Much Ado About $1 Billion

There are several Apple blogs who have become extremely irritated over the fact that some people in the financial world are saying unlocked iPhones have cost Apple $1 billion in unrealized revenues. Is that a ridiculous notion to explore? For 99% of the world's population, yes. Apple makes a shitload of money on every sale of an iPhone, with or without revenue sharing from a wireless company. However, the people who are bringing up the $1 billion number are financial guys, and they are trying to crunch imaginary numbers about the future. This really is an issue about profit margins, and unlocked iPhones have smaller profit margins than iPhones sold and used on revenue sharing wireless networks. The analysts are not in the business of asking a question like: Will Apple Inc grow? The real question is, by how much?

There's been an unpleasant crossover between blogs of people who love Apple's technology and financial blogs. It was easy for the Apple enthusiasts to get drawn into the financial blogs that praised Apple's new technology. But now that the goal in this recession is to punish any sliver of perceived weakness, the same Apple enthusiasts are upset the financial guys still aren't focusing on the technology. My advice is to continue to enjoy and write about the specifics of the technology, but stay away from the money side of things.

iPhone to Get New Intel Silverthorne Chip?

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is working closely with Intel to include Intel's "Silverthorne" chip in various new Apple mobile devices. The advantage of the chip is that it requires one tenth of the electric power of previous chips that have comparable processing power. AppleInsider is suggesting that Apple will use Silverthorn for an ultramobile computer, but I think Apple's first priority will be to stick the chip into an updated iPhone. Silverthorne is just as flexible as the current iPhone's Samsung chip in terms of compatibility with growing mobile technologies like 3G, WiFi, WiMax, etc. It seems clear that when Intel showed off its iPhone-like mock-up device, their intention was not to announce an Intel-branded phone, they were calling out to Apple to let them know they had a better chip for the iPhone.

Perspective on Recent Apple Inc Moves

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a thoughtful post about the ups and downs of Apple Inc the last few months. Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away. Recently, Apple have giveth in the form of an SDK.

Companies like Google, the open source movement, and the long tail of the web are creating a new consumer perspective. Whatever you want to say about Apple, they seem to be the only one of the old technology guard who have been able keep up with this new perspective.