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Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

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Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#71

Post by vesak »

antirez wrote: post #13

I think the Apple future may not look good for a few reasons: 1. iPhones units sold stalled for 3 years in a row. This means the company need to seek every year some trick to earn more from each phone. It is not obvious if they'll be able to do for a long time. 2. Top Android devices are improving and Google Pixel 2 is really an incredible device that is making some iOS users switching. I've no data but my nerd frien…

2. Here's one nerd who made the exact opposite jump from Android to iOS in 2017-2018, also from misc Linux machines to Apple. But personal anecdotes don't really matter, do they?

After half a year of this, I'm quite happy. The competition will have to make some miracles to make me want to change back.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#72

Post by tinus_hn »

brisance wrote: post #59
oflannabhra wrote: post #6

One thing that is consistently amazing is how accurate Apple's guidance is. Horace Dediu: "How accurate is Apple’s Guidance? Over the last 23 quarters the average error has been 2.63% (measuring from top of guidance range)." [0] [0] - https://twitter.com/asymco/status/991345104848867333

What’s even more amazing is that these so-called journalists like Mark Gurman still have a job at Bloomberg. His piece yesterday was a hatchet job, with no numbers or even anything resembling expected sales figures. [1] [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-30/apple-res...

Who cares? As long as people click on the articles Bloomberg will be happy.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#73

Post by throwaway84742 »

ulfw wrote: post #67
jonknee wrote: post #7

Some scale for the new $100b buyback program... Larger than the market cap of all but 51 of the S&P 500 (with one of those being Apple!). That's nuts!

100 Billion not spend on taxes that could benefit everyone, 100 billion on charging customers too much (because Apple obviously doesn’t need the money), 100 billion not spent on employees or hiring or R&D or keeping any of their product lines properly alive (hello Macs, hello software)

Share buyback is often a mechanism to compensate the employees, actually. It works 2 ways:

1. By boosting the value of already granted RSUs, both vested and unvested.

2. By augmenting the pool of shares that can be issued to employees as RSUs.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#74

Post by specialist »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #24

That is a pretty stellar earnings release. Congratulations on another quarter of excellent execution! I think what Apple needs are some barbarians at the gates. Something which challenges them to be greater than they are, rather than sitting back on their laurels. I continue to be surprised that they don't step into the cloud computing pool. There are some solid advantages to having a cloud infrastructure that you ca…

I've migrated most of my family to Apple, mostly to reduce my support burden. Now I'd like the remaining 10% gap to be closed.

I'm past ready for the loving embrace of cradle-to-grave iCloud awesomeness.

Why can't I backup my macOS devices to iCloud?

Why can't I send iCal invites via iMessages?

I don't want to reconfig my email clients (et al) on each device.

Whatever 1Password does for me, I want built-in, and better.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#75

Post by djrogers »

craftyguy wrote: post #63
shyn3 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has tried to release a phone before and they fail hard. The phone stops getting updates. If you want an android device with updates you have to get a BlackBerry. Android OS is horrible because it's always different. From release to release. From phone to phone. Everyone has their own little tidbit to add and makes it non uniform.

> The phone stops getting updates What? They provide major OS updates for 2 years, and security updates for 3 years. > Android OS is horrible because it's always different Are you referring to OEM modifications to Android? It's really hard to follow your rant.

> They provide major OS updates for 2 years,

In iOS land, 2 years is just getting started for OS updates - generally you get 5 years or so. That's one of the reasons so many iPhones get handed down and resold compared to Android devices.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#76

Post by djrogers »

mcphage wrote: post #66
diminish wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple watch is successful in smart watch market. Smart watch market seems not to be a billions-unit market. That's what I mean.

> Smart watch market seems not to be a billions-unit market. How many billions unit markets are there out there?

One. There is one, and Apple makes almost all of the money in that market.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#77

Post by djrogers »

clairity wrote: post #39
antirez wrote: post #13

I think the Apple future may not look good for a few reasons: 1. iPhones units sold stalled for 3 years in a row. This means the company need to seek every year some trick to earn more from each phone. It is not obvious if they'll be able to do for a long time. 2. Top Android devices are improving and Google Pixel 2 is really an incredible device that is making some iOS users switching. I've no data but my nerd frien…

yup... 1. iphone is a mature product. 2. no onvious new groundbreaking product releases on the horizon (a watch is not it). 3. desktops are dying, and their replacements, the ipads, are stagnating. 4. intel screwed them with processor roadmaps intel had no hopes of meeting (cannonlake, anyone?) 5. no longer visionary on the future of computing (seem to be chasing all the flavors of the month lately). 6. services grow…

> 6. services growth is a lagging indicator on the health of the ecosystem (or walled garden, if you prefer).

How very convenient that you seem to think you can handwave away the ridiculously huge growth in services by saying it's a lagging indicator. No chance at all that it could be partly due to new and more compelling services offerings (music, icloud)?

You sound almost as confident as the 'analysts' who predicted a down quarter with a failing and cancelled iPhone X.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#78

Post by craftyguy »

djrogers wrote: post #75
craftyguy wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The phone stops getting updates What? They provide major OS updates for 2 years, and security updates for 3 years. > Android OS is horrible because it's always different Are you referring to OEM modifications to Android? It's really hard to follow your rant.

> They provide major OS updates for 2 years, In iOS land, 2 years is just getting started for OS updates - generally you get 5 years or so. That's one of the reasons so many iPhones get handed down and resold compared to Android devices.

Hence the stalled iphones sales growth. I don't disagree that having a phone that is supported by the manufacturer for so long is a good thing, I very much agree with this! But if the manufacturer loses incentive to do so, then don't expect them to continue doing it for long.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#79

Post by clairity »

djrogers wrote: post #77
clairity wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yup... 1. iphone is a mature product. 2. no onvious new groundbreaking product releases on the horizon (a watch is not it). 3. desktops are dying, and their replacements, the ipads, are stagnating. 4. intel screwed them with processor roadmaps intel had no hopes of meeting (cannonlake, anyone?) 5. no longer visionary on the future of computing (seem to be chasing all the flavors of the month lately). 6. services grow…

> 6. services growth is a lagging indicator on the health of the ecosystem (or walled garden, if you prefer). How very convenient that you seem to think you can handwave away the ridiculously huge growth in services by saying it's a lagging indicator. No chance at all that it could be partly due to new and more compelling services offerings (music, icloud)? You sound almost as confident as the 'analysts' who predicte…

the point i was making is that, yes, the services business is growing, but that's basically reaping the fruits sown by the iphone/ipad business (and macs and ipods before that), so it's lagging as an indicator of the trajectory of the company.

apple is the best at understanding what ordinary consumers want out of computing devices, and services are very complementary to that. but i'm skeptical that services should be the future of apple, because that's straying away from what they're best at. services as the long term strategy is a (potentially dangerous) distraction, and apple should keep its eye on the consumer electronics ball.

i wouldn't mention such things if i didn't think it had merit to consider (as a customer, investor, competitor, or simply a spectator). we're on hacker news, not sitting in a trading pit trying to eke out 47 nanoseconds of information asymmetry, so take it for what it's worth.

Re: Apple Reports Q2 2018 Results

#80

Post by mcphage »

djrogers wrote: post #76
mcphage wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Smart watch market seems not to be a billions-unit market. How many billions unit markets are there out there?

One. There is one, and Apple makes almost all of the money in that market.

Two—don't forget about ballpoint pens.
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