Steve Jobs holds the new iPhone in San Francisco, January 9, 2007.

Credit: Reuters/Kimberly White

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The question is not whether Steve Jobs is an iconic CEO, but where Apple Inc's co-founder ranks in the pantheon of business leaders who have carved out a place in history.

Jobs would surely pass the Times Square test, meaning many people walking around the New York City tourist mecca would know who he is, while they might not recognize the names of other business legends such as General Electric's former Chief Executive Jack Welch.

And Jobs' technological innovations, among them the Mac computer, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, have brought him the same one-name recognition as Carnegie, Ford, Gates, Murdoch, and others.

But 50 years from now, will the Nano be considered as revolutionary as the Model T?

"What Ford did for the automobile -- just look at the suburbs and highways that developed from him, the assembly lines. Ford had a tremendous effect," said Mike Carrier, a professor at Rutgers School of Law in New Jersey, who has written extensively on innovation and intellectual property.

"I would put Jobs up in that category in terms of how he revolutionized our concept of music, of phones, of the computer, of literally everything."

But others say the jury is still out on the lasting influence of Jobs' creations, given the breakneck pace of technological innovations and the fickleness of consumers. Motorola's Razr, for example, was thought to be revolutionary just a few years ago.

"I'm not sure how all these innovations will stack up in the long-term," said Peter Cappelli, a management professor at the Wharton School of Business.

BETWEEN EDISON AND DISNEY

When Jobs first started out more than three decades ago, there were some who thought he would not make it.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, associate dean of the Yale School of Management, remembers vividly how Jobs awkwardly introduced himself to Polaroid CEO Ed Land during a lunch at Michela's in Cambridge, Massachusetts

in 1985.

"He came over to Ed to thank him for his wisdom in marrying progressive management with technological advancement," Sonnenfeld said. "After he left, Ed shook his head and said, 'That guy is never going to make it. He doesn't get technology. He's just a salesman.'"

Jobs is a salesman, one of the most successful of the last half century. But the magnitude of his technological brilliance -- The New York Times pointed out that his name appears as inventor on 313 patents -- and his penchant for theatrics place him on a historical spectrum somewhere between Thomas Edison and Walt Disney.

"There are few CEOs who can compare to Jobs in terms of breadth of activities, length of time in command, and connection with consumers," said Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse.

Part of Jobs' mystique is owed to a confluence of factors either unique to him or to our times. The attention paid to CEOs by financial analysts and the media far exceeds what it was during Henry Ford's day, for instance.

And Jobs' career trajectory as a pioneer, failure, and comeback success has the narrative arc that journalists love. Walt Disney or William Randolph Hearst hit on one or two of those plot points, but not all three.

"You can't underestimate the massive impact the press has had in building up the concept of the celebrity CEO," said Eric Abrahamson, professor of management at Columbia Business School.

He pointed to the reinvention of Kimberly Clarke as a case in point. That company began as a lumber manufacturer, then moved on to pulp before hitting it big with gas masks during World War I. After the war, Kimberly Clarke's fortunes began a downward spiral and did not recover until the company introduced Kleenex.

Though that turnaround is akin to the one Jobs' pulled off after returning to Apple in 1996 -- its stock is up roughly 9,000 percent over that time -- Abrahamson said, "I couldn't tell you who the CEO was who led Kimberly Clarke's turnaround."

PIXIE DUST

Jobs diverges from his peer group in two key aspects: the number of industries his company's products have fundamentally changed and consumers' identification of him as the singular force behind those products.

Ford helped create the automobile industry. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Jobs designed aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-use devices that changed the way computing, music and movies were made and enjoyed.

By accident or design, consumers have made a visceral connection between Apple products and the guy in the blue jeans, black turtleneck, and wire-rimmed glasses. They know Jobs did not create the devices on his own, but they desperately want to believe that he did.

They have sprinkled some of Disney's pixie dust on him, in a manner of speaking.

"Consumers personally believe that Jobs is solely responsible for the products in their house," Elberse said. But they do not think that Murdoch alone puts out News Corp newspapers, for instance.

"Fifty or a hundred years from now they'll look back on Apple products and think, 'Steve Jobs made this,'" she said. "That's his cultural impact."

And his legacy.

(Reporting by Peter Lauria and Bill Rigby; editing by Tiffany Wu)

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Exclusive: Apple readies cheaper iPhone 4 - Reuters sources

12:56pm EDT

The Apple Inc corporate logo is pictured on the rear side of the company's Macbook Air notebook computer in Virginia, August 10, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed

TAIPEI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian suppliers to Apple Inc have begun manufacturing a lower-priced version of its hot-selling iPhone 4 with a smaller 8 gigabyte flash drive, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The flash drive for the 8GB iPhone 4 is being manufactured by a Korean company, one of the people said Tuesday, declining to name the company. Apple currently sources its flash drives from Japan's Toshiba and South Korea's Samsung Electronics.

