Tablets are set to create 17 percent of all wireless data demand by 2020. Already, the media-saavy tablet category creates five times as much data traffic as the average smartphone. The tablet’s demand on the network is growing at 30 percent per year, according to Goldman Sachs.
As an illustration, the Cisco Global Mobile Date Forecast says the average data traffic in 2010 per tablet was around 405MB each month. By comparison, a smartphone generates 79MB of data traffic each month.
We close out another week with hardware. First up are several iMacs from the Apple Store, starting at $1,019 for a 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 machine with 22-inch display. Next is a stand from Sharper Image for your iPod or iPhone. The stand includes a 1600mAh battery and is compatible with all iPhones and iPod touch models up to the 2nd generation. Finally, another group of discounted iPads, including a 16GB 3G model for just $329.
Along the way, we also check out several cases for your iPad, as well as a dock for your iPod or iPhone. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
Although Verizon gained much of the attention over the iPhone 4, AT&T apparently added more subscribers enticed by a previous-generation Apple handset. Verizon gained less than 500,000 new customers during most of the second quarter while AT&T signed-up more than 800,000 new iPhone users, according to a Friday report.
In the two months of the three-month period the iPhone 4 was available throught Verizon, the carrier attracted 2.2 million iPhone devices. AT&T, however, experienced a record 3.6 million iPhone activation during the quarter — a 33 percent increase over the same period in 2010. The lack of any run-away success for Verizon runs counter to previous polls suggesting the carrier could siphon-off 26 percent of AT&T customers.
So, after all the bad reviews and the tear-down, how are consumers reacting to RIM’s PlayBook tablet as an iPad alternative? The device sold between 45,000 and 50,000 on its first day, two analyst have publicly stated. However other observers (which preferred to remain unnamed) see the figures as too high, especially given its limited availability and exposure.
Jeffries analyst Peter Misek earlier this week said Research in Motion sold 45,000 PlayBooks — 25,000 of which were pre-orders — Tuesday. RBC analyst Mike Abramsky views the PlayBook launch as “stronger than the launch of Motorola’s Xoom Tablet, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab, although it’s too early to judge sustainability.” Ah, that pesky little question of sustainability. That’s where it gets interesting.
An Apple executive reportedly will be in New York to obtain agreements with the recording labels yet to sign-on to a cloud-based iTunes deal. Thursday, multiple reports suggested the Cupertino, Calif. company is preparing to launch a service enabling iTunes users to store and listen to songs over the Internet.
Although Amazon launched a cloud-based music locker service in March, Apple reportedly may offer a service with “better user interfaces, sound quality, and other features” with the help of the licensing pacts. Among the features could be the ability for Apple to store a single copy of a song that is then streamed to multiple users.
We start the day with deals for your iPod touch, your iPhone 4 and your Mac. HandHeldItems.com is offering an 83 percent discount on select iPod touch cases. Next, you can get a frosted iPhone 4 screen protector for just 89 cents. Finally, MacUpdate.com offers a deal on “Decompose for Mac,” software described as an “image extraction tool.”
We’ll also check-out other items of interest to Apple fans. Details on these and many other products can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
The market battle between Apple and Nokia and the shift from feature phones to smartphones continues. A new report Thursday crowns the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker the world’s largest handset company by revenue. Apple earned $11.9 billion from iPhone sales, compared to Nokia’s $9.4 billion for the first quarter of 2011.
“Apple’s proprietary ecosystem of hardware, software and services has proven wildly popular and hugely profitable,” Neil Mawston, Director of Strategic Analytics said Thursday. Wednesday, Apple said its overall gross profit margin hit 41.4 percent. Handset pricing tells much of the story: Apple’s iPhone wholesales on average at $638 while Nokia’s phones reportedly average $87.
How well did the expansion to two U.S. carriers work for iPhone sales? Thursday, Verizon Wireless reported activating 2.2 million iPhone 4 handsets during just part of the fiscal first quarter of 2011. In February, Apple expanded its U.S. iPhone carrier partnership to Verizon. The news comes just a day after AT&T announced 3.6 million iPhone activations during the three month period, bringing Apple’s estimated U.S. total iPhone sales for the first quarter to 5.8 million iPhones.
Wednesday, Apple reported U.S. iPhone sales rose 155 percent during the last three months, just part of the the backdrop to a $5.99 billion quarterly profit Wall Street observers described as “monster” and “magical.”
