Well, if he is at the stage of passing the helm, he is either dead or seriously ill already, so any symbolic roles are irrelevant.
On the other hand, if SJ is back on track by June, he will be firing on all cylinders...nothing less.
I don't see it as quite so black and white. Based on the professional medical opinions of doctors familiar with his condition, I happen to think his time and position with Apple in the not-so-distant future is limited, but I still wish him well.
At this moment the DOW is up plenty as wall as the NASDAQ but APPL is down almost 2 bucks. Someone help me understand this in light of the article's information and gushing praise.
Back to work.
Apple lost a patent infringement suit today. That may be a reason, just a though....
This is the smartest thing Munster has said recently (other than his buy recommendation)...
I wouldn't mind seeing Jobs take on the role of "Chief Visionary" or some such title and pass the torch to Cook while it still makes sense. Apple is doing great, despite the pressures of this economy, and the world didn't end when Jobs took his leave of absence.
Actually, the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times had speculated that in a story about two or three weeks ago. I am unable to recall either the name of the author or the publication, so unfortunately, I can't point you to a link (but I remember thinking at that time, "wow, that's a pretty smart observation.").
Wait a second: a dreaded thought passes through.... it could be Shaw Wu that WSJ or NYT was quoting, now that I think about it!
Jobs would still have input on product and direction of the company, but Cook would have to make the final decisions. Jobs has seen his mortality with these illnesses, and would likely understand this new reality. He wouldn't endanger Apple just to feed his ego. The fact that he did in fact take a leave of absence is proof of that. Otherwise, he would work at the helm until he dies or crashes the company. (Guess it's obvious I have Star Trek metaphors on the mind right now... can't wait to see the reboot!)
I didn't realize you were so close to Steve Jobs to speak for him.
Possibly linked to Apple cutting 1,600 retail jobs?
Although explained above, let's make it clear: Apple did NOT cut 1,600 jobs. If they did, we should know, because the rules require this to be announced, and there wold be severance spendings associated with this.
It is amazing how creative some guys are at spreading FUD when it comes to Apple! How that happens that Microsoft's results are OK, pretty good for the current environment. Yes, and Apple's is also pretty good, no need for discount because of the economy. And surprise! surprise! Microsoft is going to update its software in the forceable future, they have an amaizing product pipeline, that is. Like Apple does not?
And those hints about "smarter phones"! Rest assured, the best which could happen to Palm along with it's Pre is to be acquired by Microsoft. Well, the Pre may have better luck than the bestseller Zune (BTW, to you remember the hype about the fact that MS is going to ship - to the store shelves that is, not to the real customers - ONE MILLION UNITS IN ONE YEAR!!! - amazing!!!), but the iPhone and the AppStore ARE YEARS AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION. Most of the people just don't get it! The iPhone might not be the best phone on Earth, but it's potential is enormous! The talk about the lack of multitasking and this feature and those feature bla-bla-bla should not hide the big picture. The forthcoming third-party hardware support is going to give a hefty boost to the already powerful iPhone/iPod ecosystem. Add the AppStore and you have a combination which can not be challenged for at least a couple of years.
Many seem to be obsessed by the netbook numbers. Don't get me wrong! I want a sub-notebook from Apple. But I trust their management and I am sure they know better what they are doing. My point is about those marketshare numbers which have the netbooks added to the total number on par with the normal notebooks. It makes no economic sense to treat them that way. I can guess Apple makes more money on one iPod touch than Acer makes on 3 netbooks, but they are a separate category. If you look the consumer side: all those people who buy netbook are knowingly making a compromise. They want a more portable sub-computer, and they don't want to spend a lot of money on it. That's it. They don't even expect to really enjoy it. I am pretty sure no one is tempted to buy a netbook.
Apple is different. Sometimes when a new product comes out I can hardly resist to buy it not because I really need it that much, but because I like it! Because of the budget constraints I may end up buying something cheeper from time to time, but this only re-inforces my feeling towards Apple. Every time I see something working not-quite-like-you-would-expect, I know: there IS a better way!
Haven't looked at the news today, have you? -> Apple cuts 1600
"The reduction of numbers wasn't a result of any particular directive or massive layoff, Apple just slowed hiring as the normal high turnover of retail lowered job numbers."
Haven't looked at the news today, have you? -> Apple cuts 1600
Let's look at FTEs from a year ago, and then extrapolate for the additional stores.
Here are the numbers:
March 2008 = ~12,000 FTEs
March 2009 = ~14,000 FTEs
Both figures were preceded by the word ?approximately?, so they are clearly + or - 500 FTEs. Around 17% more FTEs this year than last, HOWEVER?, you have to factor in the number of stores open.
