Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), AuthenTec, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUTH)
Apple’s iPhone accounted for 4M of Verizon’s 7.2M total Q1 smartphones (Apple Insider)
With 7.2 million total smartphones activated in Verizon’s first fiscal quarter, the iPhone accounted for more than half, with 4 million total Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) handsets activated in the three-month span. In a conference call revealing its quarterly earnings on Thursday, Verizon revealed that roughly half of the 4 million iPhone units activated were 4G LTE devices. Since the iPhone 5 is the only 4G LTE capable phone from Apple, that means Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) activated about 2 million iPhone 5units. Apple’s 55 percent share of Verizon smartphones in the quarter was down from the nearly two-thirds of activations the iPhone took during the previous holiday quarter.
The results renewed pressure on Chief Executive Stephen Elop, who was hired in 2010 to turn the Finnish mobile phone maker around after it fell behind rivals Samsung and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the smartphone race. He made the controversial decision to switch to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s untried Windows Phone software in early 2011 and had said the transition would take two years, a period that’s now over. Analysts said he was running out of time. “Basically, he has only the secondquarter,” said Mikko Ervasti at Finnish investment banking and wealth management group Evli. Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) said it sold 5.6 million units of Lumia handsets in the first quarter, up from 4.4 million in the previous quarter, and forecast stronger growth in the current quarter.
For Google’s Founders, What’s Cooler Than a Private Jet? A Private Terminal (Wired)
This week, a little-noticed vote by the San Jose City Council paved the (run)way for one of the sweetest perks in the history of the tech industry. Call it Terminal G. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s top three executives already have a Boeing 757 and this Boeing 767 among the private jets in their collection. Now they’ll be able to board them in plebian-free bliss at their own private terminal at Mineta San Jose International Airport. The 29-acre development on the airport’s west side won’t be entirely private: Other private jet owners will also have access. But Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and international nerd of mystery Eric Schmidt will certainly be the most prominent regulars.
Microsoft’s Failure to Launch Is No Joke (Wall Street Journal)
This is what things have come to for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT): A New Yorker spoof about North Korea’s missile test being delayed by Windows 8 glitches seemed credible enough to be picked up as a news story by a Chinese media outlet. Investors certainly aren’t laughing, though. The software giant’s share price has lagged behind the S&P 500 by 12 percentage points since October, the month the widely anticipated new operating system was launched. Thursday’s fiscal third-quarter results for the period ended in March should reflect Microsoft’s failure to sufficiently reignite personal-computer sales. The analysts’ consensus for earnings per share, 79 cents as recently as December, has dropped to 68 cents now.
How Far Can the Mighty Apple Fall? (TIME)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be the world’s most celebrated electronics company, but its formerly high-flying stock price has plummeted to Earth over the past six months, declining 40% since last September. On Wednesday, that trend continued when Apple shares tumbled 5.5%, briefly pulling company shares below $400 for the first time since December 2011, and wiping out more than $20 billion in shareholder value. Wednesday’s decline was apparently triggered by a disappointing sales forecast from…
