Apple Posts 2Q 2005 Results

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Apple posted (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050413/sfw093.html) their second quarter results today.

Apple posted a net profit of $290 million or $.35 per diluted share - as compared to profit of $46 million or $.06 per dilluted share for the year-ago quarter.

- Revenue was up 70% to 3.24 billion from the year-ago quarter.
- Gross margin was up to 29.8% (upfrom 27.8%)
- 1,070,000 Macintosh units shipped (43% increase)
- 5,311,000 iPods shipped (558% increase)

The financial results conference call (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq205/) takes place at 5pm ET.

[Mudbug]

those numbers are impressive, regardless of how you look at them.

[Nuc]

This a great thing for apple. I hope they keep up with the innovations!

To bad I didn't buy some apple stock :D

Nuc

[aftk2]

Holy cow!

Obviously, I'm impressed by the iPod statistics (how could you not be?), but the sizable increase in computer shipments is very, very good news as well.

Good job, Apple.

[Daveway]

Not to shabby :cool: I just wish the stocks would go up now! I'll be tuning in for the webcast, I think it's in 20mins.

[iGary]

Bravo, Apple.

Looks like nice sales all around.

They even sold more iPods than expected.

[Zaty]

From the Press Release:

"Apple is firing on all cylinders and we have some incredible new products in the pipeline for the coming year, starting with Mac OS X Tiger later this month."

That's sounds great! Keep on working Apple.

[sjpetry]

Not to shabby :cool: I just wish the stocks would go up now! I'll be tuning in for the webcast, I think it's in 20mins.
Where's the webcast at?

[pennKid]

Hopefully these numbers don't tell investors that everybody who can afford an ipod already has one, so now is the time to pull out the capital.

[Bear]

Where's the webcast at?Check the original message in this forum thread.

[mgargan1]

I am impressed

[cr2sh]

Where's the webcast at?

There's a link in the story. :)

I've never listened to one of these, butmaybe I'll stick around and listen to some of it.

[wrldwzrd89]

Apple's product development and marketing engine, which is powered by a prototype of what will eventually be called the PowerPC G6, is running smoothly. Apple's done a good job of keeping pipeline bubbles to a minimum and taking full advantage of multiple CPUs/cores and simultaneous multithreading. What's more, the prototype will be replaced this year with a faster, more stable version, which will allow Apple to crank out even more work. Way to go, Apple!

[sjpetry]

Check the original message in this forum thread.
:o

[Rocksaurus]

Apple's stock went down after this... Why?

[usarioclave]

They're selling 21m iPods a year on an annualized basis?

That's a lot of iPods.

They're so popular, PC makers should bundle a free iPod shuffle with every retail computer they ship!

[jcshas]

A 43% increase in Macintosh units shipped? WOW! So I guess the rumors of a so called "iPod Halo effect" are coming to fruition. Great news - way to go Apple!

[Sunrunner]

Apple posted (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050413/sfw093.html) their second quarter results today.

Apple posted a net profit of $290 million or $.35 per diluted share - as compared to profit of $46 million or $.06 per dilluted share for the year-ago quarter.

- Revenue was up 70% to 3.24 billion from the year-ago quarter.
- Gross margin was up to 29.8% (upfrom 27.8%)
- 1,070,000 Macintosh units shipped (43% increase)
- 5,311,000 iPods shipped (558% increase)

The financial results conference call (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq205/) takes place at 5pm ET.



Sweet jesus thats awsome...

Its gonna keep up with increases like this in the next few Quarters as well, with Tiger, minis, and likely PM refreshes... sweet!

[WildCowboy]

I don't get it...Apple estimated EPS of $0.20, analysts estimated $0.24-$0.25. They come in at an astounding $0.34 and the stock tanks. Hello!?!?! Clearly investors are currently ignoring Apple and the analysts and have their own completely unrealistic expectations.

[egsaxy]

million macs this quarter, no complaints. question is how many were mini's and can we assume that the mini is the lowest money maker (margin wise?) Don't know how other computer company's are doing but the push through inovation certainly seems to work. No one should doubt Apple now. What are the odds Dvorak says something like its a fluke (how many consecutive quarters does Apple have to surprise people before its a trend and not a fluke?)

There is a reason Steve is the Boss and I have no qualms about his leadership. 7 years and Apple couldn't be better. This proves the quality of the product Apple is shipping, keep up the goodwork.

