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This week, Apple-focused bloggers learned the company has overtaken Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) with smartphone sales for the quarter, and that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) isn't ready to jump into the netbook scene just now -- or talk publicly about any specific plans, at any rate.
Meanwhile, rumors persist of a secret Apple device -- and oh yes, the Mac mini is not dead yet.
10 Million With Months to Spare
"Love it or hate it ... there is no denying that Apple's iPhone is not only a game changer but a certifiable hit," wrote Om Malik on GigaOM, who came up with seven reasons why the iPhone is selling so well.
Details surrounding the iPhone's sales performance came to light during Apple's fiscal fourth quarter earnings conference call this week, in which Jobs said that Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones to RIM's 6.1 million. In addition, the iPhone -- if Apple's current accounting rules didn't spread out the revenue -- would have equated to $4.6 billion for the quarter, which is a cool 39 percent of the company's total revenue. Smash hit, indeed.
"But even more remarkable is this -- measured by revenues, Apple has become the world's third-largest mobile phone supplier," Jobs said in his company's conference call to investors.
"I know this sounds crazy, but it's true -- as measured in revenues, not units, Apple has become the third largest mobile phone supplier," Jobs continued. He then ranked phone vendors: Nokia placed first with US$12.7 billion; Samsung second at $5.9 billion; and Apple made third at $4.6 billion. Sony Ericsson, LG, Motorola (NYSE: MMI) and RIM rounded out the top seven. "Pretty amazing," he added.
The GigaOM post on the subject is peppered with criticism, though a few iPhone lovers stand out.
"I love my iPhone. It changed the way I use a mobile device. Before, I had an LG phone that was a phone and txt device (with a crappy camera), and for work I had a Blackberry, which was an e-mail device (with a crappy phone). The Web function on the Blackberry was unusable for regular surfing," noted Allison, adding, "My iPhone is my phone, my datebook, my stock-checker, my weather guide, my car map, my regular-use Web browser, my e-mail client, my camera and much more. It FREES me from my PC for all purposes except writing papers, etc. Sure, not all features are perfect (I'd love a higher res camera), but so many are so damn close that, at least for me, the iPhone changed everything. I could NEVER go back to my old cell phone ever again."
Apple also announced that it had sold almost 13 million iPhones thus far, handily beating its own 10 million goal by the end of 2008.
"That's 10 million people who will look pretty stupid when they see how superior the Android phones are," commented Charbax.
"Android is going to take over quickly by a factor of 10 to 1. Cause you are going to be able to buy unsubsidized unlocked Android phones at $150 pretty soon, that also will be data-centric running VOIP and IM on free White Spaces and HSDPA instead of crappy expensive voice and sms plans," Charbax added.
Still, Can Apple Keep Up the Growth?
"While the overall market for iPhone is growing at an impressive rate, it is possible that the follow-up quarter will show a dip in iPhone sales due to the pent-up demand that had existed prior to the global roll out. I am certain we will see quarterly unit sales of iPhone exceed 6.9 million in the future, it just may not be the next quarter," Raven Zachary, founder of iPhoneDevCamp and a contributing analyst for The 451 Group, told MacNewsWorld.
Apple could widen its iPhone lineup next year and continue with frenetic growth, Ken Dulaney, a vice president and analyst for Gartner's (NYSE: IT) mobile and wireless practice, told MacNewsWorld. However, when it comes to RIM, it's not all Apples-to-Apples comparisons.
"Apple sells to a much wider audience than RIM. RIM is just now moving into the consumer space. So given that both manufacturing engines are operating at high levels, it is not surprising that Apple would outsell RIM," Dulaney noted.
"RIM did make a mistake launching some models months before they were able to ship. That dried up demand. A classic mistake," added.
"I don't see Apple stealing from RIM or RIM stealing from Apple as big factors -- although many think this is happening. They are stealing from Motorola and other designs that are not as compelling as these products. Both companies are rising and will be mainstream players. Apple will be larger because of what I said above. Both will be very successful at the expense of others such as Samsung, Motorola, LG and even Nokia," he explained.
Meanwhile, What About Netbooks?
Even though Jobs dismissed the netbook category this week, Apple may still be working on a netbook-like device.
John Markoff, posting to The New York Times' Bits blog, made no bones about it with the title of his post: "Read My Lips: Apple Is a Netbook Maker".
Markoff revealed that a source from a search engine company, whose name will remain anonymous, said the search engine company spotted Web visits from an unannounced Apple product with a display somewhere between an iPhone and a MacBook.
"Is it the iPhone 3.0 or the NetMac 1.0?" Markoff wrote.
"You need to look to the past to see the future. Back in the beginning of time, Apple went from one iPod to one iPod in multiple sizes and eventually to a whole family of iPods. I suspect that the iPhone will follow the same trajectory, with both larger and smaller versions of the existing model," commented john m flores. "Imagine this, take the guts of the current iPhone, give it a 8" or 9" screen and a keyboard and what do you have? A netbook! And considering that iPhones go for $199, I'm reasonably assured that Apple will be able to produce the above-described netbook at a very competitive price ..."
While the netbook market might still be in infancy without a lot of ready consumers, some already see the value in ultra-small PCs.
"I love Netbooks! If Apple comes out with one, I'll be on a line on 5th av. These little tools are great for casual travel, they are great for rough users, they are great for light work, they are great for kids, they are simply awesome 2-3rd computer users. They might be cheap and have awful keyboards, but who cares?! They're great for what they're supposed to do," commented eDDIe B.
Speaking of Small
Meanwhile, the Mac mini hasn't moved in a long time. That's led some, like Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz, to theorize that Apple's smallest Mac may not be long of this Earth. The mini hasn't seen a good update in more than a year, and with all the attention Apple has been lavishing on laptops, some worry Apple might just kill off the line entirely. The catalyst this week came in the form of a pair of unnamed retailers in Europe who confirmed that they couldn't order any more Mac minis. Speculation turned to Apple's financial call with Wall Street and the possibility Apple would announce the mini's demise.
While Jobs said Apple's not capable of building a $500 piece of junk computer, the $599 and $799 Mac minis are still available from the Apple Online Store and apparently are shipping. While the Mac mini brings up the rear in terms of sales for Apple, it does have a following of fans.
"I just bought a Mini two weeks ago. Love it. Perfect media device for my living room," commented stinkweed on the Gizmodo post on the subject.
"The mini was my first Mac, I'll be disappointed if they kill it. An all-in-one like an iMac is not very attractive to me. I upgrade every 2-3 years and if I'm going to spend the money on a nice 24" monitor, I don't want to have to dump it when I upgrade," added radeon21.
Some commenters speculated that Apple might somehow refresh the mini with a new name like the MacMicro, Mac tablet, or Mac nano, while others hoped for some upgrade combination with the Apple TV -- something like a Mac Media model.
If Apple does upgrade the Mac mini, there's a good chance it'll be put to use in unintended ways.
"Personally, I love the Mac Mini," commented Hanzo, who noted, "I have one installed in my MINI Cooper S running Neon Boom Box. And another in data center running as a mail/web server."
