I'm not surprised. The AT&T employees i spoke with were pissed at what they said was AT&T's intentional shorting of supply of iPhones to screw them out of commissions. Apple stores had them in stock but you had yo order one and wait a week to 10 days from AT&T. Apple doesn't pay sales reps commission according to the AT&T employees but AT&T does. When you can sell all you can get a plentiful supply would mean big $$ for the AT&T sales force.
No wonder they recommend something they have in stock!
The stocking issue was definitely weird around here. When I got my iPhone 3G a month ago, AT&T stores were quoting anywhere from 7-30 days of waiting list depending on the location. I walked into the Freehold Apple Store and bought one the next morning without waiting in line or anything. I think Apple and AT&T both lost out on some sales over that one, but probably not too many. In the end I suspect most people who went out to buy an iPhone 3G eventually bought an iPhone 3G. (I'm certainly seeing them everywhere around here.)
RE: "... The firm noted that high end iPod sales are being replaced by iPhones, "leaving a skew to lower-end shuffle and nano products. ..."
======================
The iPhone is an iPod
Apple has the entire mobile music segment covered with its iPods. Here's how:
1. iPod Shuffle - mobile music basic device
2. iPod Nano - mobile music, video, and games
3. iPod touch - mobile music, video, games, and PDA
4. iPod iPhone - mobile music, video, games, PDA, and phone
As you can see from the above, the iPhone is really an extension of the iPod product line; it's an iPod with a PHONE. So Apple can satisfy anyone who wants mobile music. You can pay the lowest price and get an iPod Shuffle, or you can get the most features when you get the iPod iPhone.
The Apple mobile music product line competes against MP3 players, against PDAs, and against mobile phones.
The iPod line is not suffering from declining sales. iPod sales are actually INCREASING with the addition of the iPod iPhone.
Most importantly, the iPod product line has an increasing average Average Selling Price per Unit because of the higher price paid to Apple for the iPod iPhone. If every iPod sale was replace by an iPod iPhone, Apple would be successful beyond even its own wildest dreams.
Anyone who walks into an AT&T store asking for a smartphone recommendation is not the kind of customer Apple is likely to win over. Anyone with half a brain already knows about the iPhone and whether or not they want one. Everybody else? Who cares!
I think any corporations that walk into an AT&T store and base their choice on what they're told..... will resemble your remark.
Word of mouth spreads and if this is true as some actual posts here are confirming and agreeing to, then it won't be adopted by corporations and has nothing to do with a "walk into an AT&T store".
I will never understand how some f-Tard wall street Face-Rapist gets away with dumping all over AAPL and nobody kicks him in the taint for making statements like:
And then following them up with data like:
That's right, he said "ONLY 38% GROWTH."
How in Holy Fuckdom do you call yourself a "Securities Firm" whilst perpetrating such ass-hattery?
Tell me how many publicly-traded companies can project a 31% increase in profits YOY with 99% certainty, and become shat upon by these stinky-fingered dinks?
They are a bunch of idiot-ass-munching market-manipulating sons-of-whores and should all have their asses removed.
Contender for post of the year!
Stinky fingered dinks.. that will stay in my head for months!
Said with the proper amount of dignity required in the current situation.
Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Not quite sure where 31% growth fits in with "market perform" "in these difficult macroeconomic times."
Apple may very well not sell 3MM macs, 5MM iPhones, and 15MM iPods. They are still seeing solid sales which should easily out-perform their peers. They will also continue to operate at higher margins than peers, but adjust them downward to maintain growth as consumer purchasing power is reduced and the effect of the weak dollar diminishes in ROW sales.
As much as the current share price scares me shitless, I am still quite happy owning a small part of the company and know that I will be rewarded over time. OK, so it might not double this year. I'd be plenty happy with it ending up even for the year... despite huge increases in cash reserves and revenue.
The wife needed a smart phone, and since we have different tech tastes, I wanted this to be all her decision. I didn't push her get an iPhone like me. Being a marriage vet, I knew that if I pushed her to get an iPhone, and she didn't like it, it was gonna be my fault. So when we walked into the AT&T store, I asked the salesperson specifically to "make the case for a non-iPhone."
His reply: "There is none. Get an iPhone".
I was actually perturbed because all she needs is work email and calendaring. I tried to play the RIM advocate, but the salesman was countering my every point.
"Data plans are the same price"
"The keyboard is actually faster once you learn"
"The Blackberry browser is limited"
"If your office isn't set up right, webcal will be the best calendaring option anyway. Good luck using a webcalendar on a Blackberry."
Telling customers to buy a BlackBerry for email seems perfectly logical since the BlackBerry is sort of legendary for sending and receiving email. The texter's dream machine. I don't know about recommending it for anything else, though. I would figure that AT&T salespeople would be just concerned about making a sale whether it's a BlackBerry or an iPhone.
