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Forbes profiles Activision CEO, calls Rock Band "shameless knockoff"
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is this month's Forbes magazine cover boy, where the business mag recounts his journey from sandwich delivery boy to billionaire CEO. Surprisingly (read: Not really), Kotick describes himself as not being interesting in games personally but has been more than happy to build Activision Blizzard into one of the industry's leading companies. One quote sending the games industry into a laughing dizzy is the line, written by Forbes itself (hold back the tears): "EA also teamed with MTV to sell Rock Band, a shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero that added drums, bass and a microphone to the world of make-believe rock stars."We suppose the irony should be that Guitar Hero was first developed by Harmonix, the company responsible for Rock Band. Maybe we should be laughing that it was Harmonix that took the music genre into the group setting, which led Kotick's Activision to follow suit and create Guitar Hero: World Tour. But honestly, we just think the irony is that Forbes is a shameless knockoff of Fortune.[Via Videogaming247]
Analyst Roundup: Morgan Stanley pooh-poohs, iPhone sales looking bright
Morgan Stanley analysts yesterday cut AAPL's price target to $95, mostly citing the weak economy. They said that despite price cuts, extreme interest in the iPhone, Mac users' high satisfaction, and marketshare momentum for Mac sales, the quarter will be slow for Apple. Blog Notable Calls said it wouldn't have been surprised if AAPL slipped by five points yesterday, but instead the stock gained 34 cents a share before the closing bell. On a brighter note, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu sees promise in iPhone gift cards, according to Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog. As with any gift card, Apple collects revenue from the customer up front. However, Apple can't report the revenue until the phone is activated, which will likely be during the first quarter of next year. Wu anticipates Apple will sell 6 million iPhone handsets during the company's fiscal Q1 2009, which includes October, November and December 2008. Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty thinks Apple will sell only 4 million that same quarter. In the same Apple 2.0 story, Philip Elmer-DeWitt notes that Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster looked at how many units Walmart might sell, after pricing details leaked on Monday. He conjectures that each Walmart store could sell 1,284 iPhones in 2009, accounting for nearly 10 percent of Apple's worldwide iPhone sales. AAPL was up by $2.50 or so in midday trading.
Wii Fanboy poll: Want your fortune told?
When it was revealed that Nintendo's latest Channel would be one that reads fortunes, to say we were surprised would've been a huge understatement. Whether or not this will release to territories outside of Japan is anybody's guess, but what we want to know is would you want it to? Do you want to have your fortune read? Head past the break and voice your opinion in our poll below.%Gallery-38341%
Japan loves Apple, sales up there 39%
Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog has the skinny on why Japan is so hot on Apple lately -- apparently Steve Jobs' little company has seen sales rise 39% in the land of the rising sun, even after a drop the last year.Why is this? Apple's own report says iPods, Macs, and MacBooks are the culprits -- sales of Macs specifically are jumping up the charts. At the same time, reports are saying that sales of the iPhone have slowed there after a big burst at debut (while sales here are still through the roof).Seems like there's an upsurge on American electronics in Japan in general. Any of you armchair analysts want to guess why Apple is doing better there?
Papermaster hire on hold; IBM wins injunction
Apple's quest to replace outgoing iPod and iPhone VP Tony Fadell has run into a major roadblock: a federal district judge has granted IBM an injunction, forbidding former IBMer Mark Papermaster from joining Apple's ranks, at least for now. The story is a classic HR nightmare. According to a timeline at Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog, once he was offered a "once in a lifetime" position at Apple, Papermaster indicated he was going to resign at IBM. IBM executives then offered Papermaster a "substantial increase" in pay to entice him to stay. Papermaster declined, and quit. The next day, IBM filed their suit with the Southern District of New York, alleging that Papermaster is in violation of the non-compete clause of his employment contract. Papermaster claims in a counter-filing that Apple and IBM are in two totally different businesses: The former a consumer products company, the latter a high-end server manufacturer. Uh huh. Pundit Robert X. Cringely speculates that tapping Papermaster for the iPod/iPhone job was duplicitous, and Apple intends to move Papermaster into the lead position at the newly-acquired PA Semi division once the yearlong non-compete clause of his IBM contract expires. Apple said in a statement to Reuters that Apple "... will comply with the court's order but are confident that Mark Papermaster will be able to ultimately join Apple when the dust settles."
Want to write for TUAW?
