BlackBerry Announces Changes to Common Share Purchase Program

Source: BlackBerry Press - Press Releases - January 28, 2016

Waterloo, ON, January 29, 2016 – BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in mobile communications, announced today that it received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) to amend its current normal course issuer bid (“NCIB”) in order to increase the maximum number of common shares that may be repurchased from 12,000,000 common shares, or 2.5% of the public float as at June 22, 2015 (the reference date for the NCIB), to 27,000,000 common shares, or 5.8% of the public float. The total public float on June 22, 2015 was 464,723,304 common shares. No other terms of the NCIB have been amended.  BlackBerry also announced that it has entered into an automatic purchase plan with its designated broker to allow for purchases of up to 2,685,524 common shares in connection with the NCIB.

The NCIB – which began on June 29, 2015 and will end no later than June 28, 2016 – is conducted through the facilities of the TSX and the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) or alternative trading systems, if eligible, and conforms to their regulations. Purchases under the NCIB are made by means of open market transaction or other such means as the Nasdaq or a securities regulatory authority may permit, including pre-arranged crosses, exempt offers and private agreements under an issuer bid exemption order issued by a securities regulatory authority.

Under TSX rules, BlackBerry is allowed to purchase daily, through the facilities of the TSX, a maximum of 578,619 common shares representing 25% of the average daily trading volume, as calculated per the TSX rules. The average daily trading volume for the six months ended May 31, 2015 was 2,314,477 common shares. In addition, BlackBerry may make, once per week, a block purchase of common shares not directly or indirectly owned by insiders of BlackBerry, in accordance with TSX rules. All shares purchased pursuant to the NCIB are cancelled.

During the period from June 29, 2015 to January 29, 2016, BlackBerry purchased and cancelled a total of 9,921,454 common shares, representing 2.1% of the public float as at June 22, 2015, at a weighted price of US$7.43 per share.

The board of directors of BlackBerry believes that the purchase by BlackBerry of its common shares represents attractive investment given current equity market conditions, and does not expect that the amended NCIB will have a significant impact on BlackBerry’s cash balance.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world’s most sensitive data across all end points – from cars to smartphones – making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The company trades under the ticker symbols "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.blackberry.com.

Important Notice for Certain AC Wall Plug Adapters & World Travel Adapter Kit Customers

Source: Apple Press Info - Press Releases - January 28, 2016

Voluntary Recall and Exchange Program

CUPERTINO, California — January 28, 2016 — Apple® today announced a voluntary recall of AC wall plug adapters designed for use in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Continental Europe, New Zealand and South Korea. In very rare cases, affected Apple two-prong wall plug adapters may break and create a risk of electrical shock if touched. These wall plug adapters shipped with Mac® and certain iOS devices between 2003 and 2015 and were also included in the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit. Apple is aware of 12 incidents worldwide.

The recall does not affect any other Apple AC wall plug adapters designed for Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, United States or any Apple USB power adapters.

Because customer safety is the company’s top priority, Apple is asking customers to stop using affected plug adapters. Customers should visit www.apple.com/support/ac-wallplug-adapter for details about how to exchange the affected adapters for new, redesigned ones.

An affected two-prong plug adapter has either four or five characters or no characters on the inside slot where it attaches to the main Apple power adapter. Visit the program website for more details on how to identify an affected adapter.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

BlackBerry's First Powered by Android Secure Smartphone is Coming to India

Source: BlackBerry Press - Press Releases - January 28 2016

PRIV Delivers the Best of BlackBerry Privacy and Productivity to the Largest App Ecosystem

New Delhi, India, January 28, 2016– BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in mobile communications, announced today the availability and full features of PRIV™ by BlackBerry®, the first-ever BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android™ in India. Combining the best of BlackBerry’s productivity, security and privacy features with the wide world of Google Play™ store apps, PRIV is the epitome of form and function. It has been engineered with the world’s finest technology and packaged in an ultra-thin device – including a dual-curved screen, touch and physical keyboards, state-of-the-art 18MP camera, and long-lasting battery – with unique tools that allow users to manage and control their privacy.

A New Standard for Security and Privacy  

PRIV was designed with security at its core, building on BlackBerry’s legacy of security and keeping private its customers’ data. Security highlights include:

·         Advanced Privacy Controls: The exclusive DTEK™ by BlackBerry® app for Android™ monitors and reports on application access to the microphone, camera, location and personal information, enabling users to be confident that their personal data is being kept private. Users can know at a glance when their privacy could be at risk so they can take action to improve it.

