the U.S. government secretly buys software to exploit technology, referring to a table published by WikiLeaks that appeared to list various Apple iOS flaws purchased by the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

Apple Inc did not respond to a request for comment.

The documents refer to means for accessing phones directly in order to catch messages before they are protected by end-to-end encryption tools like Signal.

Signal inventor Moxie Marlinspike said he took that as “confirmation that what we’re doing is working.” Signal and the like are “pushing intelligence agencies from a world of undetectable mass surveillance to a world where they have to use expensive, high-risk, extremely targeted attacks.”

CIA cyber programs
The CIA in recent years underwent a restructuring to focus more on cyber warfare to keep pace with the increasing digital sophistication of foreign adversaries. The spy agency is prohibited by law from collecting intelligence that details domestic activities of Americans and is generally restricted in how it may gather any U.S. data for counterintelligence purposes.

The documents published Tuesday appeared to supply specific details to what has been long-known in the abstract: U.S. intelligence agencies, like their allies and adversaries, are constantly working to discover and exploit flaws in any manner of technology products.

Unlike the Snowden leaks, which revealed the NSA was secretly collecting details of telephone calls by ordinary Americans, the new WikiLeaks material did not appear to contain material that would fundamentally change what is publicly known about cyber espionage.

WikiLeaks, led by Julian Assange, said its publication of the documents on the hacking tools was the first in a series of releases drawing from a data set that includes several hundred million lines of code and includes the CIA’s “entire hacking capacity.”

The documents only include snippets of computer code, not the full programs that would be needed to conduct cyber exploits.

WikiLeaks said it was refraining from disclosing usable code from CIA’s cyber arsenal “until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the C.I.A.’s program and how such ‘weapons’ should be analyzed, disarmed and published.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Wikileaks has ties to Russia’s security services. During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Wikileaks published internal emails of top Democratic Party officials, which the agencies said were hacked by Moscow as part of a coordinated influence campaign to help Republican Donald Trump win the presidency.

WikiLeaks has denied ties to Russian spy agencies.

Trump praised WikiLeaks during the campaign, often citing hacked emails it published to bolster his attacks on Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.

WikiLeaks said on Tuesday that the documents showed that the CIA hoarded serious security vulnerabilities rather than share them with the public, as called for under a process established by President Barack Obama.

Rob Knake, a former official who dealt with the issue under Obama, said he had not seen evidence in what was published to support that conclusion.

The process “is not a policy of unilateral disarmament in cyberspace. The mere fact that the CIA may have exploited zero-day [previously undisclosed] vulnerabilities should not surprise anyone,” said Knake, now at the Council on Foreign Relations.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they did not know where WikiLeaks might have obtained the material.

In a press release, the group said, “The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have suffered a series of security breaches, including Snowden’s.

In 2010, U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning provided more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to Wikileaks.

Last month, former NSA contractor Harold Thomas Martin was indicted on charges of taking highly sensitive government materials over a course of 20 years, storing the secrets in his home.

source: interaksyon.com

Google takes on Apple, Amazon with new hardware push

SAN FRANCISCO — Alphabet Inc’s Google on Tuesday announced a new “Pixel” smartphone and a suite of new consumer electronics products for the home, planting itself firmly in the hardware business and challenging Apple Inc’s iPhone at the high end of the $400 billion global smartphone market.

The string of announcements – including the $649 Pixel, a smart speaker for the living room dubbed “Home,” a virtual reality headset, and a new Wi-Fi router – is the clearest sign yet that Google intends to compete head-to-head with Apple, Amazon.com Inc and even manufacturers of phones using its own Android mobile operating system.

Company executives, echoing Apple’s longstanding philosophy, said they were striving for tighter integration of hardware and software.

“The thinking is that if we can work on hardware and software together, we can innovate much better,” Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh said in an interview with Reuters, citing a recent reorganization that united once-disparate hardware teams.

Under the new structure, the company has begun to take a much more integrated approach to things like supply chain management and design, added Mario Queiroz, a vice president of product management.

“The learnings from one product are benefiting another product,” he said.

Unlike earlier Google phone efforts under the Nexus brand, the Pixel devices are designed and developed by Google from the start, although Taiwan’s HTC Corp will serve as the contract manufacturer.

