Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 77 posts

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#31

Post by Kylekramer »

downandout wrote: post #24
ChuckMcM wrote: post #15

No way to hide this: 2013: Revenue $37.5B, Profit $7.5B (20%) 2012: Revenue $36.0B, Profit $8.2B (22%) Loss of 2% net profit year over year. Just under a 5% drop per share on a diluted basis. So its becoming less profitable to be Apple which speaks to the margin pressure they are under from credible Android phones and tablets. I don't think the market expected that (or maybe they did, GOOG is trading over $1000 these…

Let's remember that everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5s for all but 10 days of the third quarter, which naturally slowed iPhone 5 sales. Then Apple almost instantly ran into supply constraints after its release. Because of these two factors, these results aren't that meaningful. 4th quarter results will give a far more meaningful picture of iOS's place in the current market.

Aren't those pretty much the exact same conditions as last year's quarter? iPhone 5 release: September 21, 2012. iPhone 5s/5c: September 20, 2013. And both had supply issues at launch. It seems fair to compare the quarters and draw some tentative conclusions.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#32

Post by shock-value »

cstrat wrote: post #26
IBM wrote: post #2

Interesting that iPad sales were flat year over year. I would have thought it would have contracted without new iPads launched. Also the big increase in iPhone sales year over year jives with what Asymco has posted about Android peaking. The easy growth from feature phones being replaced by low-end Android devices is over.

I have a lot of Apple devices, and I am sure there are others out there like me who are stick using an original iPad 2. Those devices have not really needed an upgrade unless you wanted to move to the mini. My device is almost at its end, I have dropped it a bunch of times and the battery is struggling to last a 10 hour day at work (I dont use it a lot during the day, only really in meetings and on the run). There is…

IMO the retina screen is a big reason to upgrade from the 2 (and is the reason I waited for the 3rd gen model). I pretty much use my iPad exclusively for reading text of some format--web pages, text-based services like Facebook and Reddit, books, etc. (with the occasional YouTube or Netflix video thrown in)--and having that extra clarity as compared to the first two versions is crucial for me.

It's now that I don't really feel any compelling reason to upgrade -- even with iOS7 the interface is plenty fast enough, and I don't use it for games so any increases in performance wouldn't really matter to me.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#33

Post by jljljl »

downandout wrote: post #24
ChuckMcM wrote: post #15

No way to hide this: 2013: Revenue $37.5B, Profit $7.5B (20%) 2012: Revenue $36.0B, Profit $8.2B (22%) Loss of 2% net profit year over year. Just under a 5% drop per share on a diluted basis. So its becoming less profitable to be Apple which speaks to the margin pressure they are under from credible Android phones and tablets. I don't think the market expected that (or maybe they did, GOOG is trading over $1000 these…

Let's remember that everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5s for all but 10 days of the third quarter, which naturally slowed iPhone 5 sales. Then Apple almost instantly ran into supply constraints after its release. Because of these two factors, these results aren't that meaningful. 4th quarter results will give a far more meaningful picture of iOS's place in the current market.

This argument would explain slower sales or lower revenues, but I'm not sure this has much validity in explaining the lower net profit or gross profit margins.

Lower gross profit margins are probably better explained by either downward pressure on prices or upward pressures on costs of manufacture. It can also be driven by changes in product mix (e.g., higher sales of the lower margin iPad Mini). It's not unreasonable to attribute this to greater competition from lower margin Android products.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#34

Post by tlrobinson »

downandout wrote: post #24
ChuckMcM wrote: post #15

No way to hide this: 2013: Revenue $37.5B, Profit $7.5B (20%) 2012: Revenue $36.0B, Profit $8.2B (22%) Loss of 2% net profit year over year. Just under a 5% drop per share on a diluted basis. So its becoming less profitable to be Apple which speaks to the margin pressure they are under from credible Android phones and tablets. I don't think the market expected that (or maybe they did, GOOG is trading over $1000 these…

Let's remember that everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5s for all but 10 days of the third quarter, which naturally slowed iPhone 5 sales. Then Apple almost instantly ran into supply constraints after its release. Because of these two factors, these results aren't that meaningful. 4th quarter results will give a far more meaningful picture of iOS's place in the current market.

