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Apple FY10 First Quarter results conference call liveblog
Apple announces its fiscal year 2010 first quarter results today at 5 PM ET / 2 PM PT, and TUAW will be liveblogging the event. Apple's first quarter was the quarter ending December 31, 2009, including the always-important holiday buying season. You can join in on the call several ways. First, you can listen in on the streaming audio from the event by opening www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq110/ in your favorite browser at the appointed time. Second, come back to TUAW at about 4:50 PM ET / 1:50 PM PT and sign into our liveblog tool CoverItLive to add your questions or comments. If you can't make it to the liveblog, the entire transcript will be available for your reading pleasure after the event. A recording of the conference call will be available at the Apple URL listed in the previous paragraph.
Apple announces Q1 financial conference call
It's that time again. Apple will be live streaming their Q1 financial conference call on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 2pm PDT/5pm EDT. To follow along (Quicktime required), visit this page on the 25th. Of course, TUAW will be live-blogging the event with commentary, so feel free to join us for all the announcements plus a lively discussion. If the analyst's predictions are accurate, we should anticipate a blockbuster report. For example, Brian Marshall at Broadpoint.AmTech has estimated that Apple sold 3.3 million Macs during the last quarter, which would be an all-time single-quarter sales record. Meanwhile, estimates of iPhone sales during the same time period range from 11.30 million units sold (according to Brian Marshall at Broadpoint AmTech) to 8.17 million units (according to Mark Moskowitz, J.P. Morgan). The interesting thing is that the low estimate, 8.17 million iPhones sold, would represent a 10.8% increase from the last September's record of 7.37 million if true. We'll have all the facts in a few days.
Blizzard on the Battle.net update
Activision-Blizzard held their second quarter conference call yesterday, and in addition to addressing the Starcraft II delay, both Mike Morhaime and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick shared some insight into what the revamped Battle.net will be like. The brand new system (which is currently up and working, albeit in a very skeleton form so far) will have "social networking features, cross-game communication, [and] unified account management," in addition to features that will let players "share experiences" with each other online (we'd presume that means things like screenshot galleries and leaderboards, but who knows?). Kotick also spoke up, and compared the service to that other popular online community, Xbox Live.Blizzard is still saying the new Battle.net will come in conjunction with the new Starcraft, so we'll have to keep an eye out for them both in the first half of 2010. It'll be interesting to see what other features Blizzard adds in, and exactly what form features like "cross-game communication" take -- do they mean actual in-game messaging across games, or just status updates and messages on a social network? Kotick's comparison to Xbox Live raises some questions, too, as that's a much wider service than you'd think Battle.net would be. But then again, the guy's a CEO, and all CEOs have a tendency to overestimate exactly what their company is doing. Like most of Blizzard's upcoming releases, we'll have to wait and see on Battle.net.
Activision conference call: WoW still at 11.5 million subscribers
The OC Register has a great breakdown of what Activision said on their earnings conference call today. Perhaps the biggest WoW-related stat to come out of the call is that the number of subscribers to the game has apparently leveled off: they're holding steady at 11.5 million. Which is nothing to cough at, but it's what we were told four months ago, and if, as Ghostcrawler claimed, the numbers are still going up, then they're going up very, very slowly. Morhaime says that numbers are growing everywhere, but that China will be a main focus of growth this year as Wrath of the Lich King releases there soon.In non-WoW Blizzard news, the Starcraft 2 beta will start this summer and will be the "final" phase of development for that game. The new Battle.net interface will be tested then as well, so keep an eye out for that. And Blizzard expects big things there in China also -- NetEase, the company that will now be handling Wrath's launch, is already set up to run both Diablo III and Starcraft 2 out there, so it'll all be under one umbrella.In short, there's no really bad news from Blizzard, but no really great news either -- the best news to come out of the call is that even in the slow economy lately, Blizzard is holding steady. Not a bad thing at all, but we probably won't see any spikes in player interest in Blizzard or WoW until they announce what's next on the content plate, whether that be at BlizzCon or before.
