Apple today released a new version of its iTunes Connect app for iOS during a demo of new features for the iTunes Connect developer portal at the company’s WWDC 2016 conference.
During its presentation, Apple noted that app review times “have gone way down” and offered a brief overview of changes it made to App Store policies. Apple recently completely revised guidelines to include easier to read language and an overall improved experience.
Shipments of Chromebooks outpaced Macs in the US for the first time in Q1 2016, that’s according to data from IDC shared during a session at Google’s I/O developer conference today.
Apple Watch sales estimated around 1.5 million units during Q1 2016 made it the number one smartwatch, but the device continued to trail basic wearables from competitors Fitbit and Xiaomi. During the quarter both companies more than doubled Apple Watch sales, according to the latest data out today from industry watcher IDC.
As reported earlier, Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting Beijing, China this week. The earlier Reuters report suggested Cook was intending to talk with government officials about company matters amidst increasing tensions between the country and Apple, following trademark disputes and the ban on iTunes Movies and iBooks content.
On Monday, though, Cook met with Chinese app developers at an Apple Store. The talk was hosted by Jean Lui, president of taxi company Didi Chuxing, of which Apple has invested $1 billion dollars. A plethora of Chinese app publishers were in attendance, including a Groupon-esque clone ‘Meituan’, photo app MeituPic, news provider Toutia.com, cooking app DayDayCook and game developer Tap4Fun (via CNBC).
[UPDATE: Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr has denied this report in a statement to Recode, simply saying it’s “not true.”]
A report from Digital Music News today citing sources close to Apple claims the company is currently considering a plan that would see it shutdown its iTunes Store music download business within two years. The move would mean the company would stop selling downloads of music from iTunes and instead focus entirely on monthly subscriptions to its Apple Music streaming service.
However, on top of the rather fast two year timeline quoted for exiting from the downloads business, the report does add that a 3 to 4 year timeline is also something being considered by Apple executives:
The iPhone SE may be Apple’s most muted iPhone launch in recent memory due to the fact that it’s not considered a flagship model for the company, but new data shows the 4-inch iPhone is attracting a large number of users in two of Apple’s most promising emerging markets: China and India.
iPhone SE might be helping Apple attract more new users from Android compared to previous recent iPhone launches, according to the latest data on sales of the new device from Slice Intelligence. Specifically, Slice points to the higher number of SE buyers coming from Android compared to the iPhone 6S:
Apple CEO Tim Cook took some time to kick off today’s ‘Let us loop you in’ press event with comments on the FBI/encryption controversy, but the company also offered the usual milestones and stats throughout the event.
IDC is out today with its latest data on the wearable market — both smartwatches and more basic activity trackers— and within we get a look at Apple Watch sales for the fourth quarter of 2015.
IDC is out with its latest report on worldwide tablet shipments following Apple’s Q1 2016 earnings and in the report shares a nugget about iPad Pro sales.
It may not surprise you, but Apple’s new 12.9-inch iPad, which many would have you believe is the company’s first to compete directly with detachable and hybrid tablets/laptops, outsold Microsoft Surface and other detachable tablets, according to the report: Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s rocky iAd advertising platform is about to see some major changes, says Buzzfeed’s John Paczkowski. According to the report, Apple plans to dismantle its iAd sales team and stop its role as a middleman between publishers and customers:
While iAd itself isn’t going anywhere, Apple’s direct involvement in the selling and creation of iAd units is ending. “It’s just not something we’re good at,” one source told BuzzFeed News. And so Apple is leaving the creation, selling, and management of iAds to the folks who do it best: the publishers.
Apple is phasing out its iAd sales force entirely and updating the iAds platform so that publishers can sell through it directly.
The big news, Buzzfeed notes, is publishers that play ball will take home 100% of the ad revenue generated rather than a 70/30 split with Apple.
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) is out with a new report today claiming Apple is now at over 100 million iPhones in use in the US. That means Apple has crossed 100 million active iPhone units since CIRP reported 97 million iPhones in use back in August, according to the research firm’s data. Expand Expanding Close
Respected analyst Ming Chi-Kuo from KGI Securities has this evening issued an investor note in which he predicts sales for Apple’s latest tablet, iPad Pro. Kuo predicts in his note that Apple will sell between 2.4 million and 2.6 million iPad Pro units in the fourth quarter of 2015. As we head into 2016, Kuo expects those numbers to slide slightly to between 2.1 million units and 2.3 million units.
Fitbit CEO James Park says that the company’s sales have been unaffected by the Apple Watch, as the company announced Q3 revenue up 168% year-on-year, reports the Guardian.
On a conference call with investors, Park said that the rollout of other smart watches, which often come with a step-tracker similar to Fitbit’s main function, did not have impact on the company’s growth. When asked about Apple’s new watch specifically, he said it had “no material impact”. He added that Apple and Fitbit cater to “two very different segments in the market” in terms of price point and use and that “there’s room for more than one dominant player.”
While there is no current overlap in pricing – Fitbit devices start from just $60 and top out at $250 – the statement may look a little optimistic in years to come. Apple is likely to add functionality to future Watches while maintaining its premium pricing, but it’s not impossible it could follow its iPhone strategy of keeping previous-generation devices on sale at a reduced price when new ones launch.
That could see the two companies competing at least at the $250 level – and in the meantime, there are already discounted Apple Watches out there, from Apple and others.
