Briefly: Apple Expo, Apple TV at Costco, Ballmer on iPhone

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
The dates are set and pre-registration has opened for the annual Paris-based Apple Expo and conference. Meanwhile, Apple TVs have turned up at Target as well as at another popular discount chain. And Microsoft headman Steve Ballmer is running his mouth again -- this time over iPhone.



Apple Expo Paris set for Sept.



Will Apple chief executive Steve Jobs be making the cross-Atlantic journey to this year's Apple Expo in Paris, France? It's hard to tell just yet, but show organizers are making no promises after the past three years of disappointment. They are, however, opening up the pre-registration lines.



This year's conference is slated to run September 25 - 29 at the Porte de Versailles. Those interested in attending can head on over to the show's official website and generate a printable badge that can be brought to the Electronic Badge welcome desk during the week of the show and redeemed for an exhibition pass.



Though Apple has used the Paris gathering to introduce products in the past, Jobs and Co. have failed to deliver an opening keynote address since 2003.



In 2004, Jobs' keynote presentation was conducted by Apple vice president Phil Schiller after the Apple co-founder took leave from his duties at the company in order to recuperate from pancreatic cancer surgery.



Jobs was also expected to present the opening keynote in 2004, but later changed his plans when several product launches failed to fall into alignment.







The case was similar in 2005, when Apple announced then later recanted its offer to deliver a keynote presentation (presumably by Jobs) for unspecified reasons. Last year, the Mac maker passed on an opening gig from the get-go.



Apple TVs turning up at third party retailers



Per expectations, MacRumors posts a few photos confirming that Apple TVs have indeed begun to show up at Target retail stores. One photo appears to show a display unit headed for connectivity to a widescreen HD TV, as AppleInsider reported in its exclusive coverage of the matter earlier this month.



Meanwhile, Ars reports on comments from a tipster who recently spotted the wireless media hub at a Costco wholesale club, retailing for $289 -- $10 less than Apple's suggest retail price.



According to the report, Costco won't be charging a restocking fee on the device. So if you buy one, set it up, then decide it sucks due to the dearth of immediately suitable HD content, you can return it for no practically no loss of coin.



Ballmer's inferiority complex



On reprieve from all the monkey dancing, high-pitched squealing and picture squirting, Microsoft chief executive and renowned loudmouth Steve Ballmer has weighed in with his thoughts on Apple's much-awaited iPhone handset.



"It's sort of a funny question," he said when asked by USA Today whether he wished consumers were as passionate about Microsoft as they are towards Apple, the iPod, and now iPhone. "Would I trade 96 percent of the market for 4 percent of the market? (Laughter.) I want to have products that appeal to everybody."



Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer | Photo Credits: AP



"Now we'll get a chance to go through this again in phones and music players," Ballmer continued. "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60 percent or 70 percent or 80 percent of them, than I would to have 2 percent or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 64
    kilraqkilraq Posts: 26member
    I had lots I was going to say about this article.



    Then they showed a picture of "That Steve".



    Why does every picture that surfaces of this man just make me want to punch him in the face? WHY!?



    *Plans on a trip to CostCo*
  • Reply 2 of 64
    dawho9dawho9 Posts: 8member
    Does Windows Mobile even have 2 to 3% of the market share of all of those 1.3 billion phones?



    dw9
  • Reply 3 of 64
    macsrgood4umacsrgood4u Posts: 3,007member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kilraq View Post


    I had lots I was going to say about this article.



    Then they showed a picture of "That Steve".



    Why does every picture that surfaces of this man just make me want to punch him in the face? WHY!?



    *Plans on a trip to CostCo*



    At first I was confused by AI's high pitched squealing remark. Then to my delight and profound enjoyment, i noticed that in the monkey dancing video, about 21 seconds in, ballmer actually stubs his toe while jumping around like a complete idiot and he squeals in pain and then tries to play it off! ahahahahaha



    -MRG
  • Reply 4 of 64
    g5mang5man Posts: 91member
    So Microsoft has figured that Apple will sale about 39 million phones. Not Bad.



    aapl looks cheap right now, if they sell that many phones.
  • Reply 5 of 64
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dawho9 View Post


    Does Windows Mobile even have 2 to 3% of the market share of all of those 1.3 billion phones?



