Sales

Apple navigates low revenue, tight margin future

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 24, 2013

Tuesday's announcement by Apple that it sold more devices but with less profit during the June quarter seems to have reset investor expectations about the tech giant. The key to Apple introducing new products going forward now appears to be the ability to sustain Wall Street confidence that CEO Tim Cook can continue steering the ship effectively without the hand of late co-founder Steve Jobs.

Although overall quarterly revenue of $35.4 billion topped the consensus of $35 billion, profit fell 22 percent to $6.9 billion. As a result, Cook tried to reassure investors, announcing Apple was "laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products" set for the fall and 2014...

App Store is now EA’s biggest retail partner

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 24, 2013

Electronic Arts, the most prolific games publisher, during a conference call discussing its June quarter earnings, paid a nice little lip service to Apple by acknowledging that the App Store has become its biggest retail partner in terms of sales - and for the first time, too. That's another important milestone for both Apple's strides in the mobile gaming space and its application store, which last month celebrated its fifth birthday and 50 billionth app download...

Apple Store app to be redesigned with free iTunes content in iPhone sales push

Cody Lee ∙ July 20, 2013

Apple will release a new version of its Apple Store application for the iPhone and iPod touch next week, according to a new report. The update will include a redesigned interface and a handful of new features, including free downloadable iTunes content.

The move is said to be part of Tim Cook's goal to sell more iPhones direct from Apple's direct sales channels. Apparently, the plan is to get the app installed on as many device's as possible so that more people are exposed to the company's choice products...

Verizon activates 3.9M iPhones in Q2 2013

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 18, 2013

Despite concerns about a shrinking pool of U.S. cell phone owners who have yet to upgrade to smartphones, Verizon Wireless announced it activated 3.9 million iPhones during the second quarter, an increase of 44 percent surpassing analyst forecasts of 3.5 million iPhone subscribers.

In other words, of the 7.5 million smartphones Verizon activated in the June quarter, over 50 percent were iPhones. Smartphones now account for more than half of Verizon Wireless customers, rising to 64 percent from a previous 50 percent, according to the official earnings results the carrier posted Thursday...

App Store giveaway adds 5.7 million new Infinity Blade II players in 7 days

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Being on the list of ten premium apps and games Apple gave away to users as part of the App Store's fifth birthday was enough to revitalize downloads of Chair Entertainment's elegiac masterpiece, Infinity Blade II.

We're talking some meaningful numbers here: the premium game has racked up nearly six million downloads on the basis of being slashed from its usual asking price of seven bucks a pop to $0...

Star Wars: KOTOR for iPad is half price for a limited time

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 12, 2013

If you've been on the lookout for a deep discount on BioWare's excellent role-playing iPad game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, now is the perfect time to grab your copy.

Publisher Aspyr Media has just slashed the game to five bucks, down from $10, as part of KOTOR's 10th anniversary. The massive download is discounted for a limited time so you'd be wise to pick it up like right now before this rare promotion expires...

T-Mobile reportedly sold about 900,000 iPhones in June quarter

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

T-Mobile USA, the nation's fourth-largest wireless carrier, started taking pre-orders for Apple's iPhone on April 5, a week ahead of April 12 availability.

Following the strong advertising push, the carrier then boasted about 'gangbuster' opening for the iconic smartphone, leaving us scratching our head as the headline-grabbing phrase left room for various interpretations in terms of hard data.

The exact sales figure came to light during T-Mobile's earnings call when we learned the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco sold half a million iPhones during its first month of availability, between April 5 and May 8.

Though T-Mobile won't report June quarter earnings until August 8, the company reportedly confirmed selling about 900,000 iPhones during the three-month period ended June 30. If true, the data point suggests the carrier has moved an additional 400,000 units between May 8 and June 30, but also that sales have slowed following the initial push...

Wall Street prepares for flat year-over-year growth from Apple

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

If Wall Street was caught flat-footed by Apple's lower earnings back in April, analysts are preparing for more bad news for the third quarter. Apple is expected to announce lower quarterly revenue and sales, prompting one expert to slice thirteen percent off his previous forecast for the third quarter. Although a $5.4 billion reduction in expectations might seem dramatic, it is actually rosier than a review of what Apple may announce July 24...

Apple readying sweeping changes to iPhone sales tactics to deflect Android competition

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 3, 2013

Normally, Apple would just continue pushing its iPhone using same old marketing tricks, which entail heavy advertising, the power of the Apple brand and lots of free press. But heightened competition, slowing smartphone sales and ongoing uncertainty about the economy presumably prompted Tim Cook and his leadership team to implement changes to how the firm goes about selling smartphones.

Sales tactics changes on the agenda reportedly include a trade-in program, improvements to price-matching policies internationally and promotions akin to Apple's Back to School program. Jump past the fold for the full breakdown...

All premium Warner Bros games are 99 cents for a limited time

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

With the summer season officially here, game makers are increasingly turning to attractive discounts as a last-ditched effort to boost sales before games hit the beaches.

First was Sega, which slashed a bunch of iOS games to just 99 cents, followed by Epic Games' not-to-be-missed award-winning Infinity Blade II 99-cent sale. Those deals have expired now, but don't despair - Warner Bros. has you covered.

In a summer blowout sale promotion, the publisher has discounted its many triple-As to just 99-cents. We're talking big name releases here, such as Batman Arkham City Lockdown, LEGO games and the recently released Man of Steel movie tie-in...

Best Buy and Walmart now offer prepaid iPhone 5 on T-Mobile

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 3, 2017

In an apparent move to clear stock ahead of a next-generation model introduction, U.S. retailers Best Buy and Walmart have been running interesting promotions for some time now, offering deep discounts on iPhone sales and attractive device trade-ins.

As for the iPhone 5, both companies have long offered Apple's flagship handset with a two-year contract with U.S. carriers AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. And this past weekend, each has added a prepaid iPhone 5 option on T-Mobile to its roster...

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 dead in the water

Ed Sutherland ∙ June 7, 2013

Following clickbait dead-in-the-water headlines which spelled doom for Apple on overzealous analysts projecting overly optimistic iPhone sales, it's now Samsung's turn to feel Wall Street's wrath. So, is Samsung's smartphone business running out of steam?

That's the question Wall Street is pondering as investors punish the South Korean firm after orders for its flagship Galaxy S4 had supposedly dropped by as much as thirty percent.

Friday, Samsung shares slid by more than six percent after more than $12 billion was sliced from the Android maker's market capitalization. Can Samsung stop the downward spiral, perhaps offering a stock buyback as Apple did? Or are we seeing only the latest signs of an industry-wide slowdown in demand?

Either way, the old saying about people living in glass houses seems all the more pertinent...