I would think if the customer asked for a handset with good browsing capabilities, the salesperson would recommend the iPhone. That seems fair enough. If the customer walked and said he wanted an iPhone and the salesperson lied about the merits of the iPhone to get the customer to purchase a BlackBerry, then that wouldn't be right.
If I was an impartial salesperson, I would do my best to sell the handset that was most suitable for the customer.
I will never understand how some f-Tard wall street Face-Rapist gets away with dumping all over AAPL and nobody kicks him in the taint for making statements like:
And then following them up with data like:
That's right, he said "ONLY 38% GROWTH."
How in Holy Fuckdom do you call yourself a "Securities Firm" whilst perpetrating such ass-hattery?
Tell me how many publicly-traded companies can project a 31% increase in profits YOY with 99% certainty, and become shat upon by these stinky-fingered dinks?
They are a bunch of idiot-ass-munching market-manipulating sons-of-whores and should all have their asses removed.
Given that the iPhone Mail client is buggy, I wouldn't recommend it either. I've already given up on it as a reliable way to check my e-mail, and only futz with it when I have 10-15 minutes to get it to work.
Kind of sad because it worked great on the iPod touch under 1.x.
What's wrong with the Exchange service on the iPhone? I have Curve with Exchange now, but wanted to switch to iPhone once my contract was up...
My comment was more about new people to the smartphone market asking for the ability to check their free mail may need to use a web browser to do so. From what I've read Apple's first attempt at getting ActiveSync on the iPhone is pretty good, but it is missing some features that BB and WinMo users may require. For instance, the BB has copy/paste functions.
Here is as site that looks to cover the limiations of ActiveSync on the iPhone at this point. Note: Some of these may be gone after Friday.
it seems that the JMP analyst isn't seeing the bigger picture, as a number of people have noted here.
Yes, the iPhone will cannibalize some iPod sales, since it is essentially an iPod plus extra features. Apple didn't have much choice, because if they didn't do this somebody else would have--several music-playing phones existed well before the first iPhone. Apple just does it a lot better. If they sell lots of iPhones, as seems to be the case, of course this will probably cut into the number of iPods they sell, but that's nothing to worry about. It's really just more iPods, as others have noted, and it will also probably cut into the sales of music players from other manufacturers. And it will also expand the market--some poeple who never would have bought an iPod will buy an iPhone for other reasons, of which many exist.
Also, Mac sales have been growing a lot, so this should help balance out any decrease in margins caused by selling more music players, especially if there's a "deceleration" in growth.
I was surprised when the iPhone first came out and I saw that AT&T was doing very little to promote them in their stores, but 1) they don't want to anger their other partners, and 2) they are probably paying a higher subsidy for the iPhone than what they pay to other phone manufacturers, so if somebody is likely to sign up for AT&T anyway, they might make more money off somebody buying a BlackBerry or other smartphone.
This is funny: "We note that Apple has been growing much faster than its comparable companies, though many have higher margins." Margins mean very little when considered outside of the bigger picture. Sure, Microsoft has amazing margins, but the share price has barely moved in the last decade, whereas Apple has gone through the roof. Why? Growth is much more important. If Apple sold 5 trillion songs on iTunes tomorrow, it would drastically reduce their margins, but would that mean you should dump the stock?
This is also puzzling: "Because Apple has invested heavily in its own chain of retail stores, an overall economic slowdown or slowing demand for the company's products will not only affect sales growth but also impact profit margins due to the fixed-cost nature of the retail stores." I agree that a slowing demand for the company's products would affect sales growth (duh) and therefore margins, but I don't know why he says "an overall economic slowdown or..." If there is no slowing demand for the company's products, an overall slowdown might even help Apple, since prices for labor, rent, materials, etc. could decrease. And I think we are far from seeing a slowdown in demand for Apple's products--worst case scenario for the foreseeable future seems to be that demand keeps increasing, just not as fast as it was increasing.
I could go on and on, but the point is that I'm puzzled why people seem to need to find a negative spin to everything. This doesn't reflect on Prince McLean-Dilger, of course, he's just the messenger here and a very smart one at that.
I'm glad AT&T is being honest with their customers. I'm an iPhone 3G (and iPod Touch) owner, and have a BlackBerry through work. No question that the interface is better on the iPhone, but the overall email experience is still better on the BlackBerry. (Just as there's absolutely no question that browsing is vastly better on the iPhone.) If I had to give one up it would be the BlackBerry in an instant, but if email were my #1 priority by any significant margin that might not be true.
I don't own a blackberry and have never used one so can someone explain to me why it's so much better?
What's wrong with the Exchange service on the iPhone? I have Curve with Exchange now, but wanted to switch to iPhone once my contract was up...
