Posts Tagged ‘january-within’
Apple’s App Store: 1 Billion Served
Well, it finally happened. Apple just delivered its 1 Billionth application download from the App Store, which currently features over 25,000 apps (35,000 by one estimate) built by thousands of developers. The significance of the milestone (besides just the 1 billion mark) is that it’s taken only nine months from when the App Store launched on iTunes to hit 1 billion paid and unpaid downloads.
Last summer, Apple sold one million 3G iPhones worldwide across 21 countries in the first 3 days on sale. During that same time, iPhone users made 10 million app downloads from the then newly launched iTunes App Store.
The count was at 300 million in early December, and the App Store hit 500 million downloads by January 16th. It took Apple six months to reach the first 500 million downloads. It would take Apple only three months to get another 500 billion downloads. By March, 2009, it was at 800 million. We started keeping track via Apple’s billion-app countdown at around 928,077,779. Apple also offered us a fleeting glimpse of the most popular apps ever, something the company only did once before.
Apple apparently already had a hunch of when the billion mark was going to be passed, because the billionth app celebration page was already ready to go.
Apple predicted the time when the billionth app would be downloaded: 1:24:06 AM PST on April 23. That didn’t happen.
The number of different apps available has also been growing steadily. In November, the app store had 10,000 apps, and grew to 15,000 by Apple’s quarterly earnings call in January. Within a month, the app store added 5,000 more apps, bringing the total available apps up to 20,000. By March, the app store has over 25,000 apps. Now, according to an estimate by App Store analytics firm Mobclix, there are 35.550 apps worldwide.
Some lucky iPhone user who downloaded an app in the past two weeks will win a $10,000 iTunes gift card, MacBook Pro, Time Capsule, and iPod touch. We also hosted our own contest to see who could guess when the billionth app would be downloaded and we will release the results soon.
Here’s a current list of the top apps, free and paid, downloaded, courtesy of Mobclix. The numbers next to the global stats indicate how many countries had that app ranked as #1.:
Top 5 free (Global):
1: Heat Pad - Relaxing Heat Sensitive Surface (17)
2: Skype (9)
3: Ferrari GT Evolution: Lite Version (6)
4: Racing Live (4)
5: Yahoo! Messenger (4)
Top 5 paid (Global):
1: Camera Zoom (12)
2: Flight Control (11)
3: Playman Track & Field (3)
4: Wild West Pinball (2)
5: Airport Mania: First Flight (2)
Top 5 free (US):
1: Catcha Mouse
2: iDare
3: F-MyLife
4: Heat Pad - Relaxing Heat Sensitive Surface
5: Dictionary.com
Top 5 paid (US):
1: Flight Control
2: StickWars - Siege
3: Pocket God
4: iHunt 3D
5: ParkingLot
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Ouch. Microsoft Profits Drop 32 Percent In March Quarter
Microsoft just announced earnings for its third fiscal quarter. Revenues were down 6 percent to $13.65 billion, and net income was down a whopping 32 percent to $2.98 billion or $0.33 EPS. Analysts consensus was closer to $14 billion for revenues and $0.39 for non-GAAP EPS, which Microsoft met thanks to its cost-cutting measures. Still, this can’t be feeling good for Microsoft.
The company is exposed to the weaknesses in the economy in general, and soft demand for PCs and servers in particular. Revenues in its Client business (Windows) was down 15.6 percent to $3.40 billion. It’s servers and tools business proved the the healthiest with a 7 percent increase in revenues to $3.47 billion, marking the first time I believe that servers and tools brought in more revenues than the client business. The online business saw revenues decline 14.5 percent to $721 million, and its loss doubled to $575 million.
The online business suffered from a 16 percent decline in advertising revenues, driven by lower display ad rates. On teh bright side, page views and search queries on Microsoft sites were both up.
1.7 million Xbox360 consoles were sold in the quarter, up 30 percent, but revenues for the Entertainment and Devices business remained flat at $1.57 billion. And it actually dipped into an operating loss of $31 million.
