Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 541 posts

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#101

Post by alwillis »

endisneigh wrote: post #14

Apple is unbeatable, what numbers jeez. And to think, Apple’s main competitor being practically forced into giving them money is what saved them. The government should take something from this and not allow for too much consolidation. I’m sure apple giving a few billion to a few hundred small companies could yield some results. I’m very curious what would happen to Google and Meta if Apple announced they’re going to…

Apple’s main competitor being practically forced into giving them money is what saved them.

That’s a myth. Microsoft bought $150 million in non-voting stock. First, it didn’t save them, even then, $150 million wasn’t much money to Apple. Having Microsoft committed to supporting Office on the Mac for the next 5 years was a trade for Internet Explorer being the default browser for the Mac during those 5 years. That’s when the best version of IE ran on the Mac.

Of course after the 5-year period expired, Apple launched Safari 1.0.

Second, Microsoft made a huge profit when sold the stock.

What “saved” Apple was the success of the iMac in 1998 and then iPod.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#102

Post by Smoosh »

rl3 wrote: post #36
pavlov wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if you open the App Store… Which I practically never do. The apps on my phone have been essentially the same for years. If I ever install something, it’s probably through a web link or QR code that goes straight to the right app. The App Store is clearly a big wasted opportunity. 12 years ago I was actually eager to find new apps there. Why did Apple let it become a slum?

> Why did Apple let it become a slum? They gambled and lost.

It appears that they can't stop the gambling.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#104

Post by SoftTalker »

chrisseaton wrote: post #84
SoftTalker wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, no. For what I do with a laptop, a Chromebook is fine. And it's what I use.

> For what I do with a laptop Are you possibly able to understand that other people do other things with their laptops and so see value in the technology? Like I spend my time compiling things. A fast, low-energy processor is brilliant for me, because it lets me work faster and for longer. Can you not understand how I'd see value in that?

Of course. But I don't see there being enough of those people to drive that kind of revenue to one company. Apple makes money like a fashion brand because that is what they are. They are very innovative and very good at doing it. I'm not trying to detract from their success. Just amazed that it works and has worked for so long.

But I don't own any Apple technology and can't think of a reason I would buy any.

Yes I do work in tech as a full-stack developer and sysadmin.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#105

Post by umeshunni »

dangoor wrote: post #6
ckastner wrote: post #3

Annual revenue of $394 billion, more than a billion a day. Not the first company to do it, though. Exxon did it in the 2000s when oil was up to $140, and I think Walmart did it, too.

Apple appears to be #7 by revenue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_companies_by_r...

Funny - everyone above them in that list is either a retailer (so the revenue is passthrough) or a state owned monopoly.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#106

Post by alphabetting »

graeme wrote: post #86
alphabetting wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google's insistence on paying the $15B a year is odd to me. I'm sure they've run a bunch of experiments and they view it as making sense financially but I'm not sure how many people would settle with Bing as default search. Their #1 search term being "Google" is pretty telling.

You can also view the $15 billion as a bribe to prevent apple from trying its hand at search. Apple already has a substantial search effort behind the scenes

That doesn't make sense though. If they are already working on it why would Google fund that. Doesn't really make sense as a bribe. Additionally, I don't think Google is worried about a search competitor. It's all about the default search eyeballs. Microsoft has invested an insane amount to Bing and after 13 years they have 3% market share.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#107

Post by chrisseaton »

SoftTalker wrote: post #104
chrisseaton wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For what I do with a laptop Are you possibly able to understand that other people do other things with their laptops and so see value in the technology? Like I spend my time compiling things. A fast, low-energy processor is brilliant for me, because it lets me work faster and for longer. Can you not understand how I'd see value in that?

Of course. But I don't see there being enough of those people to drive that kind of revenue to one company. Apple makes money like a fashion brand because that is what they are. They are very innovative and very good at doing it. I'm not trying to detract from their success. Just amazed that it works and has worked for so long. But I don't own any Apple technology and can't think of a reason I would buy any. Yes I do…

I don't think it's the mystery you do - they make money because they make the very best technology, that makes people who work with a wide range of workloads more effective, and so those people are willing to spend money with them.

If Apple is compiling my application 1.5x as fast and lets me work 1.5x as long without recharging, that saves me genuine time in the day, either to do more work, or to work on my hobbies, or to take more time out. That's really valuable to me. That's why I buy it, and why so many other people buy it. The cost is pretty insignificant considering it's where I earn all my money and do 50% or so of my hobbies.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#108

Post by [deleted] »

smoldesu wrote: post #93
duped wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every adult in the developed world needs a smart phone. They replace these devices about every 2-3 years. Apple makes one of the best in class of these devices, and has successfully designed one such that it's hard to switch to a competitor (rather it's easier to stay in the ecosystem). They've convinced about a billion people on the planet that the iPhone is the best device for them, so if you split that into…

iPhones make money, but services make more. The App Store alone made over 80 billion dollars in estimated revenue last year, just by existing. That's without accounting for Apple One, Apple Fitness, Apple Arcade, AppleTV Plus, or iCloud. Apple simply makes $80 billion annually for writing a payment processor everyone else has to use. Services are one thing, but playing both the gatekeeper and competitor to a number o…

[deleted]

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#109

Post by mcphage »

duped wrote: post #74
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their numbers seem utterly unreal to me. How on earth do you sell $205 billion worth of just a single product (iPhone) every year? This is simply the greatest business to have ever been created. I can't imagine anything else ever topping it. The margins AND the volume are both insane.

Almost every adult in the developed world needs a smart phone. They replace these devices about every 2-3 years. Apple makes one of the best in class of these devices, and has successfully designed one such that it's hard to switch to a competitor (rather it's easier to stay in the ecosystem). They've convinced about a billion people on the planet that the iPhone is the best device for them, so if you split that into…

> They replace these devices about every 2-3 years.

Some people do, but definitely not “almost every adult in the developed world”.

Post reply on HN