I think it's more about the input than anything else. For most people, I think the virtual keyboard is good enough, but the more a person needs to type on a phone, the more a physical keyboard can help them. It's a situation where one size doesn't really fit all, Apple made a decision that suits their target customers best, but most BB devices have a physical keyboard, which fits a different kind of user better.
Comments
I'm not surprised. The AT&T employees i spoke with were pissed at what they said was AT&T's intentional shorting of supply of iPhones to screw them out of commissions. Apple stores had them in stock but you had yo order one and wait a week to 10 days from AT&T. Apple doesn't pay sales reps commission according to the AT&T employees but AT&T does. When you can sell all you can get a plentiful supply would mean big $$ for the AT&T sales force.
No wonder they recommend something they have in stock!
The stocking issue was definitely weird around here. When I got my iPhone 3G a month ago, AT&T stores were quoting anywhere from 7-30 days of waiting list depending on the location. I walked into the Freehold Apple Store and bought one the next morning without waiting in line or anything. I think Apple and AT&T both lost out on some sales over that one, but probably not too many. In the end I suspect most people who went out to buy an iPhone 3G eventually bought an iPhone 3G. (I'm certainly seeing them everywhere around here.)
======================
The iPhone is an iPod
Apple has the entire mobile music segment covered with its iPods. Here's how:
1. iPod Shuffle - mobile music basic device
2. iPod Nano - mobile music, video, and games
3. iPod touch - mobile music, video, games, and PDA
4. iPod iPhone - mobile music, video, games, PDA, and phone
As you can see from the above, the iPhone is really an extension of the iPod product line; it's an iPod with a PHONE. So Apple can satisfy anyone who wants mobile music. You can pay the lowest price and get an iPod Shuffle, or you can get the most features when you get the iPod iPhone.
The Apple mobile music product line competes against MP3 players, against PDAs, and against mobile phones.
The iPod line is not suffering from declining sales. iPod sales are actually INCREASING with the addition of the iPod iPhone.
Most importantly, the iPod product line has an increasing average Average Selling Price per Unit because of the higher price paid to Apple for the iPod iPhone. If every iPod sale was replace by an iPod iPhone, Apple would be successful beyond even its own wildest dreams.
Most use smart phones primarily for email purposes not to web surf.
Doesn't sound like many corporations will be opting to change to iPhones after reading this.
Most use smart phones primarily for email purposes not to web surf.
I think any corporations that walk into an AT&T store and base their choice on what they're told..... will resemble your remark.
Doesn't sound like many corporations will be opting to change to iPhones after reading this.
Most use smart phones primarily for email purposes not to web surf.
Eventually, EVERYONE who likes their iPod and uses a cell phone will switch to iPhone. Only a matter of time, IMO
Excellent timing to push the stock price down.
I think any corporations that walk into an AT&T store and base their choice on what they're told..... will resemble your remark.
Word of mouth spreads and if this is true as some actual posts here are confirming and agreeing to, then it won't be adopted by corporations and has nothing to do with a "walk into an AT&T store".
I will never understand how some f-Tard wall street Face-Rapist gets away with dumping all over AAPL and nobody kicks him in the taint for making statements like:
And then following them up with data like:
That's right, he said "ONLY 38% GROWTH."
How in Holy Fuckdom do you call yourself a "Securities Firm" whilst perpetrating such ass-hattery?
Tell me how many publicly-traded companies can project a 31% increase in profits YOY with 99% certainty, and become shat upon by these stinky-fingered dinks?
They are a bunch of idiot-ass-munching market-manipulating sons-of-whores and should all have their asses removed.
Contender for post of the year!
Stinky fingered dinks.. that will stay in my head for months!
Said with the proper amount of dignity required in the current situation.
Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Not quite sure where 31% growth fits in with "market perform" "in these difficult macroeconomic times."
Apple may very well not sell 3MM macs, 5MM iPhones, and 15MM iPods. They are still seeing solid sales which should easily out-perform their peers. They will also continue to operate at higher margins than peers, but adjust them downward to maintain growth as consumer purchasing power is reduced and the effect of the weak dollar diminishes in ROW sales.
As much as the current share price scares me shitless, I am still quite happy owning a small part of the company and know that I will be rewarded over time. OK, so it might not double this year. I'd be plenty happy with it ending up even for the year... despite huge increases in cash reserves and revenue.
His reply: "There is none. Get an iPhone".
I was actually perturbed because all she needs is work email and calendaring. I tried to play the RIM advocate, but the salesman was countering my every point.
"Data plans are the same price"
"The keyboard is actually faster once you learn"
"The Blackberry browser is limited"
"If your office isn't set up right, webcal will be the best calendaring option anyway. Good luck using a webcalendar on a Blackberry."
I would think if the customer asked for a handset with good browsing capabilities, the salesperson would recommend the iPhone. That seems fair enough. If the customer walked and said he wanted an iPhone and the salesperson lied about the merits of the iPhone to get the customer to purchase a BlackBerry, then that wouldn't be right.
