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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple will webcast their 2006 Q1 Financial Results at 2pm Pacific on Wednesday January 18th, 2006.

Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For more information on the factors that could influence results, please refer to Apple’s SEC filings.

During the call, Apple will give Mac and iPod sales numbers for the quarter and can sometimes provide insight into Apple's plans. Apple's switch to Intel will likely be the big topic for discussion during the Q&A session.

Meanwhile, several news sites are reporting on an email from Jobs to his employees this past Friday noting that Apple's market capitalization had surpassed Dell on Friday. The email was in response to comments by Michael Dell that he would "shut [Apple] down and give the money back to the shareholders."
 

revisionA

macrumors 6502
May 27, 2005
283
0
price and quality always fight it out...

yet low price and low quality have a home...

in PCs.
 

shawnce

macrumors 65816
Jun 1, 2004
1,442
0
Q1 looks to have been a barn burner of a quarter for Apple. No doubt the iPod is the biggest winner but I personally expect a decent up tick in Mac volumes compared to Q1 2005 (despite the Intel transition). Apple could be on their way to doubling their earning per share this coming year (they already are out performing Dell on that metric for 2005).

/me raises a glass to 2006, the year of the Mac (or at least I hope it will be)
 

atari1356

macrumors 68000
Feb 27, 2004
1,582
32
I think Michael Dell should shut Dell down... because their products are boring and completely uninspiring. Consider it a failed experiment and start over. ;)
 

jacobj

macrumors 65816
Apr 22, 2003
1,124
87
Jersey
I loved that cNet article. I seem to remember that just last year Michael Dell was commenting on Apple as being insignificant in the computer market. Something to do with revenue.

Anyway, Dell still dwarfs Apple in the PC manufacturing world, but for how long. I know that sounds crazy, but just 5 years ago if I had said Apple would be where it is today (and I wouldn't have been that optimistic) then you would have laughed at me....

What does the future hold?

PS.. The financial results will be good and I too expect Mac sales to be on the rise but it is Q1 2007 that will be of most interest to me from a Mac perspective and not just the overall Apple view.
 

musiclover137

macrumors regular
Jan 23, 2005
104
0
Here's a great Times article about it. A link won't work for un-subscribers. I'll paste it here:

By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: January 16, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15 - It may not be the last laugh, but on Friday afternoon, after the close of the stock market, Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive of Apple Computer, shared an e-mail chuckle with his employees at the expense of Dell, a big rival.
Skip to next paragraph

The message was prompted by the 12 percent surge in Apple's stock price last week, which pushed the company's market capitalization to $72.13 billion, passing Dell's value of $71.97 billion.

In 1997, shortly after Mr. Jobs returned to Apple, the company he helped start in 1976, Dell's founder and chairman, Michael S. Dell, was asked at a technology conference what might be done to fix Apple, then deeply troubled financially.

"What would I do?" Mr. Dell said to an audience of several thousand information technology managers. "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

On Friday, apparently savoring the moment, Mr. Jobs sent a brief e-mail message to Apple employees, which read: "Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve."

Dell executives did not return calls over the weekend asking for comment on Apple's rising fortunes.

Mr. Dell appears to have softened his views on Apple recently. In June, he responded to an e-mail inquiry from CNET News.com, the computing news service, and said that Dell would consider putting Apple's OS X operating system on its machines if Apple ever decided to sell it separately from its hardware.

Although Mr. Jobs has recently shifted some gears and last week introduced his first computer based on chips from Intel, which are also used in Dell machines, it does not appear that selling the operating system separately is in his plans.

Since returning to Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., Mr. Jobs has revitalized the company's computer business and created its wildly successful iPod division.

In 2000, after pulling the company out of its financial nose dive, Mr. Jobs was awarded a corporate jet and options to purchase 10 million shares.

In 2003, Mr. Jobs's options - by then, the number had risen to 55 million - were exchanged for a restricted stock grant of 10 million shares, which will become vested in March. At Apple's closing price on Friday of $85.59, his stake in the company is worth some $855.9 million.

Dell's stock closed at $30.58 on Friday, down from a 52-week high of $41.99. But Mr. Dell's personal wealth still exceeds that of Mr. Jobs, despite the fact that Mr. Jobs also has a 50.1 percent share in Pixar Animation Studios that is worth about $3.4 billion.

Last year Mr. Dell, who founded his namesake company as a college student in 1984, was ranked fourth on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States. It estimated his personal wealth at $14.2 billion.
 

shawnce

macrumors 65816
Jun 1, 2004
1,442
0
jacobj said:
but it is Q1 2007 that will be of most interest to me from a Mac perspective and not just the overall Apple view.

Agreed Q1 2007 in comparison to Q1 2006 will be the big indicator of how well (or bad) the Intel transition, etc. did for the Mac.
 

Airforce

macrumors 6502a
Jan 12, 2006
933
0
musiclover137 said:
Last year Mr. Dell, who founded his namesake company as a college student in 1984, was ranked fourth on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States. It estimated his personal wealth at $14.2 billion.

Man .....I wish I could go back and somehow grow up as a friend with this guy....$14.2B ...whew...
 

