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Apple’s Last Macworld: Not With a Bang, but an Update to iWork

Analysts expecting Apple’s Macworld 2009 keynote to be light on revolutionary products or otherwise “modest” or “neutral” were not disappointed.

Well, they were disappointed, but they knew they were going to be disappointed going in, so it shouldn’t have come as a shock, right?

Said Robert Francello, head of equity trading for Apex Capital, “There were some innovative products, but no true blockbusters. People were bullish going into it, and now they’re kind of taking money off the table.”

Indeed, Apple shares closed down 1.65 percent today, a clear reflection of the lackluster announcements made this morning.

“[The] Macworld keynote was underwhelming as expected,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. “The lack of significant announcements adds clarity to Steve Jobs’ absence. We believe he remains the primary spokesman and active leader of Apple.”

Well, obviously. He did say as much yesterday, didn’t he? That being the case, perhaps there’s something to be read into the first song of the short Tony Bennett set that closed today’s event, “The Best is Yet to Come.” Apple (AAPL) didn’t uncrate the new iMacs or Mac minis that many expected of it this morning. Nor did it demo Snow Leopard, the next iteration of OS X. Perhaps it will in the months ahead, at its own event and on its own terms. And with Steve Jobs presiding, of course. The best is yet to come, right?

Macworld ‘09 Keynote Coverage:

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  • oliver wilson
    C'mon John, so negative a tone, and such an exaggerated underreaction to what was not a blockbuster event, but showed the tech skills of Apple's masterful engineers. The iLife changes are major tech accomplishments. You didn't even bother to describe them.

    And, who really cares what Gene Munster has to say? Piper Jaffry has their own agenda, judging from their writing, anyway.

    Why must all you guys quote fund managers as if they were gods? Please, most of their postings are highly biased, and their lousy opinions are taken too seriously in general. You should know that as a writer - or do you?
  • I was horribly DISAPPOINTED.
    No:
    iMac
    Mac Mini
    Mac Pro
    30-inch display

    Some of us just don't give a damn about iLife and iWork.
    And. some of us, use desktop computers.
  • Oliver ...

    I *did* describe the changes to iLife and I was clearly impressed by a few of them -- especially iMovie.

    Macworld ’09: iMovie ’09
    Macworld ’09: Garageband “Learn to Play,” “Artist Lessons”

    As far as AAPL analysts go, well .. point taken, but I thought it was at least worth mentioning. AAPL was trading down after the keynote.
  • So what did happen to the new mini? Did all the "certainty" in the numerous leaks describing its new features lead Apple to put the kibosh on the whole thing? Or is "The Best is Yet to Come" truly a harbinger for something on the horizon?

    http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2009/01/macworld-w...

    RR
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About John

John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »

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