Earlier this morning we saw a selloff as Wall St remained skeptical that Apple could sustain iPhone activation growth. However, Apple announced earnings today after the close and Apple slammed them out of the park, pushing the stock back into positive territory in after-hours trading.
Apple released earnings of $12.30 per share compared to an estimate of $10.04 and added $39.2 billion in revenue for a pure profit of $11.6 billion! Unit wise, Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones and 11.8 million iPads (expect more iPad sales as the new iPad went on sale only last month). This represents an 88% growth over the same quarter a year ago and a 151% increase unit wise. iPod sales declined 15% to 7.7 million units sold.
CEO Tim Cook summed it up by saying we’ll be seeing a lot more Apple innovation this year so that got us really excited. He stated, “We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter. The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.” We hope so Tim, we hope so.
Apple has made the second version of their iOS 5.1 available to developers today and we’re told that the main updates will be enhanced Photo Stream deleting capabilities (yaaaawn) and a supposed fix to battery life issues. Note this release is still only made for developers, but we would anticipate a full-blown consumer version in the next 2-3 weeks just in time for the new year.
In other news, we’ve also heard that Apple is starting to ramp up production of its 3rd generation iPad, which should hit stores by April of 2012 (looks like we’re starting to see a product life cycle being established.) Look out for that official announcement in March.
Here’s a few more pics we had from the weekend. The mall promo was a huge success and they’ve even asked us to come back so look out for us this holiday season all over Long Island and New York City (with more to come in the next year). Feel free to connect with us on Facebook or Twitter to let us know how your iPhone 4S weekend went!
CNNMoney Interviews BuyBackWorld
Here’s also a good link from CNN Money which interviews some of our street team that was at the 5th Ave location. Fast forward to 40 seconds into the clip to see us
Apple officially released their latest OS to the public today and so far we’ve heard mixed reviews. Other tech blogs have said it works great, but the people we’ve spoke to who have updated said it erased all their information and froze their phones up. Do a quick scan of Facebook to see if this happened to any of your friends. We were actually mid update when we read that so we stopped and our phones are still intact – whew!
In terms of official features, iOS 5 is looking to be Apple’s most impressive build so far, with over 200 new features with improved notifications, iMessage, Apple Newsstand and iCloud. iOS also features the Find My Friend feature, which we’re guessing you’re either going to love or hate.
In order to upgrade to iOS you’ll also need to update your iTunes to version 10.5. The new white iPod Touch and iPhone 4S will both ship with iOS 5.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s an iPhone 4s? Whoa, what happened to all the hype about an all new, tear dropped, enlarged screen iPhone 5? Where’d all those elongated home buttons and aluminum back talks go? Before we echo the disappointment that Wall St definitely felt, let’s actually absorb what was shown to us today and take a step back to snap back to reality. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a crash course in planned obsolescence. What do we mean? Read on for more.
Do we think that there will be a body redesign in the iPhone’s future? Definitely. Will it be the most revolutionary handset to date? Of course. People have built iPhone launches into the holy grail of smartphone releases and have definitely built up expectations that are extremely difficult to satisfy. Let’s look at Apple’s product development with the iPhone.
Introduced in 2007, it changed the smartphone market forever. Different body type for the 3G, improved specs for 3GS, total redesign for 4, improved specs for 4S. Throw in the app store introduction (which changed the way we interacted with our phones forever – clue, you’re probably reading this on a Facebook or Twitter app as we speak), add a little Siri (which is sure to further change how we personally interact with our phones) and Apple has shown us nothing short of greatness. But, it is of course, planned to what degree we receive all this at.
Look at how many iPad 2′s were sold with only improved specs. The iPhone 4S will still be a hot seller and it allows Apple to reach new markets through Sprint and a more robust global rollout. The iPhone 5? Sure, it’s going to be a game changer altogether, but let’s look at what the iPhone 4S is packing before we scream, “letdown!”
