Tag Archives: aapl

Tablets top holiday wish lists as Apple iPad event nears

U.S. consumer spending on electronic devices this holiday season is forecast to rise 2.5% from last year to a record $33.76 billion, the Consumer Electronics Association said Friday. During the 2013 holiday season, consumer electronics spending inched up 0.9%, the CEA said. “Consumers are decidedly more optimistic about holiday spending on tech this year vs. last year,” Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research, said in a statement. “The macroeconomic environment is providing a firmer foundation and holiday consumers are showing a strong inclination to shop this holiday season. CEA’s forecasts point to growth in overall spending as well as spending on tech this holiday season.” According to the CEA’s “21st Annual CE Holiday Purchase Patterns Study,” the top five devices that consumers want to receive as gifts are the same as last year. Tablets, such as the Apple (AAPL) iPad, lead the list, followed by notebook…

Apple Watch production said delayed until January

Production of the Apple Watch has been delayed until January, a move that could limit initial supplies of the much-anticipated smartwatch, Rosenblatt Securities said in a report Friday. Manufacturing of Apple’s (AAPL) smartwatch has been postponed several times in recent months, Rosenblatt analyst Brian Blair said. “Over the past several months, we have highlighted a number of times that we have believed Apple Watch production to be delayed,” Blair said. “Most recently, we stated our view that production of the watch was slated to start in November, having been pushed back from October prior to that. For most of the year, we had expected production would start in the September period. We now believe that Apple Watch production has been pushed back again and is slated to start in January.” Blair says the Apple Watch still could launch in late February, but in limited quantities. Apple has said the watch…

Facebook, WhatsApp Deal Gets Europe’s Approval

Facebook’s (FB) purchase of WhatsApp won approval from European regulators, who said there is sufficient competition in wireless messaging apps to give consumers enough choices even after the merger. With 600 million users globally, WhatsApp is the biggest mobile messaging service. It competes in Europe with Apple ‘s (AAPL) iMessage, Line, Viber and other mobile apps. In Asia, there’s China’s WeChat, part of Tencent Holdings (TCEHY). “Consumers