·         Secure Hardware: BlackBerry’s hardware root of trust, a unique manufacturing process, injects cryptographic keys into the device hardware, providing a secure foundation for the entire platform.

·         Verified Boot and Secure Bootchain: Keys have been embedded to verify every layer of the device from hardware to OS to applications in order to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. Additionally, thousands of modifications were made to harden the Linux kernel with numerous patches and configuration changes to improve security.

·         Fully supported on BlackBerry's EMM Solution: PRIV can be integrated with our leading EMM solution, BES 12, which offers cross-platform management of PRIV and other devices; providing a full end to end security solution and secure collaboration applications for business users like Secusuite for secure voice and WatchDox for secure file sharing.

A New Standard for the Slider Form Factor

As part of BlackBerry’s cross-platform strategy to provide a greater choice of secure solutions to its customers, users will see a seamless merging of key BlackBerry 10 productivity features like the BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Calendar into PRIV. Additional key features include:

·         Full Android App and Ecosystem Experience – PRIV brings incredible new features to the Android platform and gives users full access to over one million applications: whether it’s Instagram, Spotify, Uber or BBM®, you’ll find it on Google PlayTM.  

·         Best of Both Keyboards – offers the freedom to choose between a virtual keyboard or a physical keyboard for speed and accuracy.

·         Tough and Beautiful Screen – A stunning 5.4-inch immersive dual-curve OLED display offers plenty of room to work or play with rich colors, deep black levels and less power consumption. At a resolution of 2560x1440, it sports an incredible pixel density of 540 PPI – 4x the amount of pixels of a standard HDTV. Along the screen’s curved edge is the Productivity Tab that provides an “at a glance” view of the most pertinent info from BlackBerry Hub, Calendar, Task, and Contacts.

·         Full-day Battery Life – PRIV has a 3410 mAh battery with enough power to work up to 22.5 straight hours of mixed usage*.

·         State-of-the-Art Camera – Engineered to deliver professional looking photos with minimal effort, an 18MP camera, certified by Schneider-Kreuznach®, integrates technologies commonly found in DSLR cameras.

·         Powerful Performance and Expandable Storage – PRIV is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, a premium-tier chipset designed to offer consumers a superior and compelling user experience along with peace of mind with Qualcomm® SecureMSM™ technology and Qualcomm® Snapdragon StudioAccess™ content protection. Plus, with 32 GB of onboard storage and support for micro SD cards up to 2TB, the new PRIV gives users the flexibility to add affordable and hot-swappable storage to download, install, capture and share as their needs evolve.

·         BlackBerry® Natural Sound - PRIV comes with powerful speakers and a three-microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience. BlackBerry® Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise, automatically adjusting volume so users don’t have to.

·         Android™ for Work – PRIV comes ready for work. Android for Work support allows for fast, simple and secure integration with the enterprise environment. Seamless integration with Google Play for Work enables easy access to IT-managed apps.

While PRIV will provide a choice in operating system to new and existing customers, the company remains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, and will continue to release platform updates focused on security and privacy enhancements.

Availability and Pricing

PRIV will be available from 30 January 2016 at an MRP of 62,990/- INR. Customers will be able to buy their very own PRIV from BlackBerry authorised partners & resellers, and from Amazon.in, an online partner of BlackBerry India.

For more information on PRIV, go to www.BlackBerry.com/PRIV. Follow all updates to PRIV on the Inside BlackBerry blog.

* Based on mixed usage scenario.  Many factors affect battery life, including network connectivity, application usage, feature configuration and battery age. Actual results may vary.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world’s most sensitive data across all end points – from cars to smartphones – making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and “BBRY” on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

BlackBerry's PRIV Secure Smartphone Powered by Android Coming to South Africa

Source: BlackBerry Press - Press Releases - January 28, 2016

Johannesburg, January 28th, 2016– BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in secure mobile communications, today launched PRIV™ by BlackBerry®, the first-ever BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android in South Africa. PRIV will be available in South Africa as of next week through MTN, Vodacom and Cell C.

Combining the best of BlackBerry’s productivity, security and privacy features with the wide world of Google Play™ store apps, PRIV is the epitome of form and function. It has been engineered with the world’s finest technology and packaged in an ultra-thin device – including a dual-curved screen, touch and physical keyboards, state-of-the-art 18MP camera, and long-lasting battery – with unique tools that allow users to manage and control their privacy.

