Apple User Podcast

Analysts are stating common sense:

“The restatements have the potential to bite them again depending on how large they end up being,” Shim said. “That said, the company is certainly firing on all cylinders so investors may be willing to forgive them, but it’s something that will linger in the backs of their minds.”

It was a major investigation:

“The company’s special committee conducting the investigation examined more than 650,000 e-mails and documents, and interviewed more than 40 current and former employees, directors and advisers.

But the best result:

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he and other investors are breathing a sigh of relief that Jobs kept his job throughout the scandal.

“The risk was that if something bizarre happened and Steve Jobs got fired over it,” Munster said from his office in Minneapolis. “That could have significantly impacted the company in a negative way. Steve Jobs is Apple. Ultimately, the scope of the backdating was bigger than we thought, but the impact turned out to be less severe.”

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Walter S. Mossberg writes for the WSJ:
“Next month marks the fifth anniversary of one of the most successful products of the digital era, Apple Computer’s iPod music player.

Since 2001, potential iPod-killers have come and gone like autumn foliage. Apple claims an astonishing 76% market share in the U.S. for the iPod and an equally amazing 88% share of the U.S. legal music download market for its companion iTunes online store. Over 60 million iPods and 1.5 billion songs have been sold. The Cover Flow feature in the new iTunes The Cover Flow feature in the new iTunes Still, this autumn, the iPod could face its greatest challenge. Microsoft, after failing for years to combat the iconic gadget, will launch a new assault Nov. 14 with a player called Zune. Unlike past Microsoft music efforts, the Zune will be sold by Microsoft itself, and, like the iPod, it will be tightly integrated with companion software and an online music store. Not only that, but this week, RealNetworks’ Rhapsody music service, the best of the iTunes competitors, will announce its own player, jointly developed with SanDisk, which is the second-place player maker, albeit a distant second.

So, this holiday season Apple has made some of the biggest changes to the iPod and iTunes in years. It has redesigned the iPod Nano and Shuffle, cut prices and/or raised capacities on all models, introduced a new iPod search feature, added color games and movie playback to the full-sized iPod, and more. Plus, it has given the iTunes software its biggest overhaul ever, making the software both simpler and more fun to use.

Oh, and it has started selling downloadable feature films, which can be played on computers, iPods, and, soon, via a forthcoming new device, on TV sets.”

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Apple will announce the company’s Q4 06 and FY 06 earnings and hold an earnings call with analysts on October 18, 2006 after NASDAQ market close.

The quarterly conference call webcast information is expected to be announced soon.

Apple’s 2006 earnings and unit sales information through Q3:
• Q1 (ended 12/31/05): revenue of $5.75 billion, net quarterly profit of $565 million, 1.254 million Macs, 14.043 million iPods
• Q2 (ended 04/01/06): revenue of $4.36 billion, net quarterly profit of $410 million, 1.112 million Macs, 08.526 million iPods
• Q3 (ended 07/01/06): revenue of $4.37 billion, net quarterly profit of $472 million, 1.327 million Macs, 08.111 million iPods

So far in 2006, Apple has posted revenue of $14.48 billion, net profit of $1.447 billion, and sold 3,693,000 Macs and 30,680,000 iPods.

For reference, Apple’s Q4 2005:
• Q4 (ended 09/24/06): revenue of $3.68 billion, net quarterly profit of $430 million, 1.236 million Macs, 06.451 million iPods

In the last earnings report in July, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer stated, “Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006, we expect revenue of about $4.5 to $4.6 billion.”

Yesterday, Citgroup analyst Richard Gardner told clients in a research note that, for Apple’s Q4 2006 (ending September), he is modeling sales of 9 million iPods and expects Apple Computer to sell 18.8 million iPods during Apple’s (Q1 07) December quarter.

IDG World Expo today announced that Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, will deliver the opening keynote address for Macworld Conference & Expo. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center January 8-12, 2006, and the keynote address will be held on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. at Moscone West.

“Steve’s keynote is always a great way to kick off the biggest Mac event of the year,” said David Korse, CEO of IDG World Expo, in the press release. “We’ve added several new features to this year’s event, and we’re working hard to make this the most entertaining and informative Macworld ever.”

Macworld Conference and Expo 2007 will host creative professionals from a cross-section of industries including design, print, online, photography, broadcast, videography and music. In addition to an exhibit floor featuring over 350 companies, the event will offer a conference with over 120 educational sessions, and an innovative set of exhibit floor attractions including a free training series, an interactive Digital Photography area and live Music and Sound product demonstrations.

Event highlights, conference agenda and registration information are available on the Macworld Conference & Expo Website at http://www.macworldexpo.com