It`s Apple`s Big Day. iPhone 6, iWatch and more . . . . . . . . . . . . . Countdown to Apple’s big event has started. The tech giant will host a highly-anticipated product launch event that investors and techies around the world will be watching. Expectations are significantly high when Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook takes the stage at Apple’s product launch, where it will unveil a pair of larger iPhones, and a payments system, and will also announce the company’s first entry into the wearable devices sector. The event is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, 01:00 p.m. Easter time, 06:00 p.m. London time, and 01:00 a.m. Hong Kong time. The company witnessed an uneasy last week amid security concerns that pushed shares down 4%, the biggest drop since January, retreating from a record high of $103.74, hit on Tuesday, September 2. On Monday, Apple’s shares rallied 0.3% when Wall Street opened, but failed to sustain momentum. Shares fell as low as $98.05 and closed at $98.36. Apple’s share was the most active on the NASDAQ on Monday. Shares first hit topped the $100-per-share mark in August when hype surrounding the upcoming product launch mounted. When compared with prior iPhone launch events, this is a highly un-wanted fall in stock price. Apple’s stock price has witnessed a healthy increase since April as leaks and rumors about the iPhone 6 and the so-called iWatch have been feeding hungry fans and journalists, becoming more detailed as the deadline neared. A fully-formed iPhone 6 appeared in a YouTube Video last Monday. With all the hype over Apple in recent times, Samsung managed to steal some of the thunder with its own launch event at IFA in Berlin, when it announced four new devices. The Korean giant revealed its fifth smartwatch just five days before Apple even released its first. While the finer details of the iWatch’s features, sensors and price remain a mystery ahead of the press event in Cupertino, California, some tech analysts are already forecasting Apple to upset the wearable device market. Forrester Research believes Apple will sell as much as 10 million iWatches in its first year, which is more than all the other manufacturers of wrist-based wearables have sold to date, according to Forrester, including Nike’s Fuelband fitness tracker, Samsung’s Gear smartwatches and devices by younger companies such as Fitbit and Jawbone. Samsung also announced two different smartphones with consumer-pleasing big screens that are both larger than Apple’s soon-to-launch biggest ever iPhone, which might have contributed lightly to Apple’s shares falling last week. Apple’s shares will be highly scrutinized as investors and consumers would be waiting for a better response to beef up security with mobile payments likely a major feature for the iPhone 6. Apple has partnered with the world’s biggest payment companies – Visa, MasterCard and Amex – and built in NFC technology that would make it possible to pay just by swiping the phone. This would leave a much larger security issue, as consumer would want more assurance to trust Apple with their money, other than worrying about their pictures hacked from iCloud. Apple’s Boss Tim Cook was forced to respond personally to these concerns on Friday, saying that the company will increase security features for iCloud. A telling sign that could provide some comfort for investors as the company is more used to issuing a “no comment” over such things. Following the hackers’ attack on some celebrities’ iCloud accounts last week, the company has been seeking to salvage its reputation and prove there are no security issues in its systems. “When I step back from this terrible scenario that happened and say what more could we have done, I think about the awareness piece,” Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said for the Wall Street Journal. “I think we have a responsibility to ratchet that up. That’s not really an engineering thing.” Since Apple is such a heavyweight stock, any major move in the price could highly affect the broader market. Apple`s shares were up 0.5 % in premarket. Tuesday Trading U.S. stock futures were relatively flat ahead of the opening, though there was a positive bias in markets, with the S&P 500 hovering around the 2,000 level. -Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.041% to 17107 -Futures on the S&P 500 index gained 0.010% to 2000.80 -Futures on the NASDAQ 100 gained 0.092% to 4096.75 . As of 06:43 a.m. ET U.S. stocks gyrated on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell around 26 points and the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, while the NASDAQ gained 0.2%. Barnes and Noble and Burlington Stores will report quarterly earnings before the bell, while Krispy Kreme is set to report after the close. European markets were mostly lower in early trade. The European Union announced on Monday member states had agreed on new sanctions on Russia that may be implemented this week, depending on the futures of the cease-fire that start on Friday in eastern Ukraine. #egyptyard
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:33:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015