iOS 5 Newsstand “Booming” For Magazine Publishers→

iOS 5 Newsstand “Booming” For Magazine Publishers

paidContent reports on some initial indications that Newsstand, a new feature in iOS 5, is helping publishers achieve more sales and subscriptions:

Exact Editions, which says it made about 10 percent of the Newsstand app titles on iTunes Store, says downloads of freemium sample editions jumped by 14x in just a few days, whilst some titles’ actual sales have more than doubled.

Consumer magazine publisher Future says free container apps for its titles were downloaded two million times in three days and reports “consumer spending well in excess of normal monthly revenues”. “Future has sold more digital editions in the past four days through Apple’s Newsstand than in a normal month,” says UK CEO Mark Wood.

By integrating Newsstand directly into the OS, Apple is not only giving publishers an opportunity to showcase their publications out of the box on every iOS device, to every iOS user interested in reading magazines and newspapers, they’re also giving publishers the tools to make reading and downloading as frictionless as possible. As we detailed in our overview, Newsstand lets you easily subscribe and forget to manually download new content when it’s published. iOS does it for you.

So while geeks may despise the new default icon on the Home screen and the fact that it’s a feature they may never use, the new integrated system – as opposed to single app downloads – makes for a better experience that will encourage readers to subscribe more, manage less, and ultimately read more. I expect Newsstand adoption to grow exponentially in the next months. Looking back, it’s clear iTunes app subscriptions were meant for Newsstand.

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Apple Updates “Remembering Steve” Page with Tributes From Fans

Last night, Apple updated its Remembering Steve page on Apple.com to include a selection of memories, thoughts and tributes sent by fans and members of the Apple community since Steve’s passing on October 5th. Apple says that over a million people have sent their personal messages to the [email protected] email address.

Over a million people from all over the world have shared their memories, thoughts, and feelings about Steve. One thing they all have in common — from personal friends to colleagues to owners of Apple products — is how they’ve been touched by his passion and creativity. You can view some of these messages below.

And share your own at [email protected].

A private memorial for Steve Jobs was held with close friends and family last week. Apple is also planning a company-wide celebration of Steve’s life and accomplishments today at Apple’s campus, with some Apple retail stores closing briefly during the event.

Apple’s Q4 2011 Earnings Call: More Details & Interesting Thoughts From Tim Cook

Apple held its quarterly earnings call late yesterday and while the results from the September quarter were slightly below what analysts expected, it was still a great result and within Apple’s projections. We covered the main numbers in our post yesterday and included some graphic visualisations of those numbers (such as the one above), but if you missed that here’s a quick summary:

  • $28.27 billion in revenue (analysts expected $29.45 billion)
  • 17.07 million iPhones were sold (up 21% year-over-year)
  • 11.1 million iPads were sold (up 166% year-over-year)
  • 4.89 million Macs were sold (up 26% year-over-year)

But beyond these numbers there were a lot of interesting insights that CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer offered during the Q&A session. We’ve re-listened to the earnings call and included the most interesting snippets of that call in this article - answering questions from various analysts, the two answer questions on everything from iPhone rumors, iPad potential, Siri, China and what next quarter has in store for Apple. Be sure to jump the break to read it all.

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Apple Q4 2011 Results: $28.27 Billion Revenue, 17.07 Million iPhones, 11.12 Million iPads, 4.89 Million Macs Sold

Apple has just posted their Q4 2011 financial results. The company posted record-breaking revenue of $28.27 billion, with 11.12 million iPads, 17.07 million iPhones and 4.89 million Macs sold. The company posted quarterly net profit of $6.62 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share. iPhone represented a 21 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter; iPod sales are down 27 percent from the year-ago quarter, but Apple reported the best iPad quarter to date with over 11 million units sold and a 166% increase over the year-ago quarter. For the next quarter, Apple set guidance at revenue of about $37 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $9.30.

Estimates and Previous Quarters

Wall Street consensus’ estimate was earnings of $7.28 per share and revenue of $29.45 billion; independent analysts expected earnings per share of $9.07 and $33.47 billion revenue. In Q3 2011, Apple said they expected revenue of about $25 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $5.50 in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2011.

In Q3 2011, the company posted record-breaking revenue of $28.57 billion, with 9.25 million iPads, 20.34 million iPhones and 3.95 million Macs sold.. In the year-ago quarter, Apple posted revenue of $20.34 billion and net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion. In Q4 2010, the company sold 3.89 million Macs, 14.1 million iPhones and 4.19 million iPads, which began selling during the quarter.

