Apple News
Apple’s Q1 iPhone sales plummeted 19.1% YoY in China
China’s smartphone sales grew 1.5% YoY and 4.6% QoQ in Q1 2024, marking the second consecutive quarter of positive YoY growth, but Apple’s iPhone sales dropped 19.1% YoY in Q1 as Huawei’s comeback (69.7% YoY growth) directly impacted the premium segment.
China’s smartphone sales grew 1.5% YoY in Q1 2024, marking the second consecutive quarter of positive YoY growth, according to Counterpoint’s Market Pulse Service. Huawei stood out as the best performer among all OEMs during Q1, growing 69.7% YoY. Huawei’s growth was largely attributed to the successful launch of the 5G-capable Mate 60 series, helping it to gain a massive share in the $600+ premium segment. Despite Huawei’s comeback, HONOR still managed to grow 11.5% YoY in Q1 driven by its popular models, such as the X50 and Play 40, and its expansion in offline channels.
China Smartphone Sales Market Share, Q1 2023 vs Q1 2024
Source: Counterpoint Market Pulse Service
Notes: OPPO includes OnePlus; Xiaomi includes Redmi; vivo includes iQOO; Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Commenting on the market dynamics, Associate Director Ethan Qi said in a statement, “Momentum seems to be building on a recovery as China’s smartphone sales continued their growth trajectory and grew 4.6% QoQ in Q1 2024. The sales promotions during the Chinese New Year festivities were the biggest growth driver. The average weekly sales during the four weeks leading up to the Chinese New Year saw a robust growth of 20% when compared to a normal week, according to Counterpoint’s China Smartphone Weekly Model Sales Tracker.”
Further commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Analyst Mengmeng Zhang said in a statement, “Q1 2024 was the most competitive quarter ever, with only 3% points separating the top six players in terms of market share. Smartphone OEMs compete fiercely during the festive period, finalizing various marketing and promotional strategies well in advance. In particular, Chinese OEMs, with their ample cost-effective offerings, capitalize on the surge in sales in the low-end segment as migrant workers purchase more affordable, budget smartphones when returning home for the holidays. This trend further narrowed the market share gap among major players.”
Commenting on OEM performance, Senior Research Analyst Ivan Lam said in a statement, “vivo gained the top spot this quarter with 17.4% share driven by strong sales of the Y35 Plus and Y36 models in the low-end segment and the S18 in the mid-end segment. HONOR ranked second with a 16.1% share, followed by Apple with a 15.7% share. Apple’s sales were subdued during the quarter as Huawei’s comeback has directly impacted Apple in the premium segment. Besides, the replacement demand for Apple has been slightly subdued compared to previous years.”
Looking forward, Lam saw the possibility of an iPhone recovery, saying in a statement, “We are seeing slow but steady improvement from week to week, so momentum could be shifting. For the second quarter, the possibility of new color options combined with aggressive sales initiatives could bring the brand back into positive territory; and of course, we are waiting to see what its AI features will offer come WWDC in June. That has the potential to move the needle significantly longer term.”
Counterpoint Research estimates low single-digit YoY growth for China’s smartphone market in 2024. The advent of generative AI has already seen Chinese OEMs integrating such features into their flagship devices. Counterpoint anticipates smartphone OEMs will continue to explore new AI applications, with these advancements further trickling down to the mid-end segment.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: That tension on that tightrope Tim Cook tries to walk in China ratchets up.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple’s Q1 iPhone sales plummeted 19.1% YoY in China appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple is betting big on India
Apple in recent years has made an aggressive move to expand operations on both the manufacturing and sales front in India. The company opened its online store in India in 2020 and its first physical stores in the country last year and India is growing into one of the company’s largest markets.
Apple has recently made an aggressive play to expand operations in India: the country has a huge population, with a growing middle class willing to splash out more on high-end phones.
But it’s not just about sales for Apple. The tech giant has also boosted its manufacturing footprint in India, via Foxconn, the Taiwanese firm that assembles iPhones. Apple now makes around 1 in 7, or 14%, of its iPhones in India, according to a Bloomberg report this month.
Last year, an Indian government minister said Apple was looking to eventually manufacture 25% of all of its iPhones in India.
