How could there be snow in April with all the global warming?
"Apple apologizes on customer service in China; Company promises improvements in its warranty policies" by David Barboza and Nick Wingfield | New York Times, April 02, 2013
I think we are owed an apology on an entirely different matter but that is for another time.
SHANGHAI — Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, took the unusual step Monday of apologizing to Chinese customers for the company’s warranty policy and said he would improve customer service in the country.
Apple’s apology late Monday was the latest twist in a strange spectacle that has unfolded in recent weeks in China over Apple’s warranty policies, underscoring the challenges the company is facing as the country becomes an important market for its products.
Every year on International Consumers’ Day, China’s biggest state-run television network broadcasts an investigative report on how companies operating in China cheat or mistreat consumers. This year, on March 15, one of the targets was Apple....
I checked the notes to my Globes, folks, and I didn't see a word; however, I will redouble my efforts and if I see anything I will be sure to update here.
Of course, when the AmeriKan ma$$ media reports such things it's the sign of a "free" pre$$ with the accouterments of heroic awards.
Apple did not immediately respond to some of the allegations, but other state media outlets stepped up their criticisms, raising the stakes for Apple in China, which is now the company’s second-biggest market after the United States. Soon after the segment aired, several Chinese celebrities piled on, posting harsh comments on China’s Twitter-like service called Weibo.
They didn't use QQ?
Then People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, published a series of editorials and articles, including one paper titled ‘‘Defeat Apple’s Incomparable Arrogance.’’
Oh, man, that is good stuff. Keep it in mind for later.
See: Six Zionist Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
Operation Mockingbird
Why Am I No Longer Reading the Newspaper?
I love my lying, dividing, distorting, obfuscating, omitting, agenda-pushing, war-promoting, pot-hollering corporate kettle media.
And in recent days, TV evening news broadcasts have included images of Chinese journalists being turned away from Apple’s offices in China.
Some media analysts and bloggers have called the media frenzy over Apple’s warranty policies bizarre because of the ferocity of it.
That made me laugh.
Related: CNN Spreads Lies Against Iran, Syria
Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., issued a statement Monday....
And for that you can get it straight from the mouthpiece.
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Now about that Apple arrogance:
"Apple keeps some profit overseas to delay US tax bill" by Peter Svensson | Associated Press, July 24, 2012
NEW YORK — On Tuesday, Apple is set to report financial results for the second quarter. Analysts are expecting net income of $9.8 billion. But whatever Apple reports will not reflect its true profit, because the company hides some of it with an unusual tax maneuver.
Apple Inc., already the world’s most valuable company, understates its profits compared with other multinationals. It is building up an overlooked asset in the form of billions of dollars, tucked away for tax bills it may never pay.
It's not like I'm for raising anyone's taxes here because government gets and wastes enough; however, the average American is seeing his taxes rise and services cut due to austerity. WTF?
Tax experts say the company could eliminate these phantom tax obligations.
I wish the sales tax was a ghost tax.
That would boost Apple’s profits for the past three years by as much $10.5 billion, according to calculations by Associated Press.
Although investors might rejoice if Apple added $10.5 billion to its profits, unilaterally erasing a massive US tax obligation could tarnish its reputation as a relatively responsible payer of US taxes.
Yeah, forget the reality; just accept the imagery and illusion of reputation.
Instead, the company seeks to change US law so that it can erase its liabilities less conspicuously....
It's all about public relation$ and public imagery.
Like other companies, Apple typically keeps profits on overseas sales in overseas accounts. When someone buys an iPad in Paris or Sydney, for instance, the profit stays outside the United States.
Apple may pay some corporate income taxes on that profit to the country where it sells the iPad, but it minimizes these by using various accounting moves to shift profits to countries with low tax rates.
Now, if Halliburton or someone did that there would be outrage, right? Right?
Of course -- as the article said a paragraph before -- most if not all multinational corporations are doing this. Everybody is doing this, and it's just the way things are done in the great globalized economic system.
For example the strategy known as ‘‘Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich,’’ routes profits through Irish and Dutch subsidiaries and then to the Caribbean.
Sounds like $ome $ick $ex act, and maybe it i$.
When it comes to using creative tax techniques, Apple is no different from other multinational corporations, said Robert Willens, an independent accounting expert.
And just like other corporations, Apple leaves cash overseas.
Really?
How much they sitting on over there, over there, $end the word, $end the word, over there!
If it brought it home to the United States, it would have to pay federal income taxes on the money (though it would get a credit for foreign taxes already paid). In Apple’s case, those overseas accounts have grown to a staggering $74 billion — equal to the market value of Citigroup Inc.
Wow, they could BUY a BANK!
I think Apple is TOO BIG to PROSECUTE like Buffet and the banks, 'eh?
The money is accumulating overseas because corporations are counting on lower US tax rates in the future.
????????? I was told they just raised rates and that other taxes need to go up along with spending cuts.
At 35 percent, the US corporate tax rate is among the highest for developed countries.
In 2004, Congress enacted a one-year ‘‘tax holiday’’ for overseas earnings, and multinationals are hoping for a repeat of that....
