THE APPLE INVESTOR: China Is Key To Apple's Future Growth (AAPL)

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AAPL Down Against The Tide 

Stocks are heading higher following confirmation that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces. Shares of AAPL are off nearly $1 versus a positive tech market. Upcoming catalysts include Steve Jobs' healthy return; the WWDC starting June 6; iPad 2 supply stabilization; the iPhone 5 launch this summer / fall; smartphone push into China and emerging markets; iTunes in the cloud; the continued evolution and adoption of Apple TV; and new initiatives such as video platforms, books / publishing and social (Ping). Shares of Apple trade at 12x Enterprise Value / Trailing Twelve Months Free Cash Flow (incl. long-term marketable securities).

China Key To Apple's Future Growth (MacObserver)
According to analyst Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities, "Apple fever" is spreading across China. The white iPhone 4 had “quickly” sold out in all four of Apple’s flagship Apple Store locations in Beijing and Shanghai, and pre-orders for iPad 2 in Hong Kong had also sold out. Brian believes China will be one of the most important drivers of the company’s growth over the next decade.

Apple Should Use Intel For Smartphone And Tablet Chips (Barron's)
Piper Jaffray semiconductor analyst Gus Richard believes that since “Intel has no market share in the next wave of computing,” the company should consider becoming the foundry to manufacture the custom microprocessors that Apple designs into its iPhones, iPods and iPads. Right now that belongs to Samsung, however the two companies are locked in lawsuits which could provide Intel an opening.

Is Apple Building Two Versions Of The iPhone 5? (The iPhone Download Blog)
According to an employee of an Apple part supplier, the company may be building two different iPhone 5 models for release this fall; a normal and pro model. Apple may just be testing different components for reliability and quality before final production of one device.

iMacs Rumored To Launch This Week (Apple Insider)
Apple is to launch new iMacs tomorrow according to the latest barrage of rumors online over the weekend. The new iMacs will have Sandy Bridge and come with the company's new Thurderbolt technology even though there is still only a handful of drives available for the technology. Read more at Business Insider.

Apple Still Expanding The Company, Doesn't Need To Offer A Dividend (Seeking Alpha)
Apple has one of the largest cash inventories in the world at about $65.8 billion. But why does Apple not offer a dividend to investors? The answer is not easy, but one theory is that Apple has not finished expanding the company to their satisfaction. Therefore the cash flow that is considered a "surplus" is actually money that will be reinvested back into the company to continually innovate and create new products. Simple.

Profit From Various Option Strategies This Week (Seeking Alpha)
Investors looking at the big picture could execute a buy-write on AAPL May 6 355s. This is the best strategy due to the risk-return profile. If that is an uncomfortable level of risk, utilize the 350s. An alternative strategy is to sell out-of-the-money puts and collect the premium without having to purchase the stock outright; the 340s and 345s are attractive for this purpose.

For the latest tech news, visit SAI: Silicon Alley Insider. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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See Also:

• THE APPLE INVESTOR: The Verizon iPhone Caused Android To Slip In Sales Share
• iPad 2 Design Leaks Leads To Arrests Of Foxconn Workers
• Get Ready For New iMacs, Coming This Week

THE APPLE INVESTOR: China Is Key To Apple's Future Growth (AAPL)

Backlink: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/rN2_tu48OKs/the-apple-investor-may-2-2011-5

Comment on Will the iPhone Stay on the Path of Growth? by Mark

The iPhone a classy device? Are you kidding - you can get for £50 on a two year £35 a month contract here. To be honest, its starting to get a bit of a reputation as the chav phone. @Subhasish Ghosh Wow! Elitist and racist. Classy!

Comment on Will the iPhone Stay on the Path of Growth? by Mark

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/01/28/will-the-iphone-stay-on-the-path-of-growth/#comment-583004

Comment on Will the iPhone Stay on the Path of Growth? by don

The iPhone is expensive. So are cars like BMW, BEnz and Porsches. I hope the iPhone remains a classy phone and never become a cheapy. Also, do not say the iPhone isn't worth it when you have not owned and used one yourself.

Comment on Will the iPhone Stay on the Path of Growth? by don

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/01/28/will-the-iphone-stay-on-the-path-of-growth/#comment-582917

Tablets Are Already Crushing Growth In The PC Market

Analysts at Gartner just slashed their projections for PC sales in 2010 and 2011, citing the iPad and other tablets as a major factor.

The latest Gartner report predicts that PC sales for 2010 will be up 14.3% over 2009, and will increase by 15.9% in 2011. That's a serious downward revision from its September numbers of 17.9% and 18.1% respectively.

The difference is "due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad," Gartner says. While few consumers are ready to forgo PCs altogether, Garter predicts that tablets will "displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014."

