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Apple To Unveil iOS 6 At WWDC 2012

Posted by Soulskill on from the system-requirements:-one-button dept.

redletterdave writes "At next week's WWDC 2012 in San Francisco, Apple is expected to unveil new laptops, desktops, accessories, and software features for its Mac OS X platform. But on Friday afternoon, several pictures surfaced on Twitter showing banners released around Moscone West in San Francisco, saying 'iOS 6: The world's most advanced mobile operating system.'"

1 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The price sticker will probably say "Free". by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apple used to charge iPod touch users for some upgrades due to regulatory/accounting regulations. iPhone users were not subject to this regulation and were not charged. Apple wants people to upgrade iOS, they want as few barriers as possible to upgrades. They are actually somewhat aggressive in pushing users to the most recent version. They don't really want people out there running older versions.

    It was the Sarbanes/Oxley Act (SOX) that did it. Basically to avoid another Enron-style disaster, they made it that revenue already realized was for product already delivered. Apple at the time chose to recognize the sale of an iPod Touch the instant you bought the iPod Touch. Giving you a new version meant increased functionality which meant that they shouldn't have recognized the entire sale of the product when it was sold and would have to restate earnings to that effect.

    The iPhone wasn't covered because revenue for it was being recognized recurringly - every month, so an update to the OS would just count towards that current month's revenue.

    Of course, seeing as no one really bothered (you could pirate iOS for the iPod Touch just fine), and seeing how Android updates crashed and burned, I'm guessing Apple redid the way they recognized iPod revenue.

    Microsoft, BTW, doesn't do that for its software - it has always recognized revenue from sales of software over 3 years or so, so can keep delivering feature updates.

    Oh, and generally, people recognize revenue the moment something is sold, not broken up over a period of months.