Although conflict minerals disclosure is no longer enforced in the United States, a recent lawsuit may reignite the debate over the sourcing of materials widely used in electronics. Families of children killed or injured while mining for cobalt in the Congo have filed a lawsuit against the world’s largest tech companies, including Google and Apple,…
Apple and Qualcomm announced that they have dropped all litigation in a multi-billion-dollar patent licensing dispute that has dragged on for more than two years across courts in China, Germany, and the U.S. However, the sketchy details of the settlement leave many unanswered questions. Under the deal, Apple will pay Qualcomm an undisclosed fee. Qualcomm…
Junko Yoshida is my friend. Permit me this name dropping. I can’t help it; she is a celebrated, award-winning, and globally recognized technology writer and media executive. Ask Junko, though, about her preferred title, and it will undoubtedly be, simply, journalist — technology journalist, that is. This week, another title dropped into Junko’s lap when…
AspenCore Media’s Special Project on Apple’s $1 trillion climb takes a look back at Apple’s business, its strategy to go vertical, and its supply chain. On a cross-Atlantic flight in 2008, I happened to sit down next to Kirk Kirkpatrick, a tech executive who’d worked for Apple early in his career. After hours of…
Editor’s note: Apple hit a market cap of $1 trillion on August 2. How’d they do that? While everybody else in the electronics industry is talking about this extraordinary milestone, Apple is staying mum when it comes to those who supply chips and components to Apple. As part of our Special Project on ‘Apple’s $1 Trillion Climb’…
Sales of the top 15 semiconductor companies grew by 24 percent in the first half of 2018 (1H18) compared to the 1H17, which is four points higher than the total worldwide semiconductor industry growth during the same period, according to IC Insights’ latest update to the McLean Report. The research also shows that the top…
The worldwide wearables market continued its upward trajectory in both the fourth quarter (4Q17) and full year 2017 with total shipment volumes reaching new records. Moreover, thanks to a surge in smartwatch shipment volumes, Apple moved past competitors Fitbit and Xiaomi to claim overall leadership for both the quarter and the year. According to data…
Global semiconductor spending reached a five-year high in 2017, up 17 percent from last year, according to the latest research from IHS Markit. Industry watchers agree the increase in OEM spending was significantly impacted by the supply shortage and higher prices of memory devices, particularly DRAM and NAND flash, together with strong demand from data…
Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. boosted their semiconductor spend in 2017, extending their lead as the top two semiconductor buyers in 2017, according to Gartner Inc.’s latest spending report. Together, the companies account for 19.5 percent of the total global market, spending $81.8 billion on semiconductors last year. This is up from more than $20…
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) today confirmed it has received a decision from the European Commission (EC) relating to an expired agreement between Qualcomm and Apple Inc., which was in effect from 2011 through 2016, for the pricing of modem chips. The EC alleges that certain provisions of this agreement were in violation of European Union competition…