    dw9



    No. They have about 6% of the "smart" phone category, which is about 20M phones, and is about double their market share from a year ago. I think, though, talking about the total cellphone market is irrelevant. It's like including pocket calculators with the home computer market. Symbian is still the giant in this area with 3/4 of the market share, and Linux is in second with 17%. The recent gains in market share has mostly been at the expense of Palm, which is now in only 2% of them.
  • Reply 6 of 64
    tokoloshtokolosh Posts: 101member
    The question specifically asked about iPods and the iPhone. Where did the... ummmmm...., CRAP! I just forgot the name of that Microsoft MP3 player. Anyway, where did it rank in the market? And then there is the Microsoft equivalent to the iPhone... oh wait, there isn't one. \
  • Reply 7 of 64
    How much market share does this idiot Balmer claim the Zune to have? And does MS have even a 1% share of the phone OS market? Probably not!
  • Reply 8 of 64
    he wouldn't be laughing if apple actually allowed other people to have their software



    who would win if companys had a choice between osx or windows mobile.



    Apple do what they want to do when they want to do it.
  • Reply 9 of 64
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by g5man View Post


    So Microsoft has figured that Apple will sale about 39 million phones. Not Bad.



    aapl looks cheap right now, if they sell that many phones.



    That is over 4x higher than Jobs estimate. Way to go Ballmer!









    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Steve Ballmer


    It's sort of a funny question... Would I trade 96 percent of the market for 4 percent of the market? (Laughter.) I want to have products that appeal to everybody.



    Now we'll get a chance to go through this again in phones and music players... There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60 percent or 70 percent or 80 percent of them, than I would to have 2 percent or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get.



    All in all, these are excellent remarks--finally--from Ballmer. It's like he was coached, or he masturbated just before the interview, losing that angry edge.
  • Reply 10 of 64
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    I wish Ballmer was in the news more often. I always get a good laugh when he is.
  • Reply 11 of 64
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by g5man View Post


    So Microsoft has figured that Apple will sale about 39 million phones. Not Bad.



    aapl looks cheap right now, if they sell that many phones.



    THere's a blog headline waiting to happen



    " Microsoft: Apple to Sell 39 MILLION iPhones"
  • Reply 12 of 64
    porchlandporchland Posts: 478member
    Target and now Costco for Apple TV? With all the channel clogging, I think we're going to get an HD content announcement soon.



    Jobs said the EMI non-DRM content would be coming in May, and The Beatles are still out there, so maybe there's a content announcement coming before WWDC.
  • Reply 13 of 64
    johnnykrzjohnnykrz Posts: 152member
    They should let Steve Ballmer do Microsoft commercials. He makes me even happier to be a Mac user than the Mac itself.



    edit: Actually, I guess he should do Apple commercials.
  • Reply 14 of 64
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    Why does Ballmer keep giving Apple (and the iPhone) free press this way? Does he really think such comments will somehow reduce the rise of Apple's sales or halt the slowing of Microsoft sales?
  • Reply 15 of 64
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JohnnyKrz View Post


    They should let Steve Ballmer do Microsoft commercials. He makes me even happier to be a Mac user than the Mac itself.



    edit: Actually, I guess he should do Apple commercials.



    Yeah, he'd give an even better impression of MS than John Hodgeman does.
  • Reply 16 of 64
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    Why does Ballmer keep giving Apple (and the iPhone) free press this way? Does he really think such comments will somehow reduce the rise of Apple's sales or halt the slowing of Microsoft sales?



    Well he was asked a direct question about them. If he ignored the question it would look like he was nervous.
  • Reply 17 of 64
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    Why does Ballmer keep giving Apple (and the iPhone) free press this way? Does he really think such comments will somehow reduce the rise of Apple's sales or halt the slowing of Microsoft sales?



    Good point.





    [CENTER]MICROSOFT'S BALLMER SAYS APPLE'S iPHONE TO SELL 40 MILLION UNITS FIRST YEAR.

    [/CENTER]
  • Reply 18 of 64
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    Ahhh, excellent commentrary from the future washed-up car salesman of Microsoft. <Microsoft needs your permission to continue: OK, CANCEL>
  • Reply 19 of 64
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay View Post


    Well he was asked a direct question about them. If he ignored the question it would look like he was nervous.



    Right on the nose.
  • Reply 20 of 64
    jamezogjamezog Posts: 163member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60 percent or 70 percent or 80 percent of them, than I would to have 2 percent or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get."



    I never thought I'd hear a MS exec say EXPLICITLY that they think that having huge market share is more important than making money.



    Ballmer is even more of an idiot than I thought he was...



    edit: that quote is so good, I think I'm gonna have to change my signature now...
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