iGyaan Network

Category: Business

  • Walmart Buys 77% Stake In Flipkart For US$ 16 Billion

    Walmart Buys 77% Stake In Flipkart For US$ 16 Billion

    Last week, reports emerged from the Flipkart office that an initial agreement of sale to Walmart had been signed. The world’s largest retail chain, Walmart Inc. has now announced that it has agreed to become the largest shareholder in Flipkart Group. The deal is worth approximately US$ 16 billion and will see Walmart own 77% stake in the Indian e-commerce outlet.

    Subject to regulatory approval in India, Walmart will pay approximately $16 billion for an initial stake of approximately 77 percent in Flipkart, formally Flipkart Private Limited.

    This announcement has also confirmed another rumour started by a previous report. Walmart announced that investors like Tiger Global, Tencent and Microsoft will not cash out completely. Apparently, Softbank, an investor in Flipkart holds a little over 20% stake in the company. With this acquisition, Softbank will exit the company fully and is expected to make up to US$ 4 billion. This is a whopping 60% return on its investment of US$ 2.5 billion in the company it made about eight months ago.

    The remainder of the business will be held by some of Flipkart’s existing shareholders, including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Tencent Holdings Limited, Tiger Global Management LLC and Microsoft Corp.

    Flipkart had a successful previous fiscal year. Walmart said that Flipkart recorded GMV (gross merchandise value) of US$ 7.5 billion and net sales of US$ 4.6 billion representing more than 50% year-over-year growth in both cases. With the investment, Flipkart will leverage Walmart’s omnichannel retail expertise, grocery and general merchandise supply-chain knowledge and financial strength.

    The two major players in the Indian online market are Flipkart and Amazon. If this deal goes through, the scenario will remain the same. Amazon has been breathing down Flipkart’s neck in terms of market share as Flipkart continues to have a larger market share. According to a report by Forrester, in 2017, Flipkart’s standalone market share was 31.9%, while Amazon’s was 31.1%.

    This deal will only benefit the Indian consumers as both Flipkart and Amazon would be vying for the top spot and make sure their services are better than the other. The implications of this deal will be seen in the months to come and it’ll be interesting to see how Flipkart leverages the financial power of the world’s largest retail chain.

  • Apple iPhone X Was The Best Selling Smartphone In Q1 Of 2018

    Apple iPhone X Was The Best Selling Smartphone In Q1 Of 2018

    Launched in September of 2017 for a whopping US$ 999 starting price, the Apple iPhone X had its fair share of doubters. The new design complete with a notch initially did not impress many. The iPhone X also did not have the famed Touch ID and was replaced Apple’s own facial recognition system, now known as Face ID. With so many changes and a record high price, the iPhone X was still the best selling smartphone of Q1 of 2018.

    Apple

    In a new report by Strategy Analytics, Apple sold 16 million units of the iPhone X in the quarter, making it the best selling smartphone. Apple did announce record profits for the quarter and Tim Cook claimed that the Apple iPhone was the best selling smartphone in many markets. Apple announced quarterly revenue of US$ 61.1 billion, a year-over-year growth of 16% which is much higher than its street estimates.

    Must read: Apple iPhone SE 2 Renders With Face ID And iPhone X Style Notch Leaked

    A close second on the list of best selling smartphones was the iPhone 8 with 12.5 million units. The iPhone 8 Plus, launched along with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X was the third best selling smartphone with 8.3 million units sold. At number four on the list was the iPhone 7, a smartphone launched in 2016, with 5.6 million units sold during the quarter.

    iPhone 8, 8 Plus

    Xiaomi’s “Desh Ka Smartphone” Redmi 5A was fifth on the list with 5.4 million units sold. Credit has to be given to the Samsung Galaxy S9 for coming in sixth on the list. The smartphone was launched in late-February and went on sale in March. In all, the top six smartphones accounted for 1 in every 7 smartphones shipped in the world during the quarter.

