Apple briefs: Jobs’ air travel, iPhone update, iTunes is No. 2
The iPhone software developers kit (SDK) promised for February may not have materialized, but Feb. 26 turned out to be a busy day for Apple(AAPL) nonetheless. The big news was the refresh of the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines (see here), but there were these items as well:
Frequent flier:Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty rooted through Apple’s 2007 10K and discovered that the company reimbursed its peripatetic CEO $550,000 in airline expenses for the December quarter — three times the average over the previous six quarters (see here). She cites these expenses — presumably incurred on the Gulfstream jet the company gave Jobs in 2000 — as a reason to buy the stock. A better reason would be if Jobs brought home signed iPhone deals with new carriers in Europe and Asia.
iPhone 1.1.4:The latest firmware update for the iPhone and iPod touch, released Tuesday afternoon, was a big one (162.1 megabytes) that except for unspecified bug fixes seems to have added zero functionality. The prevailing theory is that the update is setting the stage for the release of the SDK some time in the weeks ahead.
iTunes rising:The NPD Group reported Tuesday that iTunes has edged aside Best Buy (BBY) and Target(TGT) to become the No. 2 music retailer in the U.S., behind only Wal-Mart (see Apple’s press release here). With 50 million customers and more than 4 billion songs sold so far, Apple will likely overtake Wal-Mart (WMT) before the end of the year, according to Russ Crupnick, NPD’s president of music (see here).
All iPhone updates are big as each one overwrites the entire operating system, not just updates it. Every update has clocked in around 160MB
Silly Phil, why do you think they gave him the jet for in the first place? You remind me of a little kid trying to get a school mate in trouble by tattling on him. “Johnny wasn’t spending his lunch money on food. He bought candy with it instead teacher. I saw him”
Nice try.
“Mostly jealousy imo”
Ha ha.
You seem to also forget they GAVE him 6% of the company in stock, they also not only gave him the jet but the $45 million in cash to cover the taxes on the gift. So no, Mr. Jobs is not just making $1 a year in cash. He is *VERY* well compensated.
Imagine your company gave you a car, the cash for the taxes on that car, and then paid you to use the car as you drove around.
He does well by the company and the shareholders, yes. But never think he isn’t over compensated for it.
You do know that his salary is only $1, don’t you?
At $500,001.00 where does that rank him in CEO pay? I know managers at medium companies who make more than that PLUS all the perks.
Not very good reporting - mostly jealousy imo.
How is the best presenter and sales person in the world is supposed to travel around making all these wonderful products and deals that just simplify and changes people’s live when it comes to technology with Apple’s constant innovation?! Would it really be cheaper to travel with commercial airlines and their very hight ticket prices, and don’t mind the ridiculous delays that EVERYBODY experiences no matter who you are?!?!?!??!
SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve been a stock holder for 10 years now, it’s time for you analyst to get real and concentrate on the real issues, like how bad MS products are nowadays
Dear Bk…your comment “steve travels the world while shareholders go broke!”
What is he supposed to do? Put his head under the covers and cry himself to sleep until it is all over….i am sure they are for future/present business endeavors and to open opportunities for the stock to rise again.
why do you think he’s traveling? Mmmgh, do you think that he may be making deals? No, that would be too obvious and totally not in line with the idea that he has his own “reality distortion field.”
Too bad he didn’t travel to the Tonight Show last night and present Jay Leno with an iPhone on th espot when Jay’s guests were playing around with theirs…a great opportunity missed
The above comment goes to show how uninformed some people can be on how business works. Does anyone really believe that Steve Jobs is out on long vacations at shareholders expense. I am not and have never been a user of Apple products other than the IPOD but I have been an investor in the stock since its IPO. Jobs is traveling to secure overseas deals for the IPHON which will improve Apples bottom line and create shareholder value.
with a $1 salary and considering how the company is performing since he’s back that’s not a big deal
Steve travels the world while shareholders go broke! Way to go Steve!
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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.
Nodack did you bother reading the first part of the article or did you just think “Hey everyone else is bashing PED and I have this great quip about children, playground and candy that I can use so I’ll post that” ?
“Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty rooted through Apple’s 2007 10K and discovered…”
All he did was point out what someone else discovered. BTW, how is that a reason to buy stock when the company spends 3x’s the average over 6 quarters?