Verizon Wireless to unveil iPhone Tuesday: source

A sign of Verizon Wireless is seen at its store in Westminster, Colorado April 26, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking

NEW YORK | Sat Jan 8, 2011 6:54pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless, the top U.S. mobile provider, plans on Tuesday to unveil a version of the Apple Inc iPhone for its service and will kick off sales of the device a few weeks later, a source told Reuters.

Verizon Wireless will offer the iPhone to its customers under its existing wireless service price plans, said the source, who asked not to be named as the plan has not yet been announced.

Apple and Verizon Wireless declined comment on Saturday.

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc, will announce pricing for the device at an event to be held in New York on Tuesday.

The agreement between Verizon Wireless and Apple marks the end of AT&T's iPhone exclusivity. AT&T Inc, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, has been the only operator to sell iPhone since it launched in 2007.

Since AT&T has been heavily dependent on iPhone for customer growth in the last few years, some investors have worried that it could face a mass exodus of subscribers once its bigger rival starts selling iPhone.

AT&T's reputation for network performance problems, particularly in cities such as New York and San Francisco, could exacerbate the problem.

But some analysts have said that the loss of customers will be tempered by the fact that most of AT&T's iPhone customers subscribe via family plans, which are trickier to exit as they involve more than one customer.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Verizon to carry iPhone: source

A customer looks at an iPhone 4 at the Apple Store 5th Avenue in New York June 24, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer

NEW YORK | Fri Jan 7, 2011 9:33pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless will sell the iPhone, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

There was no specific date for when Verizon would sell the phone in its stores, the paper reported on its website. The announcement will be made on Tuesday at an event in New York, WSJ said.

Verizon declined to comment. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Shares of Verizon rose 2.5 percent in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Apple shares rose 0.6 percent in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq.

Verizon, Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc, delivered cryptic nontransferable invitations on Friday to an event to Tuesday's New York event.

The in-box invite to journalists was skimpy on details: "Join us as we share the latest news from Verizon Wireless."

AT&T Inc is currently the exclusive carrier of the iPhone.

On January 6, AT&T announced it will cut the price of its older iPhone model, the 3GS, to $49 from $99.

Apple's iPad is available through Verizon.

Earlier this week at the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas, Verizon Wireless said it plans to have 10 new devices -- including four smartphones and new tablets -- on store shelves by midyear for its high speed wireless data service.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker, Jennifer Saba, Gabriel Madway; Editing by Gary Hill and Gunna Dickson)

Apple reached out unsuccessfully for new CFO: source

The Apple logo shines inside of an Apple Store in New York July 19, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson

NEW YORK | Thu Jan 6, 2011 4:38pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc reached out to Blackstone Group's finance boss Laurence Tosi to tap him for the position of CFO at the iPhone maker, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

Tosi, who holds a senior position at one of the world's biggest and most influential buyout firms, decided against moving to Apple, the source said.

It is the first indication that Apple might be seeking to replace its CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, who started at the tech giant in 1996, according to the company's website.

However, Apple denied that it is looking for a new CFO.

"Peter is not leaving Apple," said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. "We are not conducting a CFO search. He loves the company and is extremely happy in his role."

When asked specifically whether an approach had been made to Tosi, Dowling repeated that Apple is "not conducting a CFO search."

News of the approach was first reported by Bloomberg.

Blackstone declined comment.

(Reporting by Paul Thomasch, Megan Davies and Ken Li in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Facebook documents reveal strong profits: source

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a news conference at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California May 26, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

By Matthew Goldstein and Alexei Oreskovic

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Jan 6, 2011 8:59pm EST

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook is generating profits at a faster-than-expected rate, and will likely attract so many investors this year that it will have to disclose financial data similar to a publicly traded company by April 2012, according to a document distributed by Goldman Sachs.

The move could set the stage for a much-anticipated Facebook initial public offering in 2012, though there is no guarantee that the social networking company would choose to sell shares to the public simply because it is required to open its books to the public.

Facebook, the world's No. 1 Internet social network, earned $355 million in net income in the first nine months of 2010 on revenue of $1.2 billion, according to a source who received the documents that Goldman Sachs provided to its clients on Thursday.

Goldman began hand-delivering copies of the 101-page private placement memorandum for a $1.5 billion Facebook offering to its wealthy customers a little after lunchtime in New York, according to the source.

The Goldman customer said he received a separate six-page financial statement containing information on the social networking company.

The document provides some of the most detailed financial information yet about Facebook, which Goldman recently valued at $50 billion in a separate, $450 million funding.

That valuation is high, but not outrageous based on the glimpse into the company's financial performance and the growth that it implies, said Ryan Jacob, of the Jacob Internet Fund.

"It just shows you that these businesses can generate 30 percent to 40 percent, potentially, operating margins," he said. "They probably did at least $500 million in net income in 2010."

Wedbush Securities analyst Lou Kerner, who owns Facebook shares, said, "The revenue kind of are in line with our expectations."

"The surprise was on the profitability. I think it highlights that Facebook is likely to have margins that are going to exceed Google's margins," he said.

The memo said Facebook is likely to have more than 500 shareholders this year, according to another person who reviewed the documents, and that the company may begin filing public reports of its financial performance by April 2012.

(Not everyone thinks Facebook's valuation is justified. For a Reuters Insider video, "Facebook Financials Don't Back Valuation," click here [ID:nRTV176273]))

THE BIG 500

United States securities regulations require companies with more than 499 shareholders to disclose financial information.

Facebook, which was founded in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, has more than 500 million users and is challenging big Web businesses like Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for users' time online and for advertising dollars.