Apple to release OS X Lion a Cash game changer

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion release will set the cat among the pigeons ... but why should you be interested? For the first time Apple will release a new operating system only as a digital download available from it's online app store. Overnight this will dismantle the software reseller market and rebuild a direct sales channel to Apple’s customers. Obviously this will adversely affect companies that used to create and distribute the DVDs for the Operating System.  A grave impact could be felt by the business plan of PC World, best buy etc. as software manufacturers make the move to digital download only.

Putting to one side the technical difficulties in deploying a 4gigabit download, from design to delivery no physical touch is required, and the speed of product deployment is vastly improved as postage and packing becomes irrelevant.

More importantly the Cash implications are huge as the lead to Cash has just come down from weeks to minutes. Reseller bad debt has become extinct, and to top it all that Apple will be selling the software with an eye watering profit margin approaching close to 100%, once it recovers it’s development costs, which could happen within days of the release.

The release of OS X Lion is a Cash game changer it should make you stop and think about the way you handle Cash in your Business.  Remember, it's all about Finding Cash in Your Business, handling it well and looking for the golden opportunities it creates.

Phone hacking and the real costs

Up to March 2010, the News of the World newspaper published by News Group Newspapers, owned by News International and running almost 40% of newspapers in the UK, had spent over £2 million settling court cases with victims of phone hacking. Today New International announced the closure of the News of the World paper after 168 years with the potential loss of up to 200 jobs.

The cost to the News of the World pales into insignificance when you consider that over the last few days the parent company Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has seen its share price drop a few percentage points wiping over a billion dollars of it's market cap. 

The closure is more likely connected with the share price drop, advertisers withdrawing their support from other newspapers in the group, increased scrutiny over journalism going forward, and news international's bid to own BSkyB outright, than the real cost measured in the additional suffering phone hacking has caused to individuals, relatives and friends.

Have a listen to the Cash in your Business podcast and see how your business can benefit from the 10 vital signs of life.