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95 Comments
Is Solar Power Inherently Deflationary?
The Brung'ers are the oil interests, and increasingly they are wearing keffiyeh along with the Brooke's Brothers bespoke threads and designer sunglasses.
And that isn't about to change soon.
Until, and unless we recognize that this "crisis" is more a political and willpower crisis than an actual commodity shortage crisis, nothing much will change. Sure, you will have a lot of speeches and hot air about "doing something' but in the end, what has government EVER solved, besides a shortage of overeducated doofuses wearing silly hats and standing in front of EVERY go getter, with a clipboard in hand, the other held out, and NO .. NO ... hung around his or her, or it's neck?
Review of Apple’s iPhone SDK Event
Sit back and wait for the YOOHAA's, and then go back. Even $money$men appreciate cool, exciting, and sleek.
This is a development effort based on desire not bottom line costing. It takes longer, but the lasting effects will be worthwhile. AND....IF they "looksee" the iPhone platform, they ARE "looksee'ing"... OS X and the obvious differences will be seen, noticed, and who knows, one by one, some wholesale shifting over to Enterprise Mac operations will snowball. Heck, just the annual savings in NO Virus and Malware attacks alone will make a huge bottom line difference in many corporate settings.
Now, we have 20 million iPhones out there in 18 from NOW, each one buys five apps a year from the iTunes store, average app cost $20 for 100/yr, Apple slices off 30% of that for 60 million more to the bottom line.
I have been yelling this now almost TWO YEARS, it is NOT this product, or THAT product that is the enticement here, it is the entire SYSTEM, the SYNERGY of each and every carefully crafted step, machine, program, and move to bring you into the Apple family, and once there, to hold your hand, stroke your ego, and deliver stunning products that just work, don't break, and you do NOT have to be a Geek in Training to get them ALL to seamlessly work with each other, connect, and communicate.
I WISH the androids on Wall Street would stop treating this as an iPod company, an iPhone company, or whatever....PRODUCT company, it isn't. It is a community of fast moving, highly motivated, smart, and savvy consumers, with money to spend...IF you stoke the ego's, deliver the goods, and make them HAPPY to use whatever sleek tool with an Apple embossed on it somewhere they happen to have in their hands, or in their ears.
Apple Shares Down as Analysts Lower Price Targets
>>>>Mr. Abramsky said:
Although we expect Apple to deliver strong results, we see Apple's valuation multiple vulnerable, should market sentiment continue to deteriorate and could compress on further on unexpected competitive developments.<<&...
TRANSLATION: -> Apple might go up, or down, or maybe not either, and WE STAND BY THAT prediction with our entire firm's reputation!
Honestly, that statement HAS to be composed while sitting on the crapper, with the NYTimes in one hand, the other punching in to the "Love Line" on your RIMM machine, while thinking about where you can get tickets to the hot broadway show this weekend.
Honestly, HOW DO FOLKS GET THESE jobs? I want one. Mumble something, cover your butt six ways to sunday, NEVER stand by something you wrote over two weeks ago, and run HARD with the HERD.
And moan and groan when your annual bonus is not enough to buy the latest Mercedes.
Sigh....
Apple Shares Down as Analysts Lower Price Targets
The ONLY unknown about the MacBook Air, is how the heck you can BUY one. They are continually sold out everywhere, and the wait for one over on Amazon is now listed as 5-7 days. Things are so tight on this one, that there are sites that monitor every Apple store and nightly post where one can find ONE OR TWO that can be purchased. Normally those are gone in an hour or two, despite daily deliveries.
Oh, the "iPhone glitches" are the DEMAND being so high, that despite it only being officially sold in four countries, there are reports of fairly heavy use now in over ONE HUNDRED countries, that means the DEMAND is there, but the obstacles R the leaden footed goons running monopolistic telephone systems and their reluctance to share revenues.
One more ANAL-yst who faced a blank sheet of paper, and with nothing to say, just made things up, since it is now "pile on Apple" month, and he just did, with more fluff and froth, with NO FACTS even matching reality.
Does Wall Street Properly Value Google/Apple Brand Loyalty?
EXAMPLE, O2, the Apple partner in the iPhone in the UK just released this statement:
>>>> " O2 UK's Q4 2007 buoyed by iPhone
Britain's primary cellphone carrier, O2, reported on Thursday that the iPhone was one of the primary drivers of its success in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Though still refusing to confirm or deny reported sales numbers for the specific Apple device, the provider said the 483,000 net customers it picked up during the three-month span was the most ever for the company. About 276,000 of these had signed a contract and included the iPhone customers in their ranks, as the handset requires an 18-month agreement.
O2 also boasted that the device was the "fastest selling device that [it has] ever had" in the country and that the average revenue per user is about 30 percent higher than for a typical contracted subscriber.
About 60 percent of all iPhone users have come from other providers, and the iPhone has had the highest satisfaction levels yet of any O2 device with a record low return rate, the company said. " <<<
So, you have exceptional sales, NEW customers leaving OTHER providers, and even the companies themselves are happily surprised at how explosive things have been.
