If you would like a free iMac and don’t mind filling out a survey, then I’ve got a link for you. Macworld is giving away a free iMac to someone who completes this survey by January 31st, 2008. The contest is limited to US residents 18 years old and older. For the official rules, visit the link above and click the drawing rules link. Good luck to everyone who enters!
Apple released their 4th quarter financial results today after the market closed. If you don’t want to listen to the entire report, here are some numbers or points I found interesting. My comments are in parentheses.
B = Billion
M = Million
FY = Fiscal Year
Revenue/Financials
-Revenue of 6.22B; a 29% increase over year ago quarter
-Net income of 904M, up 67% over year ago quarter
-Mac products and services accounted for 62% of total quarterly revenue
-36% of quarterly revenue were from music related products
-Revenue of 118M was recognized from iPhone sales, iPhone accessories, and payments from AT&T
-Apple Stores averaged revenue of 6.6M based on an average of 190 stores
-33.6% total company gross margin
-Capitalized 22M of software development expense related to Leopard in 4Q
-15.4B in cash balance to end the quarter
-24B in revenue FY 2007
-3.5B in net income for FY 2007
-Direct sales were 57% of total company revenue in 4Q
Mac
-Shipped 2.16M Macs in 4Q; which is a new quarterly record
-34% Mac growth over year ago quarter
-Driven by the iMac redesign; 31% year over year growth in desktop systems
-Sales of Macbook and Macbook Pro increased 37% over year ago quarter
-62% of Macs sold were Macbook and Macbook Pro
-Q4 ended with less than 3 weeks channel inventory; which is below average
-7M Macs sold in FY 2007
-Around 8700 Mac sales points
iPhone
-Sold 1.1M iPhones during 4Q; 1.4M to date
-iPhone was the fourth highest selling handset in the US during the 4Q according to market research
-Apple anticipates most iPhone $100 credits to be recorded by end of calendar year 2007
-Working with Salesforce.com on their iPhone software
-On target to enter Asia in 2008 with iPhone
-Apple estimates 250K iPhones sold to individuals wishing to unlock them
-No update on previously mentioned iPhone testing in the Enterprise (maybe with Active Sync?)
-No news on new iPhone model. Apple did not comment on entering Asia with a 2.5G phone. (Could this point to the Asia 2008 launch for a 3G iPhone?)
Apple will report their much anticipated 2007 fourth quarter earnings report on Monday at 5:00 EDT. Analysts are expecting Apple to beat their guidance of $.65 cents per share on $5.7 billion. Apple is often cited as giving conservative guidance so beating guidance comes as no surprise.
Mac sales are expected to take center stage on the earnings report. The fourth quarter is usually a strong quarter for the Mac due to back to school sales. While the Mac may take center stage, iPod and iPhone sales will also be of interest to investors. During the quarter, Apple announced redesigned iPods (except the shuffle which only got new colors), a new iMac, iLife 08, iWork 08, and the price cut heard around the world.
You can listen to the fourth quarter results conference call a number of ways.
Phone: (719) 325-4745.
Webcast: You can listen to the audio webcast here.
Disclosure: I own an insignificant number of Apple, Inc (AAPL) shares.
Update: You can find a breakdown of the fourth quarter results here.
If you’re like me, you take great care in making sure your Apple laptop is clean. Even the most studious person can get a little dirt on his/her laptop though. Mr. Clean easily makes getting your laptop clean with the Magic Eraser.
I recently upgraded to the Mackbook Pro, and needed to clean up my old Macbook before selling it. The Macbook was in very good condition, with the only noticeable wear on the palm rests. The left and right side of the trackpad showed exactly where my palms rested with two slightly discolored spots. After a few swipes with the Magic Eraser, the spots were gone. If you’re looking to clean the palm rests on your white Macbook, the Magic Eraser will do the trick.
Reports on the rise of Mac usage come out every month it seems. Most of these reports cite sales data from retail outlets (e.g not direct to consumer sales). Recently a few reports from universities have been published and they show some amazing data. Reports by Cornell, Princeton, and Missouri (not a report but a school website) show Mac usage is clearly on the rise. If the recent reports of Mac usage by these universities is a trend and not an anomaly, Mac usage is up sharply among the higher learning.
One of the more interesting bits of information taken from these articles is on the website of the Missouri School of Journalism. The website says, “Students are encouraged to acquire wireless laptop technology from Apple, which the School has designated as its preferred provider, but students also will have a choice of a Windows-based alternative. Last year, 99.5 percent of incoming students chose the Apple option”. Given a choice, over 99% of the Missouri School of Journalism incoming students (needing a laptop) chose Apple. Wow! The picture below is a picture of a class in the Missouri School or Journalism (picture via MacDailyNews)
If you’re a fan of CSSEdit or DeskShade, you could get into MacWorld 2008 for free. The developer of those applications won a booth at MacWorld as part of the Apple Design Award for CSSEdit, but he is unable to make it to San Francisco in January. He’s looking for someone to take his place and it could be you. Read his blog post for more information.