The facts run COUNTER to the ANAL-lyst's claims. In fact over the last quarter US smartphone sales have resulted in iPhones claiming 51.2% of the US Market while Android phones have declined to 44.2! Source
In addition, the iPhone 5 was released in China during the quarter to the best demand ever, selling over three million in its first weekend of availability by lottery when only one out of three applicants who applied succeeded in getting an iPhone 5! Heavy demand has continued.
Finally, Apple released the iPad Mini that quarter AND refreshed the larger 10 IPad with a faster processor and faster graphics, both of which are selling to great demand!
For Apple to report a drop in profit would be absurd, and is only possible because this ANAL-lyst used the most pessimistic assumption possible and worst case scenarios and already debunked rumors released during the quarter, to make his prediction.
Releasing such a pessimistic prediction one day before the release of the REAL FIGURES can have only one purpose. . . Deliberately depressing the stock value so speculators can buy cheaply from panic sellers before the true announcement causes the price to go up.
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At least the article admits that the quarter about to be reported on is 13 weeks, as opposed to 14 weeks in the same quarter last year...
Mathematically - if Apple sold the same amount and had the same margin for those 13 weeks being reported - it will still “look” smaller - by 7% because of the one less week.
Iphone leadership is over. Not because Apple is inherently bad but, the cache of exclusivity has passed as other manufacturers deliver equally great features and in many cases surpassing Apple.
Samsung, for one, delivers a bigger screen, seeker case and features I’m sure others can enumerate but, for me those two features alone are why I bought Samsung.
I use my phone all day for business and pleasure and the bigger screen is just way easier on mu eyes.
Paritcularly so when I look at my mapping as I drive in an unfamiliar neighborhood or using websites that employ Flash. Apple hates Flash and it was demonstrated just last night when a friend tried use his iphone to play a rerun of Hawaii Five-0 through Apple TV.
You see he couldn’t find it on his phone but it showed just fine on mine, as well on my laptop.
Then we both recalled an interview in which Jobs pointedly said he hates Flash.
Guess that’s fine but Flash is cheaper to deploy than other technologies.
Bottom line is Iphone is a great tool bit there are now equally good tools available, if not better. But, saying one is better than another is usually a personal preference.
I recall when ATT Merlin was considered by many to be the best key system available. I never saw it that way as NEC and Nortel had better features.
Just my opinion.
If anything, the analysts were too kind to Apple. In reality, Apple's net profits fell 18% to f$9.55 billion, or $10.09 a share, down from $11.62 billion, or $12.30 a share, a year earlier(as against the down 2 percent to $12.8 billion, or $13.48 a share that the analysts predicted).
Still in denial are we?