It's been a busy couple of days for Apple-related earnings announcements, with AT&T and Apple releasing their data yesterday and Verizon following suit this morning. In a slideshow presentation (PDF) accompanying the release, Verizon reveals that it activated 2.2 million CDMA iPhones during the quarter. The carrier began selling the iPhone to its existing customers on February 3rd, following that up with a wider launch to all comers a week later.
Overall, Verizon reported increased earnings compared to a year ago and just slightly above analyst expectations, although the stock has slipped a bit as it begins trading for the day.
Apple yesterday reported shipping a record 18.65 million iPhones during the quarter, although that number also included devices distributed into the sales channel for sale by retail partners, while Verizon's number strictly includes devices sold. AT&T announced that it had activated 3.6 million iPhones during the quarter, but that number obviously includes a full quarter of sales rather than the under two-month period for the Verizon iPhone. AT&T's activation numbers have also historically included both new handsets and old ones that may have been handed down or sold and reactivated for new contracts.
AppleInsider reports that Apple retail employees are restricted from taking time off between May 20 and May 22nd.
Retail employees were told this week via e-mail that they may not request days off between May 20 and May 22, AppleInsider has learned. It was said that store managers are "very excited" about those dates, but no other details are available.
They go on to speculate that Apple may be using those days for a 10th anniversary event celebrating their retail stores. While Apple is also due to refresh the iMac computer, those simple product refreshes don't routinely result in any special retail events. The last time Apple reportedly enforced such blackout dates was due to the Verizon iPhone 4 and iPad 2 launches.
Apple opened their first retail stores on May 19, 2001 in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California. Apple's retail store initiative was met with significant doubts from analysts at the time. A Businessweek article from 2001 titled "Sorry, Steve: Here's Why Apple Stores Won't Work" confidently predicted the doom of the stores.
Problem is, the numbers don't add up. Given the decision to set up shop in high-rent districts in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, and Jobs's hometown of Palo Alto, Calif., the leases for Apple's stores could cost $1.2 million a year each, says David A. Goldstein, president of researcher Channel Marketing Corp. Since PC retailing gross margins are normally 10% or less, Apple would have to sell $12 million a year per store to pay for the space. Gateway does about $8 million annually at each of its Country Stores. Then there's the cost of construction, hiring experienced staff. "I give them two years before they're turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake," says Goldstein.
Apple, of course, has gone on to open over 300 stores worldwide to great success.
Update: We've received a report that this may be due to some internal training rather than any sort of event.
Apple released their record financial numbers today and fielded questions from analysts during their financial conference call. As usual, Apple executives were unwilling to provide much concrete data on their future plans.
A few interesting questions brought expected responses. One analyst asked if Apple saw any parallels between the rise of Android and that of Windows in the past, and how Apple will maintain growth for iOS. The response reiterated recent Comscore data and talked of Apple's integrated approach vs Android's fragmentation:
The Comscore data released yesterday reported the iOS platform outreaches the Android in the U.S. We launched the iPad 2, sold every one we make. We are gaining traction in enterprise. Largest App store. We feel very good about where we are, and our future product plans. We continue to believe that iPhone's integrated approach is materially better than Android's fragmented approach. The user appreciates that Apple takes full responsibility for the experience. Few customers want to be a system's integrator.
Another question raised the use of LTE in future phones. Apple said that the first generation of LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises, and Apple was unwilling to make those compromises.
Finally, on Steve Jobs health, the executives reported that they continue to see Jobs on a regular basis and that Jobs continues to be involved in major strategic decisions. They commented that Jobs wants to be back full time as soon as he can.
Apple today announced financial results for the first calendar quarter and second fiscal quarter of 2011. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $24.67 billion and net quarterly profit of $5.99 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $13.50 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion, or $3.33 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 41.4 percent, compared to 41.7 percent in the year-ago quarter, and international sales accounted for 59 percent of the quarter's revenue. The numbers represent the best non-holiday quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history, just missing last quarter's $6 billion profit.
Apple shipped 3.76 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, a unit increase of 28 percent over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone unit sales reached a record 18.65 million, up 113 percent from the year-ago quarter, and the company also sold 9.02 million iPods during the quarter, representing 17 percent unit decline over the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter.
"With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we're firing on all cylinders," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year."
Apple's guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 includes expected revenue of $23 billion and earnings per diluted share of $5.03.
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q2 2011 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.
