MacRumors

Forbes explores some hints that Apple gave yesterday on upcoming products in the coming quarter.

Apple's projected relatively weaker earnings for the current quarter, citing higher component costs, back-to-school discounts and a "product transition" will cause Apple earnings to come in lower than expected.

Could that mean Apple is about to introduce some new products? If so, the possibilities include anything from a new version of the iPod music player to fresh versions of its hot-selling notebook computers. With Apple reporting surging sales of both its computers and music players, that would mean the company is about to go from one strength to another.

Apple's current quarter ends at the end of September 2007. Apple has been rumored to be releasing new iMacs and iPods in August. What's unclear is why Apple expects this product transition to decrease earnings rather than increase earnings.

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Mixed in with Apple's Financial Results, Apple announced that they sold 270,000 iPhones in the first 30 hours of iPhone sales.

The number was included with their financial results product breakdown and vaguely listed as 270,000 "iPhones and Related Products and Services".

Despite this wording, during the conference call, Peter Oppenheimer clearly states that Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first 30 hours of sales.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple announced their financial results for the 3rd Quarter of fiscal 2007. Apple posted revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $.92 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $4.37 billion and net quarterly profit of $472 million, or $.54 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent, up from 30.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Apple shipped 1,764,000 Macintosh computers, representing 33 percent growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous company record for quarterly Mac shipments by over 150,000. The Company also sold 9,815,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 21 percent growth over the year-ago quarter.

Steve Jobs said "We're thrilled to report the highest June quarter revenue and profit in Apple's history, along with the highest quarterly Mac sales ever" and expects to sell one million iPhones by the end of the 4th quarter.

Apple's financial results will be webcast live.

Conference Call Notes

- Landmark quarter for Apple
- Highest revenue in June Quarter in history of Apple
- Record breaking Mac sales
- Mac business represents ~60% of Quarterly revenue. 33% Growth year-over-year growth.
- Sales of Mac notebooks grew 42% year-over-year.
- Music Business represents ~40% of Quarterly revenue.
- Other Music revenue grew 33% year over year
- NPD reported iTunes became 3rd largest music retailer in the U.S.
- Apple says it sold 270,000 iPhones in the 1st 30 hours of sales.
- Activation problems initially, but now working smoothy.
- Based on surveys, people love their iPhones. 90% of iPhone owners were Extremely or Very satisfied with their phone. 85% Extremely or Very Likely to recommend the iPhone to others.
- Expect to sell 1 million iPhones by Sept 29th
- 4th Calendar Quarter to sell iPhone in Europe.
- Announcement later this quarter.
- 10 Million iPhones goal in Calendar 2008
- Plan on incorporating new Software and Features into iPhone over time. Will begin to receive payments from AT&T in the future quarters.
- Subscription accounting on iPhone and Apple TV sales.Q&A Highlights
Q: More details on iPhone sales?
A: We've gotten off to a great start. Focus is not on initial sales, but instead a long term business. Our perspective is measured in years, not months. Reward is huge. Apple has the skill that makes us confident to succeed. iPhone in Europe next quarter in a few select countries. It took Apple almost 2 years to sell one million iPods, we expect to sell one million iPhones in the first full quarter.

Q: See any shortages in iPhone components?
A: Almost all AT&T and Apple Retail stores have the iPhone in stock and we are shipping units off of Apple.com in 1-2 days. We've included our expectations of long term supply/demand in our projections.

Q: You mentioned no payment from AT&T this quarter, can you clarify that comment?
A: We can't go beyond it and won't discuss the terms of the agreement. We will recognize revenue eared from AT&T over time.

Q: How to model AT&T revenue share?
A: Can't comment on it.

Q: In the near term, how do you think about the initial wave of iPhone sales.
A: 270,000 in the 30 hours laster quarter. What we've seen so far gives us a lot of confidence we can sell 10 million iPhones in 2008.

Q: In addition to payments from AT&T are you getting any other payments for placement of applications on the iPhone?
A: We don't discuss it.

Q: How's the Best Buy rollout? Did it contribute to Mac sales?
A: Around 50 stores at the beginning last quarter, around 75 at the end. Over 200 by end of this quarter. 300 by end of calendar year.

Q: iPhone price points? Should we assume we'll have a family of Phones?
A: We believe the iPhone offers tremendous value that customers couldn't even imagine before. It's 3 products in one.

Q: Any seasonality in the iPod and Mac?
A: June quarter begins education buying season. June -> September seasonality has been mixed. In terms of the iPod, we've learned that what drives the product is innovative new features and holiday seasonality.

Q: You see any slowdown in sales prior to Leopard?
A: We'll have to see, but last quarter we sold more Macs than ever.

Q: iPod cannibalization from iPhone?
A: Haven't seen any in the June quarter, but will monitor it.

Q: Are there thoughts about addressing corporate email on the iPhone?
A: We think that the iPhone is a breakthrough product for all customers including business customers. With very little help from the IT department, it will work. Have many business customers who are very happy so far.

Q: Store Openings?
A: We expect to open 12 stores in the September Quarter to end the year with 197 stores. We've not set a target for 2008 openings.