Dual-core A5 processor – up to 2x faster performance and 7x graphics
8 Mega-pixel camera supporting full 1080p HD video recording
World phone supporting BOTH GSM and CDMA networks
Battery has 8 hours talk time, 10 hours video viewing time
Siri voice controlled personal assistant which operates in natural language
iOS 5 – iMessage, new notifications, etc. Released October 12
Preorders: October 7th
In-Store: October 14th
Price: $199 16GB, $299 32GB, $399 64GB
The 64GB version will be a nice addition to the lineup for media heavy fans, although we do have to say from an economical and resale standpoint an increase of $100 for a piece of memory that is worth far less is a beautiful marketing approach by Apple.
Anyway, all in all we’re looking forward to all the promotion that will ensue over the course of the next week and yes, we will be handing out CASH in front of Apple stores all over NYC. Come on down and check us out!
Here’s the official video detailing everything the 4s will offer.
Apple is working on increasing their presence in the digital video market that will deliver a subscription TV service. While details have remained hazy, we do recall a patent being filed back in July for sharing media across all iOS devices. Other rumors have stated Apple will purchase online streaming service Hulu, which would instantly jump start their TV subscription service.
In other news MacRumors.com published an image of what is supposedly the back of the iPhone 5. There also images of a redesigned antenna within an iPhone 4 body which would follow along the lines of the iPhone 4S being released alongside the new iPhone 5. The rumor mill is swirling and starting to heat up, only time will tell but we can smell the iPhone 5 right around the corner as we’ve been receiving emails about new iPhone 5 cases/skins from Chinese suppliers.
Dont you just just love Apple rumors? Especially when they’re about the iPhone. Apple blog 9to5 Mac announced today they heard from a reliable source that case makers are currently manufacturing a thinner case/skin, suggesting that the iPhone 5 will be both thinner and lighter than the current iPhone 4. while it hasnt been confirmed if these are meant for the next gen iPod Touch or the new iPhone, we’re hoping the cases are meant for the iPhone 5. We waited an extra three months so we think we’re entitled to a little bit more than a speed update, dont you agree?
We made a trip to the Apple flagship store today on 5th Avenue and it was jam packed (like always), even though it’s currently under renovation and Apple is working on their new Grand Central location. We have to say we really like the “Need Help” button enabling you to call over a rep right to where you’re standing – other retailers should take note and act fast – that is definitely something for the ages.
Keep your fingers crossed for the latest and greatest on the iPhone 5, we’re only a few weeks away from being official. Of course we’ll be handing out cash for all your old iPhones on the street as well, but in the mean time dont forget to lock in all your pricing for the iPhone 4 as soon as the news hits right here.
While this isnt relatively “new” news, the tech world was whirling about with supposed confirmation of a prepaid/lower priced iPhone set for release by the end of this year. The phone will be sold without a contract and will not cost more than $350 (we’re already wondering how that will affect the resale market and our pricing engines as price and demand for older models will undoubtedly be driven down, c’mon Econ 101!). Now to get all secretive on you guys in traditional Cupertino fashion, the lower priced iPhone could just be an iPhone 3GS and the new iPhone could just be a iPhone 4s meaning some speed/feature updates, but no new radical design like the iPhone 5 is supposed to have.
If Apple uses the 3GS as the prepaid version it gives them the ability to enter all three price points in the mobile market by using the 3GS as the lower price, iPhone 4 as mid-range and a 4GS/5 as the premium model we’ve all become accustom to. Why the back and forth with the iPhone 4s/5 debate? No new casing/accessory activity to signal a change in form factor.
One thing that is for sure is that the announcement will come out by the end of August and we should have the new iPhone in hand by the end of September. Whoever said, “patience is a virtue” sure made an understatement.
Regardless of when the new iPhone is released, you can rest assured that BuyBackWorld will help youtrade-in all your previous model iPhones quickly and easily!
