Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#241

Post by threeseed » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:26 PM UTC

rimliu wrote: post #167

threeseed wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Services, AR Glasses and the Apple Car. Apple Arcade looks surprisingly interesting given they will support PS4/XBox controllers and the trend moves towards streaming gaming. AppleTV+ will do well if they can intelligently bundle it with Apple Music and you never know could have a breakout hit. AR Glasses and the Apple Car are clearly being worked on given acquisitions but both are many years out.

Who needs AR glasses? I don't doubt some geeks want them, and they can be useful for some jobs, otherwise Google already has shown how it will go.

People were equally dismissive of MP3 players, tablets and smart watches.

Apple proved them all wrong and will likely do so again with the glasses. You just need the right killer applications and great design.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#242

Post by vannevar » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:27 PM UTC

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #145

vannevar wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair, but the Apple Watch has largely been an iPhone accessory rather than a standalone product. You could also point to AirPods. They sold a lot of them because a lot of people had iPhones. But neither is anything like the iPhone or the Mac in terms of defining a product category. Eventually, the Apple Watch is just going to be an iPhone on your wrist. More of a derivative, like the iPad.

The iPhone is a product that completely transformed the world and defines what a smartphone is. There are 3 billion of them so almost half the world owns a smartphone. If your bar for "innovative" is seriously that incredibly high, prepare to be disappointed..

Agreed. But what are the contenders since 2008? The iPad and the Apple Watch. The iPad was really co-developed with the iPhone for all practical purposes, as the original iPad prototype inspired the phone. You can definitely make a case for the watch, but it's an extension of the phone in so many ways.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#243

Post by Fnoord » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:27 PM UTC

pas wrote: post #156

gonational wrote: post #121

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.

Have you considered spending less on Apple stuff and more on planting trees (or otherwise advocating for reduced GHG emissions)? (Serious and sincere question.)

A false dilemma is not how you make a constructive pro-environment argument. It is unnecessary, and won't convince anyone. You could've asked what else they do for or against the environment, but that'd be off-topic in this thread I suppose.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#244

Post by tryptophan » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:27 PM UTC

DLA wrote: post #233

NY Times made a mess of this story and slanted it toward their agendas. Horrible reporting. Apple beat most estimates. Revenues grew. All time high revenue from services. Forward guidance was raised. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/07/apple-reports-third-q...

>slanted it toward their agendas.

They do this a lot. It is (rightfully) pointed out any time a right leaning website story is posted, with the whole "Note this is from X publication, and they are right leaning, so take that into consideration" comment. For some reason NYT seems immune to this criticism though.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#245

Post by Cookingboy » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:28 PM UTC

vannevar wrote: post #223

scarface74 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So who is releasing “innovative hardware”? But to your point, since 2008: - Mac revenue has grown - iPad was introduced and by itself its revenue and more than likely profit is something that any company would kill for. - the Apple Watch was introduced and all indications it’s bigger than the iPod ever was.

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…

Apple now is the world’s largest watch maker both by units sold and by revenue.

In fact Apple Watch’s revenue is projected to surpass that of the entire Swiss watch industry this year.

Even if it doesn’t “kill” the existing category, I’ll say they did a fantastic job carving out the smartwatch category.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#246

Post by kondro » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:28 PM UTC

jvagner wrote: post #232

capkutay wrote: post #214

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…

What’s Salesforce’s P/E again? Or Facebook or Twitter or Uber or Snap?

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#247

Post by vannevar » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:29 PM UTC

vannevar wrote: post #230

scarface74 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The Echo.

I don't think you can plausibly argue that the Echo is not a success for Amazon, I'm sorry. Apple would've loved to be in that market first, they just missed it.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#248

Post by dawhizkid » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:29 PM UTC

DLA wrote: post #233

NY Times made a mess of this story and slanted it toward their agendas. Horrible reporting. Apple beat most estimates. Revenues grew. All time high revenue from services. Forward guidance was raised. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/07/apple-reports-third-q...

I'm an Apple shareholder...biggest concern with driving "services" is that the 30% commission on in-app purchases is borderline obscene and I don't think longterm sustainable e.g. if the tech regulation hammer is pointed at Apple, regulation around the App Store, including limits on Apple's commission, would make the most sense.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#249

Post by capkutay » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:32 PM UTC

mhermher wrote: post #240

capkutay wrote: post #214

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.

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.

And amazon has 125,000 employees running their supply chain. I wouldn't call that 'easy to scale' either.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#250

Post by scarface74 » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:32 PM UTC

vannevar wrote: post #247

vannevar wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Echo.

I don't think you can plausibly argue that the Echo is not a success for Amazon, I'm sorry. Apple would've loved to be in that market first, they just missed it.

You think Apple would have loved to sell a low margin $50-$150 product? Have you been following Apple for the last 40 years?

The only time Apple sold inexpensive electronics that I can remember were the iPod Shuffles and they were more expensive than other low end MP3 products.