To market to market to buy a fat pig. The Apple event didn't disappoint last night. Even before the product unveiling, we got the first glimpses of the Steve Jobs Theatre. The sunken theatre has a ground level cylindrical entrance, where the roof floats as it sits above reinforced glass. Unfortunately, many of the products being unveiled were leaked before the event, where one commentator joked that the only thing we don't know is if the new iPhone X will be pronounced as 'ten' or 'X'.
The product most people wanted to see was the new iPhone X (pronounced ten), which is the phone celebrating the ten year anniversary of iPhone. The first thing you will notice about the iPhone X is that the screen goes all the way to the edge of the phone and there is no 'home' button. Probably the coolest upgrade from a tech point of view is the use of facial recognition to unlock the phone. The likes of Facebook have been using facial recognition for a while now but given that the iPhone has sensitive data and can be used to make payments, the software needed to be more accurate. The new phone builds a 3D image of your face, which means a photo of you won't be able to unlock the phone.
The other new features in the phone include; wireless charging, upgraded cameras, much faster chips and an OLED screen. The screen is 5.8 inches, which is bigger than the current iPhone Plus at 5.5 inches. Given that the screen goes right to the edge of the phone, the overall size of the phone will be smaller than the Plus sized phones. It is only shipping on the third of November, later than the other products released but still in time for the end of year holiday season. The price point for the phone, as expected will be $999.
They also launched the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which will look basically the same as the current iPhones, except for having a glass back. Apple says they have increased the strength of the glass, to make the phone more durable. The 8 will also have wireless charging, improved cameras and the improved chip set.
Next on the line up is the new Apple Watch series 3, which at first glance is a huge step forward on older models. The big improvement is the ability to put a sim card into the watch, meaning that the watch and phone no longer need to be with each other. It comes with an improved battery and improved processing power, which now allows you to stream music without needing a phone connection. The Apple watch and AirPod's, used together looks like a potent combination. Tim Cook also announced that the Apple watch grew sales by 50% and they are now the number one selling watch brand in the world.
Apple stock was up for most of the event but sagged after the announcement that the iPhone X has the slightly delayed shipment date. It closed down 0.4% but is still up 39% for the year. If you want to watch the whole event or get more specific details on any of the products, click through here, Apple Special Event. September 12, 2017 - The first-ever event at the Steve Jobs Theater..
It was another green day for global stock markets yesterday as the S&P 500 moved further into uncharted territory by extending its record high number. Here is the scorecard, the Dow was up 0.28%, the S&P 500 was up 0.34%, the Nasdaq was up 0.34% and the All-share was up 0.64%. Richemont released a 5-month trading statement this morning, which beat expectations thanks to growth in all the markets they operate in. More on that tomorrow though.
Linkfest, lap it up
One thing, from Paul
I'm definitely getting a silver iPhone X. I'll probably have to scramble to find one before year-end in New York or London (South Africa is not on the early distribution list).
Anyway, this tweet by our friend Joe Weisenthal summed up our view of Apple, the great company that makes these devices
Byron's Beats
The Marker Realist is a great platform which aggregates analyst reports on many US listed stocks. Here is a piece on Nvidia and it's growth opportunities. Why Nvidia Leads in AI and Autonomous Vehicle Growth Opportunities. Back in 2015 a 'top 10 technology trends' list was made (see image below) which falls right into Nvidia's realm. GPU chips are basically required for all of these exciting technologies. Nvidia are especially dominating in cloud computing which is flying in demand all over the globe.
Michael's Musings
Even paying a small amount extra into your home-loan can have a huge impact on your long term wealth creation - The benefits of paying an extra R100 on your bond.
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog. Asian markets are mixed this morning. At 13:00 today the RSA Retail sales number will be out for July, given how our GDP has shifted toward the tertiary sector, retail sales number is an important read.
Sent to you by Team Vestact.
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