iPhones Fuel 33% Surge In Apple Profits

The tech giant reports record first-quarter results, with 61 million phones sold and a strong performance in China.



Apple has enjoyed a 33% leap in quarterly profits to $13.6bn (£8.9bn) thanks to strong iPhone sales, particularly in China.

Record results for the first three months of the year also showed revenue reached $58bn (£38bn), up from $45.6bn (£30bn) in the same period the year before.

The figures, which surpassed analysts' expectations, mark the world's most valuable company's best ever first-quarter performance.

The California tech giant sold more than 61 million phones in the period, which delivered two thirds of its revenue and marked a 40% increase on the first three months of 2014.



The numbers were - as expected - down from the last three months of 2014, when a record 74 million of the new iPhone 6, 6 Plus and older models were sold.

Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said: "We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever.

"We're seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we've experienced in previous cycles, and we're off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch."

Other products have been overshadowed by the iPhone's success in the first quarter of the year, with revenue from Mac computers up just 2% and iPad revenue down 29%.

No sales figures have been released for the new Apple Watch, and Mr Cook said it was "hard to gauge" demand when it is not yet on widespread sale in stores.

The business is performing strongly in China, with iPhone sales up 72% there and the number of Apple stores expected to double to 40 by the middle of 2016.

Apple has been fighting Samsung for the number one spot in the global smartphone market. The South Korean firm will report its latest results this week.

Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners in New York, said Apple was "extremely dependent" on the iPhone and that "the question is what could replace the iPhone" if sales slow down.

Apple's share price, which has gained more than 50% in the past year, rose 2% after-hours following the release of the results.

Shareholders were also pleased by confirmation that more profits were to be returned to them.

It raised its quarterly dividend by 11% and increased its stock buyback programme from $130bn (£85bn) last year to $200bn (£131bn) by 2017.

Tattoos Can Cause Apple Watches To Malfunction

The issue was first pointed out on Reddit by a tattooed user who complained that his watch would regularly lose connection, and report inaccurate heart rate results.

Scores of other users then reported similar issues.

Apple Watch requests a security PIN immediately after detecting that it has left an owner's wrist, meaning that those affected are forced to repeatedly enter their code.

Darker tattoos appear to cause more problems for the device than light inkings.

Twitter loses quarter of market value after poor results 'leaked'

^{Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo}

Twitter lost more than a quarter of its value on Tuesday night after the social network’s financial results were “leaked” while stock markets were still open.

The US company’s shares fell as much as 26pc after it was forced to confirm poor first-quarter figures an hour early, following a data firm’s decision to post them on Twitter.

Selerity used the social network to reveal that revenues of $436m in the first three months of the year missed analyst estimates of $456.5m. The number of users accessing Twitter on mobile devices every month also missed expectations, with a figure of 241.6m falling short of the predicted 243m.

As a result, Twitter’s shares fell by around 7pc, causing the company to halt trading and officially release the figures.

It confirmed Selerity’s tweets but added that it expected revenues to be between $470m and $485m in the second quarter, missing analyst projections of $538.1m by a big margin.

Full-year guidance was cut to between $2.17bn and $2.27bn, from the previous range of $2.3bn to $2.35bn.

American Airlines planes grounded by iPad app error

A faulty app caused American Airlines to ground dozens of its jets on Tuesday.

The glitch caused iPad software, used by the planes' pilots and co-pilots to view flight plans, to stop working.

The firm's cockpits went "paperless" in 2013 to save its staff having to lug heavy paperwork on board. AA estimated the move would save it more than $1.2m (£422,770) in fuel every year.

The company said that it was still investigating the cause of the problem.

"Some American Airlines flights experienced an issue with a software application on pilot iPads yesterday evening," a spokesman told the BBC.

"In some cases, the flight had to return to the gate to access a wi-fi connection to fix the issue.

"We apologise for the inconvenience to our customers and we had them on the way to their destinations soon afterwards."

Serge Gojkovich, chief executive of car parking app-maker Curbstand, was among the passengers affected.

