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Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

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Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#131

Post by sosborn »

kryptiskt wrote: post #115
gress wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firstly it's not 'in decline' it has just reached saturation. 'Plunging' is just false. Secondly, the slowing of iPad sales has absolutely zero to do with any open systems.

-18% sales year over year is a plunge by any measure. It has everything to do with open systems. Walled gardens is a threat to them, it's a very important battle for everybody who cares about freedom.

> it's a very important battle for everybody who cares about freedom.

Hyperbole much?

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#132

Post by coldtea »

beezle wrote: post #108
fidotron wrote: post #6

Truly phenomenal. But then when no one else is making decent laptops this is what happens. If anything the gap has grown thanks to Windows 8. I'm not a fan of Yosemite by any stretch, but it is very much the least bad of the available options. And on mobile, iOS is very clearly in for the long haul now. There was a time a couple of years ago when Android looked like it might gain enough momentum to sweep them away, b…

I don't think one can by any stretch attribute Apple laptops for the sales of iPhones. Apple is 90% a phone company. As to Macs, while their share has bumped up in recent years, its really just at the top of the historical range going back to the late 80s. (this of course depends what metric you look at and from whom but 7 to 13% seems to be the range). Can't count how many times I heard in the 2008 time frame that O…

>Can't count how many times I heard in the 2008 time frame that OSX/Apple would dominate all in the pc world in short order. Still waiting.

I've been following the IT world since like 1995, and I've never heard that being said or written once.

Can you point to some articles from 2008 that say that Apple will "dominate all in the pc world (with regard to Mac sales) in short order"?

What I did read multiple times was that "Apple is doomed" like 10 times a year ever since 1997 (the meme seems to have slowed sometime around last year).

That said, note how Apple DOES dominate "all in the pc world" in total revenue/profits when phones are taken into account (after all Microsoft and Google also produce phones).

And how Mac profit (not unit sales) DOES dominate "all in the pc world", or at least amounts to the profits of the top-5 rest desktop/laptop seller combined.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#133

Post by marvin »

avar wrote: post #113
jsmthrowaway wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer multiples of the Apollo program when discussing Apple's finances. In 1973, NASA reported to Congress that the entire Apollo program cost $25.4 billion ($131.4 billion in 2013). It's useful when quantifying Apple's cash on hand, which is currently > 1x Apollo. With the quarterly revenue, they could probably reenact Apollo 11, since each launch was ~$350 million pre-inflation. If you're only doing one, a lot c…

It's really hard to quantify NASA & military spending though, a lot of that money was already spent by the military on ICBM research, which coincided nicely with trying to send people to space. To get an accurate number you'd have to take the amount that the US was spending on ICBMs, and ever more accurately how much the Third Reich was spending on research for the V2s etc. After all the US military & NASA benefited…

The argument gets a little shaky once you count effort that far back; after all, almost all of our efficiency today is due to advancements that earlier humans have done. Computers, engineering, technology, economics, science, printing, writing, fire, language.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#134

Post by mcphage »

bertil wrote: post #101
Cookingboy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even their profit is enough for 3 Nimitz class super carriers. Then they can REALLY sink their competitions ;)

Their competition is Samsung. Something tells me the whole large ships argument is lost on Korean chaebols.

> the whole large ships argument is lost on Korean chaebols

Especially when Samsung just built the world's largest: http://www.industrytap.com/worlds-largest-ship-ever-built-fi... :-)

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#135

Post by mcphage »

robryan wrote: post #109
Fomite wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's entirely possible it's not "in decline" but has merely hit saturation.

Anecdotally it seems like ipads have a longer lifespan than a phone as well. Those with an ipad 1 will probably have to upgrade and those with a 2 might want to for the retina display. The 3 though have been out for nearly 3 years and is still fine. Whereas someone who bought a phone at the same time may have already upgraded.

