iMore » conference call

Notes of interest from Apple Q1 2012 conference call

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:57:10 +0000

Below are notes of interest from Apple’s just-completed 2012 conference call. Some interesting comments — or non-comments — from Tim Cook on Apple Television, bigger 4G Android phones, and Microsoft. Dig in!

Jan 24 2012, 4:59 PM: reneritchie: Apple Q1 2012 results: $46.33 billion in revenue, 37.04 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads, 15.4 million iPods
Jan 24 2012, 5:02 PM: reneritchie: Call starting now.
Jan 24 2012, 5:02 PM: reneritchie: Oppenheimer likely up first. Read out the results.
Jan 24 2012, 5:03 PM: reneritchie: And here’s Op.
Jan 24 2012, 5:03 PM: reneritchie: Biggest Q in history, new records. Highs for iPhones, iPads, Macs. (Poor iPod).
Jan 24 2012, 5:03 PM: reneritchie: 46.3 billion in rev. 73% growth. Feuled by iPhone, iPad, Mac. Aided by 14th week in quarter. 17 billion margin. 13.1 billion income.
Jan 24 2012, 5:04 PM: reneritchie: Equalling half the income of half of 2011.
Jan 24 2012, 5:04 PM: reneritchie: Going over stocks now.
Jan 24 2012, 5:04 PM: reneritchie: Macs.
Jan 24 2012, 5:04 PM: reneritchie: New record with 5.2 million Macs. New records for desktop and portables.
Jan 24 2012, 5:05 PM: reneritchie: Average weekly sales up strongly. Outgrew market in all geographies, especially Asia/Pac. Fueled by MacBook Pro, Air, iMac strong.
Jan 24 2012, 5:05 PM: reneritchie: 3-4 weeks of inventory.
Jan 24 2012, 5:05 PM: reneritchie: Mac App Store a success. Over 100 mil apps in less than a year. Thousands of apps.
Jan 24 2012, 5:05 PM: reneritchie: (Not as big as iOS app store by far)
Jan 24 2012, 5:05 PM: reneritchie: 15.4 million iPods. Down from 19 last year.
Jan 24 2012, 5:06 PM: reneritchie: Ahead of expectations. IPod touch more than 50%. Over 70% of MP3 market. Top selling MP3 player in most countries.
Jan 24 2012, 5:06 PM: reneritchie: 4-6 weeks of inventory.
Jan 24 2012, 5:06 PM: reneritchie: iTunes store generated 1.7 billion
Jan 24 2012, 5:06 PM: reneritchie: Launched iTunes Music in Brazil and 27 other countries.
Jan 24 2012, 5:06 PM: reneritchie: iTunes customer busy on Xmas, 140 million downloads
Jan 24 2012, 5:07 PM: reneritchie: iPhone sold 37 million. 128% growth. Way ahead of market.
Jan 24 2012, 5:07 PM: reneritchie: Very strong growth in all segments thank to iPhone 4S. Customer captivated by Siri.
Jan 24 2012, 5:07 PM: reneritchie: (Talking up Siri)
Jan 24 2012, 5:07 PM: reneritchie: iPhone inventory up 200k, 6 mil in channel, below 4-6 weeks.
Jan 24 2012, 5:07 PM: reneritchie: iPhone revenue was 24.4 billion inlcuding accessories. 133% up
Jan 24 2012, 5:08 PM: reneritchie: Nearly all Fortune 500 companies use/test iPhone. Changing way companies use mobile devices.
Jan 24 2012, 5:08 PM: reneritchie: Developing, deploying mission critical apps.
Jan 24 2012, 5:08 PM: reneritchie: (Listing tons of companies using iPhone, including Facebook)
Jan 24 2012, 5:09 PM: Bla1ze: That’s a lot of companies.
Jan 24 2012, 5:09 PM: reneritchie: Pleased to be shipping in China, 90 countries, fastest rollout ever
Jan 24 2012, 5:09 PM: reneritchie: 15 million iPads. 111% increase.
Jan 24 2012, 5:09 PM: reneritchie: iPad popular with holiday buyers.
Jan 24 2012, 5:09 PM: reneritchie: iPad + accessories up 99%, 9.1 billion
Jan 24 2012, 5:09 PM: reneritchie: iPad sales exceeded expectations. 4-6 weeks inventory.
Jan 24 2012, 5:10 PM: Felichiomo: hello
Jan 24 2012, 5:10 PM: reneritchie: Unprecendented adoption in business. Nearly all fortune 500 companies.
Jan 24 2012, 5:10 PM: reneritchie: iPad enables business to change the way to work. (Giving examples.)
Jan 24 2012, 5:10 PM: Bla1ze: Heck, even my bank uses iPads
Jan 24 2012, 5:11 PM: reneritchie: 1.5 million iPads in use in education
Jan 24 2012, 5:11 PM: reneritchie: 1000 one-to-one deployments.
Jan 24 2012, 5:11 PM: reneritchie: Announced iBooks 2 last week. (Giving marketing pitch)
Jan 24 2012, 5:11 PM: reneritchie: (Listing publishers)
Jan 24 2012, 5:11 PM: Bla1ze: And with iBooks 2, that number will grow.
Jan 24 2012, 5:11 PM: reneritchie: iBooks Author means anyone with a Mac can create books, publish them.
Jan 24 2012, 5:11 PM: reneritchie: (How many copies? Missed that!)
Jan 24 2012, 5:12 PM: Bla1ze: 600,000
Jan 24 2012, 5:12 PM: reneritchie: Thanks!
Jan 24 2012, 5:12 PM: reneritchie: 3 million copies of iTunes U downloaded
Jan 24 2012, 5:12 PM: reneritchie: 315 cumulative iOS device sales. 62 million last quarter.
Jan 24 2012, 5:12 PM: reneritchie: iOS and iCloud launched last quarter. Customer loves it!
Jan 24 2012, 5:12 PM: reneritchie: 85 million iCloud customers.
Jan 24 2012, 5:12 PM: reneritchie: (Giving iCloud pitch)
Jan 24 2012, 5:13 PM: Bla1ze: 85 million customers signed up for iCloud?
Jan 24 2012, 5:13 PM: reneritchie: App Store includibly succesful. 170,000 iPad apps, half a million total
Jan 24 2012, 5:13 PM: reneritchie: Chris — is that what he said?
Jan 24 2012, 5:13 PM: Bla1ze: I believe so, yes.
Jan 24 2012, 5:13 PM: reneritchie: Apple retail had record sales.
