Tim Cook has a lot to be happy about. Photo: Apple
Apple closed its earnings call this afternoon after announcing an unprecedented 74.5 million iPhone sales to go along with $74.6 billion in revenue and $18 billion in profits. It broke the record for the most money made by a corporation in history.
While breaking down the Q1 2015 numbers, Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri also gave us some juicy details about what’s in store for 2015 by hinting at new products in the pipeline, as well as subtly dropping the Apple Watch’s release date.
We’ve combed through the numbers and the conference call and found seven huge new revelations every Apple fan needs to know:
Apple's earnings from last quarter will be historic. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac Photo: Jim Merithew
Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are getting ready to announce Apple’s biggest earnings ever to investors this afternoon, and we’ll be on hand to liveblog all the action.
The results are expected to be historic, thanks to unprecedented demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in not only the US, but also China. Wall Street expects Apple to blow past its projected revenue of $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion and hit somewhere closer to an all-time high of $68 billion.
Analysts expect iPhone 6 sales to have topped more than 66 million, but Apple expert Ben Bajarin is predicting any number lower than 70 million would be a result of supply chain limitations, not demand. Mac sales are also expected to be strong, while the iPad remains the only wild card.
The call begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, but the liveblog action starts now. Keep this tab open and come back throughout the day for coverage of Apple’s biggest quarter ever.
Will.i.am cheesin' with Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts at the Apple Watch unveiling. Photo: Leander Kahney/ Cult of Mac Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Angela Ahrendts was arguably Apple’s biggest hire of 2014, and according to the company’s latest SEC filing, luring the Burberry CEO over to Apple wasn’t cheap.
In 2014, Apple’s new SVP of retail and online stores was the highest paid executive at Apple. It’s the first time in Apple history that the highest paid person at the company is a woman, and Apple gave her a transition package that made even Tim Cook’s salary look like pittance pay.
Ahrendts made her move from Burberry to Apple in May of 2014. By the end of the year Apple paid her over $64 million more than CEO Tim Cook. In fact, Cook wasn’t even in the top 4 highest paid employees at Apple last year. Eddie Cue took home the second biggest salary with $24,445,739, while Jeff Williams (aka Tim Cook’s Tim Cook) took home $24,403,235.
Check out the full breakdown of executive compensation below:
Apple has agreed to accept the Chinese government’s demands to run network safety evaluations on all Apple products before they can be imported into the country.
Tim Cook met with the country’s Internet and Information office last December to discuss Apple’s plans in China, and has since consented to the government’s demands that they be allowed screen products for the fabled NSA backdoor. According to a spokesperson who was also present at the meeting, Cook has assured Chinese officials that Apple will fully cooperate with the governments wishes to have products inspected for security concerns.
Tim Cook has ramped up Apple's lobbying efforts. Photo: Apple Photo: Apple
Steve Jobs shunned trips to Washington, D.C., during his tenure as Apple CEO, but Tim Cook has been a frequent visitor to Capitol Hill to personally amp up Apple’s lobbying efforts, which have more than doubled since 2009.
A new report from OpenSecrets today revealed that Apple lobbied the White House, Congress and 13 departments and agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission in 2014. In 2009, Apple lobbied only Congress and six agencies and only spent $1.5 million compared to the nearly $3 million it spent from January to October 2014.
Apple pays homage to one of history's greatest civil rights activists. Photo: Apple
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and to mark the occasion Apple has changed the image on its homepage to one commemorating the beloved civil rights activist and pastor.
The black-and-white image is accompanied by a line reading, “Today we reflect on the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that continues in service of the broader concerns of humanity.”
Apple has been feeling the #jesuischarlie solidarity lately. After publicly supporting the movement protesting the terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices last week, Apple has approved a Je Suis Charlie app for sale on the App Store, just anhour after the developers emailed CEO Tim Cook.