[pennKid]

They're selling 21m iPods a year on an annualized basis?


Not even close. You can't just multiply by 4 after a 500% increase.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2005/04/06/2003249370

[jesuscandle]

if memory serves me right, that's MORE ipods in the last 3 months than in the three months leading up to Xmas. That's pretty amazing.

Anyone care to confirm?

[Lacero]

Stocks drop because profit investors are cashing out their holdings. They are waiting for the stock price to increase before they buy again.

[herbalizer]

Great job Apple! Keep on pecking away at the evil empire.

Just bought my 4th mac the other day.....

[daveL]

Apple's stock went down after this... Why?
These results were already built in to the current stock price. Now investors are wondering how long Apple can keep this kind of growth going down the road.

[csubear]

I don't get it...Apple estimated EPS of $0.20, analysts estimated $0.24-$0.25. They come in at an astounding $0.34 and the stock tanks. Hello!?!?! Clearly investors are currently ignoring Apple and the analysts and have their own completely unrealistic expectations.


The whole market went down today.

[Stella]

I'm looking forward to seeing Q3 results, particularly the iPods - the Shuffles, now they are very available ( at least, in Toronto ). Would like to see results of full impact.

[propropro]

And as many people already knew, PowerMac sales are ugly:

Sequential Change Year/Year Change
Product Summary Units Revenue Units Revenue
Power Mac (3) -16% -16% -19% -8%

[mclosers]

yes you are correct, it's almsot a million ipods more than last quarter in a traditionally weak quarter.

Also, the Gross margins increased 2% over last quarter, meaning the lower priced mac mini and ipod shuffle aren't effecting margins in a bad way.

Look for sales of Tiger to blast Apple's earnings next quarter through the roof. The analysts will not even be close...

Stock prices usually tank after earnings reports no matter how good they are when a good report is expected. It will rebound in the next few days, and you can look at it as a good time to get some shares cheap....

I got in at $25 a share last June... it's at $40 now and it split... so I'm pretty content ;)

[Lacero]

Apple posted a net profit of $290 million as compared to profit of $46 million for the year-ago quarter.That's a pretty sizeable increase, given last year, the mini iPod was introduced. iPod margins must be kickin'! http://www3.telus.net/poojja/s/beer2.gif

[iJaz]

These results were already built in to the current stock price. Now investors are wondering how long Apple can keep this kind of growth going down the road.
Yupp, the stock market is a strange game.
Anyhow, nice numbers, way to go Apple!

[Daveway]

“We are delighted to report a record second quarter for Apple in both revenue and earnings,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Apple is firing on all cylinders and we have some incredible new products in the pipeline for the coming year, starting with Mac OS X Tiger later this month.”

ohhhh......Why must Steve tease us so much?!? :D

[Nickygoat]

- Revenue was up 70% to 3.24 billion from the year-ago quarter.
- Gross margin was up to 29.8% (upfrom 27.8%)
- 5,311,000 iPods shipped (558% increase)

The financial results conference call (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq205/) takes place at 5pm ET.
Lots of shuffles in there dragging down revenue. Excellent news though - they gotta be doing something right

[Booga]

I don't get it...Apple estimated EPS of $0.20, analysts estimated $0.24-$0.25. They come in at an astounding $0.34 and the stock tanks. Hello!?!?! Clearly investors are currently ignoring Apple and the analysts and have their own completely unrealistic expectations.

While the profit beat expectations, the revenue barely matched expectations. That means that although they "beat the street", they did it through inflation of margins, not growth. While that's a good way to get cash, it means Apple's prices are still high and possibly hurting adoption rates.

The market likes to see growth more than milking your installed base. While there was definitely some growth, the great EPS numbers is mostly the milking thing.

[BornAgainMac]

Apple's stock went down after this... Why?

Probably bigger investors sell and try to shake the little guys off. The little guys sell thinking that the stock will tank. This makes the stock nice and low. Then the big investor buys at the new low price and make a killing. When the big invester buys the stock, it pumps up the stock and the little guys get back in and the stock goes up.

Just a theory...

[macidiot]

the key numbers to know are:

How many Shuffles were sold.

How many Mac Mini's were sold.

If Apple moved >1-1.5million shuffles, then HD iPod sales would actually be flat to down. Then margins become a question. Similar issues with the Mac mini, though its less of an issue. Long term, its a positive just to get more Macs in front of people.