Swipe at Apple

Taking another page from the Apple playbook, Google said it would work exclusively with a single carrier in the United States, Verizon Communications Inc, on the Pixel, emulating Apple’s agreement to launch the original iPhone with AT&T Inc. That deal gave Apple unprecedented control over the look of the phone and how it worked.

Shares of Alphabet closed up 0.3 percent, while Verizon fell 1.2 percent.

The phone comes in two sizes, and its high-end camera is one of few distinguishing features, analysts said. The phones come in black, blue and silver and will be able to get up to a seven-hour charge in 15 minutes. Pre-orders begin on Tuesday.

“Aside from the camera, the new Google Pixels are pretty undifferentiated compared to Samsung and iPhone seventh generation phones,” industry analyst Patrick Moorhead said.

While the new phones are clearly aimed at competing with the iPhone – Google executives took several swipes at Apple in their on-stage remarks – analysts said Android rivals like Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) could be the biggest victim if the Pixel takes off.

Google’s strategy of licensing Android for free and profiting from embedded services such as search and maps made Android the dominant mobile operating system with some 89 percent of the global market, according to IDC.

But Apple still rules the high end of the market, and Google has long been frustrated by the emergence of many variations of Android and the inconsistent experience that has produced. Pushing its own hardware will likely complicate its relationship with Android licensees, analysts said.

 All-purpose assistant

Google Kicked off the event Tuesday by touting the Google Assistant, the company’s voice-activated artificial intelligence system and its answer to Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. The presenter showed how a customers could make a restaurant reservation with a few phrases spoken into the phone.

The assistant will be embedded into the Pixel and Home products and is being positioned as the central feature in a family of integrated hardware and software products.

It is one of a handful of similar assistants that are vying for supremacy as more people search the web and make purchases online using voice commands, which may eventually supplant keyboards and touchscreens as the primary means of controlling digital devices.

While Google is often cited as the leader in artificial intelligence, Amazon stole a march on the company with its Alexa-powered Echo home speaker system, a surprise hit. The Home device and the Echo have many of the same features.

Google’s “Daydream View” virtual reality headset, meanwhile, puts the company in competition with Facebook Inc, owner of Oculus. The device, which works with an Android phone, is far cheaper and simpler. It will be available in November for $79, in time for the end-of-year shopping season.

Home will also be available in November for $129, including a six-month trial of ad-free YouTube.

Google also unveiled a new version of its Chromecast digital media player and a router dubbed Google Wifi, both boasting the same sleek, minimalist design as the Home product.

“These look like products from a single company,” said Queiroz, the Google executive.

source: interaksyon.com

Apple unveils two new iPhones, Watch

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Apple on Wednesday unveiled two upgraded versions of its iPhone and a new waterproof smartwatch, seeking to reignite growth for the iconic technology maker.

The iPhone 7 and larger iPhone 7 Plus, with new camera technology, 50-meter water resistance and other features, were the highlight of an Apple media event in San Francisco.

The new devices come with Apple seeking to reverse declines in sales of the iPhone in an increasingly saturated global market, and boost its Apple Watch — in a slump since the enthusiasm of last year’s release wore off.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the new smartphones take advantage of the latest iPhone software, iOS 10.

“We are about to launch iOS 10, our biggest iOS release ever. It is jam-packed with new features,” Cook said.

“Now of course the world’s most advanced mobile operating system deserves the most advanced smartphone, and here it is.”

The flagship devices will be sold at around the same price as the models they replace, starting at $649 for the iPhone 7 for US customers, with deliveries in 25 countries beginning September 16.

One new iPhone feature — which may ruffle some feathers — is the removal of the headphone jack, requiring audio to be delivered via Apple’s proprietary “lightning” connector or by wireless.

“From the start we designed lightning to be a great audio connector,” Apple vice president Phil Schiller told the unveiling event.

“We are taking the headphones in iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to lightning, and including them in the box with the device.”

Apple will also include an adaptor to allow consumers to use existing headphones with the iPhone.

The iPhone 7 Plus, Apple’s version of a “phablet,” includes dual cameras to improve optical performance and photo quality, the company said.

While Apple has touted total iPhone sales of one billion, the number sold in the quarter ending June 25 fell 15 percent from a year earlier, highlighting concerns over growth for the key profit driver.


Super Mario Run

Apple had saved a further surprise for its launch event, announcing jointly with Nintendo that “Super Mario Run” — featuring the iconic game character and developed specifically for mobile — will hit the App Store this year.

