After weeks of speculation, falling stock prices and an analyst undercurrent that yesterday’s earnings report might mark the beginning of the end for the iPhone X due to weak sales , Apple’s results are in – and they cruised easily past analyst estimates. “Customers chose iPhone X more than any other iPhone each week in the March quarter, just as they did following its launch in the December quarter,” Tim Cook told investors as Apple announced Q2 earnings on Tuesday. MORE

Apple might have to raise prices on some of its products due to President Donald Trump’s latest proposals to charge a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports. consumers might be paying more for products — such as Apple Watch, AirPods earphones and HomePod speakers — if Apple has to compensate for higher duties on the Chinese-made products. and China” as one of the “greatest risks” to Apple’s share price in the months leading up to the new iPhone in September. MORE

30) that it’s partnering with Apple Pay to create a “Buy Now” button for its merchants. In a press release, Volusion said merchants can now accept Apple Pay , eliminating the need for customers to enter their payment, shipping or contact information every time they make a purchase online. “In We know merchants using Apple Pay see two to five times higher conversion at checkout compared to other payment options and see more than 50 percent faster checkout times. MORE

To say that Apple didn’t sell a lot of phones during the holiday season would not be fair. Saying Apple didn’t make money during its first fiscal quarter of 2018, would not be fair, either. But it would be fair to say that Apple’s latest earnings report managed to underwhelm nearly everyone, despite the impressive company milestones recounted by Apple CEO Tim Cook in his opening remarks. “We’re By the numbers, Apple reported revenue of $88.3 Apple sold 77.3 MORE

Mobile payment platform for Apple users, Apple Pay is now available in Brazil thanks to a partnership with the country’s biggest private lender, Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, the company announced today. Exclusive Mobile Payments Apple Pay Mobile Payments P2P payments MORE

Apple has surely managed to deliver a lot of hype with the launch of its mobile payments platform, but according to the numbers so far, it hasn’t really managed to deliver a hit. Apple Pay continues to have its boosters, and Tim Cook remains unspeakably enthusiastic about its future. He recently told Asian journalists that consumers are ready to be done with cash, and Apple is ready to help them get there. “We percent of credit card transactions stemming from Apple Pay. MORE

Apple Pay Reportedly Feels Some Merchant Love. The team at Piper Jaffray published some good news on Apple Pay. According to its survey of 507 vendors of merchant processing systems, Apple Pay is the most requested mobile digital payments service among retailers. MORE

New third-party software will allow users to turn off Siri on an Apple Watch and use Alexa instead. To activate Voice in a Can on the Apple Watch, consumers must hit the Install button, then Under My Watch next to the app name in Available Apps. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Apple Watch had been driving the wearables market — the company saw sales jump 60 percent in 2017, with 16 million units shipped. MORE

A study of 1,000 Chinese consumers indicates that for the first time, local maker Huawei has edged out Apple for being the number one smartphone consumers are preparing to purchase. in China, Apple is having overall performance issues as all new models are underperforming past launches. MORE

Reports have surfaced that Apple Pay is getting set to launch in Poland this week —possible as early as today (June 19). Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay would be making its debut in Norway, Poland, and the Ukraine in the next several months. Cook said Apple Pay exhibited good growth during the first three months of the year, with active users more than doubling year over year. MORE

Apple is giving customers 15 percent off purchases made in the Adidas iOS app when users buy the merchandise with Apple Pay. In May, Apple ran a promotion offering customers free grocery delivery with Instacart when they made purchases via the digital payment service. Apple also announced at the time that Apple Pay was made available at Trader Joe’s , Giant Food , Smart & Final , SuperValu , Food Lion and Winn-Dixie. MORE

Can Apple do mobile ads ? The paper, relying on unnamed sources, said that “over the past year, Apple has met with Snap Inc. Pinterest and other companies about participating in an Apple network that would distribute ads across their collective apps. Apple would share revenue with the apps displaying the ads, with the split varying from app to app.”. Apple guidance implied third fiscal-quarter iPhone unit volumes that were better than feared. MORE

Apple wants people to lose their wallets. These 36 merchants all accept Apple Pay, and all will be offering exclusive discounts over the weekend – between 10 percent and 25 percent off – for customers using the mobile payment service. Square will be opening additional pop-up shops along Hayes Street and the Marina to offer even more exclusive Apple Pay offers. But Apple is optimistic. But in a good way. MORE

The worldwide wearables market hit new highs last year, with Apple moving past competitors Fitbit and Xiaomi to take the top spot. And while Apple has lagged behind competitors Fitbit and Xiaomi in years past, it finally claimed the top spot in 2017. Interest in smartwatches continues to grow, and Apple is well-positioned to capture demand,” added Llamas. What will bear close observation is how Apple will iterate upon these and how the competition chooses to keep pace.”. MORE

Apple led the charge in the wearable band market during the first quarter of this year, with Canalys finding that the company shipped 3.8 million Apple Watches during the first three months of the year. Behind Apple, Xiaomi , which makes the Mi Bands, was in second place, shipping 3.7 Canalys noted that Apple Watch shipments matched the volume from the first quarter of last year. Apple represents 59 percent of the total cellular-enabled smartwatch market. MORE

