chain

Market research firm DisplaySearch said the reduction in shipments of displays for the iPhone 5 -- which reflect shipments of the phone itself -- is real but that it doesn't necessarily mean the device's popularity is suffering.

"We started hearing indications of cutbacks before the new year," Paul Semenza, senior vice president, analyst services, at DisplaySearch, told CNET today.

That said, he doesn't exactly have a negative take on demand for the iPhone 5.

"It was a very quick ramp up. The Q4 [estimate] was originally about 61 million displays [for the iPhone 5]...… Read more

A hoax status update making the rounds on Facebook has some folks thinking a posted copyright statement will keep Facebook from using the content they post. It won't, and it wouldn't matter if it did.

This is because the post -- which urges users to copy and paste a message declaring rights to the material they post to their profiles -- doesn't apply to Facebook. The social network notes in its terms of service agreement that it doesn't own any user content. It does, however, use the data users generate for its business, something users agree … Read more

Microsoft and component suppliers in Asia are in the initial stages of testing a smartphone design, according to a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.

A source cited in the report says the phone has a screen size of between four and five inches.

Top smartphones from Samsung, Apple, HTC, and Motorola all have screen sizes in that range.

But officials at component suppliers added that they're not sure if the Microsoft phone would go into mass production, according to the report. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

If Microsoft does follow through and pushes … Read more

What do you do when you have a 1,000-unit-per-month hard-drive habit -- then Thailand floods wipe out your supply?

In the case of online backup specialist Backblaze, whose business could have been crippled when the natural disaster last year raised the price of a $129 3TB drive to $349, you improvise.

The company turned employees, their friends, and their families into an ad hoc supply chain who scoured Best Buy, Costco, NewEgg, B&H Foto, and other retailers across the country for drives. And when they learned that external USB storage devices were actually cheaper than the drives … Read more

Microsoft has found malware on new computers its employees purchased in various cities in China as part of an investigation into the security of the supply chain. That finding led researchers to a botnet called Nitol and a court order giving the company permission to take technical measures to disrupt the botnet.

The effort, dubbed Operation b70, began in August 2011 when it decided to see if there was any merit to claims that counterfeit software and malware were being installed on computers by suppliers before they hit the retail shelves in China. So, the company had employees go into … Read more

Here's another category where Apple and Samsung go head to head: chip buying. And Apple's dominance is expanding rapidly.

Rip off the plastic, metal, and glass on any consumer device, and it's pretty much all chips. And if you're the No. 1 buyer of those chips, as Apple is, that means you hold a lot of sway over global chip manufacturing.

More sway than chip kingpin Samsung (which Apple, ironically, buys lots of chips from).

"It's well known that Apple has already conquered the smartphone and tablet segments -- but behind the scenes the … Read more

Amazing Alex (99 cents) for iPhone or Android is a physics game where you're challenged to create chain reactions with objects to complete objectives. Our hero, Amazing Alex, is a kid who's stuck cleaning his room and tries to get creative with organizing his belongings by building Rube Goldburg-like devices.… Read more

Rumors of an Apple iPad "Mini" are starting to get some credible backing.

Apple's component suppliers are gearing up for mass production of a smaller-sized iPad in September, said The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch, according to people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg, meanwhile, similarly reported that a 7 or 8-inch tablet is in the works, and will debut by the end of the year.

The Wall Street Journal's two sources --- who asked not to be named --- claim the new tablet will "likely come with a screen smaller than 8-inches," compared to … Read more

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has dramatically ramped up the amount of attention his company pays to its supply chain, according to a new report.

Digitimes is reporting today, citing sources, that since Cook took over as chief executive, Apple has applied "stricter management" in its supply chain, ensuring that it's effectively managing costs and delivering the highest-quality products.

In order to achieve that goal, Apple has conducted more (and longer) inspections, according to Digitimes' sources. Those folks said that in one case, Apple found a fingerpint on an internal component, and demanded the entire production … Read more