Tag Archives: apple

Fitbit’s New Bands Could Double As Mobile Wallets

Fitbit ( FIT ) signaled it might add mobile wallet capability to upcoming fitness trackers, as it announced Wednesday that it had bought the assets of financial technology firm Coin. San Francisco-based Fitbit said the transaction closed on May 12. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal includes key personnel and intellectual property specific to Coin’s wearables payment platform. The acquisition excluded smart payment devices, such as Coin 2.0. “While there are no plans to integrate Coin’s wearable payments technology into the 2016 Fitbit product roadmap, the acquisition accelerates Fitbit’s ability to develop an active NFC (near field communication) payment solution that could be embedded into future Fitbit devices, broadening its smart capabilities,” Fitbit said in a press release . Inclusion of payment technology into future Fitbit bands and watches would further the company’s strategy of making its products an indispensable part of people’s lives, CEO James Park said in a statement. Mobile payment technology lets consumers pay for items at tech-equipped retailers with the wave of a smartphone, smartwatch or other device using NFC technology. Examples include  Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) Apple Watch and newer iPhones carrying the Apple Pay mobile payments service. Fitbit stock was down close to 1%, near 14, in late-afternoon trading on the stock market today . RELATED: Fitbit, Apple Lead In Wearables, But Other Brands Gaining Fast .

Apple Bull Sees Path To $1 Trillion Market Cap

Ever since Apple ( AAPL ) stock peaked last summer, few on Wall Street have talked about the iPhone maker potentially reaching a market capitalization of $1 trillion, as they once did. But on Wednesday, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi resurrected the possibility. In a research report, Sacconaghi said the company’s “recipe for a $1 trillion market cap” could be a shift from being a hardware company to a service provider. Today, Apple is valued as a computer hardware company, making it vulnerable to replacement cycles and falling average selling prices and margins, Sacconaghi said. Apple would be valued more highly if it offered its devices on a service plan, he said. Apple stock was up nearly 1%, above 94, in afternoon trading on the stock market today , giving it a market cap of $516 billion. Sacconaghi rates Apple stock as outperform, with a price target of 135. “Consumers have become accustomed to paying monthly bills for various services, such as internet, cable, Netflix ( NFLX ), and Spotify, to name a few,” Sacconaghi said. “Even among the quantitatively-minded investment community, many find it easier to justify a $30 monthly charge (for an iPhone) than a $720 purchase every 2 years … even though they’re essentially the same.” Apple’s Slowing Upgrades Argues For Recurring Model By offering Apple products as a service, the company could switch to a recurring business model, which would likely get customers to spend more over time. In return, Apple customers could avoid hefty upfront payments for hardware and get the latest devices sooner, he said. Apple’s main business problem today is getting users to upgrade to newer devices when their current iPhones, iPads and Macs are working just fine. Apple isn’t like other makers of PCs and smartphones because it has a much stronger brand attachment. People love their iPhones, he said. “The challenge and opportunity for Apple is whether it can migrate from a transactional monetization model to a subscription model,” Sacconaghi said. Companies that have successfully shifted their business models to subscriptions include Adobe Systems ( ADBE ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ), he said. “We see the monthly cost of a family plan of Apple products amounting to similar or less than what U.S. consumers spend for cable television and wireless service,” Sacconaghi said. “We estimate that an Apple package needed for our family (3 iPad Minis, 1 iPad Air – each with a three-year replacement cycle; and 3 iPhones, each with a 2-year replacement cycle) would cost ‘only’ about $140 per month — well below the price of our current monthly cable bill and wireless bill. “Even if we included additional Apple services (Apple Music for $15 per month; iCloud storage for $10 per month; and a speculated but yet to be released over-the-top television offering for $40 per month), our hypothetical Apple monthly would be an estimated $207 per month.” If Apple were to pursue such a strategy, it would face resistance from its wireless carrier partners and would have to educate consumers of its benefits, Sacconaghi said. Apple already offers a smartphone subscription plan called the iPhone Upgrade Program. That program charges a monthly fee for iPhone hardware and handset upgrades every year. RELATED: Apple To Double iPhone Memory With Next Handset: Report Apple Has Reportedly Started Production On iPhone 7 Apple Should Be Valued Like Internet, Not Hardware, Company

Google Home Takes On Amazon’s Echo; Can Apple’s Siri Be Home Hub?

Taking on Amazon.com ’s ( AMZN ) Echo, Alphabe t’s ( GOOGL ) Google previewed an artificial intelligence-powered, voice-activated home device at its Google I/O developer’s conference Wednesday. While Apple ( AAPL ) has Siri, its AI-based digital assistant for iPhones, it has yet to introduce a home hub device. Amazon, though, has sold an estimated 3 million Echo home hubs. “Credit to the team at Amazon for creating a lot of excitement in this space,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in his I/O keynote speech Wednesday. Google Home, designed for music streaming and other entertainment, features built-in search capabilities. The “virtual agent” answers simple questions and carries out basic tasks. Google did not discuss pricing. Google said it expects multiple devices to be used in homes. The Google Home product was code-named “Project Chirp.” Google Home apparently was not developed by Nest Labs, the smart-home-device startup that it bought in 2014. Google Home, however, is expected to communicate with Nest products and Android-based devices. Google also unveiled a new messenging app called “Allo” at the developer’s conference, which runs through Friday at the Mountain View, Calif., Shoreline Amphitheater, near Alphabet headquarters. In a recent letter to Google shareholders, Pichai touted plans for artificial intelligence. While Apple and Google have dominated in the world of mobile apps, there could be more competition down the road.  Facebook ( FB ) recently introduced “chatbots,” while  Microsoft ( MSFT ) launched its “Bot Framework” software tools for developers. Both rely on AI. Wednesday, Google did not unveil a virtual reality headset to compete with Facebook’s Oculus Rift, as some observers had speculated. But Google did introduce a VR headset and controller reference design, called Daydream, for third-party developers. Google said Android N,  the new version of its mobile operating system, will have a VR mode. And the company said Samsung, HTC and Xiaomi will sell Daydream-ready mobile phones. Google stock was down a fraction, near 718, in afternoon trading in the stock market today , and shares have traded below the key 50-day moving average since the company posted disappointing Q1 earnings in late April