When Stephen Elop said that Nokia and Microsoft sought to create a “three horse race” he implied that there were only two viable mobile ecosystems today. With that statement he sought to deprecate or declare “end of life” two platforms: Symbian and MeeGo, implying that Nokia’s efforts at being the third way failed. However, he … Continue reading “The lives and deaths of mobile platforms”
The world’s largest PC company just launched a “media tablet[1]”. Conflating the iPod Touch and iPad brands into “TouchPad” HP joins RIM in announcing an integrated OS/device product to compete as a platform vs. iOS and Android (and to some degree even against Windows). There are others waiting in the wings. Presumably, Microsoft is hard … Continue reading “The (iPod)Touch(i)Pad”
Picking up the discussion of vendor share, I used Canalys estimates of platform shares to visualize the effect of Android on the smartphone market:
The best way to get to the essence of any company is by evaluating its priorities. These priorities are like an unwritten constitution. The analog in theology is dogma which when codified becomes doctrine. In law it’s common or case law.[1] In business, priorities are hard to discern and are usually only anecdotally observed. At … Continue reading “The Apple doctrine”
People are lining up to call the market for mobile phones. Analysts and amateurs alike are connecting points on charts and predicting with confidence the future of mobile platforms. Consensus is forming that there is no future but a quiescent state. By the acclamation of pundits, the survivors are declared to be iOS and Android. … Continue reading “Calling the end of innovation in mobile computers”
Today’s charts show the amount of profit captured by the top eight public mobile phone companies in two different ways. The first, as a bar chart:
Since reporting on the 18th, I’ve mostly finished going over the the fourth quarter Apple data. Here is a quick summary of the articles that covered the financial and product performance: Subject Article Cash Having added $20 billion last year, Apple’s cash growth suggests total could top $100 billion next year Growth Apple’s Growth Scorecard: … Continue reading “Summary view of Apple's income statement [Updated]”
As shown in the Apple growth scorecard, the company’s earnings growth is continuing at 75% with the top line increasing at the annual rate of 70%. The $59 billion of cash on the balance sheet has reached the equivalent of $64 per share yielding an enterprise value of $263 per share based on closing price … Continue reading “Is Apple a candidate for acquisition?”
In the last quarter Apple’s top line grew by 70% and the bottom line by 75%. For a historical perspective, the following table shows year-on-year growth for products[1] and sales/earnings color coded with an arbitrary scoring range.
A month ago I wrote an exposé on the problems I felt Verizon was facing with their smartphone strategy: Verizon Strikes Out in Smartphones [Updated] Given new information on subscriber growth and the relationship between Verizon and Apple, it’s time to look back and assess how the conclusions are standing up. The conclusions I drew were … Continue reading “Verizon back at bat: Revisiting the last inning”
