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Shareholders press Microsoft's CEO about Apple's marketing campaign

Those Get-a-Mac ads make "you all look like a buffoon," one long-time shareholder (and father of four Mac-using children) told Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer at the company's annual meeting Thursday. "I'm just wondering why your marketing group can't do something to try to rein in this next generation, because you've got a real bad image out there."

"We all watch television," Ballmer responded, before quickly changing the subject to Microsoft's market share.

"The truth of the matter is, we do quite well," he said, according to TechFlash's Todd Bishop, who seems to have taken the best notes. "Even among college students, we do quite well. Do we have an opportunity for improvement? We do. Some of that is marketing, some of that is phase of life. It is important to remember that 96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows; that's a good thing. Even in the toughest market, which would be the high end of the consumer market here in the U.S., 83 times out of 100 people choose a Windows PC over a Mac."

Ballmer acknowledged that Apple (AAPL) had "picked up a couple of tenths of a percent of market share," an achievement some in the audience seemed to find laughable.

But as the Wall Street Journal's Nick Wingfield points out, citing IDC numbers, Apple's share of new PC shipments in the U.S. was 9.2% in the third quarter, up from 4.8% in the same period four years ago. (Worldwide share: 3.9% compared with 2.4% four years ago.)

Wingfield also took a crack at estimating how many copies of Window 7 Microsoft has sold, a number the company has not provided.

According to Ballmer, Microsoft sold twice as many copies of Windows 7 in its first few weeks than any previous version of the operating system. Since Vista sold 20 million copies in its first month on the market, that would put Windows 7 unit sales to date at roughly 40 million.

That number includes both boxed copies and copies sold to PC makers for pre-installation on their machines, according to a Microsoft spokesperson. Sales of PC hardware spiked sharply immediately after the Oct. 22 launch (see chart at right).

See also:

• PC sales spike with Windows 7 debut
• How Apple is gaining on Microsoft
• Windows 7, like it or not

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Steve Jobs' next big thing is being retooled, Asian supply-chain sources report

Artist's rendition. Image: Silicon Alley Insider.

Live by the rumor, die by the rumor. Or at least go on life support.

The Apple (AAPL) tablet computer that all Silicon Valley has taken as a given — but no one outside of Cupertino seems to have seen — won't be arriving early next year, as widely rumored, and may not appear until the second half of 2010.

This according to a report Thursday in DigiTimes, a Taipei-based daily newspaper that covers — with uneven results — every hiccup in the Taiwanese and greater Chinese electronics industry. At one point, MacRumors, which trades in Apple gossip itself, stopped citing the paper without heavy disclaimers about its track record (see here.)

Still, the report includes pricing and component details that, if true, could cause Apple's competitors to rethink their own product plans. Among other things, DigiTimes reports that Apple is gearing up to make two models, one with a 10.6 inch LCD screen, another with a far more expensive 9.7-inch organic LED (OLED) panel.

Based on the cost of components, an OLED tablet might sell for as much as $1,200-1,500, according to DigiTimes, although the price point could be reduced if subsidized by, say, AT&T (T) or Verizon (VZ). DigiTimes' sources expect the 10.6-inch model to priced in the $800-1,000 range.

You can read the full report here. Take it all with a grain of salt.

UPDATE: Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, one of several analysts who had predicted an early 2010 launch, issued his take on the DigiTimes report in a quick note to clients Thursday morning:

"Bottom line. At this point we cannot confirm or deny the validity

of this report, but believe the exact timing is irrelevant given
Street models do not currently reflect the tablet, expectations
for actual units in 2010 are low, and investors focus is more on

whether the tablet is real and less on timing.

"For purposes of sensitivity, assuming the tablet comes out on

September 1, we believe Apple would sell around 650,000 units at a
$600 ASP in CY10 and would equate to an increase of about 1% to

revenue."

Apple shares closed at $200.51, down 5.45 points (2.65%) for the day.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

The New York Times' columnist entertains IT types with a parody of "Ooops!… I did it again."