It’s led many investors to wonder whether India can become the next China for Apple.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Note: In the latest episode of CNBC Tech’s “Beyond the Valley” podcast, Tom Chitty and Kharpal discuss why Apple is pursuing the Indian market — and if it can live up to its promise:
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple is betting big on India appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple said to launch M4 Mac mini in late 2024 or early 2025, skipping M3
Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman reports that Apple could completely skip the M3 generation for some Macs, most notably the Mac mini, launching a new M4 Mac mini as soon as this year.
Andrew Cunningham for Ars Technica:
To be clear, Gurman doesn’t have specific insider information confirming that Apple is planning to skip the M3 mini. But based on Apple’s alleged late-2024-into-early-2025 timeline for the M4 mini, he believes that it’s “probably safe to say” that there’s not enough space on the calendar for an M3 mini to be released between now and then.
This wouldn’t be the first time an Apple Silicon Mac had skipped a chip generation—the 24-inch iMac was never updated with the M2, instead jumping directly from the M1 to the M3. The Mac Pro also skipped the M1 series, leapfrogging from Intel chips to the M2.
But if the M4 does come out by the end of 2024, it would be a much faster turnaround than we’ve seen for other Apple Silicon chips so far. Roughly a year and a half passed between the introduction of the first M1 Macs in late 2020 and the first M2 Macs in the summer of 2022; about the same amount of time passed between mid-2022 and the late-2023 introduction of the first M3 Macs.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: With each passing day, M3 sounds more and more like a placeholder – and a short one at that.
See also: Apple preps dramatic overhaul of entire Mac line powered by AI-focused M4 chips – April 11, 2024
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple said to launch M4 Mac mini in late 2024 or early 2025, skipping M3 appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple said to be close to TV deal With FIFA for new tournament
Apple and FIFA are said to be nearing an agreement wthat ould give the tech company worldwide rights for a monthlong World Cup-style competition between top teams set to be played for the first time in the United States next summer.
Tariq Panja for The New York Times:
The agreement could be announced as soon as this month, according to three people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly because it has yet to be officially confirmed. It comes after several false starts for a competition championed by FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino. Plans to hold it in China in 2021 were scuttled because of the pandemic.
The value of the deal might be as little as a quarter of the $4 billion FIFA had first estimated, the people said. It is unclear if the deal with Apple will include any free-to-air rights, meaning the entire event could be available only to subscribers of Apple TV+, a factor over which senior executives at FIFA have raised concerns.
Should the deal go through, it would be the first time that FIFA, which will stage the first expanded 48-team men’s World Cup in the United States in 2026, has agreed to a single worldwide contract. It would also represent the latest foray into soccer for Apple, which in 2022 signed a 10-year, $2.5 billion agreement for the global streaming rights to Major League Soccer.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: What a brilliant idea!
Perhaps Cook should consider bidding for and winning NFL Sunday Ticket away from Direct TV, buying rights to Premiere League and La Liga games, etc. and making them Apple TV exclusives. Go directly to the sports leagues with boatlods of cash. – MacDailyNews, May 6, 2014
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple said to be close to TV deal With FIFA for new tournament appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple acquires Datakalab, an AI startup specializing in on-device processing
As it scrambles to catch up to rivals in GenAI, Apple has acquired the Paris-based artificial intelligence startup Datakalab which specializes in on-device AI processing.
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
Datakalab specializes in algorithm compression and embedded AI systems. The acquisition, finalized on December 17 last year, was quietly conducted but noted in a European Commission filing spotted by French publication Challenges (via iPhoneSoft). While the financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, the move is almost certainly part of Apple’s broader strategy to bring more sophisticated AI technology to its devices, such as those expected to be introduced in iOS 18.
The company was established in 2016 by Xavier and Lucas Fischer and made significant strides in AI technology focusing on low-power, high-efficiency deep learning algorithms that function without relying on cloud-based systems.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: Clearly, Apple is not as innovative as it was under Steve Jobs who even started the company’s work on Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, but the company — thanks to Jobs and Cook’s subsequent management of iterations of products and services conceived during Jobs’ tenure — now has more than enough money to make up for Cook’s lack of vision.