Quit your worrying. That seemed to be the message from Apple CEO-in-Waiting (AKA Chief Operating Officer) Tim Cook Wednesday. Cook tried to dispel talk that the tech giant’s gargantuan profits would be hurt as Japan-based suppliers recovered from last month’s devastating quake and tsunami.
Although acknowledging dozens of items used to build Apple products originate from Japan, Cook stressed Apple employees have “literally been working around the clock with our supplier partners in Japan and have been able to implement a number of contingency plans.”
If you are looking for a deal on a MacBook Pro, we have several choice. First up is a selection of 20 MacBook Pro laptops from the Apple Store, starting at $929 for a 2.4GHz model. Next is a 2.4GHz MacBook Pro from ExperCom for $1,049. The last item in today’s spotlight is a 32GB iPod touch for just $275.
Along the way, we check out a solar charger for your iPhone, a 93 percent discount on select iPhone 4 cases, and a Bluetooth keyboard for your iPad. These and many other deals can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
If the iPad “owns” the tablet category, Amazon’s Kindle device arguably controls the e-reader sector. In a move that may both aid the Kindle brand as well as e-reading in general, the Seattle-based online bookseller Wednesday announced an agreement with 11,000 U.S. libraries. The lending library service permits owners of either the Kindle device or a Kindle e-reader application to also access their notes, highlights and bookmarks.
“Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no,” Amazon announced. However, if you check the book out again, or purchase the title, all annotations are preserved. Your notes won’t be available to other library patrons who check out the library e-book, though.
Apple could announce higher sales, but a lower profit margin due to increased supply costs, analysts warned ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled quarterly financial report. Profit margins for the tech giant may slip to 35 percent, down from 38.5 percent in December, one San Francisco expert projects.
A 13 percent jump in the cost of 64GB flash memory is just one area of concern for Apple watchers. The tech giant is widely viewed as the world’s largest consumer of flash memory with its iPad, iPhone, MacBook Air and iPod all relying on Japanese memory suppliers.
Remember all the questions and concerns about how AT&T would cope after the iPhone became available at Verizon Wireless? Well, despite losing its exclusivity, AT&T Wednesday morning announced it activated 3.6 million iPhones during the first quarter of 2011 – a 33 percent jump from the same time in 2010. Compared to the last financial quarter in 2010, that 3.6 million iPhones is down slightly from 4.1 million.
But what about subscribers? Certainly, given the option, AT&T iPhone users would switch to Verizon, right? Not really. The carrier said 23 percent of its iPhone activations were from new subscribers. In other words, the vast majority of AT&T customers who owned an iPhone didn’t budge.
We begin with more deals on the MacBook Air, starting at $849 for a 1.4GHz machine with 64GB of SSD memory. Next is a MacBook Pro powered with a Quad Core i7 processor running at 2.2GHz. This machine with a 17-inch screen is just $2,100. Finally, we wrap up our spotlight deals with a 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display for just $849.
Along the way, we take a peak at a number of other items, including a horn stand portable amplifier for your iPhone 4; a Bluetooth dongle for your iPod and a leather case for your iPhone 3G or 3GS. As always, details on these and many other deals can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
Wanna scare a PC maker? Pull out a tablet. It’s become common knowledge that the iPad and other tablet devices are going to eat the PC’s breakfast, but now a lengthy Wall Street report calls tablets “one of the most disruptive forces” for PCs this year. How disruptive? Try 21 million lost notebook sales – just this year.
But what about all of these Android-based tablets appearing? Surely Apple’s iPad can’t dominate for long, right? Apple likely will own 64 percent of the tablet market this year and 74 percent if the Android alternatives disappoint. “We believe the downside scenario for Android shipments is more likely at this point,” Goldman Sachs tells investors Tuesday.
Although a ruling on Apple’s patent-infringement complaints against HTC and Nokia won’t be announced until August, we already know the Washington, DC-based U.S. International Trade Commission staff is recommended coming down on the side of the two handset makers. The non-binding staff opinion became public at the start of the ITC trial.
Apple’s dispute with HTC and Nokia would be the first patent court battle involving Android-based handsets, prompting greater interest. In opening comments comments before ITC Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski, Apple charged its not what you see, “but what’s under the hood” that makes the Cupertino, Calif. company’s products so successful.
We start the week with three hardware deals: First up is a number of Mac Pro Xeon workstations from the Apple Store. The deals start at $2,039 for a quad-core 2.66GHz machine. Next is an 8GB iPod touch (4th-gen) for $185. Finally, there is the Kensington PowerLift iPhone Dock with Battery that both props up your iPhone and recharges its battery.