Jan 24 2012, 5:13 PM: reneritchie: iPhone sales robust, doubling. IpHone 4S launch.
Jan 24 2012, 5:13 PM: reneritchie: iPad 2 was strong over the holidays.
Jan 24 2012, 5:14 PM: reneritchie: 1.1 million Macs. Half the Macs sold are still to new Mac customers.
Jan 24 2012, 5:14 PM: reneritchie: 4 new stores including Grand Central.
Jan 24 2012, 5:14 PM: reneritchie: 358 stores open. 17.1 million average per store. 43% up.
Jan 24 2012, 5:14 PM: reneritchie: 45% increase in visitors.
Jan 24 2012, 5:14 PM: Bla1ze: (Still waiting for my Halifax store, cause you know — obviously Apple needs my money lol)
Jan 24 2012, 5:15 PM: reneritchie: 22,000 visitors per store, per week on average.
Jan 24 2012, 5:15 PM: reneritchie: Easy pay checkout has helped handle the traffic.
Jan 24 2012, 5:15 PM: reneritchie: Personal pickup let’s them pick up in-store products in an hour, makes shopping easier/faster.
Jan 24 2012, 5:15 PM: reneritchie: Lower commodities, leverage on higher revernue, one-time (something?), higher iPhone sales.
Jan 24 2012, 5:16 PM: reneritchie: (Getting into the financial stuff.)
Jan 24 2012, 5:16 PM: reneritchie: Cash on hand is now 97.6 BILLION
Jan 24 2012, 5:16 PM: reneritchie: 64 billion is off shore.
Jan 24 2012, 5:16 PM: reneritchie: 17.5 in cashflow. Actively discussing use. Nothing to announce. Very disciplined. Not letting it burn a hole in their pocket.
Jan 24 2012, 5:17 PM: reneritchie: Next quarter is 13 weeks. Expect 32.5 billion. Gross margins to be 42%, OPEX 3.05 billion.
Jan 24 2012, 5:17 PM: reneritchie: 25.25% tax rate, eps of 8.25
Jan 24 2012, 5:17 PM: reneritchie: Closing. Very please. (Yeah, I’d be please too!)
Jan 24 2012, 5:17 PM: Bla1ze: 8.50
Jan 24 2012, 5:18 PM: reneritchie: TThanks!
Jan 24 2012, 5:18 PM: reneritchie: Strongest product lineup in Apple history.
Jan 24 2012, 5:18 PM: reneritchie: Q&A time!
Jan 24 2012, 5:18 PM: Bla1ze: Excited for the new product pipeline..
Jan 24 2012, 5:18 PM: reneritchie: Can you describe iPhone momentum? Enthusiasm for H1 2012?
Jan 24 2012, 5:19 PM: Bla1ze: Looking for details on metrics
Jan 24 2012, 5:19 PM: reneritchie: Cook: Thrilled with sales. Substantially above previous. Breathtaking customer receptuon of iPhone 4S/iOS 5/camera/Siri
Jan 24 2012, 5:19 PM: reneritchie: Customers loving it
Jan 24 2012, 5:20 PM: reneritchie: Made a bold bet as to what demand would be, despite bold bet, Apple was short of supply. Ended with significant backlog. Improved some since end of Q. Still short in key geographies.
Jan 24 2012, 5:20 PM: reneritchie: Also attibuted to delayed purchases from prior quarter, people anticipating new iPhone. Made a correct decsion to go with broad range, turned out to be good. 14th week was part of this, factored that in.
Jan 24 2012, 5:20 PM: reneritchie: Strength in every key region, US and Japan particularly.
Jan 24 2012, 5:21 PM: reneritchie: Many more sales days than most countries.
Jan 24 2012, 5:21 PM: reneritchie: iPhone sale sin greater China especially since iPhone 4S didn’t start in PRC until Jan.
Jan 24 2012, 5:21 PM: reneritchie: Could not be happier
Jan 24 2012, 5:21 PM: reneritchie: Bet bold but not high enough, customers loving it, Apple happy.
Jan 24 2012, 5:21 PM: reneritchie: Q: ASP is up for iPhone, good mix of higher capacity 4S?
Jan 24 2012, 5:22 PM: reneritchie: TC: iPhone 4S was most popular iPhone. Consistent with most launches. See higher mix of front end.
Jan 24 2012, 5:22 PM: reneritchie: Q: Pent up demand at end of December is US, Japan, or new countries?
Jan 24 2012, 5:23 PM: reneritchie: Q: Component environment, production capacity, can you address catch up demand, China? Help you rebuild inventory in March?
Jan 24 2012, 5:23 PM: reneritchie: TC: Demand in China has been staggering. Selling through reseller and online. Not currently in retail. Demand off the charts.
Jan 24 2012, 5:23 PM: reneritchie: Very happy.
Jan 24 2012, 5:24 PM: reneritchie: Other countries were smaller countries in terms of demand. Will see how it goes. Did make progress.
Jan 24 2012, 5:24 PM: reneritchie: Caught up in some countries, still some to catch up on.
Jan 24 2012, 5:24 PM: reneritchie: Component environment is favorable, one of the things that let them overachieve on gross margin. Predicts it will stay favorable except for hard drives affected by tragedy in Thailand.
Jan 24 2012, 5:25 PM: reneritchie: Doesn’t predict issue but will pay more, reflected in guidance.
Jan 24 2012, 5:25 PM: reneritchie: Q: More detail on hard drive? Impact on sales? Impact on revenue?
Jan 24 2012, 5:25 PM: reneritchie: TC: Was not material supply or cost for December quarter.
Jan 24 2012, 5:25 PM: reneritchie: March quarter not expecting any material supply impact but prices have increased, included in guidance.
Jan 24 2012, 5:26 PM: reneritchie: Q: December quarter NAND down 10%, DRAMM down 40%(?) How favorable will pricing be in March quarter?
Jan 24 2012, 5:26 PM: reneritchie: TC: Not confirming percentages but did receive better cost, particularly on displays, NAND flash, DRAMM. Continue to have supply exceed demand.
