Over the past few months, Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) has begun to lose its grip on its reputation as a company that could do no wrong: its mobile operating system has lost its lead to Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android, its pace of innovation has slowed, and its stock price tanked. At one point, shares were 40 percent below the high of $705 they reached in September. However, since the iPhone maker reported earnings at the end of last month, the company’s shares have made up some lost ground. The stock closed up slightly on Thursday, increasing $0.79, or 0.18 percent, to $442.14. Here’s a cheat sheet to today’s top Apple stories:
Apple Confirms WWDC 2013 Keynote
Apple has given its official confirmation that the Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, will begin with a keynote presentation on June 10. WWDC events typically begin with a keynote presentation that gives attendees their first glimpses of any new Apple products. According to AllThingsD, Apple acknowledged the keynote address will take place on Monday, June 10 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. In a bit of a departure for the normally secretive company, Apple has already announced that it will be unveiling its latest versions of iOS and OS X. Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Philip Schiller, announced in an April 24 press release, “We can’t wait to get new versions of iOS and OS X into their hands at WWDC.”… (Read more.)
Apple’s Newest Patent Target: Galaxy S4
In preparation for the next round of its patent infringement trial against Samsung (SSNLF.PK), Apple has added another five patents to its lawsuit. Apple has already raised the stakes for Samsung in the next patent trial by announcing that it intended to add Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S4 device to the list of products that Apple believes are infringing on its patents. This latest filing makes Apple’s request for the inclusion of the Galaxy S4 official, as well as citing the specific patents on which the device is infringing.
Via Foss Patents, Apple’s filing states that “Apple determined that the Galaxy S4 product practices many of the same claims already asserted by Apple, and that the Galaxy S4 practices those claims in the same way as the already-accused Samsung devices.”… (Read more.)
Is Apple Hiding Its Actual Tax Rate?
Is Apple obscuring its actual tax rate behind a web of offshore profit shifting? Earlier this week CEO Tim Cook told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that Apple paid $6 billion, or 30.5 percent, of its income in federal taxes. But does this figure tell the whole story? The 30.5 percent tax rate cited by Cook only covers Apple’s U.S. income of $19 billion. This is approximately a third of Apple’s global pretax income.
Martin Sullivan, the chief economist at the non-profit organization Tax Analysts, believes Apple is being disingenuous with its 30.5 percent tax rate figure. Sullivan states via Bloomberg that “Apple has shifted enormous amounts of profits from the United States to an untaxed entity overseas. That’s the issue.”If Apple’s total worldwide income is considered, the company actually pays a much lower tax rate than 30.5 percent. According to Scott D. Dyreng, an assistant professor of accounting at Duke University, Apple pays an actual tax rate of less than 14 percent… (Read more.)
Follow Meghan on Twitter @MFoley_WSCS
Don’t Miss: Apple’s Newest Patent Target: Galaxy S4.
Read the original article from The Cheat Sheet