The Apple- and Mac-focused blog world is all over the map this week, but three stories stand out: How much money Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) 
is making, what it's spending that money on, and what's going on in Italy.
With a whopping 51 percent increase in Mac sales, Apple released its financial results for the second quarter fiscal year quarter in 2008. But just before that, news broke of its purchase of semiconductor company P.A. Semi. News also surfaced that Apple may sell unlocked iPhones in Italy.
Quite the Quarter
On Wednesday, Apple announced that it had its most profitable second quarter in the history of the company, posting revenue of US$7.51 billion, of which it got to keep a cool $1.05 billion profit. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, Apple brought in $770 million in revenue. The Mac line was humming, too. Apple shipped nearly 2.3 million Macs during the quarter, which represent a 51 percent increase in unit growth.
iPod shipments didn't grow nearly so fast, though, posting a 1 percent unit growth and 8 percent revenue growth on 10.6 million iPods sold. Quarterly iPhone sales were 1.7 million, and Apple noted that it still expects to reach its goal of selling 10 million iPhones sold by 2009.
Interestingly, when addressing the iPhone shortages that set the Apple blogosphere on fire with speculation over the last several weeks, Tim Cook, chief operating officer for Apple, provided a clear explanation:
"We expected iPhone to decline more on a sequential basis than it did, so we really beat our unit expectations, and as a result, as we got toward the end of the quarter, we started to experience some stock out. At this point, both inventory in our stores and our channel inventory are currently low," he explained, noting that U.S. Apple stores continue to have particularly low inventory. Apple believes iPhones are being purchased with the intention of unlocking them, and the number of unlocked iPhones "remains a significant number." Cook declined to estimate the number of unlocked iPhones -- but only because the company just isn't sure of the numbers.
In any event, Apple's results gave Mac enthusiasts plenty to be pleased about.
In the AppleInsider.com post on the subject, mAc-warrior commented, "2.3M Macs is astonishing compared to what they were selling two years ago. I remember when 1.0M was crazy. We are witnessing the resurgence everyone, right now. I just hope all the idiot analysts soon realize that the real numbers that Apple announces on earnings days are the Mac numbers, not the iPod/iPhone numbers."
Speaking of the iPod, The New York Times Bits blogger Saul Hansell wrote "Apple has a little iPod problem" but is doing an amazing job of rising above it, citing the low 1 percent growth in iPod unit sales for the quarter. Hansell pointed out that Apple's iTunes and iPod touch are still growing and adding revenue, and perhaps most importantly, the iPod ecosystem is helping to sell more Macs.
"Apple's computer sales have been growing 2 to 3 times as fast as the overall market. But this quarter the company says it grew 3.5 times faster than the PC market overall. What's going on? Don't rush to tell me how much easier, safer and more powerful a Mac is than a Windows 
PC. All that was true a year ago as well, and Mac sales are accelerating," Hansell noted. "Microsoft, of course, has fumbled the launch of Windows Vista. But what the analysts call the 'halo effect' from the iPod is clearly helping to sell Macs too," he added.
In response, commenter NebulaClash noted, "I think the explanation is simply inertia. Consumer trends take time to shift in meaningful numbers. Early adopters are always quick, but to get the masses to switch from one brand to another takes longer. So while we knew about Vista's troubles a year ago, and Mac sales began to increase a year ago, it's only now that we are seeing the rapid increase in sales as more and more people switch. And the more folks switch, the more their relatives, friends and coworkers hear about it, and this word of mouth starts to increase as well."
Perhaps the most compelling news to Apple lovers is how strong the company appears to be while the economy struggles in the U.S.
"Apple isn't showing any signs of weak consumer spending. Sales keep rising while new products are consistently released to create a demand for products where there wasn't before," noted Boring Market on the Bits blog.
Other hiccups surrounding demand also haven't appeared to affect Apple's bottom line. "Fears during the quarter created by Asian parts suppliers who reported that Apple was taking fewer parts created concern earlier in the quarter that something was wrong with demand -- that did not appear to be the case in the quarter," analyst Arnie Berman with Cowen and Company told MacNewsWorld.
"If you look at Apple, the weakening consumer economy appeared to have no impact," he added.
Apple Goes Shopping, Buys a Semiconductor Company
This week, Forbes broke news that Apple is buying P.A. Semi for $278 million. Pundits and the bloggers seemed to think that P.A. Semi might start producing low-power processors for Apple products like the iPhone and iPod touch. Beyond 3-D, however, reported that P.A. Semi's chips require far too much power for an iPhone or iPod.
Instead, Apple may be buying P.A. Semi simply to acquire the company's engineering talent and intellectual property. To complicate matters, P.A. Semi reportedly provided chips that are used by the Department of Defense.
For some, the intellectual property and personnel grab scenario makes a lot of sense. Posting on the MacRumors.com piece on the subject, Stuart in Oz wrote, "Now that the game is moving into this new area (and Apple are really leading the industry by a country mile already) Steve's core value comes into play -- 'People who want to write really good software should build their own hardware'. Well, buying this firm brings Apple Dan Dobberpuhl -- the Steve Jobs of the processor design world. He's brilliant, unconventional and driven to produce processor designs that break new ground in low power computing -- a crucial part of mobile computing."
The Italian Job
Apple has reportedly struck a deal that would unsaddle iPhones bought in Italy from single carrier long-term service contract requirements. Instead, Italians may be able to buy a 3G iPhone at a higher price and use it without a long exclusivity agreement with Telecom Italia. This means Apple wouldn't get an ongoing revenue payment from Italian telecom carriers for each month the iPhone customer uses the service.
The news has sparked interest by iPhone lovers -- or those who hope to acquire one soon -- who don't necessarily want to sign up for long contracts or use carriers they don't like.
"i hope this is true -- the exclusive shared revenue model might work in the us but for many markets the contractless pay as you go models are more popular for the general consumer," noted frogbat on the TUAW.com post on the subject.
Either way, Apple will likely have to be willing to work out a variety of agreements for different areas of the world.
"Wireless works differently in different countries, Jeff Kagan, a telecom analyst, told MacNewsWorld.
"In the U.S. marketplace, we are used to subsidized phones where the customer gets a discount on the device but promises to stay with a carrier for a set period of time," he explained. "The question is, 'Will customers want to pay more for a phone for no long-term contract?'"
Some will and some won't, he said, but in the U.S., "There are always some users willing to do things differently, but the vast majority of the market will buy and use phones the normal way."
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