samsung electronics

Apple isn't expecting a very happy holiday season, financially anyway.

The company today issued its forecast for its fiscal first quarter ending in December, calling for per-share earnings of $11.75 and revenue of $52 billion.

That's short of Wall Street's average forecast of $15.43 a share in earnings and $55.02 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters. Apple is known to be overly conservative with its own estimates, and Wall Street investors often pump up their own projections a little higher.

Still, the expectations call for growth in the quarter and underscore Apple's … Read more

All eyes will be on Google, as it takes a sudden plunge into the hardware business, courtesy of Motorola.

The $12.5 billion deal, which closed today, netted Google a healthy stockpile of patents for legal defense and offense, along with a historic technology brand and a multibillion-dollar handset and TV set-top box business.

It's pretty obvious what Google will do with the patents, given the increasingly litigious environment in which the technology world finds itself. Motorola's last few years of losses also bring a clear tax benefit to Google in the near term. But what is less … Read more

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, reported a record quarterly profit Friday on the strength of its smartphones.

The South Korea-based company said net profits rose 82 percent to a record 5.05 trillion won, or about $4.45 billion, for the fiscal first quarter ending March 31, compared with 2.78 trillion won a year earlier. Samsung also recorded record quarterly operating profits of $5.85 trillion won, in line with earlier guidance provided by the company.

"We cautiously expect our earnings momentum to continue going forward, as competitiveness in our major businesses is enhanced,&… Read more

Apple said today that its new iPad will hit a dozen new markets, including South Korea, on Friday.

Along with South Korea, the new iPad will be available in Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. The following Friday, it will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.

The new iPad, despite minor upgrades such as a higher-resolution screen and slightly improved processor, has been another success for Apple, which continues to dominate the tablet business. The expansion into 22 new markets over the next … Read more

Could an end to the litigation between Apple and its rivals be in sight?

Apple, for its part, may be looking to resolve its various lawsuits, and has signaled a willingness to cut licensing deals with Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility, the Dow Jones Newswires reported today, citing anonymous sources.

A licensing deal would put to an end an ugly and distracting period where smartphone companies have been going after each other both in the marketplace and in the courtroom. Apple had begun its legal offensive against Android vendor roughly two years ago in a bid to halt the momentum … Read more

Smart televisions I sort of get. But smart refrigerators and washers?

If Samsung Electronics is right, developers may flock to smart appliances as the next opportunity. At the Consumer Electronics Show, the consumer electronic giant unveiled its vision for a wider range of smart appliances. That included music apps such as Pandora on the refrigerator and an app on the washer that can ping you when a load is done.

The move underscores just how pervasive the app world has become, moving beyond PCs and smartphones into all sorts of devices. Samsung has arguably been the most aggressive in pushing … Read more

LAS VEGAS--We've all been there: halfway through the work day, the battery indicator on your smartphone switches to red, and you find yourself nervously looking for a power outlet.

Samsung Electronics hopes to alleviate the battery issue a bit--at least for most customers. The company has set a goal that smartphones coming out this year can last all day under average to moderately heavy use, according to Kevin Packingham, vice president of product innovation at Samsung.

"When you wake up to when you go to bed, we don't want you feeling anxiety about your battery life," … Read more

Reports that permeated the iPad 3 rumor mill this morning peg iPad 3 manufacturers Foxconn Electronics and Pegatron Technology as having begun iPad 3 production with a March launch on the horizon.

Those reports cited earlier rumors that Sharp was a main manufacturer of the high-density displays used in the iPad 3, which have now been challenged by a new rumor that Sharp did not meet Apple's specifications in its initial run of displays.

The site Patently Apple has published a report found on Korean industry site Electronic Times Internet News that claims Sharp is out of the iPad … Read more

More secrets are coming out of the court documents in the Apple-Samsung Electronics legal battle. Unfortunately, none of them are too juicy.

In issuing a court order denying Apple's request for a ban on Samsung products, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh released a document that inadvertently revealed some details on the two companies. Koh later withdrew that document and replaced it with one where the details were redacted. Reuters managed to get a hold of the entire document.

Reuters said none of the secrets were too earth-shattering. The documents revealed that Apple doesn't consider Samsung to be … Read more