Still no Apple Pay in stores at Target just yet, but Apple Watch will be joining the lineup of iPhones and iPads in select stores this week – and all stores by October 25th.
Target operates over 1800 stores across the United States, greatly expanding the points-of-sale for Apple Watch going into the holiday quarter. Aside from the couple hundred Apple Stores in the US, Apple Watch has been sold in a few premium vendors plus Best Buy, T-Mobile, and Sprint… Expand Expanding Close
Foursquare is tapping into its data of foot traffic for the first time to predict Apple’s iPhone sales as the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch this weekend. The company notes that it has “the world’s largest database of information on the foot traffic of people around the globe,” courtesy of its app users that use the app to check-in at locations they visit. Expand Expanding Close
In a statement to CNBC, Apple says it is on pace to beat last year’s iPhone record with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus for opening weekend sales. This means Apple should exceed the 10 million unit record it set last year with the iPhone 6. Apple says that online demand for the larger iPhone 6s Plus is ‘exceptionally strong’ with the initial stock of units sold out globally.
According to recent data released by Parks Associates, Apple TV currently is the fourth most popular streaming media device based on 2014 sales, down from third place in 2013. Roku, according to the data, is the most popular streaming media device manufacturer with 34 percent of the market, while Google’s Chromecast accounted for 23 percent of sales.
After dropping the iPhone from its lineup completely in February, it seems Virgin Mobile USA has had something of a change of heart. Not only is it now offering the latest two iPhone models, it’s also slashed $100 off the full retail price.
You can snag a 16GB iPhone 6 from Virgin Mobile’s online store for $549.99, a hefty discount on the usual full retail price of $649.99. Likewise, the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus is just $649 (down from $749). For those wanting an even cheaper way to get an iPhone, the 8GB white iPhone 5c is available to buy from Virgin Mobile for $299.
Specific sales of Apple Watch have been a mystery since the device’s launch back in April, with several analysts offering up their own respective estimates on numbers. Now, Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. has hinted at sales of the device. ASE, for those unfamiliar, is responsible for putting all of the internal parts of Apple Watch into a case through a process known as system-in-package (via WSJ). The company, however, claims that Apple Watch sales are not as high as expected…
Right on schedule, Apple has shared its Q3 2015 earnings results reporting revenue of $49 billion and $10.7 billion in profit during the April to June period. Notably, the company’s Q3 period is the first that includes initial Apple Watch sales as the device first launched on April 24th.
Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2015 third quarter ended June 27, 2015. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $49.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $37.4 billion and net profit of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 39.7 percent compared to 39.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
While Apple isn’t specifically breaking out Apple Watch sales (or iPod sales for that matter), the company does disclose iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales by unit:
iPhone: 47 million units
iPad: 10.9 million units
Mac: 4.7 million units
While Apple isn’t breaking out Apple Watch or Beats numbers, the ‘other services’ which includes those categories as well as iPods and Apple TV reports $2.6 billion in revenue.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said this about the company’s Q3 results:
“We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The excitement for Apple Music has been incredible, and we’re looking forward to releasing iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 to customers in the fall.”
“In the third quarter our year-over-year growth rate accelerated from the first half of fiscal 2015, with revenue up 33 percent and earnings per share up 45 percent,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We generated very strong operating cash flow of $15 billion, and we returned over $13 billion to shareholders through our capital return program.”
Today’s Q3 results follow last quarter’s $58 billion in revenue and 61.1 million iPhones sold, 12.6 million iPads sold, and 4.5 million Macs sold globally. During the same quarter a year ago with the iPhone 5s at the top of the lineup, Apple reported $37.4 billion in revenue and 35.2 million iPhones sold, 13.2 million iPads sold, and 4.4 million Mac sales. Apple reported $13.6 billion in profit last quarter and $7.7 billion during the same quarter a year ago.
The company’s quarterly conference call is scheduled for 2 PM Pacific/5 PM Eastern to discuss today’s results. Stay tuned for our live coverage of the call. Both Cook and Maestri usually review the quarterly results before fielding questions from analysts. With the first Apple Watch sales included in today’s report, the new device is sure to be a major topic of the call.
With earnings coming tomorrow, analysts are focusing on Apple Watch reception as it will be the first time Watch sales are included in Apple’s financial results. Apple won’t be reporting Apple Watch sales numbers but that doesn’t stop investors from guessing the figure. In a note, Gene Munster says that Apple has sold 3 million units in the quarter. This is slightly below KGI’s estimate which quoted 3.9 million Apple Watch device sales.
Munster says talks with investors have shown general disappointment and concern about the ‘long-term opportunity’ for the Apple Watch. In the short term, he believes supply constraints and lack of availability in Apple retail stores have limited early sales. Munster, however, remains confident that the Watch will ramp up in sales slowly with a ‘breakout year’ in 2017.
Following the launch of the Apple Watch in April, IDC’s latest estimates for wearables shows the market is set to grow approximately 173% this year as shipments increase from 26.4 million in 2014 to an estimated 72.1 million worldwide for 2015. Expand Expanding Close
KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo, one of the few analysts we feel credible, has his Apple numbers ready for Q1 2015. The analyst projects iPhone, iPad, and Mac shipments to be 58.2 million, 10.1 million, and 4.5 million respectively. He also estimates that Apple Watch shipments are currently at 631,000 units.
