Apple went public in June with information it uncovered during an independent internal investigation about irregularities in stock options grants issued between 1997 and 2001. Several instances were discovered, but right now many eyes are focused on the one grant issued to Mr. Jobs. The biggest concern for many is that Mr. Jobs will be…
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Analyst: Apple Options Fears Overblown
He comments “Investors seem to be reacting to the mention of Steve Jobs. We believe it could make sense to obtain counsel given his immense personal fortune and influence.” Apple is scheduled to file its 10-K report with the SEC on Friday for fiscal year 2006. The report will likely include restatements for historical financials…
Just A Peek - JBL Radial Speakers For iPod
Currently there are more speaker systems for the iPod than you can shake a dead cat at (or would ever want to). Everybody’s got some way for you to listen to the music on your iPod when you don’t want to keep the music to yourself, and there are systems for every budget; from el-cheapo…
Analyst: Strong December Mac Growth Expected
The supply of Macs has been good at the store level, although iPod supplies have been “somewhat patchy” for the December quarter. 95 percent of the stores interviewed reported solid Mac inventory availability. Mr. Munsteris original model for the quarter projected a one percent drop in Mac sales compared to last quarter. He comments “Contrary…
Analyst: 'New shuffle Will Have a Material Impact on iPod Units Sold'
“Our checks show that initial interest is strong,” the analyst explained. “If Apple is able to ramp supply to indirect channels, our estimates could be low.” He also found, during checks with 40 big-box retailers, that 70% of clerks are pointing to iPods when asked to suggest an MP3 player under US$200. Thatis up from…
Ted Landau's User Friendly View - MacMania and the Mac Collector
I did it. Earlier this month, I attended my very first MacMania cruise. In fact, it was my first cruise of any type. I was one of ten speakers that together provided more than thirty sessions over the course of the week. Topics ranged from the basics of digital photography to the nuances of running…
The Mac Observer: The Apple Trader - Election 2000: This Year, Think Different
Election 2000: This Year, Think Different November 6th, 2000 It’s difficult to focus on Apple Computer’s trivial problems of the day before the 2000 US Presidential election. Steve Jobs has made no secret of the fact he supports Al Gore; therefore, with your permission, I’ll use Apple’s well-known support of the Democrats to segue into…
Apple Safe From NASDAQ De-Listing for Now
In a filing with the SEC, Apple said that it “received a written notification from the staff of The Nasdaq Stock Market stating that the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel has granted the Companyis request for continued listing on The Nasdaq Stock Market, subject to the condition that the Company shall file its Form 10-Q for…
Analyst: 'Options Backdating is in AAPL's Rearview Mirror, Jobs Will Remain CEO'
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster on Wednesday took a look at the options backdating issues surrounding Apple and its CEO, Steve Jobs, concluding: “We believe the options backdating issue is in Appleis rearview mirror and Steve Jobs will remain Appleis CEO.” He acknowledged: “Although these issues tarnish Appleis squeaky clean image, they do not impact…
Just a Thought - Apple's New Cards: Aces and Kings?