A New Standard for the Slider Form Factor

As part of BlackBerry’s cross-platform strategy to provide a greater choice of secure solutions to its customers, users will see a seamless merging of key BlackBerry 10 productivity features like the BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Calendar into PRIV. Additional key features include:

·         Full Android App and Ecosystem Experience – PRIV brings incredible new features to the Android platform and gives users full access to over one million applications: whether it’s Instagram, Spotify, Uber or BBM®, you’ll find it on Google PlayTM.

·         Best of Both Keyboards – offers the freedom to choose between a virtual keyboard or a physical keyboard for speed and accuracy.

·         Tough and Beautiful Screen – A stunning 5.4-inch immersive dual-curve OLED display offers plenty of room to work or play with rich colors, deep black levels and less power consumption. At a resolution of 2560x1440, it sports an incredible pixel density of 540 PPI – 4x the amount of pixels of a standard HDTV. Along the screen’s curved edge is the Productivity Tab that provides an “at a glance” view of the most pertinent info from BlackBerry Hub, Calendar, Task, and Contacts.

·         Full-day Battery Life – PRIV has a 3410 mAh battery with enough power to work up to 22.5 straight hours of mixed usage*.

·         State-of-the-Art Camera – Engineered to deliver professional looking photos with minimal effort, an 18MP camera, certified by Schneider-Kreuznach®, integrates technologies commonly found in DSLR cameras.

·         Powerful Performance and Expandable Storage – PRIV is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, a premium-tier chipset designed to offer consumers a superior and compelling user experience along with peace of mind with Qualcomm® SecureMSM™ technology and Qualcomm® Snapdragon StudioAccess™ content protection. Plus, with 32 GB of onboard storage and support for micro SD cards up to 2TB, the new PRIV gives users the flexibility to add affordable and hot-swappable storage to download, install, capture and share as their needs evolve.

·         BlackBerry® Natural Sound - PRIV comes with powerful speakers and a three-microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience. BlackBerry® Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise, automatically adjusting volume so users don’t have to.

·         Android™ for Work – PRIV comes ready for work. Android for Work support allows for fast, simple and secure integration with the enterprise environment. Seamless integration with Google Play for Work enables easy access to IT-managed apps.

A New Standard for Security and Privacy  

PRIV was designed with security at its core, building on BlackBerry’s legacy of security and keeping private its customers’ data. Security highlights include:

·         Advanced Privacy Controls: The exclusive DTEK™ by BlackBerry® app for Android™ monitors and reports on application access to the microphone, camera, location and personal information, enabling users to be confident that their personal data is being kept private. Users can know at a glance when their privacy could be at risk so they can take action to improve it.

·         Secure Hardware: BlackBerry’s hardware root of trust, a unique manufacturing process, injects cryptographic keys into the device hardware, providing a secure foundation for the entire platform.

·         Verified Boot and Secure Bootchain: Keys have been embedded to verify every layer of the device from hardware to OS to applications in order to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. Additionally, thousands of modifications were made to harden the Linux kernel with numerous patches and configuration changes to improve security.

·         Fully supported on BlackBerry's EMM Solution: PRIV can be integrated with our leading EMM solution, BES 12, which offers cross-platform management of PRIV and other devices; providing a full end to end security solution and secure collaboration applications for business users like Secusuite for secure voice and WatchDox for secure file sharing.

While PRIV will provide a choice in operating system to new and existing customers, the company remains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, and will continue to release platform updates focused on security and privacy enhancements.

For more information on PRIV, go to BlackBerry.com/PRIV. Follow all updates to PRIV on the Inside BlackBerry blog (blogs.BlackBerry.com).

* Based on mixed usage scenario.  Many factors affect battery life, including network connectivity, application usage, feature configuration and battery age. Actual results may vary.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world’s most sensitive data across all end points – from cars to smartphones – making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and “BBRY” on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

BlackBerry Enhances Enterprice Software Portfolio by Integrating Good and Watchdox with BES12 in Unified EMM Platform

Source: BlackBerry Press - Press Releases - January 26, 2016

Comprehensive platform upgrades include new security, productivity and collaboration features and centralized management from BES12 for easy administration

Waterloo, Ontario – January 26, 2016 – BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in secure mobile communications, today announced significant upgrades to its enterprise software portfolio, enhancing BES®12 – the comprehensive multi-OS EMM solution from BlackBerry – with integrated management capabilities for Good Dynamics and WatchDox® by BlackBerry.

