MacRumors

Apple captured "19 percent of all sales dollars" of consumer electronics sales in the U.S. during the holiday quarter of 2011 according to NPD. Not coincidentally, the holiday season was also the best quarter in Apple's history.

Not only was Apple by far the most successful consumer electronics brand for the second year in a row, Apple Retail has the third most revenue of any electronics retailer, coming in behind only Best Buy and Walmart. Apple was the only brand in the top five to post a sales increase from 2010, with receipts for 2011 rising more than 36 percent in the U.S. on the back of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.

Tablet sales have more than doubled as a share of consumer electronics dollars, going from 5.1 to 10.7 percent. That's especially good news for Apple -- the iPad's 40 million units sold made up nearly 60 percent of tablet sales in 2011.

HP, Samsung, Sony, and Dell all saw declines in sales from 2010 to 2011, according to NPD's report, with Sony and Dell taking the biggest hits.

Digitimes reports on an article from Taiwanese newspaper Commerical Times claiming that Apple manufacturing partner Pegatron has ended its relationship with ASUS for production of the Zenbook under pressure from Apple. According to the report, Apple is displeased with the similarity in appearance between ASUS's Zenbook and the MacBook Air and forced Pegatron's hand with an ultimatum stating that Pegatron needed to choose one company or the other.

Apple reportedly was unhappy about Pegatron's production of Asustek's Zenbook models, which are similar to its MacBook Air, especially in its outer design, and therefore, demand Pegatron make a choice, claimed the paper, which added that Pegatron began to assemble iPhones for Apple in 2011 and is eager to solicit orders for next-generation iPads from the vendor.

Pegatron will reportedly wind down production of the Zenbook by next month as ASUS is forced to switch over to Compal or Wistron for manufacturing.

Last week, repair firm iLab Factory posted a photo of a Sharp display that was said to carry a resolution of 2048x1536 in a 9.7-inch size and be targeted for the iPad 3.

The company now reports (via 9to5Mac) that it has obtained the rear shell and dock connector cable parts that have also been circulating and matched all three together, increasing the likelihood that the leaks are genuine parts. The parts do show that the iPad 3 is marginally thicker than the iPad 2, which has been rumored by a number of sources as Apple has sought to increase battery capacity to drive the higher-resolution display and tweak other components.

First of all, in comparison to a back plate of iPad2, the iPad3 one(?) is a little bit thicker; less than 1mm, and equal-sized length and breadth.

The report goes on to show in a series of photos that mounting holes on both the display and the dock connector/ribbon cable line up exactly with those on the rear shell.

The report also examines the rear camera mounting points on the claimed iPad 3 shell, noting that they are indeed different than on the iPad 2 although the hole in the rear shell does appear to be essentially the same size as in the iPad 2. The difference in camera mounting had previously been noted in other leaked photos.

Apple is expected to introduce the iPad 3 in the first week of March, with the first round of launches set to follow soon after.

Apple's share price pushed through the $500 barrier as trading opened this morning, reaching an important psychological figure. The stock price has been on a tear ever since Apple reported blowout earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2012, rising more than $75/share, or nearly 18%, in just under three weeks.

Apple is now worth more than $469 billion, making it the most valuable public company in the world by a significant margin. Exxon Mobil, the second most valuable public company, is worth approximately $400 billion after a weakening in that company's price.

Apple is a long way from claiming the "most valuable publicly traded company ever" title. Among many others, Microsoft had a peak market cap of $642 billion during the dot-com boom in September 2000. That company is now worth just over $250 billion. With the reversal of fortunes, Apple is in fact now worth more than Google ($199 billion) and Microsoft ($256 billion) -- Apple's two biggest competitors -- combined.

Last month, Apple and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) announced an agreement that would see the FLA monitoring workplace conditions in Apple's supply chain, providing independent oversight to ensure compliance with worker rights standards set by Apple and the FLA. Apple is the first technology company to join the FLA, a move which comes as Apple has been the subject of increasing criticism over Foxconn's treatment of its employees.

Apple today issued a press release announcing that the FLA has begun inspecting Foxconn's facilities at Apple's request, supplementing Apple's own auditing practices.

Apple today announced that the Fair Labor Association will conduct special voluntary audits of Apple’s final assembly suppliers, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, at Apple’s request. A team of labor rights experts led by FLA president Auret van Heerden began the first inspections Monday morning at the facility in Shenzhen known as Foxconn City.