So Apple showed its cards on Tuesday, and it wasn’t a bad hand at all: A nice pair of aces with the new iPod nano and Shuffle, and a pair of kings with the announcement of iTV and the newly refurbished iTunes Store — no longer the iTunes Music Store, I guess it isn’t just…
Analyst: Apple's Gross Margins on New iPod nano Pushing 50%
Mr. Bergeris analysis of the nanois contents also revealed that, as expected, PortalPlayer no longer provides the system-on-a-chip inside the device, which he said was “consistent with managementis iproduct transition setbacki announcement from last spring.” In addition, three chips inside the device are simply marked “Apple” and are of unknown design origin, a marked change…
Analyst: Yes, Virginia, There is an Apple Cell Phone
Mr. Wu wrote: “The cell space is a tricky and competitive business, but an enormous opportunity for AAPL. We believe there will be plenty of skeptics again, but AAPL should not be discounted due to its strong brand name, loyal customer base, and obsession with quality. We have learned that the kinks have been worked…
Analyst Compares Windows, OS X Costs [UPDATED]
Mr. Munster noted that his comparison showed that Mac OS X costs users US$129 per year for the full version, or $107.50 on average to upgrade, given the fact that Mac OS X v10.1 was a free upgrade. In contrast, Microsoft has averaged 2.25 years between major Windows releases, with an average cost of $114…
New Class Action Suit Filed Over Stock Options
The first two lawsuits against Apple over the stock option backdating irregularities it has admitted to were filed in early July. Another suit was filed at the beginning of August. The firm explained in a press release: “The Complaint charges that Apple and certain of its officers and directors violated Sections 10(b), 14(a) and 20(a)…
Hidden Dimensions -- Apple, The Cluetrain and The Money
Apple is in an interesting financial position right now, and they’re doing what most companies do when they reach a certain level of success — they roll the money upwards. Here’s how it works. Just about any company can manage to justify the diversion of roughly 0.5% of its revenues to some consensus cause, championed…
Podcast - Weekly Roundup: Dwindling Options
Direct Link: MP3 Version In the wake of a strange week and on the eve of WWDC, Ricky Spero and Jeff Gamet are left with few choices but to hit as many stories as they can in a short while. From Apple’s options, to software options for music notation; from Napster’s options to Norway’s, this…
Hidden Dimensions -- The WWDC Keynote Technical Companion
What the Agenda Tries to Achieve Everyone likes to make predictions about the WWDC Keynote. That’s the easy part. I’m going to do something a little different. My motivation is that while Steve covers a lot of ground, and it’s a very entertaining show, very little of it is deeply technical. So I’m going to…
Hidden Dimensions -- WWDC Secrets You'll Want to Know
"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult." – E.B. White Preparation Whether you’re preparing to attend Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) for the first time or you’re doing an encore visit, or if you’re…
TMO Reports - Apple Eliminates Forum Mods; Quality Drops, Rudeness & Piracy Increases
Apple Computer has terminated its Apple Discussions Hosts, the forum moderators that monitor and moderate the company’s user discussion boards. A source involved with Apple Discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Mac Observer that management at Apple has questioned the value of the discussion boards. The end result, however, has been a marked…
Just a Thought - Mapple?
It has been common knowledge for sometime now that, while Redmond based Microsoft owns and/or controls much of the worldwide PC market, the industry looks to Apple for clues as to what’s next in the hardware and software world. From servers that serve powerfully yet quietly and with no fuss, to integrated applications and hardware…
Analyst: 'iPod Halo Effect is Set to Resume'
The halo effect is a term that describes the influence something has over those who are near it. In the case of the iPod, many analyst believe that Windows users who are exposed to Appleis technology by owning the popular MP3 player will become more inclined toward considering a Mac as their next computer purchase.…
Apple Financials Leave Some in the Dark
Apple always provides information about operating profits based on regions and not products. For products, it only offers total sales data. Operating profit for its retail stores is also broken out as a separate item. Accounting standards indicate that any segment that generates more than ten percent of a companyis revenue, like the iPod, should…
Podcast - Weekly Roundup: Context Explosion
Direct Link: MP3 Version This week it’s Apple and IT, the Torque Game Engine, and violent video game ratings. And a Roundup favorite, Jeff Gamet, returns to the Context Machine to help sort out the smattering of stories. The Weekly Roundup will be included in TMO’s main RSS feed, and also in its own feed…
Podcast - Weekly Roundup: Welcome to iPod City
Direct Link: MP3 Version “Knock Knock….Who’s earning 15 cents an hour?” Two emotionally charged stories made this a doozy of week. The ‘net neutrality bill got torpedoed in the House, and iPods are being built in sweatshops. Is it really all that bad? Or is it actually much worse? In this week’s show, TMO’s Dave…