Jan 24 2012, 5:27 PM: reneritchie: HD big exception, constrained industry wide basis. Can navigate supply issue, paying more for them.
Jan 24 2012, 5:27 PM: reneritchie: PO: Loss of leverage on lower revenue, non recurrence of 1 time items, stronger US dollar.
Jan 24 2012, 5:28 PM: reneritchie: PO: How big were 1 time items?
Jan 24 2012, 5:28 PM: reneritchie: (Not PO, Q
Jan 24 2012, 5:28 PM: reneritchie: PO: Better mix, largely iPhone sales
Jan 24 2012, 5:28 PM: reneritchie: Q: iPad — very strong numbers december quarter, any impact from lower price tablets? How do you think of competition from Amazon?
Jan 24 2012, 5:29 PM: reneritchie: TC: Really happy with 15 million iPad sales, took down inventory slightly. Consistent with long term belief that this is huge opportunity for Apple over time.
Jan 24 2012, 5:29 PM: reneritchie: Truly believe that tablet market in units is bigger than PC market. Interesting to note it’s clear on IDC data on desktops, tablets exceeded desktop sales in US.
Jan 24 2012, 5:30 PM: reneritchie: Significant momentum. Competitiveness — ecosystem is in a class by itself. Larger canvas. 170,000 apps for iPad. A few hundred for the competition.
Jan 24 2012, 5:31 PM: reneritchie: People really wnat to do multiple things with tablets. Don’t see limited function tablets/e-readers in teh same categories. Will sell a far enumber of units but iPad wanters won’t settle.
Jan 24 2012, 5:31 PM: reneritchie: Last year year of tablet. Was year of iPad for second year in a row.
Jan 24 2012, 5:31 PM: Bla1ze: No iPad killers? I’m shocked.
Jan 24 2012, 5:31 PM: reneritchie: Q: Digging into iPad, what are you learning in terms of elasticity?
Jan 24 2012, 5:31 PM: Bla1ze: Looking at iPhone numbers now.
Jan 24 2012, 5:31 PM: reneritchie: Pre-paid market.
Jan 24 2012, 5:32 PM: reneritchie: TC: Each model, 3GS, iPhone 4, was important in achieving total units.
Jan 24 2012, 5:32 PM: reneritchie: Glad to cover broad range of products. IPhone 4S most popular.
Jan 24 2012, 5:32 PM: reneritchie: Post paid market much smaller difference between models. Larger in pre-paid market.
Jan 24 2012, 5:32 PM: reneritchie: Too early to tell. Just started in Oct.
Jan 24 2012, 5:32 PM: reneritchie: Thrilled with total result.
Jan 24 2012, 5:33 PM: reneritchie: Q: Discussing uses of cash? Any difference than historical behavior? Thinking more constructively?
Jan 24 2012, 5:34 PM: reneritchie: PO: Always discussed internally in management and board. Recognize it’s growing for all the right reasons. Today, discussions are active.
Jan 24 2012, 5:34 PM: reneritchie: Nothing to announce.
Jan 24 2012, 5:34 PM: reneritchie: Q: Time frame? Will you tell us when you finish? Process? Ending?
Jan 24 2012, 5:34 PM: reneritchie: PO: When they have something to announce, they’ll announce it.
Jan 24 2012, 5:35 PM: reneritchie: Q: Gross margins. Saying it’s going 270 basis points, bucking trends. Loss of 1-time item that significant.
Jan 24 2012, 5:35 PM: reneritchie: PO: (Giving same answer to same question. Sigh. Analysts, up yo game!)
Jan 24 2012, 5:35 PM: llofte: such lame questions
Jan 24 2012, 5:36 PM: reneritchie: (How about asking what they think of the television market?)
Jan 24 2012, 5:36 PM: reneritchie: (They won’t answer, but the non-answer will be interesting)
Jan 24 2012, 5:36 PM: Bla1ze: Here we go Rene
Jan 24 2012, 5:37 PM: reneritchie: Q: Congrats! At CES, everyone has connected TV, trying to solve problems only Apple can solve. Apple TV looks outdated. What’s your strategy?
Jan 24 2012, 5:37 PM: Bla1ze: Sold 2.8 million Apple TV’s
Jan 24 2012, 5:37 PM: reneritchie: TC: Apple TV doing well. Sold 2.8 million last year. December quarter new record, 1.4 million. (Including Leanna!). Still classified as hobby.
Jan 24 2012, 5:37 PM: Bla1ze: (and me)
Jan 24 2012, 5:37 PM: reneritchie: Continue to add things to it. Couldn’t live without it. Fantastic product. Pull strings, see where it takes us. No comment.
Jan 24 2012, 5:37 PM: reneritchie: TC: New job as CEO, any surprises?
Jan 24 2012, 5:38 PM: reneritchie: (Q, not TC)
Jan 24 2012, 5:38 PM: reneritchie: TC: I love Apple, priviliege to work with incredible team. Lucky.
Jan 24 2012, 5:38 PM: reneritchie: Q: Strategic, first 4 months?
Jan 24 2012, 5:38 PM: reneritchie: TC: Look at our results, team doing terrific job.
Jan 24 2012, 5:38 PM: reneritchie: Q: (Montreal!) Cash balance, perspective on framing different opportunities?
Jan 24 2012, 5:39 PM: Bla1ze: Again with the cash balance questions.
Jan 24 2012, 5:39 PM: reneritchie: PO: Examining all possibilities — acquisitions, supply chain, otherwise, nothing to share on dividends or buy backs. Actively discussion. Not burning a hole in their pockets.
Jan 24 2012, 5:40 PM: reneritchie: Q: iCloud? What’s your perception on value add? What are the metrics used to determine if its driving success?
Jan 24 2012, 5:40 PM: reneritchie: TC: Shared number of customers – 85 million in just a few months.
Jan 24 2012, 5:40 PM: reneritchie: Solved a lot of problems
Jan 24 2012, 5:40 PM: reneritchie: (Doing marketing pitch on iCloud)
