Joseph Bland on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'Thank you, Bart! That was a lot of work, I know, especially being spread over several posts, but very illuminating for me personally. One major takeaway for me was a fresh personal appreciation of the sheer level of sophistication China has now achieved. They have truly grown over the years, technologically speaking. The Duo is clearly a technological tour de force. Another takeaway is that whoever supplied the information for this article is extremely knowledgeable about the Duo. I have to admit that knowing someone outside of Apple has that breadth of Apple knowledge makes me uneasy…. Once again, Bart, thanks for going to all that trouble!'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'Some additional tidbits from South China Morning Post on Apple’s strong iPhone 18 initial sales: Apple leads China smartphone sales after launch of iPhone 18 Pro. Can the momentum last? Sales in the first three days were 12 per cent higher than the previous generation’s entire first week • “Sales of the new Pro models in their first three days after launching on September 18 were 12 per cent higher than sales of the iPhone 17 Pro line-up during its entire first week last year, according to a report published on Wednesday by Counterpoint Research. That strong start catapulted Apple to the No 1 position by smartphone sales for the week of September 14 to 20, with the company capturing 33 per cent of the market.” Apple could receive a further boost from its first foldable handset, the iPhone Duo, which will go on sale on October 23. UBS said in a research note last week that Chinese consumers continued to show greater interest in foldable devices compared with other international markets. “UBS maintained its forecast for Apple’s global iPhone sales for the current financial year, projecting shipments to reach 261 million units, up 15.4 per cent year on year. These gains come against a backdrop of challenges facing the wider industry. The global smartphone market is grappling with a shortage of memory chips, as surging demand for AI infrastructure puts pressure on supplies for consumer electronics. China’s weekly handset sales have declined by double digits year on year since July, according to Counterpoint, which attributed the weakness to soft consumer spending and elevated chip costs. The memory shortage is expected to drag global smartphone shipments down this year. IDC forecast in August that shipments could contract 16.7 per cent, the steepest annual drop on record, while Counterpoint projected a 14 per cent market decline for 2026.” Excerpt From “Apple leads China smartphone sales after launch of iPhone 18 Pro. Can the momentum last?” Emma Ma South China Morning Post https://apple.news/AYgG8gdKARXyBegL8Y6f_FA This material may be protected by copyright.'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'Looks like India is finally getting ApplePay. All the details have been worked out.As reported by AppleInsider: https://appleinsider DOT com/articles/26/09/30/india-finally-gets-apple-pay-after-more-than-nine-years-of-negotiations?utm_source=rss “India is home to a dynamic and digitally savvy population that continues to embrace a cashless future while expecting the highest standards of security and privacy,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet in a statement, “and we’re so excited to bring Apple Pay to users in India today.” This is a positive I believe'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'I love supply chain FUD stories! Let’s me pickup some more AAPL on a discount.'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'Gurman piece out this morning re an Oct 12 launch of new smart home products. Free “gift” link below: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-30/apple-is-finally-ready-to-enter-its-next-big-category-the-smart-home?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc5MDc2Nzc1NiwiZXhwIjoxNzkxMzcyNTU2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUTTM0SDRUOTZPU0cwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI3NjA5RUVBQjMyNzE0MUNEODlGRjc0MUFDMzJCMDBENSJ9.x7zH-rimMOTWAek_Fx3bvzvNvXKK3R3gW9_eHbEu-Ms'
on Château de Mercuès - 'Any ideas about yesterday’s sell off? Lawsuit “loss” (temporary) or profit taking don’t feel like the reason, but maybe. Also: I’m waiting for the home products. With all the possible variations and multiples (cameras, input devices sensors, controllers etc. it seems like a lot of potential profit. 🙂'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'Its is highly speculative. In today’s Fast Money podcast Gene Munster mentions Apple’s AI efforts and Siri at about the 15 minute mark and at about the 25 minute mark the panel debunks the risk to Apple from Meta’s Muse. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cnbcs-fast-money/id215529509?i=1000792271402'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'Here is a non-paywall account of the article: Unsurprisingly, Meta’s new Muse AI agent blatantly ignores users permissions'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'Love the details about the locations you’re staying at, PED. Makes me want to go back and explore the country some more, though by car. There used to be a version of me that was more journalistic after finishing college, but my career path got the better of me and eventually led to Apple stock ownership, 3.0, etc. In other words, my passion for research and curation is not what it used to be, not to mention the lack of bandwidth. Much respect to whomever can fill in when needed. Regarding Muse, I downloaded the app and set up my avatar, then deleted the app after hearing how it accessed information that was supposed to be walled off. Never used it in between, I might add. Meta might squeeze out a few extra bucks by leveraging the agent against their vast advertising network, but competition is on the horizon, and the new Siri is already much improved and will only get better. Speaking of leverage, does it matter that Meta had to resort to financial engineering to keep data center expenses off the balance sheet?'
on Chateâu de la Treyne - 'The idea that Meta’s software replaces Apple’s hardware is highly “speculative”. The little bit I read on Mohan’s comments were not particularly persuasive.'
on Château de Mercuès - 'Some interesting revelations in the filings for Anthropic’s IPO: Revenue in 2025 was nearly $4.6 billion. Operating losses more than doubled in 2025 to more than $8 billion. About $3.8 billion of the 2025 revenue was from customers paying based on how much they use Claude , while subscription revenue was $789 million. Anthropic said it expects the former to comprise “the substantial majority” of its revenue for the foreseeable future. Anthropic paid roughly $351 million back to the platforms in distribution fees, or about 16% of sales. By early 2026, Anthropic’s total long-term commitments exceeded $417 billion. So, in summary: their IPO goal is a $2 trillion valuation… with last year’s revenue of $4.6 billion, an operating loss of $8 billion (more than double the year before), and outstanding long-term commitments of $417 billion. Now that IPO “plan” truly is some financial alchemy!'
