Mac shipments grow 40% in Asia even without new models from Apple


Growth in Mac sales was led by the Asia-Pacific region last quarter, where shipments increased by 40 percent year over year.


Asia-Pacific was highlighted as the primary "bright spot" for the Mac in the last quarter by analyst Charlie Wolf with Needham & Company. Shipment growth of 40 percent in the region offset negative year-over-year growth in the U.S. and Europe.

Shipments were down in the U.S. and Europe because Apple didn't update any of its Mac lineup in the first quarter of calendar 2012. But the lack of new products didn't hinder growth in Asia-Pacific, where Apple easily outpaced the overall PC market's year-over-year growth of just 3.6 percent.

The strong performance in Asia-Pacific allowed global Mac shipments to grow 6.9 percent in the March quarter, which meant that Apple once again outpaced overall PC shipment growth. The total worldwide PC market saw its shipments increase 2.2 percent year over year in the March quarter.

Still, with the lack of new products, Apple didn't beat the overall PC market by as wide of a margin as it did in December, when Mac shipments grew 24.8 percent compared to a 1.7 percent decline in total PC shipments.

"We believe the slowdown (in the March quarter) can be attributed primarily to the absence of any upgrades of Mac models during the quarter, which has typically been a catalyst for shipment growth," Wolf wrote in a note to investors on Thursday. "However, we expect Apple to upgrade both the iMac and MacBooks in June, in advance of the back-to-school buying season."


Some rumors have suggested Apple plans to introduce new Macs at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference when it kicks off with a keynote presentation on Monday, June 11. Specifically, Apple is expected to introduce new MacBook Pros with Retina displays and a thinner design inspired by the MacBook Air, as well as new iMacs that could also receive a Retina display upgrade.

The absence of new Macs in the March quarter also didn't hurt Apple in the business market, where Mac sales grew by 10.4 percent year over year. That easily outpaced Windows, which saw its business sales grow just 0.1 percent.

Wolf also said that the iPad has "undoubtedly" cannibalized sales of the Mac from Apple, particularly in the education market. But given that iPad sales are growing at a rate much faster than Mac sales, he believes the iPad is taking a "much bigger bite" out of Windows-based PC sales.

Facebook phone possible as Zuckerberg hires iPhone engineers

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Facebook could be making a phone. The old rumours have resurfaced, but this time it seems Mark Zuckerberg and co are actively recruiting Apple engineers with iPhone experience -- and Facebook's need to grab hold of the mobile market has never been more pressing.

The world-conquering social network is headhunting Apple engineers who worked on theiPhone and iPad, according to recruiters, to bolster in-house teams already working on a Facephone.

A couple of years ago, the Internets got all giddy at reports of a Facebook phone. But the company wasn't yet ready to make its own hardware, instead concentrating on baking easy access to Facebook features into the software of every smart phone, then in the early stages of their explosion in popularity.

That strategy culminated in the HTC Salsa and HTC ChaCha, two Android phones sporting a dedicated Facebook button -- so, for example, you could share photos as soon as you snapped them, or you could post a status update or message with just a push of the little F.

But then the rumours resurfaced a year ago with the HTC Buffy, a project reported to be ongoing at Facebook Towers.

Facebook has conquered the Internet to such an extent that hardware may be the next logical step. The Like button and Facebook logins to other websites have made Facebook almost like an extra layer on top of the web, so why not take over your phone too?

But most importantly, Facebook recently revealed it makes zero cash from mobile users, as they don't see adverts -- which in this increasingly mobile world is a hole in the business model you could drive an aircraft carrier through. Team Zuck have to establish themselves some mobile money before Apple and Google decide to shut them out.

Facebook's foundation of its own app store for iPhone and Android could be just the first step towards a blue-branded Zuckerphone. Do you like the idea of a Facebook phone? Is Facebook already too all-pervasive? Tag me with your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is NOT getting an Android 4.0 update::

Sony has posted an update on its Android 4.0 upgrades. More 2011 devices will start getting their Android 4.0 OTA updates starting next week, and everything is going as planned with the Xperia S,P and U. But there is also some sad news in the same blog post – it seems the team has decided to cancel the Android 4.0 update on the Xperia Play.

“In regards to Xperia PLAY, after extensive in house testing with our developer teams and working with our partners, we have concluded that a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich - therefore, we will not make the Android 4.0 upgrade available for Xperia PLAY.

This decision was also verified when we received similar feedback from the developer community; both experienced developers and advanced users, along with game content providers following our ICS beta ROM for unlocked Xperia PLAY smartphones.”

Ouch! It seems rather unfair that lower-end devices will be getting the update and the Xperia Play will be left out of the game. But as we have always said, manufacturers will not update phones if they find that the device can’t handle the software. We are not sure how the Xperia Mini or Active can be better fit for Ice Cream Sandwich, but it must have something to do with the device’s purpose – Gaming.

We suppose it is time to stop waiting, as you won’t be getting your upgrade. You can always go the rooting and ROMing way, though. But if you want Android 4.0 officially, it seems you will have to upgrade your device. Sad day for gamers out there… sad day.

