App Store Economics, Empty Apple Watch Tables, Samsung Preannounces Weak Earnings
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- App Store Economics: Troubled Indie Business Models - We take a closer look at Brent Simmons' piece about the App Store becoming an environment in which it is too difficult for indie artists to compete. I use a real-world example of a funded app company to show what is really happening in the iOS ecosystem.
- Empty Apple Watch Tables in Apple Stores - I continue to have people tell me that they are surprised with the lack of people around Apple Watch tables. Is this something to be concerned about? What is going on?
- Samsung Preannounces Weak Earnings - Samsung's issues may be deeper than just market dynamics.
We kick things off by diving into the topic of App Store economics and the recent string of posts from iOS developers, beginning with Brent Simmons, that look at the App Store environment and conclude the indie app business model is in big trouble. We then shift over to one topic that has been on my mind lately concerning empty Apple Watch tables in Apple retail stores. We conclude with a quick overview of Samsung's earnings preannouncement.
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Apple Music is Very Apple, Casio Wants to Sell a Smartwatch
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple Music is Very Apple
- Casio Wants to Sell a Smartwatch
Welcome to a new week. We kick things off closing up some loose ends with Apple Music after last week's launch. Think of this as looking at the big picture. Apple is taking a big risk with Apple Music, giving consumers something that they may want before they knew they wanted it. We next go over news that Casio is the latest watchmaker targeting the smartwatch market, which is somewhat ironic news given the company's past as one of the first to market a "smart" watch.
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Apple is Growing Faster than Xiaomi, Trent Reznor Talks Apple Music, Q&A Thursday
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple is Growing Faster than Xiaomi
- Trent Reznor Talks Apple Music
- Q&A Thursday (answering questions from Above Avalon members about everything and anything)
We kick things off by looking at the latest sales numbers from Xiaomi and discovering an interesting development that has been occurring in 2015. Next, we take a closer look at Trent Reznor's interview about Apple Music with Pitchfork. We conclude with the inaugural Thursday Q&A, a list of questions submitted by all of you concerning various topics and subjects.
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Apple Music Observations, Android Switcher Rates Bode Well for iPhone Sales
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple Music Observations
- Android Switcher Rates Bode Well for iPhone Sales
We begin today's email with Apple Music and observations and notes about Apple's entry into the music streaming era. It is clear that Apple did their homework, but it is hard to ignore some of the risks and future problems. Then we will switch over to the latest report from Kantar, which contains data on Android switcher rates. With Apple earnings coming up, this data is quite useful when contemplating iPhone sales trends for the past three months.
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Apple Music's Problem, Reflections on iPhone's 8th Anniversary, Greece's Impact on Apple
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple Music's Problem
- Reflections on iPhone's 8th Anniversary
- Greece's Impact on Apple
Today, we kick things off by diving a bit deeper into my article about Apple Music's "problem" concerning the $10 per month price being too high. Next, we take a few moments to reflect on the iPhone's 8th anniversary, which led me to think of a few things about what the iPhone means to Apple and if Apple will ever have another "iPhone" in the future. We conclude by talking about Greece and how to think about ongoing economic turmoil in Greece and Europe when thinking about Apple.
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Attaching a Price to Apple's Free Music Trial, The Big Bet Behind Beats 1, New iPhones Entering Production
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Attaching a Price to Apple's Free Music Trial
- The Big Bet Behind Beats 1
- New iPhones Entering Production
We are still in Apple Music mode with tomorrow's launch. Apple signed deals with the indie labels after deciding to pay music rights holders during the three month trial period. With new information in hand, I wanted to dive a bit deeper and attach a price tag to Apple's music trial period. Next, Zane Lowe was profiled by the New York Times. Beats 1 is increasingly being positioned as a key aspect of Apple Music which has implications going forward. Finally, we have the first reports of new iPhones going into production, so we take a look at how this years's iPhone update cycle is looking.
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Apple's Stock Buyback Program Primer
Today's daily update is all about Apple's stock buyback. The email is broken into seven parts with the beginning dedicated much more to talking about share buyback in general terms, and then the ending focusing on Apple's stock buyback. This email is meant to be used as a primer to become familiar with Apple's share buyback.
The seven "chapters":
- What is Stock Buyback?
- Why Does a Company Buy Back Shares?
- Clues Found in Buyback Programs
- The Two Ways Apple Buys Back Stock
- Stock Buyback Disclosure
- Everything There is to Know About Apple's Stock Buyback
- My View on Apple's Stock Buyback
The full primer is available for Above Avalon subscribers. To continue reading, click here.
