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Apple's Q3 2011 financial results call scheduled for July 19
Apple has announced that its Q3 2011 financial results conference call will take place at 5 PM Eastern / 2 PM Pacific on Tuesday, July 19. Apple usually releases its financial results to the public a couple hours before the call itself takes place, and we'll be keeping an eye out for that when it happens. We will also likely be liveblogging when the call takes place and relay any insights that we get from the call.
Apple almost worth more than Microsoft, HP and Dell combined
Before WWDC, Apple's market cap exceeded that of Microsoft and Intel combined. This week another report compares Apple to Microsoft, Dell and HP. After a slight dip in its stock last week, Apple is now valued at US$301 billion, which is slightly less than the $302 billion of Microsoft ($200 billion), HP ($72.8 billion) and Dell ($29.3 billion) combined. Apple's position is even more impressive when you compare it to other tech and mobile leaders. Last year, Apple surpassed Microsoft in market cap and is now worth 100 billion more than Microsoft. This figure is more than RIM, Nokia, Netflix and eBay combined. It is equal to Amazon and Adobe combined and is only $15 million shy of Intel's total market cap. If it can grow that much in the least months, one wonders how much its lead will extend at the end of the next 12 months.
Apple touts impressive iOS numbers at WWDC
Scott Forestall took the stage during this morning's WWDC keynote address to share some extremely impressive numbers regarding iOS and the App Store. For starters, get this: Apple has sold over 200 million iOS devices. If you think that's impressive, hold on to your hats, as it's only the beginning. Forestall claimed that that huge number makes iOS the number one mobile operating system with more than 44% of the market. How about that iPad 2? Apple sold 15 million in the first 14 months of availability. Also, Apple is now the number one retailer in the world and has seen over 130 million books downloaded for the iBookstore. Want some more numbers? There are 425,000 apps on the App Store; 90,000 iPad apps 14 billion apps have been downloaded by Apple customers Apple has paid out $2.5 billion to developers There are 225 million iTunes accounts with credit cards That's amazing. We'd wish Apple luck in the future, but we're not sure it'll need it.
Apple could survive on current cash alone until 2018
During the 2Q 2011 Apple Results Call last Wednesday, we listened with rapt attention as the number for "Cash and Cash Equivalents" figure was announced. The number, as you may recall, was US$65.8 billion. One question that many of us always ask is "What could Apple do with that money?" Asymco analyst Horace Dediu always provides fascinating insights, and in a post yesterday he not only did a breakdown of the sources of that cash, but did some comparisons just to show how huge the cash stash is. The pile of simoleons is made of "only" $15 billion in cash, about $14 billion in short-term marketable securities, and the rest -- about $37 billion -- in long-term marketable securities. Dediu's comparisons are staggering: If Apple's revenue stream was cut off today, the company could sustain operations (research and development, sales, general and administrative expenses) for seven years Apple's folding money is worth half of Google's enterprise value Those funds place Apple's CFO office into the top 100 of fund managers in the world, bigger than any hedge fund manager The cash growth in the last quarter was higher than the market capitalization of many companies. What's really amazing is that the rate of growth of Apple's hoarded lettuce appears to be increasing. What do you think Apple should do with all of that cash? Leave us your ideas in the comments. [via The Apple Investor]
Two years after Fred Wilson dumped AAPL...
We all make predictions that don't turn out as planned. For example, this morning I said I'd have a few beers, enjoy a barbeque in the sun with friends and perhaps go to the cinema tonight. Turns out I have two daughters under the age of 3, so there went my day. But at least I'm not kicking myself like Fred Wilson must be. Wilson is the venture capitalist managing partner of Union Square Ventures who, two years ago, famously announced that he was selling all his shares in Apple because he didn't believe the company was "being straight with investors" over Steve Jobs's health. "My average price on my entire position in Apple is US$96, so I'll take a small loss on this and a small gain on the stock I bought during the meltdown last fall." He sold at $91.36 -- and at close yesterday, Apple shares were at $338.08, up $246.72 or 270 percent. He sold Google at the same time but announced a short time later he was buying back into the search giant. See the chart above for how that one worked out for him. Maybe he only had one share in Apple (although $246.72 would go nearly halfway towards a new iPad 2). Maybe he's happy with that 50 percent-plus gain in Google's value. Or maybe he's still kicking himself now. Me, I think we'll have that barbeque tomorrow. [Via Daring Fireball]
New record gap between Apple Store openings
It's been over 105 days since Apple has opened a new Apple Store, beating the previous record for longest gap between openings. The old record was set in 2003, and that gap extended between January and May. This gap began in November and will continue until we get a new store. ifoAppleStore has a great infographic that will help contextualize the break for you. It could be tempting to say this hints at some kind of slow down in sales, but that conclusion can't be confirmed without a whole lot more contextual data. Since most of the Apple Stores open just before Thanksgiving, with a few more coming in around Christmas time, this is the time of year when we'd expect to see a slowdown anyway. The gap could just indicate that Apple did a great job of getting all their stores open in time for Christmas 2010. Let's see how things shape up in the last half of 2011 before we start to wonder about new Apple Stores.
