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John versus Joe: iPhone earnings smackdown edition

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Apple Financial, iPhone

Apple naysayers are a dime a dozen these days. I keep a few in my garage just so I can laugh at them when I wave my iPhone in their general direction and they all cry in unison, “The Zune phone is so totally going to be an iPhone killer. You know, if and when it comes out. Just wait and see.”

Rarely do Apple naysayers come with more unintentional hilarity than Joe Wilcox from Betanews, who, alone among reporters everywhere, uncovered a media conspiracy on a scale not seen in recent memory. Namely, contrary to what literally everyone else has reported, Apple was in fact NOT more profitable with the iPhone compared to all of Nokia during the recent financial quarter.

John Gruber from Daring Fireball saw Joe’s post, and with his response laid the smack down on Joe’s analysis.

Gruber’s post boils down to castigating Wilcox for ignoring Apple’s statement of non-GAAP earnings. Basically, Apple’s subscription-based accounting for the iPhone spreads its revenues out over several quarters, which it expresses in GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) earnings. These are the earnings Wilcox looked at and said, “Wait a minute! Apple didn’t make that much money at all! Murder most foul!” If you want a real idea of what Apple actually made with the iPhone over the quarter, you have to look at the non-GAAP earnings. This is something I figured out back when I edited earnings press releases for PR Newswire, and something anyone who reports on financial matters really ought to doublecheck before protesting to one and all that something foul is afoot.

Wilcox updated his post after Gruber’s response, but his rationale is almost as funny as his initial post:

I chose to use the GAAP figures because a) Again, that’s what Apple is supposed to report; b) It made for a simpler analysis; c) Apple recognizes previously deferred revenue with the quarterly results; d) According to Apple SEC filings, deferred revenue is for more than just iPhone and Apple TV. The last two points are paramount.
In other words, a) It’s the SEC’s fault, not mine; b) like Gruber said, I didn’t bother reading past the first paragraph of the press release; c) I also didn’t bother parsing through the reams of financial tables that come with every quarterly financial press release; d) Gruber is wrong and Apple TV is totally selling like hotcakes.

I showed Wilcox’s post to the Apple naysayers I keep chained up in my garage, and they just kind of turned away scratching their heads awkwardly. I don’t think that’s a good sign for the supposed “misreporting” of Apple’s iPhone profits that Wilcox thinks he’s uncovered.

TUAWJohn versus Joe: iPhone earnings smackdown edition originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VaynerMedia Is Bringing Sports Chants To Twitter

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

Even if you’re not into sports, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard that chant before. And there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be seeing a lot more of it if Gary and AJ Vaynerchuk get their way. That’s because they want to start a trend that every New York Jets fan uses the #J_E_T_S_JETS_JETS_JETS hashtag on Twitter before games and after every touchdown. And guess who is behind the idea: The New York Jets.

The Vaynerchuk’s VaynerMedia does brand consulting in the online space, and one of their clients happens to be the Jets. So they pitched the idea to the team and the team agreed to promote the idea before the first regular season game on September 7.

Sports chants are an odd thing because thousands of complete strangers come together to say them in unison. Usually, that happens in a stadium or arena, but really, the entire idea isn’t that different from Twitter itself. I know that I still do some of the Michigan Wolverine chants even when I’m sitting at home watching a game by myself (yes, even during last year’s miserable football season), so why not do them on Twitter?

Before the Twitter hashtag chant comes into play, the Jets are using Twitter another way. Tomorrow, before the final pre-season game, the Jets will be giving away tickets to each Jets player who tweets. These tickets can be given to fans of the players’ choosing. The idea is to apparently get the players more involved in the online community.

In terms of sports clients, so far VaynerMedia has signed up Kerry Rhodes of the Jets and former NBA star Jalen Rose (also a Michigan Wolverine), alongside the Jets. They are working on some other sports deals right now, and hope to get a few more signed shortly.

You can read more about it on the Jets’ Twitter page. And watch the video below to see the chant in action.

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