Q4 2011 Recap

Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter, which ended on September 25th, saw the release of updated MacBook Air and Mac mini models, OS X Lion on the Mac App Store and, later, on USB drive, as well as a new iMac for the educational market and a new Thunderbolt Display. The company was initially expected to unveil a new iPhone in September, but a media event took place in Cupertino on October 4th, nine days after the quarter ended. iPhone 4S sales numbers will be included in Apple’s Q1 2012, but the company has already announced over four million iPhone 4S units have been sold in the first weekend of availability.

As for the Mac, the MacBook Air is widely believed to have become the crown jewel of Apple’s portable business (which no longer includes the white MacBook, discontinued in July) that, alongside Lion, was expected to boost Mac sales in the September quarter.

On August 24th, Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, and Tim Cook was elected CEO of the company. Steve Jobs passed away on October 5th.

On October 4th, Apple also announced over 6 million copies of Lion had been downloaded through the Mac App Store since July 20th (when the operating system went on sale), with Mac users approaching 60 million worldwide.

Q4 2011 Earnings Call

Apple will provide a live audio feed of its Q4 2011 conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and we’ll update this story with the conference highlights. Full press release is embedded after the break.

Notes from the call

  • Tim Cook: Steve Jobs’ spirit will always be the foundation of Apple.

  • New record sales for Mac and iPad in the September quarter.

  • Mac sales increased strongly in each operating segment.

  • iPod touch continues to account for half of all iPods sold.

  • iPhone sales double in Asia Pacific year-over-year.

- Ended quarter with about 2.5 million iPads in channel inventory.

  • 92% of Fortune 500 testing or deploying iPad.

  • 500,000 apps available in the App Store. Expanded the App Store to 123 countries in the September quarter.

    • - 30 new retail stores opened in the quarter, 21 internationally.

    • $3.6 billion revenue from Apple retail stores.

    - 77.5 million visitors in Apple retail stores in the quarter.

    • Average revenue per store is $10.7 million.

  • Apple has $81.6 billion in cash available.

  • Tim: We’re confident that we’ll have a large supply for the 4S in holiday quarter and set an all-time record for iPhone this quarter.

  • Tim: Progress in China has been amazing: Greater China revenue 2% in FY09; 12% in FY11. Fastest growing major region. $4.5 billion in revenue from China in September quarter.

  • Apple placing additional focus on other promising areas: Brazil, Russia, Middle East. There are several of these markets where Apple hasn’t been historically strong.

  • Tim: China – the sky’s the limit there.

  • Tim: As iPad competitors came to the market, our share went up.

  • Oppenheimer: Pervasive iPhone rumors had a definite negative impact on Apple’s business.

  • 40 million iPads sold on a cumulative basis.

  • Tim on iPhone 4S launch (4 million units) Vs. iPhone 4 launch (1.7 million units) last year: “That’s the mother of all uplifts”.

  • Tim: Number of people using Siri already is amazing. We see this as a profound innovation. Over time  many, many people will use Siri in a substantial way.

  • Tim: We spend a lot of time and money and resource in coming up with incredible innovations. And we don’t like when someone else takes those.

  • Tim: We still see iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 as incredible products.

  • iPad available in 90 countries.

  • Tim: We are in the main countries with iPad.

  • Tim: Everything we’re doing in the United States, we’re doing in China.

  • Tim: Cannibalization of PC market happening in two ways. Some people choose to buy an iPad over a Mac: a materially larger number of people buying an iPad instead of PC.

  • Tim: I’m not religious about holding cash or not holding it.

  • Tim: We could not be happier with our position in the tablet market. We have some incredible things in the pipeline.

    • Graphical Visualization

    We have compiled a series of graphs and charts to offer a graphical visualization of Apple’s third quarter. Apple’s Q4 2011 data summary is available here.

     

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    #MacStoriesDeals - Tuesday

    If you got a new iPhone 4S (or any model) over the weekend, why not buy some great apps at great prices? Here are today’s @MacStoriesDeals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get them before they end!

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    Fantastical 1.1 Brings Editing, Deleting, Notes and Full iCloud Support

    With the release of the iPhone 4S and Siri, Apple is putting much focus on natural language input and the concept of “personal assistant”, a technology the company first explored almost two decades ago, which was impossible to implement until today. With faster processing power, persistent Internet connections and better voice recognition, Siri is perhaps the most impressive feature of the iPhone 4S and one that Apple will undoubtedly promote heavily in the next months.