Through the feature, users of Apple devices have an alternative to Siri, BGR reported. Overall, BGR notes that Amazon sales are ahead of Apple and Google when it comes to digital assistants. Alexa AI Amazon Apple artificial intelligence digital assistants News Retail siri smart speakers voice assistant voice-activated What's HotTo help users on iPhones and iPads use Alexa, Amazon has unveiled voice interaction for the popular voice assistant on its iOS Alexa app. MORE

Apple announced today (Nov. We can’t wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple’s breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it’s ready for our customers,” Apple said. “We’ll Apple did not give a reason for the delay. Apple Amazon Echo Google Homepod Innovation News Retail Smart Speaker voice-activated speaker What's Hot17) that it’s delaying the launch of its HomePod voice-activated smart speaker until early next year. MORE

Then got my answer, although it isn’t a singular factor but a combination … The post Apple Pray: why has Apple Pay failed? I was talking the other day to a colleague about the phenomenon in Asia, India, Africa and South America taking place with mobile payments and the lack of take-up in the USA. Why is this, I wondered? appeared first on Chris Skinner's blog. Fintech Grid Innovation Opinion Payments Technology MORE

As Apple seeks to bring in more revenue from online services and content, the tech company plans to integrate the technology behind Texture into its Apple News mobile app and develop a premium magazine subscription offering, Bloomberg reported. Apple acquired Texture last month, which offers users subscriptions to more than 200 magazines for a monthly fee of $9.99. Following the acquisition, Apple reportedly cut approximately 20 jobs from Texture. MORE

Driven by demand for the iPhone X, Apple captured 51 percent of the revenue in the world’s wholesale smartphone market. Apple’s global wholesale smartphone revenue reached $61.4 Manufacturers other than Apple, Huawei and Samsung took in a combined $31.5 With higher smartphone prices, Apple may have seen a boost to its top-line revenue. Apple sold a total of 77.3 Kuo also predicted that Apple will stop producing the premium model in 2018. MORE

Apple is reportedly gearing up to allow third-party developers to get full access to the Near-Field Communications (NFC) chip in the iPhone with iOS 12. Citing The Information, 9to5Mac reported that Apple is aiming for the iPhone to be used for more digital payments and other interactions, such as opening hotel room doors or as a virtual transit card for easier access to transportation. In June of 2017, Apple took steps to open up its NFC chip. MORE

Apple improved in part at Samsung’s expense, whose share of activations declined relative to both last quarter and last year,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP, according to Apple Insider. “In a quarter without any significant phone launches, Samsung had market share only equal to Apple’s. “This reverses the trend from a year ago, when Apple’s share fell relative to the March 2017 quarter. MORE

Jet , the online retailer owned by Walmart , announced Wednesday (May 9) that it is now part of Apple ‘s authorized reseller program. According to a report in 9to5Toys , Jet becoming an authorized Apple reseller is huge for its online battle against Amazon. The source noted that Jet will be selling the full suite of Apple products while Amazon only sells a few products. Walmart has long been an authorized reseller of select iPhones, iPad, and Apple accessories. MORE

In what The Wall Street Journal described as a form of nagging, Apple is prompting users of its iPhone to enroll in Apple Pay, which has created a mixed reaction from the public. The prompts to enroll in Apple Pay are tied to the iPhone’s most recent operating system update, yet they’re subtle, reported the WSJ. Apple, it should be noted, hopes to bring its $29 billion Apple Pay business line to $40 billion by fiscal year 2020. MORE

Apple Inc.’s In a research report covered by Barron’s , the Bernstein analyst said Apple has increased R&D spending to $12.7 While Apple’s current R&D spending is large, our benchmarking analysis suggests that Apple appears to still be underspending on R&D today, perhaps by a factor of 2x,” wrote the analyst in the research report covered by Barron’s. Over LTM, Apple spent 5.1 MORE

As comes standard in many Apple quarterly earnings report, there was plenty of buzz to go around. The Apple Watch is the most beloved wearable in human history, the iPhone X is the best-selling iPhone on the market and Apple products, broadly, are bringing all of mankind together in love and harmony. But the biggest buzz came from Cook when speaking about Apple Pay and its rapid growth last quarter. billion transactions , two times that of Apple Pay. MORE

News came Thursday (May 10) that Apple and Goldman Sachs Group are in the midst of bringing a joint credit card to market. In terms of details, noted The Wall Street Journal , the card would be issued under the Apple Pay designation and may come to market early next year. The move by Goldman and Apple has a cross-pollination effect of sorts. In an example of that momentum, in Apple’s latest earnings report, in early May, the company said it sold 2.9 MORE

Amid the race to reach $1 trillion in market capitalization, analysts are predicting that Amazon will win over Apple. Even so, Apple could potentially pull off an upset. According to a report in May , Apple’s market capitalization hit a record $934 billion , on the heels of a $100 billion stock buyback announcement and news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway amassed a huge stake in the Cupertino, California iPhone maker, and could add even more to that. MORE