F-Secure: Android Malware Has Nearly Quadrupled in the Past Year, iOS Remains Clear::

Since its debut, Android has quickly claimed significant market share in the mobile market. Unfortunately, such popularity (amongst other factors) makes Android a lucrative target for malware authors. New families and variants of malware keep cropping up each quarter, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. In Q1 2011, 10 new families and variants were discovered. A year later, this number has nearly quadrupled with 37 new families and variants discovered in Q1 2012 alone.

Even more concerning than the increase in malware variants for Android, however, is the increase in the actual number of malicious Android applications discovered in the same time period.  According to the report, that number has jumped from 139 counts in Q1 2011 to a staggering 3063 counts in Q1 2012. That’s a lot of malicious Android apps!

Along with the massive increase in total Android malware threats comes a significantly increased risk to users’ personal and financial security. 34 of the 37 known families of Android malware directly target the user’s financial data.

The most chilling aspect of the report, however, is that many of these trojans are so insidious that they can be extremely difficult to detect, as the malware can work around security software, making it much for difficult for victims to know they have been affected by the malware until it is too late.

The report also notes that most of the malware lies on third-party markets, and users that only download from Google Play are much safer from these threat. However, numerous instances of malware still sneak through the cracks, even on Google’s own curated app market.

Meanwhile, while malware continues to spiral out of control on Android devices (even on Google’s own app market), there still hasn’t been a single known case of malware on Apple’s iOS platform.

Say what you will about Apple’s “closed” App Store, but as I’ve stated time andtime again, I (and my private data) prefer the security of the “walled garden” over the anarchy of Android’s malware-laden thorn patch. And fortunately, I am not alone.

For more details, check out F-Secure’s entire 47-page report (PDF, direct link)

Google Chrome: Coming Soon to an iPhone or iPad Near You?

According to a new research note from Macquarie Equities (via MacGasm), Google may be planning to take on Mobile Safari by bringing its popular Chrome browser to iOS. The report doesn’t provide any details other than claiming that the browser could be released sometime this quarter.
While there are a number of alternate browsers on the App Store already, Google Chrome is still in beta for Google’s own Android platform. Would Google really bring a beta version of its browser to iOS to compete with the likes of the native Mobile Safari on iOS?
It’s also unclear how Google would port Chrome’s browsing engine and Javascript processing engine to a mobile version of Chrome without using external APIs, which Apple does not allow on the App Store.
There are still a lot of questions about both the possibility and feasibility of a mobile version of Google Chrome, and I’m not convinced that the report is anything more than a guess. I suppose we’ll all have to wait to know for sure.
Assuming that Google manages to get Chrome approved for iOS, would you use it?

AllThingsD: New iOS 6 Maps App ‘Will Blow Your Head Off’:;

Following a report earlier today that Apple will include their own mapping system in iOS 6 (and thus dump Google Maps), John Paczkowski of AllThingsD has confirmed that the rumor is indeed true. And not only is Apple working on a new mapping system – and it’s apparently extremely impressive!


From AllThingsD:

Sources tell 9to5Mac that Apple will abandon Google’s mapping back-end in the next major iteration of iOS, replacing it with a brand-new mapping application powered by Apple technology. We’ve independently confirmed that this is indeed the case. Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tentpole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, “blow your head off.”

Both 9to5Mac and AllThingsD are known for being well-connected in the goings-on at Apple, and the fact that John Paczkowski has stepped forward to confirm the rumor bodes well for its accuracy. AllThingsD correctly predicted the dates of both the iPhone 4S and ’iPad 3′ events.

We’ll reportedly find more about what Apple has up their sleeve with iOS 6 and the new Maps app at Apple’s annual World-Wide Developer Conference, which is scheduled to take place from June 11-15. One more month of waiting!

Apple Releases iOS 5.1.1::

Apple has just released their latest update for iOS, 5.1.1. The release is a minor update, and brings numerous improvements and bug fixes to Apple’s mobile platform.

This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Improves reliability of using HDR option for photos taken using the Lock Screen shortcut
• Addresses bugs that could prevent the new iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks
• Fixes bugs that affected AirPlay video playback in some circumstances
• Improved reliability for syncing Safari bookmarks and Reading List
• Fixes an issue where ‘Unable to purchase’ alert could be displayed after successful purchase

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

The update is already showing up through iTunes and as Over-theAir Updates on iOS devices. Direct links to the update from Apple’s servers can be found below 

iPhone 3GS

iPhone 4 CDMA

iPhone 4 GSM

iPhone 4S

iPad 2

iPad

iPod touch 3rd gen

iPod touch 4th gen

Why Being an App Developer is Harder Than You Think (Infographic)::

The results are in from our First Annual Developer Survey we completed in April of this year and we have used the data to create our very first INFOGRAPHIC. Our goal withthis survey was to shed light on the truth behind what it takes to be successful with your mobile app. We hope that this information can be used to help you better your app as a business.

Of course, it’s also important to note that the survey only included 100 developers, so it may not be a broad enough sample set to provide a true picture of app development in general, but it does tend to reinforce the idea that if you want your app to be truly successful, it has to be unique, high-quality, and well promoted!

Check out the below infographic to see all the results in visual form. Click on the image to see a full sized version.
We welcome re-posts to help spread the word on this very important topic to the app developer community so feel free to save and post this infographic on your own blog or site.