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Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

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Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#451

Post by lostlogin »

TMWNN wrote: post #8
est31 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2% of (nominal) US GDP! If Apple were a country, it would rank in the top 30.

Harry Truman said in 1945 about the atomic bomb, "We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies". I feel the same way about Apple and FAANG and Silicon Valley as a whole (and Wall Street, and Hollywood, and SpaceX/Tesla, and the Ivy League), that they are in the United States. That doesn't mean I approve of everything they do. That doesn't mean I can't or won't decry their putting thumbs on scales to…

Does it help the average American that they are a US company? Big companies lobby and push hard politically, and they aren’t usually pushing for the best interests of Jane and Jo Average.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#452

Post by WastingMyTime89 »

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…

> Took a day to get it through my carrier and it immediately restored from backup with minimal data loss, despite not having access to the old device. That ease of use and confidence I won't lose data is worth the premium.

I’m a mostly happy iOS user but it’s exactly the same with Android. You connect to your Google Account and everything is back exactly as it was.

I think US users don’t realise how close to each other Android and iOS actually are especially if you use a Pixel phone. I switched because of the Apple Watch which had no equivalent.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#453

Post by KoftaBob »

andsoitis wrote: post #283
rcpt wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like oil companies are somehow hiding it. Oil is absolutely everywhere from transportation to shipping to energy to packaging to building materials. I simply can't believe that Apples revenue is larger than some of the biggest oil companies

> I simply can't believe that Apples revenue is larger than some of the biggest oil companies Then this might blow your mind even more: In 2017, at a market cap of more than $2.1 trillion, Apple's market capitalization is larger than 96% of country GDPs, a list that includes Italy, Brazil, Canada, and Russia. In fact, only seven countries in the world have a higher GDP than Apple's market cap.

GDP is essentially the total yearly revenue of a country, so it's not directly comparable to a companies market cap.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#454

Post by benjaminwootton »

retskrad wrote: post #15

Holy moly, the Mac keeps growing like crazy. It’s amusing how Apple wanted the iPad to disrupt the Mac but the advent of M-Series chips on the Mac has really nipped that ambition in the bud.

In spite of the insane prices too, particularly outside of the US.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#455

Post by ohgodplsno »

bnj wrote: post #310
smoldesu wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's great, I support that option for you. Personally, I just want to use the Open Source apps that Apple won't let me install. If I can have that, then there's no reason we can't both live in perfect harmony. That system works perfectly fine on Android and Google even manages to make a handsome bundle off the Play Store to boot.

I used to think of this in terms of, “it doesn’t hurt me if other people can install whatever they like on their phones.” However, when I thought it out, I realized that if the App Store wasn’t the one and only distribution model for apps, then profit motives would push companies to use those other mechanisms—presumably competing app stores like steam, or just installation of apps ala carte. I realized that I’m not e…

Nope. See Android, where Facebook is available on the play store, and so is every app, because you simply cannot afford to not be there. Apps like Telegram offer both a play store version, and a self-managed APK that offers other features that Google refuses in the play store.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#456

Post by rswail »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #433
smoldesu wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This is underappreciated. You're not just buying an iPhone, you're buying a system of life accessories. Which has clunky ugly corners, but still sort of works smoothly most of the time. (Mostly.) I'm increasingly convinced Android only exists because it allows Google to pretend it's not just an ad company, and Apple to pretend it's not a monopoly. Apple's stranglehold on the mobile market, with its mix of hardware, s…

You're taking the perspective from places where iPhones are in a majority, or a plurality of people's pockets.

In Asia, Africa, Middle East, South America etc, Android has a much larger share of the market, even if it is spread across large numbers of models and manufacturers.

Apple's "stranglehold" is about as strong as it's "stranglehold" on the desktop/laptop market with Macs.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#457

Post by Lewton »

smoldesu wrote: post #336
bnj wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think of this in terms of, “it doesn’t hurt me if other people can install whatever they like on their phones.” However, when I thought it out, I realized that if the App Store wasn’t the one and only distribution model for apps, then profit motives would push companies to use those other mechanisms—presumably competing app stores like steam, or just installation of apps ala carte. I realized that I’m not e…

Correction: profit motives would push Apple to fix the App Store, since it would no longer be competitive with the offerings smaller companies can build for themselves. Which is a good thing - Apple admit the 30% cut was excessive and reluctantly dropped the cut for select users. The long-term solution is forcing them to compete with the rest of the industry, which is what will foster healthy relationships with devel…

Both bnj's point and yours can be true at the same time

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#458

Post by skinnymuch »

grogenaut wrote: post #355
tbrock wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On android you’d be lucky to get more than a single OS update that added new features or functionality.

I've got a Moto 5G stylus, it was $280 on prime day, $450 normal. It'll get 3-5 more years of os updates. Battery lasts 2-3 days for me. It's so cheap I don't get insurance (would lose money in like 8 months) or care. I broke the screen 4 days in because I'm a dummy, but a replacement was on ebay for $40 shipped next day. I fixed it myself. No Multi-$K tool fixtures. I used an ios for other reasons. They're basically…

You got the phone on sale. Visit deal websites and iPhones will sometimes be on sale for similar prices and will have updates for the same time period. Phones sometimes on sale in that range would be 2020 SE or iPhone 11s

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#459

Post by kevingadd »

skc wrote: post #422

I actually like that Apple completely obliterates the fiction that people don't want a walled garden. It's such a minority as to be utterly irrelevant. These insane numbers prove it.

Everybody needs a smartphone. Their two options are both walled gardens where one of them has a much flimsier wall. Of course if you offer them that they're going to pick the better one of the two.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#460

Post by rswail »

oblio wrote: post #234
lotsofpulp wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that an example of US government influencing other countries’ purchasing decisions?

The US has been pushing and is very vocal about its partners not using Huawei. They might be right, but it's super hard to determine where good intentions stop and self interest starts.

The push against Huawei started in Australia as we started to deploy 5G. Our government essentially banned our telcos from installing Huawei equipment.

The UK had set up a different approach where Huawei exposed their entire stack to UK security authority scrutiny.

The "Five Eyes" security alliance (US/CA/UK/AU/NZ) basically then decided that they didn't want Huawei "inside" the 5G network, partially because of oversold promises of what 5G would enable.

There is a new "cold war" between the US (and the "West") and China and a realignment of alliances since the 2nd term of Xi began and he started rolling back the opening up of China's economy.

This has accelerated after the crack down in Hong Kong and the sabre rattling about Taiwan.

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