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Apple reports fourth quarter results

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Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#171

Post by willis936 »

FredPret wrote: post #49
lapcat wrote: post #2

This stuck out like a sore thumb to me: Q4 2024: Income before provision for income taxes $29.610 billion, Provision for income taxes $14.874 billion Q4 2025: Income before provision for income taxes $32.804 billion, Provision for income taxes $5.338 billion [EDIT:] The 2024 taxes were actually an aberration. "the one-time charge recognized during the fourth quarter of 2024 related to the impact of the reversal of th…

Corporate income tax is one of those ideas that are immensely popular politically ("someone who is not me will pay billions to benefit me? yay!") but not supported by economic theory or real economic outcomes. Rent control / other price controls is another one ("No more rent increases for me, yay!"). Personal income taxes are a better choice according to [0] and that makes sense if you think about it. Let companies g…

Thinking the last part is happening or will happen anytime soon feels very naive. Advantaged companies have the means to not pay their fair share and they never will.

Corporate tax rates were insanely higher many decades ago. Both industry and the public thrived despite it. Corporate tax rate slashed, public flounders, corporations act in ungrounded and bizarre ways. This is not a healthy system.

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#172

Post by tomcam »

ghaff wrote: post #56
MrGilbert wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We keep hearing that the next generation is "true computer" illiterate. We had that development with cars. 40 years ago, it was common to fix your own car. Nowadays, we have a subscription for seat warmers. The manual tells you to visit the dealer to get your brakes checked. Makes me sad, somehow. But people have choosen this path as a collective.

People choose what to outsource and, as cars have become more complicated and require more diagnostic equipment, they go to a dealer/mechanic. Personally, I've never done a lot of personal car mechanic work. On the other hand, I've done my own cooking more than not. You make choices about what you do yourself and what you have others do for you.

Not sure that tracks. Cars became infinitely more complex due to compliance with federal regs and the chicken tax.

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#173

Post by SllX »

haunter wrote: post #11

Kind of telling that 1, the iPhone outsells every other category by 5-7x ratio, and the Mac (which includes everything from Macbooks to Mac Minis to iMacs) barely sells more than the iPad. 2, Services (iCloud, apps, music, TV shows etc.) now bigger than every other category, except the iPhone, combined Basically 76% of the sales are iPhones and Services (millions) iPhone $209,586 Mac $33,708 iPad $28,023 Wearables, H…

If anything, they're the iPhone company and they are massively understating how much of their revenue is directly attributable to the iPhone.

Take "Services" for example: most of their services are things like App Store revenue and Google Search revenue, something they technically have on all of their platforms, but the lion's share of that revenue comes directly from iPhone users subscribed to iPhone apps, playing iPhone gacha games or using Google (or any of the other officially supported search engines) in the iPhone version of Safari. The reason to have iCloud+ is to be able to backup your phone, and the photos you take on your phone, and store the emails and iMessages and other data you create on your phone. It's all there accessible on the Mac and iPad too, but they have far more iPhone customers than Mac or iPad customers.

Even the smaller services are mostly supported by iPhone users: most AppleCare users, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, arguably you could make a case that Apple TV+ (a.k.a. just Apple TV now for some reason) is the one service that isn't directly attributable to the iPhone, but that is also like the one part of their services division that has had prior reports that it isn't exactly turning a profit, and I don't think you can even apply for an Apple Card unless you own an iPhone.

It's the same with most of the other divisions: the reason to have an Apple Watch or AirPods is they go great with your iPhone. They have their individual appeal, and at least with the AirPods, you don't technically need an iPhone to use them, but these are at the end of the day iPhone accessories, the same as their Magic Keyboard, Trackpad and Mouse lines or displays are Mac accessories even though technically, any iPad could also take advantage of them now, or you could plug a Magic Keyboard into a Windows PC or something. The math on that doesn't change just because of technicalities like that.

So yeah, Apple is the iPhone company and has been for a very long time now. Macs & iPads, the tens of billions of dollar businesses that they are, are just side gigs for them and Services/Wearables et al. is just obfuscating the degree to which they are the iPhone company.

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#174

Post by tomcam »

jayd16 wrote: post #132
oxqbldpxo wrote: post #24

All these companies depend on TSMC for their life.

I mean... do they? TSMC is the best but in a world where they had to use Samsung or Intel is it really a death sentence?