    Redmi 5A

    It is a mind-boggling statistic that the top five best selling smartphones were from the same company, Apple. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which were believed to be unimpressive when compared to the iPhone X managed to be among the best selling smartphones of the quarter. This report also contradicts many claims from analysts that the Apple iPhone X is not in demand anymore and the Apple is planning to stop the production of the iPhone X.

    Must Read: OnePlus 6 Price In India Leaked, Starts At Rs 36999

    Samsung Galaxy S9

    With smartphones like the OnePlus 6 launching in May, more smartphones would be thriving to enter that list for the coming quarters of 2018.

  • Walmart To Acquire Flipkart For Up To US$ 16 Billion

    Walmart To Acquire Flipkart For Up To US$ 16 Billion

    The world’s largest retail chain, Walmart will buy 73% of Flipkart. The deal appears to be imminent as Walmart has prepared to at least US$ 14.6 billion, and as much as US$ 16 billion, in the cash-and-stock buyout of the Indian e-commerce giant. Moreover, Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, is said to be ready with a US$ 3 billion investment as well.

    According to the report by Factor Daily, one source had valued Flipkart at US$ 20 billion while two other sources said that Walmart had put company’s value at as much as US$ 22 billion. At this price, Walmart will spend more than US$ 16 billion for the acquisition. After meetings went on throughout Thursday, both the parties appear to have signed a tentative agreement. One source said:

    Everything has been finalised… The papers have been signed by both the parties.

    Flipkart’s CEO, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, and other top-level personnel are expected to maintain their roles. The report cites a few sources, and one of the sources claimed that the deal will be a mix of cash and stock.

    Cash component will be close to 55%, which will mark the exit of some of the largest investors in Flipkart.

    Softbank, an investor in Flipkart holds a little over 20% stake in the company. With this acquisition, Softbank will exit the company fully and is expected to make up to US$ 4 billion. This is a whopping 60% return on its investment of US$ 2.5 billion in the company it made about eight months ago. Other investors like Tiger Global, Tencent and Microsoft will not cash out completely.

    Must Read: Apple Working On An AR/VR Headset With 16K Resolution Display

    The two major players in the Indian online market are Flipkart and Amazon. If this deal goes through, the scenario will remain the same. Amazon has been breathing down Flipkart’s neck in terms of market share as Flipkart continues to have a larger market share. According to a report by Forrester, in 2017, Flipkart’s standalone market share was 31.9%, while Amazon’s was 31.1%.

    With the deal on the later stages of completion, it could be announced at any moment. Neither of the two parties involved in the deal has made any statements so far. We will update you as soon as we get more information about the acquisition.

  • WhatsApp Co-Founder Jan Koum Leaves Facebook Amid Data Privacy Concerns

    WhatsApp Co-Founder Jan Koum Leaves Facebook Amid Data Privacy Concerns

    Facebook has been embroiled in a huge debate about the internet as a whole. As social media has grown to become such an integral part of our lives, it is no secret that users have given more personal information than needed to various social media platforms over the years. Facebook has been under the cosh for allegedly, not using that information in an ethical manner. Now, it appears that the conversation of privacy has trickled down to Facebook-owned properties, mainly WhatsApp. Co-founder and CEO of WhatsApp, Jan Koum has announced that he will be leaving WhatsApp soon.

    https://www.facebook.com/jan.koum/posts/10156227307390011

    Jan took to his Facebook page to announce his departure, making sure he doesn’t give away any reasons that made him quit the company he started. A report by Washington Post claimed that he had a clash with Facebook and the company’s plans of using users’ private data. It also claimed that Jan plans to step down from Facebook’s board of directors.

    In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp from Jan for a reported US$ 19 billion. The app has since become the most famous instant messaging service. In July 2017, the company announced that it had reached 1 billion active daily users who were sending 55 billion messages per day, 4.5 billion photos and 1 billion videos.

