Tag Archives: aapl

Roku Holds Lead In Streaming Media Players, But Amazon, Apple Gain

Streaming video device pioneer Roku continues to lead the market, but rivals Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Apple ( AAPL ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google are close behind. Roku accounted for 30% of streaming media players purchased in 2015, down from 34% in 2014, research firm Parks Associates reported Tuesday . The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company makes set-top boxes and streaming media sticks that plug into TVs. Increasingly Roku is getting its software installed in smart TVs, eliminating the need for separate hardware to access Internet video services like Netflix ( NFLX ), Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. Amazon moved into a virtual tie with Google at 22% of streaming media device sales. Amazon sells Fire TV devices and Google sells Chromecast streaming sticks. Apple came in fourth place with 20% market share for its Apple TV set-top box. The top four players accounted for 94% of streaming media players purchased in 2015, up from 86% in 2014, Parks Associates said. About 36% of U.S. broadband households have at least one streaming media player, up from 27% a year ago, Parks said. “Device makers have successfully sold streaming media players to consumers by offering easy access to a variety of content streams, as well as frequent updates that add the latest innovation,” Parks analyst Barbara Kraus said in a statement. “Amazon in particular has benefited by promoting its Fire TV devices in conjunction with the company’s Prime Video service as well as streams from HBO, Showtime and other premium offerings.” RELATED: Netflix Gets Vote Of Confidence From RBC Amid Heightened Skepticism

Apple Pay Rival MCX, Visa Loom At PayPal Analyst Day

Delays and staff cuts at Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a mobile payments consortium, will likely boost Apple Pay, while PayPal ( PYPL ) management’s view on MCX’s woes should be a hot topic at PayPal’s analyst day on Wednesday. MCX said Tuesday it will cut 30 jobs and again delay the launch of its mobile app , a potential rival of  Apple ( AAPL ) Pay and others. MCX has been courting retailers, Apple,  Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google, PayPal, Samsung, Visa ( V ) and others in the mobile payments space.  Wal-Mart ( WMT ) has been MCX’s main backer. PayPal will be hosting its first analyst day following its 2015 spinoff from eBay ( EBAY ) last year. The event will be held in San Jose, Calif. PayPal recently launched its redesigned mobile app, which works on Apple iPhones and Android-based devices, in 145 countries. While Apple and MCX were rivals, PayPal has aimed to partner with different players in mobile payments. PayPal in March 2015 acquired Paydiant, which had close ties to MCX and retailers. MCX had aimed to reduce the clout of credit card firms in the nascent mobile payments business, analysts say. Prior to the latest MCX announcement, Citigroup analyst Ashwin Shirvaikar said in a research report that PayPal’s relationship with Visa and MasterCard ( MA ) was one area of interest heading into its analyst day. At Jefferies, analyst Jason Kupferberg was also hoping for an update on Visa. “PayPal’s relationship with Visa remains a topic of interest for the Street, but we wouldn’t be surprised if there is limited commentary at the analyst day on this topic, given ongoing negotiations,” Kupferberg wrote in a report. Prior to the eBay spinoff, PayPal acquired Braintree, a mobile payment service, and Venmo, a hybrid mobile payment app and social network for millennials. Daniel Perlin, an analyst at RBC Capital, expects mobile to be a big theme at PayPal’s analyst day. “We believe management will outline its plans to shift from its legacy e-commerce platform into a leading mobile-first platform for payments, with its Braintree asset being front and center.”

Apple iPhone 7 Ramp To Slug Analog Devices On Declining Q2 Sales

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) lukewarm iPhone 7 ramp may slug Analog Devices ( ADI ) early Wednesday, when the chipmaker is expected to report a 5% year-over-year revenue dip on a 40% sequential plunge in sales to Apple. But a “bright spot” of industrial and automotive sales will show a seasonal boost, outplaying rival Xilinx ( XLNX ), and wireless communication revenue will come off a trough to top competitors Nokia ( NOK ) and Cavium ( CAVM ), MKM analyst Ian Ing said Tuesday. In morning trading on the stock market today , Analog Devices stock was up a fraction, near 55.50. Shares are flat for the year vs. a 6% fall in IBD’s 38-company Electronic Semiconductor-Manufacturing industry group. Analog Devices stock hit a 2016 high on April 27 at 59.87, but it’s down 7% in the three weeks since then. In late April, Apple reported its first-ever year-over-year decline in iPhone shipments, in its March-quarter results. Analog Devices is expected to post $777.6 million in sales and 62 cents earnings per share ex items, down a respective 5% and 15% vs. the year-earlier quarter, for its fiscal Q2 ended on or near April 30, according to the consensus of 29 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. That would follow flat Q1 sales and Analog Devices’ first EPS decline in 11 quarters. Wall Street expects typically strong Q3 and Q4 sales to also decline — by 2% and 6%, respectively. Over the past two years, Q3 had risen an average 13.5%, and Q4 sales had gained an average 20%. Recent reports indicate Apple suppliers are getting fewer orders compared with the year-ago period. Credit Suisse analyst John Pitzer expects Analog Devices to report $30 million in Q2 sales to Apple, down 40% sequentially. For Q3, he models $80 million in sales to Apple vs. consensus views for $110 million. “We suspect modest downside to our Apple revenue estimate for (the second half of the year) offset by upside to (industrial, automotive and communications),” he wrote in a research report. Apple accounts for about 10% of Analog Devices’ sales, Pitzer estimated. Views for $200 million in Apple sales for the latter half of 2016 would be down 15% year over year, but they still “might be $20 million to $30 million too high,” he said. But $1.33 billion views for automotive, industrial and communications sales, up 2% vs. the year-earlier period, doesn’t reflect accelerating advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and communications infrastructure opportunities, he wrote. Pitzer retained his outperform rating and 72 price target on Analog Devices stock. Ing kept his neutral rating and 56 price target. Analog Devices’ messaging has tilted in favor of “analog utility” investors vs. momentum growth investors, Ing wrote in a report. Analog utility investors prefer business-to-business ventures over “volatile” portables exposure.