If I was an impartial salesperson, I would do my best to sell the handset that was most suitable for the customer.
Though I don't necessarily agree with recommending the recommending a BB just because someone says email. If it's Exchange, sure
What's wrong with the Exchange service on the iPhone? I have Curve with Exchange now, but wanted to switch to iPhone once my contract was up...
Thanks.
I will never understand how some f-Tard wall street Face-Rapist gets away with dumping all over AAPL and nobody kicks him in the taint for making statements like:
And then following them up with data like:
That's right, he said "ONLY 38% GROWTH."
How in Holy Fuckdom do you call yourself a "Securities Firm" whilst perpetrating such ass-hattery?
Tell me how many publicly-traded companies can project a 31% increase in profits YOY with 99% certainty, and become shat upon by these stinky-fingered dinks?
They are a bunch of idiot-ass-munching market-manipulating sons-of-whores and should all have their asses removed.
Are you retarded?
Kind of sad because it worked great on the iPod touch under 1.x.
What's wrong with the Exchange service on the iPhone? I have Curve with Exchange now, but wanted to switch to iPhone once my contract was up...
My comment was more about new people to the smartphone market asking for the ability to check their free mail may need to use a web browser to do so. From what I've read Apple's first attempt at getting ActiveSync on the iPhone is pretty good, but it is missing some features that BB and WinMo users may require. For instance, the BB has copy/paste functions.
Here is as site that looks to cover the limiations of ActiveSync on the iPhone at this point. Note: Some of these may be gone after Friday.
Yes, the iPhone will cannibalize some iPod sales, since it is essentially an iPod plus extra features. Apple didn't have much choice, because if they didn't do this somebody else would have--several music-playing phones existed well before the first iPhone. Apple just does it a lot better. If they sell lots of iPhones, as seems to be the case, of course this will probably cut into the number of iPods they sell, but that's nothing to worry about. It's really just more iPods, as others have noted, and it will also probably cut into the sales of music players from other manufacturers. And it will also expand the market--some poeple who never would have bought an iPod will buy an iPhone for other reasons, of which many exist.
Also, Mac sales have been growing a lot, so this should help balance out any decrease in margins caused by selling more music players, especially if there's a "deceleration" in growth.
I was surprised when the iPhone first came out and I saw that AT&T was doing very little to promote them in their stores, but 1) they don't want to anger their other partners, and 2) they are probably paying a higher subsidy for the iPhone than what they pay to other phone manufacturers, so if somebody is likely to sign up for AT&T anyway, they might make more money off somebody buying a BlackBerry or other smartphone.
This is funny: "We note that Apple has been growing much faster than its comparable companies, though many have higher margins." Margins mean very little when considered outside of the bigger picture. Sure, Microsoft has amazing margins, but the share price has barely moved in the last decade, whereas Apple has gone through the roof. Why? Growth is much more important. If Apple sold 5 trillion songs on iTunes tomorrow, it would drastically reduce their margins, but would that mean you should dump the stock?
This is also puzzling: "Because Apple has invested heavily in its own chain of retail stores, an overall economic slowdown or slowing demand for the company's products will not only affect sales growth but also impact profit margins due to the fixed-cost nature of the retail stores." I agree that a slowing demand for the company's products would affect sales growth (duh) and therefore margins, but I don't know why he says "an overall economic slowdown or..." If there is no slowing demand for the company's products, an overall slowdown might even help Apple, since prices for labor, rent, materials, etc. could decrease. And I think we are far from seeing a slowdown in demand for Apple's products--worst case scenario for the foreseeable future seems to be that demand keeps increasing, just not as fast as it was increasing.
I could go on and on, but the point is that I'm puzzled why people seem to need to find a negative spin to everything. This doesn't reflect on Prince McLean-Dilger, of course, he's just the messenger here and a very smart one at that.
I'm glad AT&T is being honest with their customers. I'm an iPhone 3G (and iPod Touch) owner, and have a BlackBerry through work. No question that the interface is better on the iPhone, but the overall email experience is still better on the BlackBerry. (Just as there's absolutely no question that browsing is vastly better on the iPhone.) If I had to give one up it would be the BlackBerry in an instant, but if email were my #1 priority by any significant margin that might not be true.
I don't own a blackberry and have never used one so can someone explain to me why it's so much better?
McD
What's wrong with the Exchange service on the iPhone? I have Curve with Exchange now, but wanted to switch to iPhone once my contract was up...
I think it's more about the input than anything else. For most people, I think the virtual keyboard is good enough, but the more a person needs to type on a phone, the more a physical keyboard can help them. It's a situation where one size doesn't really fit all, Apple made a decision that suits their target customers best, but most BB devices have a physical keyboard, which fits a different kind of user better.