Nokia’s New Phone Gimmick (NOK, AAPL,

Nokia’s New Phone Gimmick (NOK, AAPL, GOOG, MSFT)
Mobile phone maker Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) introduced three new smartphones in Hong Kong today. The new phones use the latest version of the company’s soon-to-be-defunct Symbian operating system. The idea that any of these phones has a chance to compete with the iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) or smartphones running the Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is beyond nonsensical.  Even calling this a gimmick feels a bit optimistic.
Nokia said it expects to sell 150 million handsets with the Symbian operating system well into 2012. If that happens, it remains questionable that the company will realize any significant profit from those sales.The company has all but killed Symbian and these new phones, which have been in the pipeline for a while, are just a bit of attention-getting on Nokia’s part as the company prepares to launch later this year its first phones with a new operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).Nokia expects the new smartphones to sell well in China, one of the company’s major markets and a place where inventory problems have hampered profits.But the big problem is that Nokia trails both Apple and Samsung Electronics in the smartphone handset market, having lost more than half its market share from May 2010 to May 2011. Symbian won’t bring that share back, and it’s doubtful that the partnership with Microsoft willeither.Nokia’s shares are down nearly -3% at around noon today, at $5.94, within a 52-week range of $4.82-$11.75.
Lower Priced Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4 in Production:
Asian suppliers have already begun manufacturing a lower-cost version Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL)  iPhone 4, which has a smaller memory capacity of 8 GB, reports Reuters.The current iPhone 4 comes in 16 and 32 GB versions and generally sells for $199 to $299. It launched in June last year. An exact price on the newer iPhone 4 was not revealed.A Reuters source also said Apple is planning to launch the iPhone 5 at the end of September, which is similar to other leaks citing a September or October launch.The manufacturers of the iPhone 5 have been instructed to prepare for a production run of up to 45 million units in total. The phone will be built by Hon Hai and Pegatron, said an anonymous Reuters source.Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones in the second quarter and says it has not yet scratched the surface in sales in China.While Android phones have won a 52 percent share of phones sold in the U.S. in Q2, the iPhone 4 is the most popular single smartphone, says the NPD Group. The two-year old iPhone 3GS, now at $49 (down from $99) is the number two most popular smartphone in the U.S., reports AppleInsider.

Apple Stock:Apple drops in after-hours trade as Jobs resigns

Apple drops in after-hours trade as Jobs resigns:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” Jobs wrote in a letter to Apple’s board. “Unfortunately, that day has come.Following a brief trading halt, Apple shares /quotes/zigman/68270/quotes/nls/aapl AAPL +0.69%   fell more than 6%, and recently traded down 5.1% at $357.Jobs also urged the board to name Tim Cook as chief executive. Cook, who has served as chief operating officer and has taken the helm for Jobs during Jobs’ battle with cancer in recent years, assumes control immediately, Apple said. Read more about the resignation of Apple's Steve Jobs.Before the trading halt, Apple shares were off 0.2%. They closed the day session up 0.7%, and have climbed roughly 57% over the past year.Elsewhere in late trading, stock in Collective Brands /quotes/zigman/479385/quotes/nls/pss PSS +2.59%  surged 33% to $13.70 as the holding company for Payless ShoeSource and Stride Rite said its board, along with management, will “conduct a review of strategic and financial alternatives to further enhance shareholder value,” but that no assurance can be made that the review will result in any additional action Collective Brands also plans to close about 475 underperforming stores in the next three years, with 300 of those closures by the end of the fiscal year. Costs for lease terminations, severance, and other exit-related costs could range between $25 million to $35 million, the company said.Second-quarter adjusted earnings at Collective Brands were 16 cents a share. Revenue rose to $882.4 million from $841.3 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $866.2 million. The company swung to net loss of $35 million, or 58 cents a share.Guessshares/quotes/zigman/166567/quotes/nls/ges GES -0.48%  lost 4.6% to $31.75. The apparel retailer forecast third-quarter earnings of 71 cents to 74 cents a share, less than the 84 cents a share analysts had anticipated.Guess, which logged a $19.5 million settlement charge, said second-quarter 2012 net profit fell to $60.7 million, or 65 cents a share, from $66.8 million, or 72 cents, a year ago. Revenue, however, rose 17% to $677.2 million from $577.1 million. Excluding one-time items, Guess earned 84 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for 81 cents a share on $656.4 million in revenue.Also lower were shares of Applied Materials /quotes/zigman/19895/quotes/nls/amat AMAT -0.70%  , down 4.1% at $10.90, with the chip-equipment maker saying it expects fourth-quarter sales to be down in the range of 15% to 30% from the third quarter. It also expects adjusted earnings of 16 cents a share to 24 cents a share. Analysts had forecast earnings of 31 cents a share, on revenue of $2.6 billion.
For its third quarter, Applied Materials said profit was $476 million, or 36 cents a share, up from $123 million, or 9 cents a share, a year ago. Sales were $2.8 billion, up from $2.5 billion. Adjusted income was 35 cents a share. Analysts had expected earnings of 33 cents a share, on revenue of $2.7 billion.U.S. stocks rallied ahead of the late-trading session, with a larger-than-anticipated rise in durable-goods orders overriding worries about the global economy. Read about Wednesday's action in U.S. stocks.The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449/delayed DJIA +1.29%  jumped 144 points, or 1.3%, to 11,320.71. The S&P 500 Index /quotes/zigman/3870025 SPX +1.31%  rose 1.3% to 1,177.60, and the Nasdaq Composite Index /quotes/zigman/123127 COMP +0.88%  gained 0.9%