Apple (AAPL) was among the tech companies in the spotlight late Wednesday after a report said a defect in the Apple Watch may be slowing sales. The Wall Street Journal, citing knowledgeable sources, said a part called the taptic engine, which provides an electronic tap on the wrist, was found to be defective, causing Apple to initially limit availability of the watch. The report said Apple last week told some suppliers to slow production of the
Apple (AAPL) shares sank for a second session in a row despite blowout earnings late Monday. The stock gained as much as 1.4% Tuesday but reversed to close down 1.6%. And on the stock market today, Apple fell 1.5% more. Several analysts have raised the caution flag on Apple, saying that iPhone sales could lose steam as the company serves the pent-up demand for bigger-screen smartphones. Shrinking iPhone sales could also impact Apple’s chip
First-time smartphone buyers in the U.S. are choosing Google (GOOGL) Android-based handsets by a wide margin over Apple’s iPhone, a new survey shows. Among consumers who bought their first smartphone in the March quarter, 71% chose an Android phone, up from 56% in the same quarter last year, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners said Wednesday. About 17% of first-time smartphone buyers chose an Apple (AAPL) iPhone, down from 31% in the year-earlier quarter, CIRP said. “At least in the U.S., first-time smartphone buyers, either coming from a basic flip phone or true first-time mobile phone owners, choose Android phones by a large margin,” Mike Levin, partner and co-founder of CIRP, said in a statement. But Apple is winning in the customer retention game.