He tweeted that his San Francisco-to-Los Angeles flight was only able to get airborne after the crew had printed off the maps 

Gazprom profits hit by weak rouble

Russia's largest energy company, Gazprom, has reported a big drop in annual profits after being hit by the fall in the value of the rouble.

The company reported a net profit of 159bn roubles ($3.1bn: £2bn) for 2014, down 86% from a 1.14-trillion-rouble profit the year before.

Last year's fall in oil prices also contributed to the plunge in profits.

At the same time, a debt and pricing dispute meant Gazprom cut gas supplies to Ukraine, one of its key markets.

Gas sales to Europe and other countries declined by 8.5%.

Google launches 'Project Fi' wireless service

Google on Wednesday announced Project Fi, a new cell phone service that will compete with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint.

Project Fi is like any other wireless service, except for a few notable differences.

1. It works across multiple networks. Google partnered withSprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) and will tap into more than a million free Wi-Fi hotspots across the world. Project Fi will piggyback on those networks, seamlessly switching between them to choose the network with the fastest and most reliable service in your area.

No matter what network you're on -- or if you're connecting via Wi-Fi, Google will let you make calls, stream media, browse the Web and use apps. You can also make and place calls using your phone number on any of your devices, including a PC or a tablet.

And when you're on an open, public Wi-Fi network, Google will automatically encrypt your data to protect it from hackers.

2. You only pay for the data that you use. The service starts at $20, which includes unlimited talk, texts, inexpensive international calls and international roaming at no additional cost. After that, Project Fi costs $10 extra for every gigabyte of data you use.

If you use less data, you'll get a credit back on your bill. If you use more, you'll be charged only for the data you use.

So if you have a 3 GB plan and only use 2.2 GB, you'll get an $8 credit on your bill.

3. You need a Nexus 6. The only phone on the market right now that supports Project Fi's "network of networks" is Motorola's Nexus 6.

If you don't have a Nexus 6, you'll have to buy one for $649 up front or $27 a month over two years.

4. You'll have to wait a while. Google (GOOGL, Tech30) is only allowing a small number of people to join its "Early Access Program" for Project Fi each week. If you have service in your area, you canrequest an invitation.

Amazon to deliver packages to your car boot

Amazon will start delivering orders to customers' car boots from next month in partnership with Audi and DHL

Amazon will start delivering packages to customers' car boots from next month as the retailer explores more convenient delivery options for fitting around shoppers' lives.

The trial, in partnership with delivery company DHL and Audi, will be open to selected Amazon Prime customers who own Audis based in Munich.

A delivery driver will be granted one-time access to the customers' car boot via a digitised order code once the shopper has agreed to the tracking of their car during a specified delivery window. The cars must be adapted prior to the trial in order to allow the worker to drop the package off, and once the boot is closed, the worker will no longer be able to open it.

Customers will also be able to return items to Amazon by leaving them in their car boot for collection.

Carphone Warehouse to launch iD mobile network in UK

British mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has announced plans to launch its own mobile network, promising increased contract flexibility, greater access to free data roaming and "the best value 4G available on the UK market".

The network, which is called iD, will launch in May. Carphone Warehouse will be what is known as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which means it will piggyback on another network infrastructure – in this case Three's.

The company will offer a range of controlled and capped plans, in an attempt to shield customers from "bill shock". It will also offer 12-month 4G contracts for people who do not want to commit to 18 or 24 months.

The first "mega offer" from iD will be the Samsung A3, available for a limited time on a 12-month 4G plan with 300 mins, 5,000 texts and 1 GB data for £19.50.

Carphone Warehouse, which is owned by Dixons Carphone, will also offer a range of roaming plans, which will include free roaming in 20 European countries, as well as Australia and USA.

"People want greater flexibility from their plans and are fed up with the ‘one size fits all’ approach," said Graham Stapleton, UK CEO at Carphone Warehouse.

"We are also a generation obsessed with the mobile internet and accessing data and services on the move – things people are either paying too much for or just aren’t getting. Addressing these challenges forms the basis of the first wave of plans from iD.”

