Is it true Apple earned 94% of global smartphone profit for 2015? I could have sworn that was for a specific part of the year.
How in the world would anybody know? As far as I know there isn't one company that reports profits just for their smartphones, heck even Apple doesn't do that.
Dear DED,
I love your articles. The longer, the better.
Apple, unlike almost all other consumer product makers, learned the secret: make products people love.
Sony Vaio almost got it right with design, but Window's isn't loved, and neither is overt DRM.
The noisy wheels complain every year, but the vast majority of people who literally put their money where their mouth is buy Apple.
And I must say - the two-finger trackpad functionality on iPad is the most under-rated feature since the iPad mini 4 was released!
Keep it up! Awaiting with bated breath for you next article!
DeD has better writing skills than any tech writer I have read online. What, you think he’s a clickbait author because he writes positively about Apple instead of regurgitating the negative pablum we have come to expect from AI trolls? Do you think trolls repeating their mantra of MARKET SHARE, MAKRET SHARE, MARKET SHARE means Apple is a failure? Then there’s the malcontent caterwauling away about Apple’s QA, alleged loss of innovation, and “Steve would never have allowed this” bawling. You prefer that to a positive perspective? You call this clickbait? You’d rather wallow in the negativity?
I prefer John Gruber's writing. Gruber clearly writes from the perspective of an Apple fan but still manages to maintain some objectivity. Gruber builds such a compelling (and concise!) case, when he writes, that he never needs to make spurious statements like '[Apple] sold the only profitable tablets and smartwatch'.
I have no problem with pro-Apple reporting especially considering there is so much anti-Apple reporting everywhere. But it's better when it's sprinkled with realism and objectivity. Back in 2013 DED wrote an article about Google ditching Android due to IP issues. http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/07/29/google-appears-ready-to-ditch-android-over-its-intellectual-property-issues. It garnered 142 comments. Here we are in 2016 and there is zero evidence Android is going anywhere. I guess it makes some people feel better to think Google is doomed and it's just a matter of time before it all comes crashing down on Page & Co. But to me that just reveals a real insecurity regarding Apple, that Apple can't win unless someone else loses.
Is it true Apple earned 94% of global smartphone profit for 2015? I could have sworn that was for a specific part of the year.
I don't believe it is true. It's grossly distorted by Apple only paying 2% tax on a large proportion of its income, thus inflating their apparent profit. If the EU have their way and Australian politicians can summon up a pair of gonads between them, there might be some retrospective adjustment to that 94% figure needed.
I find it a bit curious that so many phone manufacturers can be be making losses - or no profit whatsoever - year on year and yet they keep going and new ones seem to pop up every month. I suspect Canacords methodology wouldn't stand up to a competent review.
It's clear past decisions have allowed Apple to maximize their revenue and profits. They are a highly efficient company that makes a very large amount of money in the market.
As an investor, i'd probably be less fixated on that however. The current stock price already reflects these realities, and has already rewarded those who had the foresight to invest years ago. What the stock price will respond to is if Apple is shepherding new product categories, and diversifying for long term growth. Nobody is saying the iPhone is dying tomorrow, but there's a ceiling and growth will come from other opportunities. It's easy to say how Apple has captured the smartwatch market or the tablet market, but it's misleading because relative to the success of the iPhone, those are small potatoes to Apple itself, and those markets are simply too small or contracting in the the case of the tablet. Apple can dominate small markets all day if they want, but that's not going to make investors feel better. I also don't think a car is the answer but that's another argument for another time. I'd look at what Facebook did with Oculus, I think that has the potential to be a massive market, and Apple isn't particularly interested. Just a thought.
It's fun to crap on Samsung when trying to shrug off investment worries, but the stock market would be a much simpler place if it were just "your numbers vs my numbers" game between competitors. Apple still hasn't convinced the market their company is worth more than it is right now, and I agree.
Since you're an investor... maybe you can answer this:
If you could pull all your money out of Apple... who would you put it in instead?
Apple makes a lot of money by selling tons of high-margin products. But it apparently it doesn't move their stock price up.
So who would move the stock price up?
It's the first and second time-derivative (upward trajectory) that's of importance to an investor — not the absolute size of the business. Therefore you shouldn't limit your view to enterprise-scale companies, or a single country.
For example, take a look at Swedish Fingerprint Cards, and watch their recent 2-year development. Do you see the leverage you get by surfing that stock wave? If you took every single penny out of your Apple portfolio two years ago and placed it in Fingerprint Cards …well, just do the math …like an investor would.