Canalys report: iPad sales drive Apple PC growth 241 percent in Q4 2010
The iPad is an in-betweener device - it's too big to be a smartphone, and it's not quite a PC. It can be a conundrum for analysts looking to pick apart Apple's quarterly and yearly earnings as there is no established category for the device. Some analysts have chosen to separate the iPad into its own category ("media tablets"), and others prefer to take a different approach and group the iPad with PC sales. This latter category leads to some headline-grabbing reports similar to the one just released by Canalys. The market analysis firm proclaimed that Apple is now the #3 PC vendor in the world, trailing only HP and Acer. The climb to the third spot was propelled by Mac personal computing sales, which skyrocketed 241 percent in Q4 2010. Much of the growth in this category is due to sales of the iPad. This analysis is guaranteed to spark some discussion as rival firms IDG and Gartner separate out the iPad into a distinct category. Once you remove the iPad from the PC sales equation, Apple barely makes it into the #5 slot. [Via Engadget]
RBC ups its target price for AAPL to $425
It could be partly because of Apple's 71% year over year revenue growth reported in yesterday's first fiscal quarter 2011 earnings report, or it could be the result of the 17 million iPads shipped in 2010. But either way, Boy Genius Report just let us know that RBC Capital Markets has revised their Apple stock price estimate, raising it from last week's $395 to $425 today following the earnings report. They are expecting Apple's revenue for 2011 to come in at just a shade under $100 billion, and 2012 looks to come in at $108 billion. With the first quarter showing Apple selling 16.24 million iPhones, 7.33 million iPads, 4.13 million Macs and 19.45 million iPods while revenue rose to $26.7 billion, 2011 looks to be off to a solid start -- and yet another year that I think back to 2005, when I could have bought Apple stock at around $65.
Amateurs trump pros in predicting Apple's fantastic financial quarter
Now that Apple's 1st quarter financial performance has been revealed, it's time to revisit predictions made by amateurs and pros alike. Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt did just that, and found that the novices out-guessed several high-priced heavyweights. Fortune has a system to rank the best and worst Apple analysts, measuring how accurately their predictions were across seven categories: Revenue Earnings iPhones sold iPods sold Macs sold iPads sold Gross Margins Of those, the unaffiliated analysts took the revenue, earnings, gross margins and unit sales categories. Conversely, the bottom 20 spots were held by folks working for brokerage houses and banks. Among the latter was Needham's Charlie Wolf, who missed the number of iPads sold by more than 2 million units. In Wolf's defense, none of us would have guessed that Apple would sell a staggering 14.8 million units. On the other side of the equation, Turley Muller at Financial Alchemist missed Apple's earnings by one penny, and Traderhood's Nicholas Mihalache was off on iPad sales by 0.76 percent. Clearly, they are clairvoyant. Congratulations for the sharp observers who rocked these numbers, and to Apple for giving them something to crow about.