“We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports.”

The release notes that the FLA will be conducting interviews of thousands of Foxconn employees as it assesses their working and living conditions. The FLA will have access to Foxconn's manufacturing areas, as well as the dormitories and other facilities where employees are housed in the massive complex.

Results of the Foxconn inspections will be posted on the FLA's site early next month, and similar inspections at Apple's other major manufacturing partners Quanta and Pegatron will follow this spring. Once inspections at the three companies' facilities are complete, the FLA will have assessed facilities where over 90% of Apple's products are assembled.

Amidst the growing chorus of rumors about an Apple branded television, The Telegraph reports that the UK TV network ITV has written a letter to Apple to warn it against using the name "iTV" for its future television product.

This is actually not the first time that Apple and ITV have been in contention over the name. When Apple first announced their set top box in 2006, they originally called the product "iTV":

Apple later changed the name to "Apple TV", but reportedly later reconsidered changing the name back to iTV. ITV executives were said to be "furious" over the possibility.

The Telegraph reports that Apple gave reassurances back in 2010 that they would not use the name, though they note that Apple is now under different leadership.

However, insiders fear that the world’s biggest company might take a different stance under Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs as chief executive shortly before Mr Jobs died in August last year.

Apple is believed to be actively working on a standalone television product. A recent report claimed Canadian cable companies already had the product in their hands. That report and others have been casually referring to the upcoming product as the "Apple iTV", though Apple has yet to officially name or even acknowledge the project.

Update: In a statement to The Verge, ITV has denied that it sent any such warning to Apple.

In a statement to The Verge, ITV said that, "The Telegraph's piece is entirely speculative, and there has been no communication between ITV and Apple. ITV has no further comment on the matter."

Last week, we offered an update on the ongoing trademark dispute in China between Apple and Proview Technology, which claims to have held ownership of the "iPad" trademark there since 2000. Apple is said to be facing a potential fine of approximately $38 million from the government while Proview is seeking as much as $1.6 billion in damages.

According to new reports from DigiCha (via The Next Web) and China.com.cn [Google translation] , authorities have begun taken steps related to the trademark issue, confiscating iPads discovered in retailers' shops while other retailers move proactively to remove the devices from display in order to prevent their stocks from being seized. DigiCha reports:

Apparently as a result of the Proview iPad trademark infringement verdict, some local Administrations of Industry and Commerce (AIC) have started to confiscate Apple ($AAPL) iPads they find on sale. The article claims that many stores and resellers have taken the products off their shelves to avoid discovery by authorities, but if you ask for an iPad you can still buy one.

China.com.cn notes that as of 5:00 PM yesterday authorities had seized 45 iPad 2 units from retailers, but it remains unclear whether the actions are part of an nationwide effort or if local authorities are acting on their own initiative to address the issue.

Apple believed that it had acquired the rights to the iPad trademark in China in an earlier $55,000 deal with Proview's parent company that also included European rights. But Proview's Chinese arm has argued that the Chinese rights could not have been part of the deal because those rights were not controlled by the parent company.

Apple lost a lawsuit challenging Proview's claim on the trademark late last year, and Proview is continuing to press its infringement case against Apple.

Apple is expected to reveal the new iPad at a media event in the first week of March. The new iPad is widely believed to carry a ultra-high resolution 2048x1536 display that exceeds the resolution of 1080p content. Apple, however, presently only offers a maximum of 720p HD content on their iTunes Store. 720p also happens to be the maximum resolution that the current generation Apple TV supports.

We've already seen evidence that Apple has been working on a next generation Apple TV. Back in October, references to an unreleased "AppleTV3,1" model were found in the latest versions of iOS 5. Meanwhile, Apple has reportedly asked movie studios to start submitting 1080p content to the iTunes Store late last year.

A Retina Display iPad would represent an opportunity for Apple to launch a 1080p iTunes Store. It would also make sense for it to correspond to an Apple TV update. 9to5Mac now notes that stock of the current generation Apple TV is running low amongst retailers such as BestBuy, Target and Amazon. The timing suggests that the Apple TV could be getting a refresh around the same timeframe as the iPad.