Apple just recently rolled out another new bit of functionality for the Apple Watch. The latest version of the Apple Store app for Apple watch now allows wearers to make purchases right from their smartwatches. As of now, purchases Apple Watch users can make are limited to lower priced items (meaning this excludes iMacs and most other Apple devices) and accessories that they had previously favorited on the Apple Store’s app for iPhone and iPad. MORE

Apple pulled a paid iOS app from its App Store on Monday (Dec. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said in an email that the paid app had been removed, though he did not share how many customers had purchased the app or if Apple would refund those impacted customers. Apple’s problem with the fake app in the App Store comes at a time when Apple developers in China, which number 1.8 MORE

It wasn’t easy for Tim Cook to get Apple Pay into China, but his company was finally able to make that vision a reality last week (Feb. Now, however, new details have surfaced as to why China’s banks were finally ready to jump on the Apple Pay bandwagon. MORE

Through a new Face ID setting, Apple ’s latest iOS 12 potentially allows more than one person to use the feature on a particular iPhone X. The news comes as Apple’s annual developer conference, WWDC , helped boost the company’s shares to an all-time high on Monday (June 4). As a result, Apple’s stock rose as much as 1.7 Apple announced several features and upgrades at the conference, including the new iOS 12 operating system. MORE

2), Apple was already having a pretty good week: Earnings came in strong , buoyed by big successes with services and subscriptions, and investors were mostly happy with what they saw. Instead, Apple brought back Steve Jobs. He wanted Apple to dream up things people couldn’t imagine.”. MORE

Thanks to a strong showing out of Apple’s services business during the June ending quarter, Wall Street is getting more bullish on Apple. According to a report in CNBC , the growth in Apple’s services business , which includes its App Store, Apple Music and iCloud, is boosting analysts’ — such as Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan — views of Apple going forward. Bank of America reiterated its buy rating on Apple, pointing to growth in services. MORE

Apple told lawmakers in the U.S. According to a report in CNBC , Representatives Greg Walden, Marsha Blackburn, Gregg Harper and Robert Latta sent a letter to Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook and Alphabet Chief Executive Larry Page in July citing concerns about smartphones that can collect audio data from users without their knowledge. ” Apple’s App Stores have raked in $100 billion in sales for developers during the past 10 years. MORE

Apple’s approach to international and domestic relations could be described as heavy-handed with a level of disregard for political risk. 23) that regulators in Japan may take antitrust action against Apple. The action is based on antitrust violations that Apple may have committed in Japan, one of the company’s most profitable markets. But this is not the only antitrust or legal action that Apple is facing. Let’s take a look in other regions where Apple has dabbled. MORE

Apple and Goldman Sachs Group are in the midst of bringing a joint Apple Pay-designated credit card to market. The news comes at a critical juncture in the product lifecycle of Apple Pay. But Apple Pay’s adoption “curve?” After nearly 40 months on the market, adoption of Apple Pay has been essentially flat. The percentage of smartphone users who used Apple Pay for their last transaction, at a place where they could have, has changed. MORE

Apple became the first company trading in the U.S. According to a report in The Verge , shares jumped for two days in a strong showing in Apple’s third quarter, as the iPhone maker boosted its targets for the remainder of the year and surpassed Wall Street views for its fiscal third quarter. In early-morning trading on Thursday, Apple hit the $1 trillion in market cap when shares passed $207.05. Apple Apple Stocks market cap News stock market Wall Street What's Hot MORE

According to Mashable , a French blog reported that Apple updated its “HomePod OS 12” speaker with a variety of new features that are expected to launch this fall. However, Apple’s offering still won’t be able to recognize voices or support multiple users. Earlier this year, it was reported that Apple had reduced orders with Inventec, one of the manufacturers that builds the HomePod for the iPhone maker. MORE

Rumors are swirling that Apple is currently testing Apple Pay Cash internally using iOS 11.1 was released in beta to developers last week, but not everyone received Apple Pay Cash. The new service was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference over the summer, but the feature wasn’t included when iOS 11 launched to the public last month. When users receive money, they can transfer it to a bank account or spend it using Apple Pay online or in retail stores. MORE

Apple is going after iOS in the enterprise through a new collaboration with business services firm Accenture. The Apple-Accenture collaboration sees Accenture establishing an iOS practice within its Accenture Digital Studios. Starting 10 years ago with iPhone, and then with iPad, Apple has been transforming how work gets done, yet we believe that businesses have only just begun to scratch the surface of what they can do with our products,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement. MORE

When Apple comes out with earnings later this week, it is widely expected to report that its cash on hand has met and exceeded the quarter of a trillion dollars mark. Apple, if its free cash meets expectations, will have roughly doubled its holding in a little over 4.5 years — in the last quarter of last year Apple was reportedly bringing in about $3.6 soil would give Apple flexibility to do more capital returns — though what that might look like remains unknown. MORE

Apple Pay has had this feature with Uber for over a year. Exclusive Mobile Online Open Fintech Payments PFM Premium Uncategorized Apple Pay P2P payments PayPal Uber Venmo Visa MORE