Edible Apple

During the recent holiday quarter, Apple sold a record 22.9 million iPads. This impressive sales figure was of course the result of the new iPad Mini which was being picked up by consumers faster than Apple could churn them out.

Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2013, a new report from the Chinese-language CCIDNet claims that Apple’s supply problems with respect to the iPad Mini have been corrected and that first quarter iPad Mini shipments may reach about 11 million units. The report also claims that total iPad sales for the current quarter will check in at 19 million units. During the same quarter a year-ago, Apple sold 11.8 million iPads. As such, should Apple in fact sell 19 million iPads, that’s a 61% increase year over year. Not too shabby for a company that many analysts and pundits are exclaiming is done for.

And when you think about it, 19 million iPads this quarter really seems doable.

Consider that during the January quarter of 2012, the iPad 2 was still Apple’s flagship tablet as the iPad 3 wasn’t released until March 16, 2012. It’s extremely likely that iPad demand during that quarter was compressed a bit due to the looming iPad 3 release as the iPad 2 at that time was almost a year into its product cycle.

Contrast that to the current quarter where the iPad 4th generation is barely 3 months old and is still selling well. What’s more, Apple just announced the impending release of a 128GB model of the 4th gen iPad. Add the super successful iPad Mini into the equation and it’s clear that iPad demand this quarter will be much much larger than it was during the same quarter a year-ago.

Curiously, the report also notes that iMac shipments are expected to reach 14 million units. Seeing as Apple, at best, sells about 4-5 million Macs per quarter, the entire report is suspect or perhaps the figure is the result of a typo or error in translation.

Regardless, the report claims that low yields on the iMac – which resulted in lower than anticipated Mac sales last quarter – have also improved and that shipments should increase going forward.

via CCidnet

In a post-trial ruling yesterday, US District Court Judge Lucy Koh upheld Apple’s $1.05 billion verdict against Samsung but ruled that the South Korean tech giant did not willfully infringe upon Apple’s patents. Consequently, Apple is not entitled to the 3x damages it was seeking.

Koh explained in part:

Moreover, Apple has failed to cite any evidence of actual knowledge of infringement on Samsung’s part. Instead, Apple relies on evidence that Samsung purposely imitated Apple’s designs. Evidence of copying, however, is not evidence of infringement or knowledge thereof.

Given that, as explained above, it would have been reasonable for Samsung to believe that the D’087 Patent was limited in scope, Apple’sevidence that Samsung engaged in some copying of Apple’s designs does not establish that Samsung knew or should have known it was infringing. Rather, Samsung may have believed that any elements of Apple’s designs that it was copying were not protected by the limited scope of theD’087 Patent. Apple’s evidence thus does little to establish that Samsung knew or should have known it was infringing. Accordingly, the Court finds that the jury’s determination that Samsung’sinfringement was not willful as a subjective matter is supported by substantial evidence in the record.

It wasn’t all bad news for Apple, though. Koh did uphold the original damages award while also denying Samsung’s request for a new trial, noting that “the trial was fairly conducted, with uniform time limits and rules of evidence applied on both sides.”

Well that was quick. Shortly after rumors emerged regarding a 128GB iPad comes word from Apple that they’re set to release a 128GB model of the fourth generation iPad on February 5.

The 128GB model will come in Wi-Fi and Cellular options, and as has become standard, in both black and white models. The pricing for the wi-fi model will check in at $799 while the cellular model will go for $929.

Apple’s press release reads in part:

Apple today announced a 128GB* version of the fourth generation iPad with Retina display. The 128GB iPad with Wi-Fi and iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular models provide twice the storage capacity of the 64GB models to hold even more valuable content including photos, documents, projects, presentations, books, movies, TV shows, music and apps.

“With more than 120 million iPads sold, it’s clear that customers around the world love their iPads, and everyday they are finding more great reasons to work, learn and play on their iPads rather than their old PCs,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With twice the storage capacity and an unparalleled selection of over 300,000 native iPad apps, enterprises, educators and artists have even more reasons to use iPad for all their business and personal needs.”

Apple also pointed out that that nearly every Fortune 500 company has either deployed or is currently testing the iPad while approximately 85% of the Global 500 are currently testing or deploying the iPad.

Apple today released iOS 6.1, an update which includes wider LTE  carrier support, the ability to purchase movie tickets from Fandango via Siri, and also the ability to download individual songs via iTunes Match.

This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

– LTE support for more carriers (complete list of supported carriers at www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/)
– Purchase movie tickets through Fandango with Siri (USA only)
– iTunes Match subscribers can now download individual songs from iCloud
– New button to reset the Advertising Identifier

In an accompanying press release, Apple’s Phil Schiller noted that there now about 300 million iOS devices running iOS 6 since it first launched about 5 months ago.

iOS 6 is the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, and with nearly 300 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices on iOS 6 in just five months, it may be the most popular new version of an OS in history.

