Spotify's Sean Parker claims Apple tried to prevent their US launch

A director at Spotify claims that Apple tried to prevent them from entering the US market. Sean Parker says that Cupertino felt threatened by their presence and that he got the impression from others in the industry that Apple tried to thwart them from entering their home turf.

Parker spoke at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. His comments came in response to Walt Mossberg asking if Apple had tried to keep Spotify out of the US. Reuters notes that there was a brief moment of silence and awkward looks between Parker and Spotify chief Daniel Ek sitting beside him before the director moved forward to answer.

It was during Spotify’s negotiations with executives in the music industry that he learned of Apple’s alleged intent. He told Mossberg that you hear things and that people send you emails, further suggesting that Apple might have felt threatened.

"There was some indication that that might have been happening," Parker said while also noting that he could “get away with saying things” that Ek could not.

Parker got his start as an entrepreneur when he co-founded Napster with Shawn Fanning in 1999. He later went on to become the first president and investor of Facebook before ultimately serving on Spotify’s board after a $15 million investment in 2010. He was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie “The Social Network.”

Spotify launched in the US last July as an invite-only service before opening its doors for anyone to join in September. As of January 2012, the service had 3 million paid subscribers which represented 20 percent of their overall active user base.

The publication says that Apple declined to comment on the allegations.

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Apple turns over their inventory every five days

Apple has topped the charts in the eighth annual Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 research initiative as having the best supply chain in the world. The company received a composite score of 9.69 out of 10, roughly 80 percent higher than what second place Amazon finished with at 5.40.

The most interesting metric in the list has to do how quickly a company turns over its inventory. TUAW breaks this down simply as how long a product stays on the shelf in a store before being sold.

The Atlantic did some research into inventory turn metrics and discovered that typical manufacturing companies have between six and eight inventory turns per year. Furthermore, high volume / low margin companies like grocery stores could have upwards of 12 turns each year. This essentially means that for a typical manufacturing company, a product may sit on the shelf for around 45 days before being sold.  

For Apple, their inventory turn around metric is 74. That means that an Apple product only sits on the shelf in a store for around five days before being sold. The only company in the top 25 that beat Cupertino in this category was McDonalds with an inventory turn of 142. Of course, keep in mind that they deal in perishable food items where a quick turnaround is mandatory.

For comparison in the same tech category, Dell had an inventory turn of 35 times per year while Samsung scored a 17 and HP did 13 turns per year.

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Posted in: Apple,every,inventory,their,turns

Spotify's Sean Parker claims Apple tried to prevent their US launch

A director at Spotify claims that Apple tried to prevent them from entering the US market. Sean Parker says that Cupertino felt threatened by their presence and that he got the impression from others in the industry that Apple tried to thwart them from entering their home turf.

Parker spoke at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. His comments came in response to Walt Mossberg asking if Apple had tried to keep Spotify out of the US. Reuters notes that there was a brief moment of silence and awkward looks between Parker and Spotify chief Daniel Ek sitting beside him before the director moved forward to answer.

It was during Spotify’s negotiations with executives in the music industry that he learned of Apple’s alleged intent. He told Mossberg that you hear things and that people send you emails, further suggesting that Apple might have felt threatened.

"There was some indication that that might have been happening," Parker said while also noting that he could “get away with saying things” that Ek could not.

Parker got his start as an entrepreneur when he co-founded Napster with Shawn Fanning in 1999. He later went on to become the first president and investor of Facebook before ultimately serving on Spotify’s board after a $15 million investment in 2010. He was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie “The Social Network.”

Spotify launched in the US last July as an invite-only service before opening its doors for anyone to join in September. As of January 2012, the service had 3 million paid subscribers which represented 20 percent of their overall active user base.

The publication says that Apple declined to comment on the allegations.

View the original article here

Read more »

Posted in: Apple,claims,launch,Parker,prevent,Spotifys,their,tried

Apple turns over their inventory every five days

Apple has topped the charts in the eighth annual Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 research initiative as having the best supply chain in the world. The company received a composite score of 9.69 out of 10, roughly 80 percent higher than what second place Amazon finished with at 5.40.

The most interesting metric in the list has to do how quickly a company turns over its inventory. TUAW breaks this down simply as how long a product stays on the shelf in a store before being sold.

The Atlantic did some research into inventory turn metrics and discovered that typical manufacturing companies have between six and eight inventory turns per year. Furthermore, high volume / low margin companies like grocery stores could have upwards of 12 turns each year. This essentially means that for a typical manufacturing company, a product may sit on the shelf for around 45 days before being sold.  

For Apple, their inventory turn around metric is 74. That means that an Apple product only sits on the shelf in a store for around five days before being sold. The only company in the top 25 that beat Cupertino in this category was McDonalds with an inventory turn of 142. Of course, keep in mind that they deal in perishable food items where a quick turnaround is mandatory.

For comparison in the same tech category, Dell had an inventory turn of 35 times per year while Samsung scored a 17 and HP did 13 turns per year.

View the original article here

Read more »

Posted in: Apple,every,inventory,their,turns