Apple posts first quarter 2008 results

Filed under: Apple Financial, AppleWe are in the process of liveblogging Apple's financial conference call, but Apple has already posted their quarterly results for all to read. Here's what Apple sold this quarter: 2,319,000 Macs (44% more than last quarter) 22,121,000 iPods (5% more than last quarter) 2,315,000 iPhones Revenues clocked in at $9.6 billion and a net profit of $1.58 billion.Best. Quarter. Ever.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Apple Financial, AppleWe are in the process of liveblogging Apple's financial conference call, but Apple has already posted their quarterly results for all to read. Here's what Apple sold this quarter: 2,319,000 Macs (44% more than last quarter) 22,121,000 iPods (5% more than last quarter) 2,315,000 iPhones Revenues clocked in at $9.6 billion and a net profit of $1.58 billion.Best. Quarter. Ever.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Apple reports Q1 results: 10.17B revenue, $1.78 profit per share

    Filed under: Apple Corporate, AppleAbove the fold headline: Apple blew by the analyst estimates again. Conference call coming up! --- Apple Reports First Quarter Results Best Quarterly Revenue and Earnings in Apple History iPod Sales Set New Record CUPERTINO, California-January 21, 2009-Apple(R) today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter ended December 27, 2008. The Company posted record revenue of $10.17 billion and record net quarterly profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, equal to the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter's revenue. In accordance with the subscription accounting treatment required by GAAP, the Company recognizes revenue and cost of goods sold for iPhone[TM] and Apple TV(R) over their economic lives. Adjusting GAAP sales and product costs to eliminate the impact of subscription accounting, the corresponding non-GAAP measures* for the quarter are $11.8 billion of "Adjusted Sales" and $2.3 billion of "Adjusted Net Income." Apple sold 2,524,000 Macintosh(R) computers during the quarter, representing nine percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold a record 22,727,000 iPods during the quarter, representing three percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 4,363,000, representing 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. "Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history-surpassing $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time ever," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Our outstanding results generated over $3.6 billion in cash during the quarter," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. "Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2009, we expect revenue in the range of about $7.6 billion to $8 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $.90 to $1.00." Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2009 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime(R), Apple's standards-based technology for live and on-demand audio and video streaming. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 21, 2009 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq109/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.Continue reading Apple reports Q1 results: 10.17B revenue, $1.78 profit per shareTUAWApple reports Q1 results: 10.17B revenue, $1.78 profit per share originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Apple 2010 Q1 earnings announced... and they're magnificent