I hate these kinds of articles. DED I presume? AppleInsider doesn't do itself any favours by printing this kind of one-sided garbage. A "year in review" type of article should contain the minuses as well as the plusses.
A few that come to mind:
- the very, very late debut of the very, very expensive Apple Watch - Apple TV being so delayed that it actually has last year's internals (for twice the price) - the most talked about feature of the new Apple TV (skinny cable package) pulled at last second. - finally updating the iPad mini after three full years of languor. - the new $200 trackpad! - the new iPad that's more expensive than a laptop but half as capable. - Advertisements in the OS
I know others won't necessarily agree with me on all of these but the point is that there are many points of view and also pros and cons.
These long, poorly written articles full of bitterness, that praise Apple to the heavens, while jousting against imaginary critics are tiresome, unfair, and uninteresting once you realize how biased they are. Please stop. Someone knock that chip off Daniel's shoulder so he can write properly.
Boy, I'd rather read DeD articles than the crap in your post. This article is factual. He's writing about the health of the company in terms of revenue, market share and earnings. You are whining about specific products. From an investors standpoint, I don't see a single negative thing about anything in your list - and it's hilarious that you are attributing a "negative" to Apple for failing to deliver a skinny bundle of channels - claiming that it was pulled at the last minute! I must have missed the press conference when Tim Cook announced that they were pulling it.
exactly. looks like we have a new concern-troll in the form of Prof. P..."I love Apple products, but boy they suck now" yada yada.
DeD has better writing skills than any tech writer I have read online. What, you think he’s a clickbait author because he writes positively about Apple instead of regurgitating the negative pablum we have come to expect from AI trolls? Do you think trolls repeating their mantra of MARKET SHARE, MAKRET SHARE, MARKET SHARE means Apple is a failure? Then there’s the malcontent caterwauling away about Apple’s QA, alleged loss of innovation, and “Steve would never have allowed this” bawling. You prefer that to a positive perspective? You call this clickbait? You’d rather wallow in the negativity?
I prefer John Gruber's writing. Gruber clearly writes from the perspective of an Apple fan but still manages to maintain some objectivity. Gruber builds such a compelling (and concise!) case, when he writes, that he never needs to make spurious statements like '[Apple] sold the only profitable tablets and smartwatch'.
Gruber is certainly an excellent writer, and the most professional and one of the best Apple authorities. despite what his haters say, he is pretty objective and finds faults with Apple when it's due.
but there's nothing wrong with the DED quote you hilighted -- it's true, and often the trolls and haters need to be reminded of these facts. Apple is raking in all the smartphone, laptop, tablet, and likely watch profits.
I hate these kinds of articles. DED I presume? AppleInsider doesn't do itself any favours by printing this kind of one-sided garbage. A "year in review" type of article should contain the minuses as well as the plusses.
A few that come to mind:
- the very, very late debut of the very, very expensive Apple Watch - Apple TV being so delayed that it actually has last year's internals (for twice the price) - the most talked about feature of the new Apple TV (skinny cable package) pulled at last second. - finally updating the iPad mini after three full years of languor. - the new $200 trackpad! - the new iPad that's more expensive than a laptop but half as capable. - Advertisements in the OS
I know others won't necessarily agree with me on all of these but the point is that there are many points of view and also pros and cons.
These long, poorly written articles full of bitterness, that praise Apple to the heavens, while jousting against imaginary critics are tiresome, unfair, and uninteresting once you realize how biased they are. Please stop. Someone knock that chip off Daniel's shoulder so he can write properly.
Dear "Professor", you joined this forum in Dec 2015 and have since made 115 negatively biased comments about Apple... Is that your full-time occupation? Or perhaps part of the internet media army trying to portray problems that don't really exist because you have an agenda?
I'd noticed him doing the same on Loopinsight.com over the past couple years -- comes to an apple site and bags on Apple, often with classic concern-troll tropes. just another troll, imo.
That is the problem with articles written by DED. He seems to lack the ability to be concise, which IMHO detracts from the message. Why use 10 words when 1000 will do. Also the almost inevitable diatribe against Google/Android.
He writes as if he had an Aspergers-like fixation on Apple.
which makes sense for a writer on an apple enthusiast website. what doesn't make sense is your identical zeal for being an iHater...you aren't even getting paid for it.
