MacRumors

The latest numbers from research firm IDC reveal that the premium smartphone market continues to be a largely two-horse race between Samsung and Apple, which accounted for 21.7% and 14.1% market share in the second quarter respectively. The rival tech companies combined for 35.8% quarterly market share, finishing well ahead of emerging Chinese competitors Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo during the three-month period ending June 30.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows that smartphone vendors shipped a total of 337.2 million smartphones worldwide in the second quarter, an 11.6% increase from the 302.1 million units shipped in the year-ago quarter. The growth was driven by not only premium devices sold by Apple and Samsung, but also the growing number of affordable handsets available in emerging countries such as China and India.

Apple increased 2.4 percentage points to 14.1% during the second quarter compared to its 11.7% market share in the year-ago quarter, while market leader Samsung experienced a year-over-year decline as its market share slipped from 24.8% to 21.7%. Apple closed the gap on the continued strength of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with the company announcing it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter of the fiscal year earlier this week.

Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone operating system race, trailed by Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo with 8.9%, 5.3% and 4.8% market share in the second quarter respectively. All other smartphone makers accounted for a combined 45.2% quarterly market share. Overall mobile phone shipments in the second quarter reached 464.6 million units worldwide.

Apple today launched its annual Back to School promotion, offering a free pair of Beats Solo2 On-Ear headphones to qualifying students, parents of students and educators that purchase an eligible Mac, including the iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac Pro. As usual, the Mac mini and refurbished Macs are excluded from the deal. iPhones and iPads are also absent from this year's promotion.

Apple will apply an instant credit in the amount of $199.95 to cover the full cost of the Beats Solo 2 On-Ear headphones in gloss black, white, red, blue, gray or pink. Apple is also offering the option to upgrade to Beats Solo2 Wireless On-Ear Headphones in space gray, silver or gold for $100 extra, which is the remaining balance after the $199.95 credit is applied.

Apple's Back to School promotion offered up to a $100 Apple Store gift card with the purchase of a qualifying Mac, iPhone or iPad in past years, including the 2014 and 2013 promotions, but the iPhone and iPad are not included in this year's deal. Apple has outlined the full eligibility requirements for the program in its terms and conditions for the United States [PDF] and Canada [PDF] on its website.

Apple has traditionally launched its Back to School program during June or early July, with the second Tuesday of July being the target date for several years in a row, but this year's launch has come later in the month than expected. Apple has also moved away from offering free Apple Store or iTunes gift cards for the first time since offering a free iPod touch with a qualifying Mac in 2010 and prior.

Apple's Back to School promotion runs from today through September 18, 2015 at Apple Retail Stores, and between August 6, 2015 and September 18, 2015 on the Apple Online Store, in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Apple has not yet officially announced the promotion in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark or several other European countries that have offered the deal in previous years.

Juli Clover contributed to this report.

Update 9:30 AM Pacific: Apfelpage.de and iFun.de report that the same promotion will be offered in Germany starting August 6.

While the release of the Apple Watch has seen a boom in third-party docks and stands for the device, those accessories have needed the stock charger that Apple supplies to charge the Apple Watch. However, Apple will soon allow manufacturers to make official third-party Apple Watch docks and stands with integrated chargers, according to 9to5Mac.

However, the charging components are currently only available in "sample quantities" and official plans for accessories with integrated chargers cannot be submitted for approval. It's unknown when the first Apple Watch docks and stands with integrated chargers will be available.

Apple today seeded second betas of iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan to public beta testers, nearly two weeks after beta testers received access to the first public betas. Today's iOS 9 public beta offering has a build number of 13A4305g, which means content-wise, it's the same as the fourth iOS 9 beta that was seeded to developers yesterday. The version of OS X El Capitan public beta testers are receiving is also identical to El Capitan beta 4.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program and already have the first public betas installed can update over-the-air for iOS 9 or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store for OS X.

The iOS 9 beta includes the return of Home Sharing for music, which was removed in iOS 8.4, and it's the first beta that supports Apple's new iPod touch. Other changes include a new look for Handoff in the app switcher and a bug fix that once again allows the volume buttons on an iOS device to serve as a shutter for the camera. A full list of changes in the beta can be found in our iOS 9 beta 4 tidbits list.

OS X El Capitan beta 4 focused more on performance improvements and bug fixes with few outward changes to the operating system.

Both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan 10.11 are expected to be released in the fall.

The latest data from research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that the Apple Watch captured 75.5% global smartwatch market share during its launch quarter, trailed by Samsung's estimated 7.5% market share.

Strategy Analytics estimates that Apple sold 4 million Apple Watches in the second quarter of 2015, while runner-up Samsung sold an estimated 400,000 smartwatches during the three-month period ending June 30.