Apple Stores in China contribute to Apple's record quarterly sales
If you could get past news of Steve Jobs taking a medical leave of absence, Apple's earnings call yesterday was not too shabby. With retail sales records in the last quarter, Apple was led by the four China-based stores (two in Beijing and two in Shanghai), which had the best sales figures of any stores worldwide, and the most visitors to boot. Tim Cook, who took over for Jobs, said that the greater China region -- China, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- brought in US$2.6 billion in the quarter, which was four times as much as the sales for the same period in the previous year. Chinese consumers' well-known taste for luxury goods does indeed include all things Apple, as the desire to own the very best is the mark of many of China's newly rich. One devoted Apple user we spoke to in China says that the iPad is doing especially well, and it's "a must for all kinds of awards and prizes, lucky draws, internet activities, promotions, you name it." As great as Apple's sales figures are, China's love for the brand is even greater if you factor in unauthorized sales in the country. Many Apple products sold inside China originate from outside the nation's borders. Apple fared well in the rest of Asia too, with sales in Japan up 83 percent year-over-year. Korea's sales were up as well, driven by strong sales of the iPhone and iPad. With such strong results in the Asia-Pacific region, Cook says the company will be devoting more resources to the area to take advantage of the high demand.
Liveblog of the Apple, Inc. 1Q 2011 earnings call
Welcome to TUAW's liveblog of Apple's 1st Fiscal Quarter earnings call. During the call, we'll deliver a play-by-play of the details of the financial report for the quarter ending December 31, 2010. We will also be taking your questions and comments during the call. If you'd like to listen in on this very important financial call, Apple is making it available via QuickTime streaming audio at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq111 beginning at 5 PM ET sharp. The call will be available for your listening pleasure for two weeks after today's event; the liveblog transcript will be available right here. TUAW staffers will be manning the liveblog starting at 4:50 PM ET; the call will begin about 10 minutes later. <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=dbdf9e6c55" >TUAW's Coverage of the Apple 1Q Earnings Call</a>
Apple beats Street estimates; 16M iPhones, 7M iPads sold in Q1
This just in: Apple's financials for the first fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2010 are in, and Apple easily beat the Street. Revenue for the first quarter rose to $26.7 billion, with earnings per share at $6.43. Apple's gross margin, which is always quite high, was at 38.5%. Wall Street estimates were modeling $24.43 billion in revenue, and EPS of $5.40, with a gross profit margin of 27%. During the quarter, Apple sold 16.24 million iPhones, 7.33 million iPads, 4.13 million Macs and 19.45 million iPods. More news coming up shortly during our liveblog.
Apple will announce Q1 2011 financials on January 18
Apple has officially announced its intention to share Q1 2011 financial results on January 18 at 2:00 PM PST (5:00 PM EST). There will be a live audio stream available here. Apple also notes that the call will be made available for replay for 2 weeks. We'll have a live blog of the results, so be sure to check back on the 18th. Analysts expect Apple's announced results to be ridiculously positive, and we're not going to argue with that.
Apple to celebrate 10 billion app downloads
Are we really at nearly 10 billion app downloads? It seems like only yesterday that the App Store was born and we celebrated its 1 billionth and 2 billionth downloads. It broke 3 billion downloads just over a year ago. But, thanks in part to the iPad and the growing accessibility to the iPhone worldwide, indeed there have been more app downloads than the current world population, and Apple wants to celebrate. The person who downloads the 10 billionth app will win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card (that's US dollars). You can enter the contest without purchasing or downloading an app. You must be age 13 or older and a legal resident of participating countries -- if the contest is promoted on the front page of the App Store in your country, you're good. Only 25 entries per iTunes account or email address are accepted per day. Read the complete rules to find out all the details and good luck!