They will get it becau$e they control Congre$$ through lobbyi$ts.
Where Apple does differ from other companies is that it sets aside a portion of these overseas profits, marking them as subject to US taxes sometime in the future. Essentially, it is saying ‘‘this is money that we’ll likely have to pay US federal income taxes on’’ because we intend to repatriate it, said Willens.
Yup, that is your $ocially-con$cious corporation at work.
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Related: Sunday Globe Special: Bad Apple Avoids Taxes
A few more bites:
"Net income in the fiscal fourth quarter was $8.2 billion. For the full fiscal year, Apple’s net income was $41.7 billion. That was up 61 percent from the year before."
Yeah, that's with a B.
Also see: Apple paid only 1.9 pct tax on earnings outside US
Where you can throw the core:
"Apple says sales growth slowing" by Peter Svensson | Associated Press, January 24, 2013
NEW YORK — Apple Inc. warned Wednesday that the blockbuster sales growth of the last five years is slowing drastically, as iPhone sales are starting to plateau.
The outlook sent Apple shares plunging by 10 percent, wiping out a year’s worth of gains.
Analysts said the warning suggested that Apple can no longer sustain its growth without some completely new product....
Apple’s enviable profit growth also hit a wall in the October to December quarter. It said net income in the fiscal first quarter was $13.1 billion....
What a wall to hit, huh?
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Yeah, poor Apple:
"Investor sues Apple, seeking more cash" by Peter Svensson and Barbara Ortutay | Associated Press, February 08, 2013
NEW YORK — With its annual meeting looming and its stock on the decline, Apple is facing a rebellion from an influential investor who wants the company to stop stockpiling cash and give it to shareholders instead....
He wants his cut before the financial system collapses.
Apple is still the world’s most valuable company, but its stock has lost 35 percent of its value since September, as it has become obvious that its once-rapid growth has slowed down. The company is fabulously profitable, and Wall Street wants the company to share more of that money with its shareholders rather than tucking it away in low-yielding bank accounts....
What does Apple know that you don't, 'murkn?
Corporations normally don’t hoard cash the way Apple does. They keep enough on hand for immediate needs, and either invest the rest in their operations or hand it out to shareholders in the form of dividends or stock buybacks. If they need more cash for, say, an acquisition, they borrow it.
I $en$e a de$igned debt problem in the U.$. economy.
David Einhorn, who heads investment fund Greenlight Capital, told CNBC on Thursday that Apple was acting like his grandmother ‘‘Roz,’’ who grew up during the Great Depression.
Yes, because Apple and the American people know we are in the middle of what history will record as the Grand Depression and collapse of AmeriKan empire; the only ones who "don't know" are the cheerleading propagandi$ts I $ee in my Boston Globe bu$ine$$ pages every day.
People who’ve experienced financial trauma, he said ‘‘sometimes feel like they can never have enough cash.’’
Actually, don't project your greed upon me because I'm rightfully worried about my future but am not greedy. I just don't spend outside the basic essentials. My only luxuries are a Globe and a coffee in the morning, that's it.
Roz was so careful about saving money, Einhorn said, that she never left messages on his answering machine out of concern that she’d be charged for the call.
As if that is somehow a bad thing.
Yeah, $pend, $pend, $pend on immediately outdated gadgets and all the rest.
Einhorn’s criticism hints at Apple’s lean years in the mid-90s. Former chief executive Steve Jobs came out of that experience with a very tight hold on the company’s purse strings. Apple has never explained its reasons for hoarding the cash other than to say it is preserving its options. Since his death in Oct. 2011, Apple has begun paying a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share and started to repurchase some of its shares.
Analysts say the company should be doing more if it wants to lure investors....
Wall Street didn’t complain much about Apple’s hoarding policies until its revenue growth started slowing. In the recent holiday quarter, Apple’s revenue rose 18 percent from a year ago — a very good figure for a company of its size, but a far cry from the 50 percent-plus increases it has often posted since the 2007 launch of the first iPhone.
Thus Wall $treet ain't happy.
Apple hasn’t launched a new ground-breaking product since the iPad in 2010, so the company is forced to expand the appeal of its current products to achieve growth.
The slowing growth has scared away investors who focus on fast-growing companies, and the relatively small dividend means the company doesn’t get much respect from investors who look for regular income, analysts say.
--more--"
What you want?
"Companies usually don’t sit on that much cash. They invest it in their business or give it to shareholders. Einhorn said Apple’s cash hoard is a symptom of a defensive ‘‘Depression-era mentality.’’ Apple seems to have run out of things to invest in, and the $45 billion commitment is small, compared with the company’s profits."
Someone took a pay cut:
"Timothy D. Cook, the company’s chief executive, [took] home a relatively modest $4.2 million in pay that may seem to be a steep decline from the $378 million package that Cook was awarded in 2011. Frank Gillett, an analyst with Forrester Research, said, “If you were handing out gigantic nine-figure stock deals every year, it would send the wrong message to customers and shareholders.’’
Yeah, don't be too piggy about your looting, although that is one hell of a cut, huh?