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Google's Early Approach to Take on Apple Watch, Improving iOS 9 Adoption is High Priority, One Drawback of Holding $194 Billion of Cash
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Google's Early Approach to Take on Apple Watch
- Improving iOS 9 Adoption is High Priority at Apple
- One Drawback of Holding $194 Billion of Cash
We kick things off today by talking about Google's new health-tracking wristband and why health is shaping up to be a potential competitive tool to go up against Apple Watch. We next discuss one new feature found in the second beta of iOS 9 yesterday focused on improving iOS 9 adoption rates. Evidence is adding up that management has placed improving OS adoption rates as a high priority. We conclude by discussing one drawback Apple faces by holding so much cash on its balance sheet.
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Just Doing What's Right, The Symbolism Behind the Gold iPhone
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Just Doing What's Right
- The Symbolism Behind the Gold iPhone
With much of the weekend excitement surrounding Apple Music winding down, we first take a look at how the past two days have revealed quite a bit about how Apple leadership thinks about problems and mistakes, including what may be the driving force behind the management team these days. We then move over to a recent report that said Tim Cook confirmed the gold iPhone was made with China in mind. When you look back at the gold iPhone, it becomes clear how Apple ended up defying most critics and pundits and instead of selling cheap iPhones to gain market share, went in the opposite direction, embracing luxury with gold as the biggest symbol yet of that strategy.
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Taylor Swift is Backing Herself Into a Corner, Calculating Apple Watch Band Profit, Apple's Cash Dilemma
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Taylor Swift is Backing Herself Into a Corner
- Calculating Apple Watch Band Profit
- Apple's Cash Dilemma (Why Not Just Pay the Tax?)
It's a new week and things are starting off busy. We first discuss the Taylor Swift vs. Apple battle over Apple Music's 3 month trial period. While Taylor Swift appeared to win, she may actually be backing herself into a corner. Next, we take a closer look at a recent Reuters article which suggests Apple Watch bands are providing quite a bit of profit to Apple, which I have my doubts is true. We conclude with a director's cut of my recent "Apple's Cash Dilemma" piece and why just paying tax on foreign cash and bringing excess cash to the U.S. isn't the best option.
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Fitbit Prices IPO Above Expectations, Cablevision CEO Comments on Cable Bundle, How to Discover Apple Watch Sales
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Fitbit Prices IPO Above Expectations
- Cablevision CEO Sees Cable Bundle Dying
- How to Discover Apple Watch Sales
Fitbit priced its IPO last night well above its initial range, valuing the company at $4.1 billion. We will go over the valuation, explain what's next for Fitbit, and look at how we can get Apple-related clues from them once they are a public company. Next, we will discuss Cablevision CEO's comments about the cable bundle starting to crumble and what the next phase of TV transformation may look like. We conclude by going over the math behind how one can obtain a pretty good estimate of Apple Watch sales estimates when Apple reports earnings each quarter.
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Wall Street Doubting Apple Watch, Apple Hiring News Editors, Apple Retail Store Renovations
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Wall Street Doubting Apple Watch
- Apple Hiring News Editors
- Apple Retail Store Renovations
We kick things off today by going over the latest Wall Street analyst report raising concerns that Apple Watch sales will underwhelm. Next, we shift over to the new job listing for Apple News Editors and the two obstacles that Apple will need to overcome with its News app. Finally, we go over a few quick thoughts behind Apple's plans to renovate 20 of its retail stores, including some of its most iconic locations.
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Apple's New Search APIs, New Productivity Features Hint at iPad's Future
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple's New Search APIs
- New Productivity Features Hint at iPad's Future
Today we take a closer look at Apple's new search APIs in iOS 9 introduced last week during WWDC. The closer look you get at what Apple is trying to accomplish here, the clearer the ramifications are when thinking about Apple's ongoing battle with Google, app search and discovery, and the next era of search. We next go over Apple's iPad productivity announcements at WWDC and what they may mean for the iPad's future.
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Genius Move Behind the Phil Schiller Interview, Apple is Playing Offense, Apple Correctly Killed Plans for Beats Wifi Speaker
Today's Above Avalon Premium stories:
- The Genius Move Behind the Phil Schiller Interview
- Apple is Playing Offense, not Defense
- Apple Correctly Killed Plans for Beats Wifi Speakers
We kick things off by taking a closer look at what Apple tried to accomplish with the Phil Schiller interview by John Gruber at WWDC last week. Next, we shift over and briefly discuss my "Apple is Playing Offense at WWDC" post published on Above Avalon. We conclude by going over the Variety report that Apple killed development of a Beats Wifi speaker and why I think that was a good decision in context of Apple's bigger plans with headphones/speakers.
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Looking at WWDC as an Apple Financial Analyst, There Won't Be an Apple vs. MCX Battle
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Looking at WWDC as an Apple Financial Analyst
- There Won't Be an Apple vs. MCX Battle in Mobile Payments
Sticking with this week's WWDC theme, we begin by looking at WWDC from the perspective of an Apple financial analyst, including a few theories on what I think is becoming a much more important factor for AAPL investors to pay attention to. We then shift over to Apple Pay and dissect Apple's recent announcements for the mobile payments service, including how U.S. adoption is looking and why a battle between Apple and MCX is not too likely.
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