For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 20, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple Inc. (AAPL), KT Corp. (KTC), SK Telecom (SKM), China Unicom (CHU) and American Express Company (AXP).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

South Korea Welcomes iPhone

Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone is finally reaching the hands of South Korean mobile users. The country’s telecom regulator Korea Communications Commission (“KCC") has granted Apple the license to sell the iconic handset in the domestic cell phone market. KCC has also lifted

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Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone is finally reaching the hands of South Korean mobile users. The country’s telecom regulator Korea Communications Commission (“KCC") has granted Apple the license to sell the iconic handset in the domestic cell phone market. KCC has also lifted the restrictions that prohibited location-based services on smartphone devices such as the Google Maps application on iPhone.    South Korea’s second-largest wireless carrier KT Corp. (KTC) will start booking Internet order for iPhone (3G & 3GS) soon and begin selling it from Nov 28, 2009. The company targets to initially sell 150,000 units priced between KRW250,000 and KRW300,000 (US$216 and US$260). KT’s peer SK Telecom (SKM), the largest mobile operator in the country, is still negotiating with Apple for securing distribution rights.     South Korean wireless market is technologically advanced and relatively mature with roughly 47 million total subscribers, representing 96% penetration of

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The U.S. smart-phone market is growing at a rapid pace despite the ongoing global economic slowdown. A recent analysis by CTIA Wireless has revealed that the country’s wireless service providers have generated a massive $19.4 billion of data revenues from smart-phone users during the first half of 2009. This is an improvement of 31% year over year. This is primarily due to a shift in consumer preference towards feature-enhanced high-end PDA devices from ordinary mobile handsets used primarily for voice telephony. The PDA market size is likely to approach $200 billion by 2012, according to various industry sources.   This grand opportunity provides massive scope for telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, chipset developers, and wireless tower operators to retain new users and grow revenues moving forward. According to the CTIA Wireless report, at present, the U.S. has more than 246 million data capable devices with 40 million smart-phones or ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 7, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), NTT DoCoMo (DCM), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Verizon Wireless (VZ) and Nokia Corp. (NOK).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

LTE Leading the Next Generation

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology is ahead in the race to be the most sought-after next-generation (4G) wireless network standard in the market. The 4G wireless networks are aiming to cope with substantial demand for high-speed wireless data services and mobile video.

The growing acceptance

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Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology is ahead in the race to be the most sought-after next-generation (4G) wireless network standard in the market. The 4G wireless networks are aiming to cope with substantial demand for high-speed wireless data services and mobile video. The growing acceptance of LTE technology has prompted the mobile handset makers to develop phones that will be compatible with this network. Qualcomm Inc (QCOM), one of the key developers of OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) based chipsets has decided to introduce the trial version of LTE-compatible chipsets during the fourth quarter of 2009. Industry sources predicted that the first LTE handsets may arrive on the market in the second half of 2010, but these next-generation smart-phones may to go mass market by early 2012. NTT DoCoMo (DCM) will launch LTE handsets in 2011 compatible with its current 3G network, enabling the customers ...

The first chapter of a colossal technological shift in the electronics industry is beginning. Displays on small televisions, iPods and smart phones are getting smaller, clearer and brighter at a rapid pace — and it will forever change the way you work and play. Simply put, it’s difficult to overstate the potential of this future multibillion-dollar market…

I’m talking about organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. OLED displays are taking off in a big way. These next-generation displays are perfect for the mobile phone and personal media device markets because they are thinner than traditional displays and produce sharper images.

OLED — and active-matrix OLED — technology has now reached its tipping point. Very soon, we will begin to see OLEDs used in a vast array of electronics, including small televisions, digital cameras, netbooks, phones — the list goes on and on.

The rise of the OLED display is similar to that of the

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Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology is ahead in the race as the most sought-after next-generation (4G) wireless network standard in the market. The 4G wireless networks are aiming to cope with substantial demand for high-speed wireless data services and mobile video. LTE is an IP-based modulation standard and a set of enhancement for the existing Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). This technology has been pioneered by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a telecom industry body comprising wireless carriers and equipment vendors who have been buying and selling the same proprietary products for years. Verizon Communication (VZ), the largest carrier in the U.S., and NTT DoCoMo (DCM), the largest carrier in Japan, are the first two companies to decide on implementing LTE–based networks by 2010. Vodafone (VOD), the largest mobile carrier globally on revenue count and AT&T (T) will implement LTE by ...

Research In Motion (RIMM) is likely to introduce its BlackBerry Storm2 in September. Yesterday, Verizon Wireless (VZ) slashed the price of the currently available BlackBerry Storm 9530 smart-phone to $50 with a two-year service contract. Industry sources infer that this may be an indication for the early launch of BlackBerry Storm2 as both companies gear up for the new smartphone.

Launched in November last year, Research In Motion’s first touch-screen mobile handset Storm aimed to counter the growing popularity of Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iconic iPhone. The launch of Storm2 in September/October would cut the older version’s lifetime to less than a year, indicating cut-throat competition in the smart-phone industry.

This market is getting increasingly crowded with new players and should witness intense competition going forward. In addition to Research In Motion, Apple and Palm Inc. (PALM), Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Samsung have launched a

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Research In Motion (RIMM) yesterday announced that it acquired Torch Mobile, a web-based software and application developer. Torch Mobile uses the open-source web browser layout engine WebKit to develop web applications for mobile phones.  The company’s flagship Iris Browser product is a web browser for mobile phones with a customizable interface and touch-screen control.  Iris browser can be used on many devices and platforms. The browser contains software components for web services compatible with Google (GOOG) gadgets, Yahoo (YHOO) widgets, and several other web platforms.

RIMM has been able to successfully differentiate its BlackBerry products from other offerings in the communications market. BlackBerry smart-phones are admired globally for their best e-mail functionality. However, its web browsing capability is not as powerful as iPhone of Apple Inc. (AAPL), Pre of Palm Inc. (PALM) and Google Android. All of these browsers are based on the WebKit ecosystem. In

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ANADIGICS, Inc. (ANAD) recently reported net sales of $31.5 million, up 3% sequentially but down 61% year over year in the second quarter of 2009. ANADIGICS designs and manufactures radio frequency integrated circuits (ICs) for the wireless and broadband markets. The company had earlier guided revenues to decline by 8% – 10% sequentially in the second quarter but the reported results beat management’s expectations. Both 3G and wireless LAN sales depicted strength. Purchases by LG continue to be steady and both Samsung and ZTE came in much stronger than anticipated. Despite inventory corrections by certain customers, revenue increased sequentially with LG Electronics, Samsung, ZTE, Cisco (CSCO) and Intel (INTC). The company regained some of its lost market share at Samsung.   However, revenues from cable infrastructure declined but came in better than expected by management. The gross margin plummeted to 8.8% from 37.1% ...