Tim’s not a product person, per se. – Steve Jobs
Until it gets another visionary leader (fingers crossed; Apple’s history has shown – cough, Sculley, Spindler, cough – that the next CEO could be far, far worse than the very competent caretaker Cook), Apple can afford to miss things like generative AI – which they clearly did – and then use its huge war chest to catch up – which they’re doing right now (fun times and 80-hour weeks inside Apple Park!) – and, hopefully, surpass rivals (or at least be as good). Apple will very likely unveil their catch-up work within months (this June at WWDC 2024) in iPhones (and iPads, Apple Watches, etc.) with built-in on-device generative AI and other new AI-driven features. – MacDailyNews, February 14, 2024
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
The post Apple acquires Datakalab, an AI startup specializing in on-device processing appeared first on MacDailyNews.
BofA names Apple a top stock pick for 2024 ahead of key earnings
Bank of America (BofA) is bullish on Apple, naming it a top stock pick for 2024 ahead of Cupertino’s Q224 earnings report on May 2nd.
Ryan Vlastelica for Bloomberg News:
The company has a “rich catalyst path with defensive cash flows,” wrote analyst Wamsi Mohan, who has a buy rating and $225 price target on the stock.
Apple’s second-quarter results are scheduled for release next week, and BofA is largely positive on the prospects, with “services revenue growth and margins to remain strong.” However, it cautioned that “the demand environment is weak and a lower guide for F2Q could influence a pullback in shares.”
Apple’s shares rose 0.2% on Monday. The stock is coming off its lowest close in about a year, as well as a five-day drop of 6.5% that erased nearly $180 billion from its market capitalization. The stock is down 14% this year, making it one of the weakest performers among megacap technology companies.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: After its pullback, Apple’s lower valuation, with a current PE Ratio of 25.74, attracts value hunters as well as those seeking safe harbors.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
The post BofA names Apple a top stock pick for 2024 ahead of key earnings appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple carries $108 billion in long-term debt
Some investors might worry that Apple carries $108 billion of long-term debt on its balance sheet. That debt figure alone would qualify as the world’s 139th-most-valuable company. Can Apple afford this massive amount of debt?
Neil Patel for The Motley Fool:
Investors can look at some key metrics to determine whether a business is able to handle its debt burden. When scrutinizing Apple in this regard, it’s clear that the company has absolutely no problem at all with its borrowings.
Apple’s debt ratio of 31% (comparing its debt to assets) has actually come down in recent years. And it demonstrates that there are ample assets backing the company.
The business generated an incredible $114 billion in operating income in fiscal 2023. But it only made $3.9 billion in interest payments. This shows that even if a severe recession happened that crushed demand for its popular hardware devices, lowering revenue in the process, Apple could still easily make good on its payments…
In the past three fiscal years, Apple generated over $300 billion in free cash flow. Based on this result, one could even make a valid argument that Apple would be able to take on even more debt.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s debt load is not a weighty issue.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple carries $108 billion in long-term debt appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Wells Fargo: Buy Apple stock on weakness
Apple stock continues to underperform the market, but one Wells Fargo analyst recommends buying the dip ahead of some potential positive catalysts, even if shares fall after its Q224 earnings release after market close on Thursday, May 2nd.
Angela Palumbo for Barron’s:
Apple stock has fallen 14% so far this year while the S&P 500 has gained 4.1% as analysts have concerns over the company’s struggles in China, a lack of clarity over new general artificial intelligence projects, and competition with lower priced offerings. Shares have dropped for each of the last five trading days alone.
Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers has chosen to remain bullish on the stock despite its recent underperformance, and wrote in a research note Monday that investors should “consider buy on weakness,” even if shares drop after the company reports second-quarter earnings on May 2.
“Confidence in Apple’s GenAI strategy could be a positive catalyst,” Rakers wrote. The company is expected to deliver updates on its generative AI projects at the Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, on June 10.
Rakers rates Apple as Overweight with a $225 price target, which implies a 35% increase from the stock’s closing price on Friday.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: While we continue to dream of some sub-$150 goodness, may Aaron’s $225 AAPL price target come to fruition sooner than later!
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Wells Fargo: Buy Apple stock on weakness appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Initial enthusiasm for Apple Vision Pro wanes
Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman writes this week that “it feels like the Vision Pro is following the same script as every VR headset to come before it” as initial enthusiasm from early adopters dies out.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
After an exciting launch period with a sales surge and users flocking to stores for demos, interest has died down.
Here’s what I’m hearing from Apple retail stores: Demand for demos is way down. People who do book appointments often don’t show up, and sales — at least at some locations — have gone from a couple of units a day to just a handful in a whole week.