The Apple TV is a product that we haven't tracked in our Buyer's Guide. The reason is that the Apple TV is unique in that it is more of a living room appliance whose primary purpose is to play iTunes content on your television. As a result, as long as the Apple TV can play all current iTunes content, there's been no compelling reason for Apple to offer a major hardware upgrade. In October, we wrote:

So, we can't be certain when Apple might be launching a new Apple TV, but believe it would be tied to other offerings, either 1080p HD iTunes content or another television initiative altogether.

If Apple does see the iPad 3 as an a opportunity to launch the rumored 1080p iTunes Store, then it seems likely the Apple TV will follow.

Back in December, The Recording Academy announced that it would be honoring Steve Jobs with a Special Merit Grammy Award. The Trustees Award for Jobs was made in recognition of his contributions to the field of music with the iPod and iTunes Music Store.

The Grammy ceremony for the Special Merit Awards was held yesterday, and Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue was on hand to accept the award.

On behalf of Steve's wife, Laurene, his children, and everyone at Apple, I'd like to thank you for honoring Steve with the Trustees Grammy Award. Steve was a visionary, a mentor, and a very close friend. I had the incredible honor of working with him for the last fifteen years.

Accepting this award means so much to me because music meant so much to him. He told us that music shaped his life...it made him who he was. Everyone that knows Steve knows the profound impact that artists like Bob Dylan and The Beatles had on him.

Steve was focused on bringing music to everyone in innovative ways. We talked about it every single day. When he introduced the iPod in 2001, people asked "Why is Apple making a music player?" His answer was simple: "We love music, and it's always good to do something you love."

His family and I know that this Grammy would have been very special to him, so I thank you for honoring him today.

The Recording Academy has also published a brief tribute to Jobs by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, a 16-time Grammy winner and personal friend of Jobs.

Jobs' Grammy marks the second time he and Apple have been honored by The Recording Academy. Apple itself won a Technical Grammy Award in 2002.

Clkoerner (via OSXDaily) put together this graphic showing the relative number of pixels offered by various devices, including the rumored iPad 3. Also for reference, he includes a 1920x1080 Full HD screen to show that the new iPad's screen may dwarf them all.

That is, assuming that the iPad 3 does come with the long rumored "Retina Display". The most recent evidence suggesting that it is the case was a New York Times report last week in which an anonymous Apple employee said the new iPad would have a "truly amazing screen". Other evidence has leaked out over the past year with Apple including double-resolution iPad artwork in their applications, and numerous supply chain reports.

The graphic shows all screen resolutions relative to each other assuming that they all had the same DPI (dots per inch). The iPad 3 screen is actually believed to be the same physical size as the iPad 2, but carry twice the density of pixels. This should result in a much sharper images on the iPad 3 as compared to the previous models. 3rd party applications will have to be updated to support the higher resolution display and Apple is reportedly lining up demos for the March launch.

Reuters reports that Apple has filed a lawsuit against Motorola Mobility alleging that Motorola has breached a licensing agreement with Qualcomm in its efforts to have a number of Apple's iOS devices banned from sale in Germany. Following a December victory by Motorola in a German court, Apple last week briefly pulled all 3G-enabled products with the exception of the iPhone 4S from its German online store. They were restored within a few hours after the injunction was suspended.

Today's lawsuit specifically addresses the iPhone 4S, which Motorola has also been seeking to block in Germany and other countries. The iPhone 4S utilizes Qualcomm's MDM6610 baseband chip, and Apple argues that Qualcomm's patent license with Motorola exhausts Motorola's rights to further royalties from Apple.

The suit, filed in a San Diego federal court, argues that Motorola's German lawsuit against Apple breaches terms of a patent licensing agreement between Motorola and Qualcomm. [...]

In the latest lawsuit, Apple says that as a Qualcomm customer, Apple is a third-party beneficiary of Motorola's agreement with Qualcomm. Under that agreement, Motorola's rights under certain patents are exhausted, Apple argues.

Apple has raised this issue before, perhaps most notably in defending itself against Samsung in Australia where it similarly claimed that Apple is protected from attacks based on these patents related to core cellular technologies by virtue of Qualcomm's licensing agreements. Motorola and Samsung have disagreed with Apple on that front, and Apple is now pressing the matter with a lawsuit of its own specifically addressing the issue as it relates to Motorola's efforts in Germany.