First Apple Watches delivered to customers

                           

Apple will begin shipping its long-awaited Apple Watch to people who have pre-ordered a device today, but anyone hoping to buy one on the high street will almost certainly be out of luck.

The Apple Watch became available for pre-order on April 10, but the first run reportedly sold out within hours, leaving many customers facing shipping delays over over a month.

Apple has not revealed how many Watches have been sold, but market researcher Carl Howe from Think Big Analytics predicts that the initial run of watches wasmore than 3 million units.

While those who got their orders in early enough will be receiving their Watches today, others will have to wait until more devices have been manufactured.

However, Apple claims that it is working hard to fulfill orders as quickly as possible, and many customers will receive their Apple Watch pre-orders sooner than expected.

“We’re happy to be updating many customers today with the news that their Apple Watch will arrive sooner than expected,” an Apple spokeswoman told BuzzFeed.

“Our team is working to fill orders as quickly as possible based on the available supply and the order in which they were received. We know many customers are still facing long lead times and we appreciate their patience.”

 

Amazon web services 'growing fast'

Technology giant Amazon has said its web services business generated sales of $1.57bn (£1.04bn) in the first quarter of the year and is profitable.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing offering that makes money by charging businesses to host websites and other applications.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said in a statement: "Amazon web services is a $5bn business and still growing fast."

The firm's total revenues for the quarter rose by 15% to $22.7bn.

The increase was stronger than expected, with revenues buoyed by increased sales in North America, Amazon's biggest market. Despite the rise, the company reported a loss of $57m for the quarter.

Shares in the firm rose nearly 5% in after-hours trading.

The AWS division provides cloud computing services to household names including Dropbox, Spotify, Netflix, Uber, Samsung and even the CIA - helping them send notifications, stream video and synchronise data.

The figures for the first time confirm that Amazon's cloud business is the biggest of its kind in terms of revenue.

HSBC considers moving HQ out of UK

HSBC has said it is considering moving its headquarters out of London.

The bank said the review followed "regulatory and structural reforms" since the financial crisis.

HSBC's board has asked its management to "look at where the best place is for HSBC to be headquartered in this new environment," the bank said.

"The question is a complex one and it is too soon to say how long this will take or what the conclusion will be; but the work is under way."

Shares in the company jumped 3% higher on the news.

Tesco Plunges To Worst Annual Loss Of £6.38bn!

Tesco made a loss of £6.38bn in its last financial year, the worst in its history and the sixth-biggest announced by a UK company.

The bulk of the statutory loss came from £7bn in one-off charges, the majority in a £3.8bn writedown on the value of its store portfolio "reflecting challenging industry conditions and profit decline," Tesco said.

Chief executive Dave Lewis said the wider results for the year to 28 February reflected "a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years".

The last financial year saw Tesco forced into a string of profit warnings as trading continued to deteriorate amid an industry-wide price war, costing Mr Lewis' predecessor, Philip Clarke, his job.

Trading profit for 2014/15 fell 58% to £1.4bn but the chain said today its like-for-like sales volumes in the UK were now in growth for the first time in four years as Mr Lewis sought to put the customer first and implement wider changes to limit costs.

Verizon Tops Analysts’ First-Quarter Profit Estimates

Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. wireless carrier, exceeded analysts’ first-quarter profit estimates even as the company was forced to give away tablets to counter the popularity of smaller rival T-Mobile US Inc.

Earnings excluding some items were $1.02 a share, the New York based company said in a statement. That compares with the 95-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose to $32 billion, while analysts had projected $32.3 billion.

Phone discounts and tablet promotions helped Verizon attract subscribers 565,000 monthly subscribers.

“This is surprisingly positive given that they have been pulling forward their spending earlier in the year to retain customers. This is a good sign for the remainder of the year.” said Kevin Roe, an analyst with Roe Equity Research in Dorset, Vermont.

Verizon shares rose 0.5 percent to $49.65 in early trading in New York. While the stock dropped 4.8 percent last year, it has gained 5.6 percent this year through Monday.