    Jan Koum

    WhatsApp has always pledged to protect user data and promised to protect that when Facebook bought the messaging service. In 2016, it further solidified its stance by introducing end-to-end encryption. However, Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company has been accused of letting third parties use sensitive user data to their advantage. His departure will certainly be a blow for Facebook, especially after Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp quit the company in November. Brian Acton, for that matter, has joined the rising voices of people concerned about data protection. The social media campaign, #DeleteFacebook has also gained impetus in the last few months.

    Facebook is yet to respond to reports of Jan quitting due to differences with Facebook about handling user data. However, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook did reply to Jan’s post, saying:

    I will miss working so closely with you. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done to help connect the world, and for everything you’ve taught me, including about encryption and its ability to take power from centralized systems and put it back in people’s hands.

    It’ll be interesting to see the repercussions now since both the founders have quit the company. Facebook will be eager to continue building the legacy of its largest-ever acquisition in the wake of questionable times for the parent company.

     

  • Apple iPhone X Accounts For 35% Profit Made By Smartphones in 2017

    Apple iPhone X Accounts For 35% Profit Made By Smartphones in 2017

    2017 was a great year for smartphone enthusiasts. We saw thin bezels and tall displays become a norm and new smartphone designs like the iPhone X with a notch. However, that innovation in smartphones did not translate into desired sales as global mobile profits decreased by 1% year-on-year in Q4 of 2017. For Apple, though, it was not a gloomy year by any means. The Apple iPhone X alone generated 35% of the total mobile industry profit as Apple grew by 1% year-on-year in Q4 of 2017.

    Apple iPhone X
    Galaxy S8

    According to the latest report by Counterpoint Research, Apple remained the most profitable premium smartphone brand, capturing about 86% of the total handset market profits.

    Apple grew 1 percent (YoY) even with the iPhone X being available for only two months in Q4 2017. The iPhone X alone generated 21 percent of total industry revenue and 35 percent of total industry profits during the quarter.

    The share of iPhone X is likely to grow as it advances further into its life-cycle. Additionally, the longer shelf life of all iPhones ensured that Apple still has eight out of top 10 smartphones, including its three-year-old models, generating the most profits compared to current competing smartphones from other OEMs

    Interestingly, the iPhone X generated 5 times more profit than the combined profits of over 600 Android smartphone makers during the fourth quarter of 2017. Thanks to a host of budget smartphones on offer by Chinese OEMs, their cumulative profits crossed US$ 1.3 billion during Q4 2017. Interestingly, the average selling price of their smartphones increased year-on-year.

    These figures tell a curious tale about the iPhone X, which was heavily criticised for its price and design at the time of its launch. However, with time, the design of the iPhone X has set an industry wide trend and the price tag has not stopped it from being the most successful smartphone of 2017. Sales of the iPhone X are expected to increase further when the next generation of iPhones is launched later in 2018. The price of the iPhone X will go down and potential iPhone buyers will go for the iPhone X as the design of 2018 iPhones is expected to be similar to the iPhone X.

  • 10 Million Indians Will Own iPhones In 2018

    10 Million Indians Will Own iPhones In 2018

    The priciest iPhone ever, the iPhone X was well-received all over the world. In 2018, Apple will repeat the trifecta by launching three new iPhones. The design of the iPhones will be identical to the iPhone X. This means that the iPhone SE 2 will be the only new iPhone to feature Touch ID. But, that won’t stop the company from reaching 10 million iPhone users in India.

    iPhone SE

    In 2017, there were 8.9 million iPhone users in India. With the launch of three of new iPhones and a price drop of some famous iPhones like the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, this number will increase a lot more. A report by CyberMedia Research claims that Apple will reach the number far quicker if it ramps up its assembly operations in India. If done so, the company will be able to reduce the price of other iPhones as well, just like it did for the iPhone SE.

    iPhone 7 Plus

    CyberMedia Research analyst Faisal Kawoosa said:

    It’s a remarkable accomplishment for Apple. In a price-sensitive market like India where 56% of the smartphones sold are still sub Rs 10,000.

