Apple COO- We're 'very confident' in Apple's future

Apple COO: We're 'very confident' in Apple's future
The two questions on the mind of anyone who follows Apple are "When is Steve coming back?" and "What happensif he doesn't?"Yet on the earnings call with financial analysts today, no one asked any direct question about Jobs' medical leave announced yesterday or a possible future without him. However, Apple COO Tim Cook--the company's de facto leader in Jobs' absence--anticipated both questions.He turned his response to an analyst's question about Apple's timeline for planning future products into an subtle assurance that Apple is a well-run company at the top of its game."I will tell you, in my view, Apple is doing its best work ever. We're very heavy with product pipeline. The teamhere has an unparalleled depth and breadth with talent and a culture of innovation that Steve has driven in the company," said Cook. "Excellence has become a habit. We feel very confident in the future of the company."Not that anyone needed to be reassured today that Apple is a well-run company. The numbers speak for themselves: Apple has been turning in record quarters in a string running back almost two years. Today Apple reported its highest revenue and profits ever, as well as its most iPhone sales ever (16.2 million), iPads (7.3 million), and Mac computers (4.1 million). The company has $60 billion in cash reserves, its retail stores posted their highest total of visitors ever (75 million people), and sales via iTunes are through the roof.But Jobs is viewed as the heart and soul of Apple and absolutely critical to its success by many investors. The company performed very well in his last absence between January and June 2009, but this time around there is no set date for Jobs' return, if at all. That helps explain Apple going out of its way to drive home the point that Jobs remains involved in all major decisions and company strategy. As usual, the earnings press release today contained a quote from Jobs praising the work Apple did during the quarter and pointing to the "exciting" future products Apple has planned for 2011. And in the filing with the SEC notifying them of Jobs' medical leave, Apple highlighted Jobs' plan to stay involved in big-picture concerns. Cook spent some time talking about the future of their specific business units too, emphasizing the room Apple has to grow and take business from its competitors in the years ahead."We've done outstanding in our Mac business, but we still have a relatively low share of a very large PC market," he said, adding, "There's enormous opportunity (to grow) there."The same, he said, is true of the smartphone market, where "We have relatively low show share in the handset market." Symbian OS-based phones are the most popular worldwide, with a 37 percent share as of the third quarter of 2010, according to Gartner. Android phones account for 25 percent, and Apple's iOS 17 percent.When it comes to the iPad, Cook sounds most hopeful, likely because there is so little current competition in the space and because Apple has such a sizable head-start over the deluge of Android tablets set to arrive this year.Cook dismissed the current crop of Android tablets for sale as "bizarre," "scaled-up smartphones" and models announced recently at CES as mostly "vapor."He emphasized that Apple is "not sitting still," which is obviously a reference to the anticipated iPad 2, rumored to be introduced in the next two or three months."We're in some great markets, some fast-moving markets. We have the best products we've ever done. And incredible product pipeline, we feel very, very confident."Wall Street's confidence in Apple today returned too. Following a $20 share price drop this morning, news of the impressive earnings report sent shares back up. In after-hours trading Apple's stock was up 1.25 percent to $344.90.Still, it's not the ability to update and improve current products and execute plans that have been in place for the last few years that many Apple observers worry about. Rather, when considering a Jobs-less Apple it's the industry-altering products Apple has a knack for two, five, and ten years down the road that make them wonder if they can continue to produce those without him should he decide not to return to Apple full time.

iPhone 5, new iPod, may leave some cars in the dust

iPhone 5, new iPod, may leave some cars in the dust
During today's event announcing the new iPhone and iPod, Apple V.P. Phil Schiller spent a little time talking about the Lightning connector, the port replacing the old 30-pin port on iOS devices. Although Schiller pointed out how Apple's adapter for the port would ensure backward compatibility, some car models are not likely to work with Lightning or the new adapter. The 5 arrives CNET's hands-on with the iPhone 5 Apple out to prove it's still king Pictures: Apple's big iPhone 5 reveal Ho-hum. iPhone 5 won't wow anyone iPhone 5: No Steve Jobs, no sizzle iPhone 5: What we didn't get Poll: Will you buy the iPhone 5? Apple springs leak -- rumors were right An awful dock-connector change Apple shares up, down, then up Start your iOS 6 downloads September 19 iOS 6 hits major marks Apple reworks, simplifies iTunes New iPod Touch: Siri and a 4-inch screen New Nano: Remembering the iPod MiniFull coverage: The iPhone 5 arrivesSchiller specifically mentioned how the adapter would work with existing iPod integration in cars, showing an image of an iPhone cabled to a car. The car shown in the photo was an Audi, identifiable by the distinctive MMI controller on the console. Audi uses a proprietary port for music devices; they come with adapter cables for Apple's 30-pin connector. However, the Audi console shown in the photo had the iPhone cable coming from the back of the console, odd because Audi puts its music device connector in the glovebox of most of its models. Schiller's photo could have been a mock-up.The fact that the Lightning port uses eight purely digital pins calls into question whether the Lightning adapter would actually work with many cars' existing iPod or even USB ports. Current Kia and Hyundai models, and older BMW models, use an adapter cable that feeds the analog audio signal from the 30-pin connector to a 1/8-inch audio input, and a USB port to feed control signals between iPhone and car. Lightning does not have the capability to send an analog signal, so Apple's adapter will not work in those vehicles.Many other cars use a simple USB port to connect to a white iPhone cable. In these systems, the car receives audio as a digital signal, and plays it through the speakers using the car stereo's own digital analog converter, so the new Lightning port should work with the new device's own cable.CNET asked various automakers if their models would be compatible. As of this writing, Ford was the only one to respond. A spokesman for Ford said the company had been able to test iOS 6 with Sync, the system that integrates music players and phones with Ford vehicles. However, Ford was not able to test the new hardware from Apple, nor the release version of iOS 6, so would not comment on compatibility. Other automakers would likely have been in a similar position.