“These enterprise software portfolio upgrades support our customers by providing market-leading mobile security and enterprise productivity while reducing IT complexity and resources through one unified EMM platform,” said Billy Ho, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Product and Value Added Solutions, BlackBerry. “With the integration of Good and WatchDox products into our BES12 multi-OS EMM platform we have created one of the most comprehensive and flexible mobility management solutions on the market today.” 

BES12, Good and WatchDox are all included in the new Good Secure EMM Suites offered to enterprises. Together with BBM Protected and SecuSUITE for Enterprise, the comprehensive enterprise software portfolio from BlackBerry is designed to help businesses increase secure handling of their sensitive data, productivity of their workforce and collaboration across any device, endpoint or OS platform in the company. Elements of the combined platform and related upgrades include: 

New BES12 version 12.4 offers greater flexibility

·        Integration of Good secure container and apps with BES12, the foundation of BlackBerry’s enterprise portfolio, for a single source of user enrollment.

·        BlackBerry Security enhancements for iOS, including BlackBerry Secure Gateway for secure, behind-the- firewall access to native iOS mail and BlackBerry Secure Connect Plus for iOS, which can be configured as a device-wide or per-app VPN.

·        Integrations with Cisco ISE and OpenTrust PKI, and MDM Support for OS X.

Integration of Good Powered by BlackBerry for secure container and apps

·        Good Work 2.0, one of the leading collaboration and secure email apps, adding more capabilities with the secure integration of Box, S/MIME for end-to-end email encryption to the desktop, convenient PDF conversion and support for reading Voltage encrypted messages.

·        Good Access for Windows, a new secure environment for deployment of HTML5 apps to secure corporate web apps in containers, ensuring data never leaves enterprise control while providing a rich user experience including the first HTML5 offline access in a secure browser for Windows.

·        Integration between Good Connect and Cisco Jabber for secure Enterprise Instant Messaging (EIM) on the desktop. This provides another option to customers mobilizing their EIM investments. Good Connect already supports Microsoft Lync.

Ability to protect, share and work with enterprise files

·        WatchDox® by BlackBerry is now fully integrated in the BES12 management console.

·        New features and add-ons also include upgraded mobile file creation and editing capabilities with the integration of Docs To Go and enhanced eDiscovery with DRM protection for email attachments.

·        WatchDox for Good for iOS and Android, a version of the WatchDox mobile app integrated with Good Dynamics container, is now live in the Good Marketplace.

Enabling secure enterprise instant messaging for better collaboration

·        BBM Protected is designed for enterprise and offers an enhanced security model for BBM messages sent between iOS®, Android™ and BlackBerry® devices. BBM Protected protects data end to end, in transit and at rest by adding an additional layer of encryption to BBM.

·        Updates for BBM Protected include Team Chat, allowing organizational teams, regardless of industry, to enjoy context-specific, secure BBM collaboration sessions. Simply assign a subject to the Team Chat session to keep track of what’s important, stay productive and enhance what you can accomplish with your team while on-the-go.

·        High Priority Messages - BBM Protected users can now label BBM Protected Messages sent within a conversation as High Priority Messages. High Priority messages are marked in red text signifying their importance, and allows users to identify that the message contains an action item that needs to be immediately acted upon, improving productivity.

Delivered and Read Notifications Available in Multi-Person Chats - BBM Protected users can now see who specifically has read or has received a BBM Protected message when communicating with multiple individuals.
In addition to the portfolio updates, the new SecuSUITE® for Enterprise application – which provides secure calling and text messaging on mobile devices to safeguard an organization’s sensitive conversations against electronic eavesdropping – is now available. For more details visit: http://us.blackberry.com/enterprise/products/secusuite-enterprise.html

Find out more on the enterprise software portfolio at www.blackberry.com/enterprise

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world’s most sensitive data across all end points – from cars to smartphones – making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and “BBRY” on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

BlackBerry Announces Good Secure EMM Suites for a New Class of Mobile Enterprise Productivity with Certified Security

Source: BlackBerry Press - Press Releases - January 26, 2016

New platform provides the most complete set of multi-OS EMM capabilities in a simple, user-based subscription model

Waterloo, Ontario — January 26 — BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in secure mobile communications, today introduced the new Good® Secure EMM Suites by BlackBerry, a comprehensive set of mobile security, management, productivity and collaboration offerings including best-in-class app security and containerization, Identity and Access Management, and Enterprise File Sync and Share with file level data protection. With the Good Secure EMM Suites users can immediately increase their productivity through a single integrated offering of BES®12, Good Dynamics and WatchDox® by BlackBerry that allows flexibility of deployment and security options for businesses as their mobile needs evolve.