A big question is whether current Vision Pro owners have stopped using the headset regularly — a problem that plagued previous virtual reality systems. Let me speak about my own experience. During the first couple of months that I owned my Vision Pro, I used it every day (sometimes several times a day). Now I’m down to maybe once or twice a week.
I had initially used the Vision Pro whenever I watched a movie or YouTube, or when I wanted a more immersive screen for my Mac at home. These days, with the initial buzz wearing off, it seems clear that the Vision Pro is too cumbersome to use on a daily basis. Going through the process of attaching the battery, booting it up and navigating the interface often doesn’t feel worth it. And a killer app hasn’t emerged that would compel me to pick it up. It’s far easier to just use my laptop as a laptop and watch video on either my computer or big-screen TV.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: This is all proceeding along a vry predicable path.
[This Vision Pro reaction] is exactly what you’d expect to occur when a product is released too early to average users.
Apple Vision Pro is a devkit for developers, not for average users, and should have been released as a devkit for developers.
When a product is released too early to average users, you get reviews like “it’s the spiritual successor to the Newton.” And you deserve them. – MacDailyNews, March 26, 2024
As we wrote on March 22, 2024:
There are a lot of people inside and outside of Apple who think the company should have waited on the Vision Pro, but it’s fairly easy today to see why Tim Cook released this beta (alpha?) devkit: He likely knew last year, or had a strong inkling, that Project Titan was a goner and there wasn’t much excitement in Apple’s pipeline. He’d need something to point to as “innovation” while he continued on his seemingly unending quest to iterate and monetize products invented by Steve Jobs’ Apple (a very different place) while continuing Apple’s retail store buildout. He also needed something to energize developers and, who knows, they might come up with a killer visionOS app while Apple toils on the long road to real lightweight spatial computing glasses and beyond.
More importantly, Apple last year had already come to the sad realization that they’d missed the generative artificial intelligence revolution and would need a distraction while they feverishly scrambled to catch up (the fruits of which — alongside what sound like disappointing partnerships which hopefully, somehow, preserve user privacy — we’ll hopefully begin to see at WWDC this June).
You have to feel for Cook. After a decade plus of being able to iterate and monetize Jobs’ inspired products and services and continue adding retail stores around the world to spectacular effect, and being lauded for it, he now finds himself in a place that requires actual vision to be able to see which path to take. And he’s not the guy. Even the guy who put him in the position knew it.
Tim’s not a product person, per se. – Steve Jobs
See also:
• Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs knew about Apple Watch – February 13, 2023
• Work on Apple Vision Pro began under Steve Jobs – August 23, 2023
Beyond the fact that Cook can’t even execute a compelling live keynote address, his big send off, the “Apple Car,” [the idea of which was also germinated under Jobs] fizzled in ignominious failure.
See also:
• Scrapped Apple Car ‘a massive disappointment that will alter the course of the company’s history, perhaps for decades to come’ – Gurman – March 11, 2024
• Apple employees referred to doomed Apple Car project as ‘The Titanic Disaster’ – February 29, 2024
So, despite myriad misgivings and protestations inside Apple, Cook pulled the trigger early on the Vision Pro. He had to have something to point to that would buy him some time. Even Apple’s rubber-stamping board of lackeys would wake up and start asking questions otherwise.
While Cook is hemming and hawing when faced with shareholders (virtually, of course, never again in person for as long as Cook remains), Apple is currently in scramble mode trying to catch up to rivals — including the world’s most valuable company, Microsoft — in generative AI, a technology the company seems to have completely missed while focusing instead on the not-ready-for-primetime Apple Vision Pro, visionOS, its now-canceled decade-long multi-billion-dollar electric vehicle boondoggle, replacing leather in iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands with overpriced junk in a quest to “save the planet,” forcing employees to endure a constant barrage of time-wasting zero-productivity DEI sessions, and myriad other various and sundry “initiatives” which Cook deems of import. – MacDailyNews, February 28, 2024
When you lose your visionary CEO and replace him with a caretaker CEO, this is the type of aimless, late, bureaucratic dithering that ensues. – MacDailyNews, November 21, 2017
Until it gets another visionary leader (fingers crossed; Apple’s history has shown – cough, Sculley, Spindler, cough – that the next CEO could be far, far worse than the very competent caretaker Cook), Apple can afford to miss things like generative AI – which they clearly did – and then use its huge war chest to catch up – which they’re doing right now (fun times and 80-hour weeks inside Apple Park!) – and, hopefully, surpass rivals (or at least be as good). Apple will very likely unveil their catch-up work within months (this June at WWDC 2024) in iPhones (and iPads, Apple Watches, etc.) with built-in on-device generative AI and other new AI-driven features. – MacDailyNews, February 14, 2024
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Initial enthusiasm for Apple Vision Pro wanes appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple likely to reveal on-device large language model AI at WWDC 2024
As Apple scrambles to catch-up in generative and other artificial intelligence, the company’s next big thing is an on-device large language model (LLM).
