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See the original image at arstechnica.com

Apple Q3 2008: iPhones short, iPods flat, Macs unstoppable

arstechnica.com — Despite an iPhone shortage, Apple had another spectacular quarter, largely due to increased Mac sales.

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  • MurphyMac, on 07/21/2008, -9/+34Incredible gains. For those who are patient aapl can make you a fortune. I can't see the Mac sales slowing down any time soon. Take the sell-off as a chance to get onboard if you're still outside.
    • bradleyland, on 07/22/2008, -1/+5Apple certainly seems to be going strong if you buy in to the news, but they just lowered their Q4 estimates. This, coupled with speculation about Jobs' health after he missed his normal analyst conference call today, has resulted in a pretty big hit in stock price. We could see February prices on AAPL again before it's all said and done.
      • kelly, on 07/22/2008, -0/+11"Apple certainly seems to be going strong if you buy in to the news, but they just lowered their Q4 estimates."


        You must be new to Apple watching. They do this EVERY quarter.
      • Spuy767, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1
    • zdiggler, on 07/22/2008, -11/+4Who cares, all mac will be in dump like old macs in a few years.
      • bintangfolife, on 07/22/2008, -3/+2English mother *****! Do you speak it?! 'What' ain't no country I ever heard of!
    • willynilly, on 07/22/2008, -3/+4That kind of gambling sentiment is a sorry excuse for not paying dividends. There's simply no justification for it at this point. Apple is not a struggling start-up, pumping every free dollar back into the business. Stockholders are company OWNERS. Now where's our share?

      Stock will not go up forever. History shows that the best-performing investments are in companies that pay dividends.
    • Mavital, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2Lets see here...

      1) Apple announces dividend...
      2) Wallstreet speculates that Apple has run out of innovative steam and is instead distributing its retained earnings to stakeholders.
      3) Stock price lowers, probably by much more than the amount of the dividend.
      4) Not Profit
  • leontes, on 07/21/2008, -7/+17It's down over 10% in after hours trading. It's a great buying opportunity. Wall street seems like they don't get this stock at all.
    • MurphyMac, on 07/22/2008, -1/+13It seems like they get it - but not how we do. They get how to abuse it so insiders profit and retail investors are left scratching their heads. At least I've been in a for a while, so I've seen this pattern over and over and know to shake it off, or buy more if I can free up cash.
    • Swarms, on 07/22/2008, -1/+9They "get" it. The problem is they gave numbers they expect for the 4th Quarter that were about $500 million short of what Wall Street predicted. They also sidestepped questions about Steve Job's health calling it a "private matter" rather than just saying he's fine (Which would be illegal to say if he wasn't in fact "fine").
    • wonderchemist, on 07/22/2008, -0/+7Depends on what you are buying AAPL stock for. People hoping for explosive grown of 2004-2007, aren't going to get it (unless the market goes completely nuts). AAPL's market cap is just too high for that. If you triple AAPL's closing price, AAPL would be the largest US company by market cap. I don't think that's going to happen any time soon.

      However, due to its volatility AAPL is a good day/short term trade candidate.
      • Kyan, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1@Wonderchemist - the explosion of 2004-2007 may be over, but it still looks like a good stock. I came in on the dip in February :))) and it's up like 26% since then. That's off the 48% it was up at the beginning of June, but I'm in for the long haul. I can't wait to see what having third-party apps on the iPhone is going to do to holiday season sales of that sucker. And I suspect it will take any real iPhone "killer" or even just competitor about three years to appear. I'm willing to bet the iPhone will be to phones what Windows is to the operating systems. Perhaps not in the super long haul, but for three to five years, I've put my money (well, not a whole lot) where my mouth is. We'll see how it goes for me.

    • dysonlu, on 07/22/2008, -3/+9LOL. Wall Street don't get this stock (or any stock)??? By the simple fact that you are saying that shows you are the one who doesn't get it. Some investors simply dump the stock because of lowered current quarter expected numbers. Simple as that.
    • bradleyland, on 07/22/2008, -1/+8Wall Street buys on future performance, not past performance, and Apple reduced their Q4 estimates today. If you think buying stock is as easy as going out and hopping on the wagon with the latest "hot" performer, you're in for a rude awakening.
      • kelly, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2"Wall Street buys on future performance, not past performance, and Apple reduced their Q4 estimates today."


        You must be new to Apple watching. They do this EVERY quarter. Wall Street should know better by now.
      • bradleyland, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I'm not sure why anyone is digging you down, because you are right, Apple is famous for adjusting their estimates short of what they will be, but the problem is, analysts were $1.10/share in Q4, and Apple is saying $1.00/share.

        Personally, I think there's more going on here. I think it's possible that Steve's health issue is really what's driving this move. There has been speculation ever since WWDC, and him not attending the call was more abnormal than Apples adjustment.
    • The_Dude, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1I haven't looked into today's move in detail, however to drop that much in a day, you need big players (mutual funds, hedge funds, etc) selling like crazy.

      This is just a trading stock at these levels. I don't think you seriously buy and hold. And it's been like that from way back when they announced the original iPhone imo.
  • Bluezdood, on 07/22/2008, -19/+8And in other news, their stock dropped.

