I've looked into my tea leaves, done some educated guessing and mulled over typical Apple release patterns to create an almost completely fictitious diary for Apple's 2011. Don't bet your investments on this work of fiction (I'm not claiming any inside view here, it is all based on open speculation), with these caveats in mind I'd like to invite you to sit back and enjoy the ride:
January
* Mac App Store opens for business
* Apple introduces the iPad 2.0 -- faster, thinner, new cameras, shipping "by April".
* Apple reports Q1 results -- confirm huge Mac sales growth, stellar iPad sales and extremely strong iPhone statistics.
* iWork 11 makes App Store debut.
* News Corp. ships 'The Daily' magazine
February
* Aperture upgraded
* First million apps downloaded from Mac App Store, iWork and a variety of free gaming apps see huge success.
* iAds spring partners unveiled, though Apple skips discussion of revenue.
* iTunes update brings TV show streaming and subscription services. Cable company shares take a dive.
March
* iPhone hits Verizon
* White iPhone ships, but supplies deeply constrained
* iBookstore update brings the Web to books
* iBookstore/iTunes Extra title creation tool revealed, will this be part of future iLife suite?
April
* Apple upgrades MacBook Pro range, some models lose optical drives and gain SSD as standard. "We said this is where mobile computing is going, we still believe this," says Jobs.
* Apple reports Q2 results
* iPad 2.0 hits retail for the first time, over a million sold on day one.
* Final Cut Studio upgrade is 64-bit and integrates powerful iAd and virtual environment creation features.
* iMac update now ships with Magic Trackpad as standard.
May
* iPad 2.0 achieves six million sales in first two months.
* Logic Studio upgrade ships, now offers additional features for live performance mixing, including automated level controls for live desk recording.
June
* Steve Jobs keynotes WWDC
* iPhone 5 debuts at WWDC
* WWDC sees beta release of OS X Lion to developers.
* Safari 6 offers improved Flash support -- Flash now an optional extra.
* OpenJDK Project announces first fully-tested public beta of Java for OS X Lion and Snow Leopard systems.
* iOS 5 offers plethora of features, including new mapping and location-sensing tools. Apple focuses its pitch on easy-to-use and understand privacy controls for location and usage information.
July
* iPhone 5, iPad 2.0 reaches new countries
* Apple reports Q3 results
* Apple desktop products upgraded, now ship with Magic Trackpad as standard. Mac Pro now boasts LightPeak connectivity.
August
* Apple hosts special music event, introduces new products which ship in September (see below).
* Apple introduces Android emulator for iPhone, "There's some good apps on Android, now iPhone users can run them on their iPhone, unless they use Flash," says Jobs.
* Hell freezes over, iTunes app lets Android users purchase music from their favorite music store.
September
* iTunes 11 ships, offers cloud-based music locker service. "We've been working on this for a while," admits Steve Jobs as he introduces the service.
* New iPod touch ships, chassis is more like the iPhone 4, capacity increased.
* iPod nano replaced by iPhone nano, worn like a watch and equipped with an A4 processor and the capacity for voice calls, this smaller cheaper iPhone is feature-limited but lets you Tweet, Facebook and email on the move.
* iPod classic gets speed bump.
* Apple TV gains latest (A5?) processor.
October
* Mac OS X 'Lion' ships
* iOS 5.1 debuts, extends iOS/OS X integration.
* iLife 12 appears, equipped with additional 'cloud'-based features this is the first version of iLife to be made available exclusively via the App Store.
* Apple reports Q4 results.
November
* iOS 5.2 upgrade ships
December
* App Store downloads now reach 5 billion
* Mac App Store downloads reach 100 million
* Apple confirms 5 million iPhone nano sales, cuts price for Christmas market.
No comments:
Post a Comment