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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

#371

Post by xbmcuser »

ajross wrote: post #325
mort96 wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When are we going to stop expecting exponential growth though? Or should the exponential growth just continue indefinitely? Is there no value in having a nice S-curve, ending up as one of the most profitable companies in history, and then just staying insanely profitable for a long time in a sustainable way?

We have stopped expecting exponential growth, that's what the linked article is about. "Slowing Growth" is literally in the title! And that means things, like for example the stock has to decline and/or dividends increase because it becomes more productive to put that money into companies that are growing. Investors care about news like this. It seems like a lot (a lot ) of readers here are looking at the article as…

Thats the reason Buffet has now invested in Apple as he prefers a stable earnings. His investment indicated to me that Apple will be a stable investment going forward and won't have the upward and downwards swings of fast growing company where there can be large swings up or down with each quarter earnings

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#372

Post by z6 »

gonational wrote: post #121
MaysonL wrote: 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"

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.

Same here. If they make a better 2015 MBP I will upgrade my company computer, which will probably be $3500+.

If they make a one-handed iPhone again, they will also get money from me.

For now, I'm sticking with the 2015 MBP and the SE.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#373

Post by scarface74 »

petra wrote: post #335
david-cako wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a commoditized market and Apple’s success blueprint is out for everyone to see, yet no one else can adapt mid century design principles and “high fashion” style marketing to technology. This sounds like shilling (and I do own Apple stock) but I’m serious. Compare the Apple remote (with the iOS “emulator”), Apple TV, and Airplay to Chromecast’s UX, for instance. Apple does have special sauce. They make tools that…

Apple's main value is it's brand. Being a status symbol. Second is their customer lock-in. Those can carry lots of value. And even strength, maybe. But growth ? And design ? Google can design well enough. Their interfaces are easy and fun to use. Beyond that, regular people don't care.

How is something a status symbol when 40%+ of the population in many 1st world countries own it?

In the US, the number of people who can’t buy an iPhone on a carrier payment plan is small.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#374

Post by scarface74 »

jhall1468 wrote: post #329
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.

Comparing a high-cost consumer electronics company with market dominance but little growth projection to an online retailer with enormous growth makes absolutely no sense. Comparing their P/E makes even less sense.

Enormous revenue growth with tiny profit margins....

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#375

Post by scarface74 »

appleiigs wrote: post #219
tptacek wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire Mac platform is less than 10% of their revenue, for what it's worth.

Reducing from the 10% because of broken keyboards etc. is still not OK. I bet wallstreet would react if Apple lost 5% of revenue. Alternatively, maybe Macs would increase from 10% to 15% if the product wasn't broken and over-priced. Maybe it would be 20% or 25% if Apple could cross-sell/convert those iPhone sales to Mac sales.

Looking at Mac revenue for the past 5 years, it hasn’t exactly been falling....

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

There is no world where any computer manufacturing is seeing a large growth in PCs in the last 5 years.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#376

Post by scarface74 »

imagetic wrote: post #161
tptacek wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire Mac platform is less than 10% of their revenue, for what it's worth.

That's always the argument from the business standpoint. How much of their ecosystem is on a foundation of professional Mac users? A majority of the professionals I know won't buy the current touchbar model MacBook Pro. Does that market even matter anymore?

So who do you think is buying them for Mac revenue to be stable/growing? Who should we believe your anecdote or Apple’s reported numbers?

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

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#377

Post by scarface74 »

kalleboo wrote: post #367
outworlder wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing _wrong_ with touch ID. It's just that FaceID is way better. It is faster and more seamless, it can work even if you are wearing gloves. Plus, it lets the phone not display sensitive notification details until you are the one looking at the screen(with attention detection on, the default, you have to be really looking at it), only then it will display the details(including actual messages, depending on…

> it can work even if you are wearing gloves This is a tradeoff though, as FaceID doesn't work if you're wearing sunglasses.

https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/use-face-id-with-sunglass...

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#378

Post by scarface74 »

mythz wrote: post #321
briandear wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we taking AOC seriously on anything related to economics? Even Politifact has called her out on her misunderstanding of unemployment. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/jul...

> Are we taking AOC seriously on anything related to economics? AOC has at least studied economics at Boston University and has made it a goal to go after corruption and corporate greed. Just because the source isn't coming from Wall St or Corporate America doesn't make it invalid. It's not clear how much of the research behind her reasoning and arguments come from her or her team, either way if you have a counter ar…

AOC has at least studied economics at Boston University and has made it a goal to go after corruption and corporate greed.

Another presidential candidate said he would “clear the swamp”. How did that work out?

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#379

Post by david-cako »

october_sky wrote: post #323
david-cako wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a commoditized market and Apple’s success blueprint is out for everyone to see, yet no one else can adapt mid century design principles and “high fashion” style marketing to technology. This sounds like shilling (and I do own Apple stock) but I’m serious. Compare the Apple remote (with the iOS “emulator”), Apple TV, and Airplay to Chromecast’s UX, for instance. Apple does have special sauce. They make tools that…

Apple TV (and accompanying remote) is by far one of the worst UI/UX experiences I've seen.

What is the alternative? It’s enough like a traditional TV guide experience that people get it, its remote uses similar touch physics as iOS (I typically tap directions rather than swipe though), your phone can act as a remote (with an identical UI) or a keyboard, and you can cast any arbitrary content pretty seamlessly. I also love that the iOS remote actually controls my AV receiver’s power and volume.

The music app can get too deeply nested, but in general it is above all a consistent tabbed master-view experience in every app. The apis exposed to developers all lend to a very good, consistent experience for everything I’ve tried except YouTube TV, which doesn’t utilize the standard media transport API.

In general I like the idea that casting, while still as deeply integrated as Google Cast, is supplemental to the hardware remote. It’s not an afterthought, and neither is the remote. Both are good IMO.

Truly my only complaint is that the app switching dialogue uses reversed/“physical” swiping direction (like switching desktops with a trackpad). This makes no sense to me, as nothing else does this, including swiping between album covers in now playing. I get it, but it’s inconsistent with the whole rest of the UI.

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