billddrummer

Apple Is Still Giving Its Competitors Headaches

On Jun 09 01:27 PM Chris Krasowski wrote:

> Well of course $99 is the subsidy price, but this isn't just an iPhone
> specific thing. Every carrier in the world, on virtually every phone
> in the world offers some sort of subsidy. So whether you pick up
> an iPhone, a Pre, some Sony Walkman phone or a Nokia, your phone
> company is picking up part of that tab.
>
> I don't believe a car analogy is effective in the same way as cell
> phones because it is not as if Exxon Mobil pays for half the car
> but then only lets you fill up at Exxon Mobil owned stations for
> the next 2-3 years and if you "roam" to other stations you pay twice
> as much per gallon.
>
> The subsidy is part of the phone business and seemingly always will
> be.
>
> --
> Chris

Or, you can just pay the freight for those bright, shiny phones, without a subsidy. Then your Palm pre costs $299, the original iPhone costs $199, and the higher horsepower ones run anywhere from $349-$599, depending on where you buy them.

I'll take the subsidized price, thank you very much.

Could Apple and Google Replace GM and Citi in the Dow?

The DJIA reflects the current breadth of the economy, and recognizes the fact that manufacturing employment has been steadily dropping for 2 generations, while financial services, technology and biopharmaceutical sectors have supplanted it in growth prospects and market capitalization.

The index evolves to reflect the underlying economy, not to describe what is now a misnomer in its title.

On Mar 10 10:29 PM User 158164 wrote:

> Bunch of really good comments here.
>
> Noone has a problem with the Dow Jones INDUSTRIALS having a manufacturer
> replaced with a software company and a retailer that sells imported
> goods. I am sure that will make the Dow an even better measure of
> the industrial state of our economy.

Interesting Prediction Market Contracts

I think the odds of a GM bankruptcy filing are closer to 40% than 10%.

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday: Gen X and Y vs. the Baby Boomers

On Dec 01 10:17 AM Just a Hick wrote:

> Who is the silent generation?

The Silent Generation is generally considered the parents of generation x and baby boomers, born between 1925 and 1942. They were a small generation because of economic scarcity arising from the Great Depression, but fought in WW II. Contemporaries include Martin Luther King, all the presidents through Ronald Reagan, and the Beat poets, among others.

Gadget Stock Watch: Blu-Ray Checkmate, Wii Fit, More

Wii stays out of stock because of strict manufacturing rules. The bad news? It's hard to find them. The good news? The failure rate is less than 1%, nearly unheard of in the digital gaming realm.

Is iPhone Heading to Russia?

BBY has registered its Future Shop trademark in Russia, which provides an entry for that company to enter the market. Perhaps they'll do a JV with MBT (similar to the Carphone Warehouse deal) to open the portal.

Foreclosure Stimulus to Boost Tech's Four Horsemen

I like the way you put this. And you correctly pointed out that the foreclosure process frees up monies that would ordinarily be spent on mortgage payments for at least 6 months, if not more.

I'm personally familar with a case where the foreclosed homeowner was able to remain in the house through the 4 month default period, and an additional 9 months while the foreclosure process took place. Altogether, this homeowner lived rent-free for over a year. Multiply that by the number of borrowers, and you get a significant amount of revenue. Now, many people will continue to make payments on their installment obligations while letting the house go, figuring they'll rent at some point in the future. And those people could save enough for security and rent deposits relatively easily, since no mortgage payments are coming out of the monthly budget.

I've heard anectdotal evidence that former homeowners have trouble qualifying for rental properties if a foreclosure appears on their credit reports. But if I were a lessor, I'd consider the (typically) lower rent vs. homeowner expenses (not only the mortgage, but taxes, insurance, maintenance and fees) and could make a reasonable case for allowing foreclosed homeowners to rent from me. The monthly outlay for renters is far lower than for homeowners, all things being equal.

With a glut of properties for rent in this area, some landlords seem more willing to base a rental decision on a person's income rather than their credit.

Raw Data Report: Technology

Interesting that CompUSA was included in the survey shortly before all their stores were closed.

This 'survey' is pretty much a waste of resources as far as I'm concerned.

Apple Links Higher Sales with Higher Prices

Average selling price plays into the revenue game, but it also points to the fact that AAPL satisfies a growing list of customers, while MSFT aggravates them.

Not to say that AAPL will overtake MSFT in computer applications, but that as the products become more ubiquitous, they will gain more fans.

AT&T Subsidy of Apple's iPhone Would Have Dramatic Effect - Bernstein

To samj,

The Razr was a successful product distributed by an unsuccessful company. Motorola's biggest problem seemed to be not investing enough in R & D to continue innovating after the Razr became a hit. Meanwhile, all the other handset manufacturers continued to enhance their products, and the Razr ended up losing market share after all.

With AAPL finally introducing the G3 phone domestically (available in Europe for some time) a subsidy from T would make sense to broaden the phone's appeal. I'd get one, but not without a subsidy. Until then, I'll keep using my 2 year old Nokia 6102.

Under The Radar News - Friday

Re/CC-Wattles sees an opportunity to make some money after he replaces the board with his own people, gets Schoonover out of the executive suite, and makes the chain a RadioShack clone. I don't think he's bullish on the company, just bullish on the upside that will result after he's done chopping heads.