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Apple's Jobs May Put Spotlight on Slim Mac Laptop at Macworld
A year after dropping ``computer'' from Apple Inc.'s name, Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs may put the spotlight back on the Macintosh today.
Jobs, who introduced the iPhone at last year's Macworld conference, may unveil Apple's thinnest, lightest portable computer yet when he takes the stage to deliver the keynote speech in San Francisco. Such a Mac would be the company's first so-called sub-notebook in a decade, with analysts expecting it to be less than 1 inch thick and less than 4 pounds.
Sales of Macs, which account for half the company's revenue, set a record last year after Jobs added faster chips and software that runs programs for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows system. Demand for notebook PCs has outpaced sales of desktop models, and Apple's reputation for advanced design may prompt buyers to pay $1,500 or more for a smaller Mac at a time when portable PCs can cost less than $500.
``To come into a room and put down an Apple portable makes a statement,'' said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. ``They can expand the market with an ultra-light machine.''
Cupertino, California-based Apple also may announce a movie-rental service for its iTunes store and start offering films from Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros., people familiar with the deals said last week. Jobs might present an updated Apple TV, a product that lets users view computer content on widescreen televisions, Bear Stearns & Co.'s Andy Neff said.
Jobs, 52, also may use today's event to introduce an update to the iPhone, Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster in Minneapolis said in an interview. He expects a model with twice as much memory as the current $399 model.
Surging Stock
Apple shares more than doubled last year after sales of Macs, iPhone handsets and iPod media players pushed annual profit above $3 billion for the first time. The stock rose $6.09 to $178.78 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.
Bank of America and RBC Capital Markets yesterday raised their earnings estimates in anticipation of new Macs and other products. Apple's profit this year may climb to $5.04 a share from $4.87, Bank of America's Scott Craig in New York said. RBC analyst Mike Abramsky in Toronto boosted his estimate to $5.11, citing Mac holiday sales.
While Apple already sells two notebook PCs -- the consumer MacBook and the more powerful MacBook Pro -- analysts expect a sub-notebook to fill out its product line. Sub-notebooks typically weigh less than 4 pounds, are less than 1 inch thick, and have screens that are no more than 12 inches wide.
Mini, Slim
A new ultra-portable PC would be Apple's first such model since the 1997 release of the PowerBook 2400c, a 4.4-pound Mac with a 10.4-inch screen. Apple dropped the PowerBook name in favor of MacBook in 2006.
Current MacBook models weigh about 5 pounds each, are about 1 inch thick and offer screens starting at 13.3 inches. The new sub-notebook may be called ``MacBook Mini'' or ``MacBook Slim,'' said Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research in San Francisco.
Jobs may introduce one that's less than half an inch thick, with a 10-inch or 12-inch display that uses the touch-screen technology from the iPhone, Craig wrote in a report.
Prices for sub-notebooks start at about $1,500, making them more expensive than standard laptops, said Richard Shim, an analyst with researcher IDC in San Mateo, California. Munster told investors last month he expects an Apple sub-notebook to be priced less than the $2,000 MacBook Pro.
``Ultra-portables have been very popular in the business market, and that's largely been based on the fact that there's a certain type of executive that wants a mobile computer they can show off,'' Shim said.
New IPhone
An updated iPhone may buoy sales, offsetting concern some users will delay purchases until Apple releases a version that works on so-called third-generation networks.
A 3G-based iPhone is due later this year, AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson said Nov. 28 at a speech in Santa Clara, California. His company has exclusive U.S. rights to offer wireless service for the iPhone.
Apple's U.S. PC market share is at its highest level in a decade, according to IDC. It expanded to 6.3 percent in the third quarter from 5.7 percent a year earlier. Apple is the third-largest U.S. PC maker, behind Dell Inc. and Hewlett- Packard Co.
Intel Chips
Speedier chips from Intel Corp. and software that lets users run Windows programs on Macs helped push shipments over 2 million units for the first time during the back-to-school season.
Apple may have set a record by selling 2.19 million Macs over the holidays, Toni Sacconaghi, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst in New York, said in a report last week. Sacconaghi is Institutional Investor magazine's top-ranked computer analyst.
The anticipated film-rental service may offer movies from Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc.'s Paramount and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., said two people who asked not to be identified because the plans aren't public.
Jobs also may announce support for Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray DVD format, said American Technology's Wu.
