Apple's Week in the Sun

Beginning today, thousands of very technically talented people will descend upon San Francisco for the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2007. The conference runs through Friday June 15. There are over 100 separate and distinct technical presentations and mini-lab sessions on the schedule. Apple, Inc (AAPL) will use the opportunity to make sure everyone in attendance gets a free beta-copy of the new Leopard operating system, due out in October, and of course the buzz will be the new iPhone.

Apple has been strategically advertising the iPhone on television and other media with the final message "due out June 29." The early adopters will sing its praises and the various media representatives will be there to capture every word. In the commercials, Apple has stressed the simplicity, yet technical advancement of the iPhone. But what else does Apple have up its sleeve?

I wrote last week about how Apple and Google (GOOG) have emerged as the two distinguished leaders in the technology sector. Both have hit new 52-week highs and the momentum in their respective earnings and revenues is compelling. They have taken over from the old guard (Microsoft, Cisco (CSCO), Dell (DELL) and Oracle (ORCL)).

Rumors have been circulating that Apple and Google will formalize a strategic relationship. Basically, Apple has grown weary of its dependence on Microsoft's (MSFT) Office Suite, and Apple CEO Steven Jobs has indicated that the Mac needs to "catch up." If Apple decides to include the Google suite of internet applications, it could be a blockbuster union of these two titans and a serious blow to Microsoft. Google's suite would include e-mail, spreadsheets, maps, and general document management applications.

Whatever comes of it, the tone for Apple is one of progress and moving forward. Apple has the news and the noise surrounding the new iPhone, but the Mac has been quietly revamped and is gaining greater acceptance in the technology world. The Mac also helps drive very high margin software sales.

So, expect a lot of news coverage this week on Apple. This developers conference may be quite technical in substance, but there will be a lot of flair and sizzle as well.

Comments

[Malkiel:]

Apple will have an excellent year and sell lots of iphones and computers, but don't expect them to "catch up" with Microsoft's specialty office software suite if a web-based Google suite is what they're offering. There's simply too much privacy and security risk which the industry is not handling in any reassuring way; no business in its right mind is going to create and store its vital proprietary information on somebody elses' server in a time when ISP's aren't even willing to put out the effort to filter spam for viruses and trojans. The environment of trust isn't there, and web-based apps aren't taking market share until people feel the trust...

2007 Jun 11 11:59 AM