The sources declined to be identified because the information has not been made public.

Apple, which demands high levels of secrecy and security from suppliers and employees, declined to comment. Samsung also declined to comment.

The existing iPhone 4 was first launched in June 2010 with 16 GB and 32 GB versions, with a white version added to the lineup in April. The 8GB version is expected to launch within weeks, the sources said.

Some analysts said the cheaper 8GB iPhone 4 could help Apple boost sales in emerging markets.

"Apple may want to push into the emerging market segment where customers want to switch to low- to mid-end smartphones from high-end feature phones, which usually cost $150-200," said Yuanta Securities analyst Bonnie Chang.

"But I think for an 8GB iPhone 4 the price is hard to go below $200, so Apple will still need a completely new phone with low specifications for the emerging markets."

IPHONE 5 BY END-SEPT?

In addition to the launch of the smaller iPhone 4, Apple is targeting an end-September launch for the next-generation iPhone 5, one source said, confirming earlier reports on Apple follower blogsites and industry websites.

The new iPhone, which some call the iPhone 4S because of its largely identical appearance to the existing iPhone 4, will have a bigger touch screen, better antenna and an 8-megapixel camera, one of the people said.

The iPhone 5's two manufacturers have been told to prepare production capacity for up to 45 million units altogether, the source said. The phone will be made by Hon Hai and Pegatron, the person added.

Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones in the second quarter versus an expected 17 million to 18 million, and is increasingly looking to Asia to boost future earnings.

The company's COO Tim Cook said in July the company is particularly optimistic about Greater China.

"I firmly believe that we are just scratching the surface right now," Cook said about China. "I think there is an incredible opportunity for China there."

Asia-Pacific -- which accounts for about one-fifth of its total revenue -- and Greater China in particular, helped Apple's revenue surge 82 percent to $28.6 billion in April-June.

Overall, Asia-Pacific revenue more than tripled to $6.3 billion in the quarter.

(Additional reporting by Poornima Gupta in SAN FRANCISCO, Roger Tung in TAIPEI and Miyoung Kim in SEOUL; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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A posed picture shows a Motorola Droid phone displaying the Google search page in New York August 15, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Recommendations to unload Google Inc stock are extremely rare on Wall Street. But the latest "sell" rating for the Internet company was so fleeting it existed for just three trading days.

Standard & Poor's upgraded Google's stock on Monday, giving it a "hold" rating, reversing its much-debated downgrade the prior week.

S&P had slapped Google with a Sell rating -- the only such bearish call on the Internet giant's stock among almost 40 analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S -- after a surprise August 15 announcement that it will buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $12.5 billion.

As with other investors and industry commentators, S&P voiced concern about Google's plans to enter the smartphone manufacturing business, which could weigh on its financials and create conflicts with the other handset vendors who also license Google's Android software.

Shares of Google have fallen more than 10 percent from their closing price before the deal was announced, trading just a whisker below $500 in the afternoon, compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average's roughly 3 percent drop during the period.

But while several analysts adjusted targets on Google's stock price following news of the deal, no other firm appears to have downgraded Google's stock, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Scott Kessler, the head of technology sector equity research at S&P, said the sell-off in Google's stock following the Motorola news had brought its share price down to the $500 target that he set for Google when he downgraded the stock.

"It's very hard for us to say sell this stock when it's trading below its target price," Kessler told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

The fact that the back-to-back Google downgrade and upgrade came from S&P Equity, whose parent's unprecedented downgrade of United States sovereign debt this month roiled global markets and prompted discussion, made the move all the more striking.

Kessler acknowledged it was unusual to see a stock's recommendation change so quickly. But he said the move was consistent with S&P's approach to equity research.

"If we made a change to our fundamental commentary or the target price, that would understandably be a little curious," he said.

Google, the world's No.1 Web search engine, has 14 "strong buy" ratings, 20 "buy" ratings and 5 "hold" ratings, according to Thomson Reuters data. Google has no other "underperform" or "sell" ratings according to Thomson One (S&P's research is not included in Thomson One).

Although S&P raised its recommendation on Google's stock a notch, Kessler said the firm's views of Google have not changed much.

"We still have a lot of questions and concerns about this proposed acquisition and the impact it's going to have," he said.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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The Apple Inc corporate logo is pictured on the rear side of the company's Macbook Air notebook computer in Virginia, August 10, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc, Nokia and Qualcomm Inc are among several technology companies pondering bids for InterDigital Inc, sources familiar with the situation said.

