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More on AT&T: Bad news for Apple? AT&T activated 4.3M iPhones in Q1 vs 4.5M expected, a...

  • Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 7:42 AM ET
    More on AT&T: Bad news for Apple? AT&T activated 4.3M iPhones in Q1 vs 4.5M expected, a 43% Q/Q decline (against a big 2011 Q4). AAPL gives up premarket gains, now -1%. T +1.4%.
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  • At some point the iPhone market will saturate, a slowdown is inevitable.

    Also, people know the iPhone 5 is coming out sometime this Fall, so people might be waiting for Q3 or Q4 to buy and activate their new iPhone. After all, a cell phone is a 2-year commitment in the U.S.

    There are whole websites dedicated to advising people on when to buy Apple products based on their release cycles; this one has the iPhone under "buy only if you really need it" at the moment:
    http://bit.ly/IbWRGy
    24 Apr 2012, 07:47 AM Reply Like
  • D-Virginia,

    I agree,

    Considering 4G-LTE is all the rave, even an educated Apple customer would likely wait for the I-Phone 5, given it is expected to be 4G (unlike the present I-Phone 4S), rather than be committed to an antiquated device for another 2 years.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:03 AM Reply Like
  • I'm not exactly sure how you can say that when 4.3 million of the 5.5 million smartphones sold by AT&T this quarter were iPhones..

    That's 78% of all AT&T activations were iPhones. That's 78% of all smartphones sold didn't have 4G LTE ... and you're saying 4G LTE is "all the rave". [On the other hand, the phrase is usually "all the rage", so maybe "all the rave" means 1 out of 5.]
    24 Apr 2012, 09:34 AM Reply Like
  • I was surprised and apparently you will be also, but when the 4s came out 50% of the sales were previous iphone 4 owners. Less than the 2 years between the release of the 4 and 4s.

    So it seems pretty reasonable to expect that same 50% will be buying the iPhone 5 even if they haven't fulfilled their two year contract.

    You can make all sorts of judgement on the value of such an expenditure of money, but there is a good number of people that have the disposable cash to do that. Whether some web site says it's worth it or not.

    You also aren't making any consideration of families in your equation. I have a 4s. My wife has a 3 1/2 year old LG flip phone. She much doesn't care but she's showing interest based on the comments I make on my iPhone. If she gets the whim to get an iPhone, she'll be getting my 4s and I'll be getting the 5.
    24 Apr 2012, 09:45 AM Reply Like
  • You can make a good living just buying on the knee-jerk selling of short-term obsessed investors. Everyone knows that iPhone sales are going to be lower than last quarters and many will wait for the iPhone 5 to make their next purchase. AT&T announces iPhone sales a few hundred thousands below expectations and everyone goes for the sell button. Time to pick up some more shares in the low 560s.
    24 Apr 2012, 07:59 AM Reply Like
  • OMG SELL.

    AND O HELL, HERE COMES AND ICE AGE AND SOME METEORS.

    Click bait.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:00 AM Reply Like
  • I remember some people saying the same thing about RIMM too.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:20 AM Reply Like
  • When did Blackberries take 78% of all the smartphones sold by AT&T?

    And if they ever did, was that perceived by the market as a disappointment?
    24 Apr 2012, 09:16 AM Reply Like
  • The larger problem for Apple than any question about how loyal their existing customer base may be is the fact that the rapidly growing first-time markets are not wedded to Apple, a priori, so iPhones now have to compete head to head with the likes of Samsung's Android 4.0 Galaxy Nexus and other just-introduced top-notch new entrants from HTC. Apple used to own the high end cell market, but its performance has been equalled or eclipsed by these new phones, and at better prices.

    The days of Apple's cell-phone market share expanding effortlessly, or even being maintained, are over. Furthemore, iPads are under similar attack, especially by the smaller 7" class. Unless Apple responds quickly there, they will suffer further erosion.

