Investors worried about crumbling consumer spending, a darkening economic outlook and the rapid expansion of Google Inc’s Android mobile software got some assurance after the company moved 4 million iPhone 4S units in three days — more than double its predecessor — despite lukewarm reviews.Apple’s shareholders have had plenty to fret about since August, when Steve Jobs handed the reins to Tim Cook.The company then lost its leading visionary and co-founder when he died October 5. Some analysts say the short-term disruption offered a brief window for rivals like Google and its foremost Android partner, Samsung, to swoop in.But the world’s largest technology company by market value is expected to present a positive short-term picture — sparked by roaring sales of its iPhone and iPad — when it reports results for the July-September period Tuesday.The iPhone 4S sales numbers catapulted Apple’s shares to a record high last week, even though some of that rally rested on the iPhone 4S being available in two additional countries and more telecoms carriers from launch day.The record sales have heightened expectations for the current quarter, which many investors expect will be enormous for Apple.”The quarter we are focusing on is the holiday quarter,” said Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund, which owns Apple shares.”We expect Apple to absolutely blow the doors off during Christmas.”Still, Apple has encountered a few uncharacteristic glitches or hiccups since Jobs exited in August. While the iPhone 4S rode pent-up demand and wider availability to record numbers, the initial response was disappointment over a lack of design changes.And while the woes of rivals such as Research in Motion — which experienced its severest outage last week — appear to benefit Apple, the impending re-launch of Microsoft Corp and Nokia into the mobile arena and the increasing footprint of Android could hit Apple’s sales.Others worry that Apple’s shares have gone too far, too fast.On Monday, BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis lowered his recommendation on Apple to hold, citing a steep run-up in price and some short-term turbulence such as some risk to profit margin from education pricing discounts offered on some Apple products and competition to the iPad from low-cost manufacturers.”The company has to constantly set records just to meet expectations,” Gillis said. “There is nothing wrong with Apple’s business model or execution, but we do see that sentiment is overwhelmingly positive.”“It is possible shares pull back below $400, possibly even this week after the earnings report,” he added.For Cook and his executive bench, quarterly results offer what some analysts say is a welcome opportunity to focus on business, after headlines were dominated for a fortnight by Jobs’ passing, which ignited a spontaneous outpouring of grief and sympathy from heads of state, Silicon Valley royalty and across the Internet.Apple’s iPhone delivers more than 40 percent of its revenue and provides much of the growth momentum. Wall Street has begun building in projections for up to 30 million of the smartphones sold in the December quarter, the crucial holiday period.As with previous quarters, Apple — which provides current-quarter estimates that Wall Street says are typically conservative — needs to truly surpass expectations to drive a share rally, analysts said.Current average projections put fiscal fourth-quarter revenue at $29.6 billion and earnings per share at $7.38.But according to StarMine SmartEstimates, which places more emphasis on the timeliest forecasts by the most historically accurate analysts, Apple is expected to post earnings of $7.47 per share — about 2.4 percent above the average estimate.Revenue could come in at $29.8 billion — about 1 percent above the average expectation.BEYOND IPHONESSome investors recommend looking beyond merely iPhones and looking at Apple’s other main devices: the two-year-old iPad, and the stalwart Macintosh line of desktop and laptop computers.Wall Street in general expects sales somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 million to 22 million iPhones in the September quarter, north of 4 million Macs, and about 10 million iPads.”Investors have plenty to look forward to from Apple as the year comes to a close, including stronger than expected demand for the new iPhone 4S, a strengthened digital ecosystem with the recent launch of the iOS 5 and iCloud, the continued momentum around the iPad 2,” Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said.Beyond 2011, the picture is less clear. Many analysts expect Apple, sustaining its long-established product cycle, to unveil the third version of the iPad, which helped create the tablet computing market that it still dominates.But rivals aren’t sitting still. Microsoft is gearing up to launch Windows 8 for tablets, and its new phone operating software will soon debut on new partner Nokia.Google, whose Android is already the world’s most-used mobile software, continues to score partners. And Samsung, riding Android’s success, may overtake Apple as the world’s bestselling smartphone brand in the fourth quarter and beyond.Still, investor enthusiasm for Apple continues for now.”It’s very hard to find any type of problem in the business,” Capital Advisors Growth Fund’s Smith said.
Samsung, which has also counter-sued Apple for patent
infringements, said in a statement that it was confident of
proving Apple’s violation of Samsung wireless technology.Earlier, an Australian court slapped an interim injunction
on the sale of Samsung’s latest computer tablet, handing rival
Apple another legal victory in the two firms’ global patent war.