My intuition is that we would adapt just fine. Maybe we'd have to drop to assembly more often, read the chip docs closely, etc. Unheard-of performance benefits are still being found from Commodore 64s and first-gen IBM PCs, for crying out loud. What if we wrung every last cycle out of the Samsung or Intel chips?

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#175

Post by mixmastamyk »

FredPret wrote: post #49
lapcat wrote: post #2

This stuck out like a sore thumb to me: Q4 2024: Income before provision for income taxes $29.610 billion, Provision for income taxes $14.874 billion Q4 2025: Income before provision for income taxes $32.804 billion, Provision for income taxes $5.338 billion [EDIT:] The 2024 taxes were actually an aberration. "the one-time charge recognized during the fourth quarter of 2024 related to the impact of the reversal of th…

Corporate income tax is one of those ideas that are immensely popular politically ("someone who is not me will pay billions to benefit me? yay!") but not supported by economic theory or real economic outcomes. Rent control / other price controls is another one ("No more rent increases for me, yay!"). Personal income taxes are a better choice according to [0] and that makes sense if you think about it. Let companies g…

What happens when shareholders are out of the country?

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#176

Post by TriangleEdge »

haunter wrote: post #11

Kind of telling that 1, the iPhone outsells every other category by 5-7x ratio, and the Mac (which includes everything from Macbooks to Mac Minis to iMacs) barely sells more than the iPad. 2, Services (iCloud, apps, music, TV shows etc.) now bigger than every other category, except the iPhone, combined Basically 76% of the sales are iPhones and Services (millions) iPhone $209,586 Mac $33,708 iPad $28,023 Wearables, H…

Any data on the Vision Pro?

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#177

Post by atrus »

apatheticonion wrote: post #164
j1elo wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't get how people do research work (like finding good flight tickets, or comparing hotels to stay in for a trip) without a computer. I really cannot stand seeing websites in a small screen without the ability to quickly open 4 browser windows with 4 tabs each for different combinations of dates, for example.

I feel exactly the same way. There are personal finance management softwares that are mobile exclusive. Like, have you tried doing data entry on a phone? Who is using these products?

The vast majority of people.

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#178

Post by olyjohn »

KerrAvon wrote: post #158
leptons wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a 2015 MPB that can no longer receive OS updates, because apple reasons. And because it can't get the latest OS, it can no longer run Signal, or the latest Adobe stuff that we need. So we ditched Apple and bought a Dell. So far it's working great.

Get back to us if that Dell makes it 10 years without catastrophic failure or pieces falling off.

Want me to tell you about my 3 failed MacBook Pro logic boards?

Hate to say it, but Macs aren't any better. I've worked on literally thousands of laptops, and you win some, and you lose some. There are some shitty Dells, and some good Dells, and there are some shitty MacBooks and some good MacBooks.

I even have a couple of old Dells that are about 10 years old now. Working just fine too.

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#179

Post by olyjohn »

tomcam wrote: post #172
ghaff wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People choose what to outsource and, as cars have become more complicated and require more diagnostic equipment, they go to a dealer/mechanic. Personally, I've never done a lot of personal car mechanic work. On the other hand, I've done my own cooking more than not. You make choices about what you do yourself and what you have others do for you.

Not sure that tracks. Cars became infinitely more complex due to compliance with federal regs and the chicken tax.

I mean... cars have definitely gotten more complex since 1964 when the Chicken Tax became a thing...

Re: Apple reports fourth quarter results

#180

Post by genghisjahn »

MrGilbert wrote: post #47
xfour wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like the obvious reason for this is that Mac is now a niche for people that operate computers, where there are likely 6 people that don't for every 1 that does. We keep hearing that the next generation is "true computer" illiterate. The second reason is likely that there are computers that are 1/3 of the price subsidized by the terrible ad-supported OS installs. (Has anyone tried to setup a MS computer lately,…

> We keep hearing that the next generation is "true computer" illiterate. We had that development with cars. 40 years ago, it was common to fix your own car. Nowadays, we have a subscription for seat warmers. The manual tells you to visit the dealer to get your brakes checked. Makes me sad, somehow. But people have choosen this path as a collective.

Cars are a lot safer now. People routinely walk away from collisions that would have killed everyone in the vehicle back in 70s. So there is some gain to the trade off.
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