AllThingsD » killer app

Morgan Stanley: Apple Will Ship Over Six Million iPads This Year

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:55:56 +0000

Apple’s iPad hasn’t yet arrived at market, but the device’s suppliers are already raising their build rates in expectation of strong sales, thanks to encouraging pre-order rates.

This according to Morgan Stanley (MS) analyst Katy Huberty, who says Apple’s manufacturing partners now expect to ship 2.5 million iPads between March and May, considerably ahead of her previous estimate of 750,000 for the June quarter.

What’s more, they are now forecasting shipments of eight to 10 million iPads in calendar 2010, considerably more than prior expectations of five million-plus.

Current Street consensus is for Apple (AAPL) to sell three to four million iPads, but Huberty figures the company will sell over six million iPads.

“We continue to believe the market under-appreciates longer-term iPhone/iPad demand,” Huberty writes. “Negative investor sentiment on the iPad centers on the lack of a ‘killer app’ or new technology.”

Adding detail, the analysts says that “Near-term, we believe iPad will target the sizeable sub-$800 consumer notebook market, which equates to 30 million units in the US and 120 million units globally. Medium-term, newly introduced content (books, magazines, video) and iPad-optimized apps could broaden the addressable market and strengthen iPad sales momentum later this year.”

FURTHER READING:

Launch Day iPads Sold Out

iPad Available at “Most Best Buy Stores” This Saturday

Apple Grabs iPad Trademark From Fujitsu

Apple Now Accepting iPad App Submissions

Early Supplies of iPad Accessories Dwindling?

Initial iPad Demand Greater Than Initial iPhone Demand

iPad TV?

Apple’s Tablet: Read Different?

Rumored Apple Netbook Actually an E-book?

Coming Soon From Apple: Big Touch?

iTablet: Apple’s Killer App for Higher Ed

COMPLETE IPAD COVERAGE

[Image credit: Bitolithic]

Apple Announces Jan. 27 Special Event: "Come See Our Latest Creation"

John Paczkowski — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:05:59 +0000

Confirming a date first reported by Digital Daily, Apple (AAPL) this morning announced an invitation-only special event to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco on Jan. 27, a Wednesday. “Come see our latest creation,” the invitation reads.

Hmm. Wonder what that might be? The invitation, below.

Given the invite’s theme, one wonders if the “creation” to be unveiled is touch and pressure sensitive and might, perhaps, come accompanied by a stylus or other input tool that could be used by illustrators and designers. Wild speculation, I know. But worth mentioning.

PREVIOUSLY:

Major Apple Product Announcement Set for Wednesday, Jan. 27

John Paczkowski — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:13:21 +0000

So, that rumored Apple event everyone has been jawing about these past few weeks? It’s on and it’s going to be a big deal.

Sources in a position to know tell me Apple (AAPL) is indeed planning a media event later this month at which the company will announce a major new product. The gathering is to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, a space Apple often uses for media events like this. According to other sources, it will occur on Wednesday, Jan. 27, not Tuesday, Jan. 26, as had been rumored.

No definitive word on what that product is, but I think we all have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal offers some details – it cites people “briefed by the company” who say Apple plans to ship the tablet in March, and that it will feature either a 10 or 11-inch touch screen. The paper also cites analysts who “currently believe” the machine will cost $1,000, which may include a Kindle-like built-in wireless plan.

Incidentally, this won’t be the first time Apple has scheduled a special event on a Wednesday as opposed to Tuesday, which it has historically preferred for such things. The “It’s Only Rock and Roll” iPod event held last September, which was also rumored to be scheduled on a Tuesday, was ultimately held on Wednesday, Sep. 9. Evidently, Wednesday is the new Tuesday.

PREVIOUSLY:

Amazon Remembers Forgets Barcode Scanner

John Paczkowski — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:07:11 +0000

There’s a new beachhead in Amazon’s campaign to commandeer sales from competing retailers: Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. This morning the retailer uncrated Amazon Mobile, an iPhone/iPod Touch application that allows users to browse its wares and those of associated retailers like Target (TGT) and Macy’s (M). The app supports Amazon’s standard features–customer reviews, “1-Click Shopping” and whatnot–as well as an intriguing new one. Called Amazon Remembers, it allows users to search for products they’d like to purchase by photographing real-world products. Testing Amazon Remembers this morning, I snapped a picture of the Sonos Controller on my desk and, sure enough, about 10 minutes later Amazon (AMZN) let me know that it does offer that product for sale.

A neat little feature, although why anyone would actively use it is beyond me. Text searches on Amazon Mobile–and Amazon’s iPhone-optimized site–are both easier and far, far faster. Why bother with the cumbersome “snap photo-submit photo-wait for Amazon to identify product in photo and its availability and price”?

What this application is clearly lacking and, frankly, just begging for, is a barcode scanner and real-time price comparison function. That would make it a killer app, indeed. And Snappr has proven barcode scanning on the iPhone is possible. The device just needs an improved camera for it to work….