March 2008 = 205 stores
March 2009 = 251 stores
So, number of stores increased by 22%, and FTEs increased roughly 17%, but given the vagueness, the range would be from, 8% to 26%.
In other words, the increase is in the margin of error. Much ado about very little.
Haven't looked at the news today, have you? -> Apple cuts 1600
Thats exactly my point. Someone was clever enough to make [negative] news out of nothing and everybody, the mac enthusiasts sites including, picked up the "news". My understanding is better explained here:
Question of the day: Did Apple somehow lay off 10 percent of its retail staff in the last quarter without anyone noticing until today? Answer: No.
...
But let?s be clear: Those aren?t 14,000, or 15,600, employees. Those are 14,000, or 15,600 full-time equivalents?basically, an accounting term that measures the number of man-hours Apple (AAPL) is paying for, not the number of men (or women) it employs. So the very strong likelihood here is that Apple cut a lot of workers? hours, but not workers themselves.
Possibly linked to Apple cutting 1,600 retail jobs?
Their "full-time equivalent" employees went down by 1600, but that could also mean that they knocked down 3200 employees to part time (with two of each then being equivalent to one full-timer). I guess that wouldn't be as bad.
Damn target prices are all over the place. Apple must have the weirdest way of accounting than any other company. Nobody can figure out what Apple is worth. That guy Abramsky was so far off, it's unbelievable. K. Huberty will never be able to come close to guessing Apple's value. All these people are looking at one company and yet get such widely varied figures. I didn't know evaluating a company's worth was that difficult. Apple's share price may never go up if nobody is able to determine the company's value. Too bad. A company loaded with cash, retail stores, deferred revenue and decent product line with high profit margins turns out to be no better an investment than RIM which doesn't have any of that.
Apple's market cap is 111B. Take out the $29 in cash and it is $82B. Last quarter earnings were $1.66B if all the deferred iPhone and TV earnings are recognized. If the interest on $29B is taken out, earnings should be around $1.6B. For simplicity if those earnings are annualized, then operating PE is a lowly 12 at the current run rate.
Acer has taken the lead in the netbook market, shipping more than five million last year to top competitor ASUS. But Acer also reported its first-quarter profit dropped 31 percent, and Acer reduced its sales forecast for the year. While netbook sales are the hottest computer category, the profit margins are small and require volume sales.
Acer sold more than 5 million netbooks and their profit is down 31%!! Witness the difference between volume sales and margin sales.
Comments
Well, if he is at the stage of passing the helm, he is either dead or seriously ill already, so any symbolic roles are irrelevant.
On the other hand, if SJ is back on track by June, he will be firing on all cylinders...nothing less.
I don't see it as quite so black and white. Based on the professional medical opinions of doctors familiar with his condition, I happen to think his time and position with Apple in the not-so-distant future is limited, but I still wish him well.
At this moment the DOW is up plenty as wall as the NASDAQ but APPL is down almost 2 bucks. Someone help me understand this in light of the article's information and gushing praise.
Back to work.
Apple lost a patent infringement suit today. That may be a reason, just a though....
This is the smartest thing Munster has said recently (other than his buy recommendation)...
I wouldn't mind seeing Jobs take on the role of "Chief Visionary" or some such title and pass the torch to Cook while it still makes sense. Apple is doing great, despite the pressures of this economy, and the world didn't end when Jobs took his leave of absence.
Actually, the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times had speculated that in a story about two or three weeks ago. I am unable to recall either the name of the author or the publication, so unfortunately, I can't point you to a link (but I remember thinking at that time, "wow, that's a pretty smart observation.").
Wait a second: a dreaded thought passes through.... it could be Shaw Wu that WSJ or NYT was quoting, now that I think about it!
Jobs would still have input on product and direction of the company, but Cook would have to make the final decisions. Jobs has seen his mortality with these illnesses, and would likely understand this new reality. He wouldn't endanger Apple just to feed his ego. The fact that he did in fact take a leave of absence is proof of that. Otherwise, he would work at the helm until he dies or crashes the company. (Guess it's obvious I have Star Trek metaphors on the mind right now... can't wait to see the reboot!)
I didn't realize you were so close to Steve Jobs to speak for him.
Possibly linked to Apple cutting 1,600 retail jobs?
Although explained above, let's make it clear: Apple did NOT cut 1,600 jobs. If they did, we should know, because the rules require this to be announced, and there wold be severance spendings associated with this.
It is amazing how creative some guys are at spreading FUD when it comes to Apple! How that happens that Microsoft's results are OK, pretty good for the current environment. Yes, and Apple's is also pretty good, no need for discount because of the economy. And surprise! surprise! Microsoft is going to update its software in the forceable future, they have an amaizing product pipeline, that is. Like Apple does not?
