Briefly: Borders on the brink; ITC spooks Android vendors; 3G iPad 2 on China Unicom

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
After negotiations for a buyout collapsed over the weekend, Borders is nearing liquidation. Also, China Unicom executives will soon travel to the U.S. to negotiate with Apple to bring the 3G iPad 2 to China.



Borders



The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that, according to people familiar with the matter, a bidding deadline to buy the nation's second-largest bookstore chain and rescue it from bankruptcy had passed without any offers that would keep the company in business. But, Borders, which still operates 400 stores and 11,000 employees, will likely accept offers up until a bankruptcy-court auction on Tuesday, the report noted.



Sources said Borders remained in talks with several interested buyers, including Books-A-Million Inc., but had yet to reach an agreement. Should the company prove unable to find a buyer, a group of liquidators will serve as the opening bidder in Tuesday's auction.



Borders had been in negotiations with private-equity investor Jahm Najafi, but creditors reportedly objected to his bid because of a clause that would allow him to liquidate the company. Instead, they argued that a "backup bid from liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group" would be a better deal.



China Unicom 3G iPad 2



China Unicom executives are reportedly planning a trip to the U.S. to discuss plans to bring the 3G iPad 2 to China, as reported by CC Time (via Bloomberg).



Yu Yingtao, a manager in the sales department of China's second-largest wireless operator, said the timing for a mainland release of the iPad 2 still remained unclear, as Apple is awaiting approval from "relevant domestic policies and regulations." According to the report, the 3G iPad 2 has passed 3C certification in China and is awaiting access permits from the Ministry of Industry.



The Wi-Fi only version of the iPad 2 went on sale in China in early May, quickly selling out. The 3G iPad 2 is already available in the country on the grey market.



Though Wi-Fi models of Apple's original iPad arrived in China last October, 3G versions have never officially hit the market. Regardless, China Unicom offers plans and SIM cards for iPad 3G users who import the device or purchase one off the grey market.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    They won't partner with Apple for obvious reasons - OS is locked down and proprietary. Can't touch it.



    They could develop their own OS, but it will result in a mess of systems pre-iPhone and nothing would operate well in such a mess.



    Partnering with Microsoft (Mango) is a better bet, albeit a messy one. May work, but let the Chinese folks run with it for a few months, and Mango will fall into a cesspool of malware infestation just like Android is.



    Will be very interesting to see what develops!
  • Reply 2 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    They won't partner with Apple for obvious reasons - OS is locked down and proprietary. Can't touch it.



    They could develop their own OS, but it will result in a mess of systems pre-iPhone and nothing would operate well in such a mess.



    Partnering with Microsoft (Mango) is a better bet, albeit a messy one. May work, but let the Chinese folks run with it for a few months, and Mango will fall into a cesspool of malware infestation just like Android is.



    Will be very interesting to see what develops!



    I would think royalties to Apple would be a lot cheaper than a software license from Microsoft
  • Reply 3 of 14
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    The Borders near me closed a few weeks ago. People were in there like vultures. I couldn't watch, I loved that shop. I know it's just a big faceless chain - whatever, many a great book I found there.
  • Reply 4 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The Wi-Fi only version of the iPad 2 went on sale in China in early May, quickly selling out. The 3G iPad 2 is already available in the country on the grey market.



    Even though we in India get screwed over by Apple at times, like waiting a year for the iPad and almost a year for the iPhone, at least we got the iPad 2 just a couple of week's after the international launch in places like UK. And the 3G iPads sold here are unlocked, so to speak, so I can put in any 3G sim I want. While some carriers do have special iPad plans and micro-sims available, others have a cutter that will chop the standard sim to micro size and allow for it to be used in the iPad.



    I guess India is too small an iPad market to worry about right now, even though iPhones are still sold locked to a carrier.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    tnttnt Posts: 21member
    This would be a good opportunity for HP and WB smartphone makers.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    timgriff84timgriff84 Posts: 912member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Partnering with Microsoft (Mango) is a better bet, albeit a messy one. May work, but let the Chinese folks run with it for a few months, and Mango will fall into a cesspool of malware infestation just like Android is.