Good Secure EMM Suites include leading security capabilities at each level of the platform in order to address the needs of customers for securing devices, applications, content and work data - at rest and in transit. BlackBerry® recently received Common Criteria EAL-4+ certification for the Good Dynamics SDK and servers, Good Work, and other collaboration apps.

“The new Good Secure EMM Suites provide simple and flexible options for customers to deploy industry leading security across devices, apps, content and data. BlackBerry now has five tailored mobility suites to meet the current and future needs of businesses of any size,” said Billy Ho, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Product and Value Added Solutions, BlackBerry. “This major step in the integration of Good Powered by BlackBerry comes less than three months after the close of the acquisition, enabling us to expand our industry leadership and further drive innovation in the EMM market.”

Research firm Strategy Analytics predicted the combined market share of BlackBerry and Good at 25% in the EMM segment. 

The Good Secure EMM Suites combine a broad set of management, security, productivity and collaboration capabilities in different combinations and enable seamless access to data and applications behind the firewall or in the cloud – across any mobile endpoint or platform including:

·        BES12 multi-OS EMM platform

·        Best-in-class Good Dynamics secure mobile app platform and container

·        Best-in-class MDM/MAM supporting iOS, Android (including Android for Work and Samsung KNOX), BlackBerry, Windows 10 and Mac OSX

·        All-in-one Good Work email and collaboration app

·        Good Share secure file access supporting SharePoint, file shares, OneDrive and Box

·        Good Connect secure enterprise instant messaging for Microsoft Lync and Cisco Jabber environments

·        Good Access secure browser with SSO support for enterprise web applications and cloud services

·        Deployment of ISV apps from BlackBerry’s broad partner ecosystem

·        Deployment of custom developed apps secured by Good Dynamics

·        WatchDox enterprise file synchronization and sharing (EFSS) including complete DRM capabilities and file level security

·        Identity and Access Management capabilities to extend 2-factor authentication to mobile apps and to use the mobile device as a second factor for accessing corporate applications

Pricing and Availability

The Good Secure EMM Suites will follow the established user-based subscription licensing model with pricing starting at $3 USD per user per month for the Good Secure Management Suite. The other product offerings will then range from Good Secure Enterprise Suite for $5 USD, Good Secure Collaboration Suite for $10 USD, Good Secure Mobility Suite for $15 USD to Good Secure Content Suite for $25 USD per user per month. The Good Secure EMM Suites can be deployed on-premise or via a cloud-based model, and are now being introduced to customers worldwide.

Find out more on Good Secure EMM Suites at www.blackberry.com/enterprise

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world’s most sensitive data across all end points – from cars to smartphones – making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and “BBRY” on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

Source: Apple Press Info - Press Releases - January 26, 2016

iPhone, Apple Watch, Services & Apple TV Drive All-time Record Revenue 

Results Produce Record Quarterly Profit of $18.4 Billion

CUPERTINO, California — January 26, 2016 — Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2016 first quarter ended December 26, 2015. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $75.9 billion and record quarterly net income of $18.4 billion, or $3.28 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $74.6 billion and net income of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.1 percent compared to 39.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 66 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“Our team delivered Apple’s biggest quarter ever, thanks to the world’s most innovative products and all-time record sales of iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The growth of our Services business accelerated during the quarter to produce record results, and our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices.”

“Our record sales and strong margins drove all-time records for net income and EPS in spite of a very difficult macroeconomic environment,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We generated operating cash flow of $27.5 billion during the quarter, and returned over $9 billion to investors through share repurchases and dividends. We have now completed $153 billion of our $200 billion capital return program.”

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2016 second quarter:

• revenue between $50 billion and $53 billion
• gross margin between 39 percent and 39.5 percent
• operating expenses between $6 billion and $6.1 billion
• other income/(expense) of $325 million
• tax rate of 25.5 percent

Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $.52 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on February 11, 2016, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 8, 2016.

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2016 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 26, 2016 at www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.

