Apple Music's Problem, Reflections on iPhone's 8th Anniversary, Greece's Impact on Apple
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple Music's Problem
- Reflections on iPhone's 8th Anniversary
- Greece's Impact on Apple
Today, we kick things off by diving a bit deeper into my article about Apple Music's "problem" concerning the $10 per month price being too high. Next, we take a few moments to reflect on the iPhone's 8th anniversary, which led me to think of a few things about what the iPhone means to Apple and if Apple will ever have another "iPhone" in the future. We conclude by talking about Greece and how to think about ongoing economic turmoil in Greece and Europe when thinking about Apple.
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Attaching a Price to Apple's Free Music Trial, The Big Bet Behind Beats 1, New iPhones Entering Production
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Attaching a Price to Apple's Free Music Trial
- The Big Bet Behind Beats 1
- New iPhones Entering Production
We are still in Apple Music mode with tomorrow's launch. Apple signed deals with the indie labels after deciding to pay music rights holders during the three month trial period. With new information in hand, I wanted to dive a bit deeper and attach a price tag to Apple's music trial period. Next, Zane Lowe was profiled by the New York Times. Beats 1 is increasingly being positioned as a key aspect of Apple Music which has implications going forward. Finally, we have the first reports of new iPhones going into production, so we take a look at how this years's iPhone update cycle is looking.
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Apple's Stock Buyback Program Primer
Today's daily update is all about Apple's stock buyback. The email is broken into seven parts with the beginning dedicated much more to talking about share buyback in general terms, and then the ending focusing on Apple's stock buyback. This email is meant to be used as a primer to become familiar with Apple's share buyback.
The seven "chapters":
- What is Stock Buyback?
- Why Does a Company Buy Back Shares?
- Clues Found in Buyback Programs
- The Two Ways Apple Buys Back Stock
- Stock Buyback Disclosure
- Everything There is to Know About Apple's Stock Buyback
- My View on Apple's Stock Buyback
The full primer is available for Above Avalon subscribers. To continue reading, click here.
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Google's Early Approach to Take on Apple Watch, Improving iOS 9 Adoption is High Priority, One Drawback of Holding $194 Billion of Cash
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Google's Early Approach to Take on Apple Watch
- Improving iOS 9 Adoption is High Priority at Apple
- One Drawback of Holding $194 Billion of Cash
We kick things off today by talking about Google's new health-tracking wristband and why health is shaping up to be a potential competitive tool to go up against Apple Watch. We next discuss one new feature found in the second beta of iOS 9 yesterday focused on improving iOS 9 adoption rates. Evidence is adding up that management has placed improving OS adoption rates as a high priority. We conclude by discussing one drawback Apple faces by holding so much cash on its balance sheet.
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Just Doing What's Right, The Symbolism Behind the Gold iPhone
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Just Doing What's Right
- The Symbolism Behind the Gold iPhone
With much of the weekend excitement surrounding Apple Music winding down, we first take a look at how the past two days have revealed quite a bit about how Apple leadership thinks about problems and mistakes, including what may be the driving force behind the management team these days. We then move over to a recent report that said Tim Cook confirmed the gold iPhone was made with China in mind. When you look back at the gold iPhone, it becomes clear how Apple ended up defying most critics and pundits and instead of selling cheap iPhones to gain market share, went in the opposite direction, embracing luxury with gold as the biggest symbol yet of that strategy.
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Taylor Swift is Backing Herself Into a Corner, Calculating Apple Watch Band Profit, Apple's Cash Dilemma
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Taylor Swift is Backing Herself Into a Corner
- Calculating Apple Watch Band Profit
- Apple's Cash Dilemma (Why Not Just Pay the Tax?)
It's a new week and things are starting off busy. We first discuss the Taylor Swift vs. Apple battle over Apple Music's 3 month trial period. While Taylor Swift appeared to win, she may actually be backing herself into a corner. Next, we take a closer look at a recent Reuters article which suggests Apple Watch bands are providing quite a bit of profit to Apple, which I have my doubts is true. We conclude with a director's cut of my recent "Apple's Cash Dilemma" piece and why just paying tax on foreign cash and bringing excess cash to the U.S. isn't the best option.
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Fitbit Prices IPO Above Expectations, Cablevision CEO Comments on Cable Bundle, How to Discover Apple Watch Sales
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Fitbit Prices IPO Above Expectations
- Cablevision CEO Sees Cable Bundle Dying
- How to Discover Apple Watch Sales
Fitbit priced its IPO last night well above its initial range, valuing the company at $4.1 billion. We will go over the valuation, explain what's next for Fitbit, and look at how we can get Apple-related clues from them once they are a public company. Next, we will discuss Cablevision CEO's comments about the cable bundle starting to crumble and what the next phase of TV transformation may look like. We conclude by going over the math behind how one can obtain a pretty good estimate of Apple Watch sales estimates when Apple reports earnings each quarter.