    Filed under: Apple FinancialApple's press release discussing the FY10 Q1 earnings (the December '09 calendar quarter) has been transmitted to the ether, and the SEC has the form 10-Q. You can read the whole thing at Apple's investor relations page, but let us sum up: goodness gracious. Earnings per share (under GAAP rules) were at $3.67, with a total revenue number of $15.68B; net profit was $3.38B. Mac sales for the quarter hit 3.36 million and iPhone sales came in at 8.7 million (under analyst estimates of 9.1 million). The company has over $23B in cash and short-term investments. Ahead of today's earnings news, AAPL was up over 2.5 percent for the day, closing at 202.87; market mood monitor Piqqem had analyst estimates largely bullish at $2.07 EPS and $12.05B in revenue. Join us momentarily for our liveblog of the analysts' call at 5 pm ET. One more thing: a quote from Steve Jobs. "The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about." Us too. Disclosure: I hold a small, long-term position in AAPL. See the full release below.Apple Reports First Quarter Results All-Time Highest Revenue and Profit New Accounting Standards Adopted CUPERTINO, California-January 25, 2010-Apple(R) today announced financial results for its fiscal 2010 first quarter ended December 26, 2009. The Company posted revenue of $15.68 billion and a net quarterly profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $11.88 billion and net quarterly profit of $2.26 billion, or $2.50 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.9 percent, up from 37.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter's revenue. Apple sold 3.36 million Macintosh(R) computers during the quarter, representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 8.7 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 100 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 21 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. During the quarter Apple elected retrospective adoption of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's amended accounting standards* related to certain revenue recognition. Adoption of the new accounting standards significantly changes how the Company accounts for certain items, particularly sales of iPhone(R) and Apple TV(R). "If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it's surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about." "We are very pleased to have generated $5.8 billion in cash during the quarter," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. "Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue in the range of about $11.0 billion to $11.4 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $2.06 to $2.18." Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2010 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime(R), Apple's standards-based technology for live and on-demand audio and video streaming. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 25, 2010 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq110/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter. *Retrospective Adoption of Amended Accounting Standards On September 23, 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ratified Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) Issue 08-1 and EITF Issue 09-3, resulting in the issuance of accounting standard updates ASU 2009-13 and ASU 2009-14. Apple was required to adopt the new accounting standards no later than the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Apple elected to adopt the new standards during the first quarter of fiscal 2010, as reflected in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 26, 2009, which was filed with the SEC on January 25, 2010. The Company also filed a Form 10-K/A to amend its Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2009 solely to reflect the retrospective adoption of the new accounting standards to the periods presented in that report. Additionally, Apple filed a Form 8-K that included selected quarterly financial schedules reflecting the impact of retrospective adoption of the new accounting standards and reconciling the application of old and new accounting principles to historical income statements, balance sheets, cash flow from operations, deferred revenue and summary data information. These financial schedules will also be available on the Company's website at www.apple.com/investor. The new accounting principles result in the Company's recognition of substantially all of the revenue and product cost for iPhone and Apple TV when those products are delivered to customers. Under historical accounting principles, the Company was required to account for sales of both iPhone and Apple TV using subscription accounting because the Company indicated it might from time to time provide future unspecified software upgrades and features for those products free of charge. Under subscription accounting, revenue and associated product cost of sales for iPhone and Apple TV were deferred at the time of sale and recognized on a straight-line basis over each product's estimated economic life. This resulted in the deferral of significant amounts of revenue and cost of sales related to iPhone and Apple TV. Because Apple began selling both iPhone and Apple TV in fiscal 2007, the Company retrospectively adopted the new accounting principles as if the new accounting principles had been applied in all prior periods. Consequently, the financial results of each quarter from fiscal 2007 through fiscal 2009 have been revised. The Company believes retrospective adoption provides analysts and investors the most comparable and useful financial information and better reflects the underlying performance of the Company's business. For additional information refer to the "Explanatory Note" in Apple's Amendment No. 1 to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2009. This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company's estimated revenue and earnings per share. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company's reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company's products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company's gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company's need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company's business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company's dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; the Company's reliance on the availability of third-party digital content and applications; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company's dependency on the performance of distributors and other resellers of the Company's products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company's sales and operating profits; the Company's reliance on sole service providers for iPhone in certain countries; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; potential litigation from the matters investigated by the special committee of the board of directors and the restatement of the Company's consolidated financial statements; and unfavorable results of other legal proceedings. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included from time to time in the Company's public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 26, 2009 and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 26, 2009. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates. TUAWApple 2010 Q1 earnings announced... and they're magnificent originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Apple - Steve Jobs - Financial Accounting Standards Board - IPod

  • Apple Q3'09 results: breaking records, not taking names

    Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple Financial In yesterday's earnings announcement and subsequent analysts' call, Apple reported another record-breaking quarter; the company posted its "best non-holiday quarter [in terms of] revenue and earnings." This is pretty impressive given, as Engadget points out, what some consider the "worst recession since the Great Depression." Specifically, Apple's books (not that kind) are reporting revenues of $8.34 billion with a take-away profit of $1.3 billion; the bump from the year-ago quarter in earnings per diluted share takes us from $1.19/share in Q3'08 to $1.35 in Q3'09. In the midst of these impressive numbers, Apple's CFO Peter Oppenheimer is optimistic. Apple is expecting revenue in the range of $8.7 billion to $8.9 billion for the current quarter, forecasting an increase in Mac sales as we enter the back-to-school shopping season. This is a safe bet, given Apple's "best ever" line of current MacBooks. For Q3'09 Apple sold 2.6 million Macs -- 1.75M of them were laptops, per Macworld -- representing a 4% increase in units sold over the year-ago quarter. The laptop rush continues to swing the balance of Apple's CPU sales towards the MacBook Pro line; laptop units sold jumped 13% year over year, while desktop sales dropped almost 100K units (849K vs. 943K) against Q3'09. Ignoring the subscription-based accounting methodologies for both iPhone and Apple TV, Apple's non-GAAP revenue was a staggering $9.74 billion with net income of $1.94 billion. In order to allow for future free updates to the products, Apple uses subscription based accounting for iPhone and Apple TV; revenue from iPod touch & iPod, Macs, software and accessories is fully recognized when the products are sold. This approach "parcels out income from iPhone and Apple TV sales over a 24-month period." Apple also sold 10.2 million iPods and 5.2 million iPhones, representing a 7% decline and 626% increase over the year-ago quarter. This fact is significant because the decrease in iPod sales indicates that the iPhone is now cannibalizing its older siblings in the "traditional" (shuffle, nano, and classic) family of iPods. Apple is also quick to point out that the entire market for traditional MP3 players is declining. While the increase in iPhone sales does seem quite impressive, it is worth noting that the iPhone is available in many more countries than it was a year ago (although the 3GS is only in 18 of the 80 markets so far). I would be interested in knowing if iPhone sales increased domestically or if these numbers are completely driven by international success. Another interesting metric will be to compare iPhone sales this quarter to sales in Q3'10. With a similar sampling of countries the numbers should make for a better comparison. Although, I will go ahead and jump the rumor-gun and say I think that next year's iPhone is going to be a bigger improvement vs. the current model, as compared to the 3GS vs. the 3G; for this reason iPhone sales will continue to increase. Again the question of netbooks was presented and again Apple suggests that the netbook is currently a sub-standard computing platform with a poor user experience. If we consider that Apple had at one time said they were not doing a video iPod, then it is pretty likely that an Apple netbook is in our future. Apple's third-quarter results are very strong and the stock is up substantially in early trading today. This should be great news for anyone holding any AAPL in their portfolio especially given the close for Q2'09 was a mere $121.51. I think Apple is doing a great job and as an investor myself, I am pleased with the results -- as is the rest of Wall Street. TUAWApple Q3'09 results: breaking records, not taking names originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Apple posts $1.58B profit, buys monocle, top hat

