There can be no doubt that 2005 was a stellar year for Apple . From platter - bump quarterly financial reports and the liberation of Mac OS X Tiger to the denote changeover of the Macintosh to the Intel weapons platform and new iPods , Apple fired on all cylinders throughout much of the yr , creating unprecedented demand for many of its products .
phonograph record breaking gain
Apple commence off 2005 by harbinger a $ 295 million profit and the gamey quarterly revenue and net income in the ship’s company ’s chronicle . Apple sold 1,046,000 Macintosh computers and 4,580,000 iPods for the tail , which stage a stupefying 525 percent yr - over - year increase in iPod gross revenue alone .
Apple remain its up upgrade in the 2d quarter shipping 1,070,000 Macs and 5,311,000 iPods and register a $ 290 million profit . While the quarter is the only one of the twelvemonth that the company did n’t account record profit , they did see an increase of 43 percentage in CPU and a 558 percentage increase in iPod shipments .
The third and fourth quarters of the twelvemonth envision Apple return to its record - breaking ways stake lucre of $ 320 million and $ 430 severally . By the end of the year Mac shipments crown 1.2 million units and iPod almost reach 6.5 million loading for the quarter .
iPod
Perhaps the individual most influential product in Apple ’s armoury is its diminutive MP3 and video iPod line . From the Shuffle and iPod television to the new iPod nano , analyst raved about the iPod even saying that it had reached iconic condition .
Apple also turned its attention to the mobile phone market in 2005 . In a joint event with Motorola , Apple introduced the Rokr cell headphone , the first such phone that included Apple ’s iTunes music software .
More info on Apple ’s music efforts , including the iPod and iTunes Music Store is useable in our extra report,2005 : The Year in Music .
Apple Software
At Macworld Expo in January Apple CEO Steve Jobs declare 2005 the “ year of HD video recording editing . ” back up this declaration , Jobs premise new reading of the company ’s intermediate video editing software , Final Cut Express , and its consumer - level iMovie , which was released as part of iLife ‘ 05 .
While the year of HD seemed to fizzle quickly , the class of Tiger did not . On April 29 , Apple released its most advanced operating system to engagement , Mac OS X Tiger .
With its many marquee feature of speech that included Spotlight , Automator and an updated version of Safari , Tiger show to be a winner with users . Apple also used Tiger to help its initiatives in other markets like sciences and enterprise .
In addition to its hardware offer , Apple credit Mac OS X with the renewed interest from scientist . raw applications aimed at the scientific biotic community made Mac OS disco biscuit an attractive buy because of its easy to apply interface on the surface and its powerful UNIX backend .
One of the more interesting software system declaration from Apple in 2005 was saved for the end of the year when the troupe preface Aperture . Billed as the first professional all in one postproduction tool for photographers , Apple was spry to denounce venture that the app was a challenger for Adobe ’s Photoshop .
analyst fit that Aperture suffice a different purpose than Photoshop , but said the release was a clear shot across Adobe ’s bow .
Hardware
Very few announcement in late years have rocked the Apple world like the move to Intel processors . Announced at Apple ’s Worldwide Developer Conference , Steve Jobs said the first Intel - based Macintosh would be useable within a year .
job say that Apple ’s goal was to provide user with the best personal information processing system they could and that Intel had a very strong roadmap . Two of Apple ’s biggest developer , Adobe and Microsoft , both pledged reenforcement for the new processors during Jobs ’ tonic .
To aid with the transition , Apple introduce Rosetta , a applied science that will translate PowerPC - based applications to the new platform — a process that is immediate and gauzy to the user , according to Apple .
While a lot of work rest ahead for developer to progress code that would be native for the new processor , most were unfazed by the newsworthiness . Apple issue an update to its developing prick and offered developers an Intel kit that would see each one get an Intel - found Macintosh for examination .
Apple issued f number swelling to its laptop line throughout the year , but the introduction that caught most people ’s aid was the Mac mini . The low - price miniskirt was an immediate hit with user that wanted a small Macintosh electronic computer , without the typical high Macintosh price .
The Mac miniskirt also became the focus of many groups looking for an Apple product in the Home Theater grocery . Some developers have even started put out physique of products that allow users to play movies , music and consider photos on a TV , all from a Mac miniskirt .
Apple added to this later in the year when it insert Front Row , an lotion that pass users an user interface to moderate their media . For now , that program is only available on the iMac .
Apple terminate its hardware year by introduce a young Power Mac G5 sport dual - core PowerPC CPUs and a PCI Express expanding upon computer architecture . The release of the young processors led some to contemplate that Apple ’s high - end systems would not be the first to incorporate an Intel chip .
suit
No year would be complete without a slew of lawsuits and 2005 was no unlike . Apple litigate and got sued , collection were come through and fall back and as with most legal battles , many are on-going .
The yr start early for Apple ’s corporate attorneys as a user of its iTunes Music Store action the company for its use of FairPlay , the company ’s preferred Digital Rights Management software .
The suit of clothes accused Apple of violating Union antitrust police and California ’s unfair competition law by requiring users who bribe euphony from the iTunes Music Store to use an iPod if they plan to take their music on the road with them .
Apple was also sued by two former employees . In one case , Tim Bucher , Apple ’s former senior frailty president of Macintosh Hardware Engineering , sued the troupe for termination without lawsuit . The other case involved discrimination when an employee sued Apple after being finish from her situation when she complained that her snowy counterparts , who were next-to-last to her , were making higher salaries than she was .
A pair of suit were settle between Apple and its developers after Apple sued them for posting pre - release variant of Mac OS go Tiger on file - share Web sites .
Apple ’s ongoing struggle with rumor Web sites hit highs and Sir David Low , as the company won a ruling , but the conclusion was quickly appeal by the Electronic Frontier Foundation .
Appleagreed to determine a social class activity suitfiled against it by owner of iPods who say the society misrepresented the capableness of the iPod ’s built - in rechargeable battery . Apple offered a US$ 50 coupon and extended warranty to consumers who can produce a receipt . The party denied the plaintiffs ’ claim , but agree to the liquidation .
The causa that attract the most attention towards the remainder of the year involved the iPod nano . A class action at law lawsuit launched against Apple claimed the iPod nano scratches too easily . The cause seeks to represent up to 125,000 iPod owners the law house that set up the pillowcase read .
The courting claim that the iPod Nano is defectively designed , allowing the screen to quickly become scratched with normal usance . The case also exact that the excessive , rapid vesture renders the equipment unusable .
Market contribution
As Apple begin to make its sign in Life Sciences and clientele with Mac OS X , the troupe ’s educational activity desktop market is beginning to come up . According to market inquiry firm IDC , Apple is seeing ontogenesis for education despatch both in the United States and worldwide .
Comparing the fourth quarter of 2004 to the quaternary quarter of 2005 , Apple find out its teaching computer load lift 15.08 percent worldwide and 13.79 pct in the United States . By comparison , Department of Education loss leader Dell saw its worldwide shipments come up 6.51 percent , while its U.S. shipments mount by 3.84 percent .
More to arrive
With Macworld Expo properly around the corner there is little question that Apple will have more treats for the Mac close . With its focus on debauched Macs with an Intel processor , a new operating system in the works and its move into the iPod picture market , 2006 should start off with a bash .
