Money

Apple makes more on iTunes and accessory sales than most companies do on phones

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 31, 2016

Well known and respected Asymco analyst Horace Dediu is out with a new report this week entitled 'Counting stool legs.' The piece takes a look at Apple's newly-introduced revenue categories—mainly iTunes, which now includes sales from OS X, iWork, and Apple's other pro tools.

The big takeaway here is that, under this new structure, iTunes can no longer be considered a 'break even' business. Because, as Dediu points out, the combined sales from iTunes and accessories is now bigger in terms of revenues than any other phone vendor, except for Samsung...

Apple called to testify before Australian Parliament in pricing probe

Cody Lee ∙ February 11, 2013

Over the past year or so, members of the Australian Parliament have been investigating whether or not its country's residents pay higher-than-average premiums on electronic products and services. And it looks like it's now prepared to speak directly to the makers.

The Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications in Australia's House of Representatives released a memo yesterday, stating that it has called upon Apple, Microsoft, and Adobe to speak at a public hearing regarding its probe at the end of next month...

The exodus continues: Home Depot drops BlackBerry for iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ February 9, 2013

It hasn't even been a week since we reported that Australia's Treasury Department would be trading in their BlackBerry devices for iPhones, and there's already a new story on the Canadian handset-maker losing another major enterprise customer.

The word is that Home Depot, a home improvement retail chain and the 5th largest retailer in the world, is also looking to drop their BlackBerrys in favor of Apple's popular smartphone. And the account is a big one, worth over 10,000 handsets...

Apple responds to recent calls for it to return cash to shareholders

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 28, 2016

Apple has just issued a statement regarding its commitment to return some of its extremely large—now more than $130 billion— cash pile to shareholders, saying that the company and its Board of Directors are in "active discussions" on what to do with its money.

The comment follows a press release sent to Apple investors this morning by Greenlight Capital, a major Apple shareholder, calling for the Cupertino-based iPhone maker to stop 'hoarding its cash,' and start returning some of it to its large base of stock holders...

Apple’s ‘disappointing’ holiday quarter compared to other companies

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

When Apple announced the results for its 2012 holiday quarter, the reaction from Wall Street was extremely negative. Despite selling a record 48 million iPhones, and recording a record $54.5 billion in revenue, the company's stock dropped more than 10% following the news.

A lot of folks have tried to explain the phenomenon—investors are worried about its slowing growth, or its ability to handle stronger competition from the likes of Google and Samsung. But the truth is, Apple is performing better than it ever has, and better than everyone else...

Infographic shows where Apple spends its money

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 31, 2018

Despite the fact that investors have begun to worry about Apple's future, the company is still one of the wealthiest in the world. The iPad-maker added another $13 billion to its cash pile last quarter, bringing the total to $137 billion.

And that number will only continue to grow, because Apple doesn't really spend much money. Maybe a few billion on research and development, and another couple on data centers and other facilities. But not enough to make a dent...

AT&T activates record 8.6 million iPhones in Q4 2012

Cody Lee ∙ January 24, 2013

Following up reports from Apple and Verizon, AT&T has just released its earnings results for the 2012 holiday quarter. And they actually look pretty good. The carrier sold a record amount of smartphones during the three quarter period, and activated a record amount of iPhones. Full breakdown of the results after the break...

AT&T picks up spectrum, licenses and more in Atlantic Tele-Network deal

Cody Lee ∙ January 22, 2013

AT&T announced this morning that it has reached an agreement with Atlantic Tele-Network to acquire its US retail wireless operations, operated under the Alltel brand, for $780 million. As part of the deal, AT&T will pick up wireless spectrum, licenses, network assets, retail stores and approximately 585,000 subscribers...

Sprint to start offering TEP insurance on iPhones this month

Cody Lee ∙ January 17, 2013

After initially saying that it would not be offering its Total Equipment Protection (TEP) insurance to iPhone customers, Sprint appears to have had a change of heart. A new leaked internal memo shows that the carrier is gearing up to roll out the service to new Apple handsets later this month...

Apple’s annual shareholders meeting to take place on February 27

Cody Lee ∙ January 16, 2013

Apple notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that it will be holding its annual shareholder meeting on February 27, and boy do they have a lot talk about.

The meeting will be held at Apple's 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, where stock holders (as of January 2, 2013) will be able to attend and vote on a variety of proposed measures...

Macworld takes a look at Apple’s pricing strategy

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Marco Tabini of Macworld takes an interesting look today at how Apple manages to keep the prices on its products, and subsequently its profits, so much higher than other manufacturers. It turns out, the company uses a unique, two-pronged pricing strategy.

The first part of it has to do with wholesale pricing. Apple, unlike most hardware-makers, doesn't offer resellers much of a discount on products like the iPad or iMac, even if they're buying in bulk. This doesn't give retailers much incentive to carry the products, but with the kind of foot traffic they produce, it doesn't really have to...

US Bank launches NFC iPhone case for Go Mobile payment service

Cody Lee ∙ January 14, 2013

The iPhone may not have near field communications installed, but that's not stopping companies from trying to integrate the tech. US Bank proves that yet again today by unveiling its new NFC-enabled iPhone case.

The case is a major part of the bank's new Go Mobile payment service, which will allow US Bank customers to pay for goods and services from their checking, savings or credit accounts using an NFC-compatible device...