Let me just say it: we're looking for a few good geeks. Do you have a love for all things Apple, tempered with a healthy dose of skepticism for the power of the RDF? Are you eager to share your favorite tips and tricks with Mac users everywhere? Is your iPhone development mojo so strong that it deserves an iSoapbox? Are you, in short, TUAW material? If you think you're what we're looking for, why not apply to blog for TUAW? Write about what you love and get paid to do it... seems like a good idea. Here's what we need from you: A brief biography. Tell us about your history with Apple, how long you've been a Mac user, etc. 3 sample posts written in TUAW's style. One should be a review of something (Mac app or accessory, iPod gear, iPhone app, you get the picture), the second should be an opinion piece, and the third can be whatever strikes your fancy. NOTE: please do not give us links to previously published material in lieu of post samples. We're glad to know about other places your work has appeared, but we need three freshly written and unedited posts. Your current Mac and iPhone/iPod setup. Your contact info (email, phone, IM, anywhere else we can find you) Send this package of "how I am so awesome" to us at apps@tuaw.com as a plain text email; no attachments, please. You have to be at least 18 years old to write for TUAW (sorry, not our choice), but we welcome applicants from all parts of the world -- in fact, we would love to bring some contributors into the fold who are in timezones far away from EST. If you've got specialized Mac interests (scientific computing, video/audio, education), that's fantastic, but generalists welcome too. Our deadline for this round of applications is Friday, November 7 -- so get down to it!
Analyst roundup: 5m iPhones for Q4, gloomy Christmas ahead
Widely-read Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is revising his prior estimate for the quarter ending a week from Tuesday, and his outlook is even rosier than before. Instead of 4.1 million iPhone 3Gs, Munster expects Apple will sell 5 million of the handsets. Likewise, he's revising his estimates for Mac sales up by 300,000 units, and iPod sales up by 200,000 units. If he's right, it will mean Apple will have sold 7.4 million iPhones so far this year. That puts Apple well on track to meet its own prediction of selling 10 million handsets for calendar year 2008. On the other hand, we have Morgan Stanley, who cut price targets for nine hardware companies, including Apple. Morgan cited a "fragile consumer," slower overall spending, and a stronger dollar (the last of which impacts sales abroad for U.S. companies). This comes after a weak August for Mac sales, which -- in context -- only means that Apple's numbers didn't grow quite as fast as they did in prior months. They still sold 23 percent more Mac units than August 2007, but that was sharply lower than July 2008's 43 percent increase over July 2007. [Via Fortune, Silicon Alley Insider, and 24/7 Wall St.] Thanks, Robert!
Three million iPhone 3Gs sold in first month
A month ago, Apple was crowing about selling one million iPhone 3G handsets over its opening weekend. In a month, they've tripled that figure. According to Fortune and analyst Michael Cote of the (eponymous and nascent, from what I can Google) Cote Collaborative, Apple has already hit the three million mark, with many investors expecting only three to four million handsets sold by the end of the quarter. Cote is a former T-Mobile executive, who Scott Moritz says has been accurate with his predictions in the past. It took over 10 weeks for the original iPhone to sell just one million handsets. The iPhone 3G accounts for almost a third of all iPhones sold, ever. Cote says that meeting demand will be Apple's challenge going forward, as it enters 20 new countries on August 22 -- almost doubling its market presence worldwide. "The demand is so strong it may impact or delay the new countries coming on," he said.