    To garner any further share-price explosions Apple needs a new blockbuster. Where are you, Steve Jobs?
    24 Apr 2012, 08:08 AM Reply Like
  • Agree about the need for a new blockbuster -- and I'm calling "flop" on the expected upcoming iTV concept.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:42 AM Reply Like
  • "flop" has already been taken by Sam Glover for describing an Apple product. My sense is you don't want your name associated with Sam Glover.

    The iPad: Apple’s Newest iFlop?
    by Sam Glover on January 28, 2010

    I think the iPad will be a big disappointment for Apple and its customers.

    Look, this is just a giant iPod Touch, and that is about it. Kind of like a phone, but it does not fit into a pocket. And no multitasking, full-version software, USB ports, video outs, or Flash. Microsoft tried this with Windows CE, and look where that wound up.

    The iPad has a processor slower than a netbook, no physical keyboard, and runs a stripped-down version of OS X. Not stripped-down like Google’s Chrome OS, which can still run a full browser and software, but stripped-down like the iPhone.

    You want to browse the web and carry a lighter computer? Get a netbook. You want portable, stripped-down apps? Get a smartphone. You want to play games on something too big for your pocket? Get a Wii. Paul Miller from Engadget put it this way:

    Overall, the device just doesn’t do anything I can’t already accomplish more excellently with another device: I produce content on my laptop, I consume content on my TV, and there’s no way you’re convincing me that you can have the best web surfing experience without a keyboard. .........

    http://bit.ly/JuvFUF

    ===================

    You have to click on the link just to see the picture of the Sam Glover iPad. It's priceless.

    P.S.There may not even by an upcoming iTV.
    24 Apr 2012, 09:25 AM Reply Like
  • Funny thing is, pretty much all of those complaints still hold -- what Glover didn't realize is that Apps sell the iPad, not hardware, and truthfully the same is true of the iPhone.

    And not necessarily Apple's software. Apple's last game-changing blockbuster wasn't the iPhone or the iPad, it was the App Store.

    I'm only mildly impressed with my iPad 2 as a piece of hardware. Thin and shiny only go so far. I especially dislike how locked down it is, the apps can't use the hardware or OS to its full potential. And that proprietary connector on all iDevices is just a cruel joke.

    But I'm not sure I could live without Instapaper or Reeder or SimpleNote on my iPad, or Audible or CamScanner or the Weather Channel or Remember The Milk on my iPhone.

    The apps seal the deal. The app ecosystem isn't perfect, but it's the biggest and most current out there so far.

    Simply put: the best part of the walled garden is the stuff that gets through the walls, many of which have to jump through a lot of hoops get in, thanks to Apple's overzealous policies.

    But they're slowly opening up, and hopefully that trend will continue, and will speed up.

    Not that totally open is ideal. The Android App Market is littered with total crap apps, some of which invite malware.

    There's a good balance somewhere. Hopefully they'll find it.
    25 Apr 2012, 07:29 AM Reply Like
  • Yeah, the sky is falling at AT&T. Apple only represents 78% of their smartphone sales for the last quarter.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:10 AM Reply Like
  • It seems the market expected 82%+ of all smartphones sold by AT&T to be iPhones.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:35 AM Reply Like
  • How stupid are some investors? You have got to be kidding me...did everyone forget that they released the iPhone in China and Brazil during the previous quarter.

    Some people don't deserve to have the money to invest if they are going to be so flippant in their reactions to every news story...Jeesh.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:18 AM Reply Like
  • Keep in mind: the US are no longer the center of the world when it comes to sales of Apple products.
    Then there is China Telecom, a provider with more subscriber than Verizon, which was added to the Apple World only in January.
    Again, I would be very careful to base the success of Apples quarter simple on the activation-numbers of one or two carrier.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:20 AM Reply Like
  • So, what we have : Verizon: 3.4 million, Sprint: 1.8m and T: 4.3m vs. total forecast 30 million or so. Wait for the rest of world, please! Is the share going down to 500 this afternoon!
    24 Apr 2012, 08:22 AM Reply Like
  • Looks like Karma is catching up with Apple....Keep screwing your business partners (the carriers), screwing the consumers with price-fixing and exploiting workers in China to the point of starvation wages and suicide. I see the Chaos butterfly flapping its wings (and NO, I'm not high)
    24 Apr 2012, 08:23 AM Reply Like
  • Notable products which the Foxconn manufactures include the iPad, iPhone, Kindle, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360.