Apple, Nintendo and game maker Niantic announced the wildly popular Pokemon Go would be available for Apple Watch users later this month.

On the wearables front, its new Apple Watch Series 2 will also feature GPS — allowing people to gather fitness data during an outdoor workout without need to take along a smartphone.

“We started shipping Apple Watch just 18 months ago, and already people all over the world are using it in many aspects of their daily lives,” Cook said.

“But we are just getting started.”

Sales figures for the smartwatch are not disclosed by Apple, but surveys show enthusiasm has faded since last year’s release.

Apple saw a 56.7 percent year-over-year drop in sales of the device in the past quarter, research firm IDC said.

source: interaksyon.com

Apple sets stage for iPhone 7, many already waiting for 8

SAN FRANCISCO — The iPhone 7 is expected to make its global debut on Wednesday, but many consumers and investors are already setting their sights on Apple Inc’s 2017 version of the popular gadget, hoping for more significant advances.

At its annual product launch in San Francisco on Wednesday, the world’s most valuable publicly traded company is expected by blogs and analysts to reveal an iPhone without a headphone jack, paving the way for wireless headphones, a touch-sensitive home button that vibrates, double-lens cameras for the larger ‘Plus’ edition and other incremental improvements.

Apple typically gives its main product, which accounts for more than half of its revenue, a big makeover every other year and the last major redesign was the iPhone 6, in 2014. The modest updates suggest that this cycle will be three years.

“It looks like part of the reason they are keeping the design the same this year is there are bigger changes they are working on for next year,” said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research.

Sales of the iPhone dropped two quarters in a row this year, the first declines in the history of the device. With many consumers who purchased the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus due for an upgrade, Apple may eke out single-digit gains in sales for the 7, Dawson said.

But some consumer technology sites are advising users to hold off on upgrading until the next year’s version, which will mark the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone.

Analysts say the iPhone 8 may feature a wider display that reaches from one edge of the device to the other and a home button integrated into the screen.

Wall Street is impatient for growth, and Apple will be hard-pressed to reverse the downward trend this year, said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners.

“The iPhone 7 runs the risk of disappointing investors,” he said.

Consumers are waiting longer before replacing their phones, a shift that Apple must address in its product roadmap, said analyst Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies.

Analysts predict the Apple Watch will be the second closely watched feature of the event. Apple is expected to revamp the wearable, released last year, with a faster processor and a GPS chip, enabling users to track runs and other workouts without their phones. Most analysts believe sales of Apple’s watch – which the company has not disclosed – have not yet justified the fanfare.

Starting at $299, well above many other wearables on the market, the most meaningful change Apple can make is a price cut, Bajarin said.

“This category is very price sensitive,” he said. Apple is “not there yet.”

source: interaksyon.com

Apple invests $1 billion in China taxi app Didi

BEIJING, China — Apple has invested $1 billion in Chinese ride hailing app Didi Chuxing, the Beijing company said Friday as it vies with bitter US-based rival Uber for market share in China.

The injection was the “single largest investment the company has ever received,” said Didi, which dominates the car-hailing sector in China and says it has almost 90 percent of the market.

Formerly known as Didi Kuaidi, it also has backing from Chinese Internet behemoths Tencent and Alibaba.

Its most powerful competitor Uber — in which Chinese search giant Baidu is an investor, along with state-owned Citic Securities — is also trying to win more business in China.

Though Apple’s investment in Didi is large, the money seems more notable for its strategic rather than financial significance.

Didi and Uber both have deep pockets and are spending big in the country.

In February, Uber said it lost $1 billion annually in China as it competes for market share and Didi is thought to be burning through similar amounts as both companies subsidise user’s rides, which are much cheaper than regular cab fares.

Apple’s linkup with Didi fits the California firm’s desire to shore up sales in the Asian giant, and its rumoured plans to enter the auto sector.

“We decided to make the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including the chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market”, chief executive Tim Cook told the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

He added that he saw “lots of opportunities for closer cooperation between the two companies”.

Apple lost its crown as the world’s biggest publicly traded company to Google parent Alphabet in US trading Thursday. Shares closed 2.4 percent down.

The tech giant’s shares have lost more than 13 percent since reporting its first ever drop in iPhone sales on April 26.

The world’s second-largest economy is Apple’s second-biggest market, but revenues are flagging and its business there has taken a number of hits.