I've got a 3, and want to upgrade, but... it's not super urgent. I use my iPad pretty often, but the iPad 3 has the feature I care about most (retina screen), and there haven't been many major changes since.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#136

Post by saryant »

Cookingboy wrote: post #2

This is pretty insane, I think $18 billion in quarterly profit is the largest ever for any corporations. Also the revenue from iPhone business alone now exceeds Microsoft and Google combined.

Saudi Aramco is probably the largest but since they aren't publicly traded, we don't really know. Estimates put their annual profit at ~$180 billion, so their quarterly revenue would be ~2.5x Apple's.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#137

Post by sfeng »

adl wrote: post #121
potatolicious wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than Windows sucking, the OEM laptop industry has largely fumbled hardware. For a while it looked like Dell and/or Samsung might actually give Apple a run for its money in terms of design and quality, but that fell flat on its face. I'm a pretty biased sample, but honestly I know more people running non-OSX on Apple laptops than I know people running non-OSX on non-Apple laptops. Apple's laptops beat the rest of…

Serious question, what makes Apple laptops beat the rest of the industry? No docking station, can't change batteries, no touch screens, no spill resistant keyboards, no matte screen option,etc. You also need those dongles for ethernet and video and can't upgrade RAM or hard drives on the retina models. Sure, the OS (if you need/like OSX, there is little choice), and the trackpad (if you like that those) are good, the…

The short answer is that Apple is willing to not try to check all the boxes in favor of building something which works for most people.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#138

Post by saryant »

hyperbovine wrote: post #76
okibeogezi wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple makes luxury products. People like luxury products. Luxury products have strong brand appeal so they can comfortably ask people to pay more for products. Any other company that sells like phones at Apple's price range will FAIL. You either make something extremely better for the same price or just as good at a lower price. Neither is a guaranty for success though.

They make luxury products and yet everyone owns one. That is the real genius.

Selling opposites is a pretty basic marketing gambit. The exclusive must-have, the affordable luxury item, etc.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#139

Post by hkmurakami »

puranjay wrote: post #63
potatolicious wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than Windows sucking, the OEM laptop industry has largely fumbled hardware. For a while it looked like Dell and/or Samsung might actually give Apple a run for its money in terms of design and quality, but that fell flat on its face. I'm a pretty biased sample, but honestly I know more people running non-OSX on Apple laptops than I know people running non-OSX on non-Apple laptops. Apple's laptops beat the rest of…

It's a big branding issue as well. I know Apple makes two laptops: MBAs and MBPs. I don't know what all laptops Dell or Lenovo make. I don't know if they have ultrabooks, and if they do, what are their names. When I buy a new Windows laptop, I sort by specs, not brand. I avoid a few brands (HP, Acer), but as long as I get good enough specs at a good enough price, I'll buy anything. I don't care about specific models/…

A perfect demonstration of this problem is when you search Amazon for "Asus zenbook".

It gives me a hundred results with various SKUs and model years and I have NO idea as a consumer which one is the best fit for me.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#140

Post by hkmurakami »

adl wrote: post #121
potatolicious wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than Windows sucking, the OEM laptop industry has largely fumbled hardware. For a while it looked like Dell and/or Samsung might actually give Apple a run for its money in terms of design and quality, but that fell flat on its face. I'm a pretty biased sample, but honestly I know more people running non-OSX on Apple laptops than I know people running non-OSX on non-Apple laptops. Apple's laptops beat the rest of…

Serious question, what makes Apple laptops beat the rest of the industry? No docking station, can't change batteries, no touch screens, no spill resistant keyboards, no matte screen option,etc. You also need those dongles for ethernet and video and can't upgrade RAM or hard drives on the retina models. Sure, the OS (if you need/like OSX, there is little choice), and the trackpad (if you like that those) are good, the…

Better keyboard, (infinitely) better touchpad, better chassis (to the touch).

The places where my hands interact with the machine are much more efficient and pleasing on a mac than any other machine (which is sad, because I LOVED my Thinkpads in the early 2000s).

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