During Apple’s most recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple to date has sold over 500 million iOS devices. If we put those pieces together we see that over half of every iOS device ever sold is now running the most recent version of Apple’s mobile operating system. Contrast that of course to Android where a scant minority of users are ever caught running the most recent iteration of Android.

Apple last touted the total number of iOS 6 users back in October 2012 when it said there were 200 million devices running iOS 6. So in about 3 months time, the number of iOS devices out in the wild running iOS 6 has increased by 50%. This of course is the result of new iOS device purchases (75 million in the last quarter alone) and software upgrades on older devices.

This is significant because it provides even more of an incentive for developers to target the iOS platform over Android.

via Apple

Last week, Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge provided some tantalizing details surrounding Apple’s next-gen iPhone 5S. As expected, the device will look like the current iPhone 5, albeit with a larger rear flash, and rumor has it a 13 megapixel camera from Sony. Horwitz also noted that Apple is indeed working on a budget iPhone to target emerging markets.

Following up on that report, Horwitz today provided some more details regarding the rumored low-cost iPhone that Apple is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 5S later this year.

From the front, the new iPhone looks almost identical to the iPhone 5—the same exact shape, with the same sensor, camera, and button arrangement. The 1136 x 640 screen isn’t a surprise, but will be a nice step up in specs for the lowest-cost iPhone. Rather than making the display flush with the enclosure, as it was in the plastic iPhone 3G/3GS, the front glass sticks out a little, just as it does with the iPhone 5 and iPod touch. Despite the shift to plastic for the rest of the enclosure, our sources believe that Apple will continue to use Gorilla Glass for this model’s screen.

Differences become more obvious when the new iPhone is turned on the side. The circular volume buttons of the iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 will shift to elongated, pill-shaped designs closer to the iPod touch and iPhone 3G/3GS.

With China a key growth market for Apple, Horwtiz notes that the aforementioned iPhone model is being developed with China in mind, and in particular China Mobile. The annual salary in China is about $3,000 a person and consequently the normal priced iPhone is clearly out of the price range for many folks there. A cheaper and thus more economical iPhone model would allow Apple to target these consumers while also protecting their valuable margins.

Apple will save money on the device by utilizing a plastic chasis as opposed to the glass and metal enclosure currently utilized by the iPhone.

As for dimensions of this lower cost iPhone, Horwitz claims that it will be about one half millimeter taller, a half millimeter wider, and a half millimeter thicker.

Look wise, Horwitz writes that the device will resemble the iPod classic in shape.

Apple’s budget housing looks closest to the iPod classic in shape, though not in materials. Unlike the plastic iPhone 3G/3GS, which featured soft curves on all sides, the budget iPhone’s curves start and end at flat surfaces, so each side and the back are flat. This seems like a trivial change, until you realize that it allows Apple to use flat rather than curve-matched parts: the right side has a flat, centered SIM card tray just like the iPhone 5’s, while all of the buttons and ports are on flat rather than curved surfaces. A flat-backed iPhone won’t rock on a flat surface when it vibrates, either…

In summary, the budget iPhone will look a lot like an iPhone 5 from the front, an iPod classic from the side, and an iPod touch 5G on the bottom—only made from plastic rather than glass or metal. It won’t make any bold departures from past Apple designs, but then, it’s supposed to be an inexpensive iPhone, and achieves that goal pretty much as expected.

The new Steve Jobs movie starring Ashton Kutcher debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this past Friday, garnering mixed reviews.

Kutcher, who if you have seen any clips thus far, did a really great job of capturing Jobs’ mannerisms and speech patterns. What’s more, Kutcher really jumped into the role and event went so far as to employ a bit of method acting into his preparation. Specifically, Kutcher noted that he mimicked Jobs’ fruitarian diet during the course of filming.

In case you’re unfamiliar, a fruitarian diet involves eating only fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. With no animal products allowed, it’s very similar to veganism.

Speaking to USA Today, Kutcher explained:

The fruitarian diet can lead to like severe issues. I went to the hospital two days before we started shooting the movie. I was doubled over in pain. My pancreas levels were like completely out of whack. It was really terrifying, considering everything.

As for what excited him about the role, the former Punk’d star relayed that Jobs was someone who fell down and got back up, a dynamic that most people can relate to.

