An inevitable shakeup in worldwide smartphone rankings is set to take place in the coming months, when Apple is expected to surpass Nokia in smartphone sales, and Samsung will become the world's largest smartphone maker.

A new survey of attendees at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference found that nearly half of iOS developers attending the conference support Android, while just 7 percent write applications for the Mac.

Gartner lowered its forecast Wednesday for global PC growth in 2011 as demand for netbooks continues to slump and Apple's iPad causes disruption, while Microsoft is reportedly considering launching its own brand of Windows 8 tablet PCs next year.

Weeks after an explosion at a Foxconn iPad 2 polishing plant in Chengdu, China, killed three and injured 15 people, the facility has reopened.

The latest indications from Apple's overseas supply chain are that the release of the white iPhone 4 has helped keep the company on pace to break even with iPhone sales from the previous quarter, representing a significant year over year increase even without the release of an "iPhone 5."

Mac sales in the enterprise during Apple's last fiscal quarter grew a whopping 66 percent, significantly outpacing the rest of the PC market, which grew just 4.5 percent in the enterprise.

With Apple said to be planning secret meetings and changes in its stores this coming weekend, a new rumor claims that the company could adopt near-field communication wireless transaction capabilities in its retail outlets.

Issues in Apple's overseas supply chain, including shortages of both labor and materials, are anticipated to affect shipments of both the iPad 2 and iPhone 4.

Acer and recently ousted ex-CEO Gianfranco Lanci exchanged heated words this week over who was to blame for a slump in unit sales after Apple's iPad began cannibalizing the low-end PC market.

Fresh off a meeting with senior executives at Apple, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said the company sees product cycles as being driven by software rather than hardware and is expected to announce major software updates at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

The latest estimates for total mobile phone shipments worldwide place Apple in fourth place with 5 percent of the market, thanks to a record quarter and huge year over year growth for the iPhone.

The rollout of Apple's iPad 2 in Asia drew thousands of interested customers looking to be among the first to officially purchase the touchscreen tablet in their countries.

Initial reports suggest that the long-delayed white iPhone 4 is 0.2mm thicker than its black counterpart and may not fit all cases. Also, Samsung revealed Thursday in its quarterly earnings report that its profit dropped to the company's lowest figure in almost two years. Finally, Logitech reported disappointing Google TV sales of just $5 million last quarter.

RIM and Motorola both published sales figures for their iPhone and iPad competitors that establish a huge gulf between demand for Apple's products and competitors'.

Sales of Apple's CDMA-based iPhone, which made its debut on Verizon earlier this year, have reportedly eased considerably following initial pent-up demand, prompting the company to halve its production of the device for the remainder of 2010.

Apple's 10-Q form filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed the largest sequential increase in purchase commitments for a March quarter to $11 billion, as iPad 2 production ramps up.

Apple this weekend began preparing its retail segment for the imminent launch of the company's much-anticipated white iPhone 4 models, signaling the end of a somewhat embarrassing delay that has seen the handsets elude eager buyers since last July.

Wall Street was impressed with Apple's record earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 on Wednesday, as one analyst calling the company a "magical growth story" and several firms raised their revenue estimates for future quarters.

Apple is believed to be ramping up shipments of the iPad 2, especially the white model, to reach 100 percent sequential growth in the company's third quarter of fiscal 2011, according to one analyst.

Shipments of the second-generation Apple TV continue to be strong, reaching more than 2 million estimated units since the device launched late last year, according to a new report.

Apple's iPhone 5 will feature "slight modifications" from its predecessor, including an 8 megapixel rear camera and a Qualcomm baseband for both GSM and CDMA models, and will go into production in September, a new report claims.

Ahead of Apple's quarterly earnings call on Apr. 20, investment bank J.P. Morgan has raised its projections of Apple's earnings through 2012 in expectation of continued growth from the iPhone and iPad.

Component suppliers from Asia have said that Apple has not yet released a production roadmap for the iPhone 5, providing further evidence that the company is planning a later-than-usual launch for its fifth-generation handset.

Apple has achieved a record 17 percent iPhone market share among teens, a new survey has found, with an additional 37 percent of respondents indicating interest in buying an iPhone in the next 6 months.

Reports emerged on Friday that, during an interview, Sony CEO Howard Stringer had accidentally confirmed plans to supply an eight-megapixel camera for Apple's next-generation iPhone.