Salto Partners

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T-Mobile and Apple

T-Mobile mentioned almost en passant that it will finally start offering Apple iPhone in 2013. Now, that is newsworthy. The carrier has tried for years to give its customers access to Apple’s smartphone. What does it mean for T-Mobile and its customers?

First of all, this is one more arrow in the quiver of T-Mobile against the ATT’s for the world. Customers can move from ATT to T-Mobile without having to purchase outright the still very expensive device.

Second, the deal involves an new, unannounced iPhone model. If we dare to speculate then this will be in all likelihood an LTE ready iPhone 5. This move would fit nicely with the company’s overall strategy. As T-Mobile prepares for its merger with MetroPCS the company is upgrading its LTE infrastructure heavily. The idea is that both companies will upgrade their existing client basis aggressively to the new network. The iPhone 5 fits perfectly in this picture.

All in all this is good news for consumers. More choices, more competition and the hope for more speed in 2013.

You can read more in this E-Commerce Times Article.

I also commented on this deal in a Forbes interview.

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Apple Q3 Earnings

This week I sat down with MacNewsWorld on Apple after it missed its earnings the day before. So, here is what happened.

1. The company posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of $9.32 per share, up from $7.79 a share in the year-earlier period. Net income was $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per share. That was up 21 percent from $7.3 billion, or $7.79 per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 23 percent to $35 billion from $28.57 billion a year ago. Apple sold 26 million iPhones in the quarter, at the low end of expectations. However, it sold 17 million iPads, exceeding forecasts. The company reported that its cash pile rose to $117 billion, an increase of $7 billion during the quarter. Most CEOs would announce such results with goose bumps of excitement. But we are talking about Apple as in AAPL. Analysts had expected the company to report earnings excluding items of $10.37 a share on $37.22 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters. Apple’s fourth-quarter guidance also disappointed: It forecast $7.65 a share for earnings on revenue of $34 billion vs. analysts’ expectations of $10.22 a share earnings on revenue of $38 billion.

2. Let me state the obvious first. Apple will need to come out with the iPhone 5 rather sooner than later. People wait for it to hit the market. It will close the gashing revenue wound.

3. The bigger question for Apple is: what is the next mega gadget everybody wants next year that has not been created today? That enormous $117B stockpile of cash would allow the company to do all kinds of mergers and acquisition. Yet, given the type of company Apple is, I believe that the answer will come from Apple’s own labs.