Tomorrow I buy 400 shares for the grandkids. Timing is a bitch, but I think I am pretty close, and it has worked in the past. Earnings this month should clear a few things up.
I have had AAPL since the 1990's, with a 1:56 split. My first shares were $20. Divide that by 56.
Now if I had invested $200,000 in AAPL at that time, the current worth would be $56,000,000. Unfortunately, the $200,000 went for a house which is now worth $300,000.
Is it true Apple earned 94% of global smartphone profit for 2015? I could have sworn that was for a specific part of the year.
I don't believe it is true. It's grossly distorted by Apple only paying 2% tax on a large proportion of its income, thus inflating their apparent profit. If the EU have their way and Australian politicians can summon up a pair of gonads between them, there might be some retrospective adjustment to that 94% figure needed.
I find it a bit curious that so many phone manufacturers can be be making losses - or no profit whatsoever - year on year and yet they keep going and new ones seem to pop up every month. I suspect Canacords methodology wouldn't stand up to a competent review.
Clueless. As usual. These estimates are are typically based on 'operating' profit (EBIT) which is a pre-tax number. The 2% you cite, in other words, is irrelevant.
Is it true Apple earned 94% of global smartphone profit for 2015? I could have sworn that was for a specific part of the year.
I don't believe it is true. It's grossly distorted by Apple only paying 2% tax on a large proportion of its income, thus inflating their apparent profit. If the EU have their way and Australian politicians can summon up a pair of gonads between them, there might be some retrospective adjustment to that 94% figure needed.
I find it a bit curious that so many phone manufacturers can be be making losses - or no profit whatsoever - year on year and yet they keep going and new ones seem to pop up every month. I suspect Canacords methodology wouldn't stand up to a competent review.
Clueless. As usual. These estimates are are typically based on 'operating' profit (EBIT) which is a pre-tax number. The 2% you cite, in other words, is irrelevant.
Get lost, with your incessant anti-Apple FUD.
Isn't that the way tax-rates are usually reported?
Clueless. As usual. These estimates are are typically based on 'operating' profit (EBIT) which is a pre-tax number. The 2% you cite, in other words, is irrelevant.
Get lost, with your incessant anti-Apple FUD.
Isn't that the way tax-rates are usually reported?
Your question does not make sense to me, unfortunately. The article and the post are about 'profit.' Operating profit. Not taxes. Operating profit is a pre-tax number, i.e., whether your tax rate is 1% or 99% is irrelevant when comparing operating profit across companies.
I prefer John Gruber's writing. Gruber clearly writes from the perspective of an Apple fan but still manages to maintain some objectivity. Gruber builds such a compelling (and concise!) case, when he writes, that he never needs to make spurious statements like '[Apple] sold the only profitable tablets and smartwatch'.
Gruber is certainly an excellent writer, and the most professional and one of the best Apple authorities. despite what his haters say, he is pretty objective and finds faults with Apple when it's due.
but there's nothing wrong with the DED quote you hilighted -- it's true, and often the trolls and haters need to be reminded of these facts. Apple is raking in all the smartphone, laptop, tablet, and likely watch profits.
The author claims that Apple is the only company to make a profitable smartwatch. That's a dishonest statement for two reasons - (i) Apple doesn't break out Apple Watch sales so we have no certainty that it's profitable and (ii) neither do many other companies. We don't know whether other smartwatches, such as hose made by FitBit or Pebble, are profitable.
It's a statement that sounds plausable without having the evidence to back it up.
The best thing Tim Cook & Co. could have done was to pull all sales of iPhones from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and anywhere else iPhones were sold and managed to bring that all under one roof (Apple Stores) and also to offer their own upgrade program, now the iPhone won't be in any more competition with likes of Samsung phones and others so that alone should increase sales of iPhones thru out the US perhaps 5 fold if not more. Regarding the article, Fantastic...best article I've read in a long while and it gets rather tiring reading all at they read and the tripe about Apple this, Apple that, Apple won't this or Apple won't that or Apple can't do this, that or the other....Good God how do their editors allow such to be published ?? It gets so old that sure some will eventually believe some of hate filled articles floating around the WWW but I hope more people believe what they read and Sell Sell Sell as Cramer would Demand them to do knowing that the stock is about to Crash & Burn and leaves more shares for smart people to Buy Buy Buy...I'm a Apple Shareholder and will continue to be a Apple Shareholder, The way I see Apple is that folk's should Buy it for Looks, Buy it for life !!