Steve Jobs started Apple in his image. But would he like everything about it in 2015? Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC
A lot has changed at Apple in the years since Steve Jobs died. While much of it is good (record-breaking iPhone sales, work on the new Apple campus, the stock-split leading to new share price highs), it’s unavoidable that one or two (or, indeed, 7) things would slip through the cracks, which Apple’s notoriously perfectionist late CEO would have hated.
The recent publishing of a patent for an iOS stylus — an accessory Jobs was vocal about opposing — got us thinking about other aspects of Apple, circa 2015, that likely would have rubbed the company’s late CEO the wrong way.
AAPL shares have been tanking the last few weeks after reaching a record high in 2014, but Apple is looking to stop the bleeding later this month by announcing what’s expected to be another record breaking earnings report for Q1 2015 on January 27th.
Looking back on the hits from Apple's blockbuster year. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac Photo:
2014 was an absolutely monumental year for Apple. Haters will hate, but one thing can’t be denied: This is a company that refuses to rest on its laurels.
Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple debuted a new product category with the Apple Watch, sold a record number of new iPhones, made the biggest acquisition in its history, and successfully sent its suffering stock price back into the stratosphere.
The company wasn’t without its missteps, but all in all, it’s hard to call 2014 anything short of a blow-away year for Apple.
Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for your CEO of the year. Photo: Apple Photo: Apple
Tim Cook has been named “CEO of the year” by CNN Money, beating other contenders including T-Mobile’s John Legere, BlackBerry’s John Chen, other singled out as leading executives for 2014.
CNN Money notes that Cook performed an “amazing job,” and points readers toward the fact that the AAPL stock price is up 40 percent, while Apple hit new all-time high valuation levels.
This is credited to the launch of the iPhone 6, the debut of Apple Pay, and excitement about the Apple Watch, which is set to be the first major new product line launched at Apple under Tim Cook’s stewardship.
Tim Cook has told Apple employees he’s “deeply offended” by the BBC’s critical documentaryApple’s Broken Promises that investigated working conditions inside Apple’s supply Asian supply chain.
In an email obtained by The Telegraph from Apple VP Jeff Williams to the company’s workers in the UK, Williams said he and Cook are offended by the BBC’s suggestion that Apple broke promises with workers in the supply chain, and that no other company is doing “as much as Apple does to ensure fair and safe working conditions.”
Williams also countered the BBC’s claims that Apple uses tin sourced through child labor in Indonesia, saying Apple is spearheading the movement to hold the tens of thousands of artisanal miners more accountable, rather than getting out of the country altogether.
Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
Apple CEO Tim Cook is the most powerful (openly) gay man in America, and also the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company. As such, he’s done a lot for gay rights during his interim at Apple, and now he’s doing even more, making a sizable personal donation to a gay rights campaign in his home state of Alabama, as well as Arkansas and Mississippi.
Apple Store logos went RED for World Aids Day. Photo: Apple Photo: Apple
Apple’s World AIDS week campaign has earned a big donation for Bono’s Product RED charity this month. The holiday project RED promotions that ran during two of the busiest shopping days of the year – Black Friday until Cyber Monday – raised more than $20 million, according to an internal email obtained by Recode.
Tim Cook sent employees an email revealing that along with raising another $20 million, the iPhone maker has donated over $100 million for Product RED to fight AIDS in Africa.
Cook welcomes China's Internet Minister to Apple. Photos: China.com.cn
The minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China got a sneak peek at the Apple Watch during a recent visit to Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. Photos published by a state-owned website show Apple CEO Tim Cook demonstrating the device to Lu Wei, who also stopped by Facebook’s campus to meet Mark Zuckerberg.
Tim Cook, who came out as gay earlier this year, has publicly supported LGBT rights on numerous occasions. Photo: Apple.
An anti-discrimination bill designed to protect LGBT employees is set to be named after Tim Cook, according to a new report from Reuters.
The bill was put forward by Alabama’s only openly gay lawmaker, Democratic state Representative Patricia Todd. Given Cook’s status as not only the head of the world’s most valuable company, but also an Alabama native, the suggestion to put his name on the bill was first made by Todd “in jest” — only for the comments to be taken seriously and published.