Jan 24 2012, 5:41 PM: reneritchie: Not a product, it’s a strategy for the next decade.
Jan 24 2012, 5:41 PM: reneritchie: Q: iPhone distro in the Q, moving forward
Jan 24 2012, 5:41 PM: reneritchie: Where are you? Prospects for expansion in China, carriers?
Jan 24 2012, 5:41 PM: reneritchie: TC: 130,000 points of sale, up 35%
Jan 24 2012, 5:42 PM: reneritchie: Captured carriers, key retailers
Jan 24 2012, 5:42 PM: reneritchie: Extremely pleased.
Jan 24 2012, 5:42 PM: reneritchie: Incumbant carriers did incredbly well, proud of new carriers. Nothing to announce on China expansion. Extremely important market for Apple.
Jan 24 2012, 5:43 PM: reneritchie: Q: Revenue guidance for March quarter?
Jan 24 2012, 5:43 PM: reneritchie: (Interesting no one is asking about Google competition this time?)
Jan 24 2012, 5:44 PM: reneritchie: PO: Would expect to have yearly increase on iPhone, down sequentially. iPad same thing.
Jan 24 2012, 5:44 PM: reneritchie: Mac, iPod, same thing, seasonality.
Jan 24 2012, 5:45 PM: reneritchie: PO: Five reaosns why he expects greater down: 1) 14th week, 1/14th of revenue, 2) 14th week fell in March Q last week, not included this week, typically higher than average. 3) iPhone inventory increased 1.7 mil unites. 4) benefited from launch of iPhone 4S, pent up demand. Fastest roll out ever.
Jan 24 2012, 5:46 PM: reneritchie: 5) US dollar up against Euro. Last year was flat.
Jan 24 2012, 5:46 PM: reneritchie: Q: Acquisitions? Strategy? Annobit?
Jan 24 2012, 5:47 PM: reneritchie: PO: Done acquisitions that were small, medium with great talent, great start on product/technology/IP.
Jan 24 2012, 5:47 PM: reneritchie: Tend to do several a year. Very diciplined. track record very strong.
Jan 24 2012, 5:47 PM: reneritchie: Q: How are they integrated in? Run as stand alone?
Jan 24 2012, 5:48 PM: reneritchie: TC: We don’t believe in lots of divisions. One company, not a lot of mini-companies. Semi conductors work for Mansfield like rest of hardware. Bob integrating Annobit. Fantastic technical talent. Lucky they joined.
Jan 24 2012, 5:49 PM: reneritchie: Q: Focus on China, 500 carriers in the world? Adding them? Country rollout, China on rollout side, Brazil next, what about Russia, India retail?
Jan 24 2012, 5:49 PM: reneritchie: TC: Key online, carrier, retailer partners. Russia, india through partners. In all thoe countries.
Jan 24 2012, 5:50 PM: reneritchie: Clear in the past, ton more energy in the China market today doesn’t mean lack of focus or effort in other countries, just less.
Jan 24 2012, 5:50 PM: reneritchie: Brazil is huge opportunity.
Jan 24 2012, 5:50 PM: reneritchie: Doesn’t invision retail in near term.
Jan 24 2012, 5:50 PM: reneritchie: Beginning to see traction, recognize they have to focus to deeply understand, get to large revenue figure like greater China.
Jan 24 2012, 5:51 PM: reneritchie: More carriers, anticipate adding them. Nothing specific but looking at the same list you are. Major carriers, number much smaller.
Jan 24 2012, 5:51 PM: reneritchie: Same thing with countries. All are important. Wants to get into all of them.
Jan 24 2012, 5:52 PM: reneritchie: Q: tablet market? iPad growth outpaced expectations. Think Apple benefitted from lower cost, reduced feature tablets? Checked them out, traded up to iPad? Same thing with MacBook Air? Ultrabook clones?
Jan 24 2012, 5:52 PM: reneritchie: TC: Data in US looked at on weekly basis after Amazon launched Kindle Fire. Wasn’t obvious effect plus or minus. Heard your theory from some customers who did just taht.
Jan 24 2012, 5:52 PM: reneritchie: Whether that’s happening on large basis, he doesn’t know. No obvious change.
Jan 24 2012, 5:53 PM: reneritchie: Is cannibalization of Mac by iPad but continue to believe much more cannibilzation of Windows. Love that trend.
Jan 24 2012, 5:53 PM: reneritchie: TC: iPad is very diffrent: Can see it nbegiining to appear everywhere. Business has adopted it. Fortune and global 500. K12 sold 2x iPads to Macs.
Jan 24 2012, 5:54 PM: reneritchie: Education adopts tech slowly so surprising.
Jan 24 2012, 5:54 PM: reneritchie: Consumer has moved in huge way to iPad.
Jan 24 2012, 5:54 PM: reneritchie: Winning market by market by market.
Jan 24 2012, 5:54 PM: reneritchie: Consumers who think about ecosystem, customer experience, Apple will win a fair number. See that in the results.
Jan 24 2012, 5:54 PM: reneritchie: 55 milllion iPads, only in business since April 2010.
Jan 24 2012, 5:55 PM: reneritchie: Q: Customer data, because of refresh cycle, Apple vs. competition? iPhone buying quicker or halo effect?
Jan 24 2012, 5:55 PM: reneritchie: TC: In enterpise, iPhone is catalyst, iPad moves after. Mac follows in several accounts. Clear examples.
Jan 24 2012, 5:56 PM: reneritchie: Macro level, how much it’s happening is difficult to put their fingers on, but all segments pointing that out. Seen that before with iPod halo for Mac in early 2002-2004. Not new to Apple.
Jan 24 2012, 5:56 PM: Patrick Finger: http://9to5mac.com/2012/01/24/aapl-blows-by-450-in-after-hours-trading/

