CNN had a wonderful article about Apple today. Here are some highlights:
... Steve Jobs, Apple's rainmaker, was even parodied in a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, evidence of how the Cupertino-based outfit is ingrained in pop culture like no other tech company.
In the skit, an actor impersonating the chief executive (sporting black turtleneck and jeans, of course) introduces three iPods within minutes of each other. Each device makes its predecessor obsolete -- from the iPod Micro to the iPod Pequeno, and finally the iPod Invisa, which though invisible can still hold 8 million songs and every picture ever taken. ...
Apple sold 22.5 million iPods in the 2005 fiscal year that ended in September, bringing cumulative iPod sales to more than 28 million.
The Web site ThinkSecret.com, which has correctly revealed some of Apple's previous products before launch -- to the ire of Apple and its lawyers -- reports from unnamed sources that Apple will unveil in January an upgrade of "Front Row," allowing users to stream content purchased from the Internet without storing it on a computer hard disk. ...
Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of applications, wouldn't discuss future products but explained Apple's modus operandi.
"The key thing is we could bring three things to the table all at once -- the hardware, the software and the service," he said. "And we integrate those so it's an easy, compelling experience for consumers." ...
The streak of innovative products in 2005 sent Apple soaring to an all-time high of nearly $14 billion in revenue, more than double what it had two fiscal years ago. Its stock was also on a tear in 2005, and now trades at more than double the 52-week low of $30.80 on December 21, 2004. ...
Sales of computers, still Apple's biggest revenue generator, could get a boost if Apple scales down prices with the help of lower-priced Intel chips.
Citing the possibility Apple might introduce an Intel-based laptop as early as January, Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner recently raised his Apple PC unit shipment estimates from 5.1 million to 5.5 million for the 2006 fiscal year. He was also bullish on expected sales of the video-playing iPod, estimating Apple's revenues would be up 46 percent from fiscal 2005.
Apple has also recently made market share inroads in the United States, according to IDC. After years of hovering between a 2.5 and 3.7 percent share of the U.S. PC market, the company finally cracked 4 percent in the first half of 2005, Daoud said.
Apple's market share of PC shipments was 4.4 percent in the third quarter, an increase of 43 percent from the year ago period, while the overall PC market expanded by only 2 percent, he said.
As many as 1 million of the 4.5 million computers Apple shipped in fiscal 2005 were from Windows users switching platforms -- a sign of a "halo effect" from iPod sales and Apple's growing retail presence, said Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf.
The iPod's continued success notwithstanding, Wolf thinks the strength of Apple's performance in 2006 "will depend on how well they convert Windows users to the Mac."
Source: CNN
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