Last month, it had its movie and book services shut down by authorities, and it emerged that the company lost a court case over the use of its iPhone trademark.

Cook will travel to Beijing later this month to lobby senior leaders on the company’s behalf.

Apple is also widely believed to be developing a self-driving car, with the Chinese market a likely target.

Large user base

One area of cooperation the companies are likely to explore is mobile payments, according to Chinese analysts who say that the investment could be a good opportunity for Apple Pay.

The service was recently launched in China but has to contend with very well established existing competitors owned by Alibaba and Tencent — now its fellow shareholders in Didi.

Didi says it has more than 300 million passengers registered and provides over 11 million rides a day.

Those numbers provide an excellent opportunity for Apple Pay, according to an article on Chinese web site Huxiu.

“It is undoubtedly a good value for Apple to tie up with an app that has a large user base and where frequent payments are made,” said an article about the deal.

But despite the growing popularity of ride-sharing apps and state-backed investments in them, their future is not necessarily secure.

It is technically illegal in China for private cars to offer rides for payment and authorities occasionally stage stings to arrest drivers, but regulations are spottily enforced, creating an opening for ridesharing services to flourish.

Asked about ridesharing’s future, transport minister Yang Chuantang told the Beijing Times in March that private cars would “never be allowed” to operate commercially in China.

Didi invested in Uber’s US rival Lyft last year, along with Alibaba and Tencent, and announced last month that it would cooperate with it to compete with Uber on its own turf.

source: interaksyon.com

Citing new lead, US govt draws back in battle with Apple

LOS ANGELES - The US Justice Department on Monday filed a request to postpone a crucial hearing with Apple on accessing the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers, citing new leads in the case.

"On Sunday, March 20, 2016, an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking (Syed) Farook's iPhone," prosecutors said in a filing.

"Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook's iPhone.

"If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple Inc. set forth in the All Writs Act Order in this case."

Prosecutors requested that Tuesday's hearing before a federal judge in California be cancelled in order to allow time for testing the new method, and proposed filing a status report with the court by April 5.

The high-stakes case has pitted Apple against the FBI, which sought the tech giant's help in unlocking the iPhone of Farook, who, along with his wife, was behind the December 2 terror attack in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead.

source: interaksyon.com

IPHONE MINI? | Apple to unveil new product on March 21

Apple Inc sent an invite to reporters on Thursday for an event at its Cupertino, California headquarters on March 21, possibly signaling the unveiling of a new, smaller iPhone.

The world’s best-known technology company often reveals new products at such events. It is expected to update its flagship iPhone and iPad products soon.

Some Wall Street analysts expect the company to use the event to unveil a four-inch (10-cm) screen phone, reintroducing the smaller size after enlarging screens with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in 2014.

Apple shares have risen in the past two weeks as Wall Street bet the company will launch a less expensive iPhone this month to boost sales in developing countries like China.

With U.S. consumers upgrading their smartphones less often, manufacturers have been relying on China for growth.

source: interaksyon.com

Criminals like Apple iPhones because of encryption — Police

Some criminals have switched to new iPhones as their “device of choice” to commit wrongdoing due to strong encryption Apple Inc has placed on their products, three law enforcement groups said in a court filing.

The groups told a judge overseeing Apple’s battle with the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday that, among other things, they were aware of “numerous instances” in which criminals who previously used so-called throwaway burner phones had switched to iPhones. They did not list a specific instance.

The brief by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and two others also cited a jailhouse phone call intercepted by New York authorities in 2015, in which an inmate called Apple’s encrypted operating system a “gift from God.”

The government obtained a court order last month requiring Apple to write new software to disable passcode protection and allow access to an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the December killings in San Bernardino, California.

Apple asked that the order be vacated, arguing such a move would set a dangerous precedent and threaten customer security.

Tech industry leaders including Google, Facebook and Microsoft and more than two dozen other companies filed legal briefs on Thursday supporting Apple. The Justice Department received support from law enforcement groups and six relatives of San Bernardino victims.

The law enforcement groups said in their brief that Apple’s stance poses a grave threat to investigations across the country.

The FBI says Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were inspired by Islamist militants when they shot and killed 14 people on Dec. 2 at a holiday party. The couple later died in a shootout with police and the FBI said it wants to read the data on Farook’s work phone to investigate any links with militant groups.

In a filing on Thursday, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said at least two 911 calls from the time of the shooting reported three assailants, not two.