Many analysts have adjusted their Apple Watch sales estimates following the company's earnings report on Tuesday, with the consensus now ranging between 2.2 million and 3 million units sold, so Strategy Analytics's 4 million estimate seems overly high. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Apple Watch has become the best-selling smartwatch since its release.

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “We estimate Apple Watch shipped 4.0 million units and captured a dominant 75 percent smartwatch marketshare worldwide in Q2 2015. Apple Watch launched in sixteen major countries and saw decent take-up from iPhone loyalists in the United States and elsewhere. Apple Watch has clearly raised the bar for the global smartwatch industry. The ball is now in the court of rivals, like Samsung, to respond.”

The launch of the Apple Watch helped the overall smartwatch market grow an estimated 457% annually to reach a record 5.3 million units in the second quarter of 2015. Strategy Analytics reports that smartwatch shipments were higher in this quarter than throughout all of 2014, when Samsung led the market and an estimated 4.6 million smartwatches were shipped globally.

Samsung held a commanding 73.6% global market share in the smartwatch market in the year-ago quarter, but the South Korean electronics maker now trails the Apple Watch by a significant margin. Apple Watch is currently available in the United States and eighteen other countries, and the wrist-worn device is set to launch in New Zealand, Russia and Turkey on July 31.

Apple and Samsung together accounted for 8 in 10 smartwatches sold, similar to the two-horse race between the rival tech companies in the smartphone market. Strategy Analytics estimates that other manufacturers shipped a combined 900,000 smartwatches during the second quarter of 2015 for 17% market share, down from 26.4% market share in the year-ago quarter despite selling 600,000 more smartwatches.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple Watch sales "exceeded expectations" during the company's third quarter earnings report on Tuesday, but stopped short of providing any specific sales figures. Cook's only comment was that Apple Watch sales during its first nine weeks of availability were higher than sales of the original iPad and iPhone when those devices first became available for sale.

Most of our giveaways have focused on hardware products, but this week, we've partnered with Aspyr to set up a special one-of-a-kind giveaway. We've teamed up to offer our MacRumors readers a free copy of the ultra popular game Civilization V: Campaign Edition, which normally retails for $29.

We've created a dedicated page for the giveaway. Head over there to get a promotion code for Civilization V: Campaign Edition that can then be redeemed within the Mac App Store. The promotion is open to readers worldwide.

For those of you unfamiliar with Civilization V, it's a turn-based strategy game that lets players lead a civilization to world domination through time, waging wars, discovering technologies, trading with friendly nations, and interacting with some of the world's most powerful historical leaders. Civilization V: Campaign Edition includes the base game, the Babylon Civilization Pack with Nebuchadnezzar II, plus the Mongols Civilization and Scenario Pack.

Update 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time: We've just exhausted our supply of Civilization V promo codes. We're working on getting more codes to give away and we'll let our readers know when we're able to distribute more, so stay tuned.

Apple has quietly changed its App Store policies and is no longer permitting iOS devices running pre-release software to be used to write App Store reviews. When attempting to write a review from a device that has iOS 9 installed, a popup is displayed that tells users reviews can't be submitted while using beta software.

This is a much needed change that will prevent developers from having their App Store ratings and reviews affected by beta-related problems that are out of their control. As MacStories' Federico Vittici pointed out last week, negative App Store reviews left by beta testers have been an unaddressed issue for developers since Apple started providing beta software to public testers.

When beta software is released, some customers fault developers for apps that crash or do not function properly with beta features, leading them to leave negative App Store reviews even though there are months to go until apps need to be ready for the new software.

Following the release of the iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan public betas a week and a half ago, developers began seeing a huge uptick in negative reviews. Many of them took to Twitter to share 1 star reviews that included comments like "Broken with iOS 9.0," and it appears Apple finally took notice of the issue.

iOS 8.4.1, a pre-release iOS build that is available only to developers, continues to allow App Store reviews to be left, so it appears this may be a change that affects only major software updates or software updates that have also been seeded to the public as part of Apple's public beta testing program.

As expected, Apple did not share specific sales numbers on the Apple Watch during its third quarter earnings call, but Apple CEO Tim Cook did shed some light on how well the Apple Watch did during its first quarter of availability. According to Cook, Apple Watch sales "exceeded expectations" despite supply continuing to trail demand at the end of the quarter. "We feel really great about how we did," he said.

Cook also pointed out that Apple Watch sales during its first nine weeks of availability were higher than sales of the original iPad and iPhone when those devices first became available for sale. June sales, he said, were higher than those in April or May, suggesting reports of falling demand in June were inaccurate.

Apple includes the Apple Watch in its "Other Products" category in an effort to keep its competitors from getting a detailed look at its shipments. Other Products includes the Apple Watch, the iPod, the Apple TV, and accessories like Beats headphones.