Download pdf: Data summary

Download pdf: Q1’16 Earnings Supplemental Material

FY 16 First Quarter Results Conference Call

Source: Apple Press Info - Press Releases - January 22, 2016

WHAT: Apple® FY 16 First Quarter Results Conference Call

WHERE: Via conference call. The dial-in numbers for press are (877) 616-0071 (toll-free) or (816) 581-1577. Please enter confirmation code 482343.

WHEN: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. PST/5:00 p.m. EST

REBROADCAST: The conference call will be available as a continuous rebroadcast beginning Tuesday, January 26 at 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. EST through Tuesday, February 9 at 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. EST. The dial-in numbers for the rebroadcast are (888) 203-1112 (toll-free) or (719) 457-0820. Please enter confirmation code 7349088.

WEBCAST: Apple will provide live audio streaming of its FY 16 First Quarter Results Conference Call using Apple's HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 26, 2016 at www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter. Live audio streaming requires an iPhone®, iPad® or iPod touch® with Safari® on iOS 7.0 or later, a Mac® with Safari 6.0.5 or later on OS X® v10.8.5 or later or a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

This recording is the property of Apple and protected by US copyright law and international treaties. Any reproduction or distribution is strictly prohibited without prior written approval from Apple. Please contact Apple Public Relations or Investor Relations with any questions.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Apple Opening Europe’s First iOS App Development Center in Italy

Source: Apple Press Info - Press Releases - January 21, 2016

Next Generation of Developers To Gain Skills, Accelerate Entrepreneurship

ROME — January 21, 2016 — Apple® today announced the creation of Europe’s first iOS App Development Center in Italy, to give students practical skills and training on developing iOS apps for the world’s most innovative and vibrant app ecosystem.

The iOS App Development Center, to be located at a partner institution in Naples, will support teachers and provide a specialized curriculum preparing thousands of future developers to be part of Apple’s thriving developer community. In addition, Apple will work with partners around Italy who deliver developer training to complement this curriculum and create additional opportunities for students. Apple expects to expand this program to other countries around the world.

“Europe is home to some of the most creative developers in the world and we’re thrilled to be helping the next generation of entrepreneurs in Italy get the skills they need for success,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The phenomenal success of the App Store is one of the driving forces behind the more than 1.4 million jobs Apple has created in Europe and presents unlimited opportunities for people of all ages and businesses of all sizes across the continent.”

Apple is a powerful engine of growth across Europe and the company’s ecosystem now supports more than 1.4 million jobs, including 1.2 million attributable to the community of app creators, software engineers and entrepreneurs building apps for iOS, as well as non-IT jobs supported directly and indirectly through the app economy.*

The unprecedented growth of the App Store® has helped developers in Europe earn over €10.2 billion from selling their apps around the world.

In Italy, over 75,000 jobs are attributable to the App Store and the developer community is vibrant. IK Multimedia launched its first app in 2009 and since then has had over 25 million downloads. Musement, launched in 2013, is now available in seven languages and 300 cities across 50 countries, making it easy for people to book travel and excursions on the go.

Roberto Macina, CEO and founder of Qurami, said: “Apple’s continued innovation inspires us to create the best mobile experiences and make our customers’ lives just a little bit easier. Apple’s app ecosystem is the anchor for our business, and developing across Apple’s operating systems has enabled us to easily and quickly bring the Qurami experience to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch users.”

Thousands of companies are expanding because of their work with Apple, which supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in communities large and small across Europe. Milan-based Laboratorio Elettrofisico makes some of the most sophisticated magnetization equipment in the world and their technology enables some of the industry-leading magnetic features found in Apple products. Apple also works with Europe’s leading manufacturers of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, which create tiny components that power some of the incredible sensor and audio technologies found in iOS devices.

*Job creation estimate based on research by Dr. Michael Mandel, Progressive Policy Institute. “App Economy Jobs in Europe,” January 21, 2016.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

New Music Apps from Apple Transform iOS Devices into Handheld Studios for Songwriters & Beatmakers

Source: Apple Press Info - Press Releases - January 20, 2016

Capture Inspiration Whenever it Strikes with New Music Memos 

Make Music Like a DJ with New Live Loops in GarageBand

CUPERTINO, California — Apple® today announced a new addition and a major update to its family of music-making apps for iOS that make it easy for people to tap into their musical potential and create incredible music no matter where they are. An all-new app called Music Memos lets musicians and songwriters quickly capture, organize and develop their musical ideas right on their iPhone®. And a major update to GarageBand® for iOS introduces multiple new features, including Live Loops, a fun way for anyone to make music like a DJ using only their iPhone or iPad®.