    However, just comparing pure numbers would reveal that Apple’s accomplishment pales in front of that of Xiaomi and Samsung’s. The new market leader, Xiaomi, had 28 million users by the end of 2017. Samsung, on the other hand, has crossed the 100 million-barrier. But, as the report points out, India is a very price sensitive market and Apple only sells premium smartphones here. Even its most affordable offering, the iPhone SE is double the average price of a bestselling smartphone.

    Redmi Note 5 Pro

    In fact, the iPhone X recently became the bestselling premium smartphone in India. In Q4 2017, the iPhone X was the top smartphone in the premium segment, with a share of 21% of the shipments. The iPhone X was followed by the OnePlus 5T at 17% and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 at 8%.

  • Vodafone India And Idea Merger: New Leadership Team Announced

    Vodafone India And Idea Merger: New Leadership Team Announced

    Vodafone India Plc and Idea Cellular India have announced the completion of the merger. Post the merger, the top-level management will see a shakeup and the two telcos will join hands to take on the rising popularity of Reliance Jio. Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the Non-Executive Chairman of the merged Company. The new CEO will be Balesh Sharma, the current Vodafone COO.

    Vodafone Group Chief Executive, Vittorio Colao, and Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla have said:

    We are pleased to announce the proposed management team for the new company to be created through the merger of Vodafone India and Idea. The team has extensive operational experience and is an excellent blend of expertise from both companies.

    We look forward to the completion of the merger and competing as one company in the marketplace.

    My Vodafone App

    According to a report, Vodafone and Idea will together invest about Rs. 60,000 crore in the next three years to upgrade its infrastructure. Both the companies will invest up to Rs 14,000 crore on capital expenditure. Bharti Airtel is miles ahead of the two companies when it comes to investment this year. Bharti Airtel is already spending around Rs 22,000 crore on capex for its India wireless business. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd’s spend on infrastructure has been higher this year.

    A recent relief for the Indian telecom industry announced by the Government will also help this merger. The two companies will be able to retain spectrum in key markets and then significantly boost cashflows. More details about the merger will follow.

  • Apple Posts Record Profit Despite Decreased iPhone X Shipments

    Apple Posts Record Profit Despite Decreased iPhone X Shipments

    Apple launched the iPhone X back in September at a record price of US$ 999 for the base variant. The iPhone X presented a huge design change from all the previous iPhones and caught the imagination of a lot of consumers. Post the launch of the device, people were divided on the presence of Face ID and the removal of Touch ID.

    Apple
    iPhone X

    There were reports that Apple had reduced the production of the iPhone X due to the low demand for it in prominent markets. However, despite the recent activities, Apple recorded profit for the first fiscal quarter of 2018 (fourth calendar quarter of 2017). Apple announced that it sold 77.3 million iPhones during this phase.

    Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO said:

    Thanks to great operational and business performance, we achieved all-time record profitability during the quarter, with EPS up 16 percent.

    In the same phase, Samsung shipped 74.7 million phones, 2.6 million fewer than Apple’s 77.3 million. Other OEMs like Huawei and OPPO shipped far fewer devices at 41 million and 29.5 million, respectively. Apple also had the highest average selling price of its iPhones during the quarter at US$ 796.

    the American tech giant’s rise is commendable especially considering the industry trend. Overall global smartphone shipments declined year over year, falling from 438.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 400.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. However, over the course of 2017, smartphones shipments grew by 1% to 1.5 billion units.