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EARNS_APPLE ...
    • ObamaAppleFan, on 07/22/2008, -19/+1***** U *****!
      • bbqsalad, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1You're the worst kind of fanboy. I bet nobody likes you even your own mother.
    • kashem, on 07/22/2008, -3/+2It always goes down after earnings/events, no matter how positive the outcome.
  • digitallysick, on 07/22/2008, -14/+9Well steve introduce a mid range notebook, or desktop and it will be an epic win.
    • andersonwill, on 07/22/2008, -2/+7Digg has a great feature which allows you to correct your comments five minutes after you post them...
    • wellyuk, on 07/22/2008, -7/+1They do sell a midrange notebook. The 15" macbook pro is a midrange notebook.
      • gfxlonghorn, on 07/22/2008, -1/+10I think he meant price wise.. 2 grand is not midrange.
      • waterdrop, on 07/22/2008, -2/+6The MacBook Pro 15" is midrange in specs, but highend in price. The XPS M1530 from Dell offers the same specs for $500 to $1000 less depending on the deals Dell has going on when you buy. It also runs OS X very well.
    • KJSatz, on 07/22/2008, -2/+12I think the Macbook is pretty midrange.
      • waterdrop, on 07/22/2008, -3/+6It is midrange but does not offer the features that other midrange laptops offer. The lack of a discrete videocard is a deal killer for many.
      • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2The GPU is good enough for anything but heavy gaming, really. (You can still play WoW, but you can do that on a TI-86. ;-) ) But "heavy gaming" is something you usually don't buy a laptop for in general, and certainly not a middling one. And most definitely not a Mac.
    • waterdrop, on 07/22/2008, -0/+7Apple needs a desktop, I am not sure why you are being dugg down. What they need to do is release a Mac Pro-like desktop but with a desktop class motherboard (P45 chipset socket 775) and CPU (Core 2 Duo/Quad) instead of server/workstation (Socket 771 Xeons with FB-DIMMs) components. This would offer great performance at a more reasonable price. Also throw in a HD4870 and you got yourself a midrange Mac gaming desktop.
      • wellyuk, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2I don't think Apple are targeting the market that is continually demanding a mid-range desktop. People (read that as a small minority of geeks) have been asking Apple for this for years and it's not surfaced. I can't imagine it appearing anytime soon, it's not their market.
      • MScrip, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1wellyuk > "I don't think Apple are targeting the market that is continually demanding a mid-range desktop. I can't imagine it appearing anytime soon, it's not their market."

        Apple has the "Cigar Box" Mac Mini, the LCD iMac, and a server class tower. And not everyone wants or needs a laptop. There are missing a giant piece of the desktop computer market.

        And what exactly is their market? C'mon, Apple sells an iPod Shuffle for $49 and a phone for $200. Why couldn't they make a headless mini-tower for $800? Build a tower with standard desktop parts and no giant ***** screen attached to it.

        And if Apple's market is truly upper class customers... why offer the $599 Mac Mini at all? If they built a headless Mac using desktop parts, it would probably be more profitable than the shoeboxed, laptop parts Mac Mini.



      • KJSatz, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1AND more profitable than the shoeboxed, laptop parts iMac.
  • RogueMountie, on 07/22/2008, -15/+8Who cares?
    • Me1000, on 07/22/2008, -1/+14Shareholders?
      • FireXtol, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1Aka people with more money than sense.
      • Me1000, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Apple can make you a lot of money if you give it time. Buy on the rumor sell on the news. Not to mention there are plenty of people in the world that invest in companies who are average middle class citizens.
    • Palaceguard, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5Why don't you people use the filter to filter out Apple news
    • davidwasman, on 07/22/2008, -2/+5Apparently, as of the time I am posting this response, about 250 people.

      If you have an issue with Apple related articles, I suggest you do as Palaceguard says and save the whining for your mom.
  • nonsequitur668, on 07/22/2008, -33/+5It used to be frustrating. Then sad. Now it's just plain funny. Every time Apple tries to provide the pretext for police-state measures, like clockwork, its cult followers defend that sort of cranky behavior. Before examining the present situation, however, it is important that I raise the quality of debate on issues surrounding its quarrelsome, ill-natured wheelings and dealings.

    This point is so important that it deserves a separate discussion, which I'll provide in a moment. But first, let me just say that now that I've been exposed to Apple's deeds I must admit that I don't completely understand them. Perhaps I need to get out more. Or perhaps Apple believes that its witticisms can give us deeper insights into the nature of reality. The real damage that this belief causes actually has nothing to do with the belief itself, but with psychology, human nature, and the skillful psychological manipulation of that nature by Apple and its slovenly companions. There are those who are informed and educated about the evils of terrorism, and there are those who are not. Apple is one of the uninformed, naturally, and that's why I have always been an independent thinker. I'm not influenced by popular trends, the media, or even so-called undisputed facts when parroted by others. Maybe that streak of independence is what first enabled me to see that Apple believes that it is the arbiter of all things. Sorry, but I have to call foul on that one.

    We must hold not only Apple, but also Apple's drones, accountable for their impractical actions. Ergo, Apple's sycophants believe that Man's eternal search for Truth is a challenge to be avoided at all costs. Although it is perhaps impossible to change the perspective of those who have such beliefs, I wish nevertheless to deal with the relevant facts. Plan to join Apple's camp? Be sure to check your conscience at the door.

    I am familiar with Apple's goals, I understand how it operates, I have long recognized its tactics, and I know just about where Apple now stands on the ladder to total power. I can therefore say that, surely, I have often maintained that reasonable people can reasonably disagree. Unfortunately, when dealing with Apple and its brethren, that claim assumes facts not in evidence. So let me claim instead that I frequently wish to tell Apple that whenever it claims that going through the motions of working is the same as working, I can't help but think that it has just subtracted from the sum of human knowledge. But being a generally genteel person, however, I always bite my tongue.

