Apple Inc Stock Price, News & Analysis

PanOptis has launched a campaign highlighting Apple's (AAPL) alleged practices of undermining and underpaying innovators for essential patents, particularly concerning LTE technology. The company argues that Apple's approach involves exploiting innovative technologies while implementing policies that devalue them to maximize profits.

The campaign focuses on how Apple's strategy affects companies like Qualcomm, Ericsson, Nokia, InterDigital, Samsung, LG, and Panasonic, which invest billions in cellular R&D. According to Brian Blasius, PanOptis CEO, this behavior forces patent holders to settle for royalties far below their patents' true worth due to prolonged litigation costs.

PanOptis warns that this practice could stagnate mobile technological progress and disincentivize cellular R&D investment. An appellate hearing in the U.K. is scheduled for February 25 to address fair patent payouts.

Interlink Electronics (Nasdaq: LINK) announces its participation in Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 25, taking place February 4-6, 2025, in Farnborough, England. The company will showcase its portfolio of smart printed sensor solutions, including resistive force and pressure sensors, HMI solutions, piezoelectric sensors, and electrochemical gas and environmental sensors.

The company will also present its recently acquired conductive transfer technology, which enables electronics and sensors integration into textiles and fabrics. This award-winning technology targets smart fabric and textile applications in the wearables, consumer, medical, and automotive markets, contributing to what the company calls a 'textronics' revolution.

Apple has announced its fiscal 2025 first quarter financial results, achieving all-time records for total company revenue and earnings per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $124.3 billion, representing a 4% year-over-year increase, and quarterly diluted earnings per share of $2.40, up 10% from the previous year.

The company highlighted strong performance during the holiday season, with services revenue reaching a new all-time high. Apple's installed base of active devices has reached a new record across all products and geographic segments. The company returned over $30 billion to shareholders and declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share, payable on February 13, 2025.

Apple has announced the opening of Apple Miami Worldcenter, its 10th store in Miami, scheduled for January 24. The new store, located in downtown Miami, features an environmentally conscious design with regionally sourced mass timber structure and operates on 100% renewable energy.

The store incorporates accessibility features including varied table heights, wheelchair-friendly routes, and hearing assistance technology. It also introduces Miami's first dedicated Apple Pickup area for online order collection.

The location will offer Today at Apple sessions, special Made for Business events, and Group Booking options. The store's 150-person team will assist customers with the full lineup of Apple products, including iPhone 16, Mac, MacBook Pro, Mac mini with M4 chip, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods, while providing support for trade-ins, carrier activation, and personalized setup.

Apple has announced the opening of its first store in Anhui province, China - Apple MixC Hefei. The store, located near Swan Lake in a prominent business district, features a curved glass storefront and is built with sustainably sourced local materials. The new location will open on January 18 with over 80 team members.

The store will offer Genius Bar services, Apple Pickup, and Today at Apple sessions focusing on photography and videography skills. Customers can explore Apple's latest products, including the iPhone 16 lineup, MacBook Pro with M4, and Apple Watch Series 10. For Chinese New Year, the store will offer special-edition AirPods 4 engraved for the Year of the Snake and workshops featuring iPhone 16 and Apple Vision Pro.

Apple has announced the release of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, introducing new Apple Intelligence features. The update includes Image Playground for creative image generation, Genmoji for personalized emoji creation, enhanced Writing Tools, and ChatGPT integration into Siri and system apps.

The release expands language support to include localized English for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK, with additional languages planned throughout the year. New features include visual intelligence capabilities for iPhone 16 users and privacy-focused processing using on-device and Private Cloud Compute technology.

The update is available for iPhone 16 series, iPhone 15 Pro models, iPads with A17 Pro or M1 and later, and Macs with M1 and later processors.

Apple has announced the 2024 App Store Award winners, recognizing 17 exceptional apps and games across its ecosystem. The winners were selected from 45 finalists by App Store Editors based on user experience, design, and innovation criteria.

Key winners include Kino (iPhone App of the Year), Moises (iPad), Adobe Lightroom (Mac), and What If...? An Immersive Story (Apple Vision Pro). In gaming, AFK Journey (iPhone), Squad Busters (iPad), and Balatro+ (Apple Arcade) were recognized.

Additionally, six apps received Cultural Impact awards for their contributions to accessibility, education, and social awareness, including Oko for vision-impaired navigation and EF Hello for language learning.

Apple has launched three new live global radio stations on Apple Music: Apple Música Uno, Apple Music Club, and Apple Music Chill. These stations join existing channels Apple Music 1, Hits, and Country, offering free live-hosted radio without requiring a subscription.

Apple Música Uno focuses on Latin music, featuring hosts like Becky G and shows from Rauw Alejandro and Grupo Frontera. Apple Music Club delivers 24/7 dance and electronic music with exclusive mixes from renowned DJs. Apple Music Chill provides calming content across genres, featuring artists like Brian Eno and Stephan Moccio.

The stations are available across all Apple Music platforms, including iPhone, iPad, CarPlay, and web browsers.

Apple has announced major expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, starting with the launch of its online store in summer 2025, followed by several flagship Apple Store locations beginning in 2026. One iconic store is planned for the UNESCO World Heritage site of Diriyah. The expansion builds on Apple's existing investments in the country, including the region's first Apple Developer Academy in Riyadh, which has trained nearly 2,000 students since 2021.

The company is also expanding its coed Apple Foundation Program, with the next cohort planned for spring 2025. The Saudi developer community has shown significant growth, with developer earnings increasing over 1,750% since 2019. Apple has invested more than 10 billion SAR with Saudi companies over the past five years and recently introduced Apple Pay transit features in Riyadh, making it the first Middle Eastern city to offer Express Mode for metro and bus payments.