Apple's Supply Chain Secret • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's Supply Chain Secret

#151

Post by cbsmith » Sun, Nov 06, 2011, 9:29 PM UTC

padobson wrote: post #62

I think Apple's supply chain management is a greater competitive advantage than their product design. There are many factors beyond the quality of product that go into a purchasing decision - things like hype, accessibility, and most importantly, price. Apple never had much a problem with great design or building hype, but the real reason for their success over the last 15 years has been their ability to provide cust…

The irony was that there was a time when Apple was absolutely HORRIBLE at this. They really only got it fixed after they nearly bankrupted the company.

Re: Apple's Supply Chain Secret

#152

Post by swombat » Mon, Nov 07, 2011, 9:48 AM UTC

pooriaazimi wrote: post #120

swombat wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can see them with the naked eye, if you look from about 5-10cm away. (and, presumably, if you have excellent vision or are near-sighted)

they're talking about the GREEN indicator, on top of the screen (which shows the iSight camera's status), not about sleep indicator (the WHITE, rectangular thing, beside the IR receiver). http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/macbook-air-w...

That is indeed the one I'm talking about. Yes, you can see it with the naked eye if you're close enough.

Re: Apple's Supply Chain Secret

#153

Post by hga » Sat, Nov 12, 2011, 5:56 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #131

comedian wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this is very common and it's one of the reasons why Apple is so good at managing their cash. By delaying payments Apple can use the cash for other short-term investment opportunities. In Apple's case, their accounts payable is probably in the billions. As an example: If Apple has a $10 billion accounts payable and instead of paying it right away they waited for 3 months and invested that $10 billion on short-ter…

There are short-term securities that earn 10% in 3 months? How do I get in on that?

No doubt this behavior began before the Fed started their zero interest rate policy. Come to think of it, Apple was in business at the end of the Carter Administration when interest rates hit and exceeded 20% (!!!)....