Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has launched its latest ad “The Song,” in which a young woman records a duet with an old recording from her grandmother. Apple has once again worked on showcasing the human side of its ecosystem. Within the ad, a woman is shown recording a song with her MacBook, the iPhone and an iPad to give it as a perfect holiday gift.
Apple’s emotional touch
The 90-second ad continues as the grandmother listens to the song on the iPad Mini 3 and breaks into tears while her granddaughter is watching from a distance and smiling. The description noted that with a Mac, iPhone or iPad, users have the ability to create thoughtful, emotional gifts and memories.
The ad description further read, “It could be a movie, a homemade card or a song that brings two generations closer together.”
This is the second time Apple has extended the duration of its ads to narrate a story for the Christmas season. Last year the ad showed a boy glaring at his iPhone only to make a movie to show to everyone. The ad was titled “Misunderstood.” The 2013 ad won a Creative Arts Emmy for “Outstanding commercial,” and the company has followed its trend of making emotional, funny, eye catching, and most of all, iconic ads, such as the “1984” Super Bowl spot for the “Get a Mac” campaign that showed the personified Mac and Windows PC.
Sell-side estimates for Apple
Only time will tell whether or not the new ad will help in enhancing sales, however, a report from Forbes has provided quarterly estimates from sell-side analysts for the December and March quarters.
Sell-side analysts have estimated the company will generate $66.2 billion and $54 billion in revenue for the December and March quarters respectively. Apple has projected $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion for December quarter, which is in line with analysts’ estimates. For the past three years, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has witnessed a sequential revenue decline of 15.4%, 20% and 20.7% from the December to March quarters. Sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline to $54 billion or by 18.5%.
Apple guided its gross margin to be in the range of 37.5% to 38.5% for the December quarter, against the September quarter gross margin of 38%. Sell-side analysts are expecting gross margins to come in at 38.4% and 38.7% in the December and March quarters respectively.