David Pogue may review technology for a living, but give him half a chance and he'll revert to his first love: show tunes.

He did it again Wednesday, ending his Interop New York 2009 keynote at the Javits Center with one of his patented song parodies: "Apps!… I did it again," a Britney Spears classic (if there is such a thing) rewritten for the age of the Apple (AAPL) iPhone.

The performance followed an address that entertained mostly by accident. In what he described in advance as an "exercise in idiocy," he attempted 15 live demos of his favorite gadgets and apps.

We lost track of how many failed, but it seemed like more than half. "Dr. Kevorkian, call me now!" he cried after one of his simplest — a demo of Google Info (800-GOOG-411) — was foiled by Interop's overloaded Wi-Fi circuits.

Below the fold: Pogue at the electric piano.

UPDATE: Pogue helpfully provided by e-mail this list of the 14 demos he attempted (one got cut for time):

* Mifi

• iPhone Touch as a cellphone (using Mifi+Skype Out)
  
• 800-Goog 411
  
• Blurt (for BlackBerry)–video chat with the author in Dallas
  
• Nikon Coolpix 1000pj (camera with projector)
  
• Ocarina (musical instrument iPhone app)
  
• I Am T-Pain
  
• Jaadu VNC (real-time control of Mac/PC/Linux across the Internet on phone)
  
• Red Laser (barcode scan/comparative price lookup)
  
• PushIt2Me ("push" notification of urgent email–wakes the iPhone)
  
• RunPee Mobile (tells you exactly when, in each movie, you can go pee)
  
• FakeCalls
  
• Retina (augmented reality for the color-blind)
  
• Swine Flu AR (mockup of phony future app)

See also:

• Video: "Don't Cry for Me Cupertino"
• Pogue rocks Macworld with "Where is Steve?"

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

South Korea could be getting Apple's smartphone as early as next week

According to wire service reports, government regulators finally cleared the way Wednesday for the launch of Apple's iPhone in South Korea.

The Korean Daily News reported Wednesday that KT Corp. (KTC) — the country's second-largest carrier — plans to start taking Internet orders for the iPhone on Thursday and begin sales on Nov. 28.

South Korea's largest carrier, SK Telecom (SKM), is said to to be in talks with Apple (AAPL) about selling the phone to their customers.

With 47 million mobile phone users and two of the world's largest cell phone manufacturers — Samsung and LG — South Korea boasts a vibrant wireless culture. Its capital, Seoul, is chock-a-block with Internet cafés, wireless hotspots and gaming areas (called "pc baangs") on nearly every corner.

Despite all that, South Korea is not the world's leader in terms of cell phone ownership — not by a long shot. According to the most recent survey at NationMaster.com, that distinction belongs to the United Arab Emirates, whose citizens carry, on average, a stunning 1.71 mobile phones apiece. By that measure, South Korea's .887 cell phones per capita puts them in 63th place worldwide. [More recently, the AP put South Korea's per capita mobile ownership at 93%.]

Qatar and Israel, two countries on Apple's "coming soon" list, are Nos. 6 and 7 in Nation Master's rankings, with 1.39 and 1.38 cell phones per capita respectively.

UPDATE: Dan Butterfield, who covers the Pacific Rim wireless market at iPhonAsia.com, suggests that the event next week might less than a full-fledged launch. Posting from China, he writes:

"There have been at least two previous reports of Apple’s imminent iPhone launch in South Korea in partnership with KT. Perhaps the third time is the charm? According to JoonAng Daily, KT plans to host an iPhone launch event on Nov. 28. The actual launch is rumored to be sometime in early December." (link)

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

The No. 2 telco responds defiantly to AT&T's claims that its ads are false and misleading

"AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon’s 'There’s A Map For That' advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon’s ads are true and the truth hurts."

So begins Verizon's (VZ) legal reply to a pair of lawsuits filed earlier this month by AT&T (T) demanding that Verizon pull five disputed ads from the air. The issue: a pair of 3G coverage maps that AT&T claims are "false" and "misleading" and are causing it "irreparable harm" as the two companies enter the holiday selling season.

