Apple up, APPL down (and APPL antacid)

First the good news here at IT Blogwatch: Apple sold a whole bunch of Macs. Then Wall Street sold a bunch of APPL stock. Not to mention some soothing relief...

Gregg Keizer has the product numbers:

Apple Inc. today announced it sold 2.3 million Macintosh machines in the three months that ended Dec. 29, 2007, marking the second straight quarter of record sales for its computer line. ... Mac sales were up 44% over the same quarter the year before, and beat the previous record, set during 2007's third calendar quarter, by 155,000 units, [read more]

Adam C. Engst isn't in any angst:

All those sales produced a cash flow from operations of over $2.7 billion, bringing Apple's cash hoard to an whopping $18.4 billion. That's just slightly less than Microsoft's $18.88 billion in cash, and significantly more than Dell's $12.61 billion and HP's $11.45 billion. [read more]

Joseph Weisenthal has the revenue numbers:

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) reported revenue of $9.6 billion for the quarter ending Dec. 29, up 35 percent from last year’s $7.1 billion and ahead of analyst estimates of $9.2 billion. Earnings soared 57 percent to $1.58 billion ($1.76 per share) from the previous year’s $1 billion ($1.14 per share). Results were helped by 44 percent Macintosh computer unit growth and 5 percent unit growth in iPod sales to 22.1 million; that number, though, is shy of the 24-plus million iPods that analysts had expected the company to sell. [read more]

Scott McNulty has the MacSummary:

Best. Quarter. Ever. [read more]

Matt Buchanan still isn't happy:

Apple First Quarter 2008 Earnings: Best. Quarter. Ever. (But Still Not Good Enough) [read more]

Tobias Buckell was listening:

4:43pm: the live broadcast via quicktime is up and we're listening to piano music while on hold.
4:53pm: hold music is cutting in and out.
5:01pm: still on hold, but Apple has released their press release on earnings: ...
5:04: It has begun! Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer will be speaking. ...
5:14: In closing: extremely proud of exception results as Apple hits new highs. Proud of growth. Proud of announcements, including MacBook Air, movie rentals, and updated Mac Pro. Questions are now open: ...

They're ending the call, it'll be online soon for anyone to listen too. [read more]

Charles Jade might be jaded:

While last quarter far surpassed expectations, the question now becomes one of whether Apple can maintain strong sales in a worsening economy. The premium that consumers pay for Apple products (the "Apple Tax") may become an issue as disposable income decreases. Also, the current quarter is the weakest of the year for Apple. Of course, with an $18.4 billion cash balance, the company should be able to weather the storm, and a storm is apparently on the horizon. Apple's guidance for this quarter is $6.8 billion in revenue or about $.94 EPS. [read more]

Larry Dignan digs in:

Apple on Tuesday reported strong first quarter results handily topping estimates as it lured holiday shoppers with new Macs and iPods. However, Apple’s outlook for the March quarter left a lot to be desired and may hint at a demand slowdown. Wall Street shot first and asked questions later. ... The end result: Apple shares were shredded after hours, down to $139.95 from a close of $155.64. [read more]

Paul Let's-be-fair Kedrosky:

While the company's Q1 2008 numbers are out and beat consensus, even coming close to higher targets out there for sales and earnings, iPod unit sales look light at 22.1m (I had expected somewhat over 24m), and Apple is also guiding lower than consensus on Q2.

To be fair, Apple does this all the time on guidance, [read more]

And finally ... a Peptopod...

Buffer overflow:

• David T.S. Fraser: US Department of Commerce privacy incident response plan
• Jon Gordon: Windows Vista the #2 tech flop of past 20 years?
• Microsoft Watch: So Jobs Didn't Outfox Microsoft
• Laurie M. Orlov: Is IT the scapegoat for an immature business approach to technology?
• Coding Horror: Reinventing the Clipboard
• Timothy Lee: Did Slate Violate Copyright Law?
• The IT Skeptic: Privacy is dead - get over it.

Other Computerworld bloggers

• Eric Lai: A gadfly's take on IBM's 'support' for Open XML
• Preston Gralla: Beware: Your WiFi router can be hijacked by "pharmers"
• Larry Medina: Hungry for "IT Staffers"? Hire RIMs to get the job done!
• Robert L. Mitchell:Consumers to Circuit City: Drop Dead
• Mike Elgan: Bring your own WiFi hotspot
• Angela Gunn: When GPS technology takes the long way home
• Sharky: Never assume
• Mark Hall: Drivers keep VM on track
• Douglas Schweitzer: YouTube blocked in Turkey
• Seth Weintraub: The USB port is the new docking station
• Mike Elgan: Solar power for your laptop... or car!

Computerworld editor Joyce Carpenter compiled IT Blogwatch today. Regular Blogwatcher Richi Jennings will return next month.

Previously in IT Blogwatch

• Microsoft cheapens Vista virtualization (and oldish oddities)
• CIA fears hacked power grid (and CSoD)
• Yahoo! joins! the! OpenID! party! (and Error'd)