Net cash from operations was $6 billion in the quarter, $1 billion less than a year ago, but Microsoft still ended the quarter with $25.3 billion in cash on its balance sheet.
Here is the breakdown in revenues and operating profits by business:
MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Segment Revenue and Operating Income (Loss)
(In millions) (Unaudited)
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
Nine Months Ended March 31, |
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| 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | |||
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| Revenue | ||||||
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| Client | $3,404 | $4,033 | $11,604 | $12,506 | ||
| Server and Tools | 3,467 | 3,238 | 10,616 | 9,381 | ||
| Online Services Business | 721 | 843 | 2,357 | 2,377 | ||
| Microsoft Business Division | 4,505 | 4,731 | 14,330 | 13,663 | ||
| Entertainment and Devices Division | 1,567 | 1,592 | 6,564 | 6,616 | ||
| Unallocated and other | (16) | 17 | (133) | 40 | ||
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| Consolidated | $13,648 | $14,454 | $45,338 | $44,583 | ||
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| Operating Income (Loss) | ||||||
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| Client | $2,514 | $3,115 | $8,689 | $9,855 | ||
| Server and Tools | 1,344 | 1,080 | 3,978 | 3,170 | ||
| Online Services Business | (575) | (226) | (1,521) | (737) | ||
| Microsoft Business Division | 2,877 | 3,127 | 9,325 | 9,010 | ||
| Entertainment and Devices Division | (31) | 106 | 299 | 668 | ||
| Corporate-level activity | (1,691) | (2,912) | (4,394) | (5,374) | ||
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| Consolidated | $4,438 | $4,290 | $16,376 | $16,592 | ||
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And here is the main income statement and balance sheet:
MICROSOFT CORPORATION
INCOME STATEMENTS
(In millions, except per share amounts) (Unaudited)
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
Nine Months Ended March 31, |
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| 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | |||||
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| Revenue | $13,648 | $14,454 | $45,338 | $44,583 | ||||
| Operating Expenses: | ||||||||
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2,814 | 2,514 | 9,569 | 8,732 | ||||
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2,212 | 2,035 | 6,785 | 5,757 | ||||
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2,981 | 3,274 | 9,687 | 9,377 | ||||
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913 | 2,341 | 2,631 | 4,125 | ||||
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290 | - | 290 | - | ||||
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9,210 | 10,164 | 28,962 | 27,991 | ||||
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| Operating income | 4,438 | 4,290 | 16,376 | 16,592 | ||||
| Other income (expense) | (388) | 520 | (697) | 1,254 | ||||
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| Income before income taxes | 4,050 | 4,810 | 15,679 | 17,846 | ||||
| Provision for income taxes | 1,073 | 422 | 4,155 | 4,462 | ||||
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| Net income | $2,977 | $4,388 | $11,524 | $13,384 | ||||
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| Earnings per share: | ||||||||
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$0.33 | $0.47 | $1.29 | $1.43 | ||||
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$0.33 | $0.47 | $1.28 | $1.41 | ||||
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| Weighted average shares outstanding: | ||||||||
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8,891 | 9,307 | 8,960 | 9,349 | ||||
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8,904 | 9,428 | 9,008 | 9,492 | ||||
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| Cash dividends declared per common share | $0.13 | $0.11 | $0.39 | $0.33 | ||||
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MICROSOFT CORPORATION
| March 31, 2009 | June 30, 2008 (1) | |||||||
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| Assets | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
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$7,285 | $10,339 | ||||||
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18,055 | 13,323 | ||||||
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25,340 | 23,662 | ||||||
| Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $242 and $153 | 9,182 | 13,589 | ||||||
| Inventories | 657 | 985 | ||||||
| Deferred income taxes | 1,926 | 2,017 | ||||||
| Other | 3,619 | 2,989 | ||||||
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40,724 | 43,242 | ||||||
| Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $7,236 and $6,302 | 7,112 | 6,242 | ||||||
| Equity and other investments | 4,112 | 6,588 | ||||||
| Goodwill | 12,554 | 12,108 | ||||||