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple’s next big thing: an on-device large language model… This is an area where Apple is chasing companies like OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and its initial AI features probably won’t be superior to those of its rivals. But the way it implements the technology could still be a game changer.
Apple has been developing a large language model — the algorithm that underpins generative AI features — and all indications suggest that it will be entirely on-device. That means the technology is powered by the processor inside the iPhone, rather than in the cloud. The upshot: Apple’s AI tools may be a bit less powerful and knowledgeable in some cases (the company could fill in the gaps by teaming up with Google and other AI providers), but the approach will make response times far quicker. And it will be easier for Apple to maintain privacy.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote on April 1st:
Apple was caught flat-footed, due to a lack of vision on the part of leadership. They were, uh, focused elsewhere. Apple’s traditional data center network is not fit for generative AI. It will take years and billions of dollars to catch up just to where GenAI leaders (OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, etc.) are today.
So, the only solution is to partner with a Google for the real GenAI stuff while pretending (marketing) really hard that some on-device AI Apple has whipped up in a few months is “insanely great Apple innovation” that’s at the heart of Apple’s 2024’s AI announcements when it’s really just an adjunct. Apple will tout their homegrown on-device AI and act like it’s powering everything when, in reality, it’s Google (or whichever is licensed) that’s powering most of it. Watch Apple make a big show of its on-device AI at WWDC and run many ads touting it from June onwards.
Apple hopes to buy time for the data center buildouts and investments that will be required for them to someday own their own AI technology and not have to license it from the likes of Google.
This is what happens after a decade plus with a caretaker CEO at the helm after he hits the last page of his iteration playbook, yet attempts to stay in the game for too long.
See also:
• Work on Apple Vision Pro began under Steve Jobs – August 23, 2023
• Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs knew about Apple Watch – February 13, 2023
Hopefully, the mad scramble to catch up after the deer-in-the-headlights standing start will produce enough to not only assuage Apple investors, but also mightily tempt consumers. – MacDailyNews, March 26, 2024
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple likely to reveal on-device large language model AI at WWDC 2024 appeared first on MacDailyNews.
iPhone 17 Plus said to sport display smaller than 6.7-inches
Supply-chain analyst Ross Young posted on X this week that he’d heard that the iPhone 17 Plus will come with a smaller screen than the 6.7-inch display on the current-generation iPhone 15 Plus.
It’s unclear why Apple would opt for a smaller-size screen for its iPhone 17 Plus, but MacRumors suggests the change could help further differentiate the Plus model from its more expensive Pro Max cousin. Though Apple is expected to increase the screen size of its upcoming iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max this fall, changing the screen size on the iPhone 17 Plus would likely help each iPhone stand apart even more.
It’s also possible Apple has learned through customer feedback that customers who look at the Plus-size iPhones want a device that’s bigger than the entry-level iPhone but not as big as the Pro Max.
As mentioned, Apple is expected this year to adjust screen sizes of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, which will reportedly have slimmer bezel borders and larger displays.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Note: Current iPhone 15 screen sizes:
• iPhone 15: 6.1 inches
• iPhone 15 Plus: 6.7 inches
• iPhone 15 Pro: 6.1 inches
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: 6.7 inches
Rumored iPhone 16 screen sizes:
• iPhone 16: 6.1 inches
• iPhone 16 Plus: 6.7 inches
• iPhone 16 Pro: 6.3 inches
• iPhone 16 Pro Max: 6.9 inches
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
The post iPhone 17 Plus said to sport display smaller than 6.7-inches appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Taffy Brodesser-Akner adapting ‘Long Island Compromise’ for Apple TV+
The author behind “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” Taffy Brodesser-Akner, will re-team with Susannah Grant and Sarah Timberman to develop “Long Island Compromise” for Apple TV+ with Richard Plepler also exec producing.
