Tag Archives: sales

Tim Cook on New Retail Chief John Browett: ‘The Best by Far’

Posted on February 1, 2012 by admin

MacRumors reader Tony Hart notes on his blog that after emailing Apple CEO Tim Cook with his thoughts on the company’s selection of Dixons CEO John Browett as the next head of retail , he received a personal response in which Cook noted that Browett was “the best by far” among the candidates he talked with about the position. Tony, I talked to many people and John was the best by far. I think you will be as pleased as I am. His role isn’t to bring Dixons to Apple, [it's] to bring Apple to an even higher level of customer service and satisfaction. Tim The selection of Browett has raised some concerns among those familiar with Dixons, which operates stores under a number of names including Currys and PC World, as the retailer does not have particularly good reputation in the UK. Browett has, however, been considered by some to be a rising star in retail after serving time leading operations at supermarket chain Tesco and then taking the reins at Dixons in 2007. Apple had also been expected to look internationally for its next retail chief as the company focuses its expansion plans on locations outside of the United States. While Steve Jobs was known for occasionally responding to customer emails, usually with tersely-worded replies, Cook seems to have carried on that tradition even as he has moved to put his own stamp on Apple. A number of Cook’s emails to the Apple team have made their way out of the company’s offices, and he has on occasion, as in this case, replied to customer emails as well. Continue reading →

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iPad Drives Apple to Perch Atop List of Top-Selling PC Manufacturers

Posted on January 31, 2012 by admin

Late last year, research firm Canalys predicted that Apple might become the world’s largest PC manufacturer during the fourth quarter of 2011 if tablets were counted alongside more traditional computers. With the major firms now having reported their sales numbers for the quarter, Canalys has pieced together the numbers to confirm that Apple has indeed taken the lead on the strength of the iPad. Canalys today announced that Apple, after reporting stellar results, became the leading worldwide client PC vendor in Q4 2011. Apple shipped over 15 million iPads and five million Macs, representing 17% of the total 120 million client PCs shipped globally in Q4. Overall, the total client PC market, including desktops, netbooks, notebooks, and pads grew 16% year-on-year. Excluding pads, the client PC market declined 0.4%. The report notes that tablets such as the iPad accounted for 22% of PC sales during the quarter, with the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook also contributing to the strong tablet performance. Based on data from Canalys and other research firms, it appears that the iPad would have been able to top the list even without the help of the Mac, which itself achieved record sales during the quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, with Canalys, Gartner, and IDC all pegging non-tablet market leader HP’s shipments between 14.7 and 15.3 million units. Whether or not iPads and other tablets should be counted as PCs has become a vigorous debate as observers take differing views on how “personal computers” should be defined. But with Apple making the iPad “PC Free” by eliminating the need to sync to a computer via iTunes and increasing numbers of consumers relying on their iPads for everyday computer functionalities such as browsing, email and music, as well as a broad array of apps, lines between the two types of devices are becoming increasingly blurred. Continue reading →

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Google Signs Off on Motorola Lawsuit Seeking Injunction Against iPhone 4S and iCloud [iOS Blog]

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

Motorola Mobility has filed a new lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida against Apple, asserting six patents against the iPhone 4S and iCloud. As noted by FOSS Patents, the merger agreement between Google and Motorola Mobility requires the company to get Google’s permission before asserting “any Intellectual Property Right in any new Action”. As a result, this lawsuit is the closest Apple and Google have come to direct litigation. All six patents are asserted against the iPhone 4S, with four (’119, ’006, ’531, and ’161) asserted against iCloud. The patents Apple is charged with violating, as assembled by FOSS Patents , are: U.S. Patent No. 5,710,987 on a “receiver having concealed external antenna” U.S. Patent No. 5,754,119 on a “multiple pager status synchronization system and method”; Motorola is asserting the European equivalent of this patent against Apple in Mannheim, with a decision (that will likely be favorable for Motorola ) scheduled for Friday of next week (February 3, 2012) U.S. Patent No. 5,958,006 on a “method and apparatus for communicating summarized data” U.S. Patent No. 6,101,531 on a “system for communicating user-selected criteria filter prepared at wireless client to communication server for filtering data transferred from host to said wireless client” U.S. Patent No. 6,008,737 on an “apparatus for controlling utilization of software added to a portable communication device” U.S. Patent No. 6,377,161 on a “method and apparatus in a wireless messaging system for facilitating an exchange of address information” On its face, the lawsuit is fairly unexceptional — one of many lawsuits flying around the mobile sector — but as Google needed to sign off before it could be filed, it could be a signal of the direction Google intends to head if its proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility is successful. Continue reading →

