The iPhone has joined the iPod in their ‘halo effect’ promoting Apple’s Mac. Mac global sales in September rose 16.4 percent, far ahead of a 2.3 percent year-over-year sales increase for PCs, one analyst told investors Tuesday.
“We believe that the halo effect emanating from the iPhone should be even stronger than that surrounding the iPod,” wrote Needham and Co. analyst Charlie Wolf.
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer fielded heated questions from the software giant’s shareholders Thursday concerned about losing younger consumers to Apple. Responding to a question on how best to market to the “next generation” of computer users, Ballmer remarked that there “is a group of people with whom our market share is less.”
Although Apple CEO Steve Jobs was recently voted the “most admired entrepreneur” among the 12 to 17 year-old age group, Ballmer told the audience “it is important to remember that 96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows – that’s a good thing,” according to Seattle, Wash.-based TechFlash.
Apple’s App Store is a big hit with China’s iPhone owners, despite a series of issues that might hobble sales. The China App Store is set to earn $1 million in sales this year with a potential $6 million by 2010, according to a report. Popular apps include a Chinese-to-English translator and dating software.
While the figures seem promising, Apple’s main App Store sells $200 million each month, according to AdMob, a mobile advertising company.
This presentation is the work of Freek Bijl, a Dutch internet strategist, and in it he makes a lot of very interesting points.
Apple’s iPhone now accounts for 17 percent of global smartphone sales, propelled by a nearly 50 percent growth rate for the third quarter, new research released Thursday indicates. Cupertino’s rising star in worldwide smartphone demand is expected to only increase as the iPhone becomes available in China and more carriers begin offering the popular cell phone.
During the September quarter, Apple shipped an estimated 7.04 million iPhones – a 49.2 percent jump over last year, making the company the third-largest smartphone maker behind Nokia and Research in Motion. Apple had 12.9 percent of the market during the same period in 2008, according to Gartner.
Joe Hewitt, the developer behind the iPhone Facebook app, the most popular application on the App Store shelves, announced he’s had it with Apple’s review policy. Hewitt, also known for his work on the popular Firefox browser, told his Twitter audience he blamed the review policy required to approve apps.
“My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies,” Hewitt told TechCrunch. “I am philosophically opposed to the existence of the review process,” he said.
Apple is now the most profitable player in the cell phone business, overtaking giant Nokia for the crown, reports said Wednesday. Apple earned $1.6 billion in profits during the last financial quarter, besting Nokia’s $1.1 billion for the same period, according to estimates.
Apple also overtook Samsung, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
If rumors that Apple is adding an RFID reader to the iPhone are true, it’s huge!
An RFID reader would turn the iPhone into an e-wallet — allowing you to pay for everything, from a cup of coffee to a subway ride. It could also turn the iPhone into an ID card, a security access system and an electronic ticketing device.
It’s could also function as an easy and secure online shopping system that doesn’t require you to enter your credit card number.
Your iPhone could unlock your car, pick up e-coupons at the local mall, and pay for all your supermarket groceries just by laying it on top of the checkout.
Imagine if such a system was enabled on your iPhone. It would supplant your wallet — if enough retailers adopted the system, of course.
Programmer John Carmack helped bring Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake into the world.
Getting his games on the iPhone was not so easy.
“My relationship with Apple has been long standing, but it’s a roller coaster ride,” he told web site Kotaku. “At the highest level of Apple, in their heart of hearts,” Carmack said. “They’re not proud of the iPhone being a game machine, they wish it was something else.”
However, the popularity of gaming on the iPhone has forced Apple to think different(ly).
And, now that former collaborator Graeme Devine has gone to work for the iPhone Game Technologies division, iPhone games may get the respect they deserve.
Carmack calls Devine his “man on the inside…a real developer and I understand everything he is saying.”
Via Kotaku