Lesley Goldberg for The Hollywood Reporter:
Following a multiple-platform bidding war, Apple has landed the rights to develop the dark family drama for television. As she did with Hulu’s Fleishman, Brodesser-Akner will adapt her novel (due July 9 from Random House) for Apple and exec produce alongside Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich), Sarah Timberman, and former HBO chief Richard Plepler and his Eden Productions.
Long Island Compromise follows a suburban American family and the lasting impact the patriarch’s weeklong kidnapping has on his wife and three children 40 years later.
Brodesser-Akner, an award-winning journalist for The New York Times, adapted her first novel, Fleishman, for Disney-backed Hulu in 2022. The limited series starring Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes, Lizzy Caplan, and Adam Brody is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an 87 percent score among critics and an 80 percent rating with viewers. The drama earned five Primetime Emmy nominations, including one for Brodesser-Akner’s writing.
Plepler set up shop at Apple in 2020 after spending nearly three decades at HBO and has exec-produced a number of series for Apple…
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Taffy Brodesser-Akner adapting ‘Long Island Compromise’ for Apple TV+ appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple in the running for NBA rights package
The NBA’s exclusive negotiating window with incumbent media partners Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery will likely pass without a deal announcement, CNBC reports Friday citing “people familiar with the matter.” Apple, Amazon, NBCUniversal, Netflix, and YouTube TV have all expressed preliminary interest in talks with the NBA about potentially buying a package of games as a new partner, CNBC reported last year.
Beginning next week, the NBA will be able to work on agreements for new partners to show packages of games. Amazon, Apple, YouTube TV, Comcast’s NBCUniversal/Peacock and Netflix have all had preliminary conversations with the league expressing potential interest, CNBC reported last year. The exclusive negotiating window with the league’s incumbent partners officially ends Monday.
While no agreement is expected to be announced by the deadline, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery both continue to work on terms with the league, an NBA spokesperson confirmed. The NBA would like to bring in at least one new partner to serve as a flagship streamer, CNBC reported last year. The league wants a “robust” streaming partner that will use marketing and reach to make the games a priority on their platform, CNBC reported.
The NBA is looking to double the $24 billion it generated from its previous media rights deal with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery by adding new partners and charging more for rights, CNBC reported last year… Both Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery aren’t eager to lose the rights they already have. Still, the league is looking for a large increase in fees, and neither company wants to carry the full burden of paying significantly more for what they already have, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple should continue to maximize usage of the Apple TV app and give Apple TV+ subscribers even more value (by offering lower subscription fees than non-subscribers à la MLS Season Pass) wherever it makes sense financially; live sports is a major way to do it.
Perhaps Cook should consider bidding for and winning NFL Sunday Ticket away from Direct TV, buying rights to Premiere League and La Liga games, etc. and making them Apple TV exclusives. Go directly to the sports leagues with boatloads of cash. – MacDailyNews, May 6, 2014
Hit series and blockbuster movies come and go, but live sports is the eternal differentiator. – MacDaiyNews, Octobr 2, 2023
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple in the running for NBA rights package appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple plans to spend more in Socialist Republic of Vietnam as it looks beyond China
As Apple and other global tech firms to look beyond China to secure their supply chains, cut costs, and open up new markets, Apple is planning to set up assembly factories with partners and buy more components from Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
CEO Tim Cook made the pledge in a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi Tuesday, according to a statement by Vietnam’s government.
Apple (AAPL) has already spent almost $16 billion through its supply chain in the country since 2019, the government quoted Cook as saying. And the company has created more than 200,000 jobs in Vietnam, it added.
According to the statement, Cook said Apple “stands ready … to enhance cooperation and investment activities” in the Southeast Asian country.
His visit highlights Vietnam’s growing importance to global companies looking for alternatives to China as trade tensions between Beijing and the West have escalated in recent years.
Vietnam is “the perfect landing spot for tech companies to diversify outside China,” according to Dan Ives, a senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, who pointed to the high number of trained engineers in the country as one factor.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: Diversify, diversify, diversify away from China!
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple plans to spend more in Socialist Republic of Vietnam as it looks beyond China appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Major Apple supplier TSMC cuts chip market outlook as consumer weakness persists
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) scaled back its outlook for a chip market expansion, cautioning that the smartphone and personal-computing markets remain weak.