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Stephen Fry Narrates The World of Dinosaurs [iOS Blog]

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

British actor and Apple enthusiast Stephen Fry has narrated this in-depth and iPad-only virtual encyclopedia called Inside the World of Dinosaurs . In the works for more than a year, 30 dinosaur specialists collaborated on the $13.99 app, with 60 dinosaurs detailed, 200 pages of original text, 84 videos, and, perhaps most enjoyably for many, 5 hours of narration by Stephen Fry. The art team painstakingly recreated everything in all 360 degrees. With a simple flick or drag of the finger, every dinosaur and object can be freely examined from any angle. With a simple double-tap or pinch, each dinosaur and object can fill the screen so that every scale, teeth, leaf or prehistoric encounter can be closely examined in detail. For the first time ever, see the pivotal moment when a Deinonychus leaps, in mid-flight, to make the final blow on a Tenontosaurus, from all 360 degrees! Inside the World of Dinosaurs is available for iPad on the App Store for $13.99 . [ App Store ] Continue reading →

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Apple Seeds OS X 10.7.3 Build 11D50 to Developers [Mac Blog]

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

Apple has pushed out Build 11D50 of OS X 10.7.3 to registered developers. Apple continues to report no known issues in the seed notes, and asks developers to focus their testing on Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight and Safari. The previous builds had appeared to be close to a final release, but Apple is clearly still making some final tweaks to the update. The release description has indicated that the main improvements in OS X 10.7.3 will be support for several new languages and fixes for issues related to smart cards, directory services authentication, and Windows file sharing. Continue reading →

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Apple Saw No Change in iPad Sales Following Kindle Fire Introduction

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

Contrary to some reports , Apple CEO Tim Cook said today that the company hadn’t seen any slowdown in iPad sales following the introduction of the much-hyped Kindle Fire tablet. When asked by an analyst during today’s quarterly earnings call about the impact on the iPad from lower priced tablets, Cook noted that the company sold a record 15.4 million iPads and that Apple doesn’t consider “limited function tablets and e-readers to be in the same category as the iPad”. A big reason for the iPads success, Cook believes, is that the ecosystem for the iPad is “in a class by itself”. We strongly believe in optimizing applications from day one to take advantage of the larger canvas. There are only a few hundred apps designed for the competition, versus more than 170,000 apps designed specifically for iPad. People who want an iPad won’t settle for a limited function tablet. Apple execs have said before, and Cook reiterated today, that they believe tablets will pass the PC market in units, and that in the United States according to IDC, tablets outsold desktop PC’s last quarter on a unit basis. Throwing down the gauntlet to other tablet makers — who thus far haven’t been able to mount a significant challenge to the iPad — Cook finished by saying Apple was going to “continue to innovate like crazy” and that the company will continue to compete with any company currently shipping tablets, or anyone who may enter the market in the future. The next generation iPad 3 with a high-resolution Retina Display is expected to be introduced in the next few months. Continue reading →

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Apple’s First Dutch Retail Store to Open in Amsterdam on February 18?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin

We’ve been following the development of Apple’s first Dutch retail store for some time now , as issues over historic preservation have slowed the timetable for construction at the landmark Hirsch building in Amsterdam. But things now appear to be coming together as iPhoneclub.nl [ Google translation ] and One More Thing [ Google translation ] offer a number of details on plans for the store, which seems to be headed for a February 18 opening. According to reports, much of the store staff is currently in training at the Amsterdam Hilton, while Geniuses have been trained at a number of UK stores. A third-party company responsible for the maintenance services on the store once it is opened is reportedly set to begin work in mid-February, with One More Thing specifically claiming that the opening will take place on February 18. Among the interesting developments in recent days was a windstorm over the weekend that pulled away some of the coverings from the exterior of the store to reveal the spiral glass staircase that customers will see front and center upon entering the two-level store. Floor plans obtained by One More Thing show product displays and a massive 20-seat Genius Bar on the first level of the store, with additional product displays, third-party accessories, training and set-up, and a Briefing Room filling out the second floor. The store is topped with a pyramid-shaped glass roof over a portion of the sales floor, with the second floor left open as a void to allow the light to filter down to the first floor and increase the store’s openness. Offices for Apple’s operations in the region will be located on upper floors of the building. Continue reading →

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Verizon iPhone Sales More Than Double to 4.2 Million in Holiday Quarter

Posted on January 4, 2012 by admin

Verizon Wireless Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo today participated in Citi’s Global Entertainment, Media & Communications Conference, and as part of his presentation revealed some iPhone sales numbers for the carrier. As noted by StreetInsider.com , Shammo announced that Verizon sold 4.2 million iPhones during the fourth quarter of 2011, a quarter which saw the launch of the iPhone 4S. That performance more than doubled the previous quarter’s sales of 2.0 million iPhones. Overall, Apple sold just over 17 million iPhones during that third calendar quarter, and while it is difficult to extrapolate Apple’s total fourth quarter sales from the performance of a single U.S. carrier, the 4.2 million number could at least put Apple in the range of 35 million iPhones for the quarter across all carriers and markets. Apple today announced that it will report its holiday quarter sales and earnings numbers on January 24. As a result of the strong performance of the iPhone 4S, Verizon is projecting a reduction in its profit margin as it absorbs the upfront subsidies paid to Apple for the device. Those subsidies will, however, be recouped over time from subscribers’ service contracts. Continue reading →

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Best Buy Again Offering Buy One, Get One Free 32GB iPhone 4 This Weekend [iOS Blog]

Posted on December 30, 2011 by admin

In a replay of their Christmas Eve offer, BestBuy is again offering the 32GB iPhone 4 in a Buy One, Get One Free offer. Apple doesn’t officially offer the 32GB iPhone 4 anymore. After the introduction of the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4 is being officially sold now as an 8GB model only, but 32GB models must remain from previous inventory. The 32GB iPhone 4 costs $199 with a 2 year contract. Both phones need to be signed up for the two year contract, but this still represents a $199 savings if you are in the market for a new iPhone 4. The offer is for in-store purchases only this Friday and Saturday. Continue reading →

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Christmas 2011 Showed Significant Sales Boost for iOS Developers

Posted on December 29, 2011 by admin

Each year, iOS developers scramble to position themselves well ahead of the iTunes Connect shutdown/freeze in order to benefit from any boost in sales from the holidays. NYTimes wrote of the phenomenon this year, as explained by iOS developer Bryan Duke: “It’s typical to see a jump on any major holiday, but Christmas is the biggest one,” Mr. Duke said. “I’m certainly hoping for a nice big Christmas bump this year.” This boost is what drives many of the massive holiday sales as developers jockey for position before the iTunes Top 200 charts freeze for the holidays. Major companies such as Gameloft and EA get in on the action to flood the charts with their apps. Camera+ developers TapTapTap shared their iOS app sales numbers with us again this year which shows the effect in dramatic fashion: TapTapTap’s app sales figures for Christmas week TapTapTap’s Camera+ [ App Store ] application had been floating around the ranks 4-8 and settled at position #8 in the Top 200 list during the holiday freeze. Their average sales had been around 18,000 sales in the days prior to the holidays, but shot up to a peak of 73,808 sales on Christmas day. The graph above also includes sale figures for Faces and Voices 2 , though the vast majority of sales were for Camera+. At a $0.99 sales price that means $51,665 in revenue for the company on the Christmas day alone after Apple’s 30% cut. The increase in sales is reflective of more iOS device activations and the gifting of iTunes Gift cards for the holidays. As shown in the graph, this sales boost does sustain for some time after the holidays. Continue reading →

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