Mac shipments lowest they've been in 1.5 years
Apple reported amazing earnings in its conference call last week, but SwitchtoaMac.com says not so fast -- while it's true that there was a lot of sun shining in Apple's report, there is one small shadow that they obviously didn't mention: their shipments of new Macs have started to drop off for the first time in 5.5 years. And they're the lowest they've been in a year and a half.A problem? Not a terrible one, but as you can see from the chart over there, there is a definite downturn in new Mac shipments. That might actually be good news for Apple, though -- with the economy doing a nice downturn lately, less inventory might shore up sales a bit, and keep their budgets in line with estimations. Of course it would also mean fewer Mac sales (and despite the recent popularity of the iPhone and the iPod, Macs still make up the majority of Apple's revenue), but if customers aren't there, that's better than having warehouses full of computers paid for but not actually sold.It's definitely not a sign that the company is going down in flames (in fact, all evidence says exactly the opposite), but it may be a sign that Apple's amazing growth is slowing down a bit.Thanks, Larry T!
Reminder: Q1-2009 conference call liveblog, today at 5 p.m. ET
Just a reminder: Be sure to come back today at 5 p.m. Eastern (that's 2 p.m. Pacific) for Apple's First Quarter 2009 Results Conference Call. We'll be liveblogging the occasion, with contributions from your favorite TUAW bloggers, and yours truly. Apple is streaming audio from the call here. A recording of the call will be available at that page for a few weeks afterward. Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog has its roundup of projected Q1 sales numbers from Bernstein Research's Toni Sacconaghi and Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster: Mac sales. Munster: 2.5 million to 2.6 million. Sacconaghi: 2.57 million. iPod sales. Munster: 18.6 million. Sacconaghi: 18.1 million. iPhone sales: Munster: 6.4 million. Sacconaghi: 3.5 million to 4 million. In related news, AAPL hit a two-year low yesterday, closing at its nadir of $78.20 per share. Also, Bloomberg is reporting that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will review Apple's 10-K filing from last year. Apple hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, but Bloomberg says the SEC wants to make sure investors weren't being misled about Steve Jobs' health. (Via Macworld.) More coverage of the earnings report is available at our sister site Blogging Stocks.
Apple's Q4 earnings estimates looking good
Just a reminder: Apple will hold their fourth quarter financial conference call tomorrow, October 21st at 2PM Pacific time. We'll be live blogging the call, so be sure to check back for our up-to-the-minute report and analysis.What should we expect? According to estimates from research firm NPD, it's good news, especially regarding Mac sales. Piper Jaffray analysts suggest, after examining the NPD data, that Mac sales grew by 25% - 29% in the fourth quarter. That's 25% yearly growth and represents nearly 2.8 million Macs.It has also been suggested that iPod sales numbers will be slightly better than Wall Street projections. We'll know soon enough.
IPEVO's TR-10 speakerphone makes nice with iChat
Seems like there's a VoIP device for every temperament -- you can go supa classy, or you can try to be as bland as possible, but most of them are intended for Skype. Not IPEVO's TR-10, though; it's designed for iChat, and it does VoIP with support for four-way conferencing as both a speakerphone and a handset. If geeky rebel radio is your thing, it records podcasts in tandem with GarageBand, too -- all IPEVO asks is that you fork over $79.90 before you start living the iLife with Bruce Willis.
Apple will announce Q308 financial results today
Here's a reminder to our readers. Apple will announce the financial results of 2008's third quarter at the end of the day today, approximately 4:30pm EDT.Shortly thereafter (approximately 5:00 PM EDT), Apple will hold a live conference call to discuss the announcement. We'll be live blogging that call right here, so be sure and check it out. Also, you can follow along with Apple's live audio stream here.Dust off your portfolios, stockholders! It's time to see what you've bought yourselves.
Apple announces third-quarter earnings call
Once again, it's that time of year when tourists flock to the beaches, students leave their books behind and Apple executives describe how they've made much more money than the rest of us.Earlier this week, Apple announced that their third-quarter earnings call will take place on July 21, 2008, at 2 p.m. Pacific time. It's been an up-and-down quarter for Apple's stock. It should also be noted that this will be the first report to contain information on sales of the iPhone 3G, assuming they do go on sale on July 11th without a glitch.We'll be live blogging the call, so be sure and check back on the 21st. See you then!
TUAW Talkcast tonight: Mac and iPhone gaming
Yes, the world famous TUAW Talkcast is back on the virtual air this evening kicking off at 10pm EST over on the Talkshoe site. Mike Rose is out of the hosting chair this week, but worry not -- I, Mike Schramm will be sitting in said chair running hosting duties as well as I can. And since I'm in charge this week, we'll of course be talking about server virtualization and security options for large scale enterprises. No, I'm kidding -- we'll be talking about games, and gaming on the Mac and iPhone.Brian Akaka of Mac gaming giants and all-around good guys Freeverse will be on the show to chat not only about gaming on the Mac (and why it's not as big as it could be), but also what it's like to design games for the iPhone, and what kinds of things we might see coming out of Freeverse and other developer come June and the App Store. Dave Caolo and some other friendly voices from TUAW should be on as well. And of course we'll have the cast of thousands hundreds whoever joins us on the conference call, and they're very nice folks, too.Be there at 10pm EST this evening for a talkcast to remember. Pertinent technical and sign-in info after the break. We'll see you there!