Even though those reports were “not corroborated,” if in fact there were three attackers it would be important to crack open the iPhone “to identify as of yet unknown co-conspirators,” the District Attorney’s filing stated.

Apple has said it respects the FBI and has cooperated by turning over data in its possession.

The latest request is different, Apple says, because it requires them to crack a phone with a software tool that does not currently exist.

source: interaksyon.com

Apple digital wallet heads to China

SAN FRANCSICO, California — Apple announced a major partnership with China UnionPay on Thursday to put is digital wallet to work in the world’s most populous country.

China UnionPay customers will be able to add their bank cards to Apple Pay on iPhones, iPads, or Apple Watch wearables, the companies said in a joint statement.

“China is an extremely important market for Apple and with China UnionPay and support from 15 of China’s leading banks, users will soon have a convenient, private and secure payment experience,” said Apple senior vice president of software and services Eddy Cue.


The service could be available early next year, pending approval of Chinese regulators.

Apple touts its digital wallet as letting people make purchases easily and securely, encrypting and hiding away personal data to thwart thieves.

UnionPay operates China’s national inter-bank clearing and settlement system and reported having issued more than five billion cards to date.

Apple launched its digital wallet last year in a move capitalizing on the popularity of its mobile devices and taking on rivals such as Google and PayPal, which are also competing in the market.

source: interaksyon.com

UP TO $862 MILLION IN DAMAGES | Apple loses patent lawsuit

NEW YORK — Apple Inc could be facing up to $862 million in damages after a U.S. jury on Tuesday found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s licensing arm without permission in chips found in many of its most popular devices.

The jury in Madison, Wisconsin also said the patent, which improves processor efficiency, was valid. The trial will now move on to determine how much Apple owes in damages.

Representatives for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.


WARF sued Apple in January 2014 alleging infringement of its 1998 patent for improving chip efficiency.

The jury was considering whether Apple’s A7, A8 and A8X processors, found in the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus, as well as several versions of the iPad, violate the patent.

Cupertino, California-based Apple denied any infringement and argued the patent is invalid, according to court papers. Apple previously tried to convince the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to review the patent’s validity, but in April the agency rejected the bid.

According to a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge William Conley, who is presiding over the case, Apple could be liable for up to $862.4 million in damages.

He scheduled the trial to proceed in three phases: liability, damages, and finally, whether Apple infringed the patent willfully, which could lead to enhanced penalties.

WARF used the patent to sue Intel Corp in 2008, but the case was settled the following year on the eve of trial.

Last month, WARF launched a second lawsuit against Apple, this time targeting the company’s newest chips, the A9 and A9X, used in the just-released iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, as well as the iPad Pro.

source: interaksyon.com

Big US firms, led by Apple, hold $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid taxes: study

WASHINGTON - The 500 largest American companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid US taxes and would collectively owe an estimated $620 billion in US taxes if they repatriated the funds, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study, by two left-leaning non-profit groups, found that nearly three-quarters of the firms on the Fortune 500 list of biggest American companies by gross revenue operate tax haven subsidiaries in countries like Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The Center for Tax Justice and the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund used the companies' own financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission to reach their conclusions.

Technology firm Apple was holding $181.1 billion offshore, more than any other US company, and would owe an estimated $59.2 billion in US taxes if it tried to bring the money back to the United States from its three overseas tax havens, the study said.

The conglomerate General Electric has booked $119 billion offshore in 18 tax havens, software firm Microsoft holding $108.3 billion in five tax haven subsidiaries and drug company Pfizer is holding $74 billion in 151 subsidiaries, the study said.

"At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014," the study said. "All told these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries."

Fortune 500 companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid taxes, with just 30 of the firms accounting for $1.4 trillion of that amount, or 65 percent, the study found.

Fifty-seven of the companies disclosed that they would expect to pay a combined $184.4 billion in additional US taxes if their profits were not held offshore. Their filings indicated they were paying about 6 percent in taxes overseas, compared to a 35 percent US corporate tax rate, it said.

"Congress can and should take strong action to prevent corporations from using offshore tax havens, which in turn would restore basic fairness to the tax system, reduce the deficit and improve the functioning of markets," the study concluded.

source: interaksyon.com

Apple TV aims to capture ‘cord cutters’

SAN FRANCICO — The new Apple TV unveiled this week has the potential to do for television what iPhone did to mobile phones, while claiming a starring role in home entertainment.