So far though, looks like another homerun for Apple.

[usarioclave]

Not even close. You can't just multiply by 4 after a 500% increase.

Well actually, they sold 4,580,000 iPods last quarter, which was a 525% increase over Q1 FY2004.

You're mistakenly comparing year-over-year with quarter-over-quarter. When you look at it by quarter, it's very possible Apple may hit 24-25 million pods this FY.

[daveL]

Not even close. You can't just multiply by 4 after a 500% increase.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2005/04/06/2003249370
You'd be right, except you are looking at year-over-year growth rates, i.e. last year's 2nd quarter iPod shipment. Compared to the 1st quarter of this year, iPod shipments advanced a much more modest 16%, while revenue actually declined 16% (Shuffle models generate less revenue per unit). So, for the last 2 quarters alone, Apple has shipped 9,891,000 iPods. Even if shipments stay flat, you're still looking at nearly 20 million iPods this fiscal year, which excludes Holiday season '05.

[scu]

The stock has gone through the roof because most expected these great numbers. The big guys made a killing.

The stock will start going up again once those PowerMacs are released and they sell about 250K in the last two quarters.

[egsaxy]

is there anyplace we can see a history of apple's quarter reports? especially since Steve Jobs return?

[Daveway]

the key numbers to know are:

How many Shuffles were sold.

How many Mac Mini's were sold.



And Peter and Tim are going to say NO to everyone of those questions asked. Those questions are always asked and Apple says they don't give out that kind of info. :rolleyes:

[jcooper42]

These results were already built in to the current stock price. Now investors are wondering how long Apple can keep this kind of growth going down the road.

Many people think it will be hard to sustain the iPod growth I think, but I think people may be missing how much more growth potential there is in the computer business. I think a lot of Mac Minis are going to sell to windows users like me (just ordered my first Mac Tuesday when Tiger announced!) and those will likely inspire PowerBook, PowerMac or IMac sales when those users are convinced to switch and want to move into something more powerful.

I don't invest in individual stocks but now may be a good time to buy Apple.

[usarioclave]

is there anyplace we can see a history of apple's quarter reports? especially since Steve Jobs return?

http://www.apple.com/investor/

[macidiot]

Probably bigger investors sell and try to shake the little guys off. The little guys sell thinking that the stock will tank. This makes the stock nice and low. Then the big investor buys at the new low price and make a killing. When the big invester buys the stock, it pumps up the stock and the little guys get back in and the stock goes up.

Just a theory...

lol, a little bit Knights Templar/Dr. Evil conspiracy there... ;) While someone could technically do what your suggesting, at great cost and risk, manipulating the markets is dangerous stuff. Not to mention largely illegal.

What probably happpened is that Apple failed to meet the "whisper" numbers. That or forward guidance is less than what the street wants to hear.

[Freg3000]

Apple has 43% of the flash player market, and last week the iTMS crossed 350 million songs.

So much for announcing milestones ever 50 million...:)

[usarioclave]

Looking over the quarter -over-quarter summary data...

iMac up 2%
iBooks down 7%
PowerMac down 16%
Powerbooks up 39%
total cpu growth 2%

iPod growth 16%, with revenue growth of -16%.

Is the Mac Mini considered a PowerMac?

[orion123]

Shares of Apple rose about 1.5 percent to $41.52 in extended-hours trading on INET from it's Nasdaq close of $41.0

Glad to see education market ticking up slightly, even flat would have been ok.

[macidiot]

And Peter and Tim are going to say NO to everyone of those questions asked. Those questions are always asked and Apple says they don't give out that kind of info. :rolleyes:

Actually, they usually breakdown computer sales. Your right that they haven't broken down iPod sales in the past. But since the Shuffle is in a new category, they might.

[Fredstar]

Wow good job Apple, those are some fab and healthy numbers.
2005 will be an awesome year for Apple and 2006 will be even better (as long as Longhorn is delayed till 2007).
I bet the next quarter results will be again the biggest profits Apple have seen.
Steve Jobs just had to tease us. Those dual-cores WILL be announced at WWDC and the whole product range will be updated across the first half of the year.
This is definately exciting stuff and is gonna be an exciting year for Apple.

