Archive for May 8th, 2012

Fortune has recently published its annual ratings of the 500 largest corporations in America and placed Apple on the 17th place. That means that the company managed to leap 18 spots from the last year 35th place.

According to Fortune, the iPhone maker's performance in the "Computers, Office Equipment" industry was topped only by Hewlett-Packard, which finished 10th overall. HP's revenue totaled over $127 billion compared to Apple's $108 billion, however the percent of change from 2010 was a stark contrast between the two companies which grew 1 percent and 66 percent, respectively. Apple's profit skyrocketed to nearly $26 billion representing an 85 percent change from 2010, while HP saw negative growth of 19 percent with a little over $7 billion in profits.

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Apple is rumored to launch a $799 MacBook Air model in the third quarter of 2012 to compete with new "Ultrabook" laptops. Last month, it was said that Intel hopes to see shipments of as many as 30 million Ultrabooks this year. The company designed the Ultrabook specification after Apple found great success with its new MacBook Air.

Apple's plans are reportedly to counter second-generation Ultrabooks, based on Intel's specifications for thin and light notebooks, which PC makers hope to price around $699. If PC makers are unable to reach the $699 price point with their second-generation Ultrabooks, Apple could have a significant competitive advantage with an aggressive $799 price point for a new MacBook Air, the report claims.

Currently the cheapest Apple’s laptop is the 11.6-inch MacBook Air, which is priced at $999. The company is expected to begin revamping its Mac lineup in the coming weeks with Intel's latest-generation Ivy Bridge processors. The product is expected to begin with new MacBook Pros, starting with a 15-inch model.

CNET reports that iOS U.S. market share dropped by 12 percent in the first quarter, which enable Google’s Android to take almost two-thirds of the market.

According to market research company NPD Group, Android was able to capture 61 percent of the U.S. market, which is a considerable gain from the 49 percent registered in last year’s fourth quarter.

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Mockup of Apple TV set

Cult of Mac reports on information received from the “well-placed” source who has seen a prototype of the future Apple TV set. The source claims the device is similar to the current 27-inch Thunderbold display, but it is “much larger”.

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