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Apple's iPod Nano Likely to Build Product Loyalty

There are still lots of people not interested in paying the $30 for data that is needed for an iPhone. Both old and young. Just go to Amazon and you'll see the touch is the top iPod model. Based on this article, you're gonna be mightily surprised by the high ASP Apple reports for its iPod line in January.

Five years from now, maybe the touch will be on its way out, but not today.

Can Apple Stop the Android?

Can Apple stop the Android? Since you didn't answer, I will answer yes, Apple will maintain iPhone/iPod touch unit sales equal to or greater than those of Android-based devices (that being my definition of "stop"). Why?

1. Hardware/OS fragmentation is already starting within Android, and that will result in slower app development, and increased customer frustration. Google can improve the web-based store, but beyond that, the ways for Google to fix this problem aren't readily apparent.
2. Apple will adjust/improve its App Store policies but it will remain an Apple-approval system, and although some developers will leave, more will join. Apple is cracking down on private API use because the next OS update will change those private APIs.
3. By next year, Apple will gain on the other handset competitors (both phone and non-phone) through the use of chip technology it got through buying PA Semi. Apple will either be providing significant processing gains for the same battery life, or significantly increased battery life for a comparable processing capability.
4. By next year, Apple will increase the number of models it has for sale (including the rumored tablet), but the "fragmentation" will be limited to the introduction of another kind of larger-screen app (for the rumored tablet).

Can Apple Be a $300 Stock?

Do you have a link to a page that shows which companies NOK has licensing agreements with?


On Oct 23 07:38 AM Shaftsinker wrote:

> NOK has a very legitimate lawsuit.
>
> Apple is practically the only Smartphone manufacturer that doesn't
> have an agreement with Nokia to use the technology they developed.
>
>
> We all love Apple but that doesn't mean they're exempt from intellectual
> property laws.
>
> I don't understand how you can knock Nokia's R&D when they built
> the technology the iPhone runs on.

How Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500, Part 1

One avenue that Apple can take to maintain good margins on lower-cost Macs is by leveraging its continued investment in OS X over the millions of iPhones/iPod touch (and tablets).

But the real factor is that PCs, as we know them today, is not a growth market, but a replacement market. The refresh cycle has already grown longer (and will grow longer still), and globally, businesses and consumers have started shifting to more mobile devices (and fewer second or even first PCs). That is the sweet spot and the iPhone and rumored-to-be-coming tablet are both aimed there.

I thought MS understood this when they spent so much effort and burned bridges (with PlaysforSure partners) to bring out the Zune, but their failure to create a single mobile platform combining the Zune with Windows Mobile is a real disappointment.

Apple: Three Battles Won, Nicely Positioned for the Fourth

Definitely MKW's comment about Jobs and Walmart is stupid - Walmart started selling iPhones right after Christmas, which meant the decision was made at least a month before, when Jobs was still in charge. Smells of FUD and playing the Jobs-is-sick card.

Apple: Three Battles Won, Nicely Positioned for the Fourth

My guess is that Moon is the same guy as Mo commenting over at Silicon Alley Insider. Same arguments. But there, Mo talks about moving AAPL money to MSFT and shorting Apple. If so, we know what he's up to.

Apple Wins Over Analysts Following Impressive Q2 Earnings

Abramsky should've just wrote "I fscked up. I deserve to be fired. I told you to "sell low" as AAPL surged 40%, and now trust me, as I tell you to buy." Really, the guy knows nothing.

RIMs Latest Apple Apps Won't Catch on Well: Here's Why

It's great that RIMM has a store; they need to. But the key to the store is its ease of use. By bringing together all available apps in one place, that's step one in ease of use. But step 2 is the "one-click" purchase ease of use. The advantage iPhone has is that every phone was linked to an iTunes account the first time it was turned on and connected to a computer, so this need not ever be done again.

All cell phones (including iPhone) also have a payment connection via the carrier. For now, RIMM has chosen to not work through the carrier (i.e. pay the carrier some nominal fee for executing the billing process), but instead, force a new PayPal method on the user at the cost of making it harder to buy. This is surprising since RIMM already has a billing relationship with all the carriers via the email/data plan subscription.

Dell's Perplexing Strategy

@cloughg: Apple's data center is filled with Apple Macs. Note that a Mac can run both Mac OS and Windows.

One part of Dell's strategy is to change its brand image, and that's where Adamo fits in, so I don't find it perplexing. It's a flagship computer, but not expected to be a large seller; similar to the Mac Pro for Apple. However, I would criticize Dell for not making Adamo more competitive in terms of value, as even the MacBook Air offers more bang for the price.

AT&T Tops Verizon - But Which Customers Are More Satisfied?

The Future Buying chart is eye-opening. Ever since iPhone was announced, AT&T has shifted from the 11-17% range to the 22-32% range in % planning to switch to AT&T. That's just about double.

With that locked up, AT&T just needs to work on improving their 3G network.

What Apple Is Doing Wrong and Why It Means Trouble

Regarding 2. Apple has never been “cutting-edge” (in the way that most people think about being cutting edge). Just about everything they “introduce” has already been done by someone else. Apple just does it so much better that it has a chance of being sold to the aspirational mainstream consumer.
Re 4. Except for the iPod, Apple has always been a niche player, but so what? They know how to be a profitable niche player. Even if a category is considered a commodity, Apple knows how to differentiate so that they can still profitably sell higher-priced products in that category.
Re 5. Apple just introduced a whole new platform – iPhone/iPod touch mobile computers. They have at least ten years worth of “line-extensions” before it’s time to move on to the next thing.
Re 6. The Mac and MacBook are no more “stale” than any other computer. And the PC platform still has a ways to go before it is replaced. With Snow Leopard and OpenCL for the Mac, Apple is again differentiating the Mac and moving ahead of other computer mfrs who are just using the Wintel platform. As for the iPod nano, yes, it is stale, but the next step is the iPod touch. The iPod nano is just holding ground in the low-end and stale personal audio/video (nee mp3) player category. Don’t expect any more innovations in that category as everyone is rushing on to a connected device (either via cellular or wifi). And Apple is already there.