According to sources, Apple will open stores within Target locations around the U.S.
By doing so, Apple can cheaply expand into smaller metro areas.
If accurate, Apple will open Apple-branded stores in 25 of the larger Targets at points during this year.
Of course, the launch will be a small test, as Target has 1752 stores in the U.S. Apple has 359 of its own stores around the world, including 245 in the U.S. Apple currently has a similar setup in 600 Best Buy stores. Some of the stores even have Apple Solution Consultants and are dubbed “Apple Shops.”
Apple had previous retail relationships with Circuit City, Office Max and Sears until a decade ago, when they began opening their own retail stores. The Best Buy deal is relatively new.
Target has long sold Apple products, starting with the iPod in 2002.
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Result for: relationships
Nokia Siemens has said this week it will purchase Motorola’s wireless-network equipment division for $1.2 billion in cash.
The company is a joint telecommunications venture between Nokia and Siemens and the division being purchased supplies carriers with equipment needed to build LTE, WiMax and 3G infrastructure.
Nokia says the acquisition will help it improve its position in the United States and Japan, two nations where sales have been low and brand recognition is low as well.
“First and foremost, this deal is about customers,” says Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia Siemens. “We expect to gain an incumbent position with many new customers and strengthen our position with others.”
With the acquisition, Suri says Nokia will establish new relationships with China Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Clearwire.
The deal will close by the end of the year, and Nokia will bring on 7500 Motorola employees.
Result for: relationships
According to a new note by Rodman & Renshaw Equity Research, Apple could sell up to 15 million iPhones in the quarter ending in September, easily the company’s strongest quarter for iPhone sales.
Sales will be boosted by the upcoming iPhone “4G” or “HD,” the smartphone leaked last month by Gizmodo after it was left in a bar by an Apple developer.
Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar said the company will manufacture 12 million of the new iPhone HD for the September quarter, which combined with iPhone 3GS sales could lead to 15 million for the period.
For the fiscal year, Apple could sell 40 million iPhones, up from 18 million for the fiscal 2009.
Adds Kumar (via SFGate): “Apple is close to achieving peak market share with its existing lineup of wireless carriers. The only way to keep growing its iPhone business is to expand its relationships with other carriers and to become more carrier-agnostic.”
The new iPhone will have a front-facing camera for video conferencing, a better standard camera (including larger lens and flash), a Micro-SIM slot (just like the iPad), large 960×640 resolution, a second mic, metallic exterior (not plastic) and split side buttons for volume.