    Apple claims to be supportive of my plan to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable in our society -- the sick, the old, the disabled, the unemployed, and our youth -- all of whose lives are made miserable by Apple. Don't trust it, though; it's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Before you know it, it'll dismantle the guard rails that protect society from the dangerous elements in its midst. Not only that, but Apple has -- not once, but several times -- been able to brand me as detestable without anyone stopping it. How long can that go on? As long as its lamebrained, irritable reports are kept on life support. That's why we have to pull the plug on them and shelter initially unpopular truths from suppression, enabling them to ultimately win out through competition in the marketplace of ideas. I'll end this letter with a personal invitation to Apple itself: If you care to respond to what I wrote, please do, especially if you think that I am being inaccurate or unfair. I do not wish to misrepresent you in any way whatsoever. Pax vobiscum.
    • UcIc, on 07/22/2008, -2/+16TLDR
      • nreynolds, on 07/22/2008, -0/+9I read it. it had nothing to do with anything. move along.
      • nonsequitur668, on 07/22/2008, -4/+0I have never aspired to become a speechwriter, politician, or mainstream political columnist. Nevertheless, if you can look beyond my pitiable writing style you'll undoubtedly see that I have something important to tell you about Apple. I would like to start by discussing Apple's obiter dicta, mainly because they scare me. The thing I'm the most frightened about is that if you want to hide something from Apple, you just have to put it in a book. It doesn't do us much good to become angry and wave our arms and shout about the evils of Apple's asseverations in general terms. If we want other people to agree with us and join forces with us, then we must communicate and teach. If everyone does his own, small part, together we can give the needy a helping hand as opposed to an elbow in the face. While freely conceding that it may be helpful to take a step back and work beyond the predatory plasticity of Apple's viewpoints, I do assert that whenever it is blamed for conspiring to contaminate or cut off our cities' water supply, it blames its spokesmen, who are legion. Doing so reinforces their passivity and obedience and increases their guilt, shame, terror, and conformity, thereby making them far more willing to help Apple put an uncompanionable spin on important issues.

        Apple seems to assume that it holds a universal license that allows it to work both sides of the political fence. This is an assumption of the worst kind because it would be great if we could bring meaning, direction, and purpose into our lives. Still, if we take a step, just a step, towards addressing the issue of incendiarism, then maybe we can open people's eyes (including our own) to a vision of how to challenge Apple to defend its tractates or else to change them. What makes Apple think we want it to use our weaknesses to its advantage? Did it read something about that in "The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Pharisaism"? The first lies that Apple told us were relatively benign. Still, they have been progressing. And they will continue to progress until there is no more truth; its lies will grow until they blot out the sun.

        When I was younger I wanted to pursue virtue and knowledge. I still want to do that but now I realize that this is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Let me therefore state that it's not fair for Apple to tip the scales in its favor. I'll go further: It's like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. Pull back the curtain of prætorianism and you'll see a pestilential spiv hiding behind it, furiously pulling the levers of cameralism in a pernicious attempt to cause this country to flounder on the shoals of self-interest, corruption, and chaos. That sort of discovery should make any sane person realize that Apple hates people who have huge supplies of the things it lacks. What it lacks the most is common sense, which underlies my point that Apple has never gotten ahead because of its hard work or innovative ideas. Rather, all of Apple's successes are due to kickbacks, bribes, black market double-dealing, outright thuggery, and unsavory political intrigue. I'll end this letter with a personal invitation to Apple itself: If you care to respond to what I wrote, please do, especially if you think that I am being inaccurate or unfair. I do not wish to misrepresent you in any way whatsoever. Pax vobiscum.
    • phrenzy, on 07/22/2008, -3/+16Get laid.
    • hansolo, on 07/22/2008, -4/+21It is a computer or a mobile phone.

      Nothing more, nothing less.

      No need to type a 1,000 word manifesto that makes no sense and has no impact on the world as we know it.
      • nonsequitur668, on 07/22/2008, -5/+0I would like to take this opportunity to reveal the nature and activity of Apple's pals and expose their inner contexts as well as their ultimate final aims. But before I continue, allow me to explain that it's astounding that Apple has somehow found a way to work the words "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" and "uncontradictableness" into its allegations. However, you may find it even more astounding that I am not concerned with rumors or hearsay about it. I am interested only in ascertained facts attested by published documents and in these primarily as an illustration that all the deals Apple makes are strictly one-way. Apple gets all the rights, and the other party gets all the obligations. I don't know when jujuism became chic, but when I say that Apple's initiatives are selfish, I mean it. I don't mean that they remind me of something selfish or that they have one or two selfish characteristics. I mean that they are selfish. In fact, the most selfish thing about them is the way that they prevent people from seeing that I am not embarrassed to admit that I have neither the training, the experience, the license, nor the clinical setting necessary to properly point out that the emperor has no clothes on. Nevertheless, I do have the will to provide you with a holistic and thematic history of its effete campaigns of malice and malignity. That's why I unquestionably warrant that Apple's idea of inaniloquent, headstrong conformism is no political belief. It is a fierce and burning gospel of hatred and intolerance, of murder and destruction, and the unloosing of a thrasonical, sullen blood-lust. It is, in every literal sense, a dishonest and pagan religion that incites its worshippers to an intemperate frenzy and then prompts them to detach individuals from traditional sources of strength and identity -- family, class, private associations.

        Apple masterminded last year's now-infamous attempt to destroy the natural beauty of our parks and forests. This is not what I think; this is what I know. I additionally know that we must instill a sense of responsibility and maturity in those who mock, ridicule, deprecate, and objurgate people for their religious beliefs. As mentioned above, however, that is not enough. It is necessary to do more. It is necessary to guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by Apple and its exhibitionism movement. The spectrum of views between revanchism and radicalism is not a line but a circle at which shallow present-day robber barons and the worst classes of unholy ragamuffins there are meet. To properly place Apple somewhere in that spectrum, one needs to realize that it strikes me as amusing that Apple complains about people who do nothing but complain. Well, news flash! It does nothing but complain.