Don't Miss: Here Are 10 New Tablets You Can Buy Next Year

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Here Are 10 New iPad-Killers You Can Buy Next Year
• Tablets Will Be A 100 Million Unit Market By 2013 -- Analyst Report
• Lenovo Says Windows 7 Is No Good For Tablets

Tablets Are Already Crushing Growth In The PC Market

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TerraGo Technologies Continues Strong Growth in 2010

TerraGo Achieves Record Year-to-Date Revenue While Continuing to Expand Customer Base and Strategic Partnerships

TerraGo Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of geospatial collaboration software solutions, continued to achieve strong performance in 2010, including a record quarter for revenue in Q3. TerraGo’s year-to-date revenue at the end of Q3 grew by 80 percent over 2009 results. In addition, TerraGo continued to expand its customer base in its core U.S. government market as well as commercial and international markets. The quarter was also highlighted by significant milestones with TerraGo’s strategic partners, new product enhancements, and continued hiring of leading talent.

“TerraGo’s record performance to date in 2010 demonstrates the strong demand in both government and commercial markets for putting the power of geospatial intelligence into the hands of all users in the enterprise,” said Rick Cobb, president and CEO of TerraGo. “Government as well as leading commercial organizations have deepened their investments in TerraGo geospatial collaboration software and GeoPDF. We are seeing larger acquisitions, more innovative programs and pilots, and broader commitments to creating standard intelligence products that leverage GeoPDF. TerraGo’s momentum is strengthened by the steps that we’ve taken together with other leading software providers such as Adobe, BAE, Esri, Hitachi, and Intergraph to enhance our solutions and deliver deeper capabilities to our joint customers.”

In addition to record financial performance during Q3 2010, TerraGo made strong progress and growth in numerous other areas:

Partners

―    Hitachi Solutions and TerraGo announced a strategic partnership under which Hitachi is a development partner, master distributor of TerraGo® software in Asia, and strategic investor in TerraGo.
―    TerraGo joined the new Esri Partner Network as one of the first Gold Tier Partners, deepening the companies’ collaboration on sales, marketing, and development efforts.
―    Adobe and TerraGo deepened their relationship with new initiatives. The companies developed an upgrade path to support geospatial capabilities for Adobe® Acrobat® X users. They also signed an agreement under which TerraGo is providing software engineering services in support of geospatial PDF consumption in Acrobat X and Reader® X.
―    Joint sales activities with BAE and Intergraph were robust, particularly in Q3, and added diversity to TerraGo’s government sales activity.

Customers

―    More than 900 organizations now use TerraGo software to create GeoPDF® maps and imagery, and more than 10,000 use TerraGo software to interact with GeoPDF.
―    TerraGo added 23 new customers in Q3 from various segments, including U.S. federal civilian and military, local government, oil and gas, utilities, and architecture and engineering. Several new customers are from international markets.

Products

―    The company launched TerraGo 3D Composer™ in Q3 and has received considerable interest in the new software for creating 3D GeoPDF products from LiDAR and other forms of elevation data. A major U.S. government customer is now producing 3D GeoPDF products and distributing them to deployed field users.
―    TerraGo released a new version of TerraGo Toolbar™ that supports internationalization. In close collaboration with strategic partner Hitachi Solutions, the TerraGo Toolbar is now available in Japanese.
―    A major initiative in Q3 was adding support in TerraGo Publisher™ for Esri® ArcGIS® 10. The new version of TerraGo Publisher is now available.

New Hires

―    TerraGo continued to build its government sales team in Q3, adding Betsy Montanio as account manager for U.S. federal civilian government business. Montanio has extensive experience in the government market working for companies such as AutoCAD, IBM, and Xerox.
For more information on TerraGo GeoPDF solutions, please contact sales(at)terragotech(dot)com or visit http://www.terragotech.com. In addition, please plan on visiting TerraGo at the Esri Federal User Conference from Jan. 19-21, 2011, in Washington, D.C.

About TerraGo Technologies
TerraGo Technologies delivers software applications that extend the access and application of maps and imagery for mobile field professionals who rely on geospatial information to do their jobs. Thousands of global organizations, including many defense and intelligence agencies, petroleum and utility companies, public safety departments, and environmental engineering teams, depend on TerraGo software. The TerraGo Publisher™ Suite allows organizations to consume and optimize data from any source and create GeoPDF® maps and imagery. The TerraGo Collaboration™ Suite offers desktop, Web-based and mobile software applications that automate geospatial collaboration and information gathering and sharing. When used in conjunction with TerraGo Composer™, customers are able to configure easy-to-use 2D and 3D maps, imagery, and digital GeoPDF MapBook products while embedding relevant business context, forms, and workflows. With a strong ecosystem of partners, including Adobe, BAE Systems, ESRI, ERDAS, Hitachi, Intergraph, and Trimble, millions of professionals use geospatial data that has been enabled by TerraGo in order to be more productive, improve quality, and make better decisions. For more information, visit http://www.terragotech.com.

TerraGo software creates GeoPDF maps and imagery that conform to the specifications published by the Open Geospatial Consortium as an OGC Best Practice and those published by Adobe as proposed geospatial extensions to ISO 32000.
TerraGo and GeoPDF are registered trademarks of TerraGo Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

 

Kik’s Viral Growth Comes With an Apology

Kik is a cross-platform chat application that has gone from zero users to almost 2 million in three weeks. But some users aren't happy with the way the company has achieved that viral growth, and Kik's CEO says it is changing the way the app works.

Post originale: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/-Uu-c2XYwXg/

Fast Growth is the Fast Lane to Failure

Growing your business isn’t always the better option — very often staying small is the most viable alternative because growth can lead to lots of problems.