I'm curious what portion of Apple's customers actually anticipate new versions of products and hold off on purchasing until they're released.

I imagine it's common among the Hacker News segment, but what about the average person?

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#36

Post by ChuckMcM »

downandout wrote: post #24
ChuckMcM wrote: post #15

No way to hide this: 2013: Revenue $37.5B, Profit $7.5B (20%) 2012: Revenue $36.0B, Profit $8.2B (22%) Loss of 2% net profit year over year. Just under a 5% drop per share on a diluted basis. So its becoming less profitable to be Apple which speaks to the margin pressure they are under from credible Android phones and tablets. I don't think the market expected that (or maybe they did, GOOG is trading over $1000 these…

Let's remember that everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5s for all but 10 days of the third quarter, which naturally slowed iPhone 5 sales. Then Apple almost instantly ran into supply constraints after its release. Because of these two factors, these results aren't that meaningful. 4th quarter results will give a far more meaningful picture of iOS's place in the current market.

However Apple's product release schedule being as rigorous as it is tends to make quarters more comparable. Perhaps a better indication here is the drop from 40% gross margins to 37% gross margins. That comes right out of the business.

Generally lower revenues but same margins is a sign so constraints in the supply chain. Higher revenue but lower profits is a sign of margin erosion. Lower revenue and lower profits and lower margins is perhaps one of the most alarming situation.

It is good to push back on folks who thought he tablet was just a fad? You know the ones who said "There isn't a 'tablet' market so much as their is an 'iPad' market." Well those folks have been shown to be mistaken.

I don't own any Apple stock (well I might in my blind 401k but I wouldn't know if I did :-) I've been tempted to pick some up after it dropped from the 700's into the 400's. But the thing that I keep wondering about is their ability to execute in a contested market by a competent opponent. This coming quarter will be an interesting one for everyone I expect.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#37

Post by eltondegeneres »

than wrote: post #35

Apple deferred nearly a billion dollars in revenue due to the switch to free software. http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/28/apple-says-future-versions-...

For a moment there I thought Apple was switching to FSF-endorsed free software and I was very confused. The cost of OS X is built into the hardware so it's not like future versions will be free as in freedom or free of cost.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#38

Post by mitchty »

tlrobinson wrote: post #34
downandout wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's remember that everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5s for all but 10 days of the third quarter, which naturally slowed iPhone 5 sales. Then Apple almost instantly ran into supply constraints after its release. Because of these two factors, these results aren't that meaningful. 4th quarter results will give a far more meaningful picture of iOS's place in the current market.

I'm curious what portion of Apple's customers actually anticipate new versions of products and hold off on purchasing until they're released. I imagine it's common among the Hacker News segment, but what about the average person?

My buddy has held off on a retina macbook pro waiting for the new one.

And I know some others that do similar, not because they need to but to see what the new version offers.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#39

Post by Touche »

Sounds like the iPhone 5C slight of hand didn't work[1]. It makes sense to me, its last-years-model with cheaper materials. There's no reason it should be more popular than last-years-model usually are, except for the extra marketing which in this case didn't seem to help much.

http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/10/apple-inc-earnings-iphone-5...

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#40

Post by than »

eltondegeneres wrote: post #37
than wrote: post #35

Apple deferred nearly a billion dollars in revenue due to the switch to free software. http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/28/apple-says-future-versions-...

For a moment there I thought Apple was switching to FSF-endorsed free software and I was very confused. The cost of OS X is built into the hardware so it's not like future versions will be free as in freedom or free of cost.

Right. Free as in free-with-purchase.
Post reply on HN