        Let's be realistic: I'm willing to accept that Apple's deplorable, lousy bromides serve only to illuminate its lack of good taste and decency. I'm even willing to accept that it has a deficiency of real goals. But you don't need to be a rocket scientist to detect the subtext of this letter. But just in case it's too subliminal for some, let me thrust it into your face right here: Its grand plan is to ridicule the accomplishments of generations of great men and women. I'm sure Mao Tse Tung would approve. In any case, as long as the beer keeps flowing and the paychecks keep coming, Apple's rank-and-file followers don't really care that its perorations are as troubling as its insistence that its decisions are based on reason. That much is crystal clear. But did you know that I have had enough of Apple's airy-fairy talk of "maybe this or maybe that"? That's why I'm telling you that Apple should start developing the parts of its brain that have been impaired by opportunism. At least then it'll stop trying to inflict untold misery, suffering, and distress. Apple's monographs are indistinguishable from the ones it condemns. Never forget that and never let Apple spew forth ignorance and prejudice.
      • hansolo, on 07/22/2008, -0/+4Yawn.
    • Palaceguard, on 07/22/2008, -0/+7What are you smoking?
    • TremorX, on 07/22/2008, -1/+16The abridged version: "What does a boob feel like?"
    • reposado, on 07/22/2008, -0/+10I think your tinfoil hat is on a bit too tight. Its cutting off circulation to your brain.
    • HoratioHellpop, on 07/22/2008, -0/+7//Apple claims to be supportive of my plan to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable in our society -- the sick, the old, the disabled, the unemployed, and our youth -- all of whose lives are made miserable by Apple.//

      That sentence begets the most immense "WTF?" in internet history. 'grats.
    • TheFinaleofSeem, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3It's a search and replace job on earlier idiocy.
    • zionKing, on 07/22/2008, -0/+8Summary: I'll use recently acquired vocab (I'm studying for the SAT probably) and try to obscure the fact that I can't express my thoughts on this topic coherently. Must... sound... smart... to... feign... credibility
  • digitaldivinci, on 07/22/2008, -4/+17God, I told my brother he was stupid for getting out when Apple was at 185, so he bought back in around 190. He must want to kick my ass right now.
    • MurphyMac, on 07/22/2008, -1/+8Dugg for honesty.
    • damonic, on 07/22/2008, -2/+9I had the chance to buy when it was at $6. I didn't. I kick myself every day.
  • HookmasterCH47, on 07/22/2008, -2/+79Looking back, it's still incredible to think that this company was in the dumps 10 years ago. Love them or hate them, their comeback is quite impressive.
    • EntropyFan, on 07/22/2008, -13/+4Yes, Microsoft propped them up long enough for them to find their feet.
      Wonder if Gates thinks that was a good idea now?
      • peestandingup, on 07/22/2008, -2/+10Hate to tell you, but MS's measly $250 million was a drop in the bucket for companies like this.
      • rimantas, on 07/22/2008, -1/+7hm, did Microsoft also design iPod, ITMS, Macbooks, iPhone?
        Or is Apple still living from those 250mil?
      • fatjoe, on 07/22/2008, -2/+4So what you're saying is, they didn't need the $250 million, but took it anyway, and even if they hadn't, they'd still have been fine
      • belumaves, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2@rimantas

        you missed the point of what he said, which was "till they faind their feet" I believe iPod, Macbook etc count as finding their feet... well really the iMac, that was popular right off the bat, the iPod took a few generations to catch on.
      • horsepie, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1People pretty much stopped buying Macs by 1997, but Apple still had a ton of cash. The money and office/ie agreements were part of the out of court settlement for the silly "look & feel" lawsuit. I'd say office on mac was the most valuable part of the deal.
      • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1The one-shot Microsoft deal was more a behind-the-scenes resolution to outstanding lawsuits than anything else, which is par for the course for Microsoft with any number of other companies. Besides which, how could a one-off "prop them up for long enough?"

        Jobs' return signaled the consolidation of projects, the abandonment of what wasn't working, the redefinition of the brand and the soon-after release of the iMac... And Apple had plenty of cash to take them there, even while they were hemorrhaging it during the mid-90's.

        The Microsoft deal was helpful, but it was not done out of kindness, and it was not--overall--necessary to get Apple to where they were going.
    • soupdawg30, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2The turn around came with the original iMac then the iPod. I always had faith.
    • TnTBass, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Perhaps they were never in the dumps at all? Perhaps they were always super cool, and only lately have you became cool enough to recognize just how cool they are?

