IFPI said that global sales of music dropped 7.2% to $17 billion for all of 2009. Late last week, Apple reported $13.5 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the year.
Why does anybody still care about music as a business?
HTC to pay Microsoft for Android
While Apple’s patent lawsuit against HTC remains ongoing, the Taiwanese handset maker has reached a licensing agreement with Microsoft to avoid another lawsuit over its Android-powered handsets.
AppleInsider | Microsoft believes Android infringes on patents, HTC strikes deal
Who says Android is “free”?
Palm's Warning prior to HP's Acquisition
Buried in the news that HP is buying Palm is an updated lower guidance for the fourth quarter, otherwise known as a warning.
The Company expects revenues for its fourth fiscal quarter to be in the range of approximately $90 million to $100 million on a GAAP (1) and a non-GAAP basis. Revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter are being impacted by slow sales of the Company’s products, which has resulted in low order volumes from carriers. Palm also expects to close its fourth fiscal quarter with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance between $350 million and $400 million.
$90 million in revenues for an average ASP of $300 would put unit sales at 300,000 for the quarter. RIM just sold 10.4 million devices, Apple sold 8.75 million. 300k is just an astonishingly small number.
HP's Palm play
This deal is not about keeping a smartphone brand alive but about keeping HP alive.
The days of standalone phone companies or standalone computer companies are coming to an end.
Elevation Partners Squeezes Tiny Profit From Palm Investment – Deal Journal –WSJ.
iPhone OS download rate 10X Blackberry
Today, Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie said his BlackBerry App World has 20 million registered users and nearly 1 million daily app downloads.
via Apple Doing 10-20X As Many App Downloads A Day As BlackBerry.
As previously stated, The App download rate increased to a record 10,753,000 per day during the last 90 days. That makes the download rate for the iPhone platform 10x that of the Blackberry Platform. The iPhone platform is nearing 100 million installed base. Blackberry is citing 20 million registered users. I think everyone is pretty clear on where this is going.
Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War – PowerPoint
Like an insurgency, PowerPoint has crept into the daily lives of military commanders and reached the level of near obsession. The amount of time expended on PowerPoint… has made it a running joke in the Pentagon and in Iraq and Afghanistan.
via Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War – PowerPoint – NYTimes.com.
Reminds me of PowerPoint Palace. “It’s dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control.”
But what’s the alternative? Writing complete sentences? Does anyone compose those anymore? Does anyone read anymore?
Nexus One coming to Vodafone not Verizon
“We wont be selling a Nexus One with Verizon and this is a reflection of the amazing innovation happening across the open Android ecosystem,” Google said in an emailed statement.
via UPDATE 1-Google smartphone coming to stores, no Verizon| Reuters.
Come again?
The breakdown of the deal signals Verizon may view Google as a competitor rather than a partner when it comes to Nexus One sales, which are probably at less than half a million since the phone’s January debut, said BGC Partners’s Colin Gillis. ‘It’s really a flop for Google,’ said the New York-based analyst.”
See also: Bloomberg.
Android Market passes 50k apps
Android has already crossed the 50,000 app mark, new stats from AndroLib show. Just a week after Google officially confirmed the 38,000 app mark, a raw estimate now says the mobile app store has added 10,000 more apps within at least a few weeks.
via Android Market passes 50,000 apps | Electronista.
The AppShopper iTunes app store spider shows the following totals today:
- Total Apps Approved: 222431
- Total Available Apps: 191465
- Total Available iPhone Apps: 188005
- Total Available iPad Apps: 4902
Tim Cook on iPad vs. Netbooks: "It is sort of 100 to zero"
In terms of the iPad competing for customers who are considering a netbook, you know I am the wrong person to ask that. To me it is a no-brainer. iPad/Netbook, it is sort of 100 to zero. I can’t think of a single thing the netbook does well. iPad does so many things very, very well. I am already personally addicted to mine and couldn’t live without it.
via Apple Inc. F2Q10 (Qtr end 03/27/10) Earnings Call Transcript — Seeking Alpha.
Tim Cook on Apple TV: 34% growth but tiny addressable market
The units were up for the quarter 34% year-over-year but the absolute number of units are still small and we still classify the product as a hobby for the company. I would just repeat what I have probably said before. If you look at the other markets that Apple is in, the Macintosh competes in a market of 300 million or so units a year. The iPhone competes in a market if you look at all phones of maybe 1.2 billion a year. The iPod competes in a market that has 100 million plus or minus units per year.
So these are enormous sized markets and clearly the market that AppleTV is in is not in our view nearly that large as yet. That is the reason we classify it as a hobby so that no one gets the wrong impression that we have a vision that it is anywhere close to the size of the other businesses. However, a number of us love the product, use the product and we continue to think there is something is something interesting there and we continue to invest in it.
via Apple Inc. F2Q10 (Qtr end 03/27/10) Earnings Call Transcript — Seeking Alpha.