Apple: 3 Million iPads in 80 Days
The Apple iPad sales just keep ramping. The company said that it has sold 3 million iPads in 80 days.
ZDNet
ZDNet
That tally eclipses most expectations going into the iPad launch.
Apple also said developers have created 11,000 iPad specific apps. The iPad cycle combined with the launch of the iPhone 4 are both expected to contribute to the best product cycle in Apple history.Continue »
E-Reader War Heats Up
The Nook
/ CNETThe move is likely to put Amazon on the defensive and the e-commerce giant appears to have been either caught flat-footed or resting on its early Kindle lead. Many folks have noted that Apple's iPad is a dedicated e-reader killer, but let's exclude Steve Jobs & Co. from the picture. Even excluding Apple, Amazon looks a bit behind the curve on e-readers.
Update: (A response wasn't long in coming: A few hours later, Amazon reciprocated cut trimming the price of its Kindle to $189 from $259.) Consider the following:
- Barnes & Noble is using its stores for nook distribution and has integrated the device with its retail experience nicely. Barnes & Noble also inked a distribution deal with Best Buy.
- Sony's Reader franchise also enjoys broad distribution and hits multiple price points ranging from $169.99 to $349.99.
- Meanwhile, Amazon lacks a Wi-Fi only option and will run you $259. Amazon did do a retail distribution deal with Target and has only just started running ads to promote the Kindle. These ads also indicate that Amazon needs to promote the Kindle more. Before the nook, iPad and better competition, you'd never see Amazon promoting the Kindle in the back of Business Week and other magazines and on TV.
And now Amazon is going to look like its playing defense again. Amazon will have to cut prices. I've been researching e-readers for a few weeks now. The difference between the $259 price point and $199 is huge. At $199 and lower, you figure you can get ROI in a year while you ponder whether you want or need an iPad (assuming you primarily intend the device to be for reading). Sony with its multiple price points was gaining traction in my little buying/research experiment.
Barnes & Noble Cuts Nook Price
Now the nook may be back on the table. The Wi-Fi version's the current nook minus 3G will offer complementary AT&T hotspots and at $149 looks like a good deal.
The big point here is that Amazon's Kindle is off the table at $259-unless of course that price falls.
Simply put price matters, but ultimately Amazon needs to cook up Kindle 3 and quickly. If Amazon doesn't move the needle again on e-reader innovation it's going to be stuck playing a game where price is the only real differentiation.
Read the full article at ZDNet.com.Report:3D PCs Soon to Boom
First, there were 3D TVs. Next up: 3D PCs trickle out in 2010 and then ramp in 2011 and 2012, according to Jon Peddie Research.
In a report on the Stereo 3D PC market, Jon Peddie Research argues that 1 million 3D PCs will ship in 2010 and surge to 75 million units by 2014. Simply put, 3D will become a standard feature in your PC in four years.
And here's the hedge from Jon Peddie Research:
Although most PCs will be S3D capable due to the GPUs that are in them, not all PCs will be S3D PCs because they need a special monitor, glasses, and appropriate content.
PC makers will push 3D PCs because they will carry higher price points. According to Jon Peddie Research, PC gaming will drive demand. After gaming, Blu-ray movies, streaming TV, photo editing, home video, streaming video and professional graphics will drive 3D PC usage.
Read more of "3D PCs coming soon then a boom, says report" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.
Salesforce CEO Likens Microsoft to "Alley Thug"
Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff
/ Dan Farber/CNETSalesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff was on his game Thursday, calling Chatter the company’s killer app, touting business wins in Japan and saying a Siebel upgrade from Oracle is an opportunity for Service Cloud. But his biggest zingers were saved for Microsoft and its patent lawsuit.
Let’s roll the transcript. Benioff was asked about Microsoft’s lawsuit and whether it had any impact on Salesforce.com’s business. Technically, Benioff was just asked about “the lawsuit,” but it was clear that the Microsoft patent move was the subject. Benioff said the lawsuit wouldn’t derail the company’s focus and added:
I should just say right off the bat, we can’t comment on pending litigation. The reality is that these patent trolls are unfortunately just part of doing business and technology these days. They’re basically the alley thugs. Every thriving economy has alley thugs and we do too. And that’s fine. You know?
Personally, I’m just disappointed to see this from a former leader of our industry, but it’s eminently resolvable and it’s not material to our day-to-day business. It’s basically a no-impact situation. It’s not something that I think anyone needs to make anything of.
I think it probably has more ramifications for other cloud vendors than it honestly does for us because we’re so — we’re strong. And a lot of other cloud CEO’s have been contacting me and my heart goes out to them. Because I feel like that’s the real impact is that if you go through it, you can see where this is going. And there’s obviously a next step here and it’s not about us, it’s about others.
So that’s my unfortunate commentary on the state of our industry. It’s just what’s going on in our industry.
The big takeaways:
- Salesforce.com isn’t going to sweat the lawsuit;
- Some resolution will emerge;
- And clearly Benioff thinks that Microsoft is going to sue other cloud providers.
Benioff’s comments came following Salesforce.com’s first quarter results. The results were on target, but the outlook was disappointing relative to Wall Street estimates. Benioff said it was time to invest in future growth. Simply put, Salesforce.com’s fiscal 2011 outlook was light. In fact, the Jigsaw purchase is going to shave about 11 cents a share from fiscal year earnings. If you add that earnings hit back, Salesforce.com is closer to Wall Street’s annual earnings expectations of $1.28 a share, but still 2 cents a share to 4 cents a share short of expectations.
Among the other key highlights from Salesforce.com earnings call:
Chatter is seen as Salesforce.com’s killer app and a collaboration as a service engine. Benioff says Chatter to Salesforce.com is what the database was to Oracle. He added that Chatter could eventually get Salesforce.com to 10 million users, up from 2 million to 3 million today. Benioff added that the Chatter beta now has more than 1,000 customers and is the company’s first enterprise-wide deployment.
Benioff touted a few business wins—including against Microsoft, which was called a patent troll. He said:
We continue to achieve this success by beating the biggest, most important software companies in the world, against Oracle this quarter, we won significant new or add-on business at Informatica, Sony Ericsson, Symantec, MasterCard, GAustralia, Motorola. Here in Japan, we beat them at Canon and Fujitsu, two of the most important companies in the country; [for] Pitney Bowes, AXA and Waste Management. And against an unnamed patent [troll], we won business at Abbott Labs, Mercury Insurance, Ingram Micro, Austin Ventures, and Salient Surgical. And finally, while SAP struggles to redefine itself, we won business against them at Haagen-Dazs, Carestream and NVIDIA.
On Service Cloud, Benioff also took a shot at Oracle’s Siebel. “Service Cloud has seen triple digit growth. It’s a hot market. It’s a market that has not been refreshed by the traditional enterprise technology vendors,” said Benioff. “We view it very much as a greenfield opportunity. A lot of those customers
who are using products like Siebel 7.8, they have to make a tremendous decision to upgrade to Siebel 8, which is a huge new mega piece of software and architecture customizations — everything is new.
Related: FinancialForce puts some meat on Salesforce.com’s Chatter effort
Apple in Antitrust Crosshairs?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs shows off the new iPad during an event in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
/ AP PhotoThe New York Post reports that the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are pondering an antitrust inquiry into Apple's Section 3.3.1 in its iPhone 4.0 software developer kit license agreement.
Here's the section, which is largely viewed as the no-Adobe-Flash-allowed part:
3.3.1 - Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
Read more of "Apple in antitrust crosshairs? If so, Jobs' Flash rant makes more sense" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.
- prev
- no next page
4 / 4