During the third quarter of 2015, the Other Products category saw $2.6 billion in revenue, up from $1.7 billion during the second quarter of 2015, a difference of nearly a billion.

Cook said it "would not be accurate" to look at sequential change or year over year change and assume that number represents the actual Apple Watch revenue because there are a lot of factors at work, including declining iPod and accessory sales, which are also included in the category. In a statement made to the Associated Press, Luca Maestri said something similar, suggesting revenue from the Apple Watch amounted to "well over" the $952 million increase between the two quarters.

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told The Associated Press that revenue from the watch was "well over" that $952 million increase. He said the category also includes revenue from iPods and accessories, whose sales fell in the quarter.

"We beat our internal expectations" for the watch, Maestri said, adding that the number of watches sold in the first nine weeks was greater than the number of iPhones or iPads that the company sold in a comparable period after those products launched.

Aside from analyst estimates that range from an estimated 2.85 million sales to 5.7 million, that rough $1 billion revenue figure that accounts for the difference between Q2 and Q3 is the closest we've come to learning how many Apple Watch devices Apple sold.

Cook went on to say that beyond the "very good news in sales," Apple is excited about how the Apple Watch is positioned for the long term. There are now 8,500 apps available for the device, and the company is poised to release watchOS 2 in the fall, which will bring native apps and performance improvements. "We believe the possibilities for Apple watch are enormous," said Cook.

Apple today announced financial results for the third fiscal quarter and second calendar quarter of 2015. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $49.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $37.4 billion and net quarterly profit of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter was 39.7 percent compared to 39.4 percent in the year-ago quarter, with international sales accounting for 64 percent of revenue. Apple also declared an upcoming dividend payment of $0.52 per share, payable on August 13 to shareholders of record as of August 10. The company currently holds $202.8 billion in cash and marketable securities.

Apple sold 47.5 million iPhones during the quarter, up from 35.2 million a year earlier, while Mac sales registered 4.8 million units, up from 4.4 million units in the year-ago quarter. iPad sales continued to decline, however, falling to 10.9 million from 13.3 million.

“We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The excitement for Apple Music has been incredible, and we’re looking forward to releasing iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 to customers in the fall.”

Apple's guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 includes expected revenue of $49-51 billion and gross margin between 38.5 and 39.5 percent.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q3 2015 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference Call and Q&A Highlights are available in reverse chronological order after the jump.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Apple today released the fourth beta of iOS 9, and as with the previous iOS 9 betas, there are quite a few new features bundled into the release. There are some major additions, such as the promised return of Home Sharing for Music, and several other minor tweaks intended to refine the look and feel of the operating system.

With approximately two months to go until release, iOS 9 is already feeling faster, more polished, and more full featured. For those eager to know all about what's coming in iOS 9 ahead of its release, we've rounded up a complete list of the changes introduced with iOS 9 beta 4 below.

You can also check out all of the changes, large and small, that have been made in previous betas: iOS 9 beta 1, iOS 9 beta 2, iOS 9 beta 3.

Home Sharing - Home Sharing for music was removed in iOS 8.4 with the launch of the new music app and the new Apple Music service, but iTunes chief Eddy Cue said Apple was working to re-add the feature in iOS 9 and it has, in iOS 9 beta 4.

iPod touch Support - People who purchased one of the new A8-based iPod touch devices last week can now upgrade those devices to iOS 9 beta 4. With this beta, Apple added a new installation profile for the device.

Volume Button Photos - In iOS 9 beta 3, there was a bug that prevented the volume button from working as a shutter button for the iOS camera. That's been fixed in beta 4 and it's once again possible to snap a photo using the volume buttons on your iOS device.

Notifications icon - In the Settings app, the icon that represents the Notification setting has been updated with a new red color. The Battery icon has also been fixed and now has rounded edges instead of square edges.

Picture in Picture for Podcasts - One of the iOS 9 features on the iPad is a multitasking Picture in Picture option that lets users watch a video while continuing to complete other tasks on their iPads. As of iOS 9 beta 4, this works with the Podcasts app.

Handoff - The Handoff feature in the App Switcher has been moved to the bottom of the app-switching interface. Pull up on the new Handoff bar to open an app. Previously, Handoff was displayed in the app carousel.

Apple Pay - There's a new option in the Settings app for Apple Pay that lets you turn off the feature that allows Apple Pay be accessed from the home screen with a double click.

Additional feature updates in iOS 9 beta 4 will be added here as they are discovered. Apple should continue to release regular updates to iOS 9 at two to three week intervals throughout the beta testing period to bring minor performance boosts and changes ahead of the operating system's official launch. iOS 9 is expected to be released to the public in the fall.