Asian Suppliers and Rivals React to Jobs's Death

HONG KONG–While many Asian technology companies expressed sadness over Steve Jobs's death, investors in Asia reacted differently, with major technology companies rising in Thursday's morning session following the news.

For competitors in Asia, any fall-off in Apple's marketing prowess could spell an opportunity.

"Jobs's demise raises uncertainties to the future innovations of Apple. The big question is whether Apple can continue living up to consumer's high expectations," said HSBC analyst Jenny Lai.

Apple's product launches acted as a catalyst across Asia, leading competitors like Samsung Electronics Co. and Lenovo Group Ltd. to launch similar devices to compete. The race to grab more market share has also led to a global patent dispute between Apple and Samsung.

Samsung Electronics Co., Apple's major competitor in smartphones and tablets, but also a key supplier of chips and liquid crystal displays to Apple, said in statement Thursday it is saddened to hear about Mr. Jobs' passing. Samsung's shares were up 4% at KRW878,000, while LG Display Co., which makes LCD panels for iPads, rose 11% to KRW20,250.

"Chairman Steve Jobs introduced numerous revolutionary changes to the information-technology industry and was a great entrepreneur. His innovative sprit and remarkable accomplishments will forever be remembered by people around the world," Samsung Chief Executive Choi Gee-sung said in a statement.

Most of Apple's key suppliers are based in Asia, raising questions about business continuity. Asian component makers have benefitted from a boost in sales as Apple's products such as the iPhone and the iPad tablet computer lifted demand for their components such as memory chips, flat-panel displays and touch-screen panels.

But Ms. Lai said suppliers in Taiwan won't be impacted in the near term as Apple's product roadmap is already set for a least one year.

Shares in Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which assembles Apple's products, rose 3.7% to NT$70.10, while Catcher Technology Co. Ltd., which makes metal casings for Apple devices, rose 2.6% to NT$175.50. Wintek, which makes touch panels, rose 7% to NT$24.50.

Lenovo, the world's third-largest PC maker by revenue, said Steve Jobs' achievements are "unmatched in our time."

"Today, the world lost one of its greatest innovators and visionaries with the passing of Steve Jobs...while we will all feel this enormous loss, I am confident that this industry will take to heart the lessons Steve taught us about innovation," Lenovo Chief Executive Yuanqing Yang said in a statement.

Howard Stringer, chairman, chief executive and president of Sony Corp. of Japan said: "the digital age has lost its leading light, but Steve's innovation and creativity will inspire dreamers and thinkers for generations."

Taiwan-based Quanta Computer Inc., which manufactures Apple's Macbooks, expressed confidence on maintaining its relationship and growth with Apple and called the death of Mr. Jobs a tragedy. Quanta is the world's largest contract maker of notebook PCs by shipments. Quanta shares rose 1.7% to NT$59.50.

"Steve had an immeasurable and positive impact on the lives of people around the world and the global electronics industry is all the better for the many contributions he made to ensuring that technology is understandable, beautiful, and, most importantly, accessible to people from all walks of life," Hon Hai said in a statement.

Shares in HTC Corp., which competes with Apple in smartphones and offers phones based onGoogle Inc.'s Android operating system and Microsoft Corp. software, rose 2.4% to NT$692.00. Analysts said the stock is getting a boost after lukewarm reception to Apple's iPhone 4S which was unveiled in the U.S. on Wednesday.

—Lorraine Luk in Taipei, Owen Fletcher in Beijing, Daisuke Wakabayashi in Tokyo and Alastair Gale in Seoul contributed to this article.

 Paul Mozur  and Yun-Hee Kim

http://online.wsj.com/article

Without Jobs, Apple's gap with rivals could narrow

The death of Apple's inspirational leader is likely to have a deep impact on the maker of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, giving major rivals a greater chance to catch up with the technology giant.

Steve Jobs' creative spirit was so closely tied to the fortunes of Apple that his death at 56 raises questions about the company's ability to keep its pipeline of transformational products running at such a fast pace.

"As a technology analyst, I am sorry for his death. It was Jobs' Apple, not Apple's Jobs," said Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Investment in Seoul.