“Musicians around the world, from the biggest artists to aspiring students, use Apple devices to create amazing music; the innovative new Music Memos app will help them quickly capture their ideas on iPhone and iPad whenever inspiration strikes,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “GarageBand is the most popular music creation app in the world, and this update helps everyone easily tap into their musical talent with the powerful new Live Loops and Drummer features, and adds support for the larger iPad Pro screen and 3D Touch on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.”

“Sometimes ideas come faster than I can get them into my notebook so I've used Voice Memos and Notes to quickly capture songs before they're lost. Music Memos is like if those two apps came together to form some kind of superpower for songs,” said Ryan Adams, critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and producer. “It quite literally blew my mind how Music Memos could transform a single guitar idea into a whole composition with a virtual drummer loose enough that it felt like you were having your mind read by some A.I. musician and a choice of stand-up or electric bass accompaniments.”

“I recorded my first album using GarageBand and I continue to use it in my music today,” said T-Pain, Grammy Award-winning artist and producer. “I love how the new Live Loops in GarageBand lets me quickly build tracks and beats, and even perform effects like a musical instrument. It’ll change the way an entire generation makes music.”

Musicians and songwriters around the world have used the Voice Memos app on their iPhone to quickly record ideas, and many hit songs first started as Voice Memos. The new Music Memos app is inspired by Voice Memos and takes the functionality even further by adding musician-friendly features designed specifically for songwriting and developing musical ideas. With Music Memos, you can record any musical instrument through the iPhone’s built-in microphone in a high-quality, uncompressed format, then name, tag and rate it to start building a library of your ideas. The app can analyze rhythm and chords of acoustic guitar and piano recordings, and instantly add drums and a bass line to provide a virtual, customizable backing band that plays along to match the feel of your song. Music Memos can even provide basic notation that displays the chords that were played. With iCloud® your Music Memos are automatically available across all your Apple devices so you can open them in GarageBand or Logic Pro X℠ to further develop your songs. Musicians can easily share their ideas via email or with their fans through Apple Music™ Connect. For more information about the new Music Memos app, visit, www.apple.com/music-memos.

GarageBand for iOS is the world's most popular mobile music creation app, and the new GarageBand 2.1 update introduces Live Loops, an entirely new and intuitive way to create amazing music. Inspired by DJ hardware controllers and drum machines, Live Loops makes it easy for anyone to create music by simply tapping cells and columns in a highly visual grid to trigger different looped instruments and samples. The loops can be performed, arranged and remixed live, and GarageBand automatically keeps all the beats in sync with perfect time and pitch. To get you started, Live Loops comes with a library of Apple-designed loop templates in a variety of genres including EDM, Hip Hop, Dubstep and Rock, or you can create your own loops from scratch. 

GarageBand 2.1 for iOS also includes the new Drummer feature with nine EDM and acoustic virtual session drummers that provide their own signature sound, as well as an expanded selection of amps for bass players. Advanced GarageBand users can now create even more dynamic and polished sounding songs using new automation features, controls recording and a new simple EQ. GarageBand 2.1 looks stunning on the expansive 12.9-inch Retina® display on the new iPad Pro™ and gives you access to even more controls and room to play. And on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the app now supports 3D Touch, allowing you to play with more expression. For more information about the new GarageBand for iOS, visit, www.apple.com/ios/garageband.

Pricing & Availability 
Music Memos is available for free on the App Store® and is compatible with iPhone 4s and later, and iPad 2 and later. GarageBand 2.1 for iOS is bundled free with new iOS devices 32GB and larger, is available as a free upgrade for existing users with compatible iOS 9 devices or later, and is available to everyone else for $4.99 via the App Store.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

BlackBerry's PRIV Secure Smartphone Powered by Android now Available from KPN and ShopBlackBerry in the Netherlands

Source: BlackBerry Press - Press Releases - January 19, 2016

Groundbreaking device brings the best of BlackBerry security and productivity to the Android ecosystem

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – January 19, 2016– BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in secure mobile communications, today announced that PRIV™ by BlackBerry®, the first-ever BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android is now available from KPN in The Netherlands. PRIV is available through the various KPN channels including KPN retail stores, KPN XL stores, KPN B2B channels and online through KPN.com for a suggested retail price of Euro 779 (taxes included) and for reduced prices in combination with multiple subscription options for both consumer and business customers. PRIV is also available on ShopBlackBerry in The Netherlands.

