Apple orders 10m iPad Mini units: Report
According to suppliers, that is roughly double the order that were placed for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets in the same quarter.
The figure indicates that Apple believes demand for the product will be strong, despite stiff competition in the market, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the Journal, earlier this month, Asian component suppliers have already started producing the smaller 7.85-inch tablet.
Apple hasn't confirmed when the new device will be available, but AllThingsD, reported last month that Apple plans to unveil the smaller tablet later this month.
Apple's iPhone 5 received a lukewarm response, with critics saying it lacked the 'wow' factor.
The iPhone 5 met the expectations laid out by gadget geeks and tech analysts ahead of the unveiling last month, but offered few surprises to give Apple shares, already trading near record highs, another major kick.
"There is not a wow factor because everything you saw today is evolutionary. I do think they did enough to satisfy," said Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of the wealth management company Destination Wealth Management.
Other industry analysts turned quickly to speculating about what else was in Apple's product pipeline ahead of the crucial end-year holiday season, especially as the company stayed mum about an oft-rumored TV device or a smaller iPad.
"We would really like to see the iPad Mini in the product offering for the all important holiday quarter. They still have time," said Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund. "As soon as we see that, we will have more conviction about the stock heading into the final quarter."
Apple has sold more than 243 million iPhones since 2007, and the device ushered in the current applications ecosystem. But Samsung now leads the smartphone market with a 32.6 percent share followed by Apple with 17 percent, according to market research firm IDC. Both saw shipments rise compared to a year ago, with Samsung riding its flagship Galaxy S III phone.
Going on sale Friday from $199 with a data plan, the iPhone 5 will sport a 4-inch "retina" display, ability to surf a high-speed 4G LTE wireless network, and is 20 per cent lighter than the previous iPhone 4S.
Facebook partners with retailers to test ‘want‘ button
Facebook Inc is testing a feature that lets users of the social network create "wishlists" of home furnishings, clothing and other retail products, laying the groundwork for what some believe could be an eventual push into e-commerce.
Facebook said it is working with seven retailers, including Pottery Barn and Victoria's Secret, to test the new feature that will allow certain users to flag images of desired products by clicking a special "want" button.
"People will be able to engage with these collectionsand share things they are interested in with their friends. People can click through and buy these items off of Facebook," Facebook said in a statement.
The feature, which Facebook has dubbed Collections, could help Facebook play a bigger role in the online commerce market by encouraging its 1 billion users to buy products for their friends and by sending shoppers directly to online stores.
A Facebook spokeswoman said the company does not receive a fee when someone purchases a wishlist item on Facebook from a retailer's site.
But Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said the new Collections feature could open up new sources of revenue for Facebook, whose stock has taken a drubbing as concerns about its long-term money-making prospects have mounted. "E-commerce is one of the best ways to monetize the Internet," said Sebastian.
"Thinking about how large they are as a platform and how engaged people are, there are lots of levers they haven't pulled yet in terms of monetization," he said. In addition to potentially collecting a transaction fee for referring users to an e-commerce site, Sebastian said that retailers might also pay Facebook to promote products featured on users' wishlists, similar to the way the Facebook's current ads function.
Shares of Facebook, finished Monday's regular session down 2.4 percent at $20.40. Earlier on Monday, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield downgraded Facebook to a "Sell" rating.
In a note to investors, Greenfield cited concerns about the company's advertising business, particularly Facebook's nascent efforts to expand the business onto the mobile devices that its users increasingly access the service from.
Facebook's new Collections feature will gradually be offered to 100 percent of its US users, Facebook said. Some users will see the "want" button as part of the test, while others will see a button inviting them to "collect" an item or to "like" an item.
Unlike Facebook's existing "like" button, the feature that Facebook is testing will showcase the "liked" item within a user's Timeline profile page. Facebook is also testing the Collections feature with Neiman Marcus, Michael Kors, Smith Optics, Wayfair and Fab.com.
Facebook said it is working with seven retailers, including Pottery Barn and Victoria's Secret, to test the new feature that will allow certain users to flag images of desired products by clicking a special "want" button.
"People will be able to engage with these collectionsand share things they are interested in with their friends. People can click through and buy these items off of Facebook," Facebook said in a statement.
The feature, which Facebook has dubbed Collections, could help Facebook play a bigger role in the online commerce market by encouraging its 1 billion users to buy products for their friends and by sending shoppers directly to online stores.
A Facebook spokeswoman said the company does not receive a fee when someone purchases a wishlist item on Facebook from a retailer's site.
But Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said the new Collections feature could open up new sources of revenue for Facebook, whose stock has taken a drubbing as concerns about its long-term money-making prospects have mounted. "E-commerce is one of the best ways to monetize the Internet," said Sebastian.
"Thinking about how large they are as a platform and how engaged people are, there are lots of levers they haven't pulled yet in terms of monetization," he said. In addition to potentially collecting a transaction fee for referring users to an e-commerce site, Sebastian said that retailers might also pay Facebook to promote products featured on users' wishlists, similar to the way the Facebook's current ads function.
Shares of Facebook, finished Monday's regular session down 2.4 percent at $20.40. Earlier on Monday, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield downgraded Facebook to a "Sell" rating.
In a note to investors, Greenfield cited concerns about the company's advertising business, particularly Facebook's nascent efforts to expand the business onto the mobile devices that its users increasingly access the service from.
Facebook's new Collections feature will gradually be offered to 100 percent of its US users, Facebook said. Some users will see the "want" button as part of the test, while others will see a button inviting them to "collect" an item or to "like" an item.
Unlike Facebook's existing "like" button, the feature that Facebook is testing will showcase the "liked" item within a user's Timeline profile page. Facebook is also testing the Collections feature with Neiman Marcus, Michael Kors, Smith Optics, Wayfair and Fab.com.
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