“He’s a guy that failed and got back on the horse,” Kutcher explained. “I think we can all sort of relate to that in some place in our life where we are moving forward with something and we fall down. You have to have the guts to get back up and go again. I think I share that as well.”

via USA Today

The French language site NoWhereElse.fr this past weekend posted photos purporting to show components for the upcoming iPhone 5S and the iPhone 6. The images, as tends to be the case, were reportedly sourced from a component supplier and are of speaker enclosures.

AppleInsider adds:

The site contends that Apple will deviate from its normal schedule of releasing one iPhone per year and instead roll out as many as three iPhones in 2013. The iPhone 5S will allegedly serve as an incremental improvement on the iPhone 5, while the iPhone 6 will be a more substantial redesign, though no details were reported as to the possible differences between the two.

A third iPhone model would supposedly be the rumored iPhone Math (or iPhone +, depending on the interpretation), a larger-screened iPhone meant to give Apple a stake in the nascent but growing “phablet” sector.

9to5Mac is reporting that Apple has plans to release a 128GB version of its fourth generation iPad. Not only have they received word indicating as much from trusted sources, but developers have also been finding data strings in the iOS 6.1 beta which point in that direction.

While it is certainly plausible that this new iPad model is the 128GB iPad, we are currently not confident enough to outright claim that, but it seems likely based on the evidence. [..]

The P101 and P103 names are Apple’s internal nomenclature for the WiFi-only and Cellular-compatible fourth-generation iPads, respectively. Both of those models comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB configurations. These storage sizes are known as “GOOD,” “BETTER,” and “BEST,” respectively. As you can see in our table above, Apple is preparing to release the additional “ULTIMATE” model. “ULTIMATE” frequently refers to the most premium or highest capacity model available. The “A” points to a black configuration, and “B” stands for the white option.

Yeah yeah, Apple’s record breaking earnings didn’t leave the folks on Wall Street singing Apple’s praises. But if we take a step back and discard that investor BS for a second, the sheer volume of iOS devices Apple sold last quarter is breathtaking: 47.8 million iPhones, 22.9 million iPads, and 7.9 million iPod Touches. That’s 78.6 million new iOS devices on the market today.

iOS developer David Smith takes these figures and notes:

Here are the only numbers in these announcements that I care about:

• 47.8M new iPhone sales. 6 new potential customers every second.
• 22.9M new iPad sales. 3 new potential customers every second.
• ~7.9M new iPod touch sales. 1 new potential customer every second.

I can’t think of anything more motivating as a developer than 10 new potential customers arriving to my platform every second.

As an ecosystem, iOS has never been more prevalent nor stronger. It may not mean much to fund managers at this very moment, but in the long term, the implications are huge.

On a related note, is it all that surprising that The Next Web back in December announced that they were going to stop producing an Android version of their weekly TNW Magazine?

With every issue we published we also received a lot of requests for an Android version of the magazine. We had bought a Kindle Fire and a Nexus 7 and Mag+ offered support for both platforms, so we played around with it a bit and ended up publishing a version for Android.

To be honest; it wasn’t easy. In theory you simply adjust for a different format and platform and do a new export. But then trouble starts. As one developer put it to us: “You make a beautiful magazine for the iPad, and then you dumb it down for Android’.

That meant removing movies, sound, interactivity and content. But even then we had to deal with frequent crashes, a less intuitive interface and a platform that is even more fragmented than iOS.

via David Smith

We don’t have time to cover everything here, and sometimes all you really need is a push in the right direction. So below please find a smattering of stories of interest from around the web.

Microsoft hires designer who created revamped stylings of company’s brand:

Last summer designer Andrew Kim’s vision for “The Next Microsoft” got a lot of traction online — including on The Verge — for its aggressively minimal rebranding of the company across platforms. The next month Microsoft unveiled its actual new logo, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t take note — Kim just announced that he’s been hired by the company, which got in touch after seeing his designs.

Atari files for bankruptcy:

The U.S. operations of iconic but long-troubled video game maker Atari have filed for bankruptcy in an effort to break free from their debt-laden French parent.

Atari Inc. and three of its affiliates filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York late Sunday.

Its leaders hope to break the American business free from French parent Atari S.A. and in the next few months find a buyer to take the company private. They hope to grow a modest business focused on digital and mobile platforms, according to a knowledgeable person not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Imagining a 5-inch iPhone

Google hints at possible X-Phone:

Google really wants you to know that as early as spring of 2013, something big is coming from Motorola, the mobile phone manufacturer Google acquired in May 2012. And while Google executives didn’t mention it in today’s earnings call, that thing is very likely to be the Google “X Phone,” a mobile device as advanced as Google can possibly make it.

Square COO resigns amidst sexual harassment claims:

But, now, given a judgement he made to continue in a personal and physical relationship with that unnamed junior staffer after he was hired at Square, Rabois feels both foolish and also angry.