[Earendil]

Looking over the quarter -over-quarter summary data...

iMac up 2%
iBooks down 7%
PowerMac down 16%
Powerbooks up 39%
total cpu growth 2%


There, now can we stop insulting my 1.25ghz Powerbook saying she is weak, slow, and doesn't compare to todays laptops? Obviously they are selling, and these books are still damn fast unless you are moving down from a G5 :rolleyes:

~Tyler

[rdowns]

Apple's stock went down after this... Why?

Typical movement for Apple stock over past 2 years. Run up to one week prior to earnings, flat to down a little prior to earnings, profit takers on earnings announcement and a nice run up for a week after announcement.

[HiRez]

Yupp, the stock market is a strange game.
Anyhow, nice numbers, way to go Apple!Heh, I sold all my Apple stock at $23, it's too strange for me. Still glad to see the great results though, but Apple still has some problems:

- PowerBook speeds still stuck around 1.6 GHz. I got my 800 MHz TiBook (top of the line then) exactly four years ago, so that's only a 100% increase in four years, Moore's Law clearly got tossed out the window. It's really going to start being a problem for them unless they swallow their pride and go with the Freescale G4s (including dual-G4 models) until/if the G5s are ready for that application. Yes, PowerBook sales are increasing, but I bet a lot of that is iPod "halo" effect and switchers, plus the trend is that more people are just buying laptops instead of desktops each year.

- As sales increse, will the low-cost Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle canibalize sales of the more expensive models and eat into profit margins? I think it's too early to tell.

- The record companies are getting greedy again and Apple may have a hard time maintaining the iTMS/iPod roll they're on. Apple already doesn't have the profit margins on songs to allow a price increase, and increasing thier prices to the consumer would, for many, eliminate the advantage of convenience of buying soft copies of tunes instead of CD (and CD prices are also creeping down recently).

- Reports say that Congress is looking at Apple as a monopolist now (oh, sweet irony) and may clamp down on them by forcing them to open up the FairPlay DRM, or by something else. I wonder how much money M$ and Sony are paying to lobbyists each year.

[rogo]

Apple has 43% of the flash player market, and last week the iTMS crossed 350 million songs.

So much for announcing milestones ever 50 million...:)

While most of the numbers were superb, this song number is a disaster -- if it's real.

The 400 million milestone either came and went before April 8, or song sales are slowing down. That would be particularly astounding given how many iPods were sold. The flash numbers -- in particular -- boggle the mind. Not only did they enter the market and slash the margins in it for everyone else (Creative, Rio, Samsung), but they stole nearly half the market to boot!

I'm a personal believer that the music store could be worth as much as the entire company is now so I watch it very closely. I am hoping -- sincerely -- that they announce the 500 millionth song sold before May 10. Anything less is really quite bad.

Again, the rest of the numbers are pretty terrific at first blush. Imagine what would happen if there were truly compelling new Powerbooks -- G5 or dual core -- to goose those sales.

[rdowns]

Looking over the quarter -over-quarter summary data...

iMac up 2%
iBooks down 7%
PowerMac down 16%
Powerbooks up 39%
total cpu growth 2%

iPod growth 16%, with revenue growth of -16%.

Is the Mac Mini considered a PowerMac?


Mac mini is reported in iMac numbers which also includes emacs. They refuse to break down individual numbers on call.

iPod revenue growth (negative) is to be expected with a $99 and $199 products in the lineup.

[JeffTL]

Good Mac numbers especially; the iPod is probably going to taper off to a more sustainable, yet still highly profitable, position within a couple years, no doubt maintaining market share if innovation continues. Market share probably can't get too much higher, but volume can still stand to increase for a while.

There's a lot of room for computer sales growth, though. The halo effect appears to be very real. Moreover, Microsoft can't really grow significantly, and their difficulties in operating system innovation may cause more switching. Tiger should also prove to be a successful release, if Panther is any indicator.

My recommendation for AAPL: Hold.
The stock is a good long-term investment at this point for people who bought lower, but I wouldn't suggest buying until the next time the price is down a bit.

(DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER:I own no stock in any company and probably won't be buying any soon. Moreover, I am a jackleg analyst and I am not responsible for any decisions you make off my advice.)

[dongmin]

Mac mini is reported in iMac numbers which also includes emacs. They refuse to break down individual numbers on call.

iPod revenue growth (negative) is to be expected with a $99 and $199 products in the lineup.Yeah the iMac numbers are a little disappointing given that the Mac Minis are included in it. BUT this is the Jan.-March quarter which is the one of the weakest. If you compare this to the same quarter last year, Apple kicked royal ass in every category except the PowerMac category, which is to be expected. Apple should have a pretty phenomenal year overall with Tiger, new PowerMacs, and more iPod spinoffs in the pipeline.