The 53-page filing lays the factual basis for the ads and concludes its introduction with a  paragraph that gets to the heart of AT&T's problem: its failure to prepare for the success of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, for which it is the only authorized U.S. carrier.

"In the final analysis," the introduction concludes, "AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon’s side- by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T’s confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business, and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly. AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this Court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger."

The document is available as a PDF here.

See also:

• The iPhone wars: AT&T vs. Verizon
• Verizon vs. AT&T: There's a map for that
• Rumors: A Verizon iPhone in 2010
• AT&T Mobility is nipping at Verizon's heels

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

iPhoneAsia's Dan Butterfield takes readers on a tour of China's electronics jungle

"There’s no room for the meek," writes Dan Butterfield in a dispatch from Beijing's Zhongguancun-region electronics malls.

"Picture four or five Manhattan-sized Macy’s department stores filled to the rafters with electronics outlets and sundry other goods. Untold thousands of shoppers fill these stores each day. From the moment you walk in the door (if you look like money or are a tourist) you’re besieged by barkers attempting to coax you over to their store space. They are not subtle and will do anything to get your attention and ultimately your yuan renminbi. No judgment here, this is a game of survival in an electronics jungle."

Butterfield was on a mission to buy a Chinese iPhone. Accompanied by a hired guide/interpreter named Jennifer, he visited a wide variety of retail outlets, from the company's own Beijing Apple Store to some of the hundreds of bogus "Authorised Resellers," displaying phony Apple (AAPL) logos.

It's a retailing adventure filled with lessons any American electronics manufacturer hoping to break into the Chinese market.

You can read the full story here. A sample below the fold:

No sooner had Jennifer and I walked in the door of the Hypermart and barkers were into their shtick, shouting in Chinglish (for my benefit) "You wan computer? … buy cheap here.” Jennifer uttered one word “iPhone” and instantly a fleet-footed barker in blue blazer and tie (the standard uniform throughout the malls) pulled us aside and beckoned us to follow. We were ushered down a hallway to a bank of elevators and up to the seventh floor, then down a corridor (“where the heck are we going,” I thought) and into a private room.

It was not so private. There were 50 or so shoppers and at least a dozen blue-blazer salesmen engaged in enterprise. Our barker guide sat us down at a table and within moments another salesman appeared with an official looking iPhone box. The pitch was on. Jennifer asked my prearranged list of questions (in Mandarin of course) while I held and closely inspected the iPhone. It was real as best as I could tell and after navigating the UI it looked/functioned as expected. This was a gen one 8GB 2G iPhone and it had seen better days. No plastic covering on the screen and the casing had several scratches.

During the next few hours, Jennifer and I sat through eight or nine iPhone demos … all of them were jail-broken/hacked or unlocked iPhones. All but one of the iPhones appeared to be real (only one clear Shanzhai iClone) and I inspected them closely. There were several that were brand new 16GB and 32GB iPhone 3GS…

The hundreds of phony Apple “Authorised” stores (could be 100+ locations in Beijing alone) no doubt fool many shoppers. The Macs, iPods and iPhones on display look amazingly real. And I suspect that many are in fact the real McCoy. Yet buyer beware! I learned from some Apple savvy expats in Beijing that you can only tell you’ve got a bandit (Shanzhai ji) when you take your purchase home and discover the erratic (crappy) non-Apple like UI and inability to synch to iTunes.

You can read more of Dan Butterfield's China dispatches here.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Burglars in Antwerp make off with $3 million worth of smartphones

Over the weekend, someone used a fire ladder to climb to the roof of a huge warehouse in Willebroek, a Dutch-speaking municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp, cut a hole in the roof, and made off with 3,000 to 4,000 brand new Apple (AAPL) iPhones, according to reports in the Belgian press.

The crime, believed to be the largest iPhone heist to date, was discovered Monday morning and had the earmarks of an inside job. The hole in the roof was cut directly above the location where the iPhones had been stored. Police have launched an inquiry.