AAPL blows by 450 in after hours trading. Market cap at $420B, passing Exxon | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence

Jan 24 2012, 5:56 PM: reneritchie: Q: Android vs. iPhone — this the year of a 2 horse race? Can your integrated model survive?
Jan 24 2012, 5:57 PM: reneritchie: TC: Not like Mac and Windows. Mac has outgrown market for over 20 Q in a row. Still has single digit percentage. iOS look at phone, tablet, touch, over 315 million sold.
Jan 24 2012, 5:57 PM: reneritchie: 62 million in last quarter.
Jan 24 2012, 5:57 PM: reneritchie: Don’t have numbers on Android, hasn’t found a way to get transparent numbers on Android.
Jan 24 2012, 5:58 PM: reneritchie: Momentum, NPD data in the US, Oct-Nov, part of launch, just phones not total iOS, iPhone at 42, Android at 47
Jan 24 2012, 5:58 PM: reneritchie: Nielsen Oct-Dec, iPhone 45, Android 47
Jan 24 2012, 5:58 PM: reneritchie: Comscore, Oct-Nov. iPhone 42, Android 41
Jan 24 2012, 5:59 PM: reneritchie: All of the data he’s seen in US say it’s a close race. On iPad side, no specifci numbers, all of them believe iPad is way ahead. No comparable product to iPod touch. iOS doing exrememly well.
Jan 24 2012, 5:59 PM: reneritchie: Horse in Redmond always suits up, always run. Other players can’t be counted out.
Jan 24 2012, 5:59 PM: reneritchie: Apple focuses on innovating, making world’s best product. Somewhat ignore how many horses. Just want to be the lead one.
Jan 24 2012, 5:59 PM: reneritchie: Q: 4G and larger screens?
Jan 24 2012, 6:00 PM: reneritchie: Has popularity of Android changed you point of view?
Jan 24 2012, 6:00 PM: reneritchie: TC: Won’t comment on future roadmap, not a shock. 37 million iPhones sold, incredible number could have sold more if more supply. Really love what Apple is doing.
Jan 24 2012, 6:00 PM: reneritchie: AND THAT’S IT!
Jan 24 2012, 6:01 PM: reneritchie: Thanks everyone for joining us!
Jan 24 2012, 6:01 PM: reneritchie: Cook didn’t really hint at much this time. Even the snark level was down.
Jan 24 2012, 6:01 PM: Brad Morris: Noooo, I missed it!
Jan 24 2012, 6:01 PM: reneritchie: You can get the replay off iTunes. Or just scroll up.