Combining the best of BlackBerry’s productivity, security and privacy features with the wide world of Google Play™ store apps, PRIV is the epitome of form and function. It has been engineered with the world’s finest technology and packaged in an ultra-thin device – including a dual-curved screen, touch and physical keyboards, state-of-the-art 18MP camera, and long-lasting battery – with unique tools that allow users to manage and control their privacy.

A New Standard for Security and Privacy  
PRIV was designed with security at its core, building on BlackBerry’s legacy of security and keeping private its customers’ data. Security highlights include:

• Advanced Privacy Controls: The exclusive DTEK™ by BlackBerry® app for Android™ monitors and reports on application access to the microphone, camera, location and personal information, enabling users to be confident that their personal data is being kept private. Users can know at a glance when their privacy could be at risk so they can take action to improve it.
• Secure Hardware: BlackBerry’s hardware root of trust, a unique manufacturing process, injects cryptographic keys into the device hardware, providing a secure foundation for the entire platform.
• Verified Boot and Secure Bootchain: Keys have been embedded to verify every layer of the device from hardware to OS to applications in order to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. Additionally, thousands of modifications were made to harden the Linux kernel with numerous patches and configuration changes to improve security.
• Fully supported on BlackBerry's EMM Solution: PRIV can be integrated with our leading EMM solution, BES 12, which offers cross-platform management of PRIV and other devices; providing a full end to end security solution and secure collaboration applications for business users like Secusuite for secure voice and WatchDox for secure file sharing.

A New Standard for the Slider Form Factor
As part of BlackBerry’s cross-platform strategy to provide a greater choice of secure solutions to its customers, users will see a seamless merging of key BlackBerry 10 productivity features like the BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Calendar into PRIV. Additional key features include:

• Full Android App and Ecosystem Experience – PRIV brings incredible new features to the Android platform and gives users full access to over one million applications: whether it’s Instagram, Spotify, Uber or BBM®, you’ll find it on Google PlayTM.  
• Best of Both Keyboards – offers the freedom to choose between a virtual keyboard or a physical keyboard for speed and accuracy.
• Tough and Beautiful Screen – A stunning 5.4-inch immersive dual-curve OLED display offers plenty of room to work or play with rich colors, deep black levels and less power consumption. At a resolution of 2560x1440, it sports an incredible pixel density of 540 PPI – 4x the amount of pixels of a standard HDTV. Along the screen’s curved edge is the Productivity Tab that provides an “at a glance” view of the most pertinent info from BlackBerry Hub, Calendar, Task, and Contacts.
• Full-day Battery Life – PRIV has a 3410 mAh battery with enough power to work up to 22.5 straight hours of mixed usage*.
• State-of-the-Art Camera – Engineered to deliver professional looking photos with minimal effort, an 18MP camera, certified by Schneider-Kreuznach®, integrates technologies commonly found in DSLR cameras.
• Powerful Performance and Expandable Storage – PRIV is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, a premium-tier chipset designed to offer consumers a superior and compelling user experience along with peace of mind with Qualcomm® SecureMSM™ technology and Qualcomm® Snapdragon StudioAccess™ content protection. Plus, with 32 GB of onboard storage and support for micro SD cards up to 2TB, the new PRIV gives users the flexibility to add affordable and hot-swappable storage to download, install, capture and share as their needs evolve.
• BlackBerry® Natural Sound - PRIV comes with powerful speakers and a three-microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience. BlackBerry® Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise, automatically adjusting volume so users don’t have to.
• Android™ for Work – PRIV comes ready for work. Android for Work support allows for fast, simple and secure integration with the enterprise environment. Seamless integration with Google Play for Work enables easy access to IT-managed apps.

While PRIV will provide a choice in operating system to new and existing customers, the company remains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, and will continue to release platform updates focused on security and privacy enhancements.

For more information on PRIV, go to BlackBerry.com/PRIV. Follow all updates to PRIV on the Inside BlackBerry blog (blogs.BlackBerry.com).

* Based on mixed usage scenario.  Many factors affect battery life, including network connectivity, application usage, feature configuration and battery age. Actual results may vary.

About BlackBerry
BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world’s most sensitive data across all end points – from cars to smartphones – making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and “BBRY” on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.