Hey, he's earning it:
"Apple CEO says more breakthrough coming" by Michael Liedtke | Associated Press, February 28, 2013
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple chief executive Tim Cook sought to reassure shareholders worried about the company’s sagging stock price that the iPhone and iPad maker is on the verge of inventing more breakthrough products that will prove it hasn’t lost its edge....
Wednesday’s meeting was less celebratory than in past years. Since hitting a record high of $705.07 five months ago, Apple’s stock has plunged 37 percent, wiping out shareholder wealth totaling $240 billion.
The numbers make you numb after a while.
Still, that exceeds the total market value of Microsoft Corp., the most influential company in personal computing until Apple ushered in an era of mobile devices with the iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010....
Wall Street may have been disappointed that Cook did not provide any further clarity on whether Apple will distribute some of its $137 billion in cash to shareholders as a dividend increase or one-time payment.
Oh, THAT is HOW MUCH CASH they are SITTING ON?
Shareholder David Einhorn, who runs Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund, turned Apple’s cash hoard into a hot topic in the weeks leading up the meeting....
A potential showdown was averted last week when a federal judge ruled Apple had improperly bundled several corporate governance issues, including the handling of preferred stock, in the same proposal, which Apple withdrew from Wednesday’s agenda.
WTF? Apple acting like a bank with it's own version of mortgaged-backed securities scheme?
Supporters of the measure included the California Public Employee Retirement System....
What are they doing invested in that s***?
Although Apple is selling more gadgets than ever before, the company’s profits and sales aren’t growing as robustly because of fiercer competition.
Yeah, they only made a "mere" $13b the last three months of last year.
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NEXT DAY UPDATES:
"Goldman Sachs Group dropped Apple Inc. off its list of most highly recommended stocks Tuesday as it joined other analysts in reducing expectations for the company."
Apple has a worm in it?
Also see: Less costly iPhone may debut soon
They really have run out of ideas.
At least Apple treats its workers good, right?
"Apple supplier Foxconn unveils bribery inquiry; Firm looks at its workers, supply chain partners" by David Barboza | New York Times, January 14, 2013
SHANGHAI — Foxconn Technology, the huge contract electronics manufacturer that makes the Apple iPhone and other popular products, said that it was investigating whether its employees had accepted bribes from supply chain partners.
The company said last week that an internal investigation had uncovered possible wrongdoing in the supply chain and that those findings had been shared with the authorities in China.
The announcement is the latest setback for Foxconn, which produces a growing share of the world’s smartphones, laptop computers, and other electronics....
Foxconn is based in Taiwan with production facilities across China....
Last week, the Taiwan edition of Next Magazine said a Foxconn executive in the coastal city of Shenzhen, China, was detained by police on bribery allegations....
Foxconn is considered one of the world’s most reliable suppliers of electronics. But the company’s image has been tarnished in recent years by labor strikes, accusations of poor working and safety conditions, and a spate of worker suicides at some Chinese plants.
Related: China's Economy Collapsing
China's Car Strike Concealing Coming Economic Collapse
Apple has strongly defended its partner against allegations of poor working conditions....
Too bad they couldn't work in an American office.
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Related:
"One of the company’s factories, the world’s largest manufacturer of electronics, in Zhengzhou, China, lost two shifts on Oct. 5 after workers became frustrated trying to prevent scratching on the casings of the Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5. A brawl involving 2,000 workers at a Foxconn plant in northern China’s Taiyuan last month halted production. The company’s plants had at least 10 suicides in 2010."
But at least they get to have a union.
Also see:
Apple sees risk, blocks Java use
Judge cuts $1 billion award to Apple
Better send Apple a sympathy card:
"Card maker American Greetings will go private" Associated Press, April 02, 2013
CLEVELAND — American Greetings has agreed to be taken private by a group led by some of its top executives in a deal that values the company at about $580 million.
Keep that amount in mind for latter.
The greeting card and gift seller said Monday that a group formed by the Weiss family, including chairman Morry Weiss, chief executive Zev Weiss, and others, will buy the shares of the company they don’t already own for $18.20 per share in cash.
Do I even need to type it?
This is a 13 percent premium to American Greetings Corp.’s closing price of $16.10 last Thursday.
If the board declares a quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share and the deal closed in July as expected, shareholders would receive $18.35 per share.
The Weiss family initially offered to buy the Cleveland company in September for $17.18 per share.
The company values the entire deal at $878 million including assumed debt and the settlement of stock options not held by the Weiss family.
American Greetings said that the acquisition will be financed with a combination of the contributions of company stock owned by the Weiss family, cash funded by a $240 million nonvoting preferred stock investment committed by a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., $600 million in debt financing, and available cash.
Wow, American Greetings just got Bained by the Koch brothers!! I'll bet the workers were left with a chill.
And they BORROWED MORE than the COMPANY is WORTH, huh?
The board unanimously approved the deal, which still needs shareholder approval.
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Maybe the sympathy cards should be sent to the American Greetings workers who will soon be out jobs after everything is sold off and the buy-out group takes a big paycheck.
UPDATES:
Facebook unwraps new gift cards to Target, others
Lower corporate taxes will aid growth, Boston Chamber says
