Posts Tagged ‘Apple’

Apple Earnings Insanity

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

apple-5-day-performance.png
(source: nytimes.com)

“Oh my god. Ohhh my god. Apple. Apple!!!!!!!”

– Intern Spencer, screaming as he watched the price of everyone’s favorite mega-corporation skyrocket to almost $400 per share.

(Just for fun, compare that with a maximum price of $9.54 per share in 2001.)

The reason for the sudden spike? Apple released its quarterly earnings report* on Tuesday evening, showing a record $28.57 billion in revenue. That’s $28.57 billion. In three months.

In the handy graph above, you can see investors getting excited about the upcoming earnings announcement on Monday and Tuesday, and then pretty much exploding with enthusiasm on Tuesday night.

What else would you expect from a company that has enough cash to buy almost every other mobile phone maker in the world, and that has enough fans in China to support an entire industry of counterfeit Apple stores?

* In the U.S., all publicly traded companies are required to produce earnings reports which disclose their sales numbers and net profit over the prior three months.)

How one manufacturer in Japan tripped up the Apple machine

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Do you know what makes your iPod go?

Here’s a hint: It rhymes with phithium pholymer.

No?

It’s made in Japan.

Still not getting it?

The shutdown of the Japanese factory that makes it is disrupting Apple’s production line.

If you guessed “a very specific and rare polymer used to hold together the lithium ion batteries used in iPods and a variety of other gadgets,” you’re right!! Ding!

This story is crazy. Who knew that one chemical made by one small company halfway across the world could affect iPod buyers in the U.S.? This is a good example of outsourcing in action.

For now, the company (Kureha) is scrambling to get back into action, but in the meantime, will the price of an iPod go up? Should we start stockpiling them in our panic rooms? Can we order iPods with the soothing voice of Justin Beiber pre-installed on them??

Seriously, though. Do you know where your favorite products are made?

Is Steve Jobs Worth More Than Six Billion Dollars?

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

apples.jpg
credit: ollesvensson

Investing is a lot about trying to predict the future of a company. But what if that future depends on one single person?

  • When Apple’s CEO announced he was taking medical leave earlier this week, AAPL shares suddenly lost a lot of value. Steve Jobs is widely considered to be the secret to Apple’s success.
  • But the next day, the company released an amazing first-quarter earnings report, revealing record profit from the past three months.
  • The question now – without Steve Jobs on the job(s), can Apple continue to be as successful as it is today?

Facts & Figures

  • Apple’s profit this quarter was $6 billion
  • That’s 78% more than the same three months last year
  • The company sold 16.2 million iPhones, 7.33 million iPads, and 4.1 million mac computers
  • This is Jobs’ third medical leave in seven years

Best Quote

“To think of a world without Steve Jobs is a really scary thought because he has had such a major influence on all of our lives whether we know it or not.” – Gene Munster, Analyst at Piper Jaffray (an investment bank)

What do you think?

How would this week’s news that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking more medical leave change your decision about whether to invest in Apple?

Your New Apple Gadget Might Be Selling You Out

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

evil-marketing-rays.jpg
credit: Unhindered by Talent

On the night before the night before Christmas, a disgruntled fellow named Jonathan Lalo decided to drag Apple Inc. to court. Why? He says that the UDI (Unique Device Identifier) built in to iPhones and iPads allows apps to collect data on their users without their permission. (He called out some of these apps right in his complaint: Pandora, Paper Toss, the Weather Channel, Dictionary.com.)

Why is that a big deal? Well, appmakers can do pretty much anything they want with the information they collect about you. They can make their products better, customize offerings, or, you know. Sell your most intimate details to the highest bidder.

The suit says: “Some apps are also selling additional information to ad networks, including users’ location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views.”

JLa wants to make his legal challenge into a class action suit – which means that he wants to sue Apple on behalf of everyone who has downloaded an app from the Apple Store in the past two years. If he wins, or if Apple agrees to some kind of settlement, everyone in that “class” (or category of people) would share in the settlement benefit.

CEO Of The Decade (According To MarketWatch): Mr. Macintosh

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is allegedly a nightmare boss, but that hasn’t stopped him from changing (or taking over) the consumer world.

  • Jobs pioneered touch-screen technology with the iPhone, and triumphantly pulled Apple from the bottom of the pile to the top of the world. He also ran Pixar Animation (Toy Story, Up, Ratatouille) until 2006.
  • But Steve’s prickly personality has been problematic (that’s part of the reason he was forced to leave Apple in 1985), and there are some serious questions about Apple’s corporate compensation and governance practices.
  • The most important question on investors’ minds is this: Can anyone possibly fill Jobs’ “rockstar CEO” shoes when he’s gone?

