Music Ally

Apple has announced revenues of $9.87 billion and net profits of $1.67 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter – up from $7.9 billion and $1.14 billion year-on-year respectively.

The company sold 7.367 million iPhones during the quarter, with half a billion apps downloaded from its App Store in the three-month period. Meanwhile, the company sold 10.177 million iPods – down 8% year-on-year, although sales of the top-end iPod touch doubled in that period.

Apple didn’t break out any iTunes Store figures, other than to say that it had a “strong” quarter, and now has a catalogue of more than 11 million songs. But it’s iPhone that’s making Apple feel bullish: “Frankly, I think people are trying to catch up with the first iPhone two years ago,” said COO Tim Cook. “We’ve long since moved beyond that.”

Apple has announced revenues of $8.34 billion for Q2 2009 (the company’s third quarter in its 2009 financial year), helping the company to post a net profit of $1.23 billion for the quarter. That compares well to the $7.46 billion and $1.07 billion respectively it posted in the second quarter last year.

The company sold 5.2 million iPhones during Q2, and 10.2 million iPods. The latter is down 7% year-on-year, a decline that’s been long predicted. iPhones appear to be going from strength to strength, although the 626% rise in sales year-on-year is also due to the fact that in Q2 last year, sales dipped while consumers waited for the iPhone 3G to launch in July.

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said the company expects to generate revenues of between $8.7 billion and $8.9 billion in Q3 this year (its fourth quarter). Apple is holding its conference call for analysts right now, during which there may be some more stats and information on its music activities. Stand by for more on that if so.

General Motors is to team up with Microsoft Zune to soup up the Chevy Camaro with in car audio support for Zune Players.

The deal could be huge for Microsoft. In-car listening is one of the largest music consumption points in the US; and as new vehicles become increasingly wired (or wireless) the scope for integration with digital music services will grow. Zune now has secured support from one of the world’s biggest car makers, with 27 further models set to be launched with Zune compatibility across the US, Europe, Asia and Australia during the next year.

Still, neither GM nor Zune are setting the world alight at the moment. This week GM chief Fritz Henderson warned that the company could fall into bankruptcy; and while Microsoft is still very much solvent, its Zune player has been a flop. So what else can Microsoft do?

Clutch at straws seems to be one answer. Microsoft has created an advert featuring a navy blue-blazered “certified financial planner” comparing the USD $30,000 it costs to fill an iPod with the $14.99 it costs to fill a Zune using Zune Pass.

Microsoft is leaving it up to analysts such as ourselves to remind you that iTunes tracks are permanent ownership whereas the Zune Pass is a subscription.

As the music industry continues its inevitable trudge towards a largely DRM-free future, there’s likely to be plenty of hat-eating and humble-pie feasting from execs, blogged joyously yet scornfully by the geek press.

Latest on the rack is Sony boss Howard Stringer, who has admitted (more…)

Charity Deafness Research UK is warning consumers about the dangers of crossing the road while listening to iPods and MP3 players, in time for the UK’s Road Safety Week later this month.

The charity says even listening to music at low volumes can compromise people’s hearing enough to put them at risk of not hearing oncoming traffic. The solution? They should whip their earphones or headphones off before crossing the road.

“MP3 players and iPods are here to stay but parents need to realise that there is an increased risk of injury or death on the roads when children and teenagers are unable to hear properly because of the loud music,” says chief executive Vivienne Michael.

“We’re especially concerned about young people who cross roads whilst listening to MP3 players and aren’t able to hear what’s coming. Good hearing is absolutely vital when crossing the road and can mean the difference between life and death.”

The use of music in games isn’t just about licensing, these days. A new breed of games are exploring the idea of using the music tracks already on the devices on which they’re played (whether PC, console or mobile phone) to ‘auto-generate’ in-game levels or content.

As an example, today I’ve been playing a PC game called Audiosurf, which came out late last month. It’s a PC game that costs £9.99, and is a ‘puzzle racer’. It looks a bit like Wipeout, in that it’s a futuristic-looking 3D racing game, but you have to collect coloured blocks as you zip along the various tracks.

But the interesting thing is the way it uses the music stored on your hard drive to generate unique tracks to race on – with slower tunes creating a gentle uphill ride, and faster songs creating more of a rollercoaster effect. Watch our video hands-on above, and then click below for more info on this, and similar games on other platforms.

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Following a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that Apple’s senior VP of the iPod division was stepping down, Apple has issued a statement confirming the news, and that his replacement will be former IBM exec Mark Papermaster.

In fact, both Fadell and his wife Danielle Lambert (VP of human resources at Apple) are leaving the company, which the statement says is because they plan to “devote more time to their young family”. Fadell will remain as an adviser to CEO Steve Jobs, while Lambert will leave at the end of this year, once her replacement has been found.

“Mark is a seasoned leader and is going to be an excellent addition to our senior management team,” says Jobs. “Tony and Dani have each made important contributions to Apple over the past eight years. We’re sorry to see Dani go, and are looking forward to working with Tony in his new capacity.”

Papermaster’s role is an interesting one. Analysts have been predicting a slowdown in iPod sales for some time, yet the devices continue to perform strongly – and have been rejuvenated by the iPod Touch in recent times. How the iPod evolves from here, and the impact on it of iPhone, will be intriguing to watch.

UPDATE: It looks like IBM and Apple may be heading to court over the poaching of Papermaster, judging by this story on CNET. IBM is apparently suing him to prevent him from joining Apple and giving up power chip and server trade secrets.

“Mr. Papermaster’s employment by Apple is a violation of his agreement with IBM against working for a competitor should he leave IBM. We will vigorously pursue this case in court,” says a statement from IBM.

Apple invented the iPod, right? Er, not quite. In fact, even Apple is seemingly hailing a British engineer called Kane Kramer as its true father. In 1979, he invented a device called IXI that could store and play back three and a half minutes of music. He patented it, but never managed to actually sell it, running out of funding by 1988, when the patents expired. So why is Apple now crediting him? Well, it called Kramer as a witness in a patent infringement case filed against Apple by a company called Burst, which said it invented the first iPod. The case was subsequently settled out of court, while Kramer says he’s now enjoying his moment in the limelight. There’s already a Facebook petition demanding Apple buy him a Ferrari.

Battle of the devices: Zune vs Zen vs iPod vs iPhone