      I'm just kidding, they've came a long way.
  • DannyDriffs, on 08/25/2008, -12/+5MacWorld '09 New Product: Black Tee
  • PhillyMJS, on 07/22/2008, -8/+41Apple sold 11 million iPods in this quarter, I wouldn't pooh-pooh that just because it didn't change much from the previous quarter. Microsoft would feed infants and puppies into a wood chipper to do that kind of volume with the Zune.
    • Bishop256, on 07/22/2008, -9/+17i think apple would do the same for microsofts OS sales
    • Swarms, on 07/22/2008, -6/+18Meanwhile, Microsoft earns in profit what Apple earns in revenue. ($60 billion revenue on the year = $1,900/second)
      • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2That is indeed what they pull in, but some might question their "earning" it. ;-)
    • over9k, on 07/22/2008, -11/+14Every review I've read has put Zune ahead of iPod (Classic). Even from former iPod owners. I have a iPod nano, but it was a gift. If I had to buy a player myself or recommend one to someone, I would go with Zune.
      • peestandingup, on 07/22/2008, -9/+10Im not a fanboy, but Zune/Zune Marketplace sucks balls. And yes, I own one.
      • tcasey22, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5I own an Zune 80 and its much better than any of the other two Ipods I've owned. Marketplace sucks but I still like to buy cds. Call me old fashion.
      • tnoy, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5I prefer my Zune to my iPod by far. The recent changes in the Zune marketplace have made it FAR more enjoyable than iTunes has ever been for me.
      • Pic0, on 07/22/2008, -2/+4I have a Zune and iPod and use my Zune all the time.
      • fantasticjon, on 07/22/2008, -2/+1I bet the zune is better than the ipod classic. but its not better than the ipod touch. Apple keeps innovating to stay ahead of its competitors. Microsoft has always been a fast follower, so Apple needs to keep innovating or MS will overtake it in the music player business.
    • CamperBob, on 07/22/2008, -3/+2Microsoft already does that to save 5% on their heating costs between October and April. Selling more Zunes due to inadvertently propitiating a heretofore-unknown pagan god would just be gravy for them.
    • belumaves, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1yeah I'm pretty sure that all the mp3 player manufacturers would do the same to meet the iPod's numbers. what I think we are seeing is market saturation where the leader got it right before anyone else really took a good look at the market. unlike Apple all the competitors have to convince consumers that they are greatly superior to the iPod, all apple has to do is convince them that the new iPod is better than the old one. it's the advantage of being the first one to the party.
  • UcIc, on 07/22/2008, -6/+2I don't see how there's so much of a shortage. I went to the ATT store this Saturday, ordered it, and already received my tracking number saying that it will arrive at the ATT store Tuesday. They must have just recently cranked a ***** out at the factory or something. Or, does each store get a specific number allocated to be shipped to them per x number produced, regardless of demand at a store/size of a city?
    • aussieNickuss, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2I'm trying to get an iPhone here in Australia but there's waiting lists going into September! I'm sure the iPhone factory is pumping them out thousands per minute, but there's a ton of demand (here anyway).
  • badnewshotel, on 07/22/2008, -11/+6All that is great, until they announce Steve Jobs has cancer again and is stepping down. Then see what happens.
    • B1663r, on 07/22/2008, -3/+1They sort of non-confirmed-confirmed it today. Since it was pancreatic cancer the first time, and this is his second round, they probably won't do chemotherapy and radiation again.

      Having known way to many people to die of cancer... Six months to a year at tops...
      • eatrains, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3He didn't have chemo or radiation the first time, only surgery.
  • phrenzy, on 07/22/2008, -3/+12Yep - I had their stock in 97-98 just before the iMac came out - which was the beginning of the turnaround. Everybody had pronounced apple not just "irrelevant" but simply "dead". I honestly never thought I'd see the day where people hate apple for being "too successful" which many diggers seem to do.
    • willynilly, on 07/22/2008, -5/+2It's not for being "too successful"; it's for being lauded continually by know-nothings while not being called on glaring design deficiencies that persist year after year. By introducing some common sense, Apple products really COULD be as good as some would like to make them out to be. It wouldn't take much, except to abandon the head-in-the-sand attitude.
      • phrenzy, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1While I agree to some extent, many of the things that people consider 'design deficiencies' are equivalent to putting a winch on the front of a Mercedes. Does it add functionality? Yes. Does it improve the usability of the car for the intended market? No.

        Also, "lauded by know-nothings" is an idiotic statement. So, you think because I prefer sequencing music on a mac, or I because I think the OS is superior to Windows, or because I appreciate that Apple tries to think out of the box from time to time, I am a 'know nothing'?

        I agree, Apple is stubborn - sometimes putting off obviously beneficial changes for the sake of 'usability' - Including a mouse capable of right-clicking is a good example. But, Apple has been better about trying to accommodate both casual and 'power' users lately. I mean, there is a Unix shell there any time for people who want to ***** around. It's not like they are hiding it! How much more 'power' do you want?
    • FireXtol, on 07/22/2008, -5/+2Charge a lot for something. Let the suckers who buy it justify it. I like the response Mac users have when bringing up GUI changes, "why would you want to do that?" Then you tell them, "better STANDARDS have been around for decades." Then they get the deer in the headlights look... because they don't have any ***** clue what that word means when applied to a computer.
      • phrenzy, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1I agree, there are annoying Mac users that will justify any limitation Apple imposes without a good reason (putting tabs in Safari was a big one). Apple may be overly conservative when adding 'features' because they generally ask "what does the AVERAGE user really do with their machine and how can we get in the way of that as little as possible?" This often leaves out even 'intermediate' users. Luckily, I have found that this is almost always solved with about 1 minute of googling around for a solution. On top of that, there's so much you can do in the command line to manipulate the OS, it's not even funny.

        Of course, people like you who probably want to rebuild the kernel and totally rearrange the UI aren't going to like it - but people who aren't really focused on that kind of stuff appreciate the refinement in other areas.
  • da5id, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5Down 10% in after hours on flat 4Q guidance -- that's the take away.
  • akohut, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5I just want my goddamn iphone to come in. A 10-21 day wait hurts.
  • mizike, on 07/22/2008, -19/+56once you go mac you never go back...
    • F9Phoenix, on 07/22/2008, -8/+13yup. I've been that way, more or less, for two years now.
    • sakuraz, on 07/22/2008, -4/+7And with MacBooks....
    • tnoy, on 07/22/2008, -9/+12never go back to being sane?
    • hexydes, on 07/22/2008, -4/+12Buried for inaccuracy. I split my time about equally between Windows Vista, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu Linux, all on three different computers. People that are smug about Apple are as stupid as Linux zealots and Windows douchebags.