``Steve will likely have some surprises that no one anticipated,'' Wu said.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/...20601103&sid=aFG2h.Pg9iqs&refer=news
A year after dropping ``computer'' from Apple Inc.'s name, Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs may put the spotlight back on the Macintosh today.
Jobs, who introduced the iPhone at last year's Macworld conference, may unveil Apple's thinnest, lightest portable computer yet when he takes the stage to deliver the keynote speech in San Francisco. Such a Mac would be the company's first so-called sub-notebook in a decade, with analysts expecting it to be less than 1 inch thick and less than 4 pounds.
Sales of Macs, which account for half the company's revenue, set a record last year after Jobs added faster chips and software that runs programs for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows system. Demand for notebook PCs has outpaced sales of desktop models, and Apple's reputation for advanced design may prompt buyers to pay $1,500 or more for a smaller Mac at a time when portable PCs can cost less than $500.
``To come into a room and put down an Apple portable makes a statement,'' said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. ``They can expand the market with an ultra-light machine.''
Cupertino, California-based Apple also may announce a movie-rental service for its iTunes store and start offering films from Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros., people familiar with the deals said last week. Jobs might present an updated Apple TV, a product that lets users view computer content on widescreen televisions, Bear Stearns & Co.'s Andy Neff said.
Jobs, 52, also may use today's event to introduce an update to the iPhone, Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster in Minneapolis said in an interview. He expects a model with twice as much memory as the current $399 model.
Surging Stock
Apple shares more than doubled last year after sales of Macs, iPhone handsets and iPod media players pushed annual profit above $3 billion for the first time. The stock rose $6.09 to $178.78 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.
Bank of America and RBC Capital Markets yesterday raised their earnings estimates in anticipation of new Macs and other products. Apple's profit this year may climb to $5.04 a share from $4.87, Bank of America's Scott Craig in New York said. RBC analyst Mike Abramsky in Toronto boosted his estimate to $5.11, citing Mac holiday sales.
While Apple already sells two notebook PCs -- the consumer MacBook and the more powerful MacBook Pro -- analysts expect a sub-notebook to fill out its product line. Sub-notebooks typically weigh less than 4 pounds, are less than 1 inch thick, and have screens that are no more than 12 inches wide.
Mini, Slim
A new ultra-portable PC would be Apple's first such model since the 1997 release of the PowerBook 2400c, a 4.4-pound Mac with a 10.4-inch screen. Apple dropped the PowerBook name in favor of MacBook in 2006.
Current MacBook models weigh about 5 pounds each, are about 1 inch thick and offer screens starting at 13.3 inches. The new sub-notebook may be called ``MacBook Mini'' or ``MacBook Slim,'' said Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research in San Francisco.
Jobs may introduce one that's less than half an inch thick, with a 10-inch or 12-inch display that uses the touch-screen technology from the iPhone, Craig wrote in a report.
Prices for sub-notebooks start at about $1,500, making them more expensive than standard laptops, said Richard Shim, an analyst with researcher IDC in San Mateo, California. Munster told investors last month he expects an Apple sub-notebook to be priced less than the $2,000 MacBook Pro.
``Ultra-portables have been very popular in the business market, and that's largely been based on the fact that there's a certain type of executive that wants a mobile computer they can show off,'' Shim said.
New IPhone
An updated iPhone may buoy sales, offsetting concern some users will delay purchases until Apple releases a version that works on so-called third-generation networks.
A 3G-based iPhone is due later this year, AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson said Nov. 28 at a speech in Santa Clara, California. His company has exclusive U.S. rights to offer wireless service for the iPhone.
Apple's U.S. PC market share is at its highest level in a decade, according to IDC. It expanded to 6.3 percent in the third quarter from 5.7 percent a year earlier. Apple is the third-largest U.S. PC maker, behind Dell Inc. and Hewlett- Packard Co.
Intel Chips
Speedier chips from Intel Corp. and software that lets users run Windows programs on Macs helped push shipments over 2 million units for the first time during the back-to-school season.
Apple may have set a record by selling 2.19 million Macs over the holidays, Toni Sacconaghi, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst in New York, said in a report last week. Sacconaghi is Institutional Investor magazine's top-ranked computer analyst.
The anticipated film-rental service may offer movies from Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc.'s Paramount and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., said two people who asked not to be identified because the plans aren't public.
Jobs also may announce support for Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray DVD format, said American Technology's Wu.
``Steve will likely have some surprises that no one anticipated,'' Wu said.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/...20601103&sid=aFG2h.Pg9iqs&refer=news