* Poll also shows growing displeasure with ObamaBy Patricia ZengerleWASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Mitt Romney leads the field
vying for the Republican presidential nomination but fewer than
one in four of the party’s voters back him as a surging Herman
Cain gains ground, according to released on
Wednesday.Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is holding on to
his support but failing to increase it significantly, according
to the survey, which also showed President Barack Obama facing
deep unhappiness among voters about his performance.Romney was backed by 23 percent of Republicans in the
October poll, up from 20 percent in the most recent comparable
carried out in June.Cain, a businessman who has emerged as a surprise
front-runner after proposing a radical tax reform, nearly
tripled his support among Republicans in the same period,
leaping to 19 percent from 7 percent four months ago.”In the Republican presidential primary, everybody still says Mitt Romney’s the front-runner,” Ipsos research director
Chris Jackson said. “And he is … but he’s certainly not any
sort of dominant front-runner.”Texas congressman Ron Paul was third with 13 percent and
Texas Governor Rick Perry fourth, with 10 percent.Supporters of Sarah Palin, who announced last week she
would not run for president, have not coalesced behind a single
candidate, the survey found.The poll was conducted Oct. 6-10, before a debate on
economic issues on Tuesday night in which Romney and Cain had
strong performances and Perry failed to make up the ground he
lost when he stumbled through two previous debates.”I think Rick Perry’s boomlet probably really peaked in
August and has subsided,” Jackson said.The margin of error for Republicans among the 1,113 people
polled was 4.8 percentage points, leaving Romney and Cain in a
virtual tie.OBAMA TAKES HEAT FROM VOTERSWhichever Republican eventually wins the nomination to run
against Obama in 2012 will face an incumbent facing a very
unhappy public.The percentage of Americans who disapprove of the
president’s job performance has edged up to 50 percent from 48
percent in the past month and the percentage who strongly
disapprove has risen to 34 percent, the highest level since
Obama entered the White House.Fewer than half — 47 percent — of Americans approve of
the way Obama is handling his job as president, a figure
unchanged from a poll conducted in September.Obama has taken a tougher line against political opponents
as he has pushed for passage of his jobs bill but the new
approach has yet to make a difference among voters.”People are still wildly pessimistic,” Jackson said.The survey showed that 74 percent of Americans believe the
country is on the wrong track, compared with 21 percent who
believe it is going in the right direction.There was one bright spot for Democrats. More registered
voters — 48 percent — said they would back Democrats in
congressional races if the November 2012 elections were held
today, compared with 40 percent who would support Republicans.But their verdict on how the two parties would handle the
struggling economy — the issue expected to be central to the
2012 election — generally favored Republicans.On reducing the deficit, Republicans have the lead at 44
percent to 35 percent for Democrats; they have a 43 percent to
36 percent lead on their ability to make the country globally
competitive; and more Americans thought they would generate
economic growth with a 43 percent to 38 percent edge over the
Democrats.The two parties were tied on job creation at 41 percent
each and close on “dealing with taxes,” with 42 percent for
Democrats and 41 percent picking Republicans. On the economy
overall, 42 percent favored Republicans and 40 percent choose
Democrats.The of 1,113 adults, including 934
registered voters, had a margin of error of 3 percentage points
for all respondents and 3.2 points for registered voters.
* Poll also shows growing displeasure with ObamaBy Patricia ZengerleWASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Mitt Romney leads the field
vying for the Republican presidential nomination but fewer than
one in four of the party’s voters back him as a surging Herman
Cain gains ground, according to released on
Wednesday.Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is holding on to
his support but failing to increase it significantly, according
to the survey, which also showed President Barack Obama facing
deep unhappiness among voters about his performance.Romney was backed by 23 percent of Republicans in the
October poll, up from 20 percent in the most recent comparable
carried out in June.Cain, a businessman who has emerged as a surprise
front-runner after proposing a radical tax reform, nearly
tripled his support among Republicans in the same period,
leaping to 19 percent from 7 percent four months ago.”In the Republican presidential primary, everybody still says Mitt Romney’s the front-runner,” Ipsos research director
Chris Jackson said. “And he is … but he’s certainly not any
sort of dominant front-runner.”Texas congressman Ron Paul was third with 13 percent and
Texas Governor Rick Perry fourth, with 10 percent.Supporters of Sarah Palin, who announced last week she
would not run for president, have not coalesced behind a single
candidate, the survey found.The poll was conducted Oct. 6-10, before a debate on
economic issues on Tuesday night in which Romney and Cain had
strong performances and Perry failed to make up the ground he
lost when he stumbled through two previous debates.”I think Rick Perry’s boomlet probably really peaked in
August and has subsided,” Jackson said.The margin of error for Republicans among the 1,113 people
polled was 4.8 percentage points, leaving Romney and Cain in a
virtual tie.OBAMA TAKES HEAT FROM VOTERSWhichever Republican eventually wins the nomination to run
against Obama in 2012 will face an incumbent facing a very
unhappy public.The percentage of Americans who disapprove of the
president’s job performance has edged up to 50 percent from 48
percent in the past month and the percentage who strongly
disapprove has risen to 34 percent, the highest level since
Obama entered the White House.Fewer than half — 47 percent — of Americans approve of
the way Obama is handling his job as president, a figure
unchanged from a poll conducted in September.Obama has taken a tougher line against political opponents
as he has pushed for passage of his jobs bill but the new
approach has yet to make a difference among voters.”People are still wildly pessimistic,” Jackson said.The survey showed that 74 percent of Americans believe the
country is on the wrong track, compared with 21 percent who
believe it is going in the right direction.There was one bright spot for Democrats. More registered
voters — 48 percent — said they would back Democrats in
congressional races if the November 2012 elections were held
today, compared with 40 percent who would support Republicans.But their verdict on how the two parties would handle the
struggling economy — the issue expected to be central to the
2012 election — generally favored Republicans.On reducing the deficit, Republicans have the lead at 44
percent to 35 percent for Democrats; they have a 43 percent to
36 percent lead on their ability to make the country globally
competitive; and more Americans thought they would generate
economic growth with a 43 percent to 38 percent edge over the
Democrats.The two parties were tied on job creation at 41 percent
each and close on “dealing with taxes,” with 42 percent for
Democrats and 41 percent picking Republicans. On the economy
overall, 42 percent favored Republicans and 40 percent choose
Democrats.The of 1,113 adults, including 934
registered voters, had a margin of error of 3 percentage points
for all respondents and 3.2 points for registered voters.