      Get over yourself; it's just a platform. They all have strengths and weaknesses, but at the end of the day, they are 99% the same as far as what they can do.
      • jhaydon, on 07/22/2008, -1/+6I didn't digg you down hexydes, simply because I don't think you should bury someone if you disagree with them, but I have to say that I don't believe that the three OSes you mention are "99% the same". An OS essentially interfaces with hardware, and in the same way that, for instance, an iPhone and an LG Viewty have similar hardware, but they offer very different experiences, Windows and Mac offer a similar feature set, but their methods and design are different.
      • RetepNamenots, on 07/22/2008, -2/+499% the same as in, we share 99% of our DNA structure with monkeys... Doesn't mean we're not completely different.
      • FireXtol, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3I also disagree with you, and RetepNamenots. DNA is very good at 'code reuse'. And yea, we're genetically more similar to Chimps(specifically Bonobos) than Chimps are with Gorillas, to give you perspective on difference. Windows is designed as a Desktop and Server platform. The kernel aswell as the OS itself is easily the most advanced(best) for Desktop use. The server aspect is arguable, endlessly so...? But Windows Server line is very popular and Hyper-V looks to be amazing for virtualization. Mac OS X is basically BSD with a Apple Windows Manager, and in my personal experience the OS and the software for it is not stable... and performs poorly.
    • Fuzi, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5nope I had a Macbook Pro 12" and my next laptop was a Asus W3J...
    • orlyfactor, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2I have a PC running XP, an Ubuntu box, and a Powerbook. So, like, what would I go back to? My Vic 20? Apple IIgs? TI-99 4a?
    • tripledjr, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5Thats unfortunate for those that have gone mac then.
    • Pic0, on 07/22/2008, -5/+5I had an iPod first, then I got a Zune and I haven't looked back at the iPod...

      Unless you mean those that pay so much and can't afford to buy new electronics. Then yes, they go mac and never buy anything again because they have no money.
      • FireXtol, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I have a Sansa(4 GB). It's nicer than either IMO. Tons of battery life, bout the size of a nano(fatter, fits comfortabley snug/secure in the 5th pocket), video(pretty ***** support, honestly), voice recording, radio, real tactile feedback instead of none(similar to a mouse's scroll wheel, it 'clicks'/'sticks') navigating with the iPod is a hassle for me. It's always back and forth trying to get to where I want... oh I'm not moving enough.. oh too much.. go back, too far back... ***** THIS!
    • Appleologist, on 07/22/2008, -2/+1haha I have that t-shirt.
  • grungegbunny, on 07/22/2008, -3/+11I have to admit I never used a mac except for a class in which the professor required you to due to a certain font he wanted on the papers. Years later now for the first time I'm considering buying one.
    • BillOReilly08, on 07/22/2008, -2/+14Wow your professor is a dick.
    • FireXtol, on 07/22/2008, -6/+1Macs have *****-poor font rendering.
  • micklerlop, on 07/22/2008, -3/+10Q4 iPhone unstoppable
  • Swarms, on 07/22/2008, -4/+15When asked about Steve Job's health the CFO said that "Steve's health is a private matter." This is scary from an investor's standpoint. Obviously, it would ease the mind of investors to just say "He's fine, he was a little sick but he's all better." However, this would be illegal to say during a earnings call if he wasn't in fact fine. If he was sick, the only way to sidestep the question would be to not answer it, which he did. Remember, Steve had Pancreatic Cancer which is very, very hard to beat. Best of luck to him.
  • svensko, on 07/22/2008, -2/+4Increased sales leads to a spectacular quarter? Well I'll be!!! :o
  • davidwasman, on 07/22/2008, -8/+25Queue all the Apple haters and negative rhetoric about "OMG another iPhone story" and how Macs are more expensive, and blah blah friggin blah.

    *sigh*

    It would be nice to have a rational discussion on Digg again about Apple without it turning into 'fanboi' bashing and crap about how Macs have fewer games.
    • etx313, on 07/22/2008, -2/+10OMG another iPhone story! WTF! Macs are too expensive!

      -Posted from my iPhone.
    • jasmus, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3Dugg up, despite only one person actually doing that before you posted.
    • dysonlu, on 07/22/2008, -3/+7Yeah, wouldn't it be nice if all Apple lovers talk about how Macs are great without dissing Windows PCs.
    • RogueMountie, on 07/22/2008, -3/+6We can't have a rational discussion about apple because apple people are spamming the hell out of Digg with dozens of irrelevant stories every week. Post something relevant, and then you might get a relevant discussion.
    • FireXtol, on 07/22/2008, -4/+1That's like attempting rational discussion between christians(Hi, I'm a Mac) and atheists(Hi, I'm a PC). No, not satanists(Hi, I'm BSD, and now the basis of Mac OS X). Just atheists(PC here). Macs users are full of baseless beliefs.... And that is it. Sure, PCs users are full of it a lot of the time to... but at the end of the day they still have a PC. Mac users have an appliance(that try really hard to be a PC, but fail). Not that there's anything wrong with that, we don't all need PCs. That's personal computer. I personally picked the motherboard, cpu, ram, drives, cords, PSU, case, OS, etc.... Lots of PERSONALIZATION there! For ***** SAKE MAN! A company can't even release a computer with Mac OS X on it(it's illegal, anyway)... without being sued by Apple. Apple uses proprietary hardware with proprietary software to make one truly ***** experience, IMO (I've used Tiger and Leopard extensively).
      • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2Careful, the spittle is starting to soak your neckline.
  • Galaxylander, on 07/22/2008, -1/+14See, the thing is of course iPods are flat! Apple has saturated the market, there aren't many people to make the market grow... I'd say a steady 80% marketshare is pretty damn good.
    • TheWorm, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3Apple needs to revamp the regular iPod line. They're not cool like they used to be.
      • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Um... They kinda did. It's called the iPod Touch.

        They only think they're missing is one that integrates a hard drive to get that same level of capacity, but I think we're seeing a larger shift away from those anyway, since solid state is picking up and getting a lot cheaper.
      • TheWorm, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1That's why I said regular iPod line.
  • Migito, on 07/22/2008, -12/+10I like the products, I just don't understand why Digg gives Apple free advertising like this...
    • davidwasman, on 07/22/2008, -2/+14You must not be aware, then, of Digg's exclusive deal with Microsoft for ad revenue.

      There's no giant conspiracy to make apple tops on Digg. It's just that all you latecomers to digg weren't here when it was a place where Apple users weren't bashed for merely liking their product. Back then, Apple stories were commonplace because the site was directed at new media, new tech, and like minded people.

