Apple's quarterly earnings are due to be reported next week, for the period ending March 31st, and Fortune magazine estimates the company could have sold anywhere between 26 and 33 million iPhones in the first three months of the year. The figures should be published April 24, with analysts suggesting around 35 million handsets shifted is good bet. That would represent a fall since the last quarter, in the first week of which the latest-generation iPhone 4S was launched. Looking at the bigger picture, 35 million sales would still equate to an 85% year-on-year increase, which would probably be an satisfactory growth rate for the world's most valuable company. Nevertheless, there [...]

According to a study carried out by Canaccord Genuity, Apple and Samsung were responsible for 95% of all handset profits generated in Q4 2011. Apple alone took 80% of profits in the sector, with Samsung hoovering up the next 15% and the final one-twentieth of all sector profits shared between all the other manufacturers. In all truth the figures are a slight case of 'lies, damned lies and statistics', since only companies operating in profit can be counted as sharing in the pie, but it shows how hard the competition from relative newcomers such as Asus and Acer s hurting established names such as RIM, HTC, and Nokia. HTC's lack of success has been attributed to mediocre products and too much [...]

Apart from the news that Foxconn is currently seeking 20,000 workers to man its iPhone 5 production lines, there is very little grist for the iPhone rumor mill right now. Instead attention is turning to the 2012 update to Apple's MacBook line,with news that Siri will be available on the new MacBook Pro this summer. Siri will also roll out on Mac desktops, giving the Apple juggernaut another feather in its cap in the battle to be the master of the commercial universe. I mean, what does Microsoft have to offer for voice input other than third-party Dragon ('Drag-on Drag-ON D-r-agon Spell-that D-R-A-G-O-N Select One) Naturally Speaking? Or its own text-to-speech program, but neither [...]

Latest figures released by Nielsen show iOS catching Android in smartphone market share. 43% of smartphone purchases now ship with iOS, with Android accounting for 48% of the smartphone OS market. The stats were compiled from the last 3 months Of all smartphone owners in the US, 37% now own at least one iOS device, up from 30% in January. Now I'm not a mathemetician, but that seems to be pretty good news for Apple. [...]

Apple has bought up app discovery service Chomp for an undisclosed sum, supporting rumors that it will soon revamp its App Store. Chomp's website allows users to sift through the App Store using a proprietary algorithm which determines what apps actually do, instead of simply relying on categories or keywords. Chomp also offers an Android version for use in the Android Market. The company also works in partnership with Verizon as their app search engine on a number of handsets. However, all that might be about to change now that Apple has acquired the San Francisco-based company. That part of Chomp's business may now be sold off. Apple's App Store now boasts more than half a million [...]