     

  • Apple iPhone X Is the Bestselling Premium Smartphone In India: Report

    Apple iPhone X Is the Bestselling Premium Smartphone In India: Report

    In 2017, a lot of premium smartphones with great features and competitive pricing were launched. The OnePlus 5T was launched at a price of Rs. 32999 and had the specifications of a premium device. Apple launched the iPhone X in India at a record price of Rs. 89000 for the base variant. However, despite the steep pricing, the iPhone X was the bestselling premium smartphone in India.

    iPhone X
    Original iPhone And The iPhone X

    In Q4 2017, the iPhone X was the top smartphone in the premium segment, with a share of 21% of the shipments. The iPhone X was followed by the OnePlus 5T at 17% and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 at 8%. According to Varun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research the segment grew by 27% in 2017. He wrote in a blog post:

    Although the segment is more crowded than a year ago, the top three brands, Apple, OnePlus and Samsung, still contribute to 94 percent of the overall premium market segment.

    In 2017, Apple continued to lead the premium smartphone segment with a 47% share in Q4 and 38% throughout the year. This was largely thanks to sales of the iPhone X and iPhone 7. OnePlus was the fastest growing brand in India. It saw a growth of about 343%, capturing 25% market share during Q4 and 19% throughout 2017.

    iPhone X
    OnePlus 5T
    Apple iPhone X

    The iPhone X was launched in India on the 3rd of November. At the time of its launch, the iPhone X became the priciest iPhone ever launched in India. The 64GB storage variant was priced at Rs. 89000 while the 256GB storage variant was available for Rs. 1,02,000. The iPhone X also had the biggest design shift since the iPhone 6, with thin bezels and a notch on the top.

    The iPhone X has a 5.8-inch 2436 x 1125 px OLED True Tone Super Retina display.

    The phone runs iOS 11.1 and is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery which charges through the Apple signature lightning port placed at the bottom of the phone or via wireless charging. Because of the all-glass design, the iPhone 8 also has wireless charging.

    Under the hood, the smartphone has the Apple A11 Bionic chipset with a neural engine, a hexacore processor, 3GB of RAM and storage options of 64GB, and 256GB. The small bezels mean there is no physical home button, which is now replaced with gestures for navigation. Siri is activated by pressing the now larger lock/unlock button. The iPhone X is also IP67 certified for water and dust resistance, and wireless charging.

    The iPhone X has dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, and it’s equipped with dual optical image stabilization. The sensors are both larger and faster, according to Apple, and the main camera is equipped with a wide angle lens and has an f/1.8 aperture while the secondary telephoto lens has an f/2.4 aperture. In between the two cameras is a quad-LED True Tone flash. Both the front and back cameras have the portrait mode. The rear cameras have the portrait lighting feature, just like the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

  • Google Completes US$ 1.1 Billion Acquisition Of HTC’s Smartphone Division

    Google Completes US$ 1.1 Billion Acquisition Of HTC’s Smartphone Division

    Google has announced the completion of a US$ 1.1 billion deal with HTC. The deal was confirmed in September 2017 but, it has now passed the requisite approvals and is finalised.

    Rick Osterloh (Google) and Cher Wang (HTC)

    The acquisition will see the transfer of over 2,000 engineers from HTC. Along with the transfer, the company will also receive a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property. HTC is retaining its Vive VR division and confirmed that it will continue making smartphones.  Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior VP of hardware, wrote:

    I’m delighted that we’ve officially closed our deal with HTC, and are welcoming an incredibly talented team to work on even better and more innovative products in the years to come.

    As It Happened

    This is not the first time that Google has taken charge of the hardware for its smartphone lineup. Six years ago, Google announced a US$12.5 billion buyout of Motorola Mobility. However, after opening a manufacturing plant in the United States, the company decided to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for a fraction of the price it bought Moto for. The takeover made Motorola into a capable smartphone manufacturer and has continued to thrive in the smartphone industry since then.

    Google
    Google Pixel 2

    HTC’s flailing smartphone share and tumbling sales in the past few years made people talk about a possible takeover by Google of its smartphone department while HTC continues its work in the VR industry. In late August, reports emerged that a deal between Google and HTC will be announced by the end of 2017.