    Filed under: Misc. GadgetsWell, the holidays were pretty happy down Cupertino way this year -- Apple just posted its Q108 financials and they're impressive. Spurred by sales of 2.3 million iPhones, 22 million iPods, and 2.3 million Macs, Steve and the boys raked in $9.6 billion in total revenue, which translates to $1.58 billion in pure, glorious profit. That represents Apple's latest best quarter ever, with a 35 percent jump in revenue year-over-year -- a $2.5 billion increase from last December. The $1.76 profit per share also beat consensus analyst estimates of $1.63 a share, and, as Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster pointed out in his notes, Mac sales have increased 43 percent since last year. All in all, quite a quarter for a fruit company -- we'll let you know what else we find out during the conference call later today. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Apple Q408 results out: 6.9m iPhones sold, record Mac sales UPDATE: Steve answers analysts' questions

    Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, LaptopsHey, turns out that people seem to like a little thing called the iPhone 3G. Apple just announced that it's sold 6.9 million of 'em during its financial fourth quarter, beating out the 6.1 million total first-gen iPhones sold in the previous five quarters -- and beating RIM's total sales this quarter, which Apple seems excited about. Of course, that represents worldwide availability in 51 countries vs the initial US-only launch, so it's not totally unexpected that the numbers are up, but it means that Apple's hit its goal of 10 million iPhones sold in 2008, which should cause some celebration in Cupertino. Apple also seems pleased with Mac sales, which are up 21 percent over a year ago to 2.6 million -- more than it's sold in any other quarter ever. All that combines with 11 million iPods sold for a total profit of $1.1 billion on revenues of $7.9 billion -- that's a lot of scratch. Still, times are tough, so Steve, do you have a seemingly-cautious statement about the US economy that also doubles as a smug shot at your competitors? "We don't yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple. But we're armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt." Yeah, we thought you might.PS.- The analyst call just finished with a special appearance from Steve Jobs, who took questions. Head past the break for our semi-liveblog transcript of the good parts. Continue reading Apple Q408 results out: 6.9m iPhones sold, record Mac sales UPDATE: Steve answers analysts' questionsRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Apple reports highest Mac Sales EVER

