Apple now the largest buyer of semiconductors in the world
Apple spent some $17 billion on semiconductors in 2011, making it the largest chip customer in the world, research firm Gartner revealed on Tuesday.
Apple spent some $17 billion on semiconductors in 2011, making it the largest chip customer in the world, research firm Gartner revealed on Tuesday.
The chief executive of ARM, which supplies the reference designs for Apple's custom chips found in the iPhone and iPad, has said he doesn't view Intel's newly unveiled smartphone and tablet chips as competitive.
While portable computers get the most attention and sales, all-in-one PCs have quietly become a booming market, and Apple's iMac accounts for nearly a third of all sales.
Prices for laptops in Intel's "Ultrabook" category are expected to fall below $1,000 by the end of this year and may drop as much as 10 percent in the first quarter of 2012 with the help of a $100 marketing subsidy from Intel, according to a new report.
Apple is poised to see substantial growth of its line of Mac computers in China, as a recent survey found that the company is considered the most desirable PC brand in the country with 21 percent of respondents considering a Mac as their next PC purchase.
Several key partners in Intel's "Ultrabook" initiative are limiting the initial shipment volumes of their responses to Apple's MacBook Air to below 50,000 units due to uncertain demand, a new report claims.
Just one year after Lenovo Chairman Liu Chuanzhi said Apple CEO Steve Jobs "doesn't care about China," Apple is set to overtake its rival on its home turf.
Apple's iPad accounted for 74 percent of tablet shipments in the first quarter of 2011, as combined Mac and iPad sales made Apple one of the top five PC vendors in the world by volume.
After the much anticipated Motorola Xoom and RIM PlayBook failed to live up to expectations, two new Android-based tablets have promised to keep alive alternatives to Apple's iPad: The Barnes & Noble Nook Color and a prototype ThinkPad tablet from Lenovo.
Apple's line of Mac computers saw great success in the U.S. in the first quarter of calendar 2011, growing 9.6 from 2010, while the rest of the American market fell 10.7 percent and netbook maker Acer tumbled 42.1 percent.
A Consumer Electronics Show exhibitor is displaying a sample case for the the second-generation iPad with a machined aluminum mockup of Apple's unreleased tablet that resembles supposed iPad 2 cases seen online, while Lenovo has announced its first tablet, the LePad, which will attempt to take on the iPad in the PC maker's home country of China.
The chairman of PC maker Lenovo said this week that Apple doesn't care about China because Steve Jobs has a "bad temper," while Apple has taken the wraps off of the grand entrance to its forthcoming Shanghai retail store.
The greatest growth in the PC industry in the first quarter of 2010 came from overseas computer manufacturers, with one exception in the U.S.: Apple.
As rumors of Apple's still-unannounced tablet device continue to swirl, the impending launch of Windows 7 has led to a plethora of touchscreen devices that look to beat Apple's anticipated device to market.
The U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating a number of technology companies that make or use NAND flash memory, including Apple, after a patent-related complaint was filed.
A study of major laptop manufacturers' technical support service found Apple to be at the top of its class, while competitors like Dell and HP lagged well behind the Mac-maker.
Roughly a year after Apple's MacBook Air made its first appearance, Dell is purportedly on the verge of claiming the thinnest-ever notebook crown for itself.
Garmin is looking to become the first credible rival to Apple with a touchscreen phone that adds real GPS navigation and 3G. Meanwhile, reports have the MacBook Air's special Core 2 Duo surfacing in Windows PCs, and Apple may use the tale of one iPhone's encounter with a semi-trailer truck for a future ad.
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