By Kate HoltonLONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Two of the most influential media
figures in Britain on Wednesday accused the government of using
a scandal over journalists hacking phones as an excuse to clamp
down on the press and prevent it from probing the misdeeds of
the powerful.Showing much of the anger often evident in his right-leaning
mid-market tabloid, Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre said the calls
for a clampdown on the industry were being led by a government
that had until recently indulged in “sickening genuflections”
before Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.”Am I alone in detecting the rank smells of hypocrisy and
revenge in the political class’s current moral indignation over
a British press that dared to expose their greed and
corruption,” he told an inquiry into press standards called by
the government after the scandal.Britain’s highly competitive press is under intense scrutiny
in the wake of revelations that people working for Murdoch’s
hugely popular News of the World tabloid had hacked the phones
of thousands to generate stories.The scandal caused a wave of public anger which ultimately
brought about the closure of the tabloid and shook the political
establishment. Prime Minister David Cameron was also damaged by
his decision to hire former News of the World editor Andy
Coulson as his communications chief in 2007.Kelvin MacKenzie, a long-time former editor of Murdoch’s Sun
newspaper, said the press did not need further regulation and
said the “ludicrous” inquiry was a mere smokescreen to hide
Cameron’s embarrassment over his failings.”This is the way in which our prime minister is hopeful he
can escape his own personal lack of judgment,” he said in a
typically aggressive speech, while relaying how Cameron’s
politicians used to line up to “kiss the rear end” of Murdoch.He said politicians should accept the scandal was simply a
moment “when low-grade criminality took over a newspaper,” and
not an indication of a need for widespread change.MacKenzie said former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown had
once threatened to “destroy” Murdoch and his News Corp
company after the Sun called for its readers to back Cameron
over Brown in the 2010 election.Dacre said he condemned the hacking but thought the
politicians were now going too far in their reaction.”Let’s keep it in proportion,” he said. “Britain’s cities
weren’t looted as a result. No one died. The banks didn’t
collapse because of the News of the World.”Parliament’s response to the scandal, Dacre said, was “a
judicial inquiry with greater powers than those possessed by the
public inquiry into the Iraq war” with a panel of experts “who
have not the faintest clue on how mass-selling newspapers
operate.”THE ‘LIBERAL’ PROBLEMDacre’s anger was directed across the board, at the police,
judges, the Prime Minister and also the left-leaning Guardian
newspaper which led much of the coverage that eventually brought
down the News of the World.Dacre questioned whether “liberals” should be allowed to
decide what a working class man or woman reads.”The problem is that Britain’s liberal class, the people
that know best and really run this country, by and large hate
all popular press,” he said.”The Hampstead liberal with his gilded lifestyle
understandably enjoys the Guardian. But does he have any right
to deny someone who works 10 hours a day … and lives for
football, the right to buy a paper that reveals the sexual
peccadilloes of one of his team’s millionaire married players?”Dacre, who wields huge political influence through a
newspaper that often claims to lead the charge against moral
decay, also suggested that the more scandalous elements of
newspapers were required to draw readers in, allowing the press
to then fund coverage of more serious matters such as politics.Like MacKenzie, Dacre said the current system of self
regulation led by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was
adequate but he said it could be beefed up with the appointment
of an ombudsman with the power to impose fines.Another speaker to support the press was Mary-Ellen Field,
an Australian hacking victim who lost her job working for the
model Elle Macpherson, because Macpherson thought Field had
leaked private information to the press.”I don’t want the press muzzled,” she said. “I want to see
you doing your job and that’s to be vigilant and to protect
democracy. I was not a victim of the freedom of the press … or
self regulation. I was a victim of criminal behaviour.”
