The Apple earnings webcast is later today, and bloggers are waiting everywhere with fingers over keyboards to see if Apple has something better than AT&T to say about iPhone sales in the last quarter. While we’re waiting, it’s worth looking at some of the other recent earnings announcements and what trends they suggest. As a non-econ specialist, I’m struck by one thing: people a lot younger than I am are having a huge impact on tech financials.

Three companies stand out in this trend:

• Nintendo had a great quarter, but not only because of the Wii as you might expect. Nintendo DS has two broadly successful new software titles out called “Pokemon Diamond” and “Pokemon Pearl”. I heard about Pokemon Pearl for the first time yesterday from a 5-year-old. In other words, she’s more clued in to one of the top technologies than I am.

• Amazon’s profit tripled because of Harry Potter sales. No, it’s not only kids reading Harry Potter, but they make up a large portion of the audience. Interestingly, the other thing Amazon credited for its strong financials was its Amazon Prime service: pay a flat annual fee and you get free 2-day shipping.

• MySpace is expected to do $1 billion in revenue this year. I may be completely off, but I don’t know anyone above the age of 25 who uses MySpace.

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