“At the end of the day, this is personally embarrassing to me, because when anyone’s life is exposed to a public forum, it creates quite a damaging situation,” said Rabois. “As we looked at it, it was going to become a distraction that was going to hurt the company.”

It appears as if he wanted to stay — he shrugs when directly asked about it, though he will not say so explicitly. But, Rabois finally agreed with Square’s top management, including CEO and founder Jack Dorsey, that is was better that he leave.

“It was very clear once this outrageous demand was made, instead of building great products, it would be all about that,” he said.

Buckle up folks, we have a slew of new information about some upcoming Apple products from iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz, someone with an unmatched record of accurate Apple predictions.

First off, Horwitz claims to have gotten his hands on a physical model of the iPad 5, and it seems that Apple is making the bezel as small as humanly possible.

in portrait orientation, picture a 9.7” screen with virtually no left or right bezels, and only enough space above and below the screen to accommodate the mandatory camera and Home Button elements. Beyond that, it’s noticeably thinner, as well, which is to say the the fifth-generation iPad will be smaller in every dimension than its predecessors.

Apple will pull off its slimmer iPad 5 magic trick, Horwitz writes, by completely redesigning the internals.

this iPad 5 design is so much smaller that a full internal redesign—complete with a smaller, less power-hungry sequel to the A6X—can be safely assumed. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the new iPad remain roughly on par with the fourth-generation model in processing capabilities, with the improved screen, dramatically lower size, and reduced weight becoming the key selling points.

While initial reports out of Asia claimed that the fifth-gen iPad would launch sometime in March, Horwitz notes the release may now be pushed back to October.

And how about the iPhone, Apple’s key money maker? Well as one would expect, the iPhone 5S will look like the iPhone 5, albeit with a larger rear flash. One rumored key feature of the iPhone 5S will be a 13 megapixel camera from Sony. Hache mache!

Further, the noise surrounding a more economical iPhone continues to get louder and Horwitz adds to that as well.

Also planned for a 2013 release is Apple’s “low-cost” plastic-bodied iPhone, which is being developed with China Mobile in mind: the government-owned telecom company has over 700 million subscribers. One of our sources claims that Apple’s iPhone prices remain too high for most mainland Chinese customers—the iPhone 5 hardware alone starts at $849 there, versus the iPhone 4 at $500, in a country where the average annual salary is around $3,000 per person). The source has said that mainland Chinese iPhone 5 sales are already tapering off as a result of the pricing, which is higher than in Hong Kong. A budget iPhone model would help sales in populous but underdeveloped countries to grow.

Lastly, remember that iPhone Math rumor that spread around last week? You know, the one with a 4.8-inch screen? Well apparently its legit and is currently in the prototype design stages at Apple. Don’t expect it to launch in 2013, however. Or, perhaps, ever. Apple of course often prototypes designs that never see the light of day. Indeed, the design, Horwitz writes, is a “plan B” of sorts that might only come into play to “hedge against ever-growing Android phone screen sizes.”

via iLounge

John Moltz of Macworld has a great piece up articulating the absurdity often seen in pundits who are so quick to declare that Apple’s days of innovation are a thing of the past. Indeed, we’ve been seeing this going as far back as the original iMac. If you believe everything you read, Apple should have been roadkill about 8 years ago.

Folks who expect miracles from Apple every year completely miss the point and are woefully ignorant of history.

There seems to be a persistent myth that Apple churned out groundbreaking products every quarter under Jobs. In reality, it was three years between the iMac and the iPod, another six before the iPhone was released, and then three more prior to the iPad. The fact that Tim Cook’s Apple has not unveiled a new product category since the original iPad is not a colossal fail of epic proportions. In fact, you could argue that the fact that Apple isnot rushing something out the door is a sign that it’s operating its business as usual. The company is releasing products on its own schedule, not at the whim of pundits or analysts.

…

Before the iPhone came out, skeptics were telling us all the reasons why an iPhone was doomed to failure. Now they’re telling us why an Apple television or an Apple watch is doomed to failure. I have learned over the years that you disregard Apple’s ability to think around a problem at your peril; you believe rumors about the company at your own risk, as well.

Spot on. The company just sold a record number of iPhones and iPads and already analysts and pundits are pounding their fists into tables and shouting, “Well what’s next?!”

Cool down, boys. With China still an attractive market for Apple, it stands to reason that the days of stellar iPhone growth aren’t necessarily a thing of the past. And as Moltz writes, incredible innovations don’t come around on a schedule, and the fact that Apple is waiting for the right moment to pounce may mean precisely that it’s business as usual in Cupertino.

via Macworld