Apple Q4 2011 by the numbers

Leanna Lofte — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 02:31:00 +0000

Apple held their Q4 2011 conference call today and as usual announced a ton of numbers pertaining to revenue, profit, sales, and more.

Revenue

$28.7 billion in Q4 revenue
$6.62 billion in Q4 net profit
$7.05 per diluted share
$81.6 billion available cash
$54 billion in cash held off-shore
Apple set a $37 billion guidance for fiscal Q1 (holiday)

Huge amount of cash, but not as much as Wall Street wanted, and get ready for the dividends questions again.

iOS

25 million iOS device sold in Q4
250 million iOS device sales to date (cumulative)

iPhone

17.1 million iPhones sold in Q4
iPhone sales up 21% year over year
iPhone 4S available in 7 countries, 22 more on their way
93% of Fortune 500 deploying or testing iPhones
60% of Global 500 deploying or testing iPhones

This doesn’t include the 4 million iPhone 4S sold opening weekend, but does include a slow down in sales Apple attributes to all the rumors of a new iPhone coming out. (Um… yeah!)

iPad

11.12 million iPads sold in Q4
iPad 2 available in 90 countries
52% of Global 500 deploying or testing iPads

Margins aren’t as high for the iPad as for the iPhone so even great iPad (and Mac) sales can’t make up for lower iPhone sales.

iPod

6.6 million iPod sales sold in Q4
3.3 million iPod touch sold in Q4 (50% of iPod sales)
iPod still has more than 70% share in U.S. 10 years after introduced

17.1 million iPhones, 11.1 million iPads, and… 3.3 million iPod touches? Maybe questions about cannibalization shouldn’t have been focused on Mac?

App Store and iTunes

18 billion App Store downloads
180 million iBookstore downloads
16 billion songs downloaded from iTunes

App Store downloads have surpassed iTunes Store downloads. And they’re not slowing down. iBooks on the other hand remain a “hobby.”

Mac

6 million Lion downloads, since its release this summer
4.89 million Macs sold in Q4

Nice little side business…

Retail Stores

$10.7 million average revenue per Apple Store
$108 billion in revenue for fiscal year, 66% growth over FY10
77.5 million Apple Store visits in Q4
16% of Apple’s revenue came from China
500,000 apps available on the App Store, available in 23 countries
13% of Apple’s revenue from retail
357 Apple Stores world-wide
$3.6 billion in revenue from Apple Stores
Apple plans to add 40 new Apple Stores next Q, 3/4 outside of U.S.
All five stores combined in China have the most traffic
30 new Apple stores were added in Q4

Yeah, despite cranky Wall Street types, I think it’s safe to say that Apple is doing just fine.

TiPb Answers: Verizon iPhone and the limitations of CDMA

Rene Ritchie — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:56:53 +0000

Note: We’ve posted a new version of this article, updated to include iPhone 4S and Sprint.

While many have been waiting a long time for the Verizon iPhone, the same CDMA network that gives Verizon its terrific coverage and reliability brings with it a host of other problems, including the famous lack of simultaneous voice and data and limited international roaming, but also some lesser known issues such as split SMS messages and greatly reduced conference calling options.

None of these are new to the Verizon iPhone but they are new to iPhone now that it’s on Verizon, and new to users who haven’t experienced CDMA before. We’ll take a look at them after the break.

No simultaneous voice and data

Verizon runs on CDMA2000 using EVDO Rev. A for 3G data (see our wireless networking guide for more on what those terms mean). EVDO Rev. A does not support simultaneous voice and data the way AT&T (and other GSM carriers) HSPA networks do. That means if a call comes in while you’re using 3G data — surfing the web, Skyping, sharing your connection via personal hotspot — you can either ignore the call and continue using 3G data, or answer the call and effectively put your 3G data connection on “pause”. If you’re on a call you won’t receive email or push notifications and if you try to surf the web or download an app you’ll be informed you’re not connected to the 3G network. Once the call ends, 3G data reconnects and you can start using the internet again.

If you’re on Wi-Fi as opposed to 3G data you can make calls and use data without a problem. It’s only 3G that cuts out during calls.

Verizon has chosen not to roll out EVDO Rev. B, which does support simultaneous data in favor of more quickly deploying a 4G LTE network (currently a hybrid CDMA-voice with LTE-data network, in the future a Voice over LTE network). They are rolling out Voice over Rev A (VoRA) aka SVDO which will allow for simultaneous voice and data on future CDMA/EVDO phones, but not the Verizon iPhone. (See The Cell Phone Junky for more on the technology.)

Limited international roaming

GSM/HSPA, the standard used by AT&T and T-Mobile in the US, is far closer to being an international standard than the CDMA/EVDO technology used by Verizon. While there are a few other CDMA/EVDO networks in North America and Asia, GSM/HSPA is supported throughout most of the rest of the world, including Europe. If you use a Verizon iPhone there are a limited number of countries where you’ll be able to roam. Verizon does offer loaner GSM phones for international travelers but that’s not as seamless a solution as GSM iPhones that can intrinsically roam around most of the world.