Updated Apple TV hardware set for release in late October wasn’t expected to revolutionize the television industry, but it could strike a blow to cable companies that have been in a power seat when it comes to delivering shows and other content.

“It turns out fears surrounding the long-term prospects of the cable industry were well warranted,” said Yahoo senior vice president Simon Khalaf, whose mobile analytics company Flurry was bought last year by the Internet pioneer.

“We believe that the industry is facing a perfect storm: apps, app stores and Apple.”

While the unveiling of a new Apple TV on Wednesday did not come with word of deals to stream shows or films from networks or studios, it will have a version of the App Store that has been a hit on iPhones.

“We believe the future of television is apps,” chief executive Tim Cook said.

Apple released a software kit for outside developers, and showed off early versions of Apple TV applications being crafted by streaming services Netflix, Hulu, and HBO.

Siri searches shows

The product launch “sent a warning shot at the cable industry in particular and the media industry in general,” Khalaf said in a blog post.

“Now rather than having dozens of channels to watch, US consumers will have thousands of apps to enjoy on their flat panel TVs ranging from games, to e-sport apps, to live entertainment apps, and to whatever these developers will cook up over the next year.”

Siri virtual assistant software built in Apple TV allowed for natural language searches for shows, such as asking for something funny or a certain actor by name.

Analysts keyed in on the fact that Siri will search across applications on Apple TV, meaning that where shows or films come from should be unimportant to viewers.

People should also be able to see what they want on-demand instead of being at the mercy of cable broadcast schedules.

These options can spur a trend of “cord cutting” or ending the subscription “bundles” offered by cable and satellite TV firms.

Apps trump TV

A Flurry report found that for the first time ever, people in the US in the second quarter of this year spent more each day using mobile applications than they did watching television: a daily average of 198 minutes versus 168 minutes

“Just as they did on the iPhone and iPads, consumers will download these apps and spend plenty of time on them, leaving the dozen or so cable channels lost in a sea of apps,” Khalaf said.

By letting media companies keep control of their content in apps, Apple could find new money-making models while sidestepping worries studios might have about distribution rights.

Since games consistently rank as the most popular apps on mobile devices, the genre is expected to be thrive on Apple TV.

An Apple TV remote control features a touchpad along with sensors that allow it to act as a motion controller similar to those that transformed video game play as part of the original Nintendo Wii console.

Apple TV lacked the kind of computing power and storage capacity found in hard-core video game consoles but was fine for the kinds of “casual” game apps that have rocketed to success on mobile devices, according to analysts.

“I think Apple TV will usher in an era of casual games in the living room,” said Gartner analyst Brian Blau.

The new Apple TV will launch in late October at a starting price of $149.

Apple TV has lagged rivals with similar devices. According to the research firm Parks Associates: Roku leads the US market with a 37 percent market share, to 19 percent for Google Chromecast and 17 percent for Apple TV. Amazon’s Fire TV devices have 14 percent.

Apple shares rebounded a day after a lukewarm market reaction to the US tech giant’s launch of upgraded iPhones and other devices.

Shares rallied 2.2 percent to end at $112.57.

Analysts say Apple is seeking to diversify its product line amid a competitive global smartphone market, and that its new iPad Pro, Apple TV streaming device and Apple Watch may help.

“The new offerings are welcomed additions to the portfolio that will strengthen not only the competitiveness of each product category, but also the wider ecosystem and the increasing developer effort behind this platform,” said analyst Kulbinder Garcha at Credit Suisse in a note to clients.

Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research said that while the iPhone accounts for most Apple revenue, the upgraded Apple TV device “one of the biggest and most important things announced” and “should drive significant new revenue for Apple and for developers.”

source: interaksyon.com

Tech world waits for iPhone news and hopes for magic

SAN FRANCISCO — The tech world on Wednesday will have its eyes on Apple, expecting new versions of the company’s coveted iPhone but hoping for magic in the form of unexpected innovation.

Apple remained mum even as rumors ran rampant about what is in store at an upcoming San Francisco media event.

Analysts and industry insiders predict that Apple will unveil updated iPhones along with an Apple TV revamp that may signal a push into the online television streaming sector, dominated by Netflix.

In trademark enigmatic style, Apple has provided little more than the time and place of the event.