Jane Lanhee Lee for Bloomberg News :
The world’s largest maker of advanced chips cut its expectations for 2024 semiconductor market growth — excluding memory chips — to about 10%, from above that figure. Chief Executive Officer C. C. Wei also trimmed his growth forecast for the foundry sector, which TSMC leads. Meanwhile, the company maintained its estimates for spending at anywhere between $28 billion and $32 billion amid capacity expansion and upgrades this year.
“Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty persists, potentially weighing on consumer sentiment and end-market demand,” Wei told analysts on a conference call. TSMC’s stock slid more than 6% in Taipei, the biggest intraday decline in about 18 months.
TSMC’s forecast follows the company’s first quarterly profit rise in a year. The main chipmaker to Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc. expects revenue of $19.6 billion to $20.4 billion in the June quarter, beating estimates for about $19.1 billion.
That outlook may help assuage some investors worried that AI demand won’t hold up, or that a smartphone recovery may be longer in coming.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, the A18 and M4 chips – and their AI capabilities – will wow consumers, spurring a super cycle of upgrades for iPhone and Macintosh.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Major Apple supplier TSMC cuts chip market outlook as consumer weakness persists appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple ramps up investment in clean energy and water around the world
Apple this week announced new progress to expand clean energy around the world and advance momentum toward Apple 2030, the company’s goal to be “carbon neutral” across its entire value chain by the end of this decade. More than 18 gigawatts of clean electricity now power Apple’s global operations and manufacturing supply chain, more than triple the amount in 2020. Apple is making new investments in solar power in the U.S. and Europe to help address the electricity customers use to charge and power their Apple devices.
As part of its broader environmental efforts, Apple also advanced progress toward another ambitious 2030 goal: to replenish 100 percent of the fresh water used in corporate operations in high-stress locations. This includes launching new partnerships to deliver nearly 7 billion gallons in water benefits — from restoring aquifers and rivers, to funding access to drinking water — over the next 20 years. As with clean energy, Apple has extended its commitment to clean water across the entire supply chain: Together, Apple suppliers saved over 12 billion gallons of fresh water last year, for a total of 76 billion gallons in water savings since the company launched its Supplier Clean Water Program in 2013.
“Clean energy and water are foundational to healthy communities and essential building blocks for a responsible business,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, in a statement. “We’re racing toward our ambitious Apple 2030 climate goal while taking on the long-term work to transform electrical grids and restore watersheds to build a cleaner future for all.”
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: Read more in Apple’s full press release here.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple ramps up investment in clean energy and water around the world appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Taylor Swift’s 31-song double album hits Apple Music
Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department” meeting has officially been called into session and, surprise, it’s a 31-song mega double album. The Grammy-winner first released her highly anticipated 11th studio album on Friday, with the album appearing on Apple Music some time prior to its scheduled midnight release time. At 2 a.m EDT, Swift then surprise-released an additional 15-song album titled “TTPD: The Anthology.”
The initial 16-track “Tortured Poets Department” album serves overall as a relaxed and mellow listen on the surface, but if you’re paying attention to the lyrics – as most very thorough Swifties do – you’ll discover a chaotic and complicated stream of consciousness where Swift works through waves of heartbreak, longing, anger and self-reflection.
The songs on which Swift chose to feature collaborators are some of the album’s highlights. The album’s eighth track “Florida!!!” with Florence + the Machine is a gorgeous match of two unique voices blending together, with Florence Welch’s signature plaintive singing style complementing Swift’s vocal range on the melodic track.
“Fortnight,” the album’s lead single featuring Post Malone, is a dynamic first track, perhaps the album’s catchiest. “I love you it’s ruining my life,” Swift sings reflectively, with Post Malone’s soft vocals echoing hers.
The “Anthology” album released later on Friday includes the previously announced exclusive vinyl variant bonus tracks “The Black Dog,” “The Albatross,” “The Bolter” and “The Manuscript” along with numerous other new songs.
“This is probably the most anticipated album ever that I’ve seen in my career,” Tom Poleman, the chief programming officer & president for iHeartRadio, told CNN in a recent interview. “It’s not just a music event, it’s a pop culture event that I think that everybody in America will be talking about and celebrating together.”