      The few Apple stories that make it to the front page anymore are because of the few of us left that Digg them...before your ilk can bury them.
    • B1663r, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3I don't know, Digg ultimately banned Roughly Drafted as a troll domain. So at least they dealing with blog spammers... And this is actual news.
    • aussieNickuss, on 07/22/2008, -0/+4The Digg community (you and me) gives Apple "free advertising"....not Digg themselves.
  • mdavis, on 07/22/2008, -5/+15I don't understand-I thought this discussion would be full of Apple Haters telling us that these statistics are faked, or don't even matter...what gives?
  • rft3rd, on 07/22/2008, -14/+17In other news, Dell announced FY 2008 3Q earnings of 15.646 Billion

    http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/cor ...
    • gtluke, on 07/22/2008, -14/+19stop it with your facts, you'll confuse the apple children.
      • bradleyland, on 07/22/2008, -3/+11Facts? Apple brought in half the revenue, but still managed to NET more money than Dell.

        Dell
        Revenue $15,646
        NET $766

        Apple
        Revenue $7,460
        NET $1,070

        How do you like them Apples?

        Apple operates much like Porsche. You don't have to sell a whole lot of cars when you make a good margin on the ones that you do sell. Dell's strategy could be summed up as: "sell cheap". Apple strategy could be summed up as: "ignore cheap". By the numbers, Apple seems to have taken the better approach.

        Apple Q3
        http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/07/21results. ...

        Dell Q3
        http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/cor ...
      • etx313, on 07/22/2008, -6/+2Due to the added shiny box premium surely...
    • etx313, on 07/22/2008, -5/+10Looks like the OPEN PLATFORM won this quarter again. I don't see that changing anytime soon.
      • bradleyland, on 07/22/2008, -2/+3It depends upon how you define "won". Apple actually made a higher profit on half the sales last quarter.
    • stephenjbolger, on 07/22/2008, -0/+4Yay another triumph for bordomism!
  • ptFoe, on 07/22/2008, -11/+3As much as I hate Apple users (most tend to be rich ignorant dumb *****) it is great seeing them eat into MS desktop market share.
    • davidwasman, on 07/22/2008, -3/+14I don't understand your (OR ANYONE'S) hatred for someone who uses a different computer than you do. Your assertion that they are all 'rich ignorant dumb f*cks' is totally off base.

      I myself, am an Apple owner, but I have no hatred for you as a PC owner (Linux, I assume, since you stated you were happy to see Apple 'eat into MS') nor am I a conceited, turtle neck wearing, sneaker buying, smarmy asshat like everyone thinks Apple owners are. I am also far from rich-- being lucky to have $16 in my pocket right now after bills.

      We just happen to own different hardware and somehow that, plus some ridiculously silly commercials, means we're 'rich ignorant dumb f*cks'?

      Put your hatred aside. Please. There are much bigger issues in the world to worry about.
      • H0tKarl, on 07/22/2008, -7/+1Shut up, dumb *****.
      • davidwasman, on 07/22/2008, -4/+4Reported for vulgarity. Too bad ignorance isn't a reportable offense.
      • HoratioHellpop, on 07/22/2008, -5/+0//Put your hatred aside. Please. There are much bigger issues in the world to worry about.//

        Slightly ironic that you believe that to be true, yet took time to post a response to him?
      • elister, on 07/22/2008, -5/+1I used to temp for MS and a former co-worker from an old tech support job knew it. Every day at the bus stop I had to hear non-stop "Macs are better, MS is crap" dribble. Even if I avoided speaking to him at that bus stop, he kept going on and on about it, just because I was a temp for the company he hated. I eventually ran into him at another job, I pretended to not know him and im sure he did the same. He seemed like a very quiet person off the phone (you can sense of condescending tone of voice when he took tech support calls), I asked his supervisor "That guy must not have alot of friends", "Really? How did you guess that?", "Hes a anti MS zealot and his argument gets annoying and old fast" and I had his boss in awe as I basically nailed his personality. In 7 years, he hadn't changed a bit.

        Last year, I when doing my sales pitch for Cable Internet (Not Comcast). When saying things like "This service doesn't come with anti virus software like AOL", "Oh I'm not worried, I own a Mac". You dont want to ruin the sale, but you know that statement is SOOO misleading. You might as well screw every guy on the block without a condom thinking "I cant get pregnant, I'm white and pretty!"

        With the exception of my girlfriend, almost all of the Mac users that I deal with be it on or off the job, tend to be very ignorant in their pro Mac rants. Like a horribly organized religion, either they are touting its abilities as a reason why you should switch, or they are insulting you for not being part of it.

        Now apply that same technique to Jehovas Witnesses and after a while, you may harbor a disgust for them too.
  • petaganayr, on 07/22/2008, -12/+6Who cares?
  • douggmc, on 07/22/2008, -2/+11Anybody else read this article and come away with only one thing flashing in their mind.... that Apple is "busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months." ?

    What are these wonderful new products of which The Great Steve talks of? Blast this damn reality distortion field!
    • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Actually, Apple rarely promises and doesn't deliver. (Well, the language they were using about some of Leopard's then-unmentioned features was strong enough to apply "not delivering" to them, I guess. There's always the chance they had to push some of them off to 10.6 in the same way that they delayed Leopard, which could lead to that disconnect.) They also--obviously--aren't talking about specifics, as they're notoriously tight-lipped.

      We'll see what they mean soon enough. We don't often get coy little "appetite-whetting" statements either, but it's on a short timeframe, so we'll see soon enough.
  • AzzX, on 07/22/2008, -8/+10Its the new izombie.

    Capable of infecting lesser humans with the incredible urge to buy style over substance and reducing uniqueness on a planetary scale.