And those hints about "smarter phones"! Rest assured, the best which could happen to Palm along with it's Pre is to be acquired by Microsoft. Well, the Pre may have better luck than the bestseller Zune (BTW, to you remember the hype about the fact that MS is going to ship - to the store shelves that is, not to the real customers - ONE MILLION UNITS IN ONE YEAR!!! - amazing!!!), but the iPhone and the AppStore ARE YEARS AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION. Most of the people just don't get it! The iPhone might not be the best phone on Earth, but it's potential is enormous! The talk about the lack of multitasking and this feature and those feature bla-bla-bla should not hide the big picture. The forthcoming third-party hardware support is going to give a hefty boost to the already powerful iPhone/iPod ecosystem. Add the AppStore and you have a combination which can not be challenged for at least a couple of years.
Many seem to be obsessed by the netbook numbers. Don't get me wrong! I want a sub-notebook from Apple. But I trust their management and I am sure they know better what they are doing. My point is about those marketshare numbers which have the netbooks added to the total number on par with the normal notebooks. It makes no economic sense to treat them that way. I can guess Apple makes more money on one iPod touch than Acer makes on 3 netbooks, but they are a separate category. If you look the consumer side: all those people who buy netbook are knowingly making a compromise. They want a more portable sub-computer, and they don't want to spend a lot of money on it. That's it. They don't even expect to really enjoy it. I am pretty sure no one is tempted to buy a netbook.
Apple is different. Sometimes when a new product comes out I can hardly resist to buy it not because I really need it that much, but because I like it! Because of the budget constraints I may end up buying something cheeper from time to time, but this only re-inforces my feeling towards Apple. Every time I see something working not-quite-like-you-would-expect, I know: there IS a better way!
Although explained above, let's make it clear: Apple did NOT cut 1,600 jobs. If they did, we should know
Haven't looked at the news today, have you? -> Apple cuts 1600
Haven't looked at the news today, have you? -> Apple cuts 1600
"The reduction of numbers wasn't a result of any particular directive or massive layoff, Apple just slowed hiring as the normal high turnover of retail lowered job numbers."
Morgan Stanley's Kathryn Huberty maintained an Equal Weight rating with a price target of $105, up from $100.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
Hello from Earth, Ms. Huberty!
With regard to new iPhone, sure it will probably be great but none of this changes the fact that millions of users will have contracts expire in June,
How many millions will that be hii ? Can you share your thoughts re the percentage you expect to switch to another phone?
Thanks
Haven't looked at the news today, have you? -> Apple cuts 1600
Let's look at FTEs from a year ago, and then extrapolate for the additional stores.
Here are the numbers:
March 2008 = ~12,000 FTEs
March 2009 = ~14,000 FTEs
Both figures were preceded by the word ?approximately?, so they are clearly + or - 500 FTEs. Around 17% more FTEs this year than last, HOWEVER?, you have to factor in the number of stores open.
March 2008 = 205 stores
March 2009 = 251 stores
So, number of stores increased by 22%, and FTEs increased roughly 17%, but given the vagueness, the range would be from, 8% to 26%.
In other words, the increase is in the margin of error. Much ado about very little.
Haven't looked at the news today, have you? -> Apple cuts 1600
Thats exactly my point. Someone was clever enough to make [negative] news out of nothing and everybody, the mac enthusiasts sites including, picked up the "news". My understanding is better explained here:
Did Apple Just Fire 1,600 Retail Workers? Nope.
Question of the day: Did Apple somehow lay off 10 percent of its retail staff in the last quarter without anyone noticing until today? Answer: No.
...
But let?s be clear: Those aren?t 14,000, or 15,600, employees. Those are 14,000, or 15,600 full-time equivalents?basically, an accounting term that measures the number of man-hours Apple (AAPL) is paying for, not the number of men (or women) it employs. So the very strong likelihood here is that Apple cut a lot of workers? hours, but not workers themselves.
Possibly linked to Apple cutting 1,600 retail jobs?
Their "full-time equivalent" employees went down by 1600, but that could also mean that they knocked down 3200 employees to part time (with two of each then being equivalent to one full-timer). I guess that wouldn't be as bad.
Acer Leads Netbook Market as Profit Drops 31 Percent
Acer has taken the lead in the netbook market, shipping more than five million last year to top competitor ASUS. But Acer also reported its first-quarter profit dropped 31 percent, and Acer reduced its sales forecast for the year. While netbook sales are the hottest computer category, the profit margins are small and require volume sales.
Acer sold more than 5 million netbooks and their profit is down 31%!! Witness the difference between volume sales and margin sales.