    Companies that Foxconn produces for:

    Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
    Amazon.com (United States)
    Apple Inc. (United States)
    Cisco (United States)
    Dell (United States)
    Hewlett-Packard (United States)
    Intel (United States)
    Microsoft (United States)
    Motorola Mobility (United States)
    Nintendo (Japan)
    Nokia (Finland)
    Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
    Sony (Japan)
    Toshiba (Japan)
    Vizio (United States)

    http://bit.ly/I9vfkA

    The suicide rate at Foxconn during the suicide spate remained lower than that of the general Chinese population,[10] and the Foxconn deaths may have been a product of economic conditions external to the company. In China in 2010 there were several major strike actions at other high-profile manufacturers in China, and the Lewisian turning-point as well as the decline in the surplus Chinese labour-pool are two potential macro-economic factors.[11][12]

    In response to the suicides, Foxconn substantially increased wages for its Shenzhen factory workforce,[13][14] installed suicide-prevention netting,[15] and asked employees to sign no-suicide pledges.[7][16] Workers were also forced to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing that they and their descendants would not sue the company as a result of unexpected death, self-injury, or suicide.[17] In 2012, 150 Foxconn workers threatened to jump off the roof but were coaxed down by management. In Wuhan, at a Microsoft Xbox production line for Foxconn, 200 workers threatened to jump off a building over pay.

    http://bit.ly/IBsxm5
    24 Apr 2012, 09:12 AM Reply Like
  • 17 suicides at foxconn in the 5 years up to 2010. 9 suicides between March and May 2010, synchronous to iphone/ipad boom time. Explain the discrepancy. Chinese per capita income is one sixth of the US according to the IMF. Cost of living is similar. Sweatshop labor, exploitation, suicides...
    24 Apr 2012, 04:30 PM Reply Like
  • What will the addition of Sprint iPhone sales mean?...as well as the addition of new foreign countries' sales? And will the iPad sales be more than expected? And, what about the outlook for the future?
    24 Apr 2012, 08:24 AM Reply Like
  • The problem that Apple has is that it's competing w/ its own history. Last quarter's iPhone sales were extraordinary by any measure. It sounds dramatic to say that iPhone sales dropped by some double digit X percentage from last quarter, but 1st quarter had all stars aligning. I'll do a bit of hedging today and remain long AAPL. 30 million iPhones sold this quarter? Tragic.
    24 Apr 2012, 08:35 AM Reply Like
  • why is no one saying that the AT&T earnings are bad news for google? iphones were 78% of their sales, meaning android was less than 22%. that sounds pretty bad for everyone except google to me.

    ok, so the iphone drop was 43%. what was the android drop? why is no one extrapolating that and predicting google's decline?

    click bait indeed.
    24 Apr 2012, 10:47 AM Reply Like
  • Because market has completely dsicounted Google as a growth machine as they make 0 margins on Android. Fewer they sell, not so bad for their bottom line as ironic as it might sound.
    24 Apr 2012, 10:52 AM Reply Like
  • The whole point is to feed their search engine. It's why Cisco makes investments in all sorts of Internet related areas: to feed data growth and the switches and routers they sell.
    24 Apr 2012, 12:40 PM Reply Like
  • Somehow relying onChina seems an unreliable effort. No one since WWII has been able to succeed with a product in China. If the cult does not pick up sales and it comes down to China, then AAPL will go the way of xerox, but in thrice the time it took.
    Harrystc
    24 Apr 2012, 10:51 AM Reply Like
  • Apple is more than device manufacturer. It's the tunes, the movies, the books, the games, the apps. They get 30% of all that revenue. And then there's the advertising.
    24 Apr 2012, 03:59 PM Reply Like
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