Updates
- Largest year over year quarterly revenue growth. Fueled by record iPhone sales. Robust demand for iPad. Strong growth in Mac sales. - Mac. 3.76 million Macs. Pleased with the strong growth, given 3% contraction in PC market overall. Growth fueled by popularity of MacBook Air as well as strong sales of MacBook Pros. Entire MBP family was refreshed in January. Customer response excellent. - Developer preview of Lion was introduced. Lion features Mission Control, LaunchPad, Full Screen Apps, new Multitouch Gestures. - Lion scheduled to ship this Summer. Look forward to showing more features at WWDC. - 9 million iPods. Though lower year over year, still higher than expectations. iPod Touch makes up 50% of the iPods sold. - iTunes Stores - Best quarter ever. $1.4 billion revenue. Over 100 million books downloaded. - iPhone. Record 18.6 million. 113% year-over-year growth. Significant increase in capacity, allowing them to increase distribution. Verizon launch in the March quarter. - iPhone continuing to see strong growth in enterprise market. - iPad. Thrilled with momentum. 4.69 million iPads. Launch of iPad 2. Still trying to get it into hands of customers. We sold every iPad 2 we made this quarter. Would have liked to end with more in channel inventory. - Just under 189 million cumulative iOS device sales by end of March quarter. - More than $2 billion in payments to developers in App Stoer. - Apple Retail. 10th anniversary on May 19th. Half of the Mac sold to those who never owned a Mac before. - Launched Personal Setup. Helps customer set up the product in the store. Includes email, contacts, applications and more. Set up over 1 million products. - 40 new stores in fiscal 2011. Nearly 3/4 will be outside of the U.S. Including 5th store in China. - Excited about our new product pipeline.
Q&A
Q: Any supply chain disruption from Japan? A: Incredible tragedy. Apple has a long history/ties to people in Japan, we are very saddened. Regarding our business in Japan. Some revenue impact, but not material in consolidated results. Regarding global supply train, we did not have any supply or cost impact in our fiscal Q2 as a reslut of the tragedy, and do not anticipate any material impact in Q3. We sourced hundreds of items in Japan, ranging from LCDs, optical drives, NAND flash, resin coatings, foil. The earthquake/crisis caused disruption to many of these suppliers. But since the disaster, Apple employees have been working around the clock with suppliers and implemented a number of contingency plans. Our partners have displayed an incredible resilience. There are some supply risks that are beyond the current quarter, but the situation is still uncertain, so it's difficult to predict beyond Q3.
Q: Where the iPad 2 constraints are? A: The demand on iPad 2 has been staggaring. We are still amazed that we are still heavily backlogged. We're planning on addition more countries through the quarter. We are confident we can produce a very large number of iPads for the quarter.
Q: Price elasticity curve of the iPhone with the $49 3GS? A: Very popular. did very very well.
Q: How do you think of the maturity of LTE? And Apple's sense of urgency to get products out? A: I was asked this question when we launched the iPhone with Verizon. The first generation of LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises. Some of those we are just not willing to make. We are extremely happy with the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS. And hitting 18.6 million units was something much larger than we thought we could do this quarter. And to 3 more large carriers.
Q: International penetration of Macs? A: Growth on the Mac has been enormous in Asia. Up 76% in Asia-Pacific. Many multiples of the growth that the region had seen for the market. We are seeing enormous growth for the Mac there. Japan also did well. U.S. had a surprisingly strong quarter. Marketshare is obviously less outside the US in most places than in the US. That speaks very well for the opportunity that the Mac has. 20 quarters in a row where we've outgrown the PC market. The momentum is still there and we're the only guys focused on building innovative products in that space. Several of the international countries are extremely portable focused. I see popularity in both the iMac and portable form factors.
Q: Forces that caused lower gross margins? A: Higher mix of iPad sales (priced very aggressively). The iPhone channel inventory increased by 1.7 million units. The iPad channel inventory fell, and was below our range. So those were the forces I'd highlight.
Q: How are you seeing different opportunities in the large enterprises with your MacBook given the greater receptiveness to the iPhones and tablets. Is it opening doors to get Macs in? A: Clearly seems to be creating a halo effort for the Mac. In part why we're seeing growth on the Mac side.
Q: Talk about the CDMA phone and any new markets that you are looking to enter? A: I don't want to get into specifics, but we are constantly looking at where we should bring on incremental partners. We've brought on 3 this quarter. That's on top of the ones we brought on in December. We are constantly looking and adding where it makes sense.