    Apple just issued the press release for their 3rd Quarter Financial results, and things couldn't be going any better for Macs. Revenue is up 38% year-over-year, and Mac Sales are at an all time high. Apple shipped 2,496,000 Macs during the quarter, representing 41% growth from the previous year. That's absolutely amazing. Full press release after the jump. CUPERTINO, Calif., July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 third quarter ended June 28, 2008. The Company posted revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $.92 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.8 percent, down from 36.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 42 percent of the quarter's revenue. Apple shipped 2,496,000 Macintosh(R) computers during the quarter, representing 41 percent unit growth and 43 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 11,011,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 12 percent unit growth and seven percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone(TM) units sold were 717,000 compared to 270,000 in the year-ago-quarter. “We're proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple's history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. “We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G, and we're busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months.” “We're extremely pleased with the growth of our business and the generation of almost $5.4 billion in cash in the first three quarters of fiscal 2008,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. “Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $7.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.00.” Apple will provide live streaming of its Q3 2008 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime(R), Apple's standards-based technology for live and on-demand audio and video streaming. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PDT on Monday, July 21, 2008 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq308/ and will also be available for replay. This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company's estimated revenue and earnings per share. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation potential litigation from the matters investigated by the special committee of the board of directors and the restatement of the Company's consolidated financial statements; unfavorable results of other legal proceedings; the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company's reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company's products; war, terrorism, public health issues, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the Company's reliance on sole service providers for iPhone in certain countries; the continued availability on acceptable terms of certain components and services essential to the Company's business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company's gross margin; the effect that product quality problems could have on the Company's sales and operating profits; the inventory risk associated with the Company's need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the effect that the Company's dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; the Company's dependency on the performance of distributors and other resellers of the Company's products; the Company's reliance on the availability of third-party digital content; and the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included from time to time in the Company's public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 29, 2007; its Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended December 29, 2007 and March 29, 2008; and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 28, 2008, to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates. Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone. (C) 2008 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPhone and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

