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Pinch Us, We're Dreaming (7/15/98)
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Well, there's no question as to what the big news is today: Apple stunned Wall Street, the mainstream media, the naysayers, and even the Mac faithful by posting a $101 million profit for Q3 1998. That makes this the third consecutive quarter in which Apple not only posted a profit, but also exceeded the analysts' expectations. The most optimistic prediction we'd seen outside of our "Beat the Analysts" contest was for $80 million, and Apple blew even that prediction out of the water. On top of that, Apple's statement about the financial results also indicates that gross margins increased from 24.8% to 25.7%, inventory levels are the lowest among the major computer manufacturers, and Apple's even got $2 billion in cash to use as muscle as it dives head-first back into the consumer market next month with the iMac. That's all fantastic news.
Meanwhile, Intel posted quarterly results showing a 29% drop in earnings, which was even worse than the pessimistic analyst predictions, according to the New York Times. And an Associated Press story says that Compaq's results revealed a staggering $3.6 billion loss following its purchase of Digital Equipment Corporation, but even if you subtract out the one-time losses, their quarterly profit was only $32 million-- less than half of Apple's quarterly profit after subtracting one-time income. Strange days indeed, people.
By the way, we've tabulated the results of our "Beat the Analysts" contest, and we're thrilled to announce that Rob Cioffi was the big winner, with Daniel Fox winning the EvangeList slot. Details, analysis, and a few random thoughts are available on the contest page. Thanx to all who entered, and for those of you who didn't win, don't forget-- next quarter's results are only three months away. Start working on those guesses now!
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 7/15/98 episode: July 15, 1998: Apple's done it again, as it pulls off a hat trick and beats Wall Street's quarterly financial estimates for the third time in a row. Meanwhile, backup and storage options for the iMac continue to grow, and it was only a matter of time before someone cloned the eMate...
Other scenes from that episode: 857: Peripherals Galore (7/15/98) Your friendly neighborhood AtAT staff saw some neat iMac-compatible storage devices at the Expo last week. First, there's the one that everyone's been hearing about-- Imation's SuperDisk drive, which reads and writes its own 120 MB disks, as well as standard 3.5" floppies... 858: Copycat, Copycat (7/15/98) It's no big secret that Apple's innovations are frequently adopted (or, say, "ripped off") by other companies over time until eventually the appropriated element becomes a standard. Apple introduces the QuickTake, the first consumer-level digital camera, and now there are dozens of the things on the market...
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