(Reuters) - Sharp Corp has nearly halted production of 9.7-inch screens for Apple Inc's iPad, two sources said, possibly as demand shifts to its smaller iPad mini.

Sharp's iPad screen production line at its Kameyama plant in central Japan has fallen to the minimal level to keep the line running this month after a gradual slowdown began at the end of 2012 as Apple manages its inventory, the industry sources with knowledge of Sharp's production plans told Reuters.

Sharp has stopped shipping iPad panels, the people with knowledge of the near total production shutdown said. The exact level of remaining screen output at Sharp was not immediately clear but it was extremely limited, they said.

Company spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said: "We don't disclose production levels."

Apple officials, contacted late in the evening after normal business hours in California, did not have an immediate comment.

The sources didn't say exactly why production had nearly halted. Among the possibilities are a seasonal drop in demand, a switch to another supplier, a shift in the balance of sales to the mini iPad, or an update in the design of the product.

Macquarie Research has estimated that iPad shipments will tumble nearly 40 percent in the current quarter to about 8 million from about 13 million in the fourth quarter, although Apple's total tablet shipments will show a much smaller decrease due to strong iPad mini sales.

APPLE SHARES

Any indication that iPad sales are struggling could add to concern that the appeal of Apple products is waning after earlier media reports said it is slashing orders for iPhone 5 screens and other components from its Asian suppliers.

Those reports helped knock Apple's shares temporarily below $500 this week, the first time its stock had been below the threshold mark in almost one year.

Apple, the reports said, has asked state-managed Japan Display, Sharp and LG Display to halve supplies of iPhone panels from an initial plan for about 65 million screens in January-March. Apple is losing ground to Samsung, as well as emerging rivals including China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp.

NO BIG CHANGE AT OTHER MAKERS

In addition to Sharp, Apple also buys iPad screens from LG Display Co Ltd, its biggest supplier, and Samsung Display, a flat-panel unit of Samsung Electronics.

Both LG Display and Samsung Display declined to comment.

A source at Samsung Display, however, said there had not been any significant change in its panel business with Apple, which has been steadily reducing panel purchases from the South Korean firm.

A person who is familiar with the situation at LG Display said iPad screen production in the current quarter had fallen from the previous quarter ending in December, mainly due to weak seasonal demand that is typical after the busy year-end holiday sales period.

Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said some of the product cutbacks at Sharp are probably seasonal.

"The March quarter is almost always weaker than the December quarter," he said, adding that Apple also consolidates suppliers of certain components during quarters with weaker demand. "The Korean manufacturers are more efficient and typically have lower costs."

Apple's iPad sales may have also suffered amid a weak Christmas shopping period that hurt other consumer gadget makers as well.

CROWD OF RIVAL PRODUCTS

Apple also faces stiffening competition in tablets from a growing crowd of rival products from makers including Samsung with its Galaxy and Microsoft Corp's Surface. A consumer shift to smaller 7-inch screen devices, which Apple responded to late last year by launching its iPad mini for $329, are adding pressure.

BNP Paribas expects the iPad mini will eat into sales of the full-sized iPad, with the mini rise to 60 percent of total iPad shipments in the January-March quarter.

Looking to cut into Apple's market share in the smaller segment are Amazon.com Inc with its Kindle and Google Inc with its Nexus 7.

CEO Tim Cook, who is credited with building Apple's Asian supply chain, has overseen several gadget launches, including the iPhone 5, the latest iPad models and the iPad mini during his first year, is under pressure to deliver the kind of product innovations that wowed consumers during Steve Jobs' tenure to keep his company's profit growth stellar.

Sharp, which also supplies screens for the iPhone, has been working with its main banks on a restructuring plan after posting a $5.6 billion loss for the past fiscal year. To secure emergency financing from lenders including Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi Financial Group it had mortgaged its domestic factories and offices including the one building screens for Apple.

In December, Qualcomm Inc agreed to invest as much as $120 million in Sharp and the two companies said they would work to develop new power-saving screens.

During Apple's Q4 2012 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer has filled in a bit more of the iPad mini pricing puzzle. Despite the tablet's $329 starting price — 60 percent more than competition like the Nexus 7 — the iPad mini's gross profit margin is "significantly below" the company's average, which was at 40 percent for the quarter. Of course, Apple isn't one to detail its margins product-to-product, but thanks to Oppenheimer's remarks we know its margin on the iPad mini is less than 40 percent. We do know that the $199, 7-inch Nexus 7 is sold at cost, and considering the iPad mini's superior-feeling build quality and 7.9-inch screen the considerably higher cost of the mini can be partly accounted for.

Apple Inc. posted flat earnings for its first fiscal quarter on Wednesday afternoon, slightly beating Wall Street's expectations despite a revenue line that was a little weaker than expected. For the period ended Dec. 29, Apple reported net income of $13.1 billion, or $13.81 per share, compared to net income of $13.1 billion, or $13.87 per share, for the same period the previous year. Revenue jumped 18% to $54.5 billion. Total iPhone shipments in the period were 47.8 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $13.48 per share on revenue of $55 billion, according to consensus estimates from FactSet.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/app...ain-2013-01-23

Apple's earnings for last quarter are out!

Here's the breakdown of iPhones and iPads sold:

• 47.8 million iPhones sold versus 50 million expected. (Keep in mind this includes all iPhones: iPhone 4, 4S, and 5.)
• 22.9 iPads sold versus 23 million expected. (Keep in mind this includes the iPad Mini.)

So how does that compare to the last time Apple reported earnings?
Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones and 14 million iPads when it announced numbers on October 25, 2012.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-...213319877.html

Apple Inc reported quarterly revenue that slightly missed Wall Street expectations as sales of its flagship iPhone came in below analyst targets, sending its shares down more than 4 percent.

Apple said its fiscal first quarter revenue rose to $54.5 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $54.73 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-...213649351.html

Looking ahead, Apple said it expects sales of between $41 billion and $43 billion in the current quarter, which ends in March.

Apple routinely lowballs its forecasts, but the outlook will likely prompt analysts to lower their own expectations, which were at $45.6 billion.

Gross margin narrowed to 38.6% from 44.7%

The company sold 4.1 million Macintosh computers, down 21% from a year ago. It also sold 12.7 million iPod media players, an 18% decline. Apple has reported declining sales for the iPod in recent quarters.

Does Apple pay a cash dividend?

On January 23, 2013, Apple's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company's common stock. The dividend is payable on February 14, 2013, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 11, 2013.

Apple Issues Statement About Returning Cash to Shareholders
Feb 7, 2013 12:45 pm PST by Jordan Golson
Apple has issued a press release reiterating its commitment to return some of its extremely large cash pile to shareholders, saying that Apple management and the Board of Directors are in "active discussions" about how to return cash to shareholders.

This follows letter sent to Apple shareholders this morning by Greenlight Capital [PDF], a major Apple shareholder, arguing that the company "must examine all of its options to unlock the growing value of its balance sheet".

Apple's statement:
By early last year, Apple’s cash balance had built to a point beyond what we needed to run our business and maintain flexibility to take advantage of strategic opportunities, so we announced a plan to return $45 billion to shareholders over three years. As of next week we will have executed $10 billion of that plan.

We find ourselves in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone.

Apple’s management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders. As part of our review, we will thoroughly evaluate Greenlight Capital’s current proposal to issue some form of preferred stock. We welcome Greenlight’s views and the views of all of our shareholders.

Apple's stock price rose sharply in the minutes following the release.