  • Why Dan Frommer and Scott Moritz Are Wrong on iPhone Sales

    Daniel Eran DilgerSilicon Alley Insider's Dan Frommer says Apple's announcement of reaching its million mark goal in iPhone sales three weeks early is actually bad news for Apple and is convolutedly "below plan." He also says the announcement only props up the speculative conjecture by Scott Moritz of the Street that Apple's iPhones sales are somehow woefully below expectations. They're wrong, here's why.The PremiseFrommer wrote that Apple isn't selling iPhones as fast as planned and is set to only sell around half of its 2008 goal.His premise revolves around the idea that if Apple were selling iPhones at "a constant rate," a million phones in 74 days would be five million per year. However, because it sold over a quarter of those in the opening day and a half at the end of June, Frommer calculates that sales of the remainder in the 72 days since the first of July mean that Apple is only hitting a "3.6 million annual run rate."By the end of 2008, that would only result in 5.8 million units instead of the ten million goal Apple. [Silicon Alley Insider: Apple's iPhone: 1 Million Is Below Plan]Strike One: The Run Rate Myth.The most obvious problem with that idea is the fact that devices don't sell at a constant “run rate." Apple's iPhone sales took off at launch much faster than the original iPod due to the fact that a swell of early adopters were ready to buy it after being convinced over six months of anticipation. At the same time, many potential buyers held off on plans to buy the iPhone until they could read reviews and get a real sense of how it worked. Many were also locked into contracts with Verizon or Sprint. With only six months of advanced notice, it will still be a few more months before the majority of buyers who want an iPhone even get the chance to buy one without having to pay outrageous fees to cancel their existing mobile contract. iPhone sales are also now taking on the network effect of the iPod, as early adopters show their friends. All these factors have difficult to estimate impacts upon sales that make trying to figure a static “run rate� a very simplistic and pointless exercise.However, there is another factor that simply blows the entire idea of a static “run rate� out of the water. Last November, I predicted that sales of the Zune would bomb that winter because Microsoft had failed to critically examine Apple's historical sales patterns. Sure enough, the Zune was thrown against the rocks by Apple's riptide. Frommer's idea ignores that same reality by imagining that iPhone sales will schlep along at a linear pace. Had Frommer tried to calculate an "annual run rate" for the iPod based on a portion of third quarter sales at any point over the last half decade, he would never have been close to accurate. That’s because Apple’s iPod sales roughly triple every winter quarter.In 2002, it sold nearly as many iPods in its winter quarter as it did the first three quarters combined: 219,000In 2003, it actually sold more iPods in its winter quarter than in the first three combined: 733,000In 2004, it again sold more iPods in its winter quarter than in the first three: 4,580,000In 2005, it sold more than 4 million units every quarter, but still sold nearly three times as many in the winter: 14,480,000.In 2006, it sold more than 8 million units every quarter, and then sold over 21 million in the winter quarter.In 2007, it has maintained quarterly sales between 10.5 and 9.8 million per quarter.[Strike 3: Why Zune will Bomb this Winter]Strike Two: The Have it Both Ways Myth.One particularly annoying bit of analysts' talk about Apple's expectations is that they can't seem to decide if Apple's projections are bad because they are conservative lowballs, or if they are bad for being overly enthusiastic figures the company won't be able to reach. They often try to describe them as both, loading contempt on both sides of the scale. This makes them look very foolish. Do they think we have no memory, or are they just changing their stories back and forth in sheer desperation?Frommer tried to argue both sides at once in the same article. Recall that Apple only ever gave two iPhone sales goals: one million by the end of the first quarter of sales, and ten million by the end of 2008. In his piece, Frommer suggests Apple will only be able to sell 5.8 million iPhones by the end of 2008, based on that fallacious "run rate." That would be just over half of Apple's ten million goal. However, he then says that Apple's immediate short term goal was an unimpressive low ball, no doubt because Apple reached it three weeks early.Apple's stated goals must be a greatly frustrating logical conundrum for Frommer, because even at a “run rate" of one million in a quarter, Apple could only ever hope to sell six million iPhones by the end of 2008, another five quarters later. No wonder he's faced with trying to say that the immediate goal was too low and the longer term one is too high! Frommer needs to stop trying to pound round facts into square holes just so they can be stacked up like bricks the way he would like them to be.Strike Three: The Market Bearing Price Myth.While Frommer and Moritz are enamored with the idea that iPhone prices could only be cut if sales were in crisis, a variety of obvious market realities don't support that simpleton idea. Between now and the end of 2008, Apple has just two holiday seasons. If it wants to dramatically exploit its historical potential for selling roughly three times as many gadgets during the winter season, it makes sense to trade off unit pricing for volume sales, even if it could perhaps sell fewer at a higher price and make more short term profits doing so.Such a strategy isn't unique. Microsoft and Sony currently lose money on their new game consoles in desperate bids to establish their gaming and HD video playing platforms. Even so, this year they both cut prices again to accelerate volume demand. Nintendo purposely aimed low to capture volume sales using a more attractive price point. Given high demand for the Wii and extremely constrained availability, Nintendo "should" seemingly raise its console price and profiteer. It hasn't. While prices are clearly linked to demand, it is a common fallacy to think that the "right price" is always the highest the market will bear. Jobs' 99 cent pricing in the iTunes store is clearly not the top price consumers will pay for downloads. Music labels are fuming that other licensees such as Verizon will collect $2.50 or more for portions of a song sold as a ringtone. Jobs wants media prices low to induce volume sales and attract buyers to the legitimate market for music and movie downloads. Labels and studios want "market pricing," in part so they can jack up the price of popular music to exploit consumers, and in part so they can exploit artists by threatening to release their work at lower tiered prices and signal to the market that their careers are over.