An update to the iPhone lineup is considered a sure thing, since the company has a pattern of doing just that every September.

Improvements are expected to include faster processing and better cameras.

New iPhone models might also feature the “force touch” technology used in the Apple Watch, which allows a user to control a device based on how hard the screen is pressed.

The iPhone remains a hot seller, accounting for the bulk of Apple’s revenue, but upgrades are needed to keep iPhone “at the top of the heap” in the competitive smartphone market, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

Apple consistently entices the market with tricked-out new iPhones in time for the crucial year-end holiday shopping season.



Apple TV tuned


Another expected star at the event could be Apple TV, which may get an App Store open to outside developers and perhaps focus on game-play, in a challenge to video game consoles.

The third-generation Apple TV was introduced slightly more than three years ago. The California-based company long downplayed Apple TV as a “hobby” after the original version was released in 2007.

“They are finally revisiting their hobby, the Apple TV,” said Forrester analyst Frank Gillett.

Apple is dabbling with the idea of making online television programming, a move that would challenge established players such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, according to a recent report in show-business magazine Variety.

“Original programing is the only solution to Apple’s biggest problem in the video world — that is, that nobody wants to sell Apple content rights,” said Forrester analyst James McQuivey.

“After watching what happened to the music business when Apple was given the keys to the kingdom, video producers and programmers are more than gun shy about handing the same power to Apple in the world of TV shows.”

Apple became a power to be reckoned with in digital music sales due to the popularity of its mobile devices and iTunes online shop.

While Apple was at the forefront of the shift to digital music, the world of Internet-streamed television already has powerful players such as Netflix and Amazon.


Watching for magic


There is weaker speculation that Apple could introduce a new, bigger iPad in what would be a break from the company’s tradition of unveiling tablet news at a separate event in October.

Tablet sales have cooled overall, and Apple faces the challenge of coming up with an innovation that re-ignites interest in iPads, according to analysts.

One way could be by tying iPads to more cloud services that better anticipate what users do using Apple products.

“I think they can make more magic happen,” Gillett said of App. “That is what I am going to look for.”

source: interaksyon.com

Daimler CEO mulls joint ventures with Apple, Google — magazine

BERLIN — Daimler’s chief executive said “different types” of cooperation with Apple and Google are possible as carmakers realize next-generation autos cannot be built without greater input from telecoms and software experts.

“Many things are conceivable,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview with quarterly magazine Deutsche Unternehmerboerse published on Friday.

The emergence of self-driving and connected cars has made software a key component in future cars, opening the market to new entrants like the U.S.-based technology giants.

“Google and Apple want to provide system software for cars and bring this entire ecosystem around Apple and Google into the vehicle,” Zetsche said. “That can be interesting for both sides.”

His comments echoed those of German rival Volkswagen, whose chief executive Martin Winterkorn has urged collaboration with technology firms to make future cars safer and more intelligent.

One option could be for Daimler to build cars as part of a joint venture by using the digital expertise of its U.S. partners, Zetsche said, but added that his comments were “purely theoretical”.

Zetsche said Daimler would not allow itself to be demoted to the role of dumb supplier, simply producing cars for the Silicon Valley giants.

“We don’t want to become contractors who have no direct content with customers any more and supply hardware to third parties,” he said.

source: interaksyon.com

BMW, Apple in courtship with an eye on car collaboration

FRANKFURT/SAN FRANCISCO — BMW and Apple may rekindle a courtship put on hold after an exploratory visit by executives of the world’s top maker of electronic gadgets to the headquarters of the word’s biggest seller of premium cars.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook went to BMW’s headquarters last year and senior Apple executives toured the carmaker’s Leipzig factory to learn how it manufactures the i3 electric car, two sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.

The dialogue ended without conclusion because Apple appears to want to explore developing a passenger car on its own, one of the sources said.

Also, BMW is being cautious about sharing its manufacturing know-how because it wants to avoid becoming a mere supplier to a software or internet giant.

During the visit, Apple executives asked BMW board members detailed questions about tooling and production and BMW executives signaled readiness to license parts, one of the sources said. News of the Leipzig visit first emerged in Germany’s Manager-Magazin last week.

“Apple executives were impressed with the fact that we abandoned traditional approaches to car making and started afresh. It chimed with the way they do things too,” a senior BMW source said.

