SkateNY

Ominous Drop in Sales Bodes Ill for More than Just Apple - Barron's

Sorry, what I meant to write was "What I do know, based his most recent missive, is that he's either clueles, toxically biased, lazy in the extreme, or just plain stupid. "


On Feb 02 04:14 AM SkateNY wrote:

> I can't comment on his columns, if only because I'm not familiar
> with his work. What do, based his most recent missive, is that he's
> either clueles, toxically biased, lazy in the extreme, or just plain
> stupid.

Ominous Drop in Sales Bodes Ill for More than Just Apple - Barron's

I can't comment on his columns, if only because I'm not familiar with his work. What do, based his most recent missive, is that he's either clueles, toxically biased, lazy in the extreme, or just plain stupid.


On Feb 02 03:34 AM User 689427 wrote:

> Mark Veverka is the worst columnist at Barron's and has been for
> years.

Ominous Drop in Sales Bodes Ill for More than Just Apple - Barron's

$4,700 per square foot. Hmm. And Wow. How do you write a gloom-and-doom article about a company that commands that kind of revenue?

Yes, the malls are empty. Yes, people are spending less on vanity items. Yes, Apple products are relatively expensive when compared to cheap alternatives. But did anyone doing this frivolous research make the time or effort to even glance at Apple's most recent quarterly report?

I suppose Apple's biggest mistake resides in their ability to thrive during what can arguably be described as and economic depression.

And -- please help me understand here -- why is it that everyone else on the planet is copying Apple's business plan and products?

Shame on Apple. Don't they know that they're supposed to go out business?

Zune Bug Further Blemishes Microsoft's Consumer Hardware Reputation

I don’t doubt that many or even most Zune owners are satisfied with what they have. Here’s my thing: Apple dove into the MP3 market when that market was already well on its way to maturity. The iPod quickly made a big splash, and iTunes has played no small part in helping the iPod acquire a 70% market share. Apple did not engage in illegal, monopolistic business practices in order to achieve that level of prominence; nor did Steve Jobs hypnotize buyers, steering them towards the iPod.

When the iPod was released in October of 2001, it succeeded during a recession caused by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. If the current economic climate adversely affected the Zune and other consumer products, then it stands to reason that it also adversely affected iPod sales. Yet, Apple reported a growth in iPod sales for the most recent quarter, versus a 54% drop in Zune revenues. How much better would the iPod have faired this quarter without the deepening recession?

I believe that Microsoft and its investors need to re-evaluate the Zune with regard to how it affects other products, and how it affects shareholder interests. If I’m a Microsoft competitor — and I don’t believe that Apple and Microsoft compete in the sense that they appeal to very different groups of customers — then I truly hope that Microsoft continues to throw money and other resources at the Zune. Let them and their investors learn the hard way. Again.

2 Suggestions for Apple's Board of Directors

I'm an Apple shareholder as well. Have been since Steve Jobs came back in 1997. You know what? His health is none of your business.

None of us knows the course of either a trivial for fatal illness. Releasing that information to non-medical people can only make things worse. If you like the company, invest in the company. If your investment depends on the CEO's health, buy a CD instead.

I'm very much sick and tired of all this speculation and analysis about Steve Jobs' health. We're all going to die sometime. Take responsibility for your choices, and then move on.

Apple's Q1 Blowout

Everything is a fad with Apple. In 1997, the iMac was a fad. Before that, the PowerBooks, and then later, the Mac Books were a fad. In October of 2001, during the second-worst recession in my lifetime following 9/11, the iPod was a fad. Less than two years ago, the iPhone was a fad. Then iTunes was a fad. Mac OS X and Safari are also fads. More recently, the app store, which is making millionaires out of adolescents and other Apple software developers, was a fad.

Seems like lots of people enjoy spending lots of money on Apple fads.

Apple has a blowout quarter in the midst of the worst recession in the past 50 years, with an ailing CEO while most tech companies are laying off employees and straining to otherwise cut losses.

If you can't read this handwriting on this wall, you need to see an eye doctor.

Apple Warns iPhone Competitors: Don't Rip Us Off

All companies should be so aggressive about protecting their intellectual property. It's not about legal vagueries; it's about protecting your products against inferior competitors who can do nothing better than copy your work.

People with limited intelligence and fractured imaginations will never get this right. Too bad.

Apple Warns iPhone Competitors: Don't Rip Us Off

Oh-by-the-way...you miserable wretches who continue to waste your lives bashing Apple because your wives hate you, your kids hate you, and you clearly have nothing else better to do:

From Forbes.com

Apple Lets The Numbers Talk
Brian Caulfield, 01.21.09, 10:05 PM EST
The gadget and computer maker says little about Steve Jobs' health, Palm or netbooks on its earnings call.

Is Steve Jobs dying? Will Apple sue Palm? Will the Cupertino, Calif.-based phone and computer maker introduce a low-cost netbook to counter the hot-selling gadgets pumped out by Hewlett-Packard, Acer and Dell?

Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) did little to address these questions on its quarterly earnings call Wednesday, letting stronger than expected sales and earnings speak for themselves amidst a quarter that wrecked much of the rest of the tech industry. Shares of Apple rose $7.62, or 9.2%, to $90.45 in after-hours trading.