[Universal vs Apple in the iTunes Store Contracts][Nintendo Wii vs Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PS3]This All Happened Before.Dial back the clock twenty years, and you'll discover that Steve Jobs also fought with Apple CEO John Sculley over the price of the original Macintosh. The desire to use an expensive but pioneering amount of RAM and a futuristic new processor had inflated the price of the Mac, but the design team was still able to deliver it at a fairly attractive price point of $1,995. Scully determined that the Mac would still sell at $2495, delivering high profits to fund splashy advertising. Nothing on the market was really similar to the Mac apart from Apple's $9,995 Lisa. VisiOn for the PC similarly cost nearly $10,000 and did far less. Sculley thought that the market would bear anything Apple might charge. Andy Hertzfeld recalled on Folklore.org that in October 1983, "Steve Jobs strode into the software area one evening, looking angry. 'You're not going to like this,' he told us, 'but Sculley is insisting that we charge $2495 for the Mac instead of $1995, and use the extra money for a bigger marketing budget. He figures that the early adopters will buy it no matter what the price. He also wants more of a cushion to protect Apple II sales. But don't worry, I'm not going to let him get away with it!'"Jobs fought Sculley over the price increase, but Sculley prevailed. Sure enough, Macs did sell well out of the gate to early adopters at the higher price, but sales then began to stall. While Jobs couldn't cut the price for the original Mac to induce wider adoption in the mid 80s, he could choose to cut the price of the iPhone early and use interest in the iPod Touch to ramp users toward the iPhone. That price cut will dramatically boost sales this winter, just as iPod price cuts and feature refreshes do every year.Apple will earn less profit on individual hardware sales of the iPhone, and may even earn slightly less money overall this quarter than it might have selling the iPhone at $599. However, a $399 iPhone will dramatically boost the company's sustainable subscriber revenues and devastatingly cut into stationary rivals like Palm and the Windows Mobile licensees, giving them little opportunity retool and strike back with copycat products.  [Price Fight - Folklore.org][Office Wars 3 - How Microsoft Got Its Office Monopoly]Strike Four: The Myth of Unlimited Availability.Another problem with idea that iPhone sales were in crisis--and that a price cut is a conspiracy to hide the truth--is that Apple sold out of iPhones in many of its retail stores throughout the first three weeks on sale.Carl Howe of Blackfriar's Communications tracked iPhone availability every day through July, and then animated the results in a movie that depicts just how constrained iPhone inventories in Apple's retail stores were. So not only did Apple meet its 94 day goal 20 days early, but it did so despite having no or few iPhones to sell in many of its stores during the first 21 days. Price isn't just related to demand, but also to supply.That also demonstrates the fallacy of Scott Moritz' assertion that Apple secretly planned to sell a million iPhones in a day and a half, and was sorely disappointed after failing to do so. How could Apple have planned on selling a million units in one day when it didn't even have a million units on the shelves of its stores during the first month? Remember, Moritz wasn't saying Apple had a delivery problem in getting enough units to stores as Nintendo is experiencing with its constrained supplies of the Wii. Instead, he tried to suggest that interest in the iPhone was far below Apple's estimates, and buyers were leaving it on the shelf like Windows Vista. The result, he claimed, was that "rivals were rejoicing."The only real rejoicing by rivals was that Moritz was volunteering to repeat the talking points handed to him by Verizon shill Roger Entner of IAG Research. Just hours before Apple announced it had sold a million units, Moritz tried to get some traction out of the idea that Apple had dropped the price in desperation to find another half million or so customers over the next three weeks. Apple isn't the typical tech company being run by visionless bean counters. It it were, it would have continued selling $600 iPhones at least through the end of September and then announced that it had sold its million. Apple had to push out new iPods in early September and fit the iPhone into the price range because next month it will be rolling out Leopard and a series of new software updates. Apple feeds the press in small, consistent, and regular feedings so reporters know what to write. If Apple were a big stupid company such as, say HP, it would parade out a mix of dozens of consumer and business products all together in one big event, and nobody would ever hear about any of it. HP did.[Why a million iPhones in 74 days is better than you think- Blackfriars][HP's marketing this week: fashionable but ineffective - Blackfriars][Unraveling Anti-Apple Panic: the iPhone Launch Success] [More on Scott Moritz and the Jim Cramer Misinformation Engine]Strike Five: It's Too Late to Deny the iPhone.The most comical part of Frommers’ analysis is that he’s trying to stuff a cat back into a bag and explain that there was never really any cat, long after everyone in the room heard the purr and pet the thing. Sorry, but the windows of opportunity to doubt the iPhone have long since closed.Real Windows Enthusiasts were aware of the need to deny the iPhone well before its release. They all chimed in with reasons why the iPhone wouldn't work, wouldn't offer what consumers want, and wouldn't sell well, all hoping that their non-stop misinformation campaigns would act as a self-fulfilling prophesy. They failed miserably.John Dvorak began his smear campaign immediately, appearing on CNBC to say that the iPhone was "trending against what people are really liking in phones nowadays, which are those little keypads.