| Intangible assets, net | 1,756 | 1,973 | ||||||
| Deferred income taxes | 956 | 949 | ||||||
| Other long-term assets | 1,639 | 1,691 | ||||||
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$68,853 | $72,793 | ||||||
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| Liabilities and stockholders’ equity | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
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$3,017 | $4,034 | ||||||
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1,999 | - | ||||||
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2,644 | 2,934 | ||||||
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773 | 3,248 | ||||||
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10,924 | 13,397 | ||||||
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1,533 | 2,614 | ||||||
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2,933 | 3,659 | ||||||
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23,823 | 29,886 | ||||||
| Long-term unearned revenue | 1,388 | 1,900 | ||||||
| Other long-term liabilities | 6,699 | 4,721 | ||||||
| Commitments and contingencies | ||||||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | ||||||||
| Common stock and paid-in capital - shares authorized 24,000; outstanding 8,898 and 9,151 | 61,896 | 62,849 | ||||||
| Retained deficit, including accumulated other comprehensive income of $726 and $1,140 | (24,953) | (26,563) | ||||||
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36,943 | 36,286 | ||||||
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$68,853 | $72,793 | ||||||
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(1) Derived from audited financial statements.
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Hiring Of New MySpace CEO Settles Many Old Scores
MySpace parent company News Corp. continues to leak, off record, that Owen Van Natta is in the final stages of becoming the new CEO of MySpace (one of the more obvious candidates on our list yesterday). Van Natta certainly has the experience on paper to run the company - he was a business development executive at Amazon, the chief revenue officer at Facebook and most recently the CEO of music startup Playlist.com. If the leaks are correct, he’s in the final stages of contract negotiation and his hiring will be announced shortly.
He knows social networking, music/media and the Internet in general, and will certainly be able to get his hands around MySpace’s business. But his hiring is leaving many scratching their heads nonetheless.
Van Natta owns a significant percentage of Facebook stock and is of course intimately knowledgeable about their business. At the very least it’s bad form for him to join Facebook’s primary competitor. At worst there may be legal issues since it will be extremely difficult for him to continue to protect confidential Facebook information in his new job. But it’s widely known that Van Natta feels betrayed by Facebook for not making him the CEO and has a deep dislike of Mark Zuckerberg. The revenge factor in taking the top job at Facebook’s biggest competitor must be making him feel somewhat vindicated.
But…what about Playlist? He took the job just last November, less than six months ago. Investors are relying on him, as are employees, many of which he’s recruited since he joined. To walk away from that job so quickly doesn’t say much for his character. Perhaps there are unknown facts that mitigate the situation, but it doesn’t look good. As bad as Playlist’s business looks right now, the CEO has an obligation to investors and employees to see it through to the end and try to create a good outcome for the company.
At least Van Natta has tried MySpace, and even logged in a couple of days ago. He has six friends on the service and has uploaded a few pictures. His presumed new boss, Jonathan Miller, has yet to create a MySpace profile of his own.
This is actually the third time recently that Van Natta has interviewed for a MySpace-related job. He was a top candidate to lead MySpace Music, but his attempts to sell Playlist to the company as part of the deal left a bad taste in DeWolfe’s mouth. Van Natta also interviewed for the CEO Digital Media job that eventually went to Jonathan Miller.
The whole circus around MySpace this week settles a lot of scores: News Corp execs, long dismayed at DeWolfe’s close relationship with Rupert Murdoch, are gleefully leaking news around DeWolfe getting fired. The fact that they effectively announced Van Natta as the new CEO may have given them some immediate gratification, but it also puts him in a very strong negotiating position - if talks break down now News Corp. looks even more ridiculous than they already do. Van Natta gets his revenge on Facebook, but leaves his current company in terrible situation. And the MySpace executive team sits in stunned silence as they await news on which of them will still have a job next month, and who their new CEO will be.
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