DTphonehome

macrumors 68000
Apr 4, 2003
1,914
3,377
NYC
So will this report have any impact on the stock price, or is the blockbuster quarter already factored into the price? After all, the big news was already announced at MWSF.
 

dongmin

macrumors 68000
Jan 3, 2002
1,709
5
Stonecoldcleric said:
Michael Schmell - what at goob.:D
Wasn't Dell also quoted as saying that the iPod is just a passing fad...

Jobs = big picture
Dell = counting pennies
 

Neuro

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2003
209
2
London
atari1356 said:
I think Michael Dell should shut Dell down... because their products are boring and completely uninspiring. Consider it a failed experiment and start over. ;)

Well, yes - many of their products are dull, but they also do some good stuff. My Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW 24" widescreen LCD is surperb (and looks nice). I got it direct on special for UK£600. They have also been producing the best value high performance gaming laptops for some time.

Seems a bit silly to make such generalisations about a company's entire product line?...

Michael Dell however was stupidly arrogant for saying what he did.
 

BenRoethig

macrumors 68030
Jul 17, 2002
2,729
0
Dubuque, Iowa
If Apple could bring their innovation to the mainstream and corporate user with a more conventional second brand, they'd wipe the floor with Dell.
 

windmaomao

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2005
51
0
i think dell just damn cheap,
if you have
zero money, go dell,
low money, hold on and go apple
medium money, go apple
rich, :D what you think
 

macidiot

macrumors 6502a
Aug 13, 2002
815
0
DTphonehome said:
So will this report have any impact on the stock price, or is the blockbuster quarter already factored into the price? After all, the big news was already announced at MWSF.

It shouldn't. Last quarter pretty much accounts for the recent runup in the stock price. However, if Apple announces a stock split, there should be a mild positive effect. Also, people will be paying attention to forward guidance. Personally, I'm interested in the breakdown of revenue, particularly how computer sales were.
 

maya

macrumors 68040
Oct 7, 2004
3,225
0
somewhere between here and there.
Neuro said:
Well, yes - many of their products are dull, but they also do some good stuff. My Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW 24" widescreen LCD is surperb (and looks nice). I got it direct on special for UK£600. They have also been producing the best value high performance gaming laptops for some time.

Seems a bit silly to make such generalisations about a company's entire product line?...

Michael Dell however was stupidly arrogant for saying what he did.


I have to agree with the Dell LCD monitors and they quick service, however I am saying nothing in regards to they computers as I have had an alright experience as long it running W2K. :)

M.Dell aside, there have been many people in the business that have said that Apple will never last for X amount of years. They have all been proven wrong, so what is the big deal. It just seems that M.Dell is frustrated and arrogant in his comments regarding Apple and the iPod. :)

There is a place for both companies, and at present Apple cannot make a cheap networking or cheap single workstation system. That is why many companies use cheap Dells and a Macintosh in they graphic design depts. :)
 

Cinch

macrumors 6502
Sep 18, 2005
479
2
stock analogy

A good stock analogy:
Apple is to Dell as Estee Lauder is to Revlon.

Check out Estee Lauder strategy versus Revlon and compare their financial sheets. As an investor, Dell doesn't look attractive. Dell should think about giving out dividends similar to Altria or whatever Philip Morris is called now. Dell is hoarding cash with little R&D goal in mind. They should give that money back to investor via high dividends or stock buy back.

just a thought,

Cinch
 

Machead III

macrumors 6502
Nov 4, 2002
467
0
UK, France
I can't wait for the day that Apple buys up Dell and shuts that piece of crap corporation down. Down the ground, baby. Micheal Dell is the least creative human being on planet Earth.

'Course, they are all capitalists, so if I had my way I'd shut them all down and nationalise their asses anyway.
 

plastique45

macrumors regular
Jan 10, 2005
106
0
BenRoethig said:
And he sells 1/3rd of all computers because of it. Apple's creativity in the grand scheme of things has only made them a niche player.

I'll start with numbers, because I see that it's the only thing you understand.

Apple is now the world's 4th largest computer maker.

They have 90% of all the printing market, 80% of the music market and 85% of the video editing market. There are more licenses of Final Cut Pro being sold than EVERY other editing programs thrown together.

5% of the market share accounts for all the office cubicles and call center PC's in which Apple doesn't even try to compete.

_______________________________________________

Quality vs Quantity. You shop at Wall Mart, I'll dish out $200 to buy Taschen's Stanley Kubrick archives.
 

dongmin

macrumors 68000
Jan 3, 2002
1,709
5
plastique45 said:
They have 90% of all the printing market, 80% of the music market and 85% of the video editing market. There are more licenses of Final Cut Pro being sold than EVERY other editing programs thrown together.
Hmmm, I'd have to challenge your numbers there and ask for some links. I'm guessing by 'printing' you're referring to the publishing industry. It might've been 90% back in the day, but it's certainly a lot lower now.

Apple does well in the markets they focus on. But they ignore many others where they can do well. Like architecture, product design, and 3D animation. Like small business.
 

BenRoethig

macrumors 68030
Jul 17, 2002
2,729
0
Dubuque, Iowa
Apple could also do very well in the corporate market and return to dominance in the education market if they had a suitable machine. Dell does well in those markets because they have such hardware, same for the consumer market.
 
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