The carmaker says there are currently no talks with Apple about jointly developing a passenger car and Apple declined to comment. However, one of the sources said exploratory talks between senior managers may be revived at a later stage.

It is too early to say whether this will be a replay of Silicon Valley’s Prometheus moment: The day in 1979 when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs visited Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center where the first mouse-driven graphical user interface and bit-mapped graphics were created, and walked out with crucial ideas to launch the Macintosh computer five years later.

BMW has realized next-generation vehicles cannot be built without more input from telecoms and software experts, and Apple has been studying how to make a self-driving electric car as it seeks new market opportunities beyond phones.

Staff changes

Since the visit, there has been a reshuffle at the top of BMW, with Harald Krueger, appointed BMW Chief Executive in May, in favor of establishing his own team and his plans for BMW by year end, before engaging in new projects, a person familiar with his thinking told Reuters.

A further complication was the departure of BMW’s board member for development Herbert Diess, who played a leading role in initial discussions with Apple. He defected to Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) in December.

Diess, who declined to comment for this piece, oversaw the development of BMW’s “i” vehicles which are built using light weight carbon fiber, using a radical approach to design and manufacturing.

Car technology has become a prime area of interest for Silicon Valley companies ranging from Google Inc (GOOGL.O), which has built a prototype self-driving car, to electric car-maker Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O).

Diess has said the German auto industry needs to undergo radical change because consumers are demanding more intelligent cars and anti-pollution rules mean the next generation vehicles will increasingly be low emission electric and hybrid variants.

In 2030, only two generations of new cars away in auto manufacturing time scales, only a third of vehicles will be powered by a conventional combustion engine alone, experts predict.

“It means that in two cycles we will shut down two thirds of our engine manufacturing,” Diess told a panel discussion in July last year, adding that the value chain for new electric cars is already shifting, with vehicle batteries made mainly in Asia.

“The second part is that the car will become intelligent, part of the Internet,” Diess continued. “And the strong players in this area are in the United States, in the software development area. We will surely need to find alliances in this field.”

Germany has two years to prove that it can hold its own against new entrants when it comes to shaping the future of luxury vehicles, Diess said.

Them and us

Carmakers including BMW have already developed next generation self-driving cars, vehicles which need permanent software updates in the form of high-definition maps allowing a car to recalculate a route if it learns about an accident ahead. The technology is moving ahead faster than the legal and regulatory rules which would allow large-scale commercial availability.

Earlier this year, BMW’s new R&D chief Klaus Froehlich said his company and Apple had much in common, including a focus on premium branding, an emphasis on evolving products and a sense of aesthetically pleasing design.

Asked, in general terms, whether a deeper collaboration beyond integration of products like the iPhone would make sense, Froehlich initially said BMW would not consider any deal that forces it to open up its core know-how to outsiders.

“We do not collaborate to open our eco systems but we find ways, because we respect each other,” Froehlich told Reuters.

BMW will keep in mind the needs of the customer, and what the company’s core strengths are, when it considers the merits of entering any strategic collaboration, Froehlich added.

Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW’s management board member in charge of the Mini brand as well as digital services declined to comment on possible talks with Apple in an interview earlier this year.

But he said: “Two worlds are colliding here. Our world, focused on hardware and our experience in making complex products, and the world of information technology which is intruding more and more into our life.”

The winners will be those companies that understand how to build intelligent hardware, he said, adding it made sense for carmakers and tech firms to cooperate more closely.

“We need to get away from the idea that it will be either us or them … We cannot offer clients the perfect experience without help from one of these technology companies,” Schwarzenbauer said. That dialogue is well underway, he stressed.

With $202.8 billion in cash, Apple has the resources to enter the automotive market on its own, said Eric Noble, president of the Car Lab, a consulting firm in Orange, Calif.

The tech giant would have an edge on the dashboard, its CarPlay infotainment system connecting iPhones to cars, but would be at square one with the rest of the car, Noble said.

If Apple decided to sell a car it could make sense to find a partner to help with industrial scale production, retail and repair, since demand for such a vehicle could be high.

There are no estimates for potential Apple car sales but the brand and its products command a loyal following. So if only 1 percent of Apple’s annual iPhone customers decided to order a car, it would need to make 1.69 million vehicles.

That’s more than the 434,311 vehicles Jaguar and Land Rover produced last year. Even BMW Group, which made just over 2 million cars last year, would struggle to free up capacity.

source: interaksyon.com