Bloomberg has posted a great article examining more of the iPhone buzz, comparing it to the Ford Mustang and Windows (95) product launch. They’re pointing out how the ads hit the spot, and instead of selling the coolness factor of the device, they demonstrate how to use the features. Here’s a sample:

The newer IPhone ads show what people can do, with emphasis on how it is done. A consumer recently told Gartenberg he wished his handset had the same Google Inc. map function as the iPhone. In fact, that application is available for the phone the consumer had, he just hadn’t realized it, Gartenberg says.

Read the Bloomberg article about the iPhone campaign.

With an imminent launching date, Apple is stepping up the marketing machinery for the iPhone, and the new television spots have to be my favorite Apple ad campaign, ever.

While the keynote that introduced the latest Apple endeavor had some negative elements, specifically the lengthy comparison with the “old world” phones, the new ads are simple, focus on the ease of use of the phone and demonstrate the way the great way in which the device’s different functions blend together.

Perhaps, if this works out well and the Get A Mac ad campaign wears out, the Mac campaigns might want to try this sort of thing. Besides, the campaign and the iPods bring customers to Apple stores, but the interaction with the UI is what really seals the deal.

Watch the new ads here.

Apple has given its investors a brand new insight into how well iTunes is doing:
Apple iTunes 1 Billion Dollar Countdown

Watch those iTunes songs download in real time! I’m wondering whether someone has been extracting statistics out of this so we can linearly predict the iTunes momentum for the next few quarters?

Update: I have started regularly collecting these statistics directly from Apple. You can find a report of sales in Apple iTunes Sales Statistics.

Final Update: Unfortunately Apple no longer maintains their countdown since the 1billionth song was downloaded - at least I didn’t put any more effort on the reports.

Apple shares jumped 6.3% today on news that iPod sales were 3 times better than expected, but the only people to be surprised were the analysts and those who listen to them.

For everybody else with common sense, there has not been a success story more visible than that of the iPod. Just try and count the white earphones next time you take the subway. Or walk into an Apple store and witness the line of people waiting to walk up to the registrar with nothing in their hands - they are almost certainly buying an iPod, a mere 2 minute, simple trade that brings in an average of $250 for the Apple register. If you paid attention to the retailers, there was one buzz word this quarter - iPod, iPod, iPod. Amazon.com has their top 10 sales in electronics; I am sure it must have been delightful for Apple investors to see almost every incarnation of the iPod rank among the top 10.

Three years into Apple’s great run, there have been countless reports of its impending doom, yet today their financials look solid (albeit the stock is a little bit overpriced, but for many, well worth the premium) and the world’s appetite for their products, inexorable. Their mac line is improving, and Steve jobs has done an amazing job addressing the Apple fans regarding the Intel switch:

That’s exactly the kind of enthusiasm that will ease the anxiety of Mac loyals around the world.

Technology wise, however, many were dissapointed today. There were no new iPods, no iPhone, no big content deals, and no buzzword worthy innovations. I think they’ve given the street plenty to think about for a couple of weeks before they throw us another bone.

Think technology stocks are worth earnings multiples in the 50s? Then there is one sector in technology that you should be following closely.

The hard drive industry has been thoroughly neglected for the past few years, with the advent of solid state permanent storage, such as flash, creating some great bargains for value minded investors.

Look for example at Seagate Technology (STX) whose share was battled to $13.82 a share this November, bringing the earnings multiple to around 7.5 in an industry whose earning multiple usually stands in the 20s. The stock had been brought down by Apple’s high profile switch from the disk based iPod mini to the flash based iPod nano. Sandisk (SNDK), a leading flash memory maker, has an earnings multiple of 45 right now while the entire industry is projected to make a loss in 2006.

Flash memory is of course, much ‘cooler’ technology. While hard drives started in the 1950s and looked like bulky vacuum cleaners, flash memory is young and tiny. It has no moving parts and shines where portability is a must with its low consumption and small footprint.
But hard drives are getting faster, smaller and consume far less power, and the research conducted by Seagate has a lot to do with these improvements - they have invested much in perpendicular recording which promises to increase capacity significantly. Capacity is cheap - they have outpaced even Moore’s famous law by doubling capacity roughly once every 12 months (instead of 18 months for processors and memory), making microdrives with multigigabyte capacities better choices for digital camcorders. And of course, they are far more suitable for places where portability is not an issue, like a car’s on-board computer and entertainment, your console, your television or audio system, and soon refrigerators, telephones and security cameras.

Couple these growth prospects with the excellent profits that Seagate posts, the recent acquisition of Maxtor that should give Seagate more bargaining power for the supply of raw materials, and the handsome (for a technology company) dividend the stock pays, and it should really drive you nuts how long this stock has been shunned by Wall Street.