Add in customer satisfaction at multiples of other competitors, and web traffic far in excess of the numbers of machines would "warrent" as much as 50 TIMES higher than the next nearest competitor per unit accessing the web.
Are Apple and Google Holding Tech Back?
Click on the link above.
Are Apple and Google Holding Tech Back?
As you can see, EVERYONE is now sold out, or just taking preorders for future deliveries...and this is TWO MONTHS after the product was announced.
So, there is the reality, you can't get one, but the "prognosticators/... are telling you that this is a dog, and no one wants them?
One of the two has to be wrong here, and where I sit, REALITY trumps speculation every day.
www.nowinstock.net/mac.../
Some Troubling Data For Apple and SanDisk Shareholders
I believe it is all summed up in his self admission...
"...As a technician and trader, I have little insight about...."
So, we have a chart watcher seeing a chart that has gone down, cause OTHER clueless chartwatchers and anal-ists have WORRIED about this or that, and SPECUALTED on that or this or the other things...
Now what FACTS do we have, to deal with, oh yeah, forgot....
Last quarter sales UP 58% over a year ago, RECORD profits....stores filled with consumers....backliste... wait lists for the better products....
But hey, FORGETTABOUTALLTHAT, you see, it is now all about the FEAR AND FUD.....the what iff'ers, the doom and gloom crowd.
You know, I always suspected that if they would just eliminate the crystal ball prognosticators, and go back to reading bird entrails they would actually INCREASE the credibility of what passes for informed speculation in the financial press.
Are Apple and Google Holding Tech Back?
Indeed, OK I can "go" with this one....
Month after month, after month after month, after month.....
..... pretty soon those "months" turn into years, and those years turn into a dominating positon in EVERY segment that is targeted. Can we rename your concept the "Boutique Stealth Bomber?"
Now wrap your peabrain around this one.....figg'er it out, and what'n this'n might mean in the long run if this goes nationwide...or, SHUDDER....worldwide even?
>>>"CU to give iPhone or iPod Touch to all incoming freshmen; will pioneer learning strategies with devices
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iPhone image courtesy of Apple
image courtesy of Apple
An Apple iPhone or iPod Touch will become a central part of Abilene Christian University's innovative learning experience this fall when all freshmen are provided one of these converged media devices, said Phil Schubert, ACU executive vice president.
At ACU - the first university in the nation to provide these cutting-edge media devices to its incoming class - freshmen will use the iPhones or iPod Touches to receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances - among more than 15 other useful web applications already developed, said ACU Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts." <<<
www.acu.edu/news/2008/...
Can u 'mag'n that? EVERY college kid graduating having lugged around Apple's OS X operating system and a iPhone for four years? Then they graduate and have to go to work for Company X with WinDoz that is like going from Ferrarri's to Volkswagen's.....
Long term, heck, intermediate long term, NO...make that short term, who is ACTUALLY beating Apple at ANY of the market segments it has targeted? And that goes from producing Hollywood Movies, to marketing music, to selling laptops, to retailing....and heck, just toss in hype and customer loyalty while you are at it?
Two Firms Out Positive on Apple
Hehehehe, the Maytag man has retired, you should put in for the job, seems you have all the qualifications!
Two Firms Out Positive on Apple
I was actually a VERY RELUCTANT "revert" having owned one of the original Apple II's so long ago. I kept thinking I needed WinDOZE for my business applications, so when Apple switched over to Intel, and third party folks came up with dual application support, I jumped in for the unbelievably sexy and efficient desktop iMac 24" { great for old farts like me with older eyes } interestingly enough, in two weeks I said, the heck with WinDoze programs, everything I want to do is BETTER in native Apple written programs, and I took off the dual programming kludges.
Loved this sucker so much, I have switched over completely to the Mac world, have two iPods, a desktop, the new and incredibly sexy MacBook Air, and have ordered the new wireless backup and router/server, that will ship from China in the next few days.
EVERYTHING worked right out of the box, EVERYTHING connected without any hassles whatsoever, and NOW I understand, this is ZERO problem computing, no virus protection, and with the 99 buck annual subscription to dotMAC, I have ten gigs on Apples servers and my pictures, web, and movies are uploaded for others to see, with ONE click of a mouse!
If you can't see what is going on here, and focus in ON the NITS of the unit sales, of the CHEAPO STUFF, like the little iPods, you are missing the entire point. This is a wave of loyal, committed, and cashrich customers with money to spend, HIGHER MARGINS than anyone, that love, adore, and are never going to move off the Apple bandwagon as long as they consistantly deliver as they have done these past few years.
EVERY SINGLE Tuesday of this year, Apple has released a new product, package, or machine. This morning alone, they upgraded FOUR of their desktop machines to faster, better, and leading edge.
Who else is on this kind of speedwagon in the computing world?
