sales

Apple's dealings in China have been all over the Web lately due to an eye-opening New York Times report blaming Apple for extremely subpar working conditions in its manufacturing plants in southeast Asia. That story has cast a nasty shadow over Apple in China, and now there's some more news of a deal to bring the iPhone 4S to China Telecom, China's third largest wireless carrier.

Earlier this week Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty told investors that Apple would likely strike a deal with China Telecom and China Mobile (China's largest wireless carrier) to bring the … Read more

Amazon's Kindle Fire has been called the iPad's best competitor. And if one analyst's estimate on the tablet's sales is true, it might just be.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan wrote to investors last night, saying that he has revised his fourth-quarter Kindle Fire sales estimate to 6 million units. The analyst previously believed Amazon sold 5 million Kindle Fire units during the fourth quarter.

"Kindle Fire has staked out an important market position due to its loyal Amazon customer base and attractive (low) device pricing," Rohan wrote to investors.

Rohan isn't the … Read more

According to app store analytics researcher Distimo, developers who put their iPhone and iPad apps on sale in Apple's App Store see a significant jump in revenue, as do Android developers using the Android Market.

For the report, Distimo examined 100 of the top apps in Apple's App Store (for iPhone and iPad) as well as the top 100 for the Android Market. For apps in the iPhone and iPad divisions of Apple's App Store, the first day increase in revenue was 41 percent and 52 percent, respectively.

After 15 days, both the iPhone and the iPad … Read more

Yahoo is currently in discussions with Yahoo Japan to sell off its share in the Asian company.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Yahoo Japan Chief Financial Officer Akira Kajikawa said that Yahoo is trying to "finalize the mechanism [for selling its stake] and we are cooperating with them," according to The Wall Street Journal, which was in attendance at the event.

Kajikawa didn't say how Yahoo would go about selling its 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, but according to the Journal's sources, the company is trying to find a way to do it without paying taxes. … Read more

Nokia's Series 40 line of mobile phones has reached an important milestone.

The mobile company today announced that it sold the 1.5 billionth Nokia Series 40 phone in San Paulo, Brazil. The device, an Asha 303, was sold to 21-year-old Mayara Rodrigues, who wants to use the phone to keep "in touch with friends and family through social networks," Nokia said. The Asha 303 boasts a touch screen and QWERTY keyboard and comes preinstalled with Angry Birds Lite.

That handset is a far cry from the first Series 40 phone Nokia launched in 1999. Dubbed the … Read more

Apple earnings reach record highs, Xbox rumors ramp up, and Obama tackles energy and tech industry concerns in his State of the Union address.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

While dodging a question about Apple's plans to get into the TV business, the company's chief executive pointed out that its more than year-old set-top box is doing just fine.

Answering a question about Apple's strategy for the living room from Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, Apple CEO Tim Cook replied by pointing to the fact that in this past quarter, the company sold half as many Apple TV set-top boxes as it did during all of last year.

"The Apple TV product is doing actually very well," Cook argued. "In last fiscal year … Read more

Holiday earnings reports are being posted, and Verizon's indicates that more than half of its smartphone sales were iPhones.

This resulted in a revenue surge for its wireless division, but because of heavy subsidies, an overall decline in profits.

Verizon's Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said in a report by CNNMoney the loss is OK in Verizon's eyes, noting that Verizon's business deal with Apple to get the iPhone will likely be a losing effort until 2015.

Shammo otherwise assured investors that profit margins are on the rise and should continue to grow as current customers … Read more

Popular file-sharing site FileSonic limits use after the MegaUpload arrests, Obama uses Google+ Hangout, and Research In Motion's co-CEOs resign to make way for a new leader.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded: