Investors will refocus on Sony’s (SNE) restructuring efforts in 2015, as the hacking of Sony Pictures blows over, says Jefferies in a research report. Sony may re-examine its tablet computer business as part of its withdrawal from commodity consumer-electronics gadgets, says Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal. The tablet business accounts for about 5% of Sony Mobile revenue. Sony’s tablet business has struggled outside of Japan vs. Apple (AAPL), Samsung
Behind every call you make or every picture you take on Apple’s (AAPL) latest iPhone are a handful of IBD 50 chipmakers and social media companies that will help spread the season’s good will. If you bought somebody a gift this holiday season using the Apple Pay mobile-payment service, NXP Semiconductors’ (NXPI) chips helped you complete the purchase. The Netherlands-based company makes chips that enable secure mobile payments and applications
Good news for people hoping to get an iPhone 6 for Christmas: The supply of Apple’s (AAPL) eighth-generation smartphone has improved significantly in just the past week. Store checks suggest that the iPhone 6 supply has improved to more than 75% availability over the past week, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a report Tuesday. Supply of the new handsets is improving, while demand has remained strong, Munster said. Supplies of the larger-screen iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been constrained since their launch on Sept. 19 in the U.S. Checks at 80 Apple retail stores at the end of last week found that 78% of stores had iPhone 6 units in stock vs. 56% of stores in the prior week. Apple could reach supply-demand balance for its online store by month’s end, Munster said. Supplies of iPhone 6 handsets at third-party retail stores are much slimmer than…