Two-thirds of premium PCs sold at retail are Macs
In the "premium" computer market -- at least, for machines sold in brick and mortar stores -- Apple holds its own as number one. For the first quarter of this year, Macs accounted for 66 percent of computers that retailed for over $1,000, according to eWeek. That's not all: 70 percent of desktops sold at the same price point (or higher) are made by Apple too. Even though sales at physical stores represent only a fraction of the overall computer market, what's most impressive for this stat is the year-over-year growth. Apple had 18 percent of the premium market in January 2006. That grew to 57 percent in September 2007, and just six months later rose to 66 percent. In the same eWeek article, Joe Wilcox quotes NPD's Stephen Baker as saying "Windows notebooks had 'zero percent' growth year over year [and] Apple notebooks had '50 to 60 percent growth.'" Of course, overall, Apple makes 14 percent of computers sold at retail. Compare that to Apple's nadir in the late 90s of around two percent, and you can see how the changes Apple made to its distribution and retail strategy over the last decade have really paid off. [via Apple 2.0]
Fortune interview with Steve Jobs
As part of their feature on Apple we noted earlier in the week, Fortune magazine also has an interview with Steve Jobs that's definitely worth a look. Though frankly a bit annoying to page through, it's chock full of Uncle Steve goodness. There's quite a bit of interesting background on some of Apple's biggest business decisions over the last few years. It's definitely worth a read if you're interested in how the CEO of the most-admired company in the country thinks.In addition, there's also a story by Fortune editor Peter Elkind on The trouble with Steve Jobs. It comes off a bit like sour grapes in places, but nonetheless is also worth the time.[via Daring Fireball]
Jobs hid cancer for nine months before seeking treatment, damn
CNN has a pretty extensive profile on El Jobso -- the likes of which seem to appear almost monthly these days in the mainstream media publication of your choosing -- but one of the more interesting tidbits is that apparently he sat on his pancreatic cancer for nine friggin' months before seeking treatment back in 2004. To put that in perspective, although his diagnosis was curable at the time, pancreatic cancer is considered to be among the most deadly forms and despite the urgings of the very few friends, family, and associates in the know, Steve apparently sought to cure himself holistically for three quarters -- while everyone else (including Pixar, where he was also CEO) was in the dark. Of course, eventually he gave in and got the surgery he so desperately needed to make his recovery; water under the bridge now, but Apple shareholders certainly must have a feeling or two about Jobs coming so close to the brink.[Thanks, Adhik]
Apple sets "gold standard for corporate America"
There's a glowing article about Apple at Fortune today. Here was the stand-out line for me:"Apple's philosophy goes like this: Too many companies spread themselves thin, making a profusion of products to defuse risk, so they get mired in the mediocre. Apple's approach is to put every resource it has behind just a few products and make them exceedingly well."Consider Apple's product line. There are three laptops, the MacBook, the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air. Even a potential customer who's never used a computer before can understand the distinctions just by hearing their names. "MacBook" is obviously the basic laptop. The "MacBook Pro" is obviously a "better," or professional, model and the Air is somehow different than the two. Easy.Not to pick on Sony, but look at their lineup of Vaio laptops: Vaio UX Series Vaio TZ Series Vaio SZ Series Vaio CR Series Vaio FZ Series Vaio NR Series Vaio AR Series What? Just reading the names, I can't surmise anything about the differences between these machines. Plus, there are seven models vs. Apple's three.The same goes for desktops. Apple builds three; the iMac (a name nearly everybody knows), the Mac mini (obviously smaller and, one would assume, lower priced) and the Mac Pro, which follows the pro-level naming convention of the laptop line.The iPod line is slightly more convoluted (if "convoluted" is even the right word) with four models iPod shuffle iPod nano iPod classic iPod touch I bet the classic will eventually be replaced by the touch, once the cost of flash drives comes down. The Fortune article is full of good stuff, so go and read it. [Via MacDailyNews]
Fortune: Radiohead was dumb to ditch iTunes, make more money
As long as we're in 2007 review mode, let's review the saga of Radiohead's In Rainbows album (which is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year, by the way). First, they said no to iTunes to keep their album in one-piece, then they decided to "sell" it for free on their website (asking their fans to donate what they thought it was worth), and then they cleaned up.Then Fortune calls their decision the 58th dumbest of the year. Yes, the geniuses at Fortune believe that Radiohead screwed up, because they say that 68% of people who picked up the album paid nothing, and the rest of the listeners paid an average of six bucks. But of course, Fortune has got it backwards-- Radiohead, as we noted earlier in the year, would only have earned $1 per album going through the record companies, and so they were still able to rake in twice as much at their average of $2.26 per album download.Dumb? For the record companies, maybe-- they made exactly nothing off of Radiohead's new album. But when you consider what the band made, this distribution method makes even iTunes look dated.[Via Gruber]
Fake Steve calls shenanigans on Fortune mag item
Pity the editors of Fortune's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business list, who thought to include an item at #51 on this year's countdown calling out Apple's dumb move. The rainbow fruit was taken to task for a cease-and-desist letter sent to nine-year-old Shea O'Gorman, who was told in no uncertain terms to stop sending suggestions for improvements to the iPod Nano via a letter from Apple's legal team.Was this a dumb business moment? Undoubtedly. Did it take place in 2007? Uh, nope -- 2006. Fake Steve calls Fortune on the carpet (link headline NSFW) for the mixup, which is a little disingenuous considering who pays for the gas in his Gulfstream... but it's all in fun.
