Apple’s Last Macworld: Not With a Bang, but an Update to iWork
by John Paczkowski
Posted on January 6, 2009 at 3:28 PM PT
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:
- Macworld ’09 LIVE
- Macworld ’09: All About the Mac, iLife ’09, Faces and Places
- Macworld ’09: iMovie ’09
- Macworld ’09: Garageband “Learn to Play,” “Artist Lessons”
- Macworld ’09: iWork ’09, iWork.com
- Macworld ’09: 17-inch MacBook Pro With 8-Hour Battery
- Macworld ’09: One Last Thing–DRM-Free iTunes Plus, 3G iTunes and Tony Bennett
- Macworld 2009: Live and in Living Color [PHOTO SLIDESHOW]
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Comments
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?
Posted by oliver wilson at January 6th, 2009 at 5:02 pmI 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.
Posted by Dave Barnes at January 6th, 2009 at 7:19 pmAnd. 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.
Posted by John Paczkowski at January 6th, 2009 at 7:42 pmSo 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/2.....c-min.html
RR
Posted by Rich Rosen at January 7th, 2009 at 7:19 am