Ondrej Holzman This year's 32nd Apple Week writes about the unsuccessful purchase of a young Australian woman, about phone buybacks as a new sales attraction or about the new development center that Apple is building in Taiwan.
Australian woman paid $1335 for two apples in an iPhone box (5/8)
A big surprise awaited a 21-year-old Australian woman who was supposed to buy two new iPhones from an unknown woman for $1335 (about 26 crowns). When she got home and opened both packages, there weren't two devices waiting for her, but real apples. This is because the defrauded woman did not check the contents of the package, which was wrapped in foil and appeared to be intact, when she handed over the goods at the McDonald's in Sunnybank. This case so beautifully documents how important it is to check the contents of the package and also to test the functionality of the product when making a similar purchase. It is very easy to run into fraudsters these days.
Source: 9to5Mac.com
People are willing to go elsewhere due to a more favorable purchase (5/8)
apple will is probably about to start a program to buy back used iPhones and the latest research found that new customers can be acquired through these programs. The NPD Group found that 55 percent of those surveyed would use a trade-in program to buy their next phone, while more than 60 percent would be willing to switch to a competitor because of a more attractive offer. NPD interviewed a thousand smartphone users in July. According to NPD's Eddie Hold, similar programs are the new battleground in smartphone sales. The largest American operators AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have already launched their programs for the purchase of older phones, Apple is preparing for the same step and the decisive factor will be who offers the best conditions. Apple would like to attract more people to its brick-and-mortar stores, or those who want to buy an iPhone, by buying back older phones and subsequently reducing the price of the latest model. Apple phones are mostly bought from operators. If he comes with an interesting offer, he has a chance to succeed, although the competition is great.
Source: AppleInsider.com
Chinese factories that supply for Apple, again under pressure from activists (August 5)
Chinese environmental activists have accused two factories that supply parts for Apple of dumping hazardous waste into canals in the city of Kunshan, outside Shanghai. The factories are owned by Taiwanese companies Foxconn Technology Group and UniMicron Technology Corp. and, according to activists, they are discharging significant amounts of heavy metals into the canals that flow into the Yangtze and Huangpu Rivers. At the same time, these rivers are a key source of water for Shanghai, which has a population of almost 24 million.
Foxconn responded to the allegations by saying it complies with all regulations; a similar statement was issued by UniMicron, which is said to carry out regular inspections and to have monitoring equipment installed. It is not yet clear whether the two factories will be punished in any way, or whether their violation of the law will be proven at all. However, if it does, the Chinese government is not going to delay sanctions.
Source: AppleInsider.com
AppleCare is said to be undergoing major changes (August 7)
It looks like AppleCare is in for some big changes. They should touch on both the design of the entire website and the support chat. It will now be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so customers can ask for help whenever they need it. The new look of the AppleCare page should be closer to iOS users, at the same time it will include the already mentioned chat for easy access and large and clear navigation elements. Apple is redesigning AppleCare to connect users with help as quickly as possible, currently focusing on various help articles. The changes should be implemented in the coming weeks.
Source: iMore.com
iPhone Maintains Value Against Android Phones (7/8)
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster conducted a simple test in which he tracked the price of six devices sold on the US auction portal eBay and China's Toabao Marketplace since April. His test featured three iPhones and three Samsung smartphones with the Android operating system. Munster found that while Samsung Android prices fell between 14,4% and 35,5% over three months, the only Apple phone to lose that much in price was the iPhone 4S in China. The price of the iPhone 4 even rose during the three-month monitoring period (by 1,4% in China and by 10,3%).
Munster then drew two conclusions from the whole event. For one thing, the iPhone 5 holds a better price in China than the Galaxy S IV, indicating Apple's continued support for the iPhone 5 in China. Prices keep Apple better despite the fact that Android dominates the Chinese market (more than 75% share). Munster also expects a slow decline in iPhone prices as customers slowly wait for the new iPhone, which could be released at the end of September.
Source: tech.fortune.cnn.com
A new Apple development center will probably be established in Taiwan (August 8)
According to reports from Taiwan, a new research and development center with a bitten apple logo is growing here. Apple is reportedly hiring a development team that should focus on future iPhones, but work on other products is not ruled out. Apple is said to be hiring for various engineering and management positions with different focuses. There are no similar ads on Apple's Taiwanese website yet, so the whole event is probably just getting started. However, a development center in Taiwan makes sense from Apple's point of view, as TSMC, which works with Apple to produce chips for iOS devices, is located there.
Source: MacRumors.com
Obama Meets With Tech Firms To Discuss Human Surveillance (9/8)
US President Barack Obama met with representatives of leading technology companies. In addition to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the head of AT&T Randall Stephenson and Vint Cerf from Google also arrived at the White House. There were also technological lobbyists and representatives of organizations defending user privacy. According to Politico, there was talk of both the controversy associated with the surveillance of people by the NSA and the online monitoring itself. The meeting was held as part of Obama's initiative to start a national dialogue on the topic of how best to protect privacy in the digital age while defending the nation's security.
Source: TheVerge.com
In short:
-
7. 8.: The smartphone market is growing at a rocket speed and the Android ecosystem is making the most of it. According to IDC, over 187 million smartphones with this operating system were sold in the second quarter of this year, which means that Android occupies almost 80 percent of the entire market.
-
8. 8.: Apple is looking for a software engineer to help the company develop and implement a new anti-spam email infrastructure in iCloud. The selected candidate will join the iCloud team and must have experience with email and spam systems.
Other events this week:
[related-posts]
That's thick: "The price of the iPhone 4 even rose during the three-month monitoring period (by 1,4% in China and by 10,3%).
It's true that even after years, iPhone prices don't drop that much, especially compared to Androids of the same age...