Apple Corporate

Apple warranty case sparks EU on consumer protection

Europe's justice chief has warned that European authorities "cannot sit on the sidelines" of enforcement issues, following a case that saw little action taken against Apple's unlawful warranty practices in the region.

In 2011, Apple was fined 900,000 euros ($1.2 million) by Italian authorities for misleading advertising relating to its AppleCare Protection service. In short, EU consumer law dictates that consumers are entitled to two years of warranty. Apple, however, only provided one, with an additional premium warranty "bolt-on" for an additional year.

Apple lost its appeal to the case the following … Read more

Apple's cash hoard could reach $170 billion by year's end

Apple could end up with $170 billion in cash by the end of 2012 unless it learns to share more with investors.

With around $137 billion in cash as of the end of 2012, Apple is the biggest cash-rich company outside of the banking industry, according to Moody's. As such, it's faced increasing pressure to return more of that money to its investors.

Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn, a major Apple investor, recently filed a lawsuit against Apple over guidelines regarding the issuance of preferred stock. Though Einhorn dropped the suit early this month, Apple still is being … Read more

Apple may up dividend by more than 50 percent, say analysts

Apple will likely tap into its hefty hoard of cash to fund a dividend increase of more than 50 percent, according to a consensus of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

A quarterly dividend rise of 56 percent would cost Apple $4.14 per share, or $15.7 billion a year. That seems like a lot of money to most companies. But Apple is sitting on cash of $100 billion and has been under pressure to return some of that money to its shareholders.

Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn, a major Apple investor, has criticized the company for not sharing its … Read more

Apple answers Galaxy S4 launch with new iPhone campaign

Samsung's just-launched Galaxy S4 is nothing special -- it's simply another member of the wannabe-iPhone crowd. At least that's what Apple would have you believe by way of a new marketing effort for its storied handset.

"There's iPhone. And then there's everything else." reads the headline on a Web page added to Apple's site today -- two days after Samsung trotted out the S4 during a splashy (and, to some, rather puzzling) event at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

The Apple Web page -- reachable by way of a button … Read more

Apple shareholders to Samsung: Thank you

Samsung's newest smartphone, the Galaxy S4 -- evolutionary or revolutionary? Given the hype leading up to yesterday evening's product debut, that debate likely will rage for days, if not weeks.

But the news is a boon for shares of Apple as jittery investors finally saw reason to hit the "buy" button. At the close of today's trading, Apple's stock was up 2.58 percent to $443.66 -- and this on a day when the overall stock market has been trading in the red.

In the lead-up to the Galaxy S4 announcement, there had … Read more

Former Apple retail chief: 'I just didn't fit'

Apple's former retail chief apparently harbors few hard feelings about his previous employer, and says his brief stint at the company was "probably the best thing" that happened to him.

"Apple is a truly fantastic business. The people are great. They've got great products. It's got a great culture. And I loved working there -- it's a fantastic business," John Browett said during an on-stage interview at the Retail Week Live conference earlier this week.

"The issue there was that I just didn't fit within the way they ran the … Read more

Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone: Morning-after analyst take

Samsung made its latest play in the smartphone battle versus Apple with yesterday's launch of the Galaxy S4, and analysts are weighing in.

Samsung unveiled its newest device during an event in New York's Radio City Music Hall. The phone looks very similar to the Galaxy S3 but sports an improved screen, camera, and components, as well as oodles of quirky software features like language translation. As CNET noted yesterday, Samsung is making Apple's iPhone look like yesterday's hot smartphone.

Many Apple analysts today, though, remain confident that Apple will be able to maintain its strong … Read more

Spin control: Apple goes on offense against Android

If he were the marketing chief for any company other than Apple, people would rightly figure that Phil Schiller's public bashing of Android was just part of the job description. And yes, there's that. But context is everything and Schiller's recent media offensive is part of a much bigger story with higher-than-normal stakes.

Schiller started the trash talking last week with a random tweet urging people to "Be safe out there" with a link to a report from F-Secure focusing on Android mobile security threats.

Then, on the eve of Samsung's Galaxy S4 announcement, … Read more

Apple marketing chief slams Android in interview

Just a day before Samsung is expected to roll out its next flagship smartphone running Google's Android, Apple's marketing chief is starting a spin cycle.

In a brief interview with the Wall Street Journal this afternoon, Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller slammed Google's smartphone platform, calling it fragmented, difficult to use, and suggesting that phones running Android are typically given out as free, entry-level devices by carriers.

"When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with,&… Read more