� He explained, “The BlackJack, the Samsung, the BlackBerry obviously pushes this kind of thing. The Palm, all of these. I guess some of these stocks went down on the Apple announcement, thinking that Apple could do no wrong. But I think Apple can do wrong, and I think this is it." Reader Jim Barrow sent in a link to a MarketWatch article from March, where Dvorak scribed a rambling diatribe entitled "Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone." He offered no factual basis for worrying that the iPhone might not work out apart from the offhanded comment that "there is no likelihood that Apple can be successful in a business this competitive," words which echoed Dvorak's 1984 observation that "the Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a 'mouse.' There is no evidence that people want to use these things."In April, Dvorak inflamed his 'pull the plug' rhetoric further in a TWiT podcast, where he reported to an audience of hundreds of thousands that the iPhone only delivered "40 minutes of talk time" and "the interface fouls up constantly.� Dvorak said that his inside information on the iPhone came from a "guy at Cingular who’s testing the product," adding, "he’s telling me confidentially and I shouldn’t be telling anybody."[John Dvorak: How Wrong Can One Guy Be?][Readers Write: Don't Write About John Dvorak Anymore]It'll Be the Death of You.Dvorak was joined by Rob Enderle, who called the iPhone “damned� and “not a very good phone� at every opportunity in the months before its launch, despite not really knowing anything about it, or even ever offering any rational criticism. Instead, Enderle appealed to fantasy fears of sexual assault, murder, and the violent death of children, all of which he suggested might somehow be related to the iPhone. Unaware that a password protected iPhone--or even a unauthorized unit without a configured service plan--can still be used to make emergency phone calls, Enderle wrote about, "an emergency situation where, say, a woman was being raped and couldn’t call for help because she didn’t remember her iPhone password." As I understand, with a Windows Mobile phone, even if the unit crashed while trying to place the call, at least the victim could use it like a brick as a blunt weapon. Enderle also feared that being unable to take out the battery would somehow making recharging it impossible, resulting an a scenario where one might end up on “the wrong side of town� with a dead iPhone and be murdered because of it. Being on the wrong side of town was apparently the source of most murders prior to the arrival of the cell phone, which somehow made it safe to be in bad neighborhoods. For those who unfazed by the prospect of one's own own grizzly death in relation to the iPhone, Enderle appealed to his readers to please think of the children, particularly the potential for their brutal decapitation in an iPhone-related collision. "If you are buying this phone for a child or another member of your family," Enderle warned, "please emphasize that entering data on this phone while driving is dangerous." In contrast, operating the slide out keyboards of an HTC brick phone, or using both hands to thumb type on a BlackBerry may or may not save your children as they drive off an embankment, but at least you'll know they didn't die at the hands of Apple's "damned" iPhone.[SCO, Linux, and Microsoft in the History of OS: 1970s][Mac OS X vs Linux: Third Party Software and Security]Pure Concentrated Evil with a Multitouch Screen.Brian Lam of Gizmodo published an impassioned plea to boycott the iPhone shortly before its launch, due to the fact that Cingular had purchased the AT&T name, a brand Gizmodo's writer correlated with "monopoly tactics" in the late 70s. Gizmodo hasn't ever called for the boycotting of Verizon Wireless, which is well known for its anti-consumer tactics and which shares just as much blood with the old AT&T as its Baby Bell sibling Cingular, nor has it ever urged the boycott Microsoft products due to "monopoly tactics." Gizmodo also failed to boycott any other GSM phones that are tied to AT&T.Gizmodo's Lam and Enderle then teamed up with Slate's David Sessions in an article purporting to expose Apple's rated battery life for the iPhone. Sessions complained about the attention the iPhone was getting, and tried to dismiss Apple's announcement of a two fold increase in battery life over what was originally advertised. Unbelievably, Sessions and friends could only explain away the iPhone's jump in talk time by crediting its glass screen, saying that "glass transmits light more efficiently than plastic." That and some witchcraft.However, all of these individuals sharply reduced their squirt rate of false information after the iPhone's successful launch. In day and a half, Apple sold 270,000 iPhones compared to the 500,000 Palm OS Treos, 1.03 million RIM BlackBerrys, and 1.51 million Windows Mobile phones that were sold worldwide in the first 90 days of 2007.Apple has since nearly matched highflying RIM in sales during July, despite being limited to a single carrier and only offered for sale in the US. At this point, denying the iPhone is like saying the Earth is flat. It might be fun to do at a Renaissance Faire, but pretending to seriously doubt reality is not a good career move unless you work for the Street--or perhaps Rupert Murdoch, as Dvorak does.[Secret iPhone Details Lost in a Sea of Hype and Hate][iPhone Sales vs Zune, Palm, RIM, Symbian, Windows Mobile]And Now: a Warning.Let it be known that anyone who publishes further misinformation or blows out similar inanity will risk being instantly awarded a Zoon on the spot. No complicated voting, no tedious application process. New Zoon nominees will be rubber stamped with the same effortless fast tracking as the ECMA declaring Microsoft technology as an international standard.In fact, I’m going to totally Zoon Dan Frommer and Scott Moritz right now, as well as John Dvorak, Rob Enderle, Brian Lam, David Sessions, and even Roger Entner. And John Sculley. And while I’m handing out an intellectual property construct that costs me nothing to distribute, I will also award Steve Jobs with a Zoon for the whole two month “just kidding� iPhone pricing situation, although I might take half of it back if I get a $100 coupon that doesn’t force me to spend $500 to actually use it. So let that be a warning to you out there on the Tubes thinking about how to linkbait an article at the expense of the progress of technology. I have a rapid firing gun full of Zoons and I’m not shy about cranking them out. Be sure to post any nominees.What do you think? I really like to hear from readers. Comment in the Forum or email me with your ideas. Like reading RoughlyDrafted? Share articles with your friends, link from your blog, and subscribe to my podcast! Submit to Reddit or Slashdot, or consider making a small donation supporting this site. Thanks!

