Insiders' Blog

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is taking a page from Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) playbook and rolling out a new retail concept.

According to TheVerge Friday, Microsoft is planning to open four news stores in the U.S. "soon," with more stores planned for Canada later in the year.

Locations may include Austin, Texas, and Palo Alto, California, and two in New Jersey.

All of the initial locations are expected to be in malls, not unlike many Apple stores worldwide.

One rep for Microsoft said it plans to open up 75 new stores within two years, but wasn't specific about locations or international expansion.

What this will do to retailers like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Wal-mart (NYSE: WMT), hhgregg (NYSE: HGG), and anywhere else which slings Windows-based products is anyone's guess. GameStop (NYSE: GME) may see lower revenue if stores begin selling Xbox units, games, and accessories.

Shares of Microsoft are down over 1 percent on the session.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) shares flying higher once again Friday...figuratively and literally.

According to reports from Bloomberg, the U.S. Air Force may order up to 18,000 iPad 2 devices from Apple, amounting to one of the largest orders put in by the military for tablet computers. At a minimum retail price of $499 (we're not sure if they'll get a bulk discount), that amounts to total cost of about $9 million dollars.

In terms of overall impact, the number isn't very large; last quarter Apple reported overall revs of $46.33 billion. The important part is yet another flow from Apple's device from the consumer's hand to government and corporate entities.

Expected for use by the USAF Air Mobility Command, iPad's will replace about 40 pounds of manuals and navigation charts used by pilots and navigators.

This could be bad news for Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM). The company's BlackBerry PlayBook is currently the only tablet certified for U.S. government-agency use. RIM has 1 million governmental customers in North America.

Last month, the iPad was cleared by the FAA for use in the cockpit of airlines to replace manuals and charts.

Other devices the USAF said it might consider range from Motorola's (NYSE: MMI) XOOM, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, and Barnes & Noble's (NYSE: BKS) NOOK...all which run on Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android platform.

Apple is up just 0.3 percent on the session, following a 3.4 percent gain Thursday.

Tandy Brands (Nasdaq: TBAC) was halted for volatility following the announcement of its second-quarter earnings report. Tandy reported EPS of 39 cents, trumping earnings of 10 cents per share reported in the same period last year.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $45.5 million, versus $42.9 million reported last year.

Traders may want to take note of an emerging counter-trend in the wireless sector: following the initial wave of euphoria as the iPhone became more and more popular -- meaning burgeoning new or renewed contracts at service providers -- Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) clout may now be getting ahead of itself.

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) are great examples. While the stocks have become solid dividend plays (yielding 5.3 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively), shares have underperformed the broader stock market rather sharply this year. Verizon shares are down 6 percent in 2012, while AT&T shares have fallen about 1.5 percent. In contrast, the S&P 500 is up nearly 7 percent since the start of the year.

Investors may be starting to recognize the minimal profits drawn from the sale of any of Apple's iPhone models, a product which once brought on fuzzy thoughts of recurring earnings to investors in the wireless sector. Remember when Verizon or Sprint (NYSE: S) first got the iPhone? The headlines which followed were nothing short of angelic to shareholders.

Unprecedented demand for Apple's latest model, the iPhone 4S, drove the company's first-quarter figures well past what could accurately be called a "blow-out"; this is well known. On the other side of the transaction, however, both Verizon and AT&T missed the Street's estimates last quarter.

Although Apple certainly deserves its "fair" share of the profits, the company may be a large factor pushing carrier's margins to dangerously razor-slim levels.

Sharp increases in mobile phone data usage recently (with the iPhone certainly a large contributor to that trend) has required service providers to continuously lift their usage and plan rates and consequently deal with customer outrage. Providers have even implemented tactics such as slowing data speed on users who exceed data usage levels.

While Verizon undoubtedly wants to retain its position as the number one carrier in the U.S., management may need to consider at what expense is the title coming to them. In the future, service providers may look to go back to the drawing board with Apple and renegotiate the terms of their respective deals. New contracts in the future could call for a lower percentage of total device sales to go to Apple, or possibly require a percentage of App sales to be given to the service providers. When all is said and done, the future Apple may not be able to bake its cake and eat it too...

Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) is higher today following reports which have all but pegged the streaming content provider's next expansion target.

According to TheNextWeb, Netflix is aiming to enter the Russian market. Data comes from the very English-unfriendly online newspaper Vedomosti.ru.

In addition to Netflix, competitor Hulu is also mulling a deal in the region.

Currently, Netflix operates in Canada, the U.K., Ireland, and Latin America, with expansion plans for Spain expected to carry out in 2012. Hulu has gone as far as Japan, though speculation surrounding its next move has been quiet.

Interest from Hulu was piqued when Russia entered the World Trade Organization and also from recent comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR) data, which suggests Russian view more online video than Europeans.

Hulu is a joint venture between Comcast's NBC Universal (Nasdaq: CMCSA), News Corp's Fox Entertainment (Nasdaq: NWSA), Providence Equity Partners, and Disney-ABC (NYSE: DIS).

Shares of Netflix are fighting the market, up 0.3 percent on the overall down session.