Russian economy shrinks 2% as sanctions bite - Medvedev

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Russia's economy shrank by 2% in the first three months of this year, the first contraction since 2009.

He attributed the shrinkage to the pressure of sanctions and the weak oil price. But, addressing MPs, he said the economic situation was not as bad as in 2009 and was stabilising.

He said Russia faced "a new reality".

He said the heaviest pressure had come from "the main political decision last year - the return of Crimea to Russia".

Western sanctions were imposed after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014, and they have been escalated during the fighting in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow is backing separatist forces.

He compared the significance to Russia of the return of Crimea to "the reunification of Germany or the return to China of Hong Kong and Macao".

Mr Medvedev said sanctions resulting from this were causing significant economic problems.

He estimated that losses as a result of sanctions had dented income from some foreign exports by €25bn (£18bn; $26.7bn), 1.5% of gross domestic product, a figure he said could "increase several times" this year.

Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

A Japanese magnetic levitation train has broken its own world speed record, hitting 603km/h (374mph) in a test run near Mount Fuji.

The train beat the 590km/h speed it had set last week in another test.

Maglev trains use electrically charged magnets to lift and move carriages above the rail tracks.

Central Japan Railway (JR Central), which owns the trains, wants to introduce the service between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya by 2027.

The 280km journey would take only about 40 minutes, less than half the current time.

However, passengers will not get to experience the maglev's record-breaking speeds because the company said its trains will operate at a maximum of 505km/h. In comparison, the fastest operating speed of a Japanese shinkansen, or "bullet train" is is 320km/h.

Greece asks public agencies to hand over reserve cash

Greece has ordered its public sector bodies to hand over any reserve cash to help it meet a payment due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The country is running out of cash and must repay the IMF nearly €1bn in May.

It comes after the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said that Greece needed to do much more if it wanted access to bailout funds.

Negotiators are trying to strike a deal ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Friday.

There are mounting fears that Greece could default on its debts and exit the eurozone.

Prime minister Alexis Tsipras urgently needs money to pay government salaries as well as the country's debt repayments.

In order to get the funding, he needs to strike a deal with eurozone lenders at the European Central Bank, the European Union and the IMF, and introduce economic reforms.

"More work, much more work is needed now and it's urgent", said Mr Draghi at the weekend.

"We all want Greece to succeed. The answer is in the hands of the Greek government."

Asked whether Greece could default, Mr Draghi said "I don't want to even contemplate such an event... the Greek leaders repeatedly state that they want to honour all their obligations".

Greek public agencies have already been asked for voluntary payments, but this now looks set to be made compulsory.

The decree by the Greek government, which must still be passed by parliament, says "with this act, the government hopes to cover urgent needs of the state amounting to three billion euros for the next 15 days".

It includes all public bodies and local authorities, but, according to Reuters, excludes pension funds and some state-owned firms.

An Athens-based analyst told Reuters: "This is a pre-emptive move to ensure that they will be able to secure as much liquidity as possible because of the squeeze.

"There are still some billions of euros in cash reserves parked in banks by state entities."

Twitter To Let Anyone Send You Direct Messages

Twitter tries to encourage more people to use the private messaging feature by increasing the range of people who can message you.



Twitter will now let anyone send you a direct message - not just the people you're following.

It's a major overhaul for the site which until now has only allowed people who follow each other to exchange messages privately.

The new feature is turned off by default but can be switched on in the settings menu.

The feature has been tested before in October 2013, but it was killed off after just a few weeks.

A prominent direct message button is also being added to the iPhone app to encourage people to use the often neglected feature.

The move appears to be part of a move by Twitter to muscle in to the lucrative mobile-messaging market, which Facebook has recently made a big push into with its Messenger app.

The feature will be particularly useful to celebrities and large companies who can now respond to people privately without having established a connection beforehand.

Users can also send direct messages - known as DMs - to people who follow them, even if they do not follow them back and have not turned on the feature in the settings menu.