Q: Any similarities between rise of Android and rise of Windows? How do you maintain growth in the face of that? A: The comscore data released yesterday reported the iOS platform outreaches the Android in the U.S. We launched the iPad 2, sold every one we make. We are gaining traction in enterprise. Largest App store. We feel very good about where we are, and our future product plans. We continue to believe that iPhone's integrated approach is materially better than Android's fragmented approach. The user appreciates that Apple takes full responsibility for the experience. Few customers want to be a system's integrator.
Q: How closely has Jobs stayed involved during his medical leave? A: He is still on medical leave, but we do see him on a regular basis. And he continues to be involved in major strategic decisions. I know he wants to be back full time as soon as he can.
Q: Was it a forecasting error on the iPad side? A: Pleased with the progress that we've made on the manufacturing ramp. Producing more than the original iPad launch. So confident, already expanding countries for iPad sales.
Q: Share views on the one year timeline for iPhone, iPod products? A: We never comment on unannounced products. So I have nothing to share from that perspective.
Q: Any interest in having iPads subsidized by service providers? A: It is subsidized in some markets (Japan, some European). But the vast majority using the iPad on 3G is on a pay as you plan. So yes, carriers can do that, but many customers prefer the pay as you go plan.
Q: Samsung lawsuit? A: We are samsung's largest customer. Samsung is a very valued component supplier for us. We felt the mobile division of Samsung has cross the line and have had to now rely on the courts.
While much has been made of Android's rapid gains in the smartphone market that has seen it surge past the iPhone, a perhaps equally vocal contingent has pointed out that iOS is much larger than just the iPhone and that Android has only just started pushing into the tablet market and has yet to forge an effort into the non-phone touch device market.
But yesterday, comScore finally put some numbers behind that latter argument, building off its earlier report regarding February data on smartphone usage to reveal that the overall iOS platform of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch reaches 37.9 million users in the U.S., 59% greater than the reach of Android.
Initial research indicates that Apple's iOS platform, which resides on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, has a combined platform reach of 37.9 million among all mobile phones, tablets and other such connected media devices, outreaching the Android platform by 59 percent.
Rather than simply counting device sales, comScore's data tracks individual users, making that 37.9 million number reflective of users (some of whom have more than one iOS device) rather than devices directly.
As a result, Apple's iOS reaches 16.2% of the 234 million mobile platform users in the United States, with Android registering at 10.2% with 23.8 million users.
But perhaps most notably, comScore finds that there is not a tremendous amount of overlap in users, with only 10.5% of iOS users accessing the system from multiple devices such as an iPhone and iPad or iPhone and iPod touch.
"These data clearly illustrate the Apple ecosystem extends far beyond the iPhone," added [comScore senior vice president of mobile Mark] Donovan. "Though it's frequently assumed that the Apple user base is composed of dedicated Apple 'fanboys', there's not a tremendous amount of overlapping mobile device access among these users. This of course has significant implications for the developer community as they consider the market potential in developing applications for different mobile platforms."
The survey also shows a broad appeal for the iPad, moving well beyond existing iPhone users to appeal to users of smartphones from a number of other companies. In particular, LG, Samsung, and Nokia smartphone users are overrepresented when it comes to iPad ownership, while users of Research in Motion and Motorola smartphones are somewhat underrepresented in iPad ownership. According to the survey, only 27.3% of iPad owners are also iPhone owners, while 17.5% are BlackBerry owners, 14.3% are Samsung owners, and 12.1% are LG owners.
Quicksilver, an open source launch utility for Mac OS that saw few substantial updates over the last several years, has seen a revival recently with a new version released late last week.
Quicksilver is a computer utility software program for Mac OS X, made by Blacktree Software and distributed freely. It is essentially a graphical shell for the Mac OS X operating system, allowing users to use the keyboard to rapidly perform tasks such as launching applications, manipulating files, or sending e-mail.
Version 1.0β59 for Mac OS 10.6 is now available and there are also older versions available for Mac 0S 10.3 through 10.5. Unlike Spotlight, the universal search feature built into Mac OS X since 10.4, Quicksilver focuses on a defined "catalog" of items like music, contacts, URLs, and emails and can search and launch these items more quickly.
Quicksilver became open source in 2007 when its creator at Blacktree, Nicholas Jitkoff, transitioned to focus on other projects. Its source code is currently available on Github.
Dow Jones Newswires reports on claims from Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun that Apple has committed to invest in a Toshiba factory for iPhone LCD production, a report that also claims that Apple has abandoned a similar deal with Sharp for the displays.