Good work, Apple. Keep it going.

[Rocksaurus]

Typical movement for Apple stock over past 2 years. Run up to one week prior to earnings, flat to down a little prior to earnings, profit takers on earnings announcement and a nice run up for a week after announcement.

Interesting, I'll keep an eye on the stock to see if it goes up per your prediction.

[AstroPlain]

What I'm interested most in (aside from the outstanding iPod sales) is the change in cash and short term investments. As an investor I'd like to know where that kind of money is going to.

March 26, September 25,
2005 2004
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $2,254 $2,969
Short-term investments 4,803 2,495
Accounts receivable, less allowances of $51
and $47, respectively 888 774
Also, $888 million seems like a hell of a lot of accounts receivable (IMO).

[ccuilla]

if memory serves me right, that's MORE ipods in the last 3 months than in the three months leading up to Xmas. That's pretty amazing.

Anyone care to confirm?

That is correct. They sold like 4.6M in the Christmas quarter. Makes the numbers more interesting. Of course thet didn't have shuffle and the revised mini lineup either.

[ClimbingTheLog]

Apple's stock went down after this... Why?

You should have seen the activity ticker on CNBC this afternoon. Every other symbol was AAPL. I thought their feed was broken for a few minutes. I should have figured a conference call was going on.

[edit] crap, they split on Feb 28th so this is like $84 compared to the $32 I sold at....

[ccuilla]

While most of the numbers were superb, this song number is a disaster -- if it's real.

The 400 million milestone either came and went before April 8, or song sales are slowing down. That would be particularly astounding given how many iPods were sold. The flash numbers -- in particular -- boggle the mind. Not only did they enter the market and slash the margins in it for everyone else (Creative, Rio, Samsung), but they stole nearly half the market to boot!

I'm a personal believer that the music store could be worth as much as the entire company is now so I watch it very closely. I am hoping -- sincerely -- that they announce the 500 millionth song sold before May 10. Anything less is really quite bad.

Again, the rest of the numbers are pretty terrific at first blush. Imagine what would happen if there were truly compelling new Powerbooks -- G5 or dual core -- to goose those sales.

If they sold at approximately the same rate as they did from 250 to 300, then they would have hit 350 about 4/11/2005. If they hit the number right around the conference call...they are staying steady....if they hit it much ahead of today...then they are accelerating.

Looks like they are pretty steady...but not growing (rate of increase) too fast.

[chabig]

I got my 800 MHz TiBook (top of the line then) exactly four years ago, so that's only a 100% increase in four years, Moore's Law clearly got tossed out the window.
Moore's law says nothing about clock speed. It's all about the number of transistors on a chip.

Chris

[dotdotdot]

...but soon they will run out of people to sell iPods to! :p

[coolfactor]

...but soon they will run out of people to sell iPods to!

Wouldn't you like to think so. Take the number of people that own Windows PCs (hundreds of millions) and compare that again Mac owners (25 million w/ 14 million using OS X), and that put some perspective on the subject. Mexico city and Canada each have populations of just over 40 million, I believe. Apple hasn't even scratched the surface of where this could go.

EDIT: Canada only has 32 million. The US is over 100 million. Just think about other countries: China, Japan, etc.

http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm

EDIT #2: USA has population of 295 million.

http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

.

[HiRez]

Moore's law says nothing about clock speed. It's all about the number of transistors on a chip.Yes yes fine, if you want to get technical, you're correct. But of course I'm referring to the computer industry's adopted variant of that, which does imply speed. Sure it's not an official "law" or even a "theory", but it help up for quite a while and now is rapidly decelerating, and Apple is "innovating" by decelerating their speed curve faster than most of the industry. :rolleyes:

[mtscott]

...but soon they will run out of people to sell iPods to!

Apple has sold less than 20 million iPods to date. The market is going to keep getting bigger for a long time to come.

And, not only are people buying an iPod for the first time, there's a market there as well for repeat buyers. The original iPod only held 5GB. Many people are probably exceeding that capacity by now, and are looking for a replacement.

