Apple takes a big bite out of the competition

Customers try out Apple Inc.'s iPad 2 tablet computer in Hong Kong on Friday. The iPad 2 went on sale in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and eight other countries Friday.
CORRECTS SPELLING OF THE COMPANY IN OBJECT NAME - Customers try on the Apple Inc.'s iPad 2 tablet computers at a shop in Hong Kong Friday, April 29, 2011. The iPad 2 went on sale in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and eight more countries on Friday.

By The Associated Press | The Associated Press

PUBLISHED: April 29, 2011 at 3:09 p.m. | UPDATED: May 4, 2016 at 1:06 p.m.

Consumer technology companies reporting financial results this week are looking like rowboats bobbing in the wake of Apple Inc.’s supertanker.

Close to oblivion in 1997, Apple is now the world’s second-most-valuable company, after Exxon Mobil Corp. On April 20, it reported net income of $5.99 billion for the January-March period, nearly double that of a year ago. It shipped a record 18.65 million iPhones during the quarter. Its iPad tablet computers are so popular, the company couldn’t make enough.

Apple’s ascendancy has produced many losers and a few winners, as underscored over the past two weeks.

Microsoft Corp. loser

Apple dethroned Microsoft as the world’s most valuable technology company a year ago. In its mid-fall report, it surpassed Microsoft in quarterly revenue. In the January-March period this year, it surpassed Microsoft in net income, too.

On Thursday, Microsoft reported that revenue from the Windows operating system declined for the second straight quarter because people are buying fewer Windows computers.

Nokia Corp. loser

Nokia said this week that it will slash 7,000 jobs through layoffs and outsourcing. It still sells more phones than anyone else, but it’s losing share to Apple, especially when it comes to smartphones.

Research In Motion Ltd. loser

The maker of the BlackBerry is in a predicament that’s similar to Nokia’s. RIM warned Thursday that net income, revenue and unit sales for the quarter ending in May will come in below its previous forecast.

The company’s high-end phones are looking old compared with the iPhone and ones running Google Inc.’s Android software. They aren’t selling as well as RIM expected.

HTC Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

winners, indirectly

Although all three companies compete with Apple’s iPhone, they are doing well. Unlike Nokia and RIM, the three are betting on Google’s Android system, which comes the closest to mimicking the look, feel and functions of the iPhone.

Verizon Wireless winner

The No. 1 U.S. cellphone carrier posted a jump in new contract- signing customers — the more profitable kind — after it introduced its version of the iPhone on Feb. 10, which ended the exclusive grip of AT&T Inc. on the device in the U.S.

AT&T and Sprint Nextel mixed

Verizon’s new subscribers came at the expense of AT&T and Sprint Nextel Corp. But neither carrier saw signs of current customers moving to Verizon for the sake of the iPhone. Rather, it seems customers deciding among carriers were more likely to go to Verizon because of the iPhone.