Apple Inc. (AAPL) News: Return Of The King, Mega-Payout & More

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Apple says App Store hit 50 billion downloads (StamfordAdvocate)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) says its customers have downloaded more than 50 billon applications from its App Store since its launch in 2008. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) said Thursday that the 50 billionth download was a game called “Say the Same Thing” by Space Inch. The App Store had 500 apps when it first opened. It now has more than 850,000 individual apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The store hit the 10 billion downloads mark in early 2011 and 25 billion in March 2012. The 50 billion milestone does not include updates or re-downloads. Apps range from newspapers and magazines to games, business tools and travel applications.

Why Apple needs to deliver another revolutionary gadget (StockHouse)
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been under pressure this week after the head of a U.S. equity research firm said the stock should be trading at around $240. That’s well below the Wednesday close of $428.85, which leaves the company with a market cap of $402.5 billion, based on 938.6 billion shares outstanding. The 52-week range is $705.07 and $385.10. David Trainer, the CEO of Brentwood, TN.,-based New Constructs LLC said his bearish view is based on a rarely discussed metric known as return on invested capital. During an interview with CNBC, Trainer said the current stock price implies an ROIC of 124%.

Apple supplier Foxconn struggling to reduce work hours, monitor Says (TheStar)
Foxconn Technology Group faces a “challenging” task in trying to meet a July deadline for cutting work hours to comply with Chinese law, according to the labor monitor appointed by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), its largest customer. The assembler of iPhones and iPads has resolved 98 per cent of the 360 issues raised by the Washington-based Fair Labor Association, the group said in a report Wednesday. The company has improved safety conditions, including testing sprinklers and maintaining equipment, and increased membership in worker unions.

Stop Asking: Google Is Not the New Apple (Yahoo)
No, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is not the new Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), in most important respects. The acceleration in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares above $900 this month, its impressive 41% gain over the past six months, the appearance of a few $1,000 analyst price targets and the avid sponsorship of the stock’s fans have prompted renewed comparisons to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) massive surge-and-fizzle act last year. Sure, they are both widely owned stocks of intensely respected (and feared and resented) technology bellwethers. They each have gaudily high share prices undiminished by stock splits. The company names both end in “-le.” Yet the differences are clear and significant, and they work in favor of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) investors for now.


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