The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported that Apple now plans to invest only in Toshiba's new LCD panel plant currently under construction in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan.
The report said that Sharp was no longer a candidate for Apple's investment.
The article notes that Sharp has issued a statement refuting the claim, reporting that the statement "contradicts the facts". Sharp even went so far as to issue an official press release denying the claim urging the newspaper to withdraw the report and issue an apology.
Last December, reports appeared just days apart claiming that Apple was planning to invest alongside both Toshiba and Sharp for iPhone LCD plants, with each facility said to cost up to $1.2 billion.
Algoriddim has reduced the price of its djay app for the iPhone and iPod touch from $4.99 down to $.99 for a limited time. djay for the iPhone and iPod touch debuted in the App Store last month and was preceded by a version for the iPad released in December.
djay provides a virtual turntable interface for music mixing and scratching as well as beat-matching, EQ controls and more. The app takes advantage of several features that debuted with iOS 4.2 in November including full access to the iPod library and AirPlay.
Apple today once again lowered iPad 2 shipping estimates in many of its online stores around the world, now citing 1-2 weeks for new orders in those markets. Shipping estimates had peaked at 4-5 weeks, but a series of drops brought the window down to 2-3 weeks early this month, and the new decrease suggests that Apple is indeed getting its arms around the supply-demand balance for the popular tablet device.
The new 1-2 week estimates have gone into effect for Apple's online stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, but the company's stores for European countries are still reflecting 2-3 week estimates. The company does typically maintain separate distribution systems for its North American, European, and Asian markets, making variations in shipping estimates not unusual, although it seems reasonable to assume that European markets should see similar improvements in iPad 2 availability going forward.
Update: Apple's online stores for European countries are now also showing the updated 1-2 week shipping estimates for new iPad 2 orders.
A pair of security researchers today announced that they are sounding the privacy warning bell about the capability of iOS 4 to track the location of an iPhone or iPad on an ongoing basis, storing the data to a hidden file known as "consolidated.db" in the form of latitude and longitude and a timestamp for each point.
All iPhones appear to log your location to a file called "consolidated.db." This contains latitude-longitude coordinates along with a timestamp. The coordinates aren't always exact, but they are pretty detailed. There can be tens of thousands of data points in this file, and it appears the collection started with iOS 4, so there's typically around a year's worth of information at this point. Our best guess is that the location is determined by cell-tower triangulation, and the timing of the recording is erratic, with a widely varying frequency of updates that may be triggered by traveling between cells or activity on the phone itself.
While the consolidated.db file has been known for some time and has played a key role in forensic investigations of iOS devices by law enforcement agencies, the researchers note the data is available on the devices themselves and in backups in unencrypted and unprotected form, leading to significant privacy concerns. Once gathered, the data is saved in backups, restored to devices if necessary, and even migrated across devices, offering a lengthy history of a user's movement.
Data points pulled from iPhone backup
The researchers, Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden, have also put together a downloadable application that allows users to view the location data stored in backup files on their computers. Allan and Warden have reached out to Apple for comment but have yet to receive a response, and in the meantime recommend that users encrypt their iPhone and iPad backups for increased security.
AT&T today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2011, offering a glimpse at the performance of a significant partner of Apple's for the iPhone and the first data on the carrier's sales since it lost exclusivity in the United States with the launch of the CDMA iPhone on Verizon.
According to the press release, AT&T activated 3.6 million iPhones during the quarter, up nearly a million from the year-ago quarter. The figure has, however, historically included both sales of new devices and re-activations of previously-sold devices either handed down or resold by their owners, making it impossible to correlate the figure directly with Apple's own sales performance.
AT&T reports that 23% of iPhone subscribers were new to AT&T, a figure that has steadily declined over the past year or so as the carrier has increasingly already attracted many of the customers most interested in the device.
Perhaps the most notable piece of data is AT&T's claim that the churn rate for iPhone subscribers was unchanged over the year-ago quarter, indicating that significant numbers of AT&T iPhone customers are not fleeing to Verizon as many observers had expected.
On a broader scale, AT&T reported record smartphone sales of 5.5 million and 10.2% revenue growth in its wireless division. The company's subscriber base also grew by 2 million to reach 97.5 million.
Reuters reports that the next generation iPhone will start production in July and likely shipping in September.
Apple Inc suppliers will begin production of its next-generation iPhone in July this year, with the finished product likely to begin shipping in September, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Reuters cites three people "familiar with the matter". The brief news article also claims that the new iPhone will have a faster processor but "will look largely similar to the current iPhone 4". No other details are provided, but the timeline is in line with recent rumors about the iPhone 5.
