Seth Gilbert, 08-4-2008
Apple’s iPhone is on sale in 23 countries. In the first 72 hours more than one million units sold. August 22n around twenty more countries are expected to come online.
So the question is: how many units does Apple need to manufacture to keep ahead of demand and to satisfy a three to six week channel inventory need?
The initial reports, and early analyst expectations, seemed to set the answer at about 25 million units. A report from tech blog, Tech Crunch, speculated Monday the number could be much higher.
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Seth Gilbert, 07-28-2008
During Apple’s July 2007 earnings call, the company gave guidance that fell short of some expectations. The explanation was a then-unexplained product shift that turned out to be the introduction of new iPods. Flash forward a year to last week and Apple’s July 2008 earnings call was a deja vu like repetition: Apple turned in a strong performance but guided weaker than some expected due to another ambiguous product transition. The mystery is cranking up the Applevine. The latest round of explanatory rumors are starting to circulate.
One popular theory guesses these changes will apply to the Macbook notebook line. Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 07-21-2008
Ben Franklin famously said only two things in life are certain: death and taxes. That maxim may be true but in these finicky financial times, another element might fit too: guidance below expectations sinks stocks. It doesn’t matter if a company routinely underestimates future performance and then exceeds those expectations. Conservatism isn’t rewarded. It doesn’t matter if a company sets new performance records. The past isn’t rewarded. What matters, all that seems to matter (at least when it comes to short-term stock performance), is meeting or beating the analyst gold standard and projecting a better than expected future. As Apple proved yet again today, it’s a simple truth: Guide Lower than Analysts and the Stock Price Will Pay.
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Seth Gilbert, 07-10-2008
The iPhone is here and Apple is making headlines around the world. From the Applevine, there is more going on than just the debut of the anticipated phone. Thursday, it became apparent that the company is off the hook for any backdating of stock options. Also, the iPhone 3G was cracked open and the App store went live.
Backdating Investigation Closed
While spokespeople for Apple and the San Francisco U.S. Attorney’s office have not commented, after two years, it appears the Justice Department has ended its criminal investigation of stock options back dating at Apple. They decided no charges will be filed. Sources close to the case told the Wall Street Journal the inquiry is over.
At issue were practices dating back to the period between 1997 and 2001.
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Seth Gilbert, 07-7-2008
With iTunes, buying music has always been easy. Apple insured that with a clear pricing structure. They enforced it through aggressive negotiations with music labels and video producers. Buying the new iPhone won’t quite be as easy. The 3G phone is due in a blink, 8am on July 11th. In anticipation, global carrier partners have been rapidly revealing their pricing plans and service agreement requirements. While the 8Gb model is likely to stay near the projected maximum unit price of $199 as Steve Jobs promised in his Developers Conference Keynote, service offerings and subsidies are set to vary widely. The details will be in the fine print.
A QUICK GLOBAL SURVEY OF CARRIER PLANS
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