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Apple Pie in the Sky (10/13/98)
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Don't you think we all may be getting our hopes up a tad too far? When Steve Jobs announces Apple's quarterly and year-end financial performance Wednesday afternoon, there seem to be a lot of people who are going to be very let down if the numbers aren't spectacular. Perhaps it's the way that Apple's beat analysts' predictions for three straight quarters now; if they don't do it again, it'll be an anticlimax. Considering that the average guess in the AtAT Beat the Analysts contest was $115.25 million, rabid Mac fans are particularly optimistic.
Of course, there's every indication that Apple's going to do quite well. The analysts seem to expect a quarterly profit of somewhere around maybe $60 million, maybe a bit higher. The iMac had a terrifically successful debut, but keep in mind that it carries a substantially lower profit margin than Apple's used to taking-- and the company spent $100 million to advertise the happy blue machines. And we can't help but wonder if Apple's earnings took a hit from their sporadic supply problems; they kept iMac availability surprisingly constant, but Power Macs and PowerBooks were occasionally pretty tough to come by, for some.
We're not saying that Apple's not going to do well. We're simply saying that headlines like "Apple gears up for blowout quarter" (from CBS MarketWatch) might be priming people for a letdown if Apple can't top $100 million this quarter. However, we're pretty confident they can pull it off... It's pretty uncommon for Apple to announce financial results while the stock market is still open, so we take that as a hint that things are looking pretty rosy on the balance sheet. All we're saying is, it's not the end of the world if Apple doesn't beat the street. Just in case.
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SceneLink (1073)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 10/13/98 episode: October 13, 1998: Everyone awaits Apple's quarterly financial results with bated breath, but if those results aren't rock 'em sock 'em spectacular, will riots erupt in Cupertino? Meanwhile, now that the P1 consumer portable is pretty clearly not a handheld device, it appears that Apple has abandoned its promise to release a Newton replacement in 1999, and a faithful viewer points out a major clue that Disney has its hooks into Apple's OS development team...
Other scenes from that episode: 1074: I Need Bigger Pockets (10/13/98) Not that anything over at Mac OS Rumors should ever be considered "official," but if their evolving specs for next year's consumer portable (code-named P1) are at all accurate, it's safe to say that Apple's plans for a handheld replacement for the Newton are officially dead... 1075: The Ears Have It (10/13/98) Look, it's not that we think there are a lot of skeptics out there in the AtAT viewing audience. After all, it takes a certain amount of paranoia open-mindedness to endure endless blather about Bill Gates mind control conspiracies and ninja death attacks...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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