    This move by the Google to buy off smartphone personnel from HTC could bring the company closer to achieving the hardware/software synergy that has worked so well for Apple and the iPhone. Although HTC and other Android smartphone makers still use off-the-shelf processors and other components in their handsets, the tech giant snatched one of Apple’s chip architects earlier in 2017. This could be an attempt to evolve beyond that and design its own chip.

    This acquisition also gives it a huge engineer base in Taipei, Taiwan. That makes Taipei the largest engineering site for Google in the Asia Pacific. In the coming years, it is likely to be the source of new products from the company.

  • Samsung Will Launch An Online-Exclusive Line Of Smartphones In India

    Samsung Will Launch An Online-Exclusive Line Of Smartphones In India

    Samsung will soon launch a line of budget smartphones specifically for the online consumers. This new lineup will directly compete with Xiaomi and its dominant lineup in the sub-15K category. Samsung’s new smartphones will also enter the Rs. 5000-Rs. 15000 price bracket.

    According to IDC, Samsung and Xiaomi were the top two smartphone brands in India for the first time in Q3, 2017. The companies had a market share of 23.5% each, earning them the top spot in the Indian market with over 9.2 million smartphones. However, the top three smartphones sold during the July-September quarter were by Xiaomi. The majority of these sales happened through online channels and that is what Samsung intends to target with these new smartphones.

    Samsung Galaxy A8+

    [amazon_link asins=’B01LWNBIQQ’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’igyaan-21′ marketplace=’IN’ link_id=’6c3eab90-f9db-11e7-b162-97e96ad8937c’]

    At this point in time, Samsung online-exclusive line of smartphones is its On series while the recently launched Samsung Galaxy A8+ is also an Amazon-exclusive for now. According to Counterpoint Technology Market Research, a Hong Kong-based research firm, Xiaomi’s rise in India is due to the absence of competition in the online space. According to the MD of Xiaomi India, the brand has almost 50% share of online smartphone sales in India.

    A Samsung Executive has said:

    Samsung wants to extend its lead with Xiaomi which is possible by expanding e-commerce sales while consolidating its presence in offline channels. It will ensure that the 1.5 lakh brick-and-mortar stores selling its handsets are not neglected since Samsung knows it will take time for Xiaomi to build such a vast offline network.

    Redmi 5 Plus

    What smartphones Samsung will launch at this price category is yet to be seen but, they will have to have extremely solid specifications to deter Xiaomi’s top-selling devices in the price category. Furthermore, Xiaomi will soon launch the Redmi Note 5 in India, which will succeed the highly popular Redmi Note 4 and will be priced at around Rs. 11,000.

  • Apple Will Sell 16 Million Fewer iPhones Thanks To Its New Battery Replacement Program

    Apple Will Sell 16 Million Fewer iPhones Thanks To Its New Battery Replacement Program

    Apple has been in the news for the past few days, getting bad press over the Battery vs Performance slowdowns of the previous generation of iPhones. Although the company clarified its stance and revealed the intentions behind such a drastic step, consumers are still baffled and the company will have to do a lot of work in order to win their trust back. One step that the company took in that direction was reworking its battery replacement program.

    One the 29th of December, the company released a statement announcing its new battery replacement wherein the charges of replacing an out-of-warranty battery were much less than what it was before. According to the old program, it cost US $79 plus taxes to replace a battery but, it will now cost US $29 plus taxes. While this seems like a reasonable trade-off for the consumers, the company might be facing a significant drop in iPhone sales in 2018.

    According to Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz, customers opting for a battery replacement instead of upgrading an iPhone could be a “mild headwind” for iPhone unit sales, potentially resulting in millions of fewer iPhone purchases during the year. He believes that up to 78% of iPhone users are eligible to upgrade their batteries.

    In our base case scenario, 10% of those 519M users take the $29 offer, and around 30% of them decide not to buy a new iPhone this year. This means around 16M iPhone sales could be at risk, creating ~4% downside to our current revenue estimate for C2018.

