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☆ Apple Needs to Take Its Time With Augmented Reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Much like the Apple Watch touted by CEO Tim Cook in the past, Apple’s AR device might be shown off months ahead of its retail launch. Apple ‘s real world will likely be a harsh one this year. That doesn’t mean the company should rush into a virtual one. Apple’s long-rumored augmented reality headset may finally see the light of day soon. Bloomberg News also reported over the weekend that the company is planning to unveil the product this spring.

☆ Exclusive: Apple supplier BOE plans new factories in Vietnam
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HANOI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Chinese display maker BOE Technology Group Co Ltd (000725.SZ), a supplier of both Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS), plans to invest a substantial sum to build two factories in Vietnam, two people familiar with the matter said. BOE plans to make the more sophisticated organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) screens at the site rather than liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), the person said. Apple, which included BOE in its 2021 list of manufacturing partners, uses OLED screens for its latest iPhone smartphones. The U.S. tech giant, however, plans to start making mobile screens in-house by next year, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. BOE's Vietnam plan is not specifically aimed at supplying Apple, the person said.

☆ China’s Zhengzhou, home to world’s largest iPhone factory, ends Covid lockdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, has lifted a five-day Covid lockdown, in a move that analysts have called a much-needed relief for Apple and its main supplier Foxconn. Zhengzhou is the site of “iPhone City,” a sprawling manufacturing campus owned by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn that normally houses about 200,000 workers churning out products for Apple (AAPL), including the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The troubles started in October when workers left the campus in Zhengzhou, the capital of the central province of Henan, due to Covid-related fears. Total iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max shipments in the current quarter would be 15 million to 20 million units less than previously anticipated, according to Kuo. Due to the high price of the iPhone 14 Pro series, Apple’s overall iPhone revenue in the current holiday quarter could be 20% to 30% lower than investors’ expectations, he added.

☆ Apple has a huge problem at Foxconn's iPhone factory in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Every week of this shutdown and unrest we estimate is costing Apple roughly $1 billion a week in lost iPhone sales. Now roughly 5% of iPhone 14 sales are likely off the table due to these brutal shutdowns in China,” he said. Security forces clash with workers during a protest outside Apple supplier Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou, China, on November 23. Covid outbreakEarlier this month, Apple said shipments of its latest lineup of iPhones would be “temporarily impacted” by Covid restrictions in China. Even before this week’s demonstrations, Apple had started making the iPhone 14 in India, as it sought to diversify its supply chain away from China.

☆ China's economy could rebound soon, but longer-term growth will be 'deeply challenging'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Abigail Ng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

China previously "sailed on" economically while other countries struggled, but the world's second largest economy may have a difficult path ahead, according to one strategist. "China has reached that level of its development where a lot of emerging markets typically find the going getting tougher," said Mark Jolley of CCB International Securities. He pointed to the trend of deglobalization, friction between the U.S. and China as well as the weak global economy. "On both sides of the Pacific we hear a lot of wishful thinking that decoupling will promote rather than hurt domestic growth. We disagree," Ethan Harris wrote in a BofA Global Research note published Friday.

☆ China's CIFI suspends all offshore debt payments, starts restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Shanghai-based property developer CIFI Holdings (0884.HK) said on Tuesday it has suspended payments on all of its offshore debt after it failed to reach an agreement with creditors to which it owes $414 million in total. CIFI said in a filing it has engaged Haitong International Securities Company Limited as financial advisor and Linklaters as legal adviser to facilitate a restructuring of its $6.85 billion offshore debt, as it is likely to come under continued pressure to generate sufficient cash flows for repayments. CIFI and Longfor had borrowings of 114 billion yuan ($15.61 billion) and 212 billion yuan, respectively, as of June, and Greenland had 122 billion yuan. But it added its offshore debt issues do not materially affect its onshore financing arrangements as a whole and that its commercial operations remain normal. CIFI said on Oct. 13 it had not met certain offshore interest and amortisation payments due to delays in remittances during an extended holiday in mainland China.

Chinese equities make up 31% of the MSCI Emerging Market index (.MIEF00000PUS), a popular stock index that many funds track and benchmark their performances against. Fund research firm Morningstar tracks nine new emerging market ex-China equity mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that were created this year, matching the number of launches in total over the previous two years. If Aubrey was to remove China from its emerging market strategy, the Indian market would take a significant portion, while the rest will be spread around other countries including Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico, he said. OUTFLOWSAndrew McCaffery, Fidelity International's global chief investment officer, said they have received increased requests from clients for emerging markets excluding China strategies, although the purpose was to “break China out as an allocation separately within global portfolios”. “The challenge is that they (global investors) are not going to be quick to add back in,” he said.

☆ China's economic outlook will be 'deeply challenging' for the next five to 10 years: Strategist
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailChina's economic outlook will be 'deeply challenging' for the next five to 10 years: StrategistMark Jolley of CCB International Securities says China "sailed on" while other countries struggled in the past, but now, the economic outlook for China looks challenging.

☆ Abu Dhabi geo data firm Bayanat draws bumper demand for IPO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Bayanat, an Abu Dhabi-based provider of geographic data and analytics, said on Thursday it drew robust demand of 57.5 billion dirhams for its IPO. Bayant is offering 22.22% of its share capital at 1.1 dirham per share, valuing the stake at 628.6 million dirhams ($171.15 million). AI firm G42, which is backed by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, will continue to own 77% of Bayanat. In the same year, Mubadala took an undisclosed stake in G42, which is chaired by the UAE's national security adviser. Dubai Islamic Bank was lead manager, First Abu Dhabi Bank was lead receiving bank and International Securities was the lead placement agent on the IPO.

☆ Apple to launch a foldable iPad rather than iPhone in 2024, analyst predicts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CCS Insight published its annual predictions report on Tuesday in which the group' analysts make forecasts about future products and trends. In the latest report, CCS Insight predicted Apple would launch a foldable iPad in two years' time rather than start with a foldable iPhone. "Right now it doesn't make sense for Apple to make a foldable iPhone. The analyst said that a foldable iPhone would likely need to cost around $2,500. Predictions about a foldable iPhone meanwhile have been around for at least four years.

☆ 'The best sweet spot': Buy these inflation-beating funds to protect your money, strategist says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As inflation remains stubbornly high, and volatility in U.S. stocks and bonds persists, one strategist has shared his top ways for investors to protect their income. High inflation increases the chances of the U.S. Federal Reserve raising rates further, which tends to mean a stronger dollar. His picks include the iShares Euro Inflation Linked Government Bond UCITS ETF and the iShares TIPS Bond ETF . That's a bad combination for agricultural output, and high gas prices will contribute to higher fertilizer prices, he added. The 'best sweet spot' As U.S. investors scramble to navigate continued volatility, particularly in stocks, Jolley said the "brave" could consider stocks overseas.

☆ 'Significantly lower than expected' iPhone 14 Plus preorders suggest Apple's strategy of ditching the 'mini' for a larger version of the new phone is a failure, says renowned Apple analyst
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus will be in stock when they launch, showing low demand. The larger iPhone 14 Plus takes the spot of the previous, smaller iPhone 13 mini in Apple's lineup. They became available for preorder on September 9, and the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max launch on September 16. Looking at availability and shipping estimates, he said the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Pro are showing "good" and "neutral" results, respectively. However, preorders for the two standard models — the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus — are "bad," according to Kuo.

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