The warehouse belonged to Ceva Logistics, a U.S.-owned transport company with headquarters in the Netherlands. Company officials were reported to be "seriously annoyed" but would not comment.

The iPhones were on their way to Mobistar, Apple's exclusive Belgian carrier. Mobistar had been having trouble meeting demand for the popular phones, but Patti Verdoodt, a Mobistar spokesperson, told De Standaard that their supplier had been contacted and a new shipment would arrive well in time for the holidays.

"We have the serial numbers of the stolen iPhones block[ed] anyway so they cannot be used," said Verdoodt (Google translation). But because Belgium is one of only three countries in Europe that sells iPhones without a SIM-lock, that would not prevent the thieves from fencing them for use on another carrier's network.

There is some disagreement in the Belgian press about how many iPhones were taken. De Standaard put the number at nearly 4,000.  Gazet van Antwerpen put it at more than 3,000. Both papers agreed that the street value of the loss was about 2 million euros ($3 million).

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

In mid-morning trading Monday, Apple (AAPL) shares ran into resistance at $208 per share, inches away from its all-time intraday high.

According to Fly On The Wall, $208.70 is the last resistance level on the chart.

"A move above this life high," reads a news alert issued at 10:30 a.m., "could see the following levels, based on average range, become additional upside objectives: $212.87, $217.13, $221.47. Support is currently at $200."

Apple's closing price — $206.63, up $2.18 (1.07%) for the day — was its highest ever.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

A YouTube video from the crew at Waterloo Labs tells you everything you need to know

Photo: Waterloo Labs

File this one under Don't Try This at Home.

Some DIY guys in Austin, Texas, with time on their hands and access to free equipment have demonstrated how to use an Apple (AAPL) iPhone to steer, accelerate and brake a jury-rigged car.

The video — complete with stunt driving and real-time collisions — is posted below the fold.

This is the third published video project from Waterloo Labs, a group of engineers from National Instruments (NATI), a manufacturer of embedded controllers and virtual instrumentation software.

In the first, Doug and Hunter taught us how to control fireworks with a computer. In the second, how to play first-person-shooter video games with real guns.

The third project is their most elaborate. The car — a late '80s Buick — was purchased on craigslist for $300. The motors that control the accelerator and brakes were ripped from the power windows. The motor controller was borrowed from the FIRST Robotics Competition. The potentiometers, digital breakout board, analog input module, power distribution board, programmable automatic controller, wireless gaming adapter, Wi-Fi router, etc. were presumably supplied by their employer.

The iPhone app they wrote themselves.

Below the fold: Two videos, one showing what they did, the second how they did it.

For ten consecutive years since 2000, Fortune has named National Instruments one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Thanks to Seth Weintraub at 9to5 Mac for the tip.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

An iPhone app illustrated with caricatures of the 111th Congress finally gets the green light

Photo: App Store

At least someone at Apple (AAPL) has a sense of humor.

Less than a week after the iPhone Developer Program rejected as "objectionable" and "defamatory" an application illustrated with caricatures of U.S. Senators and Congressmen, the company has  reversed itself and approved the app.

Bobble Rep for the iPhone and iPod touch was conceived by director Ray (Super Capers) Griggs and illustrated by Mad Magazine caricaturist Tom Richmond. The drawings serve as an entry into a data base of information about the politicians, whose oversized heads bobble when shaken or flicked with a finger. The app is now available for sale here for $0.99.

"I'm glad Apple came to their senses," says Richmond, "and realized that this app is not only not derogatory or insulting to our congressional representatives and senators, it's a beneficial program and a little fun as well."

Richmond spent months drawing the heads of all 540 members of the 111th Congress, including nonvoting members from Puerto Rico and Guam.

Fox News on Saturday was taking credit for Apple's decision to approve the app, although it was Richmond himself who drew national attention to its rejection earlier this week with a widely read entry in his blog.

See Apple bans Nancy Pelosi bobble head.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]