Q: Apple TV Units?
A: We don't announce that level of product detail.

Q: Is there any high level commentary with regard to the learning experiences with launching the iPhone?
A: We've only been at this a few weeks. We're very much beginners at this, so every day there's something to learn. We're interested in building the business to the next level.

Apple appears to be making steady progress on Leopard and provided ADC Developers with a new seed today.

The newest seed (9A499) reportedly has introduced a number of new bugs, but subjective reports indicate it feels much faster.

This is the first Leopard update released to developers since the WWDC build was finally seeded earlier this month.

Apple publicly demoed Leopard at WWDC in June and is expected to released Mac OS X Leopard in October of this year.

With these potentially user-replaceable parts coming out for the iPhone (battery, black back), some of you that are more technically inclined may want to try your hand at replacing these parts yourself.

This YouTube video may either dissuade you or teach you what you need to know.

The video comes from PDAParts.com who offers it as an instructional video on how to replace your iPhone's LCD screen and digitizer. They warn:

This is one of the hardest repairs we have ever seen. Your doing this repair at your own risk.

Related Forum: iPhone

Here's another proof of concept that may become easier to accomplish over time. Cre.ations.net posts instructions on how to tether your iPhone -- allowing you to access EDGE internet from your laptop.

The instructions are a bit involved and require some knowledge of using the various hacking tools that give you more direct access to your iPhone. All the needed links/instructions are posted on the tutorial.

Forum user buzzert has posted a video accomplishing the same task (though we don't know if he used the same tutorial). The video demonstrates him browsing MacRumors from his Mac laptop.

Related Forum: iPhone

Not happy with the $84.95 iPhone battery replacement from Apple?

iPodJuice is now offering a 1400 mAh replacement battery for the iPhone which claims to be comparable to the original iPhone battery.

Our 1400 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery is the same strength as the one that came with your 8GB iPhone. This robust battery is 100 percent compatible with your iPhone and is guaranteed to last for ten years from the date of purchase.

The battery itself only costs $25 at this time, but "is very difficult for the average consumer to replace" according to iPodJuice. They offer install/shipping options that range from $20-$70. If you are technically inclined, you can buy the battery alone and have a go at it yourself.

[via Gizmodo]

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple posted more details for AppleCare for the iPhone today and is now available for purchase from the Apple Store.

Each iPhone comes with one year of hardware repair coverage and up to two years of technical support. AppleCare for the iPhone extends your repair coverage to two years from the original purchase date.

You can purchase the AppleCare plan for the iPhone anytime within the one-year limited warranty. AppleCare, however, does not cover accidental damage.

Related Forum: iPhone

Arstechnica notes that Newsgator has announced an iPhone specific version of their online RSS reader.

The mobile/iPhone version is at http://m.newsgator.com.

The obvious benefit to NewsGator Mobile for iPhone is that if you already use a NewsGator Online account, either online or in conjunction with any of NewsGator's products (like NNW for the Mac or its Windows software), the mobile version will sync up with all of your other RSS habits.

Newsgator is the parent company to NetNewsWire -- a popular RSS reader for the Mac.

Related Forum: iPhone

Following news that there were 146,000 iPhone activations in the first 36 hours of sale, analysts are showing disappointment, and are changing their forecasts.

Bloomberg.com relates that analyst Gene Munster from Piper Jaffray & Co. downgraded his prediction of units sold during the first few days from 500,000 to 200,000, calling AT&T's activation results "disappointing." However, he does not change his view that the iPhone will help propel Apple's growth, and maintains an "outperform" rating on Apple's stock.

In addition, CIBC World Markets indicates their data is showing demand for the iPhone is declining, suggesting that Apple may try to spur sales by increasing marketing efforts.

"We have noticed decent inventories at stores, and thin demand at best," analyst Ittai Kidron wrote in a note. "Among the stores we visited, most visitors were not looking at the device, and only a very small subset bought it."

Apple's stock was down 5% as of this writing, sitting at $136.38.

Related Forum: iPhone

AT&T posted their 2nd Quarter earnings today and revealed some numbers on early iPhone sales.

Sales of the Apple iPhone have been robust. The June 29 launch allowed for less than two days of sales and activations before the end of the quarter. In that time, AT&T activated 146,000 iPhone subscribers, more than 40 percent of them new subscribers. Sales of the iPhone continue to be strong in July with store traffic above historical levels.

The 2nd Quarter only includes two days of iPhone sales so only reflects activations in those two days (June 29, June 30). While there were some activation issues for some early adopters, these delays reportedly only affected 2% of users.

A few additional notes: 40% of iPhone activations were new AT&T subscribers and since the iPhone went on sale at 6pm, activation numbers reflect less than two full days of sales.

Apple's 2nd Quarter earnings are expected on July 25th.