The CEOs of rivals including Samsung Electronics , Amazon , Google and Sony mourned the death of Jobs, a sign of the respect they held for the Silicon Valley legend.

Investors had known about Jobs' long battle with pancreatic cancer. In August, the man known for minimalist design and marketing genius handed the reins to long-time operations chief Tim Cook.

"Apple no longer has someone as creative and ambitious as Jobs that they can rely on," said Simon Liu, deputy investment officer of Polaris Group's fund unit.

In Asia, the fortunes of Samsung are most closely tied to Apple.

Analysts have said the South Korean conglomerate is one of the best placed companies to deliver something fresh and exciting to rival Apple. Samsung produces the closest competitor to Apple's iPad tablet computer.

The two companies are scrapping for top spot in the smartphone market, having overtaken Nokia , the market leader for the past decade, in the second quarter.

Apple is also Samsung's biggest customer through the sale of mobile chips and display screens.

The relationship and rivalry has helped Samsung become a top global brand over the past decade with a stock market value of $115 billion -- still modest compared with Apple's $345 billion.

But the relationship has also produced tensions as Samsung emerged as a credible challenger to Apple's mobile devices. The two companies have sued each other in 10 countries involving more than 20 cases since April.

Samsung's Galaxy range of smartphones and tablet computers running on Google's Android operating system are seen as the main competitor to Apple's game-changing iPhones and iPads.

The competition was "flummoxed" by the iPad, Jobs declared in March when he took the stage to unveil Apple's latest tablet.

"They went back to the drawing boards. They tore up their designs because they weren't competitive," Jobs said.

Lee Seung-woo, technology analyst at Shinyoung Securities, said Apple had transformed the industry, but its influence would wane without Jobs at the helm of the company.

"Under Jobs, Apple consolidated segmented IT sectors into one big consumer market and claimed so many victims," Lee said. "Without Jobs, Apple's rivals now have some time to step up and majors such as Google, Samsung, Microsoft and Facebook will try to fill the gap."

ICONIC PRODUCTS

Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at research consultancy Ovum, said Apple would do well in the short term as the company would roll out products Jobs had a hand in.

The iPhone -- introduced in 2007 with the touchscreen template now adopted by its rivals -- is the gold standard in the booming smartphone market, and its sales have dealt a blow to ambitious plans of many competitors.

"The question is whether it can continue to launch iconic and successful products without him (in the longer term)... In the longer term, Apple risks becoming a more ordinary company without him."

Jobs' influence was underlined by the outpouring of tributes from executives of the world's biggest companies.

"Chairman Steve Jobs introduced numerous revolutionary changes to the information technology industry and was a great entrepreneur," Samsung Chief Executive G.S. Choi said in a statement.

Howard Stringer, the chief executive of Sony Corp said: "The digital age has lost its leading light, but Steve's innovation and creativity will inspire dreamers and thinkers for generations."

SYMBOLIC

Jobs' death comes after Apple this week launched the latest version of its iPhone, in what was Cook's first big product introduction.

However, the iPhone 4S failed to wow fans and investors and some analysts said the rare loss of momentum could give rivals room to push their products.

"Jobs was an outstanding CEO and his successor Tim Cook faces a test (as to) whether Apple will be able to lead the global market as it was before," Lee Jun-hyuck, a fund manager at Dongbu Asset Management.

On Thursday, Samsung's shares rose 3.9 percent, LG Electronics advanced 6.6 percent and Sony rose 3.6 percent as part of broad gains in Asian markets.

Phones based on Google's Android, which is available for free to handset vendors such as Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola , have a greater combined market share than Apple's iPhone, which is still the world's No. 1 selling smartphone.

"Apple faces big challenges with the loss of Jobs and that will offer other technology companies opportunities to challenge its supremacy," said Lee at Shinyoung. (Additional reporting by Rafael Nam in HONG KONG and Faith Hung in TAIPEI; Writing by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Neil Fullick)

By Miyoung Kim and Hyunjoo Jin
http://www.reuters.com/article

10 Products that defined Steve Jobs' career

Apple's co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs dies; father of Mac, iPhone, iPad was 56.