    Why will it? It's a locked down OS and a locked down App Store, no diiferent to iOS and the iPhone.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aussie John View Post


    I would think royalties to Apple would be a lot cheaper than a software license from Microsoft



    That really depends on how much they can get away with charging. Microsoft is rumored to be charging $15 for patents to user Android and $15 for a WP7 license.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Borders, Tower Records, local main street pharmacy.... If you don't adapt, you die.



    What does it have to do with Apple? iBooks?! A stretch, no?
  • Reply 8 of 14
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tnt View Post


    This would be a good opportunity for HP and WB smartphone makers.



    You can be sure that they will somehow blow that opportunity
  • Reply 9 of 14
    msuberlymsuberly Posts: 234member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Borders, Tower Records, local main street pharmacy.... If you don't adapt, you die.



    What does it have to do with Apple? iBooks?! A stretch, no?



    The storey's implied connection between Borders and iBooks is a stretch. Borders was most likely done in by Amazon and Barnes and Nobles, with an assist from each company's e-reader. iBooks is not a big enough player at this point to take down a bookstore chain.



    Your implied connection between Tower Records and iTunes, definitely. I agree with your point about adapting, but I will take it further and say that no company or product, no matter how successful, will adapt forever.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msuberly View Post


    The storey's implied connection between Borders and iBooks is a stretch. Borders was most likely done in by Amazon and Barnes and Nobles, with an assist from each company's e-reader. iBooks is not a big enough player at this point to take down a bookstore chain.



    Agreed. Amazon and Barnes and Noble are the big players. Amazon claimed a year ago that Kindle books outstripped traditional books for Amazon book sales, so ebook sales are clearly taking off. I don't think iBooks is a major player here, although talking to the handful of iPad users I know, iBooks gets the most business from this small sample of users.



    For myself, I am buying most of my books on iBooks, but I keep wondering: will I still be able to read those books in 30 years? Having these books only readable on an iOS device is a concern, and for that reason I may switch all future ebook purchases to Kindle. Apple really needs to expand to other platforms like Amazon has, if they want to compete in that market.



    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...ms-Amazon.html
  • Reply 11 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msuberly View Post


    The storey's implied connection between Borders and iBooks is a stretch. Borders was most likely done in by Amazon and Barnes and Nobles, with an assist from each company's e-reader.





    I have a lot of fond memories of Border's books. It was the first super bookstore that came to my area and I was astonished that they had a coffee shop and a place to sit down to read...such a far cry from the Walden bookshops I had grown up with.



    But they never really had a vision on where to go with the company. While B&N built up it's web presence, Borders never really knew where to go. They partnered with Amazon.com for awhile for their online presence (boy, what a bad idea that was...they had no idea that Amazon was their true competitive threat). That set them back years, and let B&N get a lead on them.



    Then they never had a good competitive solution for the Nook and Kindle (Kobo reader...? Really?)



    Honestly, Borders is a textbook case of a once great company simply losing it because of ineffective leadership and a lack of vision.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    z3r0z3r0 Posts: 238member
    400 stores? Thats a lot of locations for new Apple Stores
  • Reply 13 of 14
    z3r0z3r0 Posts: 238member
    Speaking of textbooks... Borders could refocus and sell them, even rent them. It would be a buffer to the eventual ebookpocalypse but hey who knows they might recover and sell some property versus a total lose.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JamesTheLesser View Post


    Honestly, Borders is a textbook case of a once great company simply losing it because of ineffective leadership and a lack of vision.



  • Reply 14 of 14
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    The Borders near me closed a few weeks ago. People were in there like vultures. I couldn't watch, I loved that shop. I know it's just a big faceless chain - whatever, many a great book I found there.



    sad

    i found score's of great books there.



    Good Bye Yellow Brick Road





    9
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