Buffalo's BSKP-CU202/SV Skype phone does conference calling
Conference calling on PSTN is so pre-tech-burst, and Buffalo's making quite sure you're well aware of a VoIP alternative to dialing into those oft held (and frequently toned out) corporate calls. The BSKP-CU202/SV speakerphone boasts a unique, if not awkward design, boasts about its Skype support, and packs six total watts of power to belt out those brutal demands coming from the other end. Reportedly, no drivers are required for this gizmo to work, and it draws all the current it needs to operate from your PC's USB port. Users should also enjoy the echo cancellation technology that's built right in, and just in case you need to swap over to a private conversation, an integrated headphone jack is handily included on the rear. Look for this to hit corporate cubes in Japan soon for a modest ¥9,800 ($82), and feel free to click on through for a few more snaps.[Via EverythingUSB]
Mac US market growth in Q4 31% vs. 3% PC growth
I'm listening in on Apple's Q1 conference call, and one fact really jumped out at me. They were discussing the Mac market growth this quarter and remarked that Mac market growth in the US grew 31% in quarter, compared to PC market growth of 3%. These numbers are amazing, people, and if you consider that Apple hasn't really announced any exciting Mac related announcements for awhile, they are even more amazing.I wonder what these numbers will be like when Apple revamps the Mac line, and ships Leopard.
Motorola patents technology to clear up conference calls
For those of you trapped in a dreadful cubicle all day, you're probably more than familiar with the ever-popular conference calls that involve everyone and their mother-in-law trying to communicate at the same time. While the effectiveness of these chaotic gatherings are essentially nil, Motorola is hoping to clarify things, literally. The company has recently filed a patent to augment callers' voices so each individual sounds "distinctly different." The idea here is to use technology often found in recording studios, which adjusts the pitch of a singer's voice in order to disguise their inability sing on key, so to speak. Each caller would chat aimlessly for a few moments before getting down to the nitty gritty, so the Motorola magic could "determine a pitch contour for each individual voice signal," and if two or more folks sounded eerily similar, it would "shift [the voice] to one of approximately five semitones" in order to solve the confusion. Once the caller had the shift put on them, they'd blabber a moment more so the software could ensure the change was indeed effective -- and after all the voices have been given a tone of their own, you can supposedly identify your colleagues with ease. While this plan sounds admirable, and may solve a few embarrassing mixups while on the speakerphone, we just have to wonder which unlucky chaps would end up Alvin the Chipmunk and Bobby Baritone. [Via Textually]
Reminder: Apple to webcast today's conference call
Later today, at 2pm PT, Apple will webcast their financial conference call for the 2nd quarter of 2006. As Macsimum News notes, a number of analysts are saying that Apple will report their second-best single quarter results ever this afternoon. Stock holders: You may want to get your certificates out and give them a brief hug.
Apple to webcast Q2 financial conference call
Apple has set a date for their financial conference call for the 2nd quarter of 2006 (spoiler alert: things are going well). The whole thing will go down on Wednesday, April 19th at 2pm PT. You can catch the webcast here. Since we don't get live keynotes anymore, this will have to do.[Via MacDailyNews]
Apple releases 1Q results for 2006
Spoiler alert: It's going well. Apple recorded its highest earnings in the company's history during the fiscal quarter that ended on December 31, 2005. Apple claimed $5.75 billion in revenue and a net quarterly profit of $565 million during the 14-week quarter. They sold 1,254,000 Macs and 14,043,000 iPods, representing a 20% growth in Mac sales and 207% growth in iPod sales from a year ago.In other news, I found six bucks in my jacket pocket today and was really excited about it. Me and Apple: Same planet, different worlds.
Apple to webcast quarterly earnings call today
We don't get to watch the Macworld keynote live anymore, buy you can still watch the quarterly conference call. Apple will webcast this report today at 2pm PT (5pm EST) here. We know that things are going well, based on what Steve said at Macworld earlier this month, but it's still fun to hear those enormous numbers.[Via MacDailyNews]