Apple has begun offering a stripped-down 13" MacBook Air to educational institutions purchasing in bulk, replacing the two-year old white plastic MacBook offering the company recently discontinued. Apple had ceased sales of the MacBook to consumer customers back in July of 2011.

The new educational-exclusive MacBook Air is a 13" model with the same specs as the entry-level consumer 11" MacBook Air: 1.6GHz i5 processor, 2GB RAM, 64GB flash storage, and the Intel HD Graphics 3000 chipset. The machine is available in a 5-pack for $4,995 or $999 per machine. The standard 13" MacBook Air starts at $1,299.

Apple has long offered prepackaged sets of laptops to educational institutions looking to equip teachers or students with MacBooks (and iBooks before that). It has also made available a Learning Lab product that includes 10 or 20 MacBooks along with a preconfigured cart to hold and charge the machines. More recently, Apple has begun offered iPad and iPod Learning Lab carts, too.

After the discontinuation of the white MacBook, Apple reworked the bulk laptop packages it offers educational institutions. As first reported by 9to5Mac, Apple is now selling 5-packs of the 11" and 13" MacBook Airs along with an existing 13" MacBook Pro offering. The MacBook Air Learning Lab packages have been updated as well, with discounted 10- and 20-packs of the stripped-down 13" MacBook Air bundled with the aforementioned charging and storage cart.

The new packages are available on Apple's educational institution online store, though Apple has yet to update its educational web page with the new information.

In two reports back in April and July of last year, we reported that Apple was working on an ultra-thin 15-inch Mac notebook, with the suggestion being that the existing MacBook Pro line would evolve to take design cues and many of the features from the popular MacBook Air. But whether the larger notebooks would be branded as MacBook Pros or MacBook Airs has been unclear.

Many had hoped that the redesigned 15-inch notebook would debut by the end of 2011, but Apple apparently elected to squeeze in one final minor spec bump as it waited for Intel's Ivy Bridge platform to launch in 2012. Reports late last year continued to suggest that Apple was finishing up work on the redesigned 15-inch MacBook Pro ahead of a 2012 debut.

AppleInsider now weighs in with its own claims essentially mirroring much of what was previously reported, but emphasizing that the shift will likely see a unification of Apple's notebook lines under the MacBook Air design aesthetic, covering the full range of 11-inch to 17-inch sizes by the end of this year.

This will include new, ultra-thin unibody enclosures that jettison yesteryear technologies like optical disk drives and traditional hard drives in favor of models with lightweight chassis that employ flash-memory based solid-state drives, instant-on capabilities, extended battery life, and rely on digital distribution for software and media.

"They're all going to look like MacBook Airs," one person familiar with the new MacBook Pro designs told AppleInsider. Meanwhile, existing MacBook Pro designs are expected to be phased out over the course of the year.

The report suggests that Apple may not shift the entire MacBook Pro line at once, instead beginning with the 15-inch model and then following with the 17-inch model "shortly thereafter". Apple followed a similar pattern with its transition to the present unibody design back in late 2008 and early 2009.

The fate of the 13-inch MacBook Pro remains murky, and may depend on just how closely the new MacBook Pro designs mirror the smaller MacBook Air and whether Apple brings the whole notebook line under a single name. With the MacBook Pro redesign and a boost to the 13-inch MacBook Air, there may simply not be enough differentiating the two 13-inch machines and Apple may opt to consolidate its notebooks down to essentially a single line in four different sizes.

Phone Arena reports that AT&T has begun supplying its retailers with LTE-compatible micro-SIM cards, requesting that existing micro-SIM stocks be scrapped in favor of the new ones supporting the latest networks offering faster data speeds. The obvious explanation for the shift is the launch of the Nokia Lumia 900 next month, but speculation naturally also turns to Apple's plans for its upcoming devices.

Phone Arena suggests that the LTE-enabled micro-SIM cards could eventually be used in the iPhone 5, but the much nearer term launch for Apple is the iPad 3, which has been rumored to offer support for LTE. So while the new micro-SIM cards may not be appearing solely for the iPad 3, it is interesting to note that they are now available on AT&T should Apple launch an iPad 3 with LTE capabilities.

Update: AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom notes that the Pantech Breeze and Element already utilize the LTE micro-SIM card on the carrier's network.