Gartner predicts Apple growth, but spurns iPad
Gartner has added its take on Apple's Q4 earnings to a growing list of other predictions. Gartner predicts that Mac sales grew by nearly 24 percent, helping Apple to take a 9.7 percent share in Q4. However, it claims that any reason for a lagging growth for PC makers was simply to be blamed on the iPad, which it did not count as part of PC sales and lumped it in among "media tablets." "Overall, holiday PC sales were weak in many key regions due to the intensifying competition in consumer spending. Media tablets, such as the iPad, as well as other consumer electronic (CE) devices, such as game consoles, all competed against PCs," said Mikako Kitagawa, a principal analyst at Gartner. Gartner did include netbooks in PC sales for other companies. It did not explain why they excluded the iPad from PC sales, but did count netbooks. Doing so would significantly boost Apple's revenue for Q4. But, Gartner did say that Apple and Toshiba were the only top-5 vendors to increase shipments, with Apple's 23.7 percent being far higher than Toshiba's 14.4 percent growth. Apple most likely will announce its Q4 earnings next week. [via AppleInsider]
Apple shareholder meeting scheduled for February 23
The luckiest (or smartest) people on Earth should be receiving their invitations soon -- shareholders in Apple, Inc. who have shares registered in their names can attend the annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, February 23, 2011. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 AM PT at the company's offices in Cupertino, CA. As with most events of this type, Apple's executive team will not only reiterate any glowing financial news that should come out of the financial call (possibly next week), but there will be business to take care of. Among the items on the agenda are a vote for the company's board of directors (nominees include current board members Steve Jobs, Al Gore, Millard Drexler, William Campbell, Arthur Levinson, Andrea Jung and Ronald Sugar), a vote on whether accounting giant Ernst & Young should be the company's independent accounting firm, and shareholder proposals considering majority voting on director elections and succession planning. The company is recommending that shareholders vote against both of the shareholder proposals. If you have AAPL shares registered in your name, you may attend. If the shares are held by a brokerage firm or other organization, you're out of luck. (Photo: Wikimedia CC | Nurmib)
Bloomberg: Apple's net income rose 47 percent
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is helping to drive U.S. corporations to the most-profitable Q4 since Bill Clinton's early days in the White House, when the PowerBook Duo was the latest in subnotebooks (and only weighed a mere 4.1 pounds!) Of course, this isn't exactly news to us, as Deutsche Bank speculated a couple days ago that holiday Mac and iPad sales were far better than expected. Bloomberg estimates that Apple's net income rose 47 percent to US$4.97 billion during its fiscal first quarter, which ended in December and included those all-important holiday sales. We'll know exactly how well Apple made out during the company's quarterly earnings call on Jan. 18, with the possibility of a Verizon iPhone announcement just a couple days later.
Deutsche Bank analyst: Holiday Mac and iPad sales higher than expected
We've been speculating about just how popular iPads were during the first Christmas season with the revolutionary device, and we're also wondering how other Apple products did during the holidays. In a report cited by AppleInsider, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore says that sales of both iPads and Macs were better than expected, based on spot checks made by the company. The firm's investigation of Apple retail stores and other outlets also indicated that there were crowds waiting for iPhones, which they believe signifies good demand for Apple's smartphone. Very few shortages of stock were reported by Deutsche Bank. While the 16 GB Wi-Fi version of the iPad had been the top seller in the past, the holiday season saw robust sales of the 32 GB 3G iPad. Mac sales were also up, assisted by the sexy and inexpensive 11" MacBook Air. Whitmore's estimates for the quarter ending December 31, 2010 were originally showing sales of 15 million iPhones, 6 million iPads and 4 million Macs. Those numbers have now been bumped to 16 million, 6.5 million and 4.2 million respectively. For 2011, Whitmore is very bullish on the iPad, expecting sales to leap from his original estimate of 22 million units up to a whopping 28 million. His iPhone estimate moved from 55 million for 2011 up to 60 million units. The latter number doesn't include a Verizon iPhone, which he expects would add anywhere from 5 to 7 million units (although it's not clear how many of those would be cannibalizing AT&T's potential sales). We'll find out for sure how things are shaping up for Apple when the company hosts a quarterly earnings call on January 18. Mike Rose is also speculating that Apple will host a Stevenote by January 20 to announce the Verizon iPhone.
Costco to stop selling Apple products
While Apple continues to line up 3rd-party retailers, discount chain Costco is bailing out. The Seattle Times reports that Costco will begin to phase out all Apple products, though a timeline was not given. The retailer has been selling iPods and pre-paid iTunes gift cards for years. However, Apple did not allow Costco to sell its products online. Nor did the store offer a significant discount on either. The Times reports that both partners "agreed to wind down." We can only assume that these issues contributed to the change. If you've got "buy an iPod from Costco" on your holiday to-do list, you best hop to it. When the current stock is gone, it will be gone for good. [Via Benzinga]
iAd highlighted in new Apple video
Apple has updated its iAd advertising site with a show-reel showcasing some of the early advertisement adopters. Of course the best of the best have been selected, and all of the campaigns featured look great. We've only seen a few here at TUAW, like the Nissan Leaf ad at pictured at right, but those were memorable. Releasing this video is a good move on Apple's part, especially as iAd begins to launch internationally. It's an opportunity to show off some choice examples and gives a little reward to the program's early adopters. Apple has recently increased iAd's international reach, announcing plans for Europe and Japan. A look at this highlight reel should help get those new advertisers and developers excited.
