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Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

nytimes.com

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Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#231
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I cannot comment on the rest, Face ID has proven to work surprisingly well for me, beating even the wildest expectations. The unlock time seems to be less than half a second, so as I look at the phone, it is already unlocked. And the detection is really good too. After I shaved my long beard and went fully clean-faced, FaceID had zero issues unlocking the phone with zero hiccups for me.

> FaceID had zero issues unlocking the phone It will let a sibling in too, or at least at a point in the past.

Honest question, when you say "sibling", do you mean an identical twin? Because if yes, then fingerprint sensor won't save you from that either.

After googling for a bit, I think I found what you have been referencing. Turns out, FaceID learns as it goes, even from non-successful attempts. So if every time your non-identical-twin sister tries to unlock your phone using FaceID, fails, and then you immediately unlock it for her with your face or password, then the system will slowly over time learn to recognize her face as well. This makes sense to me.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#232
post #8

And the stock increased over 4% in after-hours trading, as increases in non-iPhone hardware sales and services overcame the decrease in iPhone sales. Earnings per share slightly beat the consensus forecast. An interesting quote from Cook in the press release: "The balance of calendar 2019 will be an exciting period, with major launches on all of our platforms, new services and several new products"

AAPL is still undervalued compared to stocks like AMZN. Apple's P/E of 17 is amazing compared to Amazons 78. I'm not really sure why their stock isn't traded with the same enthusiasm that other tech companies see.

Apple will never get the same P/E love, because they only make like 4 things (Mac, iPhone, iPad, services).

Everyone loves to hate on Apple on multiple fronts (elitist, expensive, over the hill), whereas the hate on Amazon is really about one thing.. that ol "makes no profit" canard.

CLARIFICATION: I’m talking perception, not my beliefs. Uber’s a scam, as far as I can tell, but they will either pull off a miracle or be the biggest Groupon of all time. And Snap isn’t very good at being a public company.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#234
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one of these major launches is a MacBook Pro with the same (or better) specs (esp video graphics) as their latest MacBook Pro, but without a TouchBar, they will get at least $2,500 from me. If one of these major launches is an iPhone X-like phone with a thumbprint reader (home button or otherwise), they will get at least another $1,000 from me.

I could not care less about touch bar either way, but I would not willingly go back to touch id from face id.

Takes all kinds - I would actually pay extra to have the thumbprint reader back.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AAPL is still undervalued compared to stocks like AMZN. Apple's P/E of 17 is amazing compared to Amazons 78. I'm not really sure why their stock isn't traded with the same enthusiasm that other tech companies see.

Apple will never get the same P/E love, because they only make like 4 things (Mac, iPhone, iPad, services). Everyone loves to hate on Apple on multiple fronts (elitist, expensive, over the hill), whereas the hate on Amazon is really about one thing.. that ol "makes no profit" canard. CLARIFICATION: I’m talking perception, not my beliefs. Uber’s a scam, as far as I can tell, but they will either pull off a miracle or…

> whereas the hate on Amazon is really about one thing.. that ol "makes no profit" canard.

Ahem [1], and while we're at it, [2]

My criticism to Apple isn't that they're being expensive; it is related to right to repair and their constant efforts to hamper that. Amazon just undercuts everyone, and Turk globalizes cheap workforce. For ridiculous low payment. These are just 2 examples you did not mention. You can read more in the sources below.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Amazon

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Apple_Inc.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#236
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Veblen goods (which you good argue an iPhone is) are very sticky and very profitable. To say that veblen goods shouldn't exist is kind of missing the point.

Please show me where I said they shouldn't exist? There's definitely a market for them, so I think they should exist. It's just - if I'm being honest - you're either a fool, or very rich, to be buying some of these "veblen goods" (given the more than adequate alternatives)

Very rich? If you replace it every year and spend $1000 each time, that's only around $3 / day. There are an awful lot of people that can afford that.

When you consider how a phone is the primary computing device for a lot of people, it's an even easier decision.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying Apple isn't successful. In fact, that's my point: they're clearly releasing solid products. But they aren't the category-killers that the company's reputation for innovation is built on. There have been rumors of new innovations (reinventing TV, an Apple Car, augmented reality) but none have materialized. Regardless of whether you agree they haven't been innovating, my question stands: if they stop inn…

The TV is a low margin, bulky product with a very long replacement cycle. Nothing about that market is desirable. Besides, people are spending less screen time on televisions every year and more on portable devices.

I'm not suggesting those were good ideas, only that they were rumors about innovative products that got a lot of attention, in part because everyone thought Apple must be up to something, because they hadn't made a big splash in a long time. Maybe the problem isn't that Apple's isn't innovating anymore, but that so many others now are as well, so innovation gets lost in the crowd. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, and Google share a space now that Apple had to itself for a long time.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what “category defining” successful electronic product has any company introduced since 2008?

The Echo.

Category defining: yes

Successful: No. If you define success as “profitable”.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The TV is a low margin, bulky product with a very long replacement cycle. Nothing about that market is desirable. Besides, people are spending less screen time on televisions every year and more on portable devices.

I'm not suggesting those were good ideas, only that they were rumors about innovative products that got a lot of attention, in part because everyone thought Apple must be up to something, because they hadn't made a big splash in a long time. Maybe the problem isn't that Apple's isn't innovating anymore, but that so many others now are as well, so innovation gets lost in the crowd. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, and Go…

Tesla - losing money

Google - the only thing they are doing profitability is selling ads.

Just look at Apple’s revenue split (second graph). How do you think that compares to Google?

https://sixcolors.com/post/2019/07/apple-third-quarter-2019-...

A “successful” product is one that you can sell for more than it costs to make. Anyone can sell dollar bills for 0.95 cents.

Amazon? Yes AWS is definitely successful and innovative, but the other half of Amazon?

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#240
post #8

And the stock increased over 4% in after-hours trading, as increases in non-iPhone hardware sales and services overcame the decrease in iPhone sales. Earnings per share slightly beat the consensus forecast. An interesting quote from Cook in the press release: "The balance of calendar 2019 will be an exciting period, with major launches on all of our platforms, new services and several new products"

AAPL is still undervalued compared to stocks like AMZN. Apple's P/E of 17 is amazing compared to Amazons 78. I'm not really sure why their stock isn't traded with the same enthusiasm that other tech companies see.

Because they're dependent on selling hardware, not software. It's not rocket science, hardware doesn't scale as easily as software, so it leads to a smaller multiplier.
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