Apple Inc News

Another Apple ad. Got to say this one didn't do it for us. And that outfit on Mac guy looks familiar/ass-hat-ish.

Listening in on the call today, Apple's leaders including Steve Jobs (who made a rare earnings call appearance) seemed very upbeat and very - dare I say smug- about hording lots of cash.  It's funny to hear an investment banker wonder why Apple is hoarding cash (they really did ask) when their industry has been torn apart by the lack of prudence in this area.  Apple has $25 Billion which Steve said, could be used to hire every Engineer in the Valley "Good idea!"

When Asked about a tablet, Jobs said "we don't talk about future products"

When asked about Netbooks, he said "we compete in this market already with iPod Touches and iPhones.

Apple is the 3rd largest phone maker in the world by revenue!! 

Yeah it is kinda sad, I am going to be liveblogging the Apple Q4 Earnings call over at Computerworld. Hit the Semi-Live-Panel. 

Also see the Apple report:

Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

6.9 Million iPhones Sold
Mac Sales Reach All-Time High

CUPERTINO, California—October 21, 2008—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter ended September 27, 2008. The Company posted revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $6.22 billion and net quarterly profit of $904 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 33.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 41 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

You've heard it many times before, you'll probably hear it again.  The Mac Mini is dead.  So says some European retailers who were told by Apple that there weren't any more en route to be sold.  Could there be other reasons for this?  Sure. 

I think the reason that the constant falsely reported rumors of the Mac Mini's demise are so popular are because consumers want more choice in this area.  How about a midrange Mac?  Not a pro, book, mini or iMac.  Just a Mac.

Day Traders, today is the last chance to get your low bids in on Apple stock before the earnings call.  While it is hard to get excited for a financial report, sometimes Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer will let out a coded morsel or two of future product plans.  So we'll be listening...and trying not to dose off.

The wild card today is iPhone sales for the quarter.  Analysts are saying anywhere between under 4 million to over 8 million.  It will be interesting to see who is right and who should get a pink slip.

Other figures expected to be released:

• Revenue: 8 Billion plus or minus 1/2 billion
• Earnings per share: $1.00 - $1.25
• Gross Margins: 30-35%
• zzzzzz..Who!?, what?!
• iPods: 10-11 million
• Macs: 2.7 - 2.9 million

We have absolutley nothing to go by here and are just picking this out of the blue, but we think with the latest marketshare analysis (Apple near 10% in the US), we might see Apple's first 3 million unit Mac quarter.

They raise a pretty good point...

In advance of its Tuesday keynote Apple security bundled out a protestor urging a boycott of Nvidia products as part of a campaign against a third firm which provides the graphics processor company with cafeteria services.

Protestor Feng Kung was handing out leaflets urging Apple employees to spill the beans on Nvidia for "allegedly covering up video-card defects," Wired informs.

Kind of like Loopd on steroids, Brightkite is a very location aware, very open social networking service.  IF you don't mind others knowing a lot about you, you can meet like-minded people in the area around where you are who might have similar interests...or serial killers with iPhones.

ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC Universal have all signed up to offer popular TV shows in high definition for sale through the iTunes Store, Apple announced today.

These shows, including the likes of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Lost” from ABC, “CSI” and “CSI: Miami” from CBS, “Bones” and “Prison Break” airing on FOX, and “Heroes” and “The Office” from NBC Universal are available now.

Apple also confirmed itself to have sold in excess of 200 million TV episodes sold, including over a million HD episodes purchased since the launch of HD programming on iTunes last month.