Steve Jobs had no formal schooling in engineering, yet he's listed as the inventor or co-inventor on more than 300 U.S. patents. These are some of the significant products that were created under his direction:

1. Apple I (1976) -- Apple's first product was a computer for hobbyists and engineers, made in small numbers. Steve Wozniak designed it, while Jobs orchestrated the funding and handled the marketing.

2. Apple II (1977) -- One of the first successful personal computers, the Apple II was designed as a mass-market product rather than something for engineers or enthusiasts. It was still largely Wozniak's design. Several upgrades for the model followed, and the product line continued until 1993.

3. Lisa (1983) -- Jobs' visit to Xerox Corp.'s research center in Palo Alto inspired him to start work on the first commercial computer with a graphical user interface, with icons, windows and a cursor controlled by a mouse. It was the foundation for today's computer interfaces, but the Lisa was too expensive to be a commercial success.

4. Macintosh (1984) -- Like the Lisa, the Macintosh had a graphical user interface. It was also cheaper and faster and had the backing of a large advertising campaign behind it. People soon realized how useful the graphical interface was for design. That led "desktop publishing," accomplished with a Mac coupled to a laser printer, to soon become a sales driver.

5. NeXT computer (1989) -- After being forced out of Apple, Jobs started a company that built a powerful workstation computer. The company was never able to sell large numbers, but the computer was influential: The world's first Web browser was created on one. Its software also lives on as the basis for today's Macintosh and iPhone operating system.

6. iMac (1998) -- When Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, the company was foundering, with an ever shrinking share of the PC market. The radical iMac was the first step in reversing the slide. It was strikingly designed as a bubble of blue plastic that enclosed both the monitor and the computer. Easy to set up, it captured the imagination just as people across the world were having their eyes opened to the benefits of the Internet and considering getting their first home computer.

7. iPod (2001) -- It wasn't the first digital music player with a hard drive, but it was the first successful one. Apple's expansion into portable electronics has had vast ramifications. The iPod's success prepared the way for the iTunes music store and the iPhone.

8. iTunes store (2003) -- Before the iTunes store, buying digital music was a hassle, making piracy the more popular option. The store simplified the process and brought together tracks from all the major labels. The store became the largest music retailer in the U.S. in 2008.

9. iPhone (2007) -- The iPhone did for the phone experience what the Macintosh did for personal computing -- it made the power of a smartphone easy to harness. Apple is now the world's most profitable maker of phones, and the influence of the iPhone is evident in all smartphones.

10. iPad (2010) -- Dozens of companies, including Apple, had created tablet computers before the iPad, but none caught on. The iPad finally cracked the code, creating a whole new category of computer practically by itself.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news

Trading or investing: The many faces of technical analysis

Both traders and investors use technical analysis. So what’s the difference between a trader and an investor? Most people consider that a trader is someone who holds securities for only a short period of time, anywhere from a minute to a year. An investor is someone who holds securities anywhere from many months to forever, depending on whom you ask. Holding period is not the only factor, though. You may think of an investor as someone who also seeks income from dividends or bond coupon payments, and the timing of those payments influences the investor’s holding period, too. Actually, the dividing line between trader and investor isn’t fixed (except for purposes of taxation). Be careful not to fall into the semantic trap of thinking that a trader is a wild-eyed speculator while an investor is a respectable guy in a pinstriped suit. I use the word trader in this book, but don’t let it distract you. People who consider themselves investors use technical methods, too. You can use technical methods over any investment horizon, including the long term. If you’re an expert in Blue Widget stock, for example, you can

add to your holdings when the price is relatively low, take some partial profit when the price is relatively high, and dump it all if the stock crashes. Technical analysis has tools for identifying each of these situations. You can also use technical tools to rotate your capital among several securities, allocating more capital to the ones delivering the highest gains. At the other end of the investment horizon spectrum, you can use technical analysis to spot a high-probability trade and execute the purchase and sale in one hour.

Barbara Rockefeller

Technical Analysis for Dummies

Wiley Publishing, Inc.