With no new streaming video player in two and a half years, Apple (AAPL) is losing ground in the market. Apple’s set-top box, Apple TV, slipped to fourth place in U.S. sales of streaming media devices last year, research firm Parks Associates reported Thursday. Roku continues to lead in streaming media device sales, accounting for 34% of units sold in 2014. Google (GOOGL) was second with 23%. Amazon.com (AMZN) overtook Apple for third place.
Global smartphone sales last quarter rose by the slowest quarterly rate since 2013, according to market tracker Gartner, as sales in China fell for the first time, with Apple (AAPL) taking market share from Samsung. Smartphone sales rose 13.5% vs. Q2 2014, to 329.67 million units. In China, sales fell 4% as the market becomes increasingly saturated. China is the biggest market for smartphone sales, representing 30% of the Q2 total, Gartner said.
Drug giant Allergan (AGN) and Apple (AAPL) are top favorites of hedge funds, while Express Scripts Holding (ESRX), Walt Disney (DIS) and IBM (IBM) lead the list of most shorted stocks, according to a Goldman Sachs report. Allergan in early August only modestly beat analysts’ Q2 consensus estimates, and its stock fell shortly after the stock touched its all-time high above 340. Shares were down 1% in midday trading in the stock market today, near