    It is to be seen whether the sales will see such a significant hit because it costs less to replace a battery. There are many other factors that influence a consumer to upgrade to a new phone like new features, better camera, or even a new design.

    Apple has said that a new battery in an affected iPhone will restore its old performance since the software tweak kicks in only when it notices a significantly degraded battery health. This was the prime reason behind Apple cutting down the cost of replacing an out-of-warranty. Apple has stated that the throttling of performance was never done to influence a consumer into buying a new iPhone but, there is no denying that it is an inevitable consequence of its actions. Perhaps, the company would have been better off by being transparent about such a huge issue and its steps to curb the side effects.

  • Apple May Have Plans to Acquire Netflix

    Apple May Have Plans to Acquire Netflix

    Apple has long been rumoured to be be working on a TV subscription streaming service to be integrated into their “TV” app on iOS devices and on the Apple TV. With Netflix already at the top of the list of subscription-based streaming services. Apple may likely be setting its eyes on the acquisition of Netflix. An analyst claims that there is a 40% likelihood that Apple will acquire Netflix now that US President Trump’s corporate tax cut has been passed.

    The cut in corporate taxes, along with a one-time allowance for companies to repatriate cash stored overseas without a major tax hit, will give Apple a much larger cash surplus to buy new companies. Apple has over $ 250 Billion in available cash, which is stored in tax havens outside of the US, which the company will now be able to bring back to the US thanks to the new tax cuts.

    Apple’s list of potential acquisitions contains a few companies, but Netflix tops this list according to the Analysts. This list includes companies like Activision, Electronic-Arts, Take-two, Hulu, Disney and even Tesla. However this was written before Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s studio and TV assets.

    Apple will need to pay only 10% to bring this cash back to America, and Netflix acquisition could cost the company as much at US $ 75 Billion . Still leaving the company strong with 2/3rds of their existing cash and with this number increasing at the rat of US $ 50 Billion each year, Apple could be eyeing other potential investments.

    This move will also allow Apple to establish a stronghold in the streaming space the company has been eyeing for several years. With Apple Music service already a huge success, a movie/tv series streaming service will only add to Apple’s revenue.

  • Apple iPhone X May Receive A Price Cut In Early-2018

    Apple iPhone X May Receive A Price Cut In Early-2018

    Back in September of 2017, Apple launched the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus along with its priciest iPhone yet, the iPhone X. Considered as the true successor to the original iPhone from 2007, the iPhone X represented the major design change that future iPhones will see.

    China, the largest smartphone market in the world has particularly received the iPhone X well. A report claimed that the iPhone X is convincing more people in China to buy the iPhone, which means that more Android users are switching to iOS thanks to the launch of the iPhone X.

    All may not be rosy for Apple as a new report claims that Apple is might drop the price of the iPhone X come early-2018. Similar to a report by Bloomberg, the report from DigiTimes claims that iPhone X shipments will reach 30-35 million in the first quarter of the year, and stay flat or drop slightly in the first quarter of 2018. Numerous analysts have conceded that Apple is dropping orders with Asian suppliers after iPhone X’s underwhelming demand during the holiday season.

    Markets like the US, Singapore, and Taiwan have not done as well as Apple was expecting. The report claims that the response to the iPhone X is the reason why Apple will make three iPhones in 2018. This seems a bit off since the news of Apple making three iPhones for 2018 has been doing the rounds even before the iPhone X hit the global market.

    The report further claims that:

    Apple is also rumored to adjust its pricing for iPhone devices in early 2018 and has even started preparing a prototype iPhone with support of pre-5G features. However, Apple has not officially confirmed any of the rumors.

    If this turns out to be true, it will be huge for iPhone X aspirants. Apple usually drops the price of their iPhones when a new iPhone launches. The iPhone X is as new as an iPhone gets and has been received well by the critics and Apple loyalists alike. This move, however, won’t be unprecedented as Apple had dropped the price of the original iPhone from US $600 to US $400 within weeks of its launch.

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