JPMorgan analysts disagree on future iPhones
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Clients of JPMorgan Chase & Co   could be excused for feeling dizzy in the last few days after  reading the banking group's investment research on Apple Inc  .
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(InfoWorld) - The Java platform may run on 2 billion handheld phones, but not on Apple's trendy new iPhone. Apple's stance was called a mistake by a Sun Microsystems executive Wednesday at the AJAXWorld conference in Santa Clara. "I think it's a mistake. I think it would provide a lot more flexibility in applications being developed," for the iPhone, said Bob Brewin, Sun Distingushied Engineer and vice president for software. JavaScript runs on the phone and someone will put Java on the iPhone, Brewin said. But by not having it on there now, iPhone users and Java developers are being shortchanged, according to Brewin. Current Java applications, such as the LimeWire media-sharing application, could be easily ported and developers could choose the Java language for building new programs for the iPhone, he said. There also could be a lot of Java-based games made to work on the device, Brewin said. He attributed Apple's stance to the company wanting developers to develop for only a small set of APIs. "Fundamentally, they don't like open systems," Brewin said. Apple representatives could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been dismissive of having Java run on the iPhone. Brewin also noted the status of Sun's JavaFX multimedia display technology. JavaFX could give the benefit of rich applications to the iPhone, Brewin said. The JavaFX compiler is available in an early-access release right now. Sun expects to release components of the JavaFX runtime next year, Brewin said. Binaries for the JavaFX Mobile component of the platform will be showcased next year as well. While JavaFX will compete with highly touted technologies such as Microsoft's Silverlight and Adobe Systems's Flash and Flex, Brewin believes JavaFX offers advantages. "I think the biggest strength to JavaFX, sort of from a core principal, is because it is built on Java, you know it is ubiquitous," Brewin said. "You're not ... beholden to a proprietary implementation of another vendor," Brewin said. JavaFX also offers a simpler programming model than AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), he added. Also, Brewin said the Java Community Process, a multi-vendor effort on making changes to the Java platform, is going through a transition because of the recent open-sourcing of Java. "When we open-sourced Java, it just changed the dynamic a bit," he said. One example of how it has changed is contributors have to think about whether they want to contribute their intellectual property to what is now an open source platform. But Brewin anticipates the continuance of the JCP. "I think the JCP will thrive," he said. During a morning presentation, Brewin spoke of a "blue shift" and "red shift" phenomenon in computing, comparing IT to the physics concepts of blue and red shifts,Â  in which light turns red as it becomes more distant and blue as it gets closer. The red shift represents applications on the Web, which go out worldwide and scale to millions of persons. The blue shift represents computing in the enterprise, Brewin said. Building red shift applications requires thinking about a different application space, one in which there will not just be 10,000 people using the application behind the firewall but one that could serve 10 million customers, Brewin said.
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The Motley Fool - Yesterday, I wrote about how everyone and their neighbor seems to gunning for a slice of Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL - News) iPod and iTunes business. And while I still believe it's possible for News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS - News) MySpace, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News), and Sony (NYSE: SNE - News) to erode some of Apple's market share for downloadable music, I don't expect the company to passively stand by as revenues drop.
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As iPhone hype slows and competition increases, Apple may not have the same success in Europe as it has had in the the U.S., an analyst claims.
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Analysts from Prudential Equity Group and UBS are warning that delayed shipments of G5 chips from IBM could affect Apple Computer's bottom line
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Stocks dropped on Wednesday after bank  JPMorgan Chase & Co.JPM.N and drug maker Pfizer Inc. PFE.N  reported disappointing earnings, and a lackluster outlook from  cell-phone maker Motorola Inc. MOT.N raised concerns about  profit trends.
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Blog: AT&T's iPhone activation numbers disappointed many--especially Apple investors--but it's not a perfect measure of iPhone demand.