Once a message is sent, the follower can respond.A Twitter spokesman said: "We hope these changes help you connect more easily, and directly, on Twitter with the people, causes and businesses you care about most."

Google Joins Search For Loch Ness Monster!

Google has joined the search for the Loch Ness Monster by taking its Street View cameras across the famous Scottish loch.

It sent teams to take pictures both above and below the waterline to help armchair Nessie hunters to explore the area.

Google said the development was to mark the anniversary of the release of the Surgeon's Photograph - a 1934 hoax image claiming to show the monster in the misty waters of the lake.

A post on Google's official blog said: "Sail across the freshwater lake and take in its haunting beauty, made darker still by the peat particles found in its waters.



"Let the Loch unlock the spirit of your imagination, where the rippling water, tricks of the light, and drifting logs bring the legend of Nessie to life."

It took Google around a week to take the photographs, with a diver being used to take the Street View Trekker camera under the waterline, before attaching it to a boat for the above-water shots.

Loch Ness is the largest Scottish loch by water volume, containing more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined.

Google says there are more searches for Loch Ness than the likes of Buckingham Palace.

Google Search Change Could Cause 'Mobilegeddon

Google is due to make a major update to its mobile search algorithm on Tuesday, in a move expected to cause ripples across the web.

Websites not deemed mobile-friendly will be dropped down the search rankings, dramatically reducing the number of visitors to a site.

Microsoft and the European Union are among the organisations likely to be negatively affected by the changes to Google's secret search formula.

People can check whether their website is classed as mobile-friendly by Google by entering the web address here.



Some search engine ranking experts have called the potential fallout from the changes "mobilegeddon".

Itai Sadan, from website-building company Duda, told Business Insider: "I think the people who are at risk are those who don’t know about it.

"Come 21 April, a lot of small businesses are going to be really surprised that the number of visitors to their websites has dropped significantly. This is going to affect millions of sites on the web."

Companies spend significant amounts of money and effort to appear high up in Google rankings, with places on the first page of results highly prized.

Text that is too small to read on a mobile device, plus links that are too close together, are among the reasons some sites will fall down the mobile ranking list.

Google announced the changes in February, so companies have had just two months to prepare.

The firm said: "This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact on our search results."

Chinese stocks fall despite new stimulus measures

Chinese stocks fell despite government stimulus which cut reserve requirements for the second time this year.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) reduced the amount of money banks must set aside as reserves by one percentage point in a bid to spur more lending.

The announcement on Sunday came in the wake of data showing the country grew at its slowest pace in six years.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.02% to 27,094.93, while the Shanghai Compositelost 1.64% to 4,217.08.

Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, said China acted because "downside risks to growth appear greater now.

"The decision is a response to the weakness of recent economic data. Most of the activity and spending data for March came in below consensus.

"Further reserve-requirement ratio (RRR) cuts are likely - perhaps another 150 basis points before the end of the year - along with at least one more cut to benchmark interest rates," he said.

The Apple Watch won't be available on April 24

If you were hoping to buy the Apple Watch at an Apple Store on April 24, you will have to reset your watch alarm.

Apple (AAPL, Tech30) has changed its plans to make its new smartwatch available for purchase in stores next Friday. You can still pre-order one online, and you can make an appointment to try one on in an Apple Store. But you'll likely have to wait until June for your Apple Watch to ship to you.

An Apple spokeswoman was unavailable for comment about why the change was made.

With shipping dates for pre-orders starting in mid-May and extending into July for some Apple Watch models, there is no doubt a supply shortage. E-receipt company Slice Intelligence estimated that just under 1 million Americans pre-ordered an Apple Watch on April 10, the first day the watch became available for online ordering.

Apple has faced supply shortages in the past, typically when it launched a completely redesigned model of an iPhone or an iPad. For the Apple Watch, which is unlike any product Apple has ever made, it's expected that the smartwatch inventory would be tight. Suppliers had to make all new components for the watch since they didn't have the necessary parts lying around from previous versions.

Apple removed the April 24 availability date from its website, and an Apple Store employee confirmed that the Watch would not be available for sale on that day.