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Wall Street Doubting Apple Watch, Apple Hiring News Editors, Apple Retail Store Renovations
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Wall Street Doubting Apple Watch
- Apple Hiring News Editors
- Apple Retail Store Renovations
We kick things off today by going over the latest Wall Street analyst report raising concerns that Apple Watch sales will underwhelm. Next, we shift over to the new job listing for Apple News Editors and the two obstacles that Apple will need to overcome with its News app. Finally, we go over a few quick thoughts behind Apple's plans to renovate 20 of its retail stores, including some of its most iconic locations.
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Apple's New Search APIs, New Productivity Features Hint at iPad's Future
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple's New Search APIs
- New Productivity Features Hint at iPad's Future
Today we take a closer look at Apple's new search APIs in iOS 9 introduced last week during WWDC. The closer look you get at what Apple is trying to accomplish here, the clearer the ramifications are when thinking about Apple's ongoing battle with Google, app search and discovery, and the next era of search. We next go over Apple's iPad productivity announcements at WWDC and what they may mean for the iPad's future.
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Genius Move Behind the Phil Schiller Interview, Apple is Playing Offense, Apple Correctly Killed Plans for Beats Wifi Speaker
Today's Above Avalon Premium stories:
- The Genius Move Behind the Phil Schiller Interview
- Apple is Playing Offense, not Defense
- Apple Correctly Killed Plans for Beats Wifi Speakers
We kick things off by taking a closer look at what Apple tried to accomplish with the Phil Schiller interview by John Gruber at WWDC last week. Next, we shift over and briefly discuss my "Apple is Playing Offense at WWDC" post published on Above Avalon. We conclude by going over the Variety report that Apple killed development of a Beats Wifi speaker and why I think that was a good decision in context of Apple's bigger plans with headphones/speakers.
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Looking at WWDC as an Apple Financial Analyst, There Won't Be an Apple vs. MCX Battle
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Looking at WWDC as an Apple Financial Analyst
- There Won't Be an Apple vs. MCX Battle in Mobile Payments
Sticking with this week's WWDC theme, we begin by looking at WWDC from the perspective of an Apple financial analyst, including a few theories on what I think is becoming a much more important factor for AAPL investors to pay attention to. We then shift over to Apple Pay and dissect Apple's recent announcements for the mobile payments service, including how U.S. adoption is looking and why a battle between Apple and MCX is not too likely.
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Apple Music Isn't about Music Streaming, Apple Keynotes Are Losing Their Value
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Apple Music Isn't about Music Streaming
- Apple Keynotes are Losing Their Value
There are many topics that I have lined up to discuss over the coming days related to WWDC announcements and their impact on Apple, the company's financials, and Wall Street's view of Apple. Today, I wanted to start by going over why Apple is releasing Apple Music and what is the company's overall strategy with the service. Next, I go into more detail on why I think the Apple keynote is losing some of its value due to Apple's much bigger size and new public relations strategy, not to mention how we consume news and content differently these days.
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WWDC
Today's Above Avalon stories:
All about the WWDC keynote. The discussion is divided into three parts:
- OS X and iOS 9
- watchOS 2
- Apple Music
At the end, I've included my more granular notes from the event. There is a lot to go over, and there are other subtopics that I hope to cover in subsequent days.
WWDC Summary. Apple continues to play to its strengths, which is not surprising given that both OS X and iOS are currently at their strongest in terms of user numbers and vitality. With a WWDC keynote titled "The epicenter of change," Apple is positioning iOS as a clear alternative to Android, emphasizing a new and different way of thinking about what makes a great user experience in mobile. Apple is not just doubling down on apps, but also looking to diminish its dependence on Google. Siri was given additional capabilities as a personal assistant in order to move us past traditional web search and begin to use data found on our iPhone in more creative ways. Apple Music is Apple's answer to get back in the streaming music game and while the product looks right, the pricing strategy for paid streaming does not guarantee an instant home run just yet against free alternatives. Overall, it was a strong WWDC, and Apple is well-positioned for new hardware announcements this fall.
(the entire note is 3,500 words)
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Key Power Brokers at Apple, Marc Newson's Role at Apple, WWDC "Preview"
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- Key Power Brokers at Apple
- Marc Newson's Role at Apple
- WWDC "Preview"
We kick WWDC week off by discussing the current power structure within Apple and who holds the most power both internally and externally. We then shift over to Marc Newson's recently discovered interview that he gave last month, going over what I think the industrial designer is up to at Apple. Lastly, we conclude with my WWDC "preview," and the one thing I am most excited to see today and why.
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iPhone Sales Share Update, Odds of Apple Replacing Google for Search Going Up, Tim Cook's Stance on Privacy Isn't About Data
Today's Above Avalon stories:
- iPhone Sales Share Update
- Odds of Apple Replacing Google for Search Going Up
- Tim Cook's Stance on Privacy Isn't About Data
We kick things off today by going over the latest iPhone sales share from Kantar including some interesting observations about U.S. trends and the Android switcher rate. Next, we move over to why I think the odds of Apple replacing Google as the default search provider in Safari have gone up, concluding with a bit of different perspective on Tim Cook's discussion about data and privacy. I think many people are thinking about the topic in the wrong way.
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