Stephen Gordon on Saturday Apple video: Asking Steve Jobs about the Blackberry (2008) - 'The Blackberry movie is highly recommended in light of this, given the role the iPhone played in the decline of RIM.'
on How 'mysterious' John Ternus got Hollywood eating out of his hand - 'I remember right after Jobs dropped the “i” in iCEO, it started a long run of consistently beating GUIDANCE by 20%. I started forecasting results 20% higher than GUIDANCE and being very close to actual results. That was while Oppenheimer was CFO. When he retired several years later, GUIDANCE stopped being understated. My point is that EVERYTHING that Apple does is part of a master plan to paint the Company in the best possible way. The transition from Jobs to Cook was forced upon the Company, still the transition was well choreographed. The transition from Cook to Ternus even more so. There is nothing but good news. Controversy, at all cost, is to be avoided. It reminds me of what one of my Board members liked to say, “The Company is the Golden Goose that lays Golden Eggs. The primary function of everyone within the Company is the care and feeding of the Golden Goose, so that the Golden Goose continues to lay Golden Eggs.” Everything the Company does, that may have a public view, is presented as a part of an overall positive marketing plan. Negative media is never addressed directly. Praise in public, correct in private.'
on How 'mysterious' John Ternus got Hollywood eating out of his hand - 'I fully expected a perfectly timed, planned and implemented transition from Cook to whoever was the absolute best internal candidate, given that that’s what Steve did with Tim, emphasizing that the most important thing to maintain and protect was the Apple culture. I can’t imagine Tim doing anything less, once he started to see the end of his time as CEO. And nice to see Apple’s entertainment endeavours really starting to bear fruit. Slow and steady, with extreme focus on quality, wins almost every race Apple has ever entered, notwithstanding all the naysayers and short-sighted doom peddlers.'
on How 'mysterious' John Ternus got Hollywood eating out of his hand - 'Pun intended. The Duo opens up a new role for iPhone – best supporting tech device, for action heroes, evil antagonists, nerds, you name it. It’s physical, visceral, visual, magical. Ternus too, is camera-ready.'
on BofA: Sweet trade-ins are a tailwind for the iPhone 18 Pro series - 'Absolutely, Fred. Check off another reason to own AAPL that you, I, and many others here on 3.0 have been touting for years.'
on How 'mysterious' John Ternus got Hollywood eating out of his hand - 'Level 5 Leadership by TC, of course!'
on How 'mysterious' John Ternus got Hollywood eating out of his hand - 'You have to hand it to Cook for teeing all of this up for his successor. And my guess is that’s exactly the couldn’t make Cook happier!!!'
on How 'mysterious' John Ternus got Hollywood eating out of his hand - 'The timing of Tim Cook’s retirement and the ascent of John Ternus seems to have been very well planned. Just like about everything else at Apple. Having the Duo being released as a signature achievement within a couple of weeks of the transition is a coup for Ternus and Apple. And it shows how good Tim Cook really was as a CEO.'
on Demand for Apple's Phone 18 Pros 'better than feared' - '“Have no fear, Underdog is here!” Damn straight. That’s who is. When in this world the headlines read Of those whose hearts are filled with greed And rob and steal from those who need. To right this wrong with blinding speed goes Underdog Underdog Underdog Underdog'
on BofA: Sweet trade-ins are a tailwind for the iPhone 18 Pro series - 'T-Mobile had a great trade-in, but they want me to migrate to a more expensive plan. Like PED said, they get theirs in the end.'
