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There’s no question the current and next generation of mobile phones, products like the iPhone and RIM’s newly minted Blackberry Bold, have grand ambitions to advance and change their industry.  There’s also no question cottage industries are popping up to thrive on their coattails.

Where there is developing industry, there are investors.   In March, with Apple’s support, venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (KPCB) pledged a sum of $100m for an investment initiative focus on forward thinking iPhone related software and services.  Now, Research in Motion is following suit with an investment focus of their own.

Monday, RIM announced the formation of a$150million fund to invest in services and applications for their rival Blackberry platform.  Canadian VC firms JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners are lending expertise to manage the fund. The fund will be called the Blackberry Partners Fund.

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Surf Apple’s Canadian website and conspicuously missing is any link for the iPhone.  The same void can be found in Apple’s four retail outposts north of the border too.   If you’re a Canadian, it’s not that you can’t get (or use) the phone, but absent a carrier agreement, there’s been no service provider to “officially” unlock it.  Now that’s soon to change.

Canadian wireless provider Rogers Wireless confirmed today they’ve reached a deal.  In an official statement they said they are, “thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year.”

That Rogers won the deal is little surprise.  They’re the only cellular carrier in Canada with a GSM network capable of supporting the platform (either with EDGE or in a future 3G model).  In fact, the lack of competition for Canadian airwaves, and the resultant high prices that flourished for data services, has widely been blamed as the reason for the phone’s slow migration.   It was only this past February that Rogers began offering a reasonably priced unlimited data plan on their network.

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Last week, Apple made a tiny debit from their enormous cash reserves to buy small semi conductor design firm PA Semi.  At approximately $278m, the deal barely shifts the multi billion dollar cash account on the balance sheet; still it has left many analysts, watchers and writers asking questions.  The first and most obvious is “why?” Why did a company that favors buying companies in the early stages of development buy a company with an established customer list? And why given Apples’ focus and success with consumer-focused products choose to invest in the challenging and cyclical semiconductor industry?

Another more macro set of questions (in a companion post to this article) query whether the deal represents a possible shift in Apple’s acquisition policies.  Was this the start of a more acquisition friendly Apple; one interested in taking advantage of weaknesses in the current financial markets to fortify underlying tech assets?

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Looking at Apple’s purchase of Palo Alto Semiconductor (PA Semi) opened the door to two core questions.  One, the micro look, questioned what Apple’s specific interests in the company were.   Why did they make the purchase?   Part 1 of this two part article series delved into that question in detail.  The second question is a recurring issue and more macro in focus: does this small scale purchase give any indication of a change in Apple’s M&A strategy? 

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It’s iPhone supply mania, part two.   

In late March reports began to spread that Apple stores around the U.S. were dangerously low on iPhone inventory.  Orders at Apple’s own online store were taking 5 to 7 days to fill.  Something was amiss.   Given mismanaging channel inventory or poorly estimating demand is not a mistake Apple usually makes, the anomaly fueled heavy speculation we were seeing the beginning of a product shift and not a coincidence.   Apple was beginning to clear out shelf space to make way for a new phone model, people guessed.

A few analysts countered that that was unlikely.  They suggested the inventory shortfall was more likely the result of parts shortages, or about accounting and revenue recognition.  Their argument pointed out there was still ample supply of the phones at retail partners and across the UK, France and Germany.  Because shipments to partner stores are recorded as sales and shipments to Apple’s own outlets aren’t, they argued, such an inventory alignment made good financial sense.  It was a way for Apple to record more sales.

Now two weeks later, conspiracy theorists have another sign to point at Click to Read More

There’s no denying the ubiquity of the cell phone.  Since the Motorola “Dynatac” prototype was used to call AT&T rivals in early April 1973 to say “we beat you to it,” the world has voraciously adopted and clamored for the devices. Currently, reports estimate somewhere between 75% and 90% of U.S. adults have a cell phone or are subscribed to a mobile phone service agreement.  Around the globe, estimates say there are more than 3 billion phones.  Thirty five years after the prototype, it’s clear we can’t live without them.

It’s also clear today’s phones aren’t just for talking. Click to Read More

Electronic Arts took its offer to Take Two’s shareholders and Microsoft is on the verge of doing similar with Yahoo.  Monday, Motorola narrowly avoided adding another major proxy fight to the quarter’s tally.  Subject to an agreement announced today, dissident board member Carl Icahn and the rest of Motorola’s board of directors agreed to settle their ongoing battle over board seats and control (Press Release).

In exchange for dropping litigation (filed to gain access to corporate documents) and for his withdrawing a proxy fight for four board seats, Motorola agreed to endorse two of Icahn’s nominees to the board.  The Illinois based company also agreed to both refrain from adding anti takeover provisions like poison pills and a staggered board to the spin-off of the company’s mobile phone business; and to insure Icahn (or his board representatives) will have a significant voice in decisions regarding the spin-off (including the hiring of a CEO).  

These decisions regarding the future handset business are particularly noteworthy. Click to Read More