    On the Mac, of course, the situation is quite different. Whilst one of the new functionalities of Siri on the iPhone is being able to create and schedule calendar events, on OS X we’ve had calendar apps with natural language support for quite some time, such as Fantastical and QuickCal. And today Fantastical, which I first reviewed here, has received a major update that adds two of the most requested features: event editing and deleting.

    With Fantastical 1.1, you can edit and delete events without jumping to your main calendar app, like iCal. Now, instead of having to launch iCal to make edits to something you entered through Fantastical, you can simply double-click on an event to start modifying it in a separate popup window. The interface is the same you already know for calendar events; you can also delete an event and add notes, which will be synced across all your devices and, if configured, iCloud. Option-double-clicking an event still opens it in your favorite calendar app – remember, Fantastical supports BusyCal as well – and anchor mode can now be toggled with a keyboard shortcut.

    Another big improvement in Fantastical 1.1 is full iCloud support. The app already supported iCloud calendars, but now that Apple’s service is public the app has been specifically optimized to take advantage of its new push technology for calendars and events. And because Fantastical features direct CalDAV integration, everything you enter in the app will be immediately synced back to the cloud, without having to open iCal (or letting it run open in the background). In my tests, iCloud integration has been extremely reliable, allowing me to enter an event (or make edits) in Fantastical and see the results appear in real-time on iCloud.com and all my iOS devices.

    Fantastical was already a great app, and now that it’s gained editing, deleting and notes it really can be used as a calendar replacement, which thanks to natural language input will also act as your personal “calendar assistant”. Fantastical is available at $19.99 on the Mac App Store.

    iPhone 4S Example Pictures

    You’ve read the iPhone 4S review. Of the two standout features, the camera is the easiest to showcase. What amazes me is that anyone can pick up the iPhone 4S and snap a good picture. With patience and a photographer’s eye you can snap great pictures. It makes taking photographs fun.

    Past the break, you’ll find lots of example images covering various scenery that should give you a good idea about what the iPhone 4S is capable of. I’ve tried not to touch up any of the photos, but I can’t promise that I’ve accidentally inserted one or two enhanced images. Scroll through, enjoy, and let us know what you think.

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    iPhone 4S Review

    iPhone 4S: MacStories Review

    iPhone 4S: MacStories Review

    It’s been over a year since Apple launched the iPhone 4, and in the meantime Apple has been busy preparing iOS 5, iCloud, getting deals for iTunes Match, and integrating voice technology into their next generation smartphone. iOS 5 has already captured 25 million users in less than a week as iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners update their devices to take advantage of free syncing technologies and a revamped notification system. Apple’s iCloud recently went live, syncing data, contacts, and other information between Macs, iOS devices, and Apple’s servers. Hardware remained in Apple’s sights as well — the iPhone 4S launched with brand new guts and was available in white from day one. It’s been a very busy year for Apple, but you’re all here for one reason:

    What’s the iPhone 4S like?

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    iPhone 4S Sales Now Reservation-Only At Retail Stores In US and Canada→

    iPhone 4S Sales Now Reservation-Only At Retail Stores In US and Canada

    MacRumors reports Apple has updated its website for customers in the US and Canada, noting that the iPhone 4S is only available for in-store reservation. On the other hand, European stores such as the UK one still report walk-in purchases on a first-come, first-served basis are available.

    Apple has updated its ”how to buy” page for the iPhone 4S to note that Apple retail stores in the United States and Canada are now selling the device on a reservation-only basis. Customers will need to visit Apple’s site after 9:00 PM each evening to reserve a phone for the following day.

    In the UK, however, walk-in purchases are available for iPhone 4S on contract, not unlocked devices sold SIM-free. This particular measure has been likely put in place to avoid the long lines of grey market buyers that characterized the iPhone 4 launch last year; in the US and Canada, bigger markets for Apple than other launch countries of the iPhone 4S, reservation-only means Apple is perhaps trying to avoid the long lines and disappointed customers of last year, whilst retaining a retail distribution channel (which grants customers a free Personal Setup session with an Apple employee) at the same time. It’s very likely that this “restriction” will fade alongside Apple’s initial launch window (Apple also had to ramp up production of the 4S for 22 more countries on October 28th) and that remaining stock at the end of the day could be distributed to walk-in purchasers.

    Earlier today, Apple announced over 4 million iPhone 4S units were sold during the first weekend, making the iPhone 4S the most successful iPhone launch in Apple’s history.

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