The faster processor will likely be the Dual-Core A5 processor that was introduced alongside the iPad.
Apple has long offered $30 rebates on MobileMe and iWork for customers purchasing new Apple hardware, encouraging users to tack on so-called "attachments" to boost revenue for the company. In late February, the company eliminated boxed versions of MobileMe and did away with the option to bundle the service with a new Mac at a $30 discount. The rebate program for distribution through other points of sale, however, apparently remained in effect.
A similar program existed for iWork, with users able to either opt to have the software preinstalled on their build-to-order machines at a $30 discount to $49, or file for a $30 rebate on the $79 iWork if purchased through other means. That $49 discounted price for preinstalled iWork disappeared as of today, however, with Apple now charging the full $79 price for the software suite.
Apple has apparently also notified resellers that the iWork and MobileMe promotions have ended as of yesterday, requiring resellers to remove all references to the rebate programs from their promotional materials.
Apple has of course been rumored to be working on an overhaul of its MobileMe service, reportedly seeking to integrate cloud-based services that would allow users to store their media on Apple's servers for access from a variety of devices.
A potential iWork update has been a bit more of a mystery, however, as the suite was last updated in early 2009. There had been some claims of Apple seeking to a launch "iWork '11" alongside the Mac App Store in January, with hints of shortages of iWork in mid-December lending credence to the theory, but an updated version has yet to surface.
Former Engadget editor Nilay Patel lays out a thorough analysis of Apple's newly-filed lawsuit targeting Samsung for allegedly copying the "look and feel" of iOS devices with its "Galaxy" line of smartphones and tablets. Patel offers an excellent look at the overall lawsuit, as well as a claim-by-claim analysis of each of Apple's sixteen claims against Samsung.
Taken as a group, it feels like a remarkably solid case - Samsung can't just up and countersue Apple with its own patents and hope to walk away with a handshake and a cross-license because of the various trademark, trade dress, and design patent claims. How the company decides to deal with those issues remains to be seen; there's no question in my mind that Samsung designed TouchWiz to look and feel as much like iOS as possible, and then marketed it as such.
The entire report is a solid read for those looking to understand more about how Apple is approaching the issue.
Interestingly, the background portion of the lawsuit also provides total sales numbers for various iOS devices "as of March 2011". Comparing those numbers to known sales as of the end of 2010, asymco's Horace Dediu has calculated minimum unit shipments for the various devices during the first quarter of 2011.
In the lawsuit, Apple variously notes that either "as of" or "by" March 2011, Apple had sold more than 108 million iPhones, over 60 million iPod touches, and over 19 million iPads.
These numbers are material because we know units sold prior to CQ1 and can derive the minimum units sold for these three product lines during Q1.
Namely:
- Total iPhones sold before Q1: 89,971,000 implying a minimum of 18.1 million sold during the quarter (my estimate is 18.4) - Total iPod touch sold before Q1 (estimated): 55.5 million implying a minimum of 4.5 million iPod touch sold during the quarter (my estimate 5 million) - Total iPads sold before Q1: 14,789,000 implying a minimum of 4.2 million iPads sold during the quarter (my estimate is 7.3 million).
The question becomes whether the implied level of 4.2 million iPads sold during the first quarter of 2011 is an accurate number, in which case Apple's performance would have fallen well below expectations, or simply an understatement by the company.
Apple is set to announce official figures for the quarter at its earnings release tomorrow. The release should include specific sales figures for the iPhone and iPad, but Apple generally does not issue specific numbers for the iPod touch, instead reporting total sales for all iPod models and then sometimes breaking out a rough share for the iPod touch or stating the device's growth as a means of highlighting its performance on the earnings conference call.
In a pair of reports yesterday and today, Inside Mobile Apps reveals that Apple has apparently made a shift in enforcement of its App Store rules, changing the way it ranks applications to include more than simple download numbers and rejecting applications that take advantage of so-called "offer wall" services that reward users with virtual currency or credits for installing other applications. The idea is a practice that developers have been increasingly turning to in order to boost their applications into Apple's charts of top apps.
The first report, issued yesterday, reveals that Apple has indeed made changes to its rankings. The changes were first noticed by mobile ad networks and offer wall companies.
"We've been noticing changes in the Top Free rankings for at least three days now," said Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry, which serves 80,000 applications with its analytics product. "From our point of view, Apple is absolutely considering more than just downloads, which we believe is the right direction to go in to measure the true popularity of an app." Other pay-per-install networks tell us they've been detecting these changes too.