Soon after, she heard from Apple, which was initially hesitant about Cook’s name being associated so publicly with such a politically sensitive issue. However, Apple apparently reconsidered, and Todd received a positive call from Apple’s general counsel, Bruce Sewell, saying Cook was happy to lend his name to the cause.
In a statement, Apple said that, “Tim was honored to hear that State Rep. Todd wanted to name an anti-discrimination bill after him, and we’re sorry if there was any miscommunication about it. We have a long history of support for LGBT rights and we hope every state will embrace workplace equality for all.”
Tim Cook made a stop by the Senate after his Apple Store visit. Photo: Apple
Tim Cook made a visit to Washington D.C. this week to discuss the U.S. technology policy with one of the most tech-focused Senators on Capitol Hill.
The Apple CEO met with Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah on Tuesday, reports The Hill, after Cook paid a visit to the nearby Georgetown Apple Store the previous day for Worlds AIDS day. Senator Hatch’s Innovation Agenda for the 114th Congress was the focus of the conversation, as Hatch currently serves as the chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force.
RED CEO Deborah Dugan and Tim Cook show up at the Georgetown Apple Store to mark World AIDS Day. Photo: Deborah Dugan/Twitter
Apple CEO Tim Cook surprised shoppers at the Georgetown Apple Store on Monday by making an appearance to support the company’s commitment to World AIDS Day.
Cook tweeted photos of his visit to the store in Washington, D.C. He was surrounded by Apple employees wearing red T-shirts to mark the day, which is aimed at raising awareness about the spread of AIDS, showing support for people living with HIV and honoring those who have died from the disease.
Tim Cook has a lot to be thankful for. No wonder he looks happy. Photo: Apple
In between dessert and the traditional food coma on the couch, Thanksgiving offers everyone a great opportunity to take stock of the past year’s accomplishments.
When it comes to looking back at the previous year, sure you can stew over your failures and missed opportunities, but that’s for losers. And coming off one of Apple’s most successful years in history, Tim Cook is no loser.
So what’s Apple’s CEO going to be thinking about when he sits back in a carbohydrate-induced daze? Here are our best guesses.
Tim Cook recently gave a rare public interview at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJD Live global technology conference. Discussing everything from the iPhone’s status as Apple’s cash cow and the battle over Apple Pay, to the reason the iPod classic was discontinued, it was another winning performance from Apple’s CEO.
While Cult of Mac ran down the main takeaways from the conference at the time, the Wall Street Journal has now uploaded the video of Cook’s lengthy interview, so readers can see for themselves.
Since Steve Jobs’ passing plenty of changes have occurred within Apple. In spite of all its differences, Tim Cook has managed to keep the essence of the company the same. With new iPhones, iPads, iMacs, Apple Watches and more more already announced, Tim Cook opened up his personal life to the public in a way we’ve never seen from an Apple CEO.
In today’s episode of Cult of Mac’s news roundup find out what exactly Cook revealed that got the world talking and every detail in-between. Hear about this story and more in this episode of the roundup.
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Tim Cook's historic letter, iPad reviews, and more! Cover Design: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
It’s been a full week here at Cult of Mac, so we’ve once again put together a special Newsstand issue — all of the best news stories and features compiled in one place to read through easily on your iPad or iPhone. This week we’ve got some fantastic coverage of Tim Cook’s historic coming out letter, reviews of the iPad Air 2 (and our reasoning for skipping that iPad mini 3 review), some more great tips for your new install of OS X Yosemite, and some scary horror flicks that you’ll want to watch all weekend long. That and more, as always, in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine.
Where? In Russia, where Vitaly Milonov, the politican behind Russia’s anti-gay laws and the politican who threatened to arrest gay athletes at the Sochi olympics, argued that Tim Cook should be banned from Russia because he could be a carrier of AIDs or Ebola.