on Evercore hikes its Apple target $15 to $380 - '1) doesn’t anybody recognize that if the duo sold as the same number of Airs, the revenue would be more than double? 2) in Q3CY2025, Apple sold, per Omdia, 56.5M iPhones. iPhone revenue for that quarter was $49.025B, giving an ASP of $868. If Evercore expects an ASP increase of 25-28%, that’s $1085 to $1111. That may not be for the full Q3 quarter. 3) even with flat sales in Q3, iPhone revenues could jump from $45.03B to at least $55-$60B, jumps of 22% to $33% 4) “old” iPhones upgrading means A. iPhone 11 2019 7 yrs B. iPhone 12 2020 6 yrs C. iPhone 13 2021 5 yrs D. iPhone 14 2022 4 yrs E. Anybody still using an iPhone XS, XR, X, 8, 7/7+, Mini’s and SE models. That’s at least 250M iPhones right there along with those who would upgrade at 3 yrs or less. 5) what this also means is there would be a lot of trade in or secondhand used phones entering the market, just like the iPhone 17 series has created. This means more used and potentially refurbished models hitting the second hand market, challenging cheaper-but now more expensive budget smartphones, especially in some price sensitive areas. I would not be surprised if many price conscious users decide to buy used iPhones instead of more expensive budget phones, assuming batteries are fresh. The install base keeps growing.'
on BofA: Sweet trade-ins are a tailwind for the iPhone 18 Pro series - 'Bought my 18 Pro Max today. And got this interesting wrinkle: $12 a month for a 12-month lease; $18 for a 24-month lease. Why? Because of the trade-in. If I remove the trade-in, the leases are $62 for the 12-month and $48 for the 24-month (what I expected. The longer lease should be cheaper). But if I add the trade-in back, I get the phone for only $12 a month … if I take the short time period. Looking at the deal, it is because they deduct the entire trade-in value from the cost but spread it over the term of the lease. So a $500 trade-in has the entire $500 taken in the 1st year. So less has to be financed in the lease. But only $250 each year when leased for 2 years. So sure, I’ll have to send it in and upgrade in a year, but getting the 18 pro max for $12 a month is a steal.'
on Premarket: Apple was green, turned red - 'In today’s The Trader column from Barron’s, Alex Rosenberg suggests, “Stocks Are Resilient, Fairly Priced, and Probably Getting Ready to Rally.” https://apple.news/ATnqAZimSQwW1t4JOOEomuA Personally, I expect equities to continue to rise as long as earnings growth remains strong. That doesn’t mean share prices go higher in a straight line.'
on Gene Munster: Apple splits the difference - '“Apple’s recently launched iPhone 18 is seeing “muted” initial wait times in major global markets for the technology giant’s first foldable smartphone, UBS Securities [David Vogt] said in a note e-mailed Friday.” There you are, David, right on cue this morning. Vogt, one of the perpetual AAPL low-ballers currently has a Hold rating with a $296 target. No surprise. He also seems to think the Duo’s price may cause problems with sales. “Sell” rating forthcoming'
on Premarket: Apple was green, turned red - 'Yes. Price includes GST of 10%. Aus consumer law says a device must be effective for the term of its reasonable useful life. Apple has taken that to mean 2 years for most of their products. Apple’s explicit warranty is 12 months but they honour consumer rights and then some. Bring in a 25 month old product and say you noticed something wrong after 23 months and if you aren’t rude you might get your product replaced on the spot. Technically these laws apply to android devices too. But as many androids are bought in supermarkets, small shops, Amazon etc it is too difficult to get a phone replaced 2 years later, so I assume they are just trashed. So yes Aussies pay a bit more than just the exchange rate and gst but they get Ritz Carlton service at an Apple Store and longer device life. For me the extra money of buying in Australia is a no-brainer.'
on Gene Munster: Apple splits the difference - 'They’ll say “Apple is doomed. They mis-managed not just the demand and supply chain for the Duo, but also the scalability of their website.” There is NO SCENARIO where Apple wins with a lot of those people…'
on Gene Munster: Apple splits the difference - 'What will all these analysts write once the Duo is not only sold in seconds, but the web site crashed due to overwhelming demand. My gut tells me that Apple has been preparing for an order onslaught of these Duo devices and have produced far more than anyone is predicting will be sold. I still remember all the articles mocking the Apple Air Pods as: “Nobody will want to be seen walking around with Q-Tips in their ears.” How did that prediction turn out? About as well as Apple entering the streaming wars will be a disaster!'
on Demand for Apple's Phone 18 Pros 'better than feared' - 'who feared? I seriously would like to know. I can bet nobody here feared, or fear, slowing demand. Next they are going to say the Duo sells better than they feared. Who are these people?'
