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Wall Street analysts make their final Q1 2015 predictions for Apple
(Table from Fortune.com, Philip Elmer-DeWitt) With only a few hours to go until Apple releases its Q1 2015 (October 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014) financial results, Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt has pulled together estimates from a number of Wall Street analysts on exactly how they think the company did. The numbers, from 30 professionals and 15 amateurs, are pretty incredible. First, Apple had provided guidance during the last call expecting revenues in the $63.5-$66.5 billion range. The amateurs think it's going to be about $69.27 billion, while the pros are a bit more pessimistic at "only" $68.28 billion. If one looks at the average of all the analysts, that's a year-over-year revenue gain of 19.3 percent over 2014's figure. Earnings are expected to be about $2.68 per share, which is up almost 30 percent year over year. But the big news? Apple's earnings could be the biggest in US corporate history. The current record is held by Exxon, which had a $15 billion third quarter in 2008. The analysts expect Apple to announce sales of 67.09 million iPhones (up 31.5 percent), 21.29 million iPads (down 18.2 percent), and 5.57 million Macs (up 15.2 percent). We'll be live-blogging the earnings call at 5 PM ET (2 PM PT) and would love it if you stopped by to check our commentary on the proceedings. See you then!
Nokia downgrades sales forecasts thanks to 'competitive environment' (aka, 'doing business')
Look, Nokia, don't sweat it: no one could've ever predicted that Android would get more awesome, or that Apple would announce another iPhone. Sit down, let us bring you a cup of hot chocolate, you'll feel better... goodness, the mobile industry is filled with more wild plot twists than a Univision telenovela, isn't it? Unfortunately, your shareholders might be a little less understanding of the fact that you still haven't wrapped your noodle around the rapidly-changing smartphone market some three and a half years after the introduction of the original iPhone, or that you're blaming "shifts in product mix towards somewhat lower gross margin products" in part for your forecast downgrade -- even though you've been very candid about your desire to move the company's focus toward emerging markets. Why you can't manage to cobble together a competitive operating system with your overwhelming market share, cash, and resources is a bit of a mystery, but maybe it'll all make sense by the time you release second-quarter earnings on July 22. Follow the break for the somber press release.
That $499 iPad only costs Apple $270; Wall Street analyst is elated
Apple is well-known in the consumer electronics world for relatively large margins on products. According to a bill of materials (BOM) breakdown on the iPad recently performed by BroadPoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall, the iPad should be able to add a sizable chunk of money to Apple's bottom line. For the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad (US$499), Marshall found that the total BOM cost was $270.50. Manufacturing adds $10 to the cost, and warranty service costs add up to $20. In case you're wondering, the flash memory and the aluminum case both cost about $25, and the Apple A4 processor adds just $15 to the total cost of the iPad. While the entry-level iPad may appear to be a cash cow for Apple, the 32GB and 64GB Wi-Fi models add even more margin to the mix. The 32GB model costs only $25.50 more than the 16GB, but the suggested retail price is $100 more. Apple will really make money on the 64GB model, which costs $76.50 more than the 16GB device but sells for $200 more. Marshall had a chance to use an iPad, which led him to believe that "...this will be another grand slam product for Apple. The ergonomics and the 'media' experience of the device stood out the most to us." His original estimate was for Apple to sell about 2.2 million units in 2010. He's now expecting sales to be much higher. As an example, he feels that if Apple sells seven million units, calendar year earnings per share for Apple would rise from $12 to over $13. Marshall is definitely bullish on Apple, having rated AAPL a "buy" with a target price of $264 per share. Considering the trashing that Apple and most other tech stocks have taken recently, the company has long way to go -- and a lot of iPads to sell - before reaching that target price. [via Hardware Central]
Battle.net registration now online in China
World of Warcraft has, as you have probably heard, been offline in China for a while now. Even though The9 originally said they'd transfer over their servers to NetEase, they later decided to fight it out, leaving WoW offline for a matter of weeks. And it isn't quite up yet, but they're getting there -- this (very roughly) translated article says that Battle.net servers are now up and running, so Chinese players can now at least sign in to Battle.net, if not into the game itself. We already went through the same thing here in the US and the EU, so Azeroth should be back online in China any day now.Meanwhile, the poor folks at The9 have not been doing so well -- they were on top of the world last year, but when World of Warcraft up and flew the griffon out of there, they lost the majority of their business. A new AP article has them revising their expected earnings down by an "estimated 55 to 75 percent." Ouch.Let that be a lesson, NetEase. Keep your instances running and your downtime low, because if Blizzard pulls the plug on a game you're running, they'll be taking a ton of money with them.
