(Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on Medium, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Evan Williams’ new publishing platform.)
Usually during Apple’s quarterly earnings calls, you have to read between the lines to guess what Apple’s really thinking. On Tuesday, all you had to do was read the actual lines, because Cupertino was remarkably candid for a change: there was no way that the Apple of 2013 could match the numbers of the Apple of 2012, but “new product categories” — like the iWatch — were going to blow the roof off the house in 2014. In the meantime, Apple needs investors to be patient… and they’re not above paying them off to make it happen.
If you dream of chilling with your homie Tim Cook in the morning and grabbing coffee but never had the chance to meet Silicon Valley’s most powerful CEO, then here’s your chance.
Tim Cook is auctioning off 30min-1hour of his time for CharityBuzz.com. Proceeds go to support the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, and you’ll get to hangout with Tim at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. Who knows. Maybe if you woo him he’ll show you the latest iWatch prototype.
The current bid is set at $5,250 but the estimated value of the prize is $50,000. The winner will get to bring themselves and 1 guest to coffee-time with Tim, but don’t expect to get too cozy with Tim as the auction details explain you’ll have to undergo a security screening before you get close to him, and he’s not going to pay for your hotel and airplane either.
WWDC 2013 was just announced. Finally, Apple’s going to end this year’s drought, and show off some new stuff after going the entire first four months of the year without a single keynote or product announcement.
But now that WWDC is in our sights, what are people most excited about? There are tons of hardware rumors about the iPad, iPhone and even the iWatch but we doubt we’ll see either of those three. We’ve also heard that iOS 7 is going to have some huge changes, and we should see some of the next version of OS X. What are you guys most excited to see at WWDC 2013? Software or hardware?
Today Apple announced its financial earnings for the last fiscal quarter, reporting the first year-over-year loss in profit the company has seen in ten years. The tone of Apple’s call with investors was quite different than past quarters. Tim Cook and co. seemed very much on the defensive, as Wall Street has been hammering AAPL for the past several months.
There were still several interesting tidbits from the call that we’ve rounded up. Tim Cook spoke vaguely about exciting new products in the fall and throughout 2014. Comments were made about the possibility of a larger iPhone, iMac supply constraints, and, of course, plenty of numbers.
The future of computing might be in wearable computers like Google Glass and the rumored Apple iWatch, but you’re still going to have to wait before getting to try them out.
Google has never commented on a launch date for Google Glass, but Eric Schmidt says it’s not that far away. In an interview for BBC Radio 4’s “World at One” today, Schmidt says that he thinks the consumer version of Google Glass is “probably a year-ish away.”
Apple’s quarterly profit probably fell for the first time in over a decade, thanks to new products with lower profit margins and a slowing demand for the iPhone, Bloomberg reports. Fourteen analysts have reduced their estimates for Apple in recent weeks, and on Friday, the Cupertino company’s share price fell below $400 for the first time since December 2011.
There’s an argument in the platform wars, and also on Wall Street, that goes something like this: “Apple doesn’t innovate anymore. It moves too slowly, and is being taken over by more nimble, more innovative rivals.”
Any success Apple has is the result of slick marketing, rather than the newest technology. But now, Apple is a laggard and is being overtaken by more nimble companies.
Apple’s share price may be falling quickly at the moment, but company co-founder Steve Wozniak is confident it’ll rise again thanks to future products that will “surprise and shock us all.” Speaking at the Login technology conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Woz said “the stock price is a little low right now,” but notes that industry profits “are still with Apple.”
A new survey conducted by ChangeWave Research has found that 19% of U.S. consumers say they’re likely to purchase Apple’s much-anticipated “iWatch” if and when it becomes available. The demand has been attributed to “Apple’s track record of delivering ultra-convenient, easy to use products with perceived ‘cool factor’.”
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek is at it again. Apparently his own trips to Apple’s Asian suppliers are leading him to predict that the rumored iPhone 5S, which has yet to be announced by Apple, will most likely be delayed. His delay timeline is based on earlier predictions that the iPhone 5S would come out in July, which would in itself be odd, since Apple has typically released iPhones on a yearly cycle, putting a new one sometime in September or October.
He’s also on record as predicting that an even-more-rumored low-cost iPhone will also be delayed until the fourth quarter of this year, and that the iPhone 6 won’t actually happen until 2014.
