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APPLE IS POST-PC: A chart (below) from analyst Horace Dediu of Asymco shows the stagnant growth in Mac unit sales against the explosive growth in iPad unit sales to illustrate that Apple is becoming a "post-PC" company. Although tablets are grouped into the "mobile" category, they are not restricted to on-the-go usage. Tablets are instead becoming the favorite at-home device, replacing much of the activity that once took place on the computer. Tablets' affordability (when looking at comparable device lines, like the Mac vs. the iPad), along with their light weight and touch-and-swipe design, are persuading users that the computer is no longer a necessity.
And Apple has embraced the trend toward tablets and away from PCs. They have made the iPad one of their marquee products and pushed them out to casual consumers, while still maintaining a steady Mac division targeted to power users. It is likely the direction more modern personal computing companies will take in the future. Christopher Mims at Quartz has gone so far as to say that personal computing might now simply mean, “tablet and anything else with a 7-inch or bigger screen, keyboard optional.” (Quartz)
APPLE CITES BUSINESS INSIDER INTELLIGENCE IN EARNINGS CALL: In his introductory remarks to the earnings conference call for Apple's December quarter, CFO Peter Oppenheimer cited BI Intelligence as part of his break-down of Apple's app store growth. Here's the selection from the transcript: "A recent study by Business Insider Intelligence indicated that iOS has a five times advantage over Android when it comes to developer revenues per app download, a four times advantage in revenue from in-app purchases and a two times advantage in revenue from paid download plus in-app purchases." Click here to read the study cited by Apple.
APPLE EARNINGS DASHBOARD: BI Intelligence has put out a comprehensive overview of the key stats from Apple's holiday quarter earnings call in the form of charts. Contributor Dan Frommer has created a dashboard that includes big picture data like revenue and profit, stats from key areas like Greater China, retail revenue, a rundown of iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod sales, and a product revenue breakdown. Check it out here.
TIM COOK: iPhone 5C demand, "turned out to be different than we thought." One of the big surprises from Apple's earnings call was underwhelming iPhone sales, which hit 51 million units but missed analyst expectations by about four or five million units. On its earnings call yesterday, CEO Tim Cook admitted that the 5C made up a smaller portion of iPhone sales than they had anticipated. This may be another way of saying sales of the 5C were lackluster and did not boost sales overall as much as they had anticipated. (Apple Insider)
APPLE MOBILE PAYMENTS: In the earnings call yesterday, Apple was asked to comment on its plans for mobile payments, and gave a positive, if cagey, response, saying that mobile payments presented "a big opportunity." A new report from the Wall Street Journal claims Apple is already making headway in mobile payments. The framework for a robust Apple payments ecosystem is there given all of the active iOS devices globally, but Apple would be entering a fiercely competitive market against companies like PayPal and Square. (Wall Street Journal)
ANGRY BIRDS SPIES? Documents leaked by Edward Snowden to The Guardian show that the NSA and U.K. agency GCHQ have started looking to popular mobile games like Angry Birds for personal consumer information. The caveat here is that upon downloading and installing game apps, consumers give direct permission to the app to access data like their location, device-specific information, and social network linking. Consumers should pay attention to app permission requests when installing. (GigaOM)
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