In the graph below the grey circles represent the US penetration (percentage of households which own) MP3 players. Superimposed on this sparse sample graph is a line showing the sales of iPod touch. This second graph has a different scale, shown with a gridline at 10,000, representing millions of units shipped by Apple. To smooth … Continue reading “Categorizing technologies”
In the postmodern computing world that we live in, the measure of success isn’t revenue or profit or units sold but the number of users that an ecosystem can attract. Therefore the monthly active user (MAU) unit of performance seems to be in vogue right now. E.g.: Facebook claims Messenger has more than 200 million … Continue reading “Monthly Apple Users”
Show #1: The Future of the Internet and Everything Part 1: The Internet is dead, long live the Internet The data shows the Internet growth will go through an inflection point. Should we panic or celebrate? In this inaugural episode we open with the biggest question facing the biggest technological innovation of our time: the … Continue reading “Significant Digits Episode 1 Part 1”
There are 7.1 billion people on Earth. Coincidentally there are also 7 billion mobile connections. Those connections are held by 3.45 billion unique mobile subscribers.1 Unsurprisingly, the largest national mobile markets (by number of subscriptions) correspond closely to the most populous nations. Considering smartphones, last year 1 billion smartphones were sold and the number of … Continue reading “Postmodern computing”
When trying to assess the success of an ecosystem, the primary measure is the size of the user base or the “audience” for the product. Companies like FaceBook and WhatsApp and Twitter are measured first and foremost on this metric. Companies like Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are less so. When revenues are firmly attached … Continue reading “Tim Cook’s outburst [Updated]”
During the latest shareholder meeting Tim Cook revealed that Apple TV sales were above $1 billion in the last fiscal year (ending September 2013). The company later clarified that this figure includes device and content sales. This poses a problem. In previous statements the company cited device (unit) shipments rather than value. The statements made … Continue reading “The billion dollar hobby”
Prior to Apple’s earnings report I read at least one article suggesting that the most important indicator to watch was Apple’s margin. I suppose this was due to a recent decline in margins from a peak gross margin of 47.4% in Q1 2012 to 36.7%. As the graph below shows, margins began to recover by … Continue reading “A margin of error”
Horace Dediu and Guy English discuss the future of TV, how we consume media, and the fate of console-style devices. From Apple to Nintendo and beyond, is there one box to rule them all, or can there be? Interview segment: Cinematographer Barry Braverman talks about working with director Wes Anderson (uncut version to be posted … Continue reading “Electric Shadow 1: Bicycle for the Mind”
The increase in net sales of iTunes, Software and Services in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the first quarter of 2013 was due to growth in net sales from the iTunes Store, AppleCare and licensing. The iTunes Store generated a total of $2.4 billion in net sales during the first quarter of 2014 … Continue reading “Fortune 130”
In 2013 there were 18.8 times more Windows PCs sold than Macs. This is a reduction in the Windows advantage from about 19.8x in 2012. This decline is mostly due to the more rapid decline in Windows PC shipments relative to the more modest decline in Mac unit shipments. Gartner estimates that about 309 million … Continue reading “When Apple reached parity with Windows”