Sony claims two spots in 101 Business Blunders '07
Oh, how we love big brother Joystiq's humor. Fortune magazine recently listed the top 101 big business blunders of 2007 and Sony made the list -- twice. Position 61 on the list went to that crazy God of War 2 launch party over in Greece with the ... questionable decor that was blown out of proportion by the media. Then at number 63, Sony is cited for the use of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance. It doesn't matter that, technically, the game was released in 2006 and Sony apologized twice for the ordeal. While these are more or less PR snafu's, we could probably come up with much bigger problems that Sony tripped over in 2007. Things that are a little more relevant. But those are still pretty silly bits of strife Sony had to overcome. Feel free to give your opinion about Fortune's list, or make your own![via Joystiq]
Leopard: All signs point to 10/26
Does anyone else think it's a little crazy that we're already 1/4 of the way through October and we still don't have an official release date for Leopard? It'll almost assuredly be at the very end of the month, but in terms of date and time, no one has an official clue.For a Piper Jaffray analyst, however, all signs point to October 26th (and gwhiz adds 6 p.m. on that Friday afternoon just like the iPhone launch). Makes a lot of sense to me-- Friday is clearly a great day to launch a product, as it gives Apple the weekend to claim sales figures, as well as gives us consumers a chance to break open the box and get it installed right away. Analyst Gene Munster says, also, that it's the end of the first month of a fiscal quarter, which Apple likes for boosting sales-- Tiger released in the same situation.Plus, you know, the 25th is a full moon, so there's even more fuel for the speculatory fire. I agree that the 26th sounds pretty convincing, but of course we won't know for sure until Steve wants us to.Thanks, Zoli!
Magic 8-Ball says: 'Signs point to disturbing'
Even StarFox's furry-friendly backdrop couldn't hold a candle to Fortune Channel, Capcom and TakaraTomy's latest installment to the puppy-fashion Wantame series. Predicting the future with minigames certainly sounds interesting, but we would rather not have to dress up virtual dogs in provocative outfits during the process. The miniature daschund posing on the right is probably the second most unsettling image of a dolled-up animal that we've ever come across. If you want to see the most unsettling image -- and we're not kidding around here, your eyes may very well hop out of their sockets, scampering away at the mere sight of this one -- step past the post break.
Wii Warm Up: Tendencies
The sporting world is notorious for superstitious tendencies and odd behavior. Players always have the same meal preceding a game; they won't cut their hair until they lose; they'll wear the same jock str ... egh, never mind. The point is, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, people still continue to engage in silly habits for luck and good fortune.As a gamer, do you have any particular habits before tournaments? Barring competitive play, are there any strange habits you have while gaming in general? Some of us here tend to spin the Wiimote around our fingers when we perform something of note, and others blow on the DVD before insertion into the Wii, harkening back to the NES days. Man, we're weird.
Nintendo featured in Fortune, employees worth millions each
While the article focuses more on Nintendo's newest electronic gadget the Wii, it does have some interesting tidbits of info for the DS-loving folk out there. Like the fact that each and every employee at Nintendo is technically worth $2.5 million each. How does one come to this figure? Well, you simply take Nintendo's $8.26 billion in revenue, divide by its 3,400 employees and you'll come up with the figure. That's simply amazing, especially when you compare it to two of the world's top companies in Google and Microsoft, where each employee is worth $994,000 and $624,000 respectively.[Via Game | Life]
Fortune: Nintendo is beating Microsoft and Sony
The July 11 issue of Fortune magazine features an in-depth look at Nintendo's success and how it has managed to "beat the pants off Sony and Microsoft". The company has experienced both embarrassing defeats and resounding successes over the course of its 118 year history. Now, thanks to a combination of penny-pinching and industry leapfrogging, Nintendo turns a profit from every Wii console sold, unlike Sony and Microsoft who lose money each time their respective system is bought.Taking a look at Nintendo's finances, the company generated over $8.26 billion in revenue last year, or $2.5 million for each of its 3,400 employees. By comparison, Google's employees generated $994,000 each, while Microsoft's staff scraped in just $624,000. Exchange rates and fiscal calendars complicate the comparison, but the difference is still striking.Nintendo's strategy has been successful in attracting new gamers to the fold, but what about core players who grew up with NES controllers in their hands? Are we as smitten with Nintendo as Fortune seems to be? Is Nintendo's success little more than new players getting a taste of videogames for the first time?[Thanks, Tweak]