And this ALL translates into loyalty, cashflow, and repeat business.
Two Firms Out Positive on Apple
What is driving this firm now is customer loyalty, it is a cult of sycophantically devoted consumers and early adapters.
With over 200 retail locations, AVERAGING over $4,000 per retail foot in sales annually { double the next nearest retailer } you have to understand this is WAY WAY past the iPod and iTunes phenomena.
When you deal in FACTS, not speculation, you see that the last quarter sales were up over 50% from one year ago, sure the components making up that number will and have varied over time, the day of the iPod toy is less a factor now, and the switchover to the SYSTEM is what will drive things henceforth.
You have EVERYTHING feeding into this now, from music, to TV, to college classes online for free, to free downloads for trial of all software, to clubs, and the other matters that make this firm { to paraphrase Steve Job's } INSANELY GREAT, one that has only begun to show how to dominate, literally dominate the world of fashion cum hardware cum lifestyle cum personal expression.
For those that REALLY want to see where the rubber meets the road, I suggest they watch this video of the opening of the newest store in NYC, I ask you, can you envision THIS happening at the opening of a Lenovo store, an HP store, or even TOSHIBA store?
ifostore.cachefly.net/...
Put your thinking caps on here, and translate this emotional committment to a firm and it's products into a long term financial strategic move.
Every time I see some ANAL-yst bemoaning the sales of the $50 iPod shuffle slowing down, and IGNORING the exponential growth of the $2,000 machines, I seriously have to think, they just don't understand economics or scale. How can one IGNORE the Tsunami of converts over to the VASTLY superior OS X operating system, that works, just works, and just blows VISTA out of the proverbial ballpark?
NO, this goes far FAR beyond merely selling some kiddie a few rap songs on her $50 ipon, this is the harbinger of BUSINESS that needs reliablity, predictablity, and a company that they can trust to make products that work, support those products, and GET THE WORLD TO NOTICE.
Don't discount the hype machine they have now. Every MacBook Air { disclosure I have one } that gets the oohs and the aahs everywhere I go, to the massive new releases of fully professional software, running everything from medical, to engineering in a manner and style unheard of in the WinDOZE world.
{ disclosure, I own Apple stock, and and will buy buy MORE as the rubes dump it in favor of some financial institution losing billions. }
Oh, did I mention the 18 BILLION in cash Apple is sitting on right now?
Report Apple Has 'Slashed' Its 2008 NAND Flash Order Forecast
Another 'well informed' { NOT } critic.
Go look at the last quarterly minutes of the earnings.
DESKTOPS and PORTABLES *UP* >
"...Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macintosh® computers, representing 44 percent unit growth and 47 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 22,121,000 iPods during the quarter, representing five percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone™ sales were 2,315,000....."
Now in case you need A SLOBBER BIB to decipher this .... a desktop and/or laptop sells for $2000 decked out on average, an iPod for $200 on average. So, tell me again how the iPods are going to drive down profits?
The way things are going now, they could actually drop the entire non video iPod line and it wouldn't hurt the bottom line by 10%, most likely far less.
Again, get your sorry butt to an Apple Store, stand there for two hours and COUNT the register sales, THAT my dear friend is where the rubber meets the road, people BUYING HARD in a semi-recession?
Apple Cuts Price On 1GB iPod Shuffle, Unveils 2GB Version
Right now, if you can get a gross of $500 per square rented foot, you are doing GREAT. If you get $1,000 you are OUTSTANDING, if you do $2,500 you walk on water....
Apple is AVERAGING over $4,000 / SF !
Simply unheard of for anyone in retailing including such high margin retailers like Cartier's and the like, NONE of them are even doing 1/2 the AVERAGE of Apple.
Frankly, with those numbers, and the locations that have been announced for new stores, in the best of the best locations, that amazingly do MUCH better than the AVERAGES....
Simply amazing how the ANALists focus in one the $50 iPods ... the PENNIES, and totally are unaware of the BIG MONEY that is out there and pushing the numbers, up up up.
Report Apple Has 'Slashed' Its 2008 NAND Flash Order Forecast
Um.....
An iPod uses on average 8 Gigs of NAND....and the new MacBook Air has a 64 MEG NAND drive....and everyone wants that, if ONLY the add on price wasn't 900 bucks more.
So, tell me, how is NAND going to go down, when the entire laptop lines in two months will be DYING for the biggest possible NAND drives? One of these babies ='s dozens of iPods.
Come on. This is VERY VERY short term thinking, sure RIGHT NOW, they may be NAND deficient, but give it five months, and there won't BE a NAND glut, but a massive shortgage as everyone and his brother is installing new NAND SSD's and everyone that CAN, will want to retrofit one into existing laptops that can take one. Each drive, and they are now announcing 128G's uses multiples of the chips, and IF they are as hot as they seem to be, I can see 256G drives out by the end of the year.
THAT will soak up any and all excess capacity, and you will have shortages once again.