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(InfoWorld) - Gartner, IDC, and 451 Group research analysts, this week warned IT administrators to keep iPhones away from their businesses. "We're telling IT executives to not support it because Apple has no intentions of supporting [iPhone use in] the enterprise," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said. "This is basically a cellular iPod with some other capabilities, and it's important that it be recognized as such." As if that will stop people from buying them anyway when they hit the market in the U.S. next week. The reality is that no matter how hard IT administrators try, the iPhone will be snapped up by their employees -- and not just the average Joes either. The device is a status symbol that will likely be snapped up by business leaders as the digital technorati. Try telling your CEO the iPhone doesn't play well with your IT systems. Dulaney and other researchers notwithstanding, this device can be good for the enterprise because of the business needs of smartphone users. It is an iPhone, after all, with an emphasis on phone. It offers e-mail -- currently the most popular means of business communications. There's an address/phone Book for quick access to contacts. It offers SMS, a quick way to contact other mobile phone users, and voicemail -- both useful to road warriors. There's a real Web browser -- by far the most underpowered and underappreciated part of a mobile phone. And it contains a slew of enterprise-worthy apps, including a calendar, access to maps, spreadsheets, and a document reader. All of these things are important -- and all can be done to a greater or lesser extent on most business-focused PDA phones. But in the business world, the mobile Web browser is the key to the future of business apps, and it is becoming a platform unto itself. One thing that Apple CEO Steve Jobs made abundantly clear at last week's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is that the iPhone would include a full browser. The Symbian and Linux platforms' best browser is Opera Mini -- which isn't that bad -- but it by no means constitutes a full browser. Windows Mobile's browser isn't bad either, but it also falls well short of Internet Explorer 7. Additionally, the iPhone browser has a lot of zooming and panning tricks that make it more usable on the relatively small screen. In that crucial area, advantage: iPhone. Why is the browser crucial? Because most new business applications are being built around it. AJAX and other browser technology innovations over the past few years have turned the browser into a veritable platform. Sure, a lot of legacy applications still require browserless, platform-specific client applications. But those days are numbered. It's not just the isolated applications that are moving to a browser. All of the stalwart office applications are also moving to the Web. With Google Office (which now works with Safari -- the iPhone browser), Soho Office, and even Web-centric versions of Microsoft Office applications, the browser is truly the new business platform. The iPhone is not without its business-use flaws. It doesn't natively sync up with Lotus Notes or Exchange - and Microsoft, at least, will most likely do everything in its power to try to keep it that way to protect its Windows Mobile business. It can, however, hook up to IMAP email, LDAP address books, and WebDav for calendaring; with a bit of tweaking, that will work well for Exchange-based companies. Microsoft SharePoint can also be browsed from the Web interface, but to what extent? Time -- and the work of apps developers -- will tell. A newly anointed relationship with Cisco on all things iPhone should also let the device into the VPN and might even let an iPhone play well with Cisco VoIP solutions. And of course, don't forget the arduous task of getting your conservative IT department to accept the idea of letting loose an Apple phone -- or even MacBook Pro -- into the office. Previews of the phone haven't yet touted an instant messaging client like Apple's iChat or AOL Instant Messenger. It is likely, however, that Apple will include something with instant-messaging functionality in the near future -- there are still four slots left in the iPhone's application window. It's also true that the first-generation iPhone isn't the raw specs winner by any stretch. That honor goes to the Symbian/Windows Mobile 6 Phones coming from Toshiba (the G900), Nokia (the N95), Samsung (the F700) and HTC (the Shift). AT&T's EDGE wireless network is slow by today's standards, and while Wifi connectivity will help, there are questions about why Apple has forsaken the HSDPA/UTMS component and when an update might occur. Given that battery life is a factor -- Apple this week released updated specs that go beyond what it touted in January -- EDGE makes sense because it's more energy efficient. Also, the 8GB max on storage is seems low. At a time when you can buy an 8GB SD card for less than $80, Apple likely looked to keep costs down with an eye on upping that storage when it's economically smart. Most users would likely be happy with a micro/mini/SD card slot now standard on most smartphones. There is, of course, the price. The iPhone's hefty $499 and $599 price tags, depending on which model you buy, is a definite disadvantage in business. With relatively comparable gear (from a corporate standpoint), such as the Motorola Q, which is almost free with a service plan, buying an iPhone requires serious justification. We're talking about spending the equivalent of a budget laptop. Of course, something that you spend half your day using should justify the premium that this delicious piece of hardware demands. And then there are at least two intangibles: Usability. Apple's legendary reputation for making painful tasks easy will totally transform the mobile phone industry. And remember, companies love productivity from their workers. Until now, the big players have been Microsoft Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian, and Linux. They all had successes. But it's the last 10 percent of usability that Apple always manages to squeeze out its products will be the differentiator. Apple did the same in the computer industry until Microsoft caught up. Apple has learned from this and patented every minute detail of the iPhone, making it harder for copycats to appear anytime soon. The few seconds here there that the iPhone saves users will quickly add up. It's the little things that make for big savings across an entire enterprise. Business bling, baby. Everyone knows that this is the phone to have. Just look at the buzz ahead of the June 29 launch. Apple has spent the last few years building up its brand across all channels and is reaping the rewards like no other company in the industry. As much as the enterprise IT guys will want to recite better specs for rival Windows Mobile devices, nobody wants to hear that. I can imagine any number of CEOs saying, "I don't care! Just make the iPhone work on our systems!" And if it works for the CEO, you can bet the sales folk will want in on the action, too. Think they'll want to show up to a meeting with an important client and whip out last year's "hot" phone? They might as well wear parachute pants as well.