    Be scared.... be very scared.
    • futuretheory, on 07/22/2008, -6/+2Style over substance? I believe that you have confused form in harmony with function.
    • tripledjr, on 07/22/2008, -2/+4@AzzX: You my good sir are a very wise man, I will preach your name and teachings to all the unfortunate souls that have been caught in an overly expensive fashion trend.
  • DeFex, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5Does apple make time machines or something? this is the 7th month how do they know the q3 results. or is this another one of those creative accounting things.
  • waterdrop, on 07/22/2008, -4/+6This is great news for Windows users. The more computers Apple sells, the better Microsoft will have to make Windows. More worms will byte into Apples as well, and take away from the worms that invade Windows.
    • B1663r, on 07/22/2008, -5/+5Have you noticed the number of Apple fans who claim that OSX is impervious to malware has dropped to near zero?

      Two years ago that was their thing "OSX is invulnerable to malware!" they shouted. Where did those guys go?
      • BossKey, on 07/22/2008, -1/+5If the level of malware is supposed to be related to or proportional to market share, the volume of malware for the Mac is still dramatically below what it should be. If Mac market share is 5%, the percentage of malware that is for the Mac is far, far below that.

        Therefore it doesn't mathematically follow to say the lack of malware on the Mac is because of market share. It might just be easier to break into Windows.
      • DelMonte, on 07/22/2008, -2/+7"Two years ago that was their thing "OSX is invulnerable to malware!" they shouted. Where did those guys go?"

        They didn't go anywhere because they didn't exist two years ago, except maybe a couple of kids trolling forums. I challenge you to find any serious posts from a Mac user from two years ago, or anytime, claiming that "OSX is invulnerable to malware", you could probably find two or three, amongst the millions of Mac users posts over the years. The people claiming that OS X is immune to viruses are, if anything, only in your head...

        I think that the mythic "Mac user that thinks that OS X is invulnerable to viruses" fabulation was born from the fact that Windows users accept malware as a "normal part of computing", for them a new Windows virus is not news. When a Mac user states that "Macs don't get viruses", they equate that to saying "Macs cannot get viruses", despite that it wasn't meant that way. Mac users know that there could be viruses for the Mac in the future, but the fact is that there wasn't any active viruses on OS X since its release more than 7 years ago.

        But even if the rising Mac market-share eventually leads to one or more Mac viruses, the publicity generated around it, and the fact that the community will only have one or a few viruses to track down, will minimize the actual damages.
    • tnoy, on 07/22/2008, -2/+3As much as I would love to see Microsoft make Windows 7 be "the next big thing," I'm not going to hold my breath about it. After some recent comments about it being "about the same requirements as Vista" have made me all but lose hope. I fear that they're just going to layer some fancy UI features on the top of Vista and call it a day.

      I don't have much faith in the non-Gates Microsoft future, I hope that they can prove me wrong.
  • codyman, on 07/22/2008, -2/+14Am I the only one that thinks that apple does not care how well windows sells / continues to sell? I see them more of "how are we doing" verses a "how are they doing" kind of company... a strategy which seems to be working in the macro perspective in that each quarter they keep improving over the past quarter
    • glui2001, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1i totally agree.
    • Smoozle, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2I think you are right. Apple have demonstrated that they don't care about market share that does not translate into a proportional increase in their profit.
    • seanc6610, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1you're right, it's not even like their TV ads make it seem like they compare themselves to other companies or anything.
  • PDave, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1That's 1.34 iPods per second...
  • orlyfactor, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1And their stock is still down 10% in pre-market. Haha. F U Stock Market!
  • liquidmetalband, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3I guess the iPod really has pushed Apple into superstardom, leveraging people towards the Mac.
  • MMaster23, on 07/22/2008, -3/+5Great now make a proper 15" notebook for less than $750
    Or a standalone desktop for less than $500
    • FredFredrickson, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1You couldn't get hardware that could run Mac OS X with the swiftness for under $500. Unless you want people complaining about how it's slow, like they do with Vista when they try to run it on POS computers.
  • TheHamBeast, on 07/22/2008, -3/+3I don't get why I should be impressed. These 3rd Quarter numbers aren't results, they're predictions. Plus if you look at the Street Predictions for 3Q, Apple is doing worse than it did in 2Q in every category. No indication where the other 3Q predictions came from.
    • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2These numbers, along with every other company releasing them, are 3Q Fiscal 2008 numbers. Like... official numbery numbers that have sales data behind them. Their actual 3Q sales beat Apple's 3Q guidance (not hard, since they always guide conservatively) and the market's consensus (also not hard, as they've been doing that for years, too).

      I have no idea what numbers you're looking at, but I see no indication why I should trust them, considering your level of aptitude. The recent Apple guidance and analyst predictions are for 4Q FY08.
  • Brutis, on 07/22/2008, -2/+1Q2 just ended, we just got in Q3

    THESE ARE PREDICTIONS
    • cthellis, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2I guess someone should tell Apple, then: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/07/21results. ... ( "Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 third quarter ended June 28, 2008." )

      Oh yes, and whatever other company operates with FISCAL YEARS that don't line up with calendar years. That would be pretty much all of them.
    • MavRevMatt, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3I thought that too but it's a fiscal year, so now it makes sense.
  • HoratioHellpop, on 07/22/2008, -2/+0--- whoosh!

    --- whooo -grab!

    Finally got the joke. Shame on me once.
  • rayburn1976, on 07/24/2008, -1/+0I found a company that I just insured my 3G iPhone, my iPod touch and my wifes BlackBerry through. The service was absolutely top-notch!! Www.iphonereplacementservices.net is the address. I heard it on the radio in Michigan and I emailed them at customerservice@digitalcaboodle.com and they answered me back in less then 8 minutes! 8 MINUTES! I have never seen anything like this site! Pass the word, someone really cares and we know its not At&t or Apple. Get your stuff covered!! Great people to work with and the website was the real deal!!
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