Is it true Apple earned 94% of global smartphone profit for 2015? I could have sworn that was for a specific part of the year.
How in the world would anybody know? As far as I know there isn't one company that reports profits just for their smartphones, heck even Apple doesn't do that.
You can get pretty good idea because Apple does report its number of phones sold, and how much each section made money. The only thing you don't know is product mix and ASP. But, by doing the proper surveys, you can get both. That takes care of the revenue side. You then can take an educated guess going backward from their profit numbers (which are known) and distribute them appropriately.
Samsung's mobile profits also include tablets, but their numbers are negligeble compared to phones, you can use that as proxy for their phone. LG mobile, doing profits, selling very few tablets, most profits would be phones.
There are the 3 top ones in the west making profit last year.
Sony mobile, bleeding money Everyone of note, bleeding money.
BTW, numbers come from the Wallstreet Journal, so I'm not why on earth your acting like it's something someone pulled out of their ass.
I could look for something current, and it would likely be the 94% cited.
The only interrogation is China's numbers; they are so opaque that surmising anything is hard. They often cross subsidize thing which means even if they lose money we wouldn't know. But, those phones are made in the same place as all others, and unless they're selling high end phones, there will be little profits.
The best thing Tim Cook & Co. could have done was to pull all sales of iPhones from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and anywhere else iPhones were sold and managed to bring that all under one roof (Apple Stores) and also to offer their own upgrade program, now the iPhone won't be in any more competition with likes of Samsung phones and others so that alone should increase sales of iPhones thru out the US perhaps 5 fold if not more. Regarding the article, Fantastic...best article I've read in a long while and it gets rather tiring reading all at they read and the tripe about Apple this, Apple that, Apple won't this or Apple won't that or Apple can't do this, that or the other....Good God how do their editors allow such to be published ?? It gets so old that sure some will eventually believe some of hate filled articles floating around the WWW but I hope more people believe what they read and Sell Sell Sell as Cramer would Demand them to do knowing that the stock is about to Crash & Burn and leaves more shares for smart people to Buy Buy Buy...I'm a Apple Shareholder and will continue to be a Apple Shareholder, The way I see Apple is that folk's should Buy it for Looks, Buy it for life !!
Boy I'm sure glad you're not in charge of Apple retail! Pulling the phone out of the carriers inventories would have a significant negative effect on sales numbers!
Personally, i always buy unlocked - from the Apple Store - but many, many people don't! Many people are not near an Apple Store and for a number of reasons don't want to order online. Having the phone available in easy to access partner locations is essential!
Increasing sales in the US five-fold? By making it more difficult for a large number of people to get one? Wow. I would LOVE to try a little bit of whatever it is you're smoking!
I hate these kinds of articles. DED I presume? AppleInsider doesn't do itself any favours by printing this kind of one-sided garbage. A "year in review" type of article should contain the minuses as well as the plusses.
A few that come to mind:
- the very, very late debut of the very, very expensive Apple Watch - Apple TV being so delayed that it actually has last year's internals (for twice the price) - the most talked about feature of the new Apple TV (skinny cable package) pulled at last second. - finally updating the iPad mini after three full years of languor. - the new $200 trackpad! - the new iPad that's more expensive than a laptop but half as capable. - Advertisements in the OS
I know others won't necessarily agree with me on all of these but the point is that there are many points of view and also pros and cons.
These long, poorly written articles full of bitterness, that praise Apple to the heavens, while jousting against imaginary critics are tiresome, unfair, and uninteresting once you realize how biased they are. Please stop. Someone knock that chip off Daniel's shoulder so he can write properly.
For me the lows are the 100(?) billion dollar stock buyback (aka money burn) that is a real insult to its customers and to all people without much financial clout, it also is rather painful to think wat could have been achieved instead: saving Africa from the rhino and elephant poachers, fund the start of the space economy (which is the future of the economy as a whole), to name a few; and Apples distractions into 'political' matters.
The trend you mention: ever increasing prices, demanded by the shareholders, is also very worrisome; at some point - let's say 'Peak Apple' - customers will choose an alternative.
I hate these kinds of articles. DED I presume? AppleInsider doesn't do itself any favours by printing this kind of one-sided garbage. A "year in review" type of article should contain the minuses as well as the plusses.