Not to mention that businesses are now looking at iPods as ways for their employees to carry data around. (Doctors for example with Xrays/MRIs and other test results.) So in that situation, you have people using them at work, enjoying them, and maybe purchasing one for themselves as home.

[SiliconAddict]

Lots of shuffles in there dragging down revenue. Excellent news though - they gotta be doing something right

I doubt it. There have been some analysis of the various shuffle components and the general consensus on most of the articles I’ve read is that the core components cost Apple at most $40-$50 in bulk. Apple is making an absolute killing on the shuffle. Esp the $150 shuffle. I don’t think they are being hurt at all by that product.

[SiliconAddict]

...but soon they will run out of people to sell iPods to! :p

Not even close. I think, I could be wrong but I swear on a bible, that I read they haven't even hit sales of what the Walkman was selling at, at its peak.

There is A LOT of untapped markets out there. The biggest factor to sales at this point is price and with the amazingly broad spectrum of iPod products and price ranges Apple has there is no reason they can't pull a Sony Walkman. Next holiday season iPod sales are going to be "interesting" to say the least.

[dicklacara]

Wow good job Apple, those are some fab and healthy numbers.
2005 will be an awesome year for Apple and 2006 will be even better (as long as Longhorn is delayed till 2007).
I bet the next quarter results will be again the biggest profits Apple have seen.
Steve Jobs just had to tease us. Those dual-cores WILL be announced at WWDC and the whole product range will be updated across the first half of the year.
This is definately exciting stuff and is gonna be an exciting year for Apple.

Yes, the rest of CY 2005 should see:

1) Delivery on the HD promise
2) Delivery of Video on Demand & Video on Schedule
3) Exciting new applications
4) Faster Wireless
5) Upgrades to most of the current products
6) exciting new non-[traditional]computer products
7) new server products
8) some exciting acquisitions
9) Work on the next OS X

Depending on what/when Longhorn contains/is released, Apple could be in the Catbird seat from the perspective of the OS.

A battle royale could be shaping up between Longhorn and OS X 10.5 Lion sometime late 2006 - early 2007.

[rogo]

If they sold at approximately the same rate as they did from 250 to 300, then they would have hit 350 about 4/11/2005. If they hit the number right around the conference call...they are staying steady....if they hit it much ahead of today...then they are accelerating.

Looks like they are pretty steady...but not growing (rate of increase) too fast.

You get that another 4 million iPods were added to the base, the store is gaining more awareness and that sales of music might not be growing right? Given that music sales were growing exponentially just 2 months ago, this is a disaster -- if true.

[minimax]

A 43% increase in Macintosh units shipped? WOW! So I guess the rumors of a so called "iPod Halo effect" are coming to fruition. Great news - way to go Apple!

please people...look a bit past all the media spin from Apple. There is almost no increased 'Halo effect' by the mac mini and total revenue on consumer desktop has fallen more compared to Q1 then seasonal influences can explain. Don't know why there is a double thread concerning the Q2 results but read the other thread for further explanation.

[pennKid]

with the amazingly broad spectrum of iPod products and price ranges Apple has there is no reason they can't pull a Sony Walkman.

I don't know. $99 was an extrememly high-end walkman, but a low-end ipod. Weren't most walkmans going for like $20?

[tveric]

I don't know. $99 was an extrememly high-end walkman, but a low-end ipod. Weren't most walkmans going for like $20?

In today's dollars, $20 in 1979 is $85.70 (if you use share of relative GDP conversion). And I'm not sure you could ever get a "real" Sony Walkman for $20 - seems to me the $20 ones were all knockoffs from other companies. But I could be wrong.

Also, an extremely high-end Walkman was $200, not $99. Figure that's around $800 in today's dollars.

[TwitchOSX]

Duh! =)

Last I saw.. the US has about 350 million residents. Bit of a difference from "Over 100 million"

[Doctor Q]

...but soon they will run out of people to sell iPods to! :pThat was once said about computers, and televisions, and probably automobiles too, when there was one of each per household. Then it became one per person and sales continued. Once every person on the planet within computing distance has an iPod, sales will still continue as iPods get better -- and as old batteries die! :)

Apple is also smart to have multiple lines of iPods, so you can think of an excuse to have more than one, e.g., a big one for your photos and videos and a little one for music while traveling light. Perhaps Apple will sell us a separate one for audio lectures at school, one to live in the car, and one that we'll use at work for some reason.