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Music offers amazing tonal definition with lossless audio for no extra charge. Only Apple Music lets users hear sound all around in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Taylor Swift’s 31-song double album hits Apple Music appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple pulls Threads, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal from App Store in China after CCP order
Apple said on Friday it had removed Meta Platforms’ Threads and WhatsApp apps from its App Store in China after being ordered to do so by the Chinese government, which claimed national security concerns.
Josh Ye and Mrinmay Dey for Reuters:
The removal of the four apps suggests growing intolerance on the part of China’s central government towards at least some foreign online messaging services that fall outside of its control. It also signals less leeway for Apple in China.
[O]ther Meta apps including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger remained available to download, according to Reuters checks on Friday. Many other popular apps developed by Western companies including YouTube and X were also available.
It was not immediately clear how WhatsApp or Threads might have caused security concerns for Chinese authorities.
“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns,” Apple said in an emailed statement.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: In China, what the CCP wants, the CCP gets.
Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. — Potter Stewart
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple pulls Threads, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal from App Store in China after CCP order appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple pitches its Vision Pro spatial computer to businesses
Apple is touting its Vision Pro spatial computing headset, which was made available in the U.S. earlier this year, to businesses.
Belle Lin for The Wall Street Journal:
But it faces the same challenges as its predecessors—pitching a “face computer” experience that hasn’t yet clicked with a wide business audience.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company last week announced a crop of enterprise customers that have built “spatial” apps designed to take advantage of the platform’s ability to combine the physical and virtual worlds within a user’s field of view. The bet is that early adopters can showcase the headset’s usefulness to corporate information-technology buyers, and justify its $3,500 price.
Susan Prescott, the company’s vice president of worldwide developer relations and enterprise product marketing, said the Vision Pro helps businesses boost productivity and has “endless potential in the enterprise.”
The company said it works directly with customers to integrate and manage Apple devices, and partners with firms like IBM, Deloitte and SAP to help enterprises get started. It declined to say how many businesses have purchased Vision Pro headsets, and how many devices have been sold to companies.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple offers a simple online form for businesses that are interested in Vision Pro so that their Enterprise team can reach out to help interested businesses get started with Apple Vision Pro here.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple pitches its Vision Pro spatial computer to businesses appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Apple accused of scrapping usable devices
Even if the iPhones looked good enough for resale, Apple’s contract with its recycler GEEP explicitly required that every product it sent be shredded and destroyed.
Austin Carr for Bloomberg Businessweek:
In Apple’s view, these devices, the kind usually disposed of at its stores or collected from trade-ins when customers upgraded to a new model, were better off scrapped for their precious metals than refurbished. And Apple was scrapping tons: In its first couple years working with GEEP, the company shipped it more than 530,000 iPhones, 25,000 iPads and 19,000 Watches.
But not all of them ended up in the shredders. Products were disappearing from the facility, though nobody at GEEP seemed to notice or talk about it… Then came the surprise Apple audit. When corporate investigators arrived to search the space, an oversight right Apple included in its agreement, they discovered a series of alarming issues. Tons of gadgets had gone missing. There were data discrepancies in GEEP’s paperwork. And, tellingly, auditors found two bins of intact Watches in an off-camera section of the facility, something that’s contractually forbidden. Workers on the floor sensed their bosses were nervous but didn’t know why.
Apple soon accused GEEP of failing to recycle at least 99,975 items. Cellular and other device identifiers revealed iPhones that should have been crunched into croutons were instead reactivated by new users in China. In 2020, Apple sued GEEP in Ontario court for C$31 million ($22.6 million) for breach of contract, alleging a “carefully orchestrated scheme” wherein employees stole and diverted its products to third parties who fixed up and “resold them in the grey-market to unsuspecting consumers.”
When the lawsuits came to light, first reported in late 2020 by the Logic, a Canadian news outlet, industry observers were stunned. It wasn’t just the shocking scale of the purported heist; the incident implied that Apple was forcing a recycling partner to shred tens of thousands of iPhones that were apparently in prime condition for refurbishment.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple in October 2020 alleged in a lawsuit that Canadian recycler GEEP Canada sold approximately 100,000 iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches, which the recycler had received to be taken apart and recycled, but Apple now appears to have abandoned the lawsuit. Read more in the full article here.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple accused of scrapping usable devices appeared first on MacDailyNews.