While it's too early to tell exactly what the new weights are, a reasonable hypothesis would be that Apple is considering factors such as active usage. But we'll keep talking to top developers and ad networks to learn more as we go.
In a follow-up report today, Inside Mobile Apps notes that Apple has begun rejecting offer wall apps entirely, citing a clause in its App rules that prohibits developers from manipulating user reviews and chart rankings.
Developers began receiving rejection notices for dozens of apps late last week and yesterday, saying that they are prohibited from having offer walls. Apple looks like it is changing the interpretation of clause 3.10 in its developer agreement, which says, "Developers who attempt to manipulate or cheat the user reviews or chart ranking in the App Store with fake or paid reviews, or any other inappropriate methods will be removed from the iOS Developer Program." It's uncertain what will happen to the thousands of apps that have already been approved and have offer walls.
Companies such as Tapjoy that provide offer wall services for developers are of course defending their practices, pitching them as all-around wins for advertisers, developers and users to help target advertising, boost app installs, and earn free content for users. These firms appear to have been caught off-guard by Apple's sudden shift, and it remains to be seen how things will play out.
Late last month, we noted that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had been ordered to appear for a deposition in a 2005 lawsuit regarding the company's FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) system in place at that time for iTunes Store music content. The lawsuit contends that Apple's move to prevent the playing of music files from RealNetworks on iPods was anticompetitive.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Jobs did indeed provide the required deposition on April 12th, and Apple has now requested dismissal of the case.
"Apple's view is that iPods work better when consumers use the iTunes jukebox rather than third party software that can cause corruption or other problems," [Apple attorney Robert] Mittelstaedt said at a hearing.
Apple had cited 58 consumer downloading complaints as the source of its decision to upgrade iPods to exclude other companies' downloads working with the hand-held devices.
Neither Apple nor the plaintiffs have performed scientific testing to determine whether third-party downloads were in fact responsible for the issues experienced by consumers, leading the trial judge to comment that the case may simply come down to a "battle of experts". A decision on Apple's request for dismissal is expected by next month.
9 to 5 Mac reports that multiple sources, presumably resellers, have noted that supplies of the current-generation iMacs are showing as "constrained", limiting restocking orders. The development is a common one as Apple draws down supplies ahead of the introduction of new models.
We have been told by three people familiar with the matter - all in different countries including the U.S. and an Asian country - that iMac supplies are tightening.
As noted in our Buyer's Guide, the iMac is due for an update given that it has been nearly nine months since the last refresh of the line took place in late July.
Last month, CNET's Brian Tong claimed to have received information from a source indicating that updated iMacs should debut by the end of April or the first week in May, a window of time that is just now set to open.
Engadget points to a new video posted on Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn apparently claiming to show a white iPhone 4 running a "test version" of iOS offering Expose-like multitasking that allows users to select running apps from a grid of nine screenshot thumbnails.
You can tap on a window to expand it (replete with animation) to fill the screen or long-press on it to bring up the familiar "x" button for shutting it down. This is all accompanied by a new "Search iPhone" dialog at the very top, which sends you into Spotlight search that looks very much the way it currently does (though it seems to no longer be accessible with a left swipe from the first homescreen as on previous versions of iOS).
While the apparently all-white home button and a passing similarity of the multitasking feature to the jailbreak tool multifl0w suggest that this could simply be a customized iPhone 4 running jailbreak software.
But a second video posted to the same YouTube account and noticed by 9 to 5 Mac offers more detail of what may in fact be a prototype iPhone. The device in the second video may be different than the one in the first video, as the second one seems to have a more standard white home button with black square inside.
The second video clearly shows an "XX GB" marking on the back along with a number of "X" placeholders in model identifiers, common for prototype devices. A walkthrough of the "About" screen in iOS shows, however, that the model carries 64 GB of storage.
Interestingly, a partial glimpse of the iOS build number can be seen as the "About" screen is shown, and the device appears to be running iOS 4.0 with a build number beginning with 8A as would be expected. Consequently, this does appear to be a test version of iOS 4.0 rather than an upcoming iOS 5 build, although Apple could of course choose to implement some of these features in future iOS releases.
The device also appears to contain several preloaded applications internally used by Apple for diagnostics, testing, and demoing, lending additional legitimacy to the claims.
Update: Noted jailbreaker/hacker @chronic reports that the build is indeed iOS 4.0 8A216. The public release of iOS 4.0 was build 8A293.
