Political

The Israeli government is asking Apple Inc. to remove a mobile application called "The Third Intifada" from its popular App Store.

The country's Minister for Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein, wrote a letter to the computer giant Tuesday voicing concern about the content of the application. "Upon review of the stories, articles and photos published by means of the application, one can easily see that this is in fact anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. Furthermore, as is implied by its name, the application calls for an uprising against the State of Israel," he wrote. The letter asked Apple to yank the Arabic-language application, which allows users to comment and post photos and stories about protests opposing Israel and Israeli policies. According to Reuters, the app offers a stream of news stories and editorials in Arabic, announces upcoming protests, and includes links to nationalistic Palestinian videos and songs. http://www.edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/06/21/israel.palestinian.app/index.html In the investment field China has become opportunity as opposed to risk. Apple manufacturing an IPhone at a $6 cost and maintaining 60%+ margins.

US status anxiety over rising China

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/mattfrei/2011/01/us_status_anxiety_over_rising. html?postid=105604811

Apple have become "virtual firms" outsourcing most of their production to other companies, mainly in Asia. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is now under fire for failing to take into account labour standards or the environmental impact of trade. And its efforts to break down global trade barriers are faltering.

Globalisation shakes the world By Steve Schifferes Economics reporter, BBC News, Bangalore
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6279679.stm Economical

Apple Inc., the worlds most valuable technology company, fell the most since June on the Nasdaq after an analyst downgraded the stock, citing risks related to manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology Group. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-16/apple-downgraded-for-first-time-sinceoctober-shares-drop.htmlology Group.

Social/Culture

iPad has been available for little more than a year but already its effect has been huge. Competitors are rushing to release their own tablets while analysts debate whether these devices will kill the market for netbooks. Using a tablet computer is a major shift, like using a mouse or a smartphone for the first time. Though the iPad is easy to pick up and use, there are still tips and tricks to learn. We've covered some in this booklet. Whether you want to use the iPad for email or get started with ebooks, you'll find advice here. Source Citation "THE ESSENTIAL GUIDETOTHE iPAD and tablet computers." Daily Telegraph [London, England] 21 May 2011: 1. UK Newspapers Online. Web. 23 June 2011. Document URL http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IACDocuments&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=SPN.SP00&docId=CJ257155399&source =gale&srcprod=SP00&userGroupName=anglia_itw&version=1.0
The iPhone has revolutionized telecommunications. It has also become the most effective tool in human history to mollify a fussy toddler, much to the delight of parents reveling in their newfound freedom to have a conversation in a restaurant or roam the supermarket aisles in peace. But just as adults have a hard time putting down their iPhones, so the device is now the Toy of Choice akin to a treasured stuffed animal for many 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds. Its a phenomenon that is attracting the attention and concern of some childhood development specialists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/fashion/17TODDLERS.html
Technological

Now those pockets of light are more likely to emanate from the glowing screens of mobile phones, held aloft, as festival-goers take photos or video of their favourite bands. But new technology being developed by Apple may mean that this may soon be at an end. The Californian company has plans to build a system that will sense when a person is trying to film a live event using a mobile phone and automatically switch off their camera. A patent application filed by Apple, and obtained by The Times, reveals how the software would work. If a person were to hold up their iPhone, the device would trigger the attention of infra-red sensors installed at the venue. These sensors would then instruct the iPhone to disable its camera. Apple has plans for bike data on iPods

Source Citation "Apple patent could be a turn-off if you try to record a live concert." Times [London, England] 16 June 2011: 12. UK Newspapers Online. Web. 19 June 2011. Document URL http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IACDocuments&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=SPN.SP00&docId=CJ258997702&source =gale&srcprod=SP00&userGroupName=anglia_itw&version=1.0

A smartphone payment system from AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile could turbocharge mobile payments in the U.S.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_33/b4191037299913.htm

The iPhone and its App Store not only gave birth to a new digital frontier for mobile software, but created an entire underground ecosystem: the Jailbreak community.

