julia-love

By Alexandria Sage and Julia Love SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc's $1 billion investment in Chinese ride sharing company Didi Chuxing intensifies a race to acquire technology, talent and market access in a rapidly evolving global personal transportation market. Apple's investment comes as auto and technology industry executives and investors are placing bets that self-driving car systems, electric vehicles and ride sharing will eventually converge to allow companies to sell rides in self-driving vehicles, generating revenue day and night.

By Julia Love, Siddharth Cavale and Pauline Askin SAN FRANCISCO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus hit stores around the world on Friday, at the start of what is expected to be a record weekend for sales of Apple Inc's marquee product. Eager buyers – joined by at least one robot – flocked to Apple stores from Sydney to New York, itching to get their hands on new models boasting a 3D touch feature and an improved camera. “The first thing I'm going to do is take a picture,” said Lithuanian student Justina Siciunaite, 25, the first of hundreds to emerge with an iPhone 6s from Apple's flagship store on New York's Fifth Avenue.

By Julia Love SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – With its highly profitable iPhone due for an upgrade, Apple is expected to unveil a pair of new handsets at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday, analysts say, in addition to showing off a larger iPad and an updated Apple TV. When Apple executives take the stage at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, investors will be scrutinizing their plans for the next generation of the iPhone, which drove nearly two-thirds of the company's $49.6 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter. Apple is widely expected to keep the size of the phones the same but upgrade it with an improved camera and Force Touch, a display technology that responds differently depending on how hard users press their screens.

By Anya George Tharakan and Julia Love BENGALURU/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc forecast fourth-quarter revenue below estimates and missed some targets for iPhone sales, sending its shares down more than 6 percent in after-hours trading. Apple said on Tuesday it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago. The company forecast revenue of $49 billion to $51 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $51.13 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The world's largest publicly traded company by market value said it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago, but down 22 percent from 61.2 million in the second quarter.