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Blog: A financial analyst out of Taiwan is predicting that Apple will have a cheaper iPhone based on the iPod Nano design released by the end of the year.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple is debating whether to participate in the Federal Communications Commission's Jan. 16 wireless spectrum auction, BusinessWeek reported Monday, but analysts who follow Apple said the company would be crazy to build a nationwide wireless network. "That's way out in left field," said Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray & Co. "They're spending their money on other things like the price cut on the iPhone." Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, came to the same conclusion but wouldn't dismiss the report outright. "I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't do some head-scratching [on this idea]," Gottheil said, "but I don't see them taking their eye off the ball." Apple would face tremendous risk, something it doesn't need. "And it is a company that can only focus on one thing at a time." Apple would have to come up with some serious cash to enter the FCC auction, which will sell rights to the 700MHz band that TV broadcasters are handing back to the government when they go all-digital in 2009. The BusinessWeek story, however, noted that Apple has nearly $14 billion in cash reserves, more than enough to make the minimum bid of $4.6 billion. The story, which was posted on the magazine's Web site Monday, cited two unnamed sources who claimed that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has studied the implications of joining the auction but is leaning against the idea. Apple's iPhone, of course, is the genesis of any speculation that Apple might compete with other technology companies, most notably Google, in assembling a wireless network. One former Apple executive even told BusinessWeek that it would make sense for the company to give away access. "With the kind of cash position they have and the kind of push they just made into the handset space, it makes a lot of sense for them," the anonymous source said. No way, said Munster. "Not only is that not where they know what they're doing, but that's also not where they want to go. It's pretty clear that Apple wants to be a device and a software company, not a network operator." Van Baker, an analyst with Gartner, said somewhat the same thing, albeit with a caveat. "This would be very far afield for Apple, so I think the odds are very low that Apple would pursue this unless it is in conjunction with a partner," he said. Exactly, chimed in Gottheil. "Apple is unlikely to place a bid itself, but it would very much like someone to build a network they would like, one with a low barrier to entry like low-hourly-fee basic voice and Web access with fees for higher value services," he said. Apple might consider a joint venture of some sort, allowed Gottheil, who tagged Cisco and Google as possible candidates. "Apple has a long-standing relationship with Google, of course," said Gottheil. Three of the seven current Apple board members have ties to Google, including Eric Schmidt, the search company's CEO, and former Vice President Al Gore, who serves as a senior advisor to Google. "[But] they don't want to turn into a utility company. They don't want to risk their culture and too much of their reserves," Gottheil said. "On the other hand, they don't like the existing providers." Apple's -- and Jobs' -- antipathy to wireless carriers, even to AT&T, Apple's exclusive partner in the U.S. for the iPhone, has been the subject of blog postings and pundit musing since the smart phone's debut in June. Last week, for example, when Jobs announced the iPhone's $200 price cut, he made no mention of AT&T, nor did he mention T-Mobile, the wireless carrier that provides the hotspots for Starbucks, Apple's new iTunes partner. "Apple should become more net-centric, but they don't have to own the network to provide cloud-based services," Gottheil said.
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Analysts are telling companies that the iPhone isn't designed for business use and they'd be better off keeping it out of their workers' hands. Try telling that to the worker -- or the CEO -- who wants one.
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Forrester Research is telling IT shops to hold off supporting Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone, saying the device has too many drawbacks and flaws -- and is pricey -- for corporate rollouts right now.
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I donât like self-proclaimed prophets. So, you'll rarely see me quoting them. I guess my aversion originates in so many presentations where the next [insert application or company here] âkillerâ will emerge if we invest some money. And yes, I admit I sat on the side of the table talking about a couple  of those killer apps myself.
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JP Morgan analysts have expressed doubt about a colleague's claim that Apple is planning a Nano iPhone.
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InfoWorld - The Java platform may run on 2 billion handheld phones, but not on Apple&#39;s trendy new iPhone. Apple&#39;s stance was called a mistake by a Sun Microsystems executive Wednesday at the AJAXWorld conference in Santa Clara.
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An analyst for investment banking firm Piper Jaffray warned Wednesday that Apple's European iPhone launch "may be delayed." Analyst Gene Munster claimed the planned European wide roll-out later this year may face problems. "European wireless carriers are citing strict terms of the partnership with Apple," Munster said.
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The controversy around Apple's iPhone price cuts seems suspiciously calculated.