Richard Hyde

Apple's iPod Nano Likely to Build Product Loyalty

Joel,
Some good thoughts but you obviously don't have teenage kids. My kids have cell phones, but I am not willing to spend the money to get them iPhones.(ie $40 per phone for data) The Touch becomes a great way to allow them access to all the iphone apps and games,(100k or them) as well as music and you tube videos over 802.11 which is in the house and many other places (college campuses). They love the thing. It is a mini-computer platform that has great growth potential as 802.11 becomes ubiquitous. While I agree the Nano is a great refresh, don't underestimate the Touch.

A Worm in the Apple?

Many traders and investors have lost alot of money betting against the Apple machine. Delighting the customer in products and services, producing products with a proprietary sauce that allows for extremely high margins and constant innovation to get those products just right (where is my tablet?) are the keys to Apple success. The stock price will bounce around in the short term and technicians like Mr Headley can have their fun with Bollinger bands etc, but in the long run, Apple will grow revenues, profits and share price. The next ten years belong to Apple as that creaking monstrosity called the Microsoft PC comes to an end.

Sirius Radio: Glowing or About to Burn Up?

I am new to SIRI, so naturally buying high here. But some points to consider: SIRI is a monopoly in this space. No competition is a very good thing, ask Microsoft (well 10 years ago anyway, now its a different story). I have used Pandora, do not like it. Recent change limits free time to 2 hours per day and they keep shoving new songs in my oldies station to get me to buy new songs. (Thats how they really make money). SIRI is increasing rates, I have been a subscriber of XM for 5 years or so, and ticked the rates are going up. Now I am a shareholder and see point 1 above. Finally, that satellite path to cars keeps bringing new features to our service. First its radio, then subscription content(Stern), then traffic and weather, then traffic and weather on your map display. Soon you will be able (if not already) to get weather maps on your built in Nav display from SIRI, as well as traffic displays that are already common. I assume they will push other content down as time goes on, all with a price tag. SIRI has issues, but there are alot of things you can overcome when you have the market locked up.

Blackberry’s 26 Advantages over iPhone

Seeking Alpha is about stocks. Apple debuted the iPhone GS and it sold 1M in the first weekend. With deferred revenue, the iPhone may soon be the most profitable product for Apple save the Mac. When its offerred on Verizon and in China, sales will ignite again. The BB is a fine device, but when you have 2 for 1 specials, you know that RIMM is feeling some pain. People are not stupid, they are not sheep. They see, feel, touch, and buy the iPhone because it gives them the internet in their hands, anywhere they go. Luckily the Smartphone market is still relatively immature, so there is room for growth for BB. But unless RIMM responds with a decent internet friendly device, its going to be left in the dust. Last qtr Apple announced several Fortune 500 companies bought more than 10000 phones each for their enterprise. Those numbers are not chicken feed and they should strike terror in RIMM. In my new company I was given a BB. (BB world edition). Email works great, good phone, but I hate it. I still use my iphone constantly because of the internet and great Apps. I am 52 by the way and no, I do not consider it a toy. Its the finest mobile computing device ever made. RIMM knows this, they just can't get something to market that competes yet. They better soon.

Apple: Great Company with Lofty Valuation - Due for Pullback

Honest comments from someone who says he is short and I think these are fairly common among many who view Apple with skepticism. However like all the other analysts except Piper's Munster, Mark is trying to template a run of the mill technology company metrics to the one company that is truly is making things very different in terms of outsized growth. Apple's iPhone projections are NOT in the price, analysts are only projecting 10M in sales this calendar year...it is likely to be at least double that and then double that the next year (20M in 08, 40M in 09). Best Buy will sell them next month along with 22 new countries worldwide. Lines are still out the door at many apple stores. NPD and other IT intel firms report no slowdown in Mac growth, which both domestically and internationally show a growth rate of 35-40% year over year. At the same time, Microsoft, its leading competitor has a product (Vista) that by all accounts is a dismal failure. New lines of business such as movie sales/rentals and the Apple App store are beginning to gain steam and will be positive factors in Apple's earnings next year. Finally, the ipod is not slowing down. Sales indicate an 10% unit YoY growth rate based on the latest nunbers. So the bottomline is that the projected revenue and earnings numbers are woefully inadequate and therefore the current price is still very reasonable.

Apple to Experience Market Share Madness

Jason,
Great article!! keep em coming.

Rick

Apple to Experience Market Share Madness

George,
Below is from July 2007 report. One compelling story about Apple is their single digit market share. 6.6% now in the US and 4% or so worldwide. Alot of room for growth. IDC is the authority in this area. Not sure your point on installed base versus sales share, all any investor cares about is how much they are selling and if they are growing numbers/share or losing it.



U.S. shipments of Apple's Mac computer line grew 26 percent during the second quarter of 2007, according to just released data from market research firm IDC.


The firm said Apple shipped 960,000 units within the U.S. during the three-month period, good enough for a 5.6 percent share of the overall U.S. PC market and fourth place on its list of top vendors.

Apple's U.S. share is up from 4.8 percent during the year-ago quarter when it shipped 761,000 units, according to IDC's historical data.