Related Forum: iPhone

Forum user villanova329 posted a large collection of unboxing photos as well as a brief review of the Apple Bluetooth Headset which has just started shipping.

villanova329's first impressions are as follows:

bt 500
QUICK REVIEW

- I re-did my voicemail using the earpiece, and the playback quality was great
- The foam earbud covers are back, the set comes with two
- It uses the standard "0000" code to pair
- Volume is controlled via the iPhone or handset used
- First call made: Friend told me he did not know I was using an earpiece, did hear some background, but said it sound just like how I usually sound without using an earpiece
- I shook my head from side to side (almost felt like passing out), and it stayed put. It moved around but it still stayed in my ear. To further test it, I did one set of skipping a rope (my favorite cardio workout) while wearing it, and it stayed in my ear. So far, impressed with the fit, but this thing is too light, I might forget I even have it on.
- The fit feels just like the stock headphones, and a little smoother than the old generation iPod headphones
- The magsafe feature is not as strong as you would expect from the MacBook/MBP kind. Rather you just feel a tiny pull but its not strong enough to yank it from your hand like the original magsafe
- I'm wishing Apple would have included an optional earloop to add more security to your ear, but hey we can't have everything we want.
- This thing is tiny
- I love now having 3 charging methods for my iPhone: standard cable, travel cable, and now iPhone/earpiece dock
- I have a pretty chubby face, and that is an obstacle for a lot of earpieces I've tried because it increases the distance. This earpiece catches my voice despite the distance from my mouth and the earpiece
- I did not have to raise my voice to be heard
- When receiving a call, the ringtone inside the earpiece is just some funky digital sound ring, like your typical bluetooth earpiece ringtone, nothing fancy

COMPARED TO THE JAWBONE

- Feels much lighter, almost to the point you'll forget its there
- What I hear sounds pretty much the same
- Of course, Jawbone has noise cancelling feature, this does not
- Made two calls, so far my friends can't even tell I'm on an earpiece; sounds just like I'm just using the handset
- Apple one cost $10 more
- Jawbone automatically sets volume, but you can also change it through the handset. With Apple earpiece, no mix up... all volume is controlled through the handset/iPhone

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple has posted some information and tips about optimizing the battery life on your iPhone.

Paying attention to just a few commonsense pointers will pay off with a longer battery lifespan and battery life for your iPhone. The most important thing is to keep your iPhone out of the sun or a hot car (even the glove box). Heat will degrade your batterys performance the most.

Apple indicates that their engineers are finding new ways to optimize your battery, so make sure you have the latest software updates. Other common sense tips include

- Use Phone regularly. Go through at least one "charge cycle" per month.
- Lock/Sleep your phone when not in use
- Turn off Wifi to save power
- Turn off Bluetooth to save power
- Turning on Auto-Brightness
- Turn off the Equalizer (iPod setting) if you don't use it

Related Forum: iPhone

Following the original 23 Step Ringtone installation tutorial, are a couple of applications which claim to provide a friendly interface to accomplish the same task.

Please remember that all these iPhone software modifications have some risk of turning your iPhone into a $600 paperweight, so proceed at your own risk -- but early reports have shown success.

For Windows users, Efksoft has released an application called iPhoneRingToneMaker which is a $9.95 application that allows you to create ringtones from MP3 files and transfer them to your iPhone. It requires Windows 2000, XP or Vista. A trial version is available, and according to some reports it seems to work.

A free Mac application called iFuntastic (via MyiTablet) also claims to provide a step by step interface but early reports appear some mixed results. The requirements are an Intel Mac.

Related Forum: iPhone

A Flickr user has posted some unboxing photos of Apple's iPhone Bluetooth headset, some of which are mirrored here.

headsetBox 300
Headset Packaging

PhonePlusHeadset 300
iPhone shows headset charging status

Apple claims the $129 accessory can provide up to 72 hours of standby time and up to 5.5 hours of talk time on a single charge. While the Online Apple Store shows a 2-4 week lag time, it would appear that there is at least limited retail store availability.

For more coverage of Apple's Bluetooth Headset in the wild, see this article from the iPhone blog.

Related Forum: iPhone

TheStreet claims to have financial details about the widely rumored revenue sharing between Apple and AT&T. AT&T has been rumored to give Apple a piece of the iPhone's monthly revenue as part of the agreement. This revenue sharing demand was listed as one of the reasons Verizon rejected the iPhone.

TheStreet claims that according to "people close to the companies", Apple receives between a $150-$200 bounty per iPhone plus $9 a month over the life of the 2 year contract.

This figure is significantly higher than analyst guesses previously published.

TheStreet's track record with Apple rumors has been remarkably poor, with previous claims including:

- AT&T/Cingular to Give Away 18 Months of iPhone Service
- Steve Jobs to Take a Leave of Absence

Neither of which have come true.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple will be webcasting a discussion of their Q3 2007 Financial Results on Wednesday, July 25, 2007. As usual, the following disclaimer is given:

Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For more information on the factors that could influence results, please refer to Apples SEC filings.

The conference call begins at 2pm PT, 5pm ET.

Apple's 3rd financial quarter of 2007 began on April 1st and ended on June 30, 2007. While the iPhone was only on sale for 2 days during the quarter and those revenues will be spread over 24 months according to Apple's subscription based accounting system for iPhone and Apple TV, analysts believe strong Mac sales will lead to expectation-beating results (via AppleInsider's analyst coverage).