SMS/Text splitting

SMS/Text messages are limited to 160 characters. On AT&T and other GSM iPhones, if a message exceeds 160 characters it will still be shown as a single message to both the sender and receiver. On Verizon once an SMS hits 160 characters, any additional text is split off into a second message, after 320, a third message, etc. The same content is still delivered, it’s just not presented as nicely. (In some cases the message parts might even appear out of order which is even more annoying.)

Limited conference calling

Verizon’s CDMA network only supports “3 way calling” so you can only enter into a conference call with up to 2 other people (3 including yourself) at the same time. It doesn’t matter if iPhone can handle more, Verizon’s network and hence the Verizon iPhone is limited to 3-way calling.

Likewise, 9to5Mac points out that handling conference calls is also more challenging on the Verizon iPhone since you can’t take one party “private” or hang up on one caller while keeping the other active. (It hangs up on all callers.)

Apple provides the following diagram in their knowledge base:

That network

So yes, overall there are a lot of limitations to the way CDMA handles voice. However, if Verizon has great coverage in your area, you’re on Wi-Fi when you want to talk and surf, you rarely if ever travel internationally, split SMS/Text messages don’t bother you, and agile conference calling isn’t a must-have business feature for your iPhone, you may not care.

Otherwise it’s a compromise. Decide what’s most important to you and which carrier best provides it. If anything is a deal-breaker, then that makes your choice much simpler.

For more information and help check out our Verizon iPhone Forum.

Apple Q4 financial results conference call [Live updates!]

Rene Ritchie — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:00:52 +0000

Apple is set to announce its Q4 financial results today at 5pm ET, 2pm PT. The conference call usually provides a wealth of information about iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad sales, so we’ll be listening intently, posting highlights, and giving you our very best color and commentary to go along with it.

If you want to listen along with us, the call will be broadcast on Apple.com.

Commentary starts after the break!

Results are in and they are insane: $20.34 billion, 14.1 million iPhones, 4.19 million iPads, 9.05 million iPods in Q4 2010
Peter Oppenheimer (PO): Opening remarks, outstanding results. Best ever. All time records. Again. (Did I say insane?)
PO: Mac growth. People love iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro… but not as much as iPad.
PO: iPod share remains over 70%, iPod top selling, gaining share in most countries.
PO: iTunes store over $1 billion in revenue. Ping in 23 countries.
PO: iPhone 14.1 million sold, 91% year over year growth.
PO: 8.6 billion in iPhone revenue. 8.82 billion including accessories.
PO: 156 carriers, 89 countries. Asia, europe, Japan doubled year over year.
PO: 80% of fortune 500 piloting iPhone. P&G, GE, Pfiezer, All State, others have made iPhone available to employees.
PO: Could have sold more iPhones if we could have supplied them.
PO: 4.2 million iPads. 26 countries.
PO: 65% of Fortune 100 deploying or piloting iPad. P&G, Lowes, Hyatt, NBC, Novartis are examples.
PO: $2.7 billion in iPad revenue. $2.8 billion including accessories.
PO: Walmart, Target, Verizon, AT&T new distribution.
PO: 125 million iOS devices as of last month.
PO: iOS 4.2 coming November.
PO: App Store has 200,000 registered developers. 65,000 games/entertainment. 30,000 iPad apps.
PO: iAds results so far makes them “happy”.
PO: Apple retail time.
PO: $51 billion in cash.
PO: 40 million iPhones sold full-year. 7.5 million iPads in 2 quarters.
PO: Apple generated 5x revenue, 10x earnings as 2005.
Steve Jobs! (SJ): 14.1 million iPhones represents 91% growth. Handily beat RIM’s 12.1 million BlackBerry’s sold in most recent quarter. Past RIM, doesn’t see them catching up. They must become a software platform company. A challenge for them. A high mountain to climb.
SJ: Google activating 200,000 Android devices a day, 90,000 apps. Apple activating 275,000 iOS devices on average, 300,000 peek. Apple has 300,000 apps in its app store.
SJ: No sold data on how many Android handsets sold. Manufacturers don’t report it. Hopes they will. Waits to see who was the winner in most recent quarter.
SJ: Google likes to say Android is open, iOS is closed. Jobs finds that disingenuous. Unlike Windows, Android is very fragmented. Many Android OEMS including Motorola and HTC install proprietary UI, user is left to figure it all out. Every iPhone walks the same. TweetDeck recently launched Twitter Client, had to contend with 100 different versions on 244 different handsets. Many apps only work on some handsets on some versions, on devices shipped less than 12 months ago.
SJ: Amazon, Verizon, Voda all creating their own app stores. Customers much search, devs much figure out. Going to be a mess. iOS App Store is one stop shopping.
SJ: Even if Google was right, open systems don’t always win. PlaysForSure used separated model, even Microsoft abandoned that, turned to Zune, left OEM empty handed.
SJ: Open vs. closed is smokescreen. What’s better for customer, fragmented or integrated? Android is getting more fragmented every day. Users shouldn’t be system integrators. Huge difference in approach. Apple thinks just works will trump Google’s approach every time. Better for developers.
SJ: Apple confident integrated will triumph over Google no matter how much Google calls it open.
SJ: Other tables appear to be just a handful of credible entrants. Almost all use 7″ screens compared to iPad 10″. Would offer 70% of benefits. But only 45% as large because of diagonal measure. 7″ screens a bit smaller than bottom half of iPad screen. Not big enough to make great tablet apps.
SJ: Apple has done extensive testing, really understand this stuff. Limits to how close you can place elements for usability. Why 10″ is minimum size for great tablet apps.
SJ: Every tablet user is also smartphone user. No tablet can fit in your pocket. Giving up precious diplay area to fit tablets in pockets isn’t the way to go. Tweeners.
SJ: Many use Android software, even Google, tells manufacturers not to use Froyo. What does it mean when your software supplier says not to use the software and you ignore it?
SJ: iPad now has more than 35,000 apps. New tablets will have 0.
SJ: Competitors have a tough time coming close to iPad pricing even with smaller screen. Apple creates own chip, battery chemistry, enclosure, everything. Incredible product, incredible price. Competitors will likely offer less for more.
SJ: New crop of tablets will likely be DOA. Too small. Will increase size next year, abandon customers and developers who went 7-inch.
Tim Cook (TC): iPad supply constraints a balance with new launches.
SJ: iPad proves not a question of if, a question of when it will effect PC. Lots of interest in education. Not pushing hard in business but being grabbed out of their hands. Being shipped instead of board books, doctors, hospitals. The more time that passes, the more Jobs is convinced they have a tiger by the tail. New model of computing. 10s of millions already trained on with iPhone. Lends itself to lots of aspects of life, personal, educational, business.
SJ: Any updates on Flash? They love Flash memory! [Haha!]
TC: Demand for iPhone 4 took it to an entirely different level, even higher than anticipated.
SJ: Most web video is now HTML5, App Store, iTunes, dwarfs everything else. Very good product, hard to match, Apple’s not done. Doesn’t know what strategies competitors could take. Apple out to win.
SJ: Largest phone market not smartphones, many will convert to smartphones, pie will continue to grow. Room for some number of companies will be successful. Later will turn into zero sum game or close to it. Right now it’s a battle for developers, customers. Right now iPhone and Android winning.
SJ: Apple TV has gone streaming. Complete streaming. Soon to be streamed from iPhone or iPad with AirPlay. Already sold 250,000. When AirPlay is in place it will be another big reason to buy it. Apple really happy.
PO: $100 million deferred for bumper program.
SJ: Apple’s goal is to make best devices, not biggest. That’s Nokia. Apple admires how many they ship but don’t aspire to be like them. Android is biggest competitor, out shipped Apple in June during iPhone transition. Waiting to find out what happened in this quarter. Doesn’t know how they’ll find out, Gartner maybe? Will be competing with them for quite some time. Apple believes in their approach very strongly — providing users with a product that just works. Might be lots of users who want Google’s approach as well.
SJ: Nokia makes $50 handsets. Apple isn’t smart enough to figure out how to make a good phone for that price. Apple’s goal is to make best, breakthrough products, drive costs down, make products better. That’s what they did with iPod. Update every year with better functionality at same or lower price. It was relentless improvement, in some cases at lower price, that beat competition, yielded market share. Apple has single digit phone market share, high marketshare in tablet because they’re first mover. Reason they wouldn’t make 7-inch tablet isn’t because of price point, it’s because they think it’s too small to express the right software. Apple is a software-first company. Developers aren’t going to deal really well with different screen sizes, when they can’t put enough elements on screen to build the apps they want to build. 7-inches isn’t about cost, it’s about value when you factor in software.
SJ: Can’t assume software will take care of itself. Can’t just put in less memory, slower processor, assume software will come alive. It won’t. App developers have taken advantage of products that came before. It puts you back into chicken-and-egg. Won’t follow you. Won’t write watered down version of app because you can sell a phone for $50 less.
SJ: Buy backs and dividends have been suggested but we think opportunities could come along that they could take advantage of. Don’t make stupid acquisitions but want to keep powder dry for 1 or 2 strategic acquisitions in the future.
TC: Never seen enterprise adoption as fast as iPad. K-12 also adopting faster than historically. Adding capacity internally to call on businesses, huge amount also calling on education. AT&T direct result of customers wanting to buy iPad on post-pad.
That’s it folks! Thanks!