In addition to multiple iPhone hacker groups pumping out different unlocking solutions on a regular basis, there are several stores hosting unauthorized iPhone apps and programmers developing software strictly for hacked iPhones. Hackers adopted the word "jailbreak" to describe the act of overriding the iPhone's restrictions to install unauthorized software in the device. Jailbreaking is the first step an iPhone owner must take in order to later execute the hack to unlock the handset, enabling it to work with any carrier. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/16/iphone.jailbreakers/index.html Environmental In recent years, Apple (AAPL) has been hammered by several environmental groups. Greenpeace singled it out for its use of toxic chemicals in 2007, and it has done poorly in rankings of the greenest corporations. The criticism is jarring for a company with a cool, progressive image and Mr. Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, on its board. Now, Apple is set to launch its most aggressive effort yet to counter green critics. On Sept. 24, the company will release more of the details environmental groups have been clamoring for, on its Web site and elsewhere. Apple, for example, will reveal its annual corporate carbon emissions for the first time. Lack of disclosure of that figure has hurt the company in several rankings, especially because rivals such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Dell (DELL) have given it out. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_40/b4149068698190.htm
Legal

Apple has faced a backlash for tracking people through their phones without their knowing. Source Citation "Foursquare is in a better position to net profits from local commerce." Independent [London, England] 18 June 2011: 54. UK Newspapers Online. Web. 19 June 2011. Document URL http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IACDocuments&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=SPN.SP00&docId=CJ259121115&sourc e=gale&srcprod=SP00&userGroupName=anglia_itw&version=1.0

Apple has agreed to pay a one-off sum to Nokia followed by royalty payments.

No financial details were given but analysts estimated the initial payment could be between $300m ([pounds sterling]183m) and $600m to cover the 111m iPhones sold since its launch in 2007. Royalty payments could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars a year to Nokia if iPhone sales continue their rapid growth . Reprieve for Nokia, Page 21 Markets, Page 34 Source Citation Ward, Andrew. "Phone patent ruling gives Nokia rare win over Apple." Financial Times 15 June 2011: 17. UK Newspapers Online. Web. 19 June 2011. Document URL http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IACDocuments&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=SPN.SP00&docId=CJ258877942&source =gale&srcprod=SP00&userGroupName=anglia_itw&version=1.0

Competitive Rivalry

The release of Microsoft (MSFT) Windows 7 helped undo some of the damage done by Vista, as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index's 16th annual survey of computer users. Google has a very different strategy from Apple with Android. Google provides software (Android) for free, and makes Google search, Google Voice, Gmail, Contacts, Maps, Places, and other services work seamlessly with Android. Mobile search and advertising are the revenue streams for Google. The advertising revenues are certainly lower versus selling hardware, but the profit margins are very good. Amazon and Google have already launched streaming music services, but so far have not managed to get big record labels on board

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/21/mac-vs-windows-tracking-the-customer-satisfaction-gap/

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/31/apple-vs-android-the-view-from-google/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13605219 Power of Suppliers

Apple has a unique ability to get away with changing processors radically. It has used the 6502, then the 68K, and now the PowerPC. Each transition happened almost flawlessly. On the PC side of the fence, no Z-80 maker survived even the transition to the 8080. Apple has also cultivated a fanatical following, who have long since accepted the fact that Apple eschews long-term backward compatibility. The legacy concept does not hold the power over Apple users that it does in the PC universe. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,933453,00.asp Many in the music industry has been critical of Apple's 99-cent pricing, with some executives saying that it cut into profits on hit songs that could sell at a higher price. http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/06/technology/macworld/index.htm

Power of Buyers

Apple's retail success is fueled to a large extent by demand for the company's products. Retail analysts say many of Apple's advantages over rivals such as Best Buy are technical: It sells a

single brand, has far fewer products and has only a few hundred stores compared to Best Buy's more than 4,000. As the company continues to expand, some analysts expect it to face more pressure to consistently execute good customer service. Some former employees say they have already seen the quality of Apple retail staff decline as the retail network has expanded and has fewer enthusiastic fans to choose from. Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576364071955678908.html#ixzz1QDjyt5cA
Threat of Substitutes According to IDC, Apples share of worldwide tablet shipments will fall from its current lofty perch, but will remain at over 50 percent. And that market is growing by leaps and bounds, rising from 17 million tablets shipped in 2010 to an estimated 44.5 million in 2011. Source: Apples Tablet Rivals Gaining, Slowly Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/02/09/apples-tablet-rivals-gaining-slowly/