Facts & Figures

  • $1,000 of Apple stock purchased in 2000 is worth almost $43,000 today
  • Apple has earned $47.7 billion in iPod sales alone
  • Apple is currently valued at $285 billion; Microsoft is $220 billion

Best Quotes

“He is not somebody [who] any one of us would want watching our kids, but, in terms of running the company, he’s excellent.” – Rob Enderle, President, Enderle Group

“The resurrection of Apple is just the most astounding story that’s probably happened in business in at least a decade — you might be able to go further and say it’s a half-century. It’s on par with Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell in terms of its total impact.” – Roger Kay, President of Endpoint Technologies

First Impression Of The New iPhone: Negative

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Apple’s newest flashy iproduct might not be making quite the positive splash they’d hoped for…

  • Consumer feedback has been harsh on the latest iPhone, reporting that when it is held a certain way reception is sketchy and calls are sometimes dropped.
  • As a result, shares of Apple Inc. have dipped, leaving the company scrambling to issue software updates and attach a bumper accessory to fix the problem.
  • Analysts, however, are doubtful that this blip in Apple stock will have any lasting effects. Apple products like the iPad and iPhone are still too widely popular to truly lower Apple’s stock valuation.

Best Quote

“Checks into Apple’s supply chain do not indicate slowdown in build plans or demand. But a greater focus on this issue could create risk to estimates.” – Shaw Wu, Analyst, Kaufman Bros.

Consumer Reports Criticizes iPhone 4

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Because of a faulty antenna, Consumer Reports refuses to recommend the iPhone 4.

  • Consumer Reports tested the newest iPhone and discovered that it lost reception when held to the ear in a certain way.
  • Apple claims that most cell phones lose reception when gripped a certain way and that the software can be easily fixed.
  • The faulty antenna is located on the outside of the phone in the form of a metal band running around its frame.
  • AT&T has been criticized for poor reception and the inability to handle the network usage of data-guzzling iPhones.

Facts and Figures

  • This is the first time Consumer Reports has not recommended an Apple phone.
  • The antenna problem hasn’t slowed demand for the iPhone 4 – the phone is currently on backorder for about 3 weeks.
  • Apple sold more than 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the first 3 days, making it the company’s most successful product launch ever.

Best Quote

“Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that iPhone 4′s signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software.” – Consumer Reports

Today in Apple Uncool

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Apple’s new Privacy Policy (which you’re required to agree to in order to download anything – including apps – from iTunes) has some spy vs. spy stuff going on. The policy basically says that Apple is allowed to anonymously track and store every single move your iGadget makes – in other words, every move you make. Since no one actually reads the updated Privacy Policies, we thought we’d share the creepy new world of iSurveillance for you lucky iUsers out there!

Here’s the part in the new policy that talks about it:

apple-uncool.png

(via consumerist.com)

Computers Are Too Complex, Make Them More Like iPhones!

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Sometimes it seems as though computers are more trouble than they’re worth, but they may become much simpler in the not-too-distant future.

  • Although personal computers have become easier to use since their inception way back when, most people still encounter problems while using their computers and their current operating systems (like Snow Leopard for Mac or Windows Vista).
  • iPhones are the picture of simplicity, and could serve as a model for how computer companies construct operating systems in the future.
  • While it may seem a simple solution to the complexity problem, integrating an operating system similar to the iPhone’s would be difficult for a multitude of reasons, and especially troublesome for the implementation of the multitouch interface (that thing that allows you to move stuff on your iPhone with your finger).

Facts & Figures

  • Back in the day, if you wanted to open up a Microsoft Word document, you would’ve had to type in a cryptic command, like this:

DIR*.EXE
MSWORD.EXE A:\REPORT.DOC

  • Microsoft tries to make all their new versions of their primary operating system (Windows) familiar to customers of earlier versions, which accounts for the continuing complexity of the system.
  • Apple uses the iPhone’s operating system in its new iPad computer.
  • It would be easier for Apple to design a completely new operating system instead of implementing the multitouch interface onto a desktop computer.

Best Quote

“With the iPad and the horde of tablets that will follow it, we can expect computing to become much easier than what we’re accustomed to today.” – Brian Chen, Wired magazine

iTunes Invades the Internet

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

iTunes became the mp3 champion of the world by curbing illegal downloads while still allowing customers to “own” their purchased music files, but now the company is considering an entirely different model based on paid access, not ownership.

  • Apple is planning to extend its mp3-selling business beyond its popular iTunes music store, which keeps purchased music files saved on a single computer.
  • Having just absorbed lala.com, which allows users to purchase music that is stored remotely and accessible anywhere there’s Internet, Apple is considering a web-based mp3 storage model that will have a significant impact on the industry.
  • Making music purchases available outside of the iTunes program will allow the company to reach more customers through search engines and websites.

Facts & Figures

  • Apple paid $85 million to acquire LaLa Media Inc.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was the biggest supplier of music until last year, when Apple usurped it.
  • iTunes forecasts revenues of $2 billion this year.