Channel Beat: iPhone 6 Shatters Apple Records
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Topping this week’s news, the iPhone 6 officially hit stores today, but Apple has already broken sales records for the new smartphone. Apple sold more than 4 million preorders for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in its first 24 hours.
Apple CEO Tim Cook called the phones ’better in every way,’ and the ’best iPhones yet.’ Both phones feature larger screens than previous iPhones. The Plus has a full 5.5-inch HD retina display. The orders reportedly exceeded the company’s preorder supply, and Apple said many preordered phones will not be shipped out until October.
Texas-based hosting giant Rackspace will remain an independent company after rejecting all acquisition offers.
Newly appointed CEO Taylor Rhodes said Rackspace has seen strong revenue performance over the last two fiscal quarters. Wall Street disagreed, with Rackspace’s shares tumbling down 18 percent after the announcement. Rackspace said its partner program is healthy and growing amid the increasingly competitive cloud servers and hosting services space. Partners say a channel play will be crucial to Rackspace maintaining any kind of market share.
Microsoft is gearing up for another round of layoffs, continuing the job cuts the company announced in July. Microsoft partners expect cuts in the worldwide Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners division, a market that Microsoft is looking to move aggressively to the cloud. Microsoft’s retail presence in Best Buy and its own stores have also generated sales to SMBs. Microsoft laid off 13,000 employees in July, largely out of its Nokia acquisition.