The auction of the wireless telecommunications specialist -- expected to be heavily contested as giant tech companies fight to shore up patent portfolios -- will be postponed from next week until after Labor Day, the sources said.

Shares in InterDigital, which has a market value of about $3 billion, leaped as much as 12.2 percent on the news. But it quickly backtracked and was up $4.38 or 6.8 percent at $68.41 in afternoon trade.

Key potential bidder Google Inc has not formally withdrawn from the auction but it is unclear whether the Internet leader will bid for the company, the sources told Reuters.

InterDigital is up for sale and is forging ahead with its auction, despite Google agreeing to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $12.5 billion. That triggered a 23 percent drop in InterDigital's shares on Monday.

First-round bids have been postponed because bidders asked for more time to complete due diligence on the company's patents, the sources said.

To make up for that delay, the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based company expects to accelerate the second round, the sources said.

Google's presence in the auction would be crucial to how much InterDigital could fetch, an analyst said.

"The problem InterDigital has is that Elvis has left the building. He's got his date," Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff said.

Modoff also questioned whether any other technology companies need InterDigital enough to pay the high price at which its shares are currently trading.

He noted that Qualcomm already has a good portfolio of patents, and so may not want to pay up for the business.

"The problem is finding somebody else to whom it's necessary." Modoff said. "It could get acquired, but not at where the stock is at (now)."

InterDigital's stock had soared last month on reports that Google was in talks to buy the company. Bidders have been eager to get their hands on the company's 8,800 patents -- including crucial 3G and 4G/LTE patents to strengthen operating software for smartphones.

Some analysts have said that InterDigital has one of the best quality patent portfolios that remains on the market after bankrupt Nortel Network's sold its patents to a consortium led by Apple and Microsoft Corp last month.

Just over 50 percent of the current 3G market is already under license with InterDigital. Its partners include Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Apple, Research In Motion Ltd and HTC Corp, among others. The company's 4G portfolio is relatively unlicensed.

InterDigital hired Evercore Partners and Barclays Capital on July 19 to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company.

InterDigital declined to comment. The other potential bidders were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Nadia Damouni; editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Gunna Dickson)

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A customer looks at laptops at a Dell outlet in Beijing December 13, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Christina Hu

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc slashed its 2012 revenue forecast as an already weak outlook for technology spending this year worsened, sending its shares more than 7 percent lower.

The No. 2 personal computer maker on Tuesday cut its full-year revenue growth estimate to just 1 to 5 percent, from 5 to 9 percent previously, citing growing uncertainty about whether government and corporate spending on everything from servers to software can hold up in the face of flagging economic growth.

Dell's move did not bode well for rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. Shares of HP, a more diversified computing hardware and services vendor than Dell and more reliant on consumers, slid 1.3 percent.

Industry executives warn that corporate and government spending may have begun to wane on fears of a second-half economic growth slowdown, while a high jobless rate pressures consumer income.

HP, the world's No. 1 PC maker, striving for a turnaround after several disappointing quarters, will report quarterly earnings on Thursday.

"We are going to see similar trends" with HP, said Brian Marshall, analyst with Gleacher & Co, noting "maybe some weakness on the topline."

He also noted a "pause" in technology business spending.

The company founded by Michael Dell has consistently beaten Wall Street expectations this year, a result of expanding its footprint in higher-margin businesses such as servers, storage and computer services.

"From a market standpoint, clearly there's a different demand dynamic as you think about revenue growth," Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said in an interview. "It's a bit of an uncertain environment."

Dell slid 7.65 percent to $14.60 after hours, from a close of $15.80 on Nasdaq.

AND THE BAR COMES DOWN AGAIN

Before Tuesday's results, many analysts had already lowered their calendar 2011 projections as global markets tanked and economies headed for choppy waters. Corporations like Dell may be forced to reduce their full-year targets as demand slows.

During an annual analysts' day in June, executives pledged to maintain their pace of acquisitions -- it completed its $960 million purchase of Compellent in February -- to gain access to corporate clients, and to safeguard margins.

But Wall Street on Tuesday focused on anemic revenue growth, ignoring a 22.5 percent gross margin in the second quarter that actually exceeded analysts' projections by more than a full point.

Dell, which in May forecast strong government spending and a good back-to-school season, recorded sales of just under $15.7 billion in its fiscal second quarter ended July.

That marginally missed the $15.76 billion average forecast of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It added that sales this quarter would likely stay flat from last quarter.

Dell posted net income of about $890 million, or 48 cents a share, in the quarter ended July, versus $545 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, it earned 54 cents a share.

Analysts had expected 49 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, but it was not immediately clear if that estimate was comparable.

(Editing by Richard Chang)

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