A few that come to mind:
- the very, very late debut of the very, very expensive Apple Watch - Apple TV being so delayed that it actually has last year's internals (for twice the price) - the most talked about feature of the new Apple TV (skinny cable package) pulled at last second. - finally updating the iPad mini after three full years of languor. - the new $200 trackpad! - the new iPad that's more expensive than a laptop but half as capable. - Advertisements in the OS
I know others won't necessarily agree with me on all of these but the point is that there are many points of view and also pros and cons.
These long, poorly written articles full of bitterness, that praise Apple to the heavens, while jousting against imaginary critics are tiresome, unfair, and uninteresting once you realize how biased they are. Please stop. Someone knock that chip off Daniel's shoulder so he can write properly.
For me the lows are the 100(?) billion dollar stock buyback (aka money burn) that is a real insult to its customers and to all people without much financial clout, it also is rather painful to think wat could have been achieved instead: saving Africa from the rhino and elephant poachers, fund the start of the space economy (which is the future of the economy as a whole), to name a few; and Apples distractions into 'political' matters.
The trend you mention: ever increasing prices, demanded by the shareholders, is also very worrisome; at some point - let's say 'Peak Apple' - customers will choose an alternative.
LMAO! How ridiculous!!! When did it become my responsibility to save Africa from the poachers??? If it's a worthy cause, perhaps the government can take a portion of the tax revenue they collect from ALL citizens and use it to stop the poaching... But the suggestion that Apple Shareholders should foot the bill is idiotic!
I'm a shareholder and so far, I'm happy with the way Apple has chosen to spend my money - especially the share repurchaese program.
Comments
I find it a bit curious that so many phone manufacturers can be be making losses - or no profit whatsoever - year on year and yet they keep going and new ones seem to pop up every month. I suspect Canacords methodology wouldn't stand up to a competent review.
For example, take a look at Swedish Fingerprint Cards, and watch their recent 2-year development. Do you see the leverage you get by surfing that stock wave? If you took every single penny out of your Apple portfolio two years ago and placed it in Fingerprint Cards …well, just do the math …like an investor would.
Gruber is certainly an excellent writer, and the most professional and one of the best Apple authorities. despite what his haters say, he is pretty objective and finds faults with Apple when it's due. but there's nothing wrong with the DED quote you hilighted -- it's true, and often the trolls and haters need to be reminded of these facts. Apple is raking in all the smartphone, laptop, tablet, and likely watch profits.
Now if I had invested $200,000 in AAPL at that time, the current worth would be $56,000,000. Unfortunately, the $200,000 went for a house which is now worth $300,000.
Get lost, with your incessant anti-Apple FUD.
The author claims that Apple is the only company to make a profitable smartwatch. That's a dishonest statement for two reasons - (i) Apple doesn't break out Apple Watch sales so we have no certainty that it's profitable and (ii) neither do many other companies. We don't know whether other smartwatches, such as hose made by FitBit or Pebble, are profitable.
It's a statement that sounds plausable without having the evidence to back it up.
The only thing you don't know is product mix and ASP. But, by doing the proper surveys, you can get both.
That takes care of the revenue side. You then can take an educated guess going backward from their profit numbers (which are known) and distribute them appropriately.
Samsung's mobile profits also include tablets, but their numbers are negligeble compared to phones, you can use that as proxy for their phone.
LG mobile, doing profits, selling very few tablets, most profits would be phones.
There are the 3 top ones in the west making profit last year.
Sony mobile, bleeding money
Everyone of note, bleeding money.
BTW, numbers come from the Wallstreet Journal, so I'm not why on earth your acting like it's something someone pulled out of their ass.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/apples-share-of-smartphone-industrys-profits-soars-to-92-1436727458
I could look for something current, and it would likely be the 94% cited.
The only interrogation is China's numbers; they are so opaque that surmising anything is hard.
They often cross subsidize thing which means even if they lose money we wouldn't know.
But, those phones are made in the same place as all others, and unless they're selling high end phones, there will be little profits.
So, hey.
Personally, i always buy unlocked - from the Apple Store - but many, many people don't! Many people are not near an Apple Store and for a number of reasons don't want to order online. Having the phone available in easy to access partner locations is essential!
Increasing sales in the US five-fold? By making it more difficult for a large number of people to get one? Wow. I would LOVE to try a little bit of whatever it is you're smoking!
The trend you mention: ever increasing prices, demanded by the shareholders, is also very worrisome; at some point - let's say 'Peak Apple' - customers will choose an alternative.
I'm a shareholder and so far, I'm happy with the way Apple has chosen to spend my money - especially the share repurchaese program.