Yahoo! BuzzNet income for the quarter rose to $1.78 a share, or $1.61 billion, from $1.16 a share, or $1.05 billion, during the year-ago period. That's 39 cents better than the $1.39 per share analysts had expected. Sales rose to $10.17 billion from $7.5 billion during the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected sales of $9.7 billion. Adjusted for the effects of the subscription-based accounting scheme used to tally sales of iPhones, however, and Apple's numbers are even more impressive: Earnings of $2.3 billion on sales of $11.8 billion.

Apple sold 22.7 million iPods during the quarter. On the analyst call, however, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer noted that all of that growth came from outside the United States, where iPod sales fell 3% year-over-year. Similarly, while Apple sold 2.5 million Macintosh computers, up 9% from the year-ago quarter, that growth came thanks to sales of notebook computers.

Desktop computer sales fell 25% from the year-ago quarter. Oppenheimer said that was in part because of a tough comparison to the year-ago quarter, which followed the introduction of new Macs, but also because consumers are snapping up notebook computers, rather than desktops, in greater numbers.

Apple sold 4.3 million iPhones, up 88% from the year-ago quarter.

Analysts also asked about the health of Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who is on medical leave through June. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook described the company's employees as "wicked smart," and said Apple's values are "well entrenched."

"Regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well," Cook said. "I strongly believe Apple is doing the best work in its history."

When asked about Palm (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ), whose new touch-screen phone offers many features first seen on Apple's iPhone, Cook said Apple will move aggressively to defend its patents. "I don't want to talk about any specific company," Cook said. "We will not stand for having our IP ripped off and we will use whatever weapons we have at our disposal, I don't know that we can be any more clear than that."

Asked about netbooks, Cook said they offer an "inferior" customer experience, but added that Apple is "watching" the category's development.

Visit The Forbes.com Digg ChannelApple's guidance was vague, although perhaps less so than usual. Oppenheimer said he expects sales of between $7.6 billion and $8.0 billion and earnings per share of 90 cents to $1 for the quarter ending in March. Those figures are well short of the earnings per share of $1.13 on $8.2 billion in sales investors are expecting, but Apple typically offers very conservative guidance.

Apple Warns iPhone Competitors: Don't Rip Us Off

Wow. You people are all sizzle and no steak. I'm so happy that I'll never need to use any of you to represent me in court.

Keep on dreaming your dreams, it that's what makes you less miserable than you clearly are.

Apple Warns iPhone Competitors: Don't Rip Us Off

Apple neither behaves nor "thinks" as though they "invented everything." Only ignorant, casual observers with an axe to grind truly believe this. What Apple knows is what patents they own, when their pantents are being infringed upon, and what they're prepared to do when this happens. It's a fact of life for all responsible adults.

Go back to writing for your high school paper.

Jesus, the morons who are permitted to voice their unsubstantiated crap on the Internet is mind bobbling.

Everyone is entitle to his own opinion; no one is entitled to his own facts.


On Jan 21 07:53 PM MasterZ wrote:

> good god...apple thinks they invented everything.
>
> touch screen and the cute pinch/squeeze technique has been on phones
> for about 6 years.

Is Netflix the Next Apple?

Sorry Charlie, but it's never going to happen.

We're all entitled to our own opinions; but none of us is entitle to our own facts.

The app store currently has over 15,000 available applications, many less than $4.99, many more for less than $1.99, and many at no cost.

Over $300,000 hundred dollars in revenue each day for Apple; over $700,000 each day for Apple developers. Just don't see it happening even close to this for nominal competitors.

Zune Bug Further Blemishes Microsoft's Consumer Hardware Reputation

>>Funny - you guys are lucky.

I had two 20GB ipods. I used both for less than 20 hours. Both broke, HDD failure.

I have original Zune, no problems, no worries - AND original zune is 100% the same as the new ones, I just have less HDD space.<<

What's funny is your claim that you bought a defective iPod, and then went ahead and bought another one.

Even funnier is the iPod's failure rate is much lower than their nominal competitors, even given the fact that Apple has sold over 100 million units compared to, well, almost nothing among other digital music players.

Funniest of all is that, even when you had an opportunity to correct your supposed "error" regarding the Zune's launch date, you stil got it wrong.

Do Microsoft products encourage people to screw up and dissemble, or is it that people who tend to screw up and dissemble are drawn to Microsoft products?

Zune Bug Further Blemishes Microsoft's Consumer Hardware Reputation

The article clearly states that the big affected first gen Zunes only, which was introduced in November of 2006, not 3+ years ago.

I have a fourth generation iPod that still does a great job. I got it three-and-a-half years ago. Replaced the battery myself for $18.99.

When people lie, it's most often because they fear the truth.

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion; no one is entitled to his own facts.


> Anyone fail to realize this issue only effected year 1 Zune players?
> That's players that are 3+ years old.
>
> I wish I had an Ipod that lasted me more than 9 months, these guys
> have Zune players lasting them 3 years . . .
>
> Not only that, but they're still using them actively enough for the
> world to know there was an issue with them!
>
> Must have some strong consumer satisfaction there.