  • Apple posts record $3.25b profit in first full quarter of iPad sales, says more 'amazing products' coming this year

    Apple just posted up its third quarter earnings -- its first full quarter selling the iPad -- and, well, it's raining cash in Cupertino. The company posted a record profit of $3.25b on record revenues of $15.7b, which is up from $1.83b and $9.73b from a year ago. The big stat? Apple sold 3.27 million iPads, nearly matching the 3.47 million Macs sold -- and Mac sales were up 33 percent from a year ago to set a new quarterly record. Yeah, damn. iPhone sales -- including the first few weeks of the iPhone 4 -- were up 61 percent from a year ago to 8.4 million, and the iPod continued its slow decline, down eight percent to 9.41 million units sold. Over half of the Apple's sales -- 52 percent -- were international, and Jobs is quoted saying "we have amazing new products still to come this year." Not a bad way to head into back-to-school and the holidays, we suppose -- we've got a feeling those iPad numbers are just going to go up. The conference call to discuss all this is at 5pm ET, we'll be covering it live right here.Continue reading Apple posts record $3.25b profit in first full quarter of iPad sales, says more 'amazing products' coming this yearApple posts record $3.25b profit in first full quarter of iPad sales, says more 'amazing products' coming this year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Apple  | Email this | Comments

  • Apple reports best ever March quarter with a $1.21b profit, calls netbooks "junky"

    The economy might be in a dumpster, but Apple keeps selling iPods, iPhones and Macs -- the company just reported a $1.21b profit on revenues of $8.16b, which is yet another record quarter. In fact, if you do away with that pesky subscription accounting that the company uses for the iPhone and Apple TV, the numbers are even higher: $1.66b profit on $9.06b of revenue. Mac sales did fall three percent compared to a year ago, but that was offset by a three-percent increase in iPod sales (particularly of the iPod touch) and a 123-percent jump in iPhone sales. So, now that the numbers are out of the way, let's let Tim Cook take some shots at netbooks, shall we? When I'm looking at what's sold in the Netbook market, I see cramped keyboards, junky hardware, very small screens, bad software. Not a consumer experience that we would put the Mac brand on. As it exists today, we're not interested in it nor would it be something customers would be interested in the long term. We are looking at the space. For those who want a small computer that does browsing/email, they might want an iPhone or iPod Touch. If we find a way to deliver an innovative product that really makes a contribution, we'll do that. Slamming the door while simultaneously leaving it open -- how very Jobs-like. Speaking of which, Cook wouldn't say anything beyond the usual "We look forward to Steve's return in June" line, so no updates there -- but were you really expecting any? We're still listening to the call, we'll update if we hear anything good.Update 1: When asked about the Pre, Cook said "it's difficult to say anything about a product until it's shipped... I can't say anything intelligent about the Pre."Update 2: When asked about taking legal action on IP (presumably about the Pre), we just got a straight-up repeat of what they said last time: "We think competition is great as long as they invent their own stuff."Annnd, that's it -- we'd say the real fireworks are the numbers, since we'd already heard this line about netbooks from Steve himself. We just wish someone would've asked if Apple's reached out to Lauren and Giampaulo.[Via MacRumors]Filed under: Misc. GadgetsApple reports best ever March quarter with a $1.21b profit, calls netbooks "junky" originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Apple records another record quarter -- $1.61B profit

    Apple just announced its quarterly results, and it looks the brutal economy isn't bruising the fruit at all -- the company posted a record $1.61B profit on $10.17B in revenue. Adjusted to reflect the subscription accounting Apple uses for the iPhone and Apple TV, that's $2.3B of income on $11.8B of revenue. Sales were all strong -- Macs were up nine percent to 2.5M sold, iPods up three percent to 22.7M sold, and iPhones were up 88 percent to 4.3M sold. If you're keeping track, that means Apple's now sold well over 10M iPhone 3Gs on top of beating its goal of 10M total iPhones in 2008, which is pretty tremendous. Acting CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer are taking questions from analysts now, we'll let you know if anything interesting happens -- as you'd expect, the first question was "How's Steve?" and it got basically a non-answer.2:18PM - After rattling off Apple's core goals and beliefs, Tim Cook said that "regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well." Neither him or Peter would speak to succession plans or comment on Steve's health.Continue reading Apple records another record quarter -- $1.61B profitFiled under: Cellphones, Desktops, LaptopsApple records another record quarter -- $1.61B profit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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