Yahoo Finance Weekly Tech Highlights: Apple's 3 New iPhones, BlackBerry's Big Win And More
The last full week of March was filled with Apple handset and service rumors, quarterly results from a former smartphone leader and more.
Apple Rumored To Introduce New 3 Phones...
What could be better than two new iPhones in 2015? How about three?
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is reportedly working on a trio of handsets this year, including the expected iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. To serve the old-school iPhone market, Apple is also thought to be working on a four-inch iPhone 6C.
...And A New Music Service
Not content to let iTunes Radio have all the fun, Apple is also rumored to be developing an on-demand music service to compete with Spotify.
"What could be a game changer, and a lot of it depends on its success or not success, is the watch," Rich Tullo, Director of Research at Albert Fried & Company, told Benzinga. "If the [music] service becomes the app (or a primary app) for the watch, then I suspect they'll do very well on it."
Related Link: Expert: 50% Of New iPhone Buyers Will Adopt Apple Pay Within 2 Years
Apple May Also Be Searching For Growth In China With Trade-Ins
The Cupertino, California-based tech giant is also expected to introduce an iPhone trade-in program in China. Foxconn will reportedly buy and resell the handsets for Apple.
BlackBerry Reported Q4 Profit
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ: BBRY) surprised investors with a Q4 profit of $28 million (or $0.05 per share) versus a hefty year-ago loss of $423 million.
Unfortunately, revenue fell to $660 million versus $976 million last year. Analyst didn't expect the company to turn a profit (they forecasted a loss of $0.05 per share), but they thought BlackBerry would report $786.4 million in revenue.
Paydiant Co-Founder Said More Mobile Payment Firms Will Consolidate
eBay Inc's (NASDAQ: EBAY) PayPal picked up Paydiant (a white label mobile wallet platform) earlier this month. Chris Gardner, the startup's co-founder, told Benzinga that there's "no doubt" that more M&As are coming.
"There are literally hundreds of mobile wallet providers out there today," said Gardner. "Most of them don't have enough of a market position or value prop to survive on their own. Plus, now you have three [to] five significant players fortifying their positions, making it even more difficult. I expect some to be important acquisitions, but a lot of others may just cease to exist."
Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.
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