Infinite Unknown

- So Which Is It: iPhone 5 Now Blamed For Q4 GDP Drop (ZeroHedge, Jan 11, 2013):

It was only a month ago when JPM’s Michael Feroli humorously predicted that Q4 GDP would be boosted by 0.5% due iPhone 5 sales, a comment which even the most clueless economists saw right through, and which we commented on as follows: “don’t laugh: yes, US GDP, not that of China where the iPhone is actually produced, but the US where the consumer merely incurs more record student loans to be able to afford it.” Well, in a prime example of goal-seeking data to fit reality, here comes that other quite humorous “economist”, Deutsche Bank’s Joe LaVorgna (recall that Joe is sadly a loser when pitted against the groundhog), who has come up with a slightly different solution: namely that the iPhone led to a drop in Q4 GDP. Step aside Bush, now everything (both good and bad) is the iPhone’s fault.

The above is derived from his discussion of today’s massive trade deficit surge, driven as we observed earlier, by a spike in imports: Continue reading »

Tags: China, Economy, GDP, Global News, iPhone, U.S.

- There Go Apple’s Margins: iPhone 5 To Sell At Wal-Mart For A Third Off Original Price (ZeroHedge, Dec 15, 2012):

Remember when less than brisk sales of the iPhone 5 after it was first unveiled (to the usual fawning media Borg collective ooh-ing and aah-ing) were blamed on “supply issues” even as “reputable” Wall Street analysts conducted channel checks which foretold of epic holiday sales and massive pent up demand. As it turns out the only commodity in short supply was, well, demand, particularly that coming from consumers, very much as we predicted during the last earnings report (which was merely the latest consecutive earnings miss in a row). And, as Reuters reports with its Friday night bombshell report, Apple has finally thrown in the towel on pretending there is a supply shortage and admitted there is simply not enough demand at the given price point, by proceeding to sell the margin flagship iPhone 5 at a third off the original price, at the bargain basement commodity expert Wal-Mart of all places. And not only the iPhone, but the Ipad too (we have no idea which generation is the latest one: the iPad 3, the New iPad, the iPad 4s, the iPad Mini, the MAXiPad, etc…) And just like that, the “niche premium” magic of the once uber-cool gizmo is gone, not to mention AAPL’s profit margins, very much as the stock price has been sensing over the past two months, during which time it lobbed off some $150 billion in market cap. And with the reflexivity of fad-ness, as long as the price of the stock is soaring for whatever reason, interest and demand in the product remains at virtually any cost. Sadly for AAPL bulls, the opposite is also true, as is being witnessed right about now. Continue reading »

Tags: Apple, Economy, Global News, iPhone, U.S., Wal-Mart

- Woman Tasered after trying to buy too many iPhones (CNET, Dec 12, 2012):

A woman trying to buy too many iPhones at a New Hampshire Apple store and ends up being Tasered by police outside the store.Normally, when you hear screams outside an Apple store, it’s because, oh, the doors have opened and there’s a new gizmo for the insatiable.

Continue reading »

Tags: Global News, Government, iPhone, Police, Police State, Politics, Society, Taser, U.S.

- JPM Cuts Q4 GDP Forecast to 1.5%, Now Sees iPhone Sales Contribute 33% Of Growth Upside (ZeroHedge, Dec 3, 2012):

Remember Michael Feroli? The JPM economist who “predicted” US Q4 GDP would be boosted by 0.5% due to iPhone sales (don’t laugh: yes, US GDP, not that of China where the iPhone is actually produced, but the US where the consumer merely incurs more record student loans to be able to afford it)? Well, the same JPMorganite has now cut his Q4 GDP expectation to 1.5% for all the same reasons why we penned the second Q3 GDP revision: namely ugly internals, a surge in hollow government and inventory contributions to “growth”, and a collapse in the purchasing power of the US consumer (who somehow is still expected to boost Q4 GDP with iPhone sales). And while there is no mention of the iPhone in his just released downward revision, he still believes the cell phone will provide a boost to Q4 GDP. In other words, of the 1.5% in GDP growth in Q4, the iPhone will account for 33% of this! One really can not make this up.

From JPM: Continue reading »

Tags: Apple, Collapse, Economy, GDP, Global News, iPhone, JPMorgan, U.S.

Drones+ iPhone App from Josh Begley on Vimeo.

- Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes (Wired, Aug 30, 2012):

It seemed like a simple enough idea for an iPhone app: Send users a pop-up notice whenever a flying robots kills someone in one of America’s many undeclared wars. But Apple keeps blocking the Drones+ program from its App Store — and therefore, from iPhones everywhere. The Cupertino company says the content is “objectionable and crude,” according to Apple’s latest rejection letter.

It’s the third time in a month that Apple has turned Drones+ away, says Josh Begley, the program’s New York-based developer. The company’s reasons for keeping the program out of the App Store keep shifting. First, Apple called the bare-bones application that aggregates news of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia “not useful.” Then there was an issue with hiding a corporate logo. And now, there’s this crude content problem.

Continue reading »

Tags: Apple, Drones, Global News, iPhone, Military, Pakistan, Somalia, Technology, U.S., Yemen

Both smartphones will destroy your health:

- Italy’s Supreme Court: Mobile Phones Can Cause Brain Tumors

- Former Royal Navy Microwave Weapons Expert And UK Intelligence Services Agent Dr. Barrie Trower: Dangers And Lethality Of Microwave Technology (Video – 2:19:36)

More links are down below.

- Samsung S3 Overtakes iPhone As World’s Best-Selling Smartphone (ZeroHedge, Nov 8, 2012):

Look up the phrase “inflection point” – it will be the most hated phrase by all those who day after day repeat that there is now way AAPL can ever drop because its “forward multiple is low” (hint: forward multiples are simply functions of forward earnings, and once the fadness and coolness of a memo, no matter how infectious in the past, is gone, so are “forward earnings’, especially once the sellside behavioral finance lemmings crew takes the machete to their Price Targets and has to justify why it has been massively wrong… and also for those who have a calculator, calculate how many years of dividends $100 billion in cash funds before the cash hoard also runs out).

From Reuters:

Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S3 became the world’s best-selling smartphone model last quarter, pushing aside Apple Inc’s iPhone, which has dominated the chart for more than two years, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Thursday.

Strategy Analytics estimated Samsung sold 18 million S3 models in the third quarter, compared with iPhone 4S sales of 16.2 million.

Continue reading »

Tags: Apple, Cell Phone, Economy, Global News, iPhone, Mobile Phone, Samsung, Samsung S3, Smartphone, Technology

- Thousands of Foxconn workers clash with security guards in China (WSWS, Sep 25, 2012):

Taiwan-based Foxconn, the world’s largest outsourcing electronics manufacturer, had to suspend production at one of its major facilities, in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, on Monday following a protest during which 2,000 assembly line workers clashed with 1,500 security guards.

The unrest is another sign of the rising social tensions in China, where the economy is slowing sharply due to the deepening slump in the major Western markets, threatening to fuel major working class confrontations with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime.

Continue reading »

Tags: Apple, China, Economy, Foxconn, Global News, iPhone, Society

- Apple awarded patent for location-based remote disabling of mobile devices (End The Lie, Sep 4, 2012):

Last week Apple was awarded a troubling patent, originally filed in June of 2008, which would enable a feature many users likely wouldn’t want: the remote disabling of the camera on one of Apple’s many devices via infrared signal. Allowing for the cameras on cell phones to be remotely disabled could, in my opinion, be quite dangerous since it very well might mean that crimes could go unpunished due to the lack of video evidence which might otherwise be collected.

With reports of police attempting to buy videos from witnesses who captured a quite disturbing incident involving officers, reports of police forcibly seizing the cell phone of a witness and even reports of police allegedly confiscating the cell phone of a witness and destroying evidence of police brutality, one can imagine who would benefit from such a feature.

The patent, number 8,254,902, is entitled, “Apparatus and methods for enforcement of policies upon a wireless device” and it outlines a broad range of ways this technology could be applied for so-called “policy enforcement.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Apple, Dictatorship, Global News, iPhone, New World Order, Society, Technology, U.S.

“All of the effort is to speed your way through the checkout so that we can reduce costs …”

= We can fire some of our expensive workers.

- Exclusive: Walmart tests iPhone app checkout feature (Reuters Aug 31, 2012):

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is testing a system that would allow shoppers to scan items using their iPhones and then pay at a self-checkout counter, a move that could trim checkout times and slash costs for retailers.

If the “Scan & Go” test by the world’s largest retailer is successful, it has the potential to change the way people shop and pay, making the process more personal and potentially faster.

Earlier this week, Walmart invited employees with Apple Inc iPhones to participate in a test at a Walmart supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, near the company’s headquarters, according to a form on the Survey Monkey website. (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/selfcheckout)

“All of the effort is to speed your way through the checkout so that we can reduce costs and improve the shopping experience,“ said Paul Weitzel, managing partner at retail consulting firm Willard Bishop, who said he had not seen Walmart’s test. “With smartphones and improved technology we’re only going to see more of this.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Apple, Economy, Global News, iPhone, Technology, U.S., Wal-Mart

- Will the next iPhone replace your wallet? Apple set to take on Google with chip that could let you pay with a wave of your handset (Daily Mail, Aug 28, 2012):

• iPhone expected to have NFC chip that could turn it into a credit card
  
• Successful launch could spark a revolution in how payments are made
• Will take on Google which already offers wallet feature is some of its Android phones
  
• Apple expected to unveil phone on September 12, followed by UK launch in early October

The iPhone has already replaced digital cameras, MP3 players and portable games consoles for most owners.

Now it could be about to replace your wallet.

The next iPhone, which is believed to launch in just two weeks time, is expected to come with a built-in chip which can serve as your credit or debit card for small payments.

Continue reading »

Tags: Android, Apple, Google, Government, iPhone, Smartphone, Technology