Apple Q3 2010 financial results conference call

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:01:32 +0000

Follow along with TiPb as we listen to and comment on Apple’s Q3 2010 financial results conference call. We’re not live-blogging this, just posting highlights so you’ll need to refresh from time to time to see new notes.

If you want to listen while you read, head on over to Apple.com for the audio stream.

Now on with the highlights:

Waiting on additional participants to show up
Starting now, IR person reading safe harbor provision
Tim Cook (henceforth TC), Peter Oppenheimer (OP) on tap, no Steve Jobs announced
OP: introducing results, began shipping iPad in 10 countries, launched iPhone 4, shipped iOS 4, new record for Mac sales
OP: Highest revenue ever 15.7 million, 4.23 margin, 3.25 net income, EPS 3.51
OP: Mac sales. Short version — they did very well.
OP: 9.4 million iPods. Declining. iPod touch 48% growth. Mix-shift to iPod touch 12% up, revenue growth 4% up. Share over 70%. Top selling MP3 sale, gaining share.
OP: iTunes exceeded 1 billion dollars. App Store 225,000 apps, 11,000 just for iPad. 5 billion apps downloaded.
OP: iPhone 8.4 million, 1.7 million iPhone 4 in 5 countries. 61% year-over-year growth. Customers loving new features, FaceTime, Retina Display, glass and stainless steel
OP: 5.53 billion for ancillary sales, up over 70%.
OP: 154 carriers in over 80 countries, Asia, Europe, Japan increasing
OP: Over 100,000,000 iOS devices sold. iOS 4 very favorable, people loving new features.
OP: iPad off to good start. 3.27 million iPads sold in 10 countries. 9 additional countries on July 23.
OP: Apple retail still growing.
OP: [Talking financial details about why their usual conservative numbers were exceeded. Again. Seriously]
OP: 48 billion on hand, up 4 billion. Still preserving capital, short dated, high quality investments
OP: Outlook to Q4. Offering free cases to all customers who purchased iPhone 4 until Sept. 30. Deferring revenue on those cases. Should cost 175 million.
OP: Expect 18 billion, 35% gross margin in Q4. Sequential decline due to higher mix of iPhone 4 and iPad which have higher cost structures, also free cases. Back to school promotions as well.
OP: In closing, they’re thrilled!
Now starting Q&A
Q: What are you hearing from corporations, adoption?
TC: iPhone now in 80% of Fortune 100 piloting or deploying, 60% of Fortune 500. 400 higher ed institutions as well. iOS 4 was a help.
TC: iPad in first 90 days. 50% of Fortune 100 testing or deploying. Incredible.
OP: Higher iPhone and accessory sales than they anticipated.
Q: Supply/demand breakdown, constraints?
TC: iPod, none. iPad and iPhone are different, both iPad and iPhone 4 had backlog couldn’t fill, still selling as fast as they can make them. High demand is never a problem. Planning 1 million a month capacity was a bold move, analysts predicted 1 million in sales for years. Did that in 1 month, still doing that. Apple is increasing capacity as fast as they can. Confident they will be able to do it.
TC: Just started ramping iPhone 4 in June. Limited days, only 4 days in Q.
TC: greatly reduced iPhone 3GS sales around June 7. Didn’t launch iPhone 4, new 3GS on June 24. Result was significantly lower sales after June 7 until June 24.
TC: 250,000 more units if they’d held inventory flat.
Q: Why are there supply problems? Rumors Apple does that on purpose.
TC: Would rather market move quickly to new products. How they want to manage it. Don’t purposefully create shortages for buzz. Not their objective. Would like to fill every order as quickly as they can. Demand for iPhone 4 absolutely stunning.
TC: Returns for antenna issue are very small.
TC: Pleasantly surprised how fast iPad has gotten going. Much faster to 1 million than iPod. Not following typical new product curve where it takes a long time to go mainstream after early adoption.
OP: Won’t reveal iPod Wi-Fi vs. 3G split, but demand for all of them have been amazing. Average $640.
Q: Will iPad cannibalize other product lines? Any thoughts?
TC: Discuss it internally, only selling 3 months. To early to tell. Thrilled they recorded best Mac quarter ever even with iPad sales. Jaw dropper.
Q: iAds business?
OP: Just launched in July. Will learn a lot this calendar year. No further specifics.
Q: Datacenter coming along?
OP: On schedule. Everything going fine. Expect to complete by end of calendar year.
Q: Cannibalization of iPad on iPod touch?
OP: iPod ASPs down $7, driven by start of back to school promotion, stronger US dollar. Mix up on iPod touch.
Q: Impact of bumper give-away?
OP: Will need to defer revenue for iPhone 4 they sell where they’ve not delivered bumpers, not heard from customers wanting to place order. Revenue accrual with no cost, will expense cost when shipped to customers.
Q: Android shipments increasing, competition to iPhone family?
TC: Haven’t seen Android results, sum of several companies. iPhone up 61% despite drawdowns and transition, growing faster than market.
Q: Competing tablets, 3G subsidies coming fall, impact?
TC: Selling every unit they can make, looks good in every country they’ve launched it in. Anecdotally growing faster than early adopter, faster than any product he knows of. Doesn’t know what competition will do. Everyone working on something. Apple extremely happy with position and business model. Affordable rate structure, starts at $15, no commitment, aggressive device pricing. Yes, someone could jack up rate plans, subsidize. Not sure people will want another contract. If someone tries it, both learn.
Q: iPhone software developers have complained not about App Store rules but about arbitrary nature. Apple done anything?
OP: Always looking to make developers happy, 225K apps, 5 billion downloads, 1 billion in payments to devs, iAds a second stream. Care deeply. Want to have great apps. Success is unparalleled.
TC: Vast majority of apps approved within 7 days. Many that aren’t have bugs, re-submitted, approved. Want to ensure pornography, graphic scenes don’t come on platform. Not everyone agrees, but that’s how they’re doing it.
Q: Dev concern misplaced?
TC: Value their concerns, modify when appropriate. Won’t say every concern misplaced. Value their feedback.
Q: Move to mobility?
TC: Long run, will see portables grow.
Q: FaceTime, industry standard, how will it role out? Windows, Mac?
TC: Sticking to financials for today.
Q: iPhone strong in Asia, Europe, Japan. Why not North America?
TC: Not law of large numbers. Phone market will increasingly become smartphone market. Steve said that long ago. Lots of domestic, Americas opportunities. Mac, iPhone, or iPad growing faster internationally. See that in revenues as well. Perspective, Americas growing 40% so this is huge number, just international numbers are killer.
Q: iPhone growth has come from broader carrier distribution. Broaden within countries, emerging markets like China, India, pre-paid?
TC: Extraordinary opportunity. Mac as example, AsiaPC Mac grew 73%, phenomenal. In China, grew 144%. Korea, 184%. HK almost 200%. Even in difficult economy like Spain, grew 59%.
TC: iPhone space doing well in all key markets, expanding that, learning what they learned with exclusive deals, looking market by market, opening Spain up. Will go from exclusive in Spain to 3. More countries remaining. Increased distribution, market, move to smartphone. All in iPhone favor. Sees enormous opportunity. Biggest challenge is determining which to deploy resources.
Q: Will there be iPad halo?
TC: Agrees, most people external to Apple focus on cannibalization, internally focus on synergy between. iPod historically people at Apple felt iPod created halo for Mac. Will see about iPad, doesn’t want to predict it. Mac share still low. Still enormous opportunity to grow. Might be some synergy. iDevices -> Mac, iPad < -> iPhone. This is where it’s great to have lower share. If iPad cannibalizes PCs, fantastic for Apple. Big market.
Q: Impact of wage hikes from sub-contractors?
TC: Don’t want to get into terms of commercial agreements, competitive info.
Q: Expand carriers to tap domestic demand, or enough with AT&T?
TC: Very happy to be partner with AT&T. Been first class partner, pioneered smartphone growth from network POV in US. That’s all.
OP: Best iPhone they’ve ever shipped, higher cost structure.
Q: Gap iPhone, iPad supply and demand? How many units?
TC: Don’t know. Only know if you have enough supply. Don’t have it.
That’s all folks!

Apple Q1 Conference Call Coming January 21

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:50:51 +0000

About the only time Apple updates iPhone sales numbers is during their quarterly conference calls. Last time Steve Jobs himself showed up to crow about the iPhone hitting 10 million ahead of schedule and outselling the BlackBerry. This time? We don’t count on it, but with Steve Jobs, we can never count anything out either.

TUAW says Apple will have this last quarter’s call on Wednesday, January 21 (streaming audio link). TiPb, as per usual, will provide coverage of the event, with focus on the iPhone news.

Mark your calendars, and then jump into the comments and let us know how many iPhones you think have been sold by now, 12 million? What about App Store downloads? Half a billion yet? (Our bet is TiPb commenters get far closer than the analysts who should be popping up any minute now…)

Apple 2008 Q4 Conference Call Tomorrow

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:11:35 +0000

Just a reminder that Apple will hold their 2008 Q4 Conference Call tomorrow at 2pm PDT/ 5pm EDT, which should include the first full quarter of iPhone sales, and thus those iPhone sales numbers every analyst and their magic 8-ball have been slathering for.

As always, TiPb will be here with coverage of all the highlights (and lowlights, if needed), but we have to remind everyone that, unlike a SteveNote presentation, conference calls are less with the “BOOM!” and more with the drone-like repetition of corporate governance (@$$ coverage), ad naseum infinitum. Tim Cook will likely handle hosting duties, as he did last time.

See you then!