Along the way, we’ll also check other items, including more Xservers, an iPhone 4 case and software for your Mac. As usual, details on these and many other bargains can be found on the CoM “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
“To the cloud!” is becoming a well-worn phrase. Although Apple has a $1 billion data center in North Carolina which most suspect will be used to create a cloud-based iTunes service, almost everyone and their grandmother are beating the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant to the punch. First came Amazon, now HP seems ready to use cloud-based storage to get more attention for its TouchPad iPad rival.
In a slide describing the TouchPad, the PC maker mentions a music service permitting song storage that then streams back to HP devices, ala Apple’s MobileMe.
Apple is scheduled to release its official numbers for the fiscal second quarter later this week. A review of analyst expectations appears to again set the stage for the Cupertino, Calif. company producing a blow-out quarter with both professionals and bloggers predicting higher revenue and sales.
In January, Apple’s finance chief Peter Oppenheimer guided $22 billion quarterly revenue, slightly lower than the Street consensus of $23.27 billion, but quite lower than blogger-analysts who predict revenue of $25.30 billion. As we’ve reported, the events in Japan could temporarily hurt Apple, bringing its usually artificially-low revenue guidance more in line with reality. Also, what do the pros and and amateurs expect for product sales? We’ll get into that after the jump.
We close out another week with more deals. First in the spotlight is nine iMacs from the Apple Store. These desktop machines start at $1,019 for a Core i3 unit running at 3.06GHz with a 22-inch screen. Next is a number of MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops, starting at $500. Finally, there is a 70 percent off deal on select iPad cases.
Along the way, we also take a look at more Mac software and assorted accessories for your favorite Apple device. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.
Remember all the anticipation and hype surrounding Verizon and the iPhone? Speculation morphed from ‘if’ to ‘when’ to now how much effect will adding the carrier have on Apple’s revenue picture. Now a prominent Apple watcher is writing Verizon’s launch of the iPhone 4 was ‘disappointing.’ Instead, the true test of how much oomph Verizon puts into iPhone sales may not come for months, when some expect Apple will introduce the iPhone 5.
“In some ways, we see the iPhone 5 as the true Verizon iPhone launch; the first time Verizon customers will have access to a new version of the iPhone,” writes Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster. He believes many Verizon customers stood on the sidelines, waiting for the iPhone 5 “instead of buying the mid-cycle iPhone 4.”
Citing the strength of iPad and iPhone demand, one Wall Street analyst Friday increased his estimate of Apple’s second quarter earnings. The Cupertino, Calif. company will likely announce $24.42 billion in quarterly earnings, up from a previously projected $24.42 billion, according to J.P. Morgan.
Analyst Mark Moskowitz told investors he foresees Apple selling 18.4 million iPhones, up from 16.6 million. He however slightly trimmed his expectations for iPad 2 sales to 5.4 million units, down from 6 million. Moskowitz concerns about the iPad 2 were “timing related and not structural,” citing a “temporary stall-out of shipments.” The analyst recently announced Apple held an “insurmountable lead” in the tablet market and the iPad 2 could burst the bubble of rivals trying to catch up.
We start the day with three hardware bargains. First up is a deal on either a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, starting out at $500. Next is an 8GB previous-generation iPod nano for $99. Finally, the spotlight focuses on a 30GB iPod video device at $115.
Along the way, we also take a look at several iPad accessories, as well as rechargers for your iPhone. As usual, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
Imagine building a fast car and only being able to initially drive it on a crowded city street. That is sort of the position Apple is in with its iPad 2, according to one Wall Street expert. Demand (horsepower) far exceeds supply (the crowded street). Which is why Apple stock – despite being likely to meet the Street’s consensus – still has room to grow.
“The takeaway likely will be that iPad was supply-constrained and has an open growth opportunity in calendar 2011 and calendar 2012,” Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster told investors Thursday.
What did the addition of Verizon Wireless mean for the iPhone’s battle against Android? The extra U.S. carrier resulted in an 8.2 percent bump, eroding the multi-carrier open source platform’s lead over Apple, according to a new survey. Android’s share of impressions fell to 48 percent in March, while iOS rose to 31 percent, up from 27 percent. That’s the word from the latest Mobile Mix report by Millennial Media, an independent mobile network.
Although 14 of the top 20 mobile devices use Android, Apple’s iOS still leads in applications, with nearly half of the applications written for the Cupertino, Calif. company’s device.
