And another thing: TDL Live

Our quarterly earnings show wasn't the only live show Monday night. We still had plenty of other Apple news and rumors to cover in TDL Live. Enjoy!

Apple has another record quarter. Sell! Sell! Sell!

Apple does it again, showing a 31% increase in profit, year over year. And how does the market react? The stock fell more than $17 in after-market trading. I would challenge you to find any other computer or electronics company experiencing double digit growth consistentlt, year-over-year, every single quarter.

What would it take for Wall Street to treat this stock with a little respect? The stock's current value virtually ignores the iPhone as a revenue generator. Meanwhile companies in other sectors are rewarded for posting losses that weren't as bad as expected.

It just doesn't make any sense. We could go on for half an hour about this, and actually we did:

Apple Earnings are out. We'll break it down live tonight

Apple just announced their quarterly earnings, with the best June quarter in history. $7.46 billion in revenue, quarterly profit of $ 1.07 billion, or $1.19 per share. If you want a full breakdown of the numbers, join us at 8:30PM ET tonight for our live Quarterly Earnings Show, immediately followed by TDL Live at 9PM ET.

Apple shareholders deserve succession plan

An article in today's New York Post again calls into question the status of Steve Jobs' health. The real question though isn't whether Apple's leader is sick, but rather why won't Apple publicly announce a succession plan?

Even if there was no reason to be concerned, and there certainly is given Jobs' previous bout with pancreatic cancer, it's only fair to shareholders to know what Apple's contingency plan may be. The company rides high on its connection to its leader. Buf if Jobs were unable to lead Apple, just think of what would happen to the current stock value.

Jobs eventual departure via retirement or other means, doesn't have to be a sinking of the company though. Apple could start minimizing the risk now by succinctly explaining the succession plan. And if that's too much to ask, let's at least start to hear more about the people behind these great products. Many, many moons ago, some of the first Apple products shipped with the autographs of the developers inside. That tradition has long since passed, and in its place, thousands of Apple engineers toil in anonymity.

Yes, there are strategic reasons for this. Other companies would jump at the chance to steal away Apple engineers. How much would Nokia pay to pick up a few members of the iPhone team? However, the payback to shareholders - knowing that the success of Apple's products is the result of the input of many creative people, would go a long way toward calming investor fears.
It's been a great strategy by Apple to keep product details in the dark as long as possible. People however, are not products. Shareholders deserve to know that their investment in the company is more valuable than the participation of one person in the company

Psystar Want to Be Like Mike? Apple Files Suit Against Mac Cloning Company

Doesn’t everybody want to be like Mike?  Psystar sure wants to be like Apple.  The Miami-based company has been making unauthorized Mac clones since April.  Psystar began selling the clones based upon their finding’s that they could make and sell the clones for one-quarter to one-half of Apple’s “real deal.”

No matter the money-saving opportunity, Psystar’s actions visibly infringe upon Apple’s copyrights on their products.  Apple’s licensing rules clearly state that any installation of its own operating systems onto third-party hardware is in open violation. Apple also claims that Psystar’s actions harmed the Apple image by misrepresenting Apple products to consumers.  Included in the claims against Psystar were also illegally copying, modifying and redistributing some of Apple’s products.  Further, Apple is seeking an order to have all Apple clone products sold by Psystar, recalled.

While the Psystar partnership claims that Apple has no suit, I would beg to differ.  With copyrighted rules for Apple’s products, Psystar would have to first pay for licensing from Apple to sell the products.  Namely, without Apple signing off or getting a cut on the sold